Time Management can problematic when you have a combination of things on your to-do-list.  Those things you love to do, need to do but don’t love doing and those things that you would rather put off or even procrastinate at.

The Action Machine is a piece of down loadable software that you can program in your tasks – and then lovely large visual timers to each task or project you assign.   The beauty of this program for those things you tend to procrastinate around – you can set a short timer – and make a commitment to do at least that amount of time.   10 Minutes is usually enough to get me started on something I have been putting off.

The second cool thing about this piece of software – is if you have any illusion about how much time things take you to accomplish…. you can set up the timers – and really find out – just how much time you have been spending on things.    How much time does it really take to get thru all of those emails?     What would happen if you allowed yourself 30minutes?  Would you move on to other things.

I like this program idea.  It’s a great way to create some structure around time.

You can do the same thing with paper, and yet…there is something alluring about using the visual aids of timers.  There is also the small piece about “giving yourself permission”  to call a day  – a day.   When there is always more to do – this is one way to use a tool to help you limit the size of your plate for the day.

You might be interested in related posts

• Listen to recordings Faster… well almost

Wiggio.com is a free, online toolkit that makes it easy to work in groups

On Wiggio, you can share and edit files, manage a group calendar, poll your group, post links, set up conference calls, chat online and send mass text, voice and email messages to your group members. Each group member can define how they want to keep informed of group activity. For a complete overview of what your group can do on Wiggio, click on the following video:

You might be interested in related posts

• Using SmartSheet for Team Collaboration

Personal Brain is magnificent for linking thoughts, ideas, concepts, relationships.  Once you start creating your maps it is a snap to connect what they call “child” thoughts to a topic and include attachments such as mind maps, documents, spreadsheets, hyperlinks.

The joy of using personal brain comes in when you are needing to do rapid jumping from thought concept to thought concept.  I use it for mapping new information and resources related to research I am doing, my own learning objectives, training, as well as my personal interests.  I include links to documents on my hard drive – as well as embed things like mind maps right into my Personal Brain file.    It is speedy and quick and the only 1 draw back for me is that it does not print out well – and yet, for it’s performance on-screen – I haven’t found anything as fun to use – or as quick.

For me – besides the fun – I can “link” concepts from varied different sources together and quickly move from one to another.   This isn’t as easy to do in systems like MindManager and the like – because for the most part in those programs you want to attempt to keep each map relatively small – and you are better off just to use multiple maps.  With Personal Brain – Your file can be as large as you want it – and you don’t experience “information overload” like you can in other mapping programs.

This is not for everyone, but for those who are collecting large amounts of knowledge or information who want to access it quickly – Personal Brain can be a great resource.

Personal Brain Website:  The Brain

On The Brain site they have a good description of 12 ways most people use Personal Brain

In addition, the folks at The Brain also have information sessions and training sessions they run frequently for new and advanced users.

Sherman Hu - uses his brain as a Rolodex-ing.

We have other posts on  Mind Mapping

You might be interested in related posts

• Freemind – an Open Source Mind Mapping Tool
• CMAP Tools – Directional Concept Mapping
• Mind Mapping with Visual Mind

I got a great referral for a great virtual assistant for working with Web 2.0 Social Networking Applications from nancy @ Viva visability.com

www.websuccessdiva.com

Maria works with soho folks on social media success.

Here are some additional VA’s who work with Social Media Applications:

YellowHighlighterVA.com

VirtuallyYours925.com

amhbusinesssolutions.com

You might be interested in related posts

• Was this what you were looking for? If not- besure to try the search function - upper left hand corner

The visual look of Freemind

Free Mind - Open Source Mind Mapping Tool
The Product Link: Open Source Mind Map Software

What It Does: FreeMind is mind-mapping software. Mind Mapping software can be used as a productivity tool.

Keep track of projects, tasks, links to files, keeping track of small notes, brain storming tool, using colours to differeniate, an organizational tool. Aid to help with right-brain creativity.

You might be interested in related posts

• Jott Express – Use it with Jott
• Using Personal Brain for Information and Knowledge Collection
• Intention Statements – Free Software Tool to Program Your Mind

The Marketer: Michael Masterman

The Marketing Blurb:" never-before-released computer program that will enable you to literally change life-long habits through something known as programmed rehearsal ."

