Congratulations on the promotion. You’re going to be a great boss. We’re going to love working for you. And the company will thrive…
You don’t look like you’re believing me.
All right…you’ve got me. I’m just trying to make you feel better. That doesn’t mean you’re going to be a bad boss. Look, I’ve been in your shoes — and your office. It’s not easy. That’s why I’m back in the trenches. You can do better, though, with a few management tips. I’m about to share the most important management advice I learned in my time as a manager.
Money is important — but not everything.
Yes, money is good and necessary. We often will work harder for more money. But we don’t always succeed. Perhaps it’s the narrowing of focus that gets in the way. Sales commissions work because the money is a handy way of keeping score. Sales reps own their accounts. Those contracts are achievements. Take away that ownership but keep the money incentive and see what happens.
Daniel Pink offers a pretty good example of this in practice. He cites Australian software company Atlassian. A few times each year, employees get 24 hours to work on whatever they want as long as it has nothing to do with the projects that are part of their jobs. Then they present it to the company. They call them “Fedex Days” because you have to deliver overnight.
Give me something to be proud of.
You really want to keep me happy? Let me be proud of my work. That means I have to be able to use my skills to succeed. Let me work on projects that are my ideas. Don’t assign those ideas to other people.
And stop micromanaging. What you’re doing is telling me that you don’t trust me to do my job right.
I want something I can own. At the end of the day I want to point at something and say, “I did that.” I’m much happier saying that than, “My boss told me to do that.”
Set priorities.
I understand that I can’t do everything I want to do. If I didn’t, I would be on my own as a freelancer. You need me to do work aligned with the goals and mission of the company.
But I can’t do it all — even though you want to squeeze every ounce of productivity out of me that you can.
Be clear about what you want me to do first and what can wait. This sets clear goals which leads to a standard of productivity. Then we’ll know how I’m doing my job.
Try to catch me doing something right.
If you look to catch your employees doing something right — and acknowledge it publicly — you’re going to have an extremely motivated workforce.
It’s also one of the hardest things to do. When we’re doing what we’re supposed to do, we are pretty much on auto-pilot. You can forget about us. And you will because there is so much competing for your attention. It’s when we do something wrong that you really take notice. It’d be great for you to notice the good with the (hopefully, rare) bad.
It’s like exercise. Very few of us do as much as we should. But anything we do helps. Take small steps. Look for ways to recognize good work and make it a habit. Very small compliments and acknowledgments are subtle and help us feel like we work in a positive environment.
It’s a learning process.
A former boss told me that management is about making mistakes. The good managers learn from those mistakes and don’t make them again. Therefore, he looks to hire managers who have learned a lot from mistakes.
That means you shouldn’t be afraid to apologize and accept responsibility. This encourages us to trust you and accept your efforts to make it right.
Please don’t expect to be perfect. I know there are people below and above you on the corporate ladder who seem to expect perfection. That makes it tough. But it’s the managers who show that they learn from mistakes who are forgiven.
No one is irreplaceable.
You can’t let any employee hold the company hostage. Yes, it’s good to value good employees. But you can’t let them get what they want when they threaten to quit. Then you are no longer in control.
Sooner or later you’re going to lose every employee. We’re going to quit, retire or succumb to health issues (again, a hopefully rare occurrence). There is nothing you can do about it. To be less drastic, there will also be temporary losses called…vacations.
You should encourage us to move on to greener pastures. Be the boss who helps workers get promoted or find better opportunities. That will mean you’ll lose someone. But more people will want to work for you because you can help them improve their careers.
Once you accept this, you need to do something about it. That means having a backup plan for every job. Cross train everyone. Someone needs to be ready to step into a vacancy. And you need to know what tasks can’t be done while you’re down a worker — whether they’re gone for vacation, illness or for good.
Maybe the substitute isn’t a permanent replacement. But you can survive losing a valued worker. There’s a chance when you do that it becomes an opportunity to reward another valued worker.
You have a boss, too.
About now you’re tempted to forward this missive to your supervisor. But maybe that person isn’t as enlightened as you. So, you’re vulnerable to whatever mismanagement exists at the next level.
One of your most important jobs is to manage the dynamics between upper management and us. So if you’re getting conflicting priorities and negative feedback, chances are we will as well. I would prefer you to act as a gateway to that and spare us that misery. But it’s hard to do that. Some of it has to be passed along.
