Use Plaxo To Sync Your Life

By Jon:

Recently I became incredibly frustrated because I'm using multiple computers and a cell phone to stay in sync with my life. However, those devices weren't syncing with each other, leaving me forced to check in on multiple machines and lose productivity. I found a solution with Plaxo.

Signup for a free account and you'll be offered a plethora of feeds and apps to sync with. Plaxo will manage and merge your various and sundry contact lists into one manageable (and easily sync-able) list. Here's a quick list of some of the contact accounts Plaxo works with:

• Google Apps (Calendar and Gmail)
• Microsoft Outlook
• Apple's Mail.app
• Yahoo!
• Mozilla Thunderbird
• Windows Mail /Windows Live (Hotmail)
• Windows Mobile
• LinkedIn

For mail syncing, you'll need to download and launch the Plaxo app, which will live sync your contacts and calendar. This is amazing -- I can literally add a calendar item on my PC, and moments later my Mac alerts me (via Growl) that I've got a new calendar item from Plaxo. It is blazing fast.

When working with contacts, Plaxo is also amazing. I receive a weekly digest from Plaxo which shows me what my contacts have been up to. Often, I'll see a new Plaxo contact in the list, letting me know that one of my friends has joined Plaxo. How cool is that? Gone are the days of inviting a friend to a new app and then waiting to connect with them. Plaxo is smart enough to know that I already know an individual and connect us right away.

As it stands right now, Plaxo has found 160 people I could potentially connect with around various social networking sites. And that's just one more thing Plaxo is amazing at -- syncing with other sites. Here's a list of some of the sites Plaxo connects with:

• Flickr
• Twitter
• Blogger
• LiveJournal
• Facebook
• MySpace
• Tumblr
• Xanga
• Digg
• Google Reader
• Last.FM
• iLike
• YouTube
• Vimeo
• Dozens more

Thanks to Plaxo, I no longer have to chase down what my friends are doing -- Plaxo brings it to me. I can access a friend's Plaxo page and get an overview of all the above networks and their interaction with them. Further than that, Plaxo can deliver that content to me via Growl or other notification apps, however I choose. Oh, and m.plaxo.com is pretty cool for mobile access, too.

Now I'm constantly connected and synced up wherever I go and whatever I'm doing. I'm able to remember my meeting times, people's birthdays, and more. How has Plaxo helped you?

Quick Tip: Show Two Timezones In Outlook Calendar

By Matt:

From time to time I lead meetings with international counterparts, primarily based in either the UK or Australia. Being located in the United States myself, I'm always having to do quick math, adding and subtracting time-zones, as I try to figure out how I can get two parties on the phone without either one having to go to the office at 2:00 in the morning.

So for you globally minded corporate hacks out there, this Outlook-based quick tip should help you navigate the intricacies of the International Date Line without causing an aneurysm:

Display Two Timezones In Your Outlook Calendar:

1. From the Outlook menu select Tools > Options
2. Select the button for 'Calendar Options'
3. Select the button for 'Time Zone'
4. In the resulting dialog box select the check-box for 'Show An Additional Time Zone'
5. Next, select an additional time zone to display from the dropdown menu and give it a unique label so you can differentiate it in your calendar

Hopefully this little trick will help make scheduling cross-continental meetings a little easier... and if nothing else, it will give you North America based readers an excuse to squeeze in another break in the name of Afternoon Tea before lunch rolls around.


More Outlook Tips @ Corporate Hack

The Recurrence Of Annoying Meeting Invites

By Matt:

I don't know why, but as of late there have been a long parade of recurring meetings in my office being scheduled by various individuals who apparently don't know how to use the 'Recurring Meeting Tool' that is standard in any electronic calendar software.

So basically this means that instead of getting one invite for the recurring meeting, I get 24 invites for the same meeting scheduled to occur every two weeks throughout the entire calendar year. That's incredibly irritating.

I don't want to make any assumptions, so I'll quickly outline the steps you need to take to set up a recurring meeting in Outlook, which is what most offices use for their scheduling software:

1. Navigate to your Calendar and schedule the occurrence, and attendees, of the first meeting
2. Select 'Actions' > 'Recurrence' from the drop-down menu
3. Determine your recurrence options based on your projected meeting schedule... once a week, once a month, bi-monthly, etc.
4. Select 'OK' and 'Send' your invite

Now I grant that in cases where you have fluctuating schedules and a meeting time that cannot be consistent from event to event, the recurring meeting tool is not very helpful. In that case I recommend that you instead invite attendees to your recurring meeting via email - draft a message to all attendees and simply list the meeting name, purpose, and all projected meetings dates/times in the body of the message. This is generally a more efficient, and less intruding, way to schedule recurring meetings that don't occur on a consistent schedule.


More Outlook Tips @ Corporate Hack

Quick Tip: Postdate Emails In Outlook

By Matt:

I often send emails to team members requesting various submissions or details from them by a certain deadline. Invariably I only get a fraction of my desired responses by the due date, so I've taken up the practice of pre-writing reminder emails for the team and postdating them in Outlook to be sent at a later time (e.g. - the day before the deadline).

Here's how it works:

• Once you send your initial message (a week before the deadline), open the sent email in your Sent Items folder and click 'Reply All'.
• Draft your reminder message - "Hey guys, just a reminder, all of your submissions are due tomorrow" - and then click 'Options' in the Message window
• Under Delivery Options click the check-mark for 'Do Not Deliver Before', and then set a date and time for 24 hours prior to your deadline
• Close the Options box and then 'Send' your message - the message will move to your Outbox and automatically send itself at the time you chose
  

I love this trick because it takes care of two action items at once, and in fine GTD form is an example of "batching". Make sure you're actually going to be in the office during the time you set for the reminder message as your email will only send when Outlook is running.