Productivity All Around: Be sure to sync your tools!

Experience would tell us that we tend to expect to accomplish more in any given day then what actually gets done.  That's life as we know it.  And there's a great deal of research and advice being handed out with road maps to increasing the percentage of accomplished tasks, this post included. Experts overwhelmingly profess that to be productive you must:

• Rise early


• Start with the most important task


• Do not multitask


• Prevent interruption


• Actually do what you need to

On some days, or even most days, it may be hard to hit all of these.  Strategy is one thing but the day-to-day tools you use are equally important.  The probability of incorporating each strategy into your daily regime increases dramatically when your productivity tools (P-tools) are synced, aligned and communicating with one another.  From hardware to software no matter where you are P-Tools will help keep you on track provided they are working together.  Mobile technology is helping make this much easier accomplish.

That smartphone you hold in your hand should be doing much more than serving as cell phone.  After all, these devices are not cheap, so get more bang for your buck and make them work for you.  Here some great ways you can be more productive by turning your phone into a P-tool.

• Calendar Sync: It’s a hassle to go back to your home or office and have to enter in all kinds of phone numbers, email addresses, appointments — and let’s face it, most of the time we’ll never get to entering that stuff at all. Use your mobile device to keep your information up to date, when you get the info, and the data entry periods will be kept to a minimum. If you use the wonderful Google apps you don't even need a smartphone to accomplish this.  Appointments can be updated on your calendar with a simple text right before you walk out of the dentist office.  Lastly, make your online calendar the homepage on your browser.  So every time you access the Internet it's there and ot out of sight and out of mind.


• Contact Sync:  As with the calendar, be sure your contacts are synced between your desktop and your mobile device.  You should never have to wait to look up a number later.


• To Do Lists:  To be productive writing down your to dos is important to ensure they get done.  If you decide to use technology to manage your daily functions and productivity then use it all the time.  We tend to write things down on paper which is good but that paper doesn't always follow us to the store or throughout the day when we need it.  There are countless ways in which a mobile device can used to make daily lists. There are apps like 2DO for iPhone or MyListy for Blackberry or some may prefer to simple use emails or texts.  You may need to fiddle around at first to find what works best for you, but you'll enjoy having those lists it with you all the time.  It's an amazing feeling to be in a store unexpectedly and know you pull out your mobile device and see what was on your list!


• Bookmarking:  With the multiple computers and internet accessible devices most people own today it makes much more sense to bring your bookmarking activity to the cloud.  You can greatly benefit from a social bookmarking tool like Delicious or Stumble Upon. These tools will automatically sync the bookmarks from each of your workstations using a single login, giving you easy access to all your favorite pages without having to re-bookmark the website on a separate computer.  In addition, you can choose to share your bookmarks with others like your spouse.  Social bookmarking tools are much more robust and effective than the bookmarking features in your browser.  The addition of tags and categories will help you manage and organize them quickly and in a more meaningful way for easy retrieval.


• eReading:  I wouldn't recommend reading an entire book on a phone, but if you are someone who finds it difficult to incorporate reading into your busy life look into an eReader!  These are fabulous devices and easy to bring with you especially if your travel a lot.  In addition, by purchasing book online with an eReader often times you can access the book and even exactly where you left off via an app such a Kindle on your mobile device even though your eReader is at home for those times when you have 20-30 minutes and catching up on that compelling novel you're working on.


• Family: If you have a family P-tools couldn't be more important.  You shouldn't be the only one maintaining the calendar and nagging teens about practice or events to prepare for.  I'll give another shout out to Google for the fantastic calendar app it offers.  This calendar works in the cloud and each of your family members can and should be accessing it on both the home computer and their mobile devices.  Check out how you can use Google Calendar effectively in your life.


• Balance & Boundaries: Being productive is a good thing, but too much of anything isn't.  Balance is important with everything we do and it’s not healthy to be working all the time, wherever you go.  Set times to work, and times to relax, and don’t cross the boundaries. Rarely use your mobile device at the table and limit the use of it on the couch or at a restaurant to quick check-ins with people or places.  Use it when you have down time, when you can’t do anything but wait.  When you are with others, be with them and not on your mobile device, disconnect, put the device away, and relax.

If you don't find yourself to be much of a techy to get started with syncing and setting up these P-tools on your own don't let this stop you!  These is such incredibly useful methods of getting things done and relieving stress.  Find someone in your community who offers services to get you set up, it's worth it!  As a solutions consultant I find the greatest joy in helping others navigate through these sometimes complicated but almost always beneficial features of technology.