And if you contain it all, we don’t know what’s going on. We may blame you for strategic reversals or consider you to be two-faced when reality doesn’t match what you tell us. You have to decide if this how you want to live your life. This can be a major source of stress. If you can’t accept what your boss wants you to do, then you need to move on.
This is true for all of us. But it’s more important that you are good with it because your problems at work affect how we do our jobs, too.
Good luck.
We’re not your enemies. We want you to succeed. That means our jobs will be secure, we can be happy, and we will do good work. So let’s get to work.
By the way…can I have Friday off?
(Image courtesy of TheTruthAbout under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 generic license.)
As a new year begins many things run through our heads. One such thing might be that you wonder if you are in the right job.
You’re not alone.
This is something a lot of people think about from time to time — more so at this time of year. You should know that there are ways in which to find out…and be fully satisfied in your career choice. All you need to do is ask yourself a few questions.
Think About What Drives You
The first thing you must take into consideration when deciding whether you are working in the right job is what drives you. What are your motivations? What are your future goals? What are your dreams? I know it can be difficult to get past the questions of what pays the most and what is the most secure position, however you need to place these questions on the backburner in order to fully focus on your passions and interests. Doing so will help open up careers that you may not have ever thought were possible. Here are some methods you can practice in order to find out what really drives you:
- Focus on those things that you really love to do. The things you have dreamed of doing and that you naturally enjoy doing. Write down everything that comes to mind, regardless of how impossible it may sound.
- Look for clues all around you. Make notes about projects and topics that you are compassionate about Write down what you are excited by. Reflect on the people who inspire you. Ask yourself why some activities make you happy and pay. In addition, pay special attention to the times which you are really enjoying what you are doing.
- Be patient in your search. You need to be willing to be introspective in order to identify the activities that you really enjoy and are truly satisfied by.
Consider Taking a Career Test
Now that you know what drives you, it is important to think about how these things can translate into a new career for you. While it may take a little research, you can find yourself pleasantly surprised by how many careers you find that are actually relevant to your motivations and goals.
You can find some possible career matches by taking a career assessment test. However, don’t get hung up here. Think of these tests merely as a means of self-discovery. Their question’s answers can tell you a lot about your temperament and what career would match these aspects of your personality. They can also help you identify what is important to you in a career, what you would like to do, and what areas you will probably excel in.
One of the career tests that is frequently used by colleges is the RIASEC/Holland interest scale. It will help you to identify 6 areas that you are especially drawn to. After you learn this information about yourself you will be able to look at some careers that match your interests.
Take a Look at Your Skills and Interests
Once you come to agreements about the general scope of your career path, you will need to look at your skill set. Consider what skills you already have, as well as those that you will need. Nobody ever has to start from scratch. There are always transferable skills that can be transferred from one career or job into the work of another career or job. Transferable skills are skills that you already have that can be used in almost any career.
These transferable skills include things like:
- Management skills
- Leadership experience
- Written and oral communication skills
- Research skills
- Program planning skills
- Public speaking skills
- Conflict resolution and mediation skills
- Effective time management skills
- Computer literacy
- Foreign languages that you may speak
You should not limit yourself only to your work and on the job experiences. Whenever you are thinking about your skills, think about everything, including your volunteer experience, hobbies you enjoy, and your life experiences. For instance, even though you may not have any formal leadership experience, you may have organized a toy drive and practiced leadership and management skills within the scope of that project.
Take a Look at Other Careers That Interest You
Once you narrow down some jobs you think you might enjoy, you should go online to research these jobs. You will find information describing the position, the salary you can expect, the training and skills required for the job, and the future and demand for the position. This helps you to answer questions like:
- How stable is this career?
- Are you comfortable with how much risk is involved?
- Is the salary range something that you find acceptable?
- Will you need to relocate?
- Will you need more or different training?
- How will your family be affected?
Get Other People’s Input
While you are working through this process it is important to get support and information from other people. This is vital because the information from your research and quizzes is nothing like the information you receive from people who are already working in your desired position. They will be able to give you a real sense of what the work entails and what tasks you will be performing. This is will let you know whether or not the job will meet your needs and expectations. These people will also be able to help you make connections when you begin actively pursuing the career. Do not be intimidated by these contacts. Instead, treat them as an important part of your future and career development.
