Since I started to do freelance full time I have noticed that I can easily get distracted by simple things, like checking social media sites, reading emails, writing emails, switching projects and before it became a habit I wanted to stop it, and make sure that I am focused.

I started to use the timer on my iPhone and set it for 15 to 30 minutes, during this time I would not do anything except for the one subject that I wanted to focus on. After a few days I have noticed that I am able to get twice as much work done in a single day, than I did with out it.

It surprised me how much time I get side tracked or multi-tasked even by other work and how this limits the amount of work that I can complete in a single day.

Using my iPhone was great at first but I wanted an even easier way to do this without bringing out my phone 16 times a day. So I did a bit of Google-ing and came across a free Windows app called “Cool Timer“.

If you work on or near a computer through out the day I would suggest giving this a try and see if it can improve your work day.

Right now many people are complaining that the iPad is just a large iPod touch and that it does little more then the iPod. However after taking a look at the processor and the capabilities I can see a easy way to turn your iPad into a powerful mobile machine.

Using the Logmein ignition app you can terminal into your main machine (Mac or PC). This will allow you to use all of your regular programs like photoshop and Microsoft word, without having to carry around your heavy laptop.

What makes the iPad perfect for this is that most of the time when you go to a meeting needing a  computer, you don’t really have to type that much, most of the time you will be looking at a document or a web page (at least in my case). Having the iPad will make meetings that much more interactive, because your customer/client will be able to hold the iPad and get a closer look at those web pages or documents.

Posted via email from Andrew’s posterous

The past few years haven’t been the best for the legend Steve Jobs. He has been fighting pancreatic cancer and due to the cancer he has taken some time off to heal. While taking his time to heal it left many people wondering “What will happen to Apple once Steve Jobs is gone?”. No one really knows. Everyone does know that no ONE man can replace him. Steve Jobs did what many could only hope for, he took a dying company and within a few years turned it into a lifestyle. He managed to have give us iPod’s, iMac’s and world changing iPhone.

I personally think that Steve Jobs will stay working and a part of Apple until the day he dies. I feel that he lives and breathes that company, which is why it is so successful. But… one company will come in after him and they will fill his shoes, not with one man, or with one women but with a group of the smartest and most creative people in the world, and that can only be Google.

Google created a search engine over a decade ago that was simple, plain and gave it away to their user for free. This motto still shows itself in every product Google creates today. Gmail changed the way many perceive emails, Google Reader brought us the sites that we love to read, Chrome gave us the fastest and cleanest browser, and the Android operating changed the software we use on phones. Though Google may not have been the first to create these tools, they did however bring it to us in a way that we want; easy to use, open and free.

The world is changing and as technology grows many people want more for less, and the one company that is already doing that is Google.

Posted via email from Andrew’s posterous

This past year I have been getting busier and the amount of work that I have, has more then doubled. I needed to come up with a solution that would allow me to manage my daily tasks of running a web business and
having to be at multiple places.

Here are some of the problems that I ran into:

• Needed to answer business emails on the go
• Needed access to all of my clients files on the go
• Internet goes down at home and I still needed to meet a deadline
• Needed a clients name and address while I was at the post office
• Needed a secure storage solution for Passwords
• Needed access to my notes where ever I go, making the notes actually usable.
• Wanted to be able to search through my notes (It would be nice to search through PDF’s and images)
• Needed Automatic file backup in case of hard drive failure
• Wanted an easy way to backup photos taken on my phone during a meeting
• Needed to access my chat logs from multiple computers and iPhone
• Needed to access to thousands of bookmarks on any browser and my iPhone
• Needed to track time spent on a project from multiple computers and iPhone
• Wanted to view a website that’s on my computer, on my iPhone with limited effort. And Vice Versa
• Needed to make a To Do task/checklist when an idea or task is mentioned or comes to mind
• Needed to send files to a client while out of the office
• Wanted a business phone number that I can use with any phone

The list is pretty big as you can see and these are only the tip of the ice berg of the things I needed. Basically it came down to; I need to have everything with me, wherever I go, all of the time.

After I did some research and plenty of testing(nearly 6 months and hundreds of tools) with trial and errors I came to use the following tools which allow me to work from anywhere.

