In the business world of a everyday sucky tasks and ta-do’s, it’s really hard to keep track of everything, and its even worse even you don’t have the right tools. If you’ve ever tried to open a can of chili with a dull spoon; these are the tools of the cubical-land office I’m talking about.

The depressing and mundane cubical landscape says you can’t have anything of your own and if you have to click twenty times to do something simple; if there’s not other way you have to click 20 times because all the other 17 clicks are not used or don’t mean anything and the application your using is designed for so many other things you don’t use it for.

Some businesses or environments have policies about installing software on your work PC, some prohibit the connection of USB devices, but others recognize that USB devices are required and that software that is freeware is allowed. So, the only recourse to these bastard-like applications is to work around/with them. Tame and bind them to your will with these useful tools.

Repetive Stuff

PhraseExpress
If you’re in the position of processing orders, dealing with customers via email or creating custom contracts on a regular basis; this program is for you. It can fill forms, handle random quotes, fill dates, signatures and more; it can even handle pasting images with text. Additionally, the program has the ability to watch what your typing and use it’s ‘text prediction’ feature to create a list of common repetitive phrases for you. This application is portable, so you can take it with you.

AutoHotkey [Freeware]
This is a repetitive tool of sorts as well, but it actually helps you in other ways. this application allows you to record keyboard and mouse movement. If you’re working with an application that requires you to click a button or choose a specific option, and you have to use a mouse; this application is your dreamboat. Custom functions [macros] can be used to launch specific webpages, create new orders, create reports and many other various functions that are too numerous to list. Pretty much anything it requires you to do the same functions over and over again can be recorded and played back to reduce your overall workload.

The program has extensive programming language, but the recorder does most of the work for you.

This application is portable, so you can take it with you.

Scheduling - SystemScheduler [Freeware]
While Windows has a task scheduler built-in, actually scheduling something is a bit of a hassle if you’re the only user. If you’re an individual that has the punching every day using any application or webpage to control your time clock, you can combine a scheduler with AutoHotKey to handle logging in and logging out on a daily basis. Basic things such as turning your PC off, Start & Stop applications at specific times and scheduling recurring events can help structure your work week.

This application is portable, so you can take it with you.

Personal Information Manager

MyNotesKeeper
Everyone wants to impress their supervisors and be the ‘go to guy’, but not everyone can remember everything, details are going to get lost, information can be left out, but if you have an application that can pull this information up for you very quickly and is placed into a structure that your mind is familiar with and how your thought processes work; you can find this information very quickly and become more valuable in the workplace.

MNK is an application that allows you to keep track of important information. It’s portability and responsiveness make it extremely useful. The program can be placed on a USB drive so you can have your information with you at all times. Information can be retrieved almost immediately. It can be printed, e-mailed, exported to HTML and various other methods.

Whether you’re working with tech support, processing orders, working with special customers or just trying to organize your information MNK is the application for you. Remove yourself from the crowd that always says ‘I don’t have that information’.

This application is portable, so you can take it with you.

Open Office 3 [Freeware]
This office application suite provides all the basic tools that you need to be able to create your presentations, documentation and spreadsheets. Its speed and portability make it extremely attractive; not to mention the price [free]. This application essentially allows you to take your office anywhere you need to go. It supports Microsoft Office documents as well as the open document format [ODF]. So instead of having to pack up your laptop every evening and lug it home to work on a presentation or a document for customer next week or next month; you can put your information on a jump drive, put in your pocket and take it home and work on it there or on a PC at the hotel [if you're traveling]. Be productive, but don’t be exhausted.

This application is portable, so you can take it with you.

Handling PDF’s

PDFCreator [Freeware]
Having the basic ability to create a PDF for distribution to vendors, customers or for the purpose of archiving information; everyone should have the ability to create a PDF. The people at Adobe seem to think this is an exclusive feature or function that they should be able to offer just from them, but the truth is the market is flooded with applications that allow you to create PDFs for free. The PDF format is the industry-standard on sharing information. PDFCreator is a free application; it installs in just a few minutes and allows you to print as you would to any other printer, to create a PDF file. In my opinion, no PC should be without the ability to create a PDF; especially in a situation of a PC that has no printer.

XChange PDF Viewer [Freeware]
So there you are, you’re checking your e-mail or your browsing the web and you come across a PDF document; you need to view it. What are you going to use? Xchange PDF Viewer should be your answer. This PDF viewer is small, lightweight and fast. it’s packed full of features which are expecting and in my opinion need. Not only does this application allows you to view a PDF, it allows you to fill out forms, type in information, add comments and specialized markup tools.

Some of the PDF viewers on the market that are free of allowing you to only view a PDF file, but when you’re in a situation that you need to be able to view that PDF file, bring information to a certain point fill out a PDF and return it, this is what this application does. It empowers you to do what you need to do to be productive and to be professional with the other individuals that you’re working with. Don’t waste your time; work smarter, not harder. This application is portable, so you can take it with you.