You might also want to think about going for career counseling. A job coach can be a great tool in career development. They are especially helpful when you are considering a major career change. Job coaches will be able to give you impartial advice that is not biased by personal motive or gain. They can help you think objectively regarding a career change.
Conclusion
Making a career change can be a scary process. Also, you may already be working in your “field of dreams”. The only way to find out is to ask yourself if you are happy with your job and career choices. Would you be happier to get up and go to work if you were doing something else? The question is yours to answer. If you do decide to take the plunge and shift from one career to another remember that success is relative to your peace of mind, money isn’t everything, and you really can do whatever it is that drives you.
(Image courtesy of Brilliant Michael under a Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution generic license.)
Our first Awesome Links of 2011 offers some reflections on the year gone by, setting yourself up for the year ahead and tools to help you get more productive with your mobile and desktop devices.
21 Excellent Tips For an Amazing Productive New Year
Written by yours truly, this post at the Dumb Little Man blog offers some useful tips for having a productive 2011. The tips are diverse and cover a number of different areas like health, computers, internet, finance and more.
ChromeMarks Syncs Chrome Bookmarks with Android
Here’s a great find by Lifehacker that could help people whose primary phone is Android-based and main browser is Chrome. Not having access to your browser bookmarks on your phone sucks. This Android app called ChromeMarks can help you get rid of that annoyance by synchronizing bookmarks between your browser and phone.
The Essential Zen Habits of 2010
Zen Habits is one of the few blogs that immediately comes to mind when we talk about productivity and leading a simple and minimalistic life. Here’s a roundup of the site’s posts in 2010; it is an essential read for us productivity enthusiasts. Do check it out.
Last Minute Tax Steps for 2010
Our sister site FreelanceSwitch has a nice post for freelancers and self-employed folks on how to make sure that they close the books properly for last year and save on taxes. 2010 has just passed by and it’s possible that many of you are still finalizing your accounts — just like myself. Hopefully this post will make that process easier.
Supercharge your OS X Desktop: Wallpaper, Icons, Other Hacks (Windows tricks included)
And finally, if you are a Mac user and feel that you can optimize your desktop for better productivity, this post at the Guiding Tech blog will help you out. The post talks about some cool software that can spruce up your desktop, and help you get things done quickly and efficiently. The article includes links to corresponding tips for Windows users, too.
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I’m honored that you’re reading this. Even if you’re here because you’re avoiding doing that other thing. You know — the thing that has been on your to-do list for a couple days.
Why don’t I mind being used for procrastination? Well, basically, procrastination is a reward for not doing something unpleasant. Like work. So you’re saying my post is a reward…something pleasant.
Like I said, I’m honored.
But you really do have to get back to work and do those things you think are unpleasant. So give yourself permission to stick with me a little bit longer while I briefly go over some options for taking care of procrastination:
Procrastinate Acting on Good Feelings
Like I said, if negative feelings pop up, we do what makes us feel better and put off what feels unpleasant.
So when we feel anxiety or displeasure about a task, we can freeze. Use the time to focus on the long-term gain of not procrastinating. Make that emotion feel like it is happening now.
Reduce Distractions
If we manage to work past the urges to procrastinate, there are a ton of distractions that offer attractive choices other than being productive. Improve your chances of working through it by reducing distractions:
- Turn off email, social networks
- Turn off TV radio
- Find a quiet, isolated place
- Clear your desk
Strengthen the Willpower Muscle
It helps to think of willpower as a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it becomes. It will become easier to push past the short term gains of procrastination as you exercise willpower.
Conclusion
It’s about rewards. Sometimes we seize upon the immediate gains even though we know the importance of other tasks. We have to make ourselves feel better now about those delayed tasks to overcome procrastination.
(Image courtesy of Kyle May under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 generic license.)
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It seems like a silly exercise at first.
Of course, you know that your goal is to be successful. However, what does success actually mean? Most people don’t know how to set goals. Less than half of today’s corporate workers could answer that question with what their specific personal and professional goals are. Try it for yourself. Write down five specific goals you wish to accomplish over the next month. Then write down five goals you wish to accomplish over the next year. What about what you plan to accomplish over the next five years? Do all your goals align with one another?