• Bookmarks
• Notes (text, audio, video, images and PDF’s)
• Business checklists from Notes
• Website from PC to Phone instantly
• FREE or $5/month

• Secure passwords and notes
• Send a password to email
• FREE for $1/month

• Automatic online file backup
• Send files to a client while away from the office
• Send client a link to a large file without requiring them to login to somewhere
• FREE for 2GB

• Access to personal and business emails
• Quick searches in all email
• One place for all contacts
• FREE

• To Do Tasks with notes
• Due dates and Notifications
• FREE or $2/month

• Microsoft Office replacement on the go
• Quick form creation
• FREE

• Web based Instant Messenger client
• AIM, MSN, Gtalk, Yahoo, ICQ and more
• FREE

• Meeting Dates
• Email, Text Message and web based notifcations
• FREE

• Web based phone number
• Voicemail to text transcripts
• Emailed transcript of voicemail
• FREE

• Web based photo storage
• Send photos from mobile phone to online storage for backup
• FREE for 1GB

• Time tracking
• Task management
• Billing
• Email notices of new project/tasks
• FREE

• Web based access to my computer (terminal service)
• Version on iPhone makes it possible to connect to my main computer on the go
• FREE or $69.95 for Pro

• Access to all of the above tools on the go without a laptop
• Hands down, the best tool for anyone running a business
• $99.00-$299.00

I’ve been using most of these tools now for over 6 months and it has dramatically reduced my stress and increased productivity. I can’t imagine what it would be like if I didn’t have these tools, but I am always
looking for tools to help streamline my work flow.

If you have a tool(s) that you find useful please feel free to share it so that others who read this can choose the tool(s) that works for them.

I read their article “Evernote – Your brain on the web” and once I finished I began to explore the rest of their site. What’s different about this site is that it is very informatitive in showing how technology can and should be used in the class room and I wanted to give them major props for finding and publishing real examples. Be sure to check out their website: http://www.connectedadmin.com

• ME: I think it will allow many companies the capabilities to effectively see what their product would look like in real world situations, such as a new food product on a shelf, or a new building design in the location that you want or even how a new shirt will look on you before you buy it.
• THEM: Thanks for the reply! I was thinking along the same lines, like a construction industry. Can you think of any other ways? I appreciate it!
• ME: I think it would also help GPS industries to help navigate people out of traffic if they can see the slow traffic in real time a head of time. or for adventure seekers, they would be able to see how far a hike would be or how which trail to take while outdoors, eliminating some people from getting lost.
• THEM: I definitely agree! I think GPS is a huge industry. Just out of curiosity, can you think of any industry or type of company that may go under due to advances in AR?
• ME: I don’t think any industry will go under because of AR, I think some might fill the sting a little such as the paper industry for layout samples, or car testing equipment since both of those can easily be replaced by a more advanced AR system.
• ME: I would love to see a AR system to help diagnose problems with my car, computer or any electronic device.
• THEM: how could AR diagnose a car or electronic problem? I think that’s an incredible idea but I think i’m missing how it would work.
• ME: I think with more sensors added to electronics or cars in combination with AR then we would be able to see where the problem is happening and focus on that area.
• THEM: that is very interesting… I’m trying to wrap my mind around how that would work… Do you know if anything like that is in existence or being created right now?
• ME: Right now NASA has many sensors hooked up to their test flights which give data off wiring, the shell of the ships, how it is effected with heat, flex etc. and since the sensors can be hooked to a computer to show results then I am sure that with a few tweaks that it would work with AR

After the quick conversation it made me think even further last night. What else could we do with augmented reality? Here are some ideas that I came up with:

• Checking the temperature of a bottle of formula for a baby
• A overlay image of how something needs to be setup (ie. a new internet connection, tv or DVD player)
• Showing a 3D model of a character in real time on the movie set
• Getting a movie trailer while looking at a poster (I know this is already in production)
• Viewing video game reviews when looking at a game box in the store
• Viewing a bar code in a magazine can take you a website with more information on a article
• Looking at a product in the store you get prices from different online stores which allows you to buy the cheapest one right there.
• View inside the engine bay of a car and have pop-up bubbles show what a part is, what model number it has and where you can get a new one
• Overlay of a soda/food can to easily see how many calories it has
• View an animal to see what kind of dog/cat it is, if it has a chip you can see what the dog/cat’s name is, the vet history etc (This could be used for bad if gotten into the wrong hands, but it would be good for groomers and vets)
• Look at a photo, and see any photos that may be in the same photo album(In connection with Picasa, Flickr, etc)

There are many more things that Augmented Reality could be used for, but these are the few I thought about in detail last night.