Productivity

Ok I'm convinced, the iPhone is a serious business tool. I'm finding accessing e-mail, making phone calls, keeping track of appointments, and keeping on top of my Tasks is easy and fun on the iPhone 3GS.

I've also started to use the Voice Control via my Motorola HS710 Bluetooth headset and I've finally figured out the trick to getting Voice Control to work (just say Call, Last Name, First Name, Mobile/Office/Home/Work). A simple touch of the command button on the HS710 and I just tell the phone what to do.

UPDATE: I've switched to the newer H17 Bluetooth headset and it is even nicer than the H710 with one exception, I can wear the H710 much longer than the H17 as it is more comfortable for long term wearing.

One of my employees who was filling the role of project manager at a recent WMS go-live sent me a thank you note about Inbox Zero. He told me that he had read on my blog (wow - my employees read my blog? I better be careful!) posts about using Inbox Zero on go-lives (a time of very high e-mail volume).

Not sure why after using Inbox Zero for so long that now I've found reasons to tweak it. In my last post I talked about adding a Deferred folder so that I could park stuff that did not need action right now, but might need action later and I'll want to review it one more time.

I've also created another folder, borrowing from GTD, called Waiting For. This is where I'm parking e-mails that don't need any action from me, but they need action from someone else and I'm waiting for that action.

I've been using the Waiting For folder now for about 2 weeks and it has really helped.

I’m a big believer in using systems as they were designed (software, SOPs, etc.) for some time before you change them. I started to use Inbox Zero 2 years ago in Sep 2009 and I stayed true to form to Merlin Mann’s formula.

Basically when I receive an e-mail I read it and then I a) delete it, b) reply to it then delete or archive it, c) move it to Archive, or d) move it to Acton Needed. This system worked great however there was one issue. My Action Needed folder kept getting filled up with things that did need Action, but not right away.

I finally added one more folder called Deferred. This is my folder where I now park things that might need action, but they don't need action right now. This way I can focus on my Acton Needed when I'm in working mode and know there is no noise in this folder.

When I do my Weekly Review, I just look over the Deferred folder for anything that can be deleted, archived, or moved to Action Needed.

PS: I’ve also noticed that Merlin Mann is writing a book on Inbox Zero. I’ll have to keep an eye on his progress.

I finally gave up on Windows Mobile phones when the new iPhone 3GS was released.   I had been using my wife's 3G for some time and found the interface and the interoperability of the applications to be way ahead of Windows Mobile.  Since my company was already setup for Exchange and Exchange Anywhere, getting the iPhone connected to my corporate e-mail was so simple it was done while waking down the street from the Apple Store - no kidding.

Of course I knew I was going to be in trouble when it came to using GTD on my iPhone since Apple did not integrate the Tasks in Exchange to the iPhone.    However a quick trip to the App store and the first application I tried worked great.    Since I use categories in Outlook Tasks to make my GTD Lists such as @Anywhere, @Office, @Home, etc., it was critical to find a Task application that could sort and group by Category.   Fortunately RERLSoft iMExchange did this just fine (https://sites.google.com/site/rerlsoft/imexchange). 

RERLSoft offers 4 apps, one for Notes (iMNotes), one for Tasks (iMTasks), one for view only (iMLite), and a combo application for Notes, Tasks, Out of Office, and access to your Contacts including the Global Address Book (very handy for distribution lists!).    Since I also use Notes and I thought the OOO control would be nice (however this does not work for me for some reason), I purchased the more expensive iMExchange.  

I must say I've not enjoyed accessing my electronic Action Lists (Tasks) this much since I gave up my Palm Treo with Palm OS.   I find it super easy now to check my lists on the go and to make use of little free minutes of time here and there.   

I know there are other Task managers that work with Exchange on the iPhone and I really should give them a try. But perhaps I'm just lucky to have hit the jackpot on the fist try.  For now I plan to keep using iMExchange and eventually I'll figure out how to get the Out of Office control to work too. 

I do complex software implementations for a living. For those of you who know what a “go-live” is like, you know they get crazy, stressful, and chaotic. I was very curious to see how well the GTD and Inbox Zero systems (and habits) would hold up for me under a go-live. The results were amazing!