It is one thing to have goals and another thing to write them down. Setting goals down in writing makes them real. The pen to paper gives substance to what are otherwise just hopes and dreams. What is it about written goal setting that is so important?
Writing down your goals helps you to identify what you really want.
Really, everyone should write down his or her goals. However, it is especially important for the corporate worker who does not have the same typical sources of motivation as the average blue collar American. Things like a linear career path with tangible milestones such as promotions and pay raises just do not exist in the blue-collar world where many get stuck working in obscurity under the upper echelon of management. The corporate worker must create goals to assist them in moving forward towards career-based milestones.
It probably feels strange at first to think that the sky is the limit. However, as a corporate worker, you have more freedom and control over your goals and the direction of your career than you might think. Corporate America is a vastly large collection of multi-billion dollar companies. You do not have to stay with your current company to accomplish your goals. Though you should remain practical in your goal setting, your goals should ultimately be the greatest you could envision yourself achieving in the specified time period. Writing down your goals allows you to identify the milestones you wish to reach in your corporate journey.
Writing down your goals forces you to envision your success.
Remember, that you can define success many different ways. Let’s take a freelance writer as one example. Success may be based on a number of things for this one person, even if we are just speaking with regard to writing. He or she may have personal development goals such as expanding into different genres or improving his or her creative writing. She may have relationship goals such as developing contacts within the industry. She may also have income goals.
Regardless of what your goals are, putting them down on paper forces you to envision what success means to you and flesh out the details of what that success entails. Reaching your goals is about completing the action required to accomplish them. Writing down your goals allows you to envision what the finished product of your goals will be.
Writing down your goals makes you think them through.
Asking yourself how to get from where you are at the present time to where you would like to be, forces you to envision all the steps to success. Doing so has the beneficial effect of turning your long-term goal into several short-term goals.
For instance, if you are in sales and you want to hit a certain revenue goal for the following year then you must ask questions like “How many clients will I need to retain to make my goal?” From there you need to devise ways to make contact with and retain more clients. Naturally, you will derive your monthly, weekly, and daily goals from that one revenue goal.
At this point, you will have a logical plan that you can present to others for feedback and refinement. Writing down your goals assists you in visualizing the required action steps to accomplish them.
Writing down your goals helps you focus on what is important.
One trait that is common amongst successful corporate workers is a knack to think outside the box and come up with creative ideas. This ability is both a gift and a curse. Many fresh ideas can lead to innovation. Unfortunately, it can also lead to a lack of follow through.
As people, we tend to get excited by the next big thing. New ideas are exciting, but if we let them distract us from the important and more practical goals that we have set for ourselves, then they can actually hurt our productivity. By writing down our goals, we are forced to focus on the matter at hand and shelve the next big thing until it can be seamlessly weaved into our plan. When we write down our goals, we are able to see how each goal fits into the bigger picture and we can prioritize our actions based on that larger snapshot of what is actually going on at the time.
Writing down your goals provides you with a purpose.
Lastly, and most importantly, writing down your goals gives you a reason to get up every day. The minutiae of your daily life can get you into a rut when you stop seeing the forest for the trees. Connecting your long-term goals to your every day routine puts everything into perspective and gives that routine purpose. Without purpose, work is typically an unrewarding and boring exercise, and you will simply be working for a paycheck. However, when you frame it in the context of the pursuit of happiness, even the most unpleasant task will be given the appropriate amount of attention and care.
When you decide to put it all on paper — so to speak — you open up the possibilities of personal success and satisfaction. Taking the toil out of the 9-to-5 and adding peace of mind with a sense of purpose. You can be successful without writing down your goals, but your journey will make more sense if you put them all on paper.
(Image courtesy of popofatticus under a Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution generic license.)
It’s been a great 2010 at WorkAwesome. We’ve discussed everything from how to be more productive (no matter the time of day or situation), how to balance work with home life and offered ways to help you land that job you’ve been working toward. As 2010 comes to a close, we’d like to highlight some of the best posts WorkAwesome had to offer this year.
January
5 Tips for the Brand New Employee
What’s the Meaning of This?
The Zen of An Empty Computer Desktop
February
Meetings 101: Always Bring Something to the Table
What is a 21st Century Career?
Reality Breakdown: Raises on Lowered Budgets?