Thunderbird w/Lightning and Provider [Google] [Freeware]

Some would argue that Microsoft Outlook is the replaceable. And I’ll give Outlook it’s due credit; is a powerful program, but the question is can you actually do your job

without Microsoft outlook? can you organize your life without Microsoft Outlook? the answer is yes in the cool part is that there are free applications that allow you to do this.

Thunderbird is pretty much the archenemy of Microsoft Outlook. Thunderbird is a e-mail client just as Outlook is, but Thunderbird focuses more on being an e-mail client as opposed to being a complete personal information manager. The interesting part about Thunderbird is that it’s expandable. There are groups of individuals, developers that want Thunderbird to do so much more; they are Thunderbird enthusiasts and they’re going to make your life extremely simplified.

The example in going to use here is with Google, but if you have a different web account you can use that [with the proper extensions]. Google offers a calendar, it offers web e-mail access and Google contacts can be synchronized with Thunderbird. Thunderbird can be made to be a simple extension of Google and by using the extensions of Lightning and Provider you can link directly to Google services. You can set your reminders, send your e-mails, keep your contacts and maintain tasks in Thunderbird. It’s also one of those applications that are portable.

While others will argue that web e-mail is the wave of the future on e-mail management, I’m not going to argue that point right now, but it seems to be going away; I simply prefer the old-fashioned e-mail client, have my information right here locally type application. This application is portable, so you can take it with you.

VirtuaWin [freeware]
On a lot of cubicle farms, people have a lot of personal space and this can be true of desktop space as well. One of the benefits that Linux has enjoyed for years is the ability to maintain several desktops. Simply by pressing a button links can flip to a completely new desktop, different views, different applications and a different background.

When you’re working with large amounts of information on a writer basis your brain and eyes are screaming for more display space. There’s those days where your LCD monitor just doesn’t have enough space to display all the information that you need to see one time to do your job efficiently, but if you are able to press a key and flip back and forth it might make your job a little easier [or hide the video game that you're playing].

For this reason I recommend a virtual desktop manager, keep your contacts on one screen, your orders on another, a document that you’re running on another and quake three on the last one [smile].

KeePass [Freeware]
I don’t know about you, but the current security structure that we have simply drives me insane. You have passwords or hard drive access, you have passwords to log into the network, you have passwords to log into your contact manager, you have passwords to log in to your websites and you have passwords to protect your passwords; it’s insane. And with each program/application they’re all requiring that you have alphanumeric passwords with a special character and it has to have at least three numbers [blah blah blah]; it just makes me want to twist off.

Enter KeePass; this application will create and manager passwords for you. If used properly it can be a true lifesaver, because let’s face it you’re not supposed to use the same login and password on every single website; that’s flawed security and it’s an invitation for trouble. This application is portable, so you can take it with you.

[Nuance] Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 ‘Essentials’

While some individuals will shy away from my last offering, it’s going to be a godsend for some individuals. The individuals that I’m talking about [focusing on] are those that are responsible for handling large amounts of information electronically. Whether they be technical documents or sending e-mails on a regular basis that have to include detailed descriptions/instructions.

It’s true that some individuals are born with the natural ability to burn up the keyboard and type at lightning speeds, that there is the remaining 90% of the world that uses only two fingers to type their information. that doesn’t make the information that they present invalid, it’s just it takes them longer to get the information composed.

Here’s the thing, if you have the ability to speak clearly and you don’t mind wearing a headset you can dictate out your insurance is very clearly to computer that will translate your voice into text. This will raise your productivity level extremely. You go from typing 15 words a minute to 120 words a minute; with minimal editing.

Yes you’re going to look like somewhat of a freak by talking to a computer, but your productivity will speak for itself. The people that I think would be mostly impacted by this would be individuals who are translating documents, doing tech support, knowledge articles or pretty much anything that requires a lot of documentation.

While some may cower at the thought of trying to buy Dragon NaturallySpeaking; because it can be expensive, but for the package that I’m talking about is Dragon NaturallySpeaking ‘Essentials’. This specialized package can be purchased from your local Target store for $30-$40 [Call local target and ask for a DCPI: 201-00-0169]. This is substantially lower than any other Dragon NaturallySpeaking software package that’s offered by Nuance; and it’s only available from Target. It cannot be purchased directly from Nuance.

While Dragon NaturallySpeaking is not portable, it can be made by using the Mojo project [free for personal use]. I personally have been able to install and use Dragon NaturallySpeaking on a Mojo USB drive. check it out and see if the project is right for you.

Point of fact; this whole article has been dictated using Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

This concludes my list of productivity tools. And just because you’re presented with an application at work is complicated or an adequate or the process that you have to do is highly repetitive, there are things that you can do to help you do your job and do your job better. The goal is to ultimately make you happier and to remove the level of stress that you have to deal with on a regular basis. If you can make your job easier, provide information faster, your work experience will be better and those around you will enjoy your presence more.

Feel free to offer any suggestions on tools that you use.

Regards,
NapoleonAG
Email/IM: NapoleonAG.TSS@Gmail.com
Website: www.TechSideStories.com

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