Resources for busy SMEs
This issue features websites and web-based applications that are designed to help improve your productivity. By Valerie Khoo.
Simple time tracking software
www.getharvest.com
If you need to keep track of the hours you spend on a project in order to charge clients, then this web-based application enables you to do away with recording time on bits of paper then entering the data into a cumbersome Excel spreadsheet. This allows you to track hours for different staff on different projects/clients. It can also generate reports and make the whole process of keeping timesheets and recording billable hours simple. You can access this for a very inexpensive monthly fee. Rates vary depending on the package you choose.
Time and efficiency guru
www.davidco.com
David Allen is the author of best-selling book Gettings Things Done. Allen believes that it's not the amount of work we haveto get through which results in stress, it's the fact there are"unticked" items on our "to do" lists which causes the mostangst. Allen doesn't just provide time management tips, heputs forward an entire system which can help you in everythingfrom managing emails to setting goals for big projects.
Consolidate your "to do" list
www.rememberthemilk.com
With reminders on your home and work computers, laptops, PDAs, and mobile phones, your task list can end up spread across a number of devices. Remember the Milk is an Australian web-based application that helps people manage task lists through a user-friendly web interface that can be accessed through any device with an internet connection. You can even add to your list simply by shooting off an email.
Save time with typing shortcuts
www.activewords.com and
www.smileonmymac.com/textexpander
If there are passages of text you type frequently – such as your address or a standard response to a customer query – you can save a lot of time with these applications. Active Words is for Windows (US$49.95, A$59.95) and Text Expander is for the Mac (US$29.95, A$35.95). Both can be purchased and downloaded on the internet. Just assign a shortcut to the longer body of text you want to type – ranging from a short phrase to entire letters – and cut down your typing time.