March
What You Owe Yourself
11 Gadgets You Should Have on Your Office Wishlist
Live What You Love
April
If You Want to Quit Your Job, Get a Plan in Place
Get Promoted Without Working Any Harder
Don’t Increase Your Willpower — Reduce Your Options
May
The Benefits of Working from Home
9 Ways To Improve Your Writing
Why Being A “Jack Of All Trades” Works
June
25 Examples of Super Creative Resume Design
5 Incredibly Useful Gmail Features
Burn Your Resume: Alternative Strategies to Get Your Dream Job
July
How to Create an Engaging and Effective Bio Page
Music at Work: Necessity or Nuisance?
The Complete Guide to Going Paperless
August
How a Sticky Note Can Change Your Life
7 Reasons to Switch to the Dvorak Keyboard Layout
Should You Switch to a Health Savings Account?
September
How to Find the Work You Love
How to Smash Your To Do List When You’re Your Own Boss
55 Ways to Relax After Work
October
How to Get Motivated in the Morning
Are You Rewarding Yourself through Procrastination?
Inbox 101
November
8 Ways to Get Motivated When You Have a Bad Boss
The Art of Continuous Self-Development
Busting Down the Office Door
December
The Fight Club Guide to Creating a Cult-Like Customer Following
Why the First Hour is the Most Important Hour of Your Day
How to Feel Better in the Wintertime
These were just some of the best of 2010; there are a lot of other great articles to explore at WorkAwesome from 2010 — and earlier.
On behalf of the contributors and team here at WorkAwesome have a great ending to 2010 and an awesome 2011!
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The way we start our day can strongly influence how the rest of the day goes. Whether we are concerned in making that first hour of the day the one that sets the tone or use the morning to create a great day throughout, we need to take the early part of the day to set up success for the rest of the day. Here are seven tried and tested ways that I use to kick start my day.
1. Wake Up Early
Leaving yourself enough time before work helps you to feel more in control of your time and less rushed. Personally I really like my sleep, so I am not suggesting you have to get up really early if that doesn’t appeal to you — but getting up in plenty of time before you leave the house or start your workday really makes a difference. I used to stay in bed till the last possible moment, but found that I always carried around a feeling of being forced out of bed and rushing into my day. Give yourself a little extra time and start your day in a relaxed and positive way.
2. Exercise
Exercising is a really great way to kick start your day. Again, find what suits you; you don’t have to jog ten miles or do a triathlon! I have a half an hour walk each morning, which gets me out into the fresh air and in contact with some daylight, which is important especially in the winter when we generally spend more time indoors. That half hour walk really sets me up for the day. If the weather is very bad, I do 15 minutes of yoga using a DVD at home. Some form of exercise will help you start your day on the right foot. Find what you enjoy and what fits in with your schedule. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing; start small and build on it.
3. Meditate
Meditation is a really simple and effective way to start your day well. If you haven’t meditated before, just carve out five to ten minutes from your day and sit quietly. Some people leave their eyes open. I prefer closing mine to shut out distractions — but find what works for you. You can stare at a candle flame or concentrate on your breath. I have a CD with guided meditations on that I find really helpful but you can also find other meditations free on the internet as well. Even sitting quietly with a hot drink once you get up can make a huge difference to your start to the day. It is amazing how much of a difference spending even ten minutes a day unplugged from the outside world makes.
4. Affirmations
Affirmations are a great way to promote positive thoughts and create a successful mindset for your day. Whether we realize it or not, our thoughts and the things we say about ourselves are affirmations. When we say we are bad at math or good at cooking, for example, it is an affirmation and that thought becomes the truth for us. Choosing positive affirmations is a great way to change your thoughts and start the day right. I use affirmations each day in front of a mirror and it really helps me to remember who I really want to be in life and what I want to focus on.
5. Have a Good Breakfast
A good breakfast is a great way to start your day. Breakfast is often called the most important meal of the day and for good reason; it provides the energy we need to start the day and also provides us with essential vitamins and minerals. I have a smoothie or porridge as I have a tendency to get very hungry around mid-morning and I find both have a good slow release of energy. Experiment and find out what works for you and what you enjoy.
6. Be Prepared
Get as much ready for your day the night before. Make your lunch for the next day, get your clothes ready, write a to do list and do whatever you can to free yourself up for the next day so that you can concentrate on enjoying your morning and starting your day off well. This doesn’t have to take up a lot of time, but setting up some simple systems to prepare for the next day will make a big difference to your mornings. Leaving yourself plenty of time will help you start the day in a relaxed way, rather than in a rush or panic.
