2 Productivity Tools I Now Can’t Live Without

Posted by AndyM on June 29, 2010 under Business Growth | 2 Comments to Read

We’ve all heard the phrase “a level playing field” applied to a variety of situations. Whether one thinks the field is indeed level, or drastically slanted in one direction or another, depends on the person and the issue at hand.

One place where the field is inarguably flat (at least I don’t think I would get any valid arguments) is time.  We all have the same number of hours in a day. Those that use them more wisely will do better than the rest. As my business has grown, my to do list has grown with it. Thankfully, as a student of time management, I have been able to stay one step ahead. As you may have read here before, I am a big fan of David Allen and the philosophy he laid out in “Getting Things Done” (GTD for short).

I recently seemed to outgrow my paper-based implementation of the GTD system.  After wading into a few forums, reading reviews, and experimenting a bit, I came to www.toodledo.com.  Wow!  This free online tool has allowed me to get dozens of activities easily out of my head and into an intuitive system.  It also offers an iPhone application (for just $2.99) that will stay in sync with my online list.  If you have read David’s book, or have become proficient in the GTD methodologies through a seminar or other means, I strongly encourage you to check out Toodledo.com.

My second recommendation is something that has been around for some time.  Now that I am a user, it’s hard to imagine why it hasn’t become more popular. After nursing sore wrists and fingers a few weeks ago, I decided it was time to investigate speech recognition software. A quick search brought me to a name I had heard many years ago — “Dragon.”  At only about $40 on amazon.com, I got the standard version “Dragon Naturally Speaking.”

http://www.amazon.com/Nuance-Communications-Inc-A309A-G01-10-0-NaturallySpeaking/dp/B001B5J7T8/ref=pd_cp_sw_1

Another “wow.”  I wasn’t expecting to shave up to an hour of typing off of my day. Even a fast typist cannot keep up with the spoken word.

If you are fortunate enough to have a private office where you can talk at your computer without annoying others around you, you owe it to yourself to check this out. Now replying to a list of e-mails, writing a new blog post, or creating copy for a client can be super fast, making it easier to concentrate on it as a task, not as a way to make hours vanish from your schedule!