Productivity & Effectiveness
The Things We Did for Our Members in 2018 – Year in Review
I remember one of the first times I got paid to do computer work. I don’t remember exactly what I did, I think I added some new hardware to upgrade a computer and maybe fixed some software issues as well. This was back in the Windows 3.1 days or maybe Windows 95’s early days. I…
Read More8 Apps Every Small Business Owner Should Know About
I was the 10-minute presenter at my BNI chapter last Thurs. Instead of the normal info about my business and our business model, I considered just teaching people about some cool apps we use here at Fiddler Online. So I polled the members of our chapter, via our Facebook group. Overwhelmingly, this was the subject…
Read More8 Tools We Use at Fiddler Online – Notes from BNI Presentation 2016
Today I’m giving my 10-minute presentation in my BNI chapter. Here are links to the resources I’ll talk about. I’m going to go fast. So these links make it easy for you to review them later. Plus, I may not get to all of them, so even those who were there may want to check out the…
Read MoreWe Like Asana the Best: A Response to FitSmallBusiness’ Basecamp Comparison
This post is a response to a FitSmallBusiness’ article by Jeremy Marsan titled “Best Project Management Software – Basecamp vs. Asana & Others“. His article compares Basecamp, Asana, Trello, and Insightly. It rarely points to any shortcomings of Basecamp, while pointing to several in the other apps. It ultimately rewards it the top spot as best project management app…
Read More5 Apps to Help Your Team Work Faster & Better
It’s a new year. It’s time to shake things up in your company. If you’re looking at project management options that’ll let you and your employees/colleagues work more quickly. Here are five of the best. Asana Communication and task manager Free for up to 15 people and five projects iOS and Android apps By merging your…
Read MoreJoin Me in a 30-Day Happiness Challenge
Today everything changes! Shawn Achor’s TEDx video has long been one of my favorites. And though I’ve paid lip-service to it and it’s principles, I’ve never really, fully implemented them. His research has yielded an amazing approach to happiness, that’s the exact opposite of how most people perceive it. We think: “when X happens, then I’ll be happy.” But…
Read MoreHow to Start Your Day Right: Creativity, Productivity, and the Morning Routine
It seems to be the norm these days: I wish I had time to write more. I found two recent posts extremely insightful and interesting. The first came from Good Design, and explores the idea that creative types need different outlets for their creativity. I don’t know that it’s exclusive to those who are creative,…
Read MoreUse Bad Ideas to Spark Good Ones
Daniel Pink posted a brief summary of a longer piece, by Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert. The idea is a new one to me, and apparently used a lot by writers in TV who have to come up with new plot-lines on a regular basis. They sit down with their group of co-writers and…
Read MoreClean Up Gmail’s Interface with the Minimalist Chrome Extension
I use Google’s Chrome browser because it’s super fast and secure. It has extensions (known as plugins on other browsers). I used to use one called Better Gmail (unofficial) to enhance Gmail, which was based off the Firefox plugin originally by Gina Trapani, one of the creators of Lifehacker. But it’s been in bad need…
Read More