7. Create a Simple To Do List
I find creating a to do list each day keeps me focused and clear on what I need to do, but I really try to keep it simple and just write two or three big important tasks. Be realistic about what you need to get done and bear your schedule in mind. If we always try and get too much done we can feel like we’re never achieving enough. Keep it simple.
How do you start your day? What ways have you found to start your day on a the right foot?
(Image courtesy of Jon_Marshall under a Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution generic license.)
Until recently I was going in to the office to work Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. But over the past few months for a variety of reasons, I’ve slowly cut back my in-office time and now I pretty much only work from home. There are a lot of benefits to this, such as working in my pajamas, making hot lunches and more time with my wife — who also works from home. There are also a lot of challenges including household distractions, a flexibility that leads to procrastination, and household chores and errands somehow manage to take up more of the day than they used to.
While working from home should feel a lot less stressful, sometimes I actually find myself stressing over not being productive enough. So I recently decided it was time to start a new regime of focus and productivity. Here are the steps I’ve taken, which have so far proven very effective. While I used these steps to be more productive working from home, they can all be adapted to the office.
Clearing My Desktops (Both Physical and Virtual)
Between components of in-progress projects, to-do lists, books I’m reading, reference materials, gadgets and a variety of other items, both my computer desktop and my physical desktop were chaotic. I started to realize that there was little chance of me staying focused with so many things to distract my attention. This clutter also acted as a constant reminder of all the other things I need to do, making me stressed and anxious. It was time for a change.
I cleared my desk of all but the most essential items, and removed the files and folders off of my desktop. I now have a clear working space, and have only two folders on my desktop: one for to-do lists, and one for works in progress. I feel much calmer already.
Power Hours
With so many other things to work on, think about, and be distracted by, I decided to start using power hours. I turn off my email, phone, and any other distractors, close any programs or windows not related to what I’m going to work on and set a timer for one hour. I then stay focused on one task until either it is complete, or the hour is through. Once the timer goes off I am free to take a short break, though often I’m on such a roll by that point that I stay focused for some time after the timer runs out. During these short breaks, I check my email and voicemail, then I allow myself a few minutes of guilt-free distraction. Snacks, coffee, bathroom breaks, etc. all wait until this time. Then I do it again. I’m getting way more done because of it.
New Morning Routine
When I was an office-dweller, my morning routine went like this: shower, make coffee, make my lunch, check email, read any interesting items from my RSS feed, work on personal projects if time permitted, then walk to work. This was effective because arriving at the office for a set time meant that I couldn’t spend too long on unproductive tasks, and the walk to work got me ready to focus on work. When I started working from home, those unproductive tasks started bleeding into work time, and I felt unfocused and unproductive when I started working.
Here is my new routine: make coffee, check email and RSS feed (which is much shorter because I’ve removed most of my subscriptions), read a book (something I enjoy – keep the dry, challenging stuff for another time), shower, stretch while focusing on having a productive day, then begin work. This separates my work time from my play time and I start to work feeling calm and focused.
Learning to Refocus
There is a lot you can do to minimize distractions, but inevitably they will happen throughout the day. The tough part is refocusing afterward. When I’m feeling scattered and finding it hard to get back into the groove, I sit still for a moment and take some deep breaths while picturing myself being very focused and productive. If I’m still having trouble, I have some music on hand that helps calm me, and a book that I can read passages from if I’m still struggling (in my case it’s the Tao Te Ching, but anything that inspires you or helps you focus will work).
A Place for Working
Separating work time from play time was easier when I worked in an office. Once I started working from home, the desk I sat at to surf the internet was the same as the one I worked at, and it became hard to separate the two. It used to be that when I thought of something I wanted to look up on the internet while I was working, I made a note, and looked it up when I got home. While working from home I get in the bad habit of looking them up right away.
Now, I when it is time to use the computer for fun, I bring my laptop into another room. My desk is for working, so I only do work there. This has helped me stay on task because I leave the distractions for once I’ve left my desk.