The Product Link: Motivator

What it does: If you are into "Law of Attraction techniques" this is a fun little tool. Just program in your intention statements after you download the free software – and then notice how it helps will awareness focus on what you intend for yourself.

So, got some marketing related intention statements you would like to rehearse or focus on? This might be a great tool for you.

Find out what top marketers belief about them selves, about marketing, about their markets – and model those beliefs through practicing them. This is a super tool for this.

I have had it downloaded for 1 day – and already see the benefits. One of the stock statements is an intention to sit up straight. I love it and find myself doing it more.

You might be interested in related posts

• Jott Express – Use it with Jott
• Freemind – an Open Source Mind Mapping Tool
• Fill in your Log-name and Passwords with Ease

The Marketer: VistaPrint

The Marketing Blurb: "VistaPrint is the easy design and print solution chosen by more than 11 million people worldwide."

What it Does: Anything from Business cards, Corporate Identity items, promotional pieces, return address labels and stamps etc.

The Product Link: VistaPrint

My Experience: If you have been around a while – you’ve probably seen the ads from VistaPrint for 250 free cards and that has prompted you to take a look at some of their templates – and if you are like me – you have probably wanted something more unique and creative.

Something that not many folks know is that you have the option of putting your own business card design in to the online system – and have your cards, brochures or whatever printed. You can do it all yourself if you have a good handle on good design, graphics and branding – or better still – outsource it and then when you get the file back from the designer you can upload it into vista print. Just give your designer the VistaPrint template to work from.

The process is easy to do – easy to follow and at the end you get a very professional product. For example with the business cards, great card stock, coating, cutting and colours make for a great image supported by these cards.

I like to remember that if folks are like me – the save business cards – I have a collection of them from the 80′s that I still refer too.

You might be interested in related posts

• Was this what you were looking for? If not- besure to try the search function - upper left hand corner

T he Marketer: Siber Systems Inc

The Marketing Blurb: "Roboform is the top-rated Password Manager and Web Form Filler that completely automates password entering and form filling"

The Product Link: RoboForm

What it Does: You remember 1 password – and RoboForm remembers the rest. It saves time – it goes to a website and logs you in automatically, stores your passwords encrypted on your computer, it will generate passwords that hackers can’t guess, it fills passwords only on matching websites – so you won’t get caught by phishing sites.

My Experience: I have been using RoboForm now for about 3 months. I must say this is one of the best productivity tools I have picked up on in months and boy is it easy to use.

Keeping track of membership sites, papal accounts, list serves, shopping, domains, web logs and all the other sites I belong to – started to become a bit of a hassle. So much so, that I started to notice I wasn’t joining in on things just because I didn’t want to have to keep track of 1 more sign in code.

Then along came RoboForm

I am truly amazed about how much easier It is to check all of my accounts now. What used to take me 1/2 hr to do – now takes 10 minutes – and I find I moving a lot quicker from site to site now.

I went for the pro-version, although there is a free version available for download.

If you are like me and you have a lot of passwords and log-in names – this product would be one of my highest recommended tools for a busy small business owner.

You might be interested in related posts

• Jott Express – Use it with Jott
• Freemind – an Open Source Mind Mapping Tool
• Intention Statements – Free Software Tool to Program Your Mind

In addition Elance.com

There is also a site called scriptlance.com where you can outsource your coding and scripting needs.

You might be interested in related posts

• Sources for Low Cost Graphics

The Marketer: IHMC

The Marketing Blurb:“Empowering users to construct, navigate, share and criticize knowledge models represented as concept maps”

Software, self-hosted, no cost if for personal use.

The Product Link:http://cmap.ihmc.us/download/

What it does: Among a lot of other things – CMAP tools is a wonderful product to use when you need to create a concept map of a series of directional steps. Any planning activity that requires a series of forward moving steps is handled quite nicely by this program. You can also do a lot of other things with this program – Have a look at their home page where you can find details about functionality and different versions that are available.

You might be interested in related posts

• Using Personal Brain for Information and Knowledge Collection
• Freemind – an Open Source Mind Mapping Tool
• Mind Mapping with Visual Mind