Using Inbox Zero (a GTD-like system for your e-mail) I never had over a dozen e-mails to “process” in my Inbox. I did end up deferring about 25 items in my Action Needed folder until after the go-live was over. But the important thing is I never let anything fall through the cracks.

My physical inbox (paper, mail, etc.) did get about 4.25 inches high during the 2 week period where I worked 12 hours a day, every day. However it took less than 2 hours to process the Inbox and get current again.

I rely on Outlook Tasks to track my Next Actions lists and other lists. Those were wonderful to have during the go-live as I could do also do mini-weekly reviews whenever time permitted using Outlook or my Windows Mobile phone.

Something else that I did was to purchase some Staples 4X6 inch scratch pads to capture actions and projects as they came in. This was just faster than using Outlook Tasks due to the rapid nature of information coming in. One of the other team members noticed how “organized” I was using this low tech paper system to keep track of things. I handed out extra scratch pads to several of the team members the next day.

I was very interested to see if I could keep up with GTD during a go-live. I’m happy to report that this system is capable of working under stressful and chaotic periods. In fact I believe this system was a major contributor to my ability to rise to the occasion and stay relaxed and calm (most of the time!).

So many people risk all of their data by not having backups. I know business owners who have lost their accounting files, friends who have lost their digital media albums, and clients who have lost data that can never be replaced.

I’ve blogged about Groove before as a way to have some protection for your files if you use more than one computer. However I know there are lots of people who just use one computer. If you only use one computer, I have found a product that I’m very impressed with called Carbonite.

Carbonite is perfect for the single computer user because it will back up an unlimited amount of data for about $50/year. It runs in the background so you really don’t have to do anything. When you create or change a file it gets backed up automatically (UPDATE: you can now restore version of files as old as 90 days). The only glitch I have had is some file extensions (i.e. mpg) need to be “manually” marked for backup. Also note it is a designed limitation to not backup network drives (this is getting into commercial services which must to be priced different).

I have tested the restore process and it has been able to recover my files nicely. The great thing about Carbonite vs. an external USB hard drive is even if your home is destroyed, or burglars take all your equipment, you can still get your files back. Keep in mind hard drive recovery (if you still have it) can easily cost $500-$1500 for average consumer hard drives. Recently a client sent his hard drive to one of the better recovery services and even they were unable to restore the data. It still cost my client several hundred dollars just for the attempted recovery!

I have found that Groove and Carbonite play well together adding one more layer of backup protection to my critical files and data.

This tool runs well under Windows XP, works with Groove, and for only about $50/year for unlimited backup is priced right. If you are not backing up your files automatically then get this tool!

I’ve been using David Allen’s Getting Things Done framework for organizing my personal and professional life now for over 6 months and it continues to impress me in ways that I did not expect. Recently I was over committed to multiple projects both personally and professionally and I let me weekly review sessions slip for 4 weeks. I knew my lists were not up to date and I knew something was wrong because my mind was full of chatter about my projects and commitments. So I took a day off with the only focus on processing my inboxes and getting current with my project list.

The result? I slept for 12 hours and woke up full of energy and creativity. I was seeing solutions to the problems I was having with projects that I was not seeing before. This was proof that David Allen’s theory that you need to get everything out of your mind so you can use your mind for better things is without a doubt true.

In December of 07’ our company switched from the Palm platform to Windows Mobile for our mobile devices. I could write pages and pages about the comparisons and contrasts between the Palm Treo 650 and AT&T Tilt – but I think others have done that for me already. The one thing that was absolutely intolerable was the Windows Mobile Task Manager software. If you are using David Allen’s Getting Things Done system you most likely have your Task list in categories (i.e. @Calls, @Home, @Office, @Waiting For, etc.). I was completely lost when I found out that the Windows Mobile task manager was so unfriendly to presenting my tasks by category.

As usual one of my business partners came to the rescue and told me to try PocketBreeze by SBSH Mobile Software. This tool (along with their outstand PhoneWeaver) gave me back the things about the Palm Treo that I felt I lost with the switch to Windows Mobile.

So if you are a GTDer and you are switching to Windows Mobile you need this application. In fact this software with Windows Mobile is better than what I had on my Palm.