If you are an office dweller, you can often adapt this technique. Rather than checking your personal email or Facebook or whatever from your computer on your desk (it’s okay, you can admit that you do it), go into the lunchroom and use the wi-fi on your iPhone, Blackberry, or other mobile device (if you have one). This not only separates your work space from your play space, but the fact that it’s less convenient to send emails or post status updates from your phone will help you leave the less pressing things until you get home.
What do you do to stay focused and productive? We’d like to hear your tips and ideas!
(Image courtesy of helgabj under a Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution generic license.)
Delicious is leaving a bad taste in Web surfers’ mouths by announcing it may not be around for much longer. Yahoo, which owns it, is looking to sell or shut down Delicious.
Avid Delicious users are in a panic at the thought of not being able to access their bookmarks. Luckily, there is a way to export Delicious bookmarks.
Okay, so you’ve exported them. Then what? What are you supposed to with them now? If you choose to migrate to another bookmarking service, you have a lot of options. Here are some suggestions:
Cloud-Based Tools
These are web-based services like Delicious that let you save bookmarks, share them with other users and see what other people save.
- Historio.us is for people who miss the days when when Delicious ended in “.us”. It has one-click bookmarking, snapshots of saved pages, tagging and search. You can use it for free until you have more than 300 bookmarks. (Note that it has a tool to import other bookmarks)
- Licorize offers several ways to share your bookmarks (bookmarklet, Chrome or Firefox extension and web page). It’s free. But if you pay a subscription fee you get project-like functionality that allows you to categorize bookmarks and assign them to team members.
- Pinboard.in is like Delicious in terms of its simplicity. This should help it with speed of service. The services charges a registration fee and a yearly subscription if you want to archive bookmarks on your computer.
- Diigo is the more complex option with collaboration and commenting features. It can be accessed with iPad and Android apps. The service is free but it does run ads. It also has a tool to import Delicious bookmarks.
- Google Bookmarks is a free service that’s easy to use. If you have a Google account, you can save bookmarks from a Google search or use the bookmarklet. You can organize the bookmarks into lists and make the lists public. But that’s about it for features.
- Blinklist lets you quickly bookmark links and share them. It also lets you save the pages for offline viewing.
Browser-Based Tools
These tools are meant more for private viewing. You can access them from any browser that supports the add on.
- Xmarks is more for people who just want to use their bookmarks on different computers. It’s free and easy to use. It is important that the developers threatened to shut it down earlier this year. But another service has bought it and has plans to offer subscription options in 2011.
- Google Chrome Sync is built into the Chrome browser so you don’t have to download anything. It’s as free and as easy as Xmarks.
- Sync2It is another browser add-on that allows you to sync across multiple browsers and computers.
Other Alternatives
These are services that are like bookmarking services but have other functions. They may not be the best bookmarking tools, but they can do the job
- Evernote offers a way to save notes and clip web pages. The bookmarklet makes it useful for saving URLs and categorizing. The already popular service can be accessed on the web and offers Mac, Windows, iPad/iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Palm Pre and Windows Mobile apps. The features are free — but you get more storage and sharing options with the premium version. It, too, has a tool to import Delicious bookmarks.
- Zootool is somewhat like Evernote. It lets you save pages, documents, videos and images that you can share and tag.
- Instapaper isn’t meant to be a bookmarking tool. It’s a handy way to save web pages for later reading. You also can read the saved pages offline. In a pinch, you can use it as a bookmarking alternative. It is free but allows you to become a subscriber. At this point a subscription has no benefits, so it’s like making a donation to the developer.
- WordPress blogs can be used as an online notebook. The “Press This” bookmarklet also allows you to save bookmarks in a pinch. It’s not as easy as the dedicated services but it has tagging and sharing if you desire. Heck, with a little bit of work, you can use it to host your own — albeit perhaps crude — social bookmarking service.
Conclusion (and a warning)
Delicious may or may not shut down. Who knows what it will look like if it is sold. Xmarks also almost bit the dust. You must be careful about how much you rely on free services. Even if they don’t shut down, they may switch to subscription fees that don’t suit you.
There can also be a lack of accountability when it comes to security and consistency. You don’t have much foundation for complaining when things are free.
If you’re using any of these services for business, consider paying for a subscription. You may end up with more stable and secure service by doing so — and help those who are offering these services maintain — and possibly improve — them over the long term.
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(Image courtesy of Malkav under a Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution generic license.)
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