Keyboard Karma ~ by Helen Crozier

Tungle puts your calendar on steroids to seriously help!

I'm so loving the latest answer to scheduling nightmares - a free website called Tungle. I've not seen such a feature rich service with all the doodahs and gadgets in a long time. Sign up for free at www.tungle.com.

The complete feature list is below:

Calendar & Contact Syncing
Outlook, Google Calendar, Apple iCal and Entourage for Mac (beta).

Calendar Sharing
Share across calendar and company boundaries. Your choice of free/busy or full details.

Create a personal link to your public free/busy calendar where others can schedule meetings with you.

Propose multiple meeting times
The more you propose, the easier it is to get your meeting booked.

Double-booking prevention
Schedule over times proposed in other invitations. Tungle will adjust to prevent conflicts in your calendar.

Invite anyone – No sign up required!
No matter what calendar or platform – all they need is email and a browser.

Quick links (Outlook & Google)
One-click start from your calendar or email inbox.

Time zone auto-adjust
Propose times and relax. Tungle will auto-adjust for invitees in other time zones.

Auto-add to calendar
A meeting gets booked and it’s added to your calendar. Simple as that.

RSS feed
Get your meeting updates in real time

I can't tell you how easy it is to set up and use. There are now widgets that you can add into your blog (as in above) or Facebook - the green 'light' indicates that you are available and Tungle keeps an eye on your calendar in real time turning red when you are busy. You can have your own 'tungle me' link which in my case is www.tungle.me/helencrozier. I chose as well to buy an easy to remember domain so now whenever I say "go to www.bookhelen.com" clients and friends will be taken to my tungle availability page as I've set up a redirect.

Bliss! I'm just waiting and hoping patiently for a working hours box to set up in the options. I don't like the calendar showing me as 'available' when I am actually asleep -people in other time zones might not realise that and could give me a call in the middle of the night!! Tungle promised me it would be possible to specify availability hours in the next major release.

Until then jump on board and enjoy the freedom of not playing telephone/email tag when trying to get someone to commit to an appointment!

Inbox Zero is sticking!

If it takes 30 days to make a 'habit' I'm so close that I'm nearly cracking out the champers for this one! I've tried lots of systems and tools in the past but to be honest after 2-3 weeks those systems and tools start to wear thin and the backlog builds up. THIS TIME seems different and the reason is clear. I have some serious synchronisation going on - where ever I'm working. Previously I was downloading emails into Outlook because it was my preferred method of dealing with email. I tried and liked Taglocity for sorting the emails and putting them into folders but it truly wasn't the simplest system around. More and more frequently I was finding myself out and about and needing to deal with emails - yes I could read and answer emails on the iPhone but then when I got home the emails would be downloaded again into the desktop. Double handling (yuck) and I didn't have the facility to be able to sort the emails into their appropriate folders.

Now since I've signed up to Google Apps for my domain all that has changed. This costs $50US per year to host and what a bargain. Sometimes it's a little fiddly to set up but once it's done you are in for a treat. I collect all my email into one google email bucket (personal and business). I can use google's coloured labels which replicate in Outlook as 'folders'. I'm going for minimal folders however to keep it simple:-
@action
@data entry
@print
@read
@reply
@waiting.

I then have a folder for each of my top 5 projects and one for expenses (which probably isn't necessary - I could do a 'search' for invoice, receipt and that would bring up all emails accordingly - it just feels safer!)

Now here's the great thing. Whenever I handle an email in any of the three places - Outlook, Google Mail or the iPhone a magical synchronisation happens and I never have to double handle anything!! If I have spare time and I'm with my iPhone I can check AND process email at the same time - either replying or filing or reading and deleting. When I'm at my desk and feel like a bit of Outlook work I can get in there and click on the @reply folder and knock of some answers to people. Finally if I'm on anyone else's computer I can log into gmail and work from there.

To think we had to deal with Microsoft Exchange etc before this was happening - at a cost of thousands of dollars... (Of course calendars, contacts and documents are also available to work with in this way.... bliss) I'm putting together documentation on how to put this all together very soon so stay tuned!

Inbox zero again thanks to Taglocity and focus

Have been reasonably good at keeping my business (calmtechcoach) emails down to under 50 or so but I decided to bring in my personal Gmail account to Outlook. I asked Gmail to only send emails 'from now onwards' but something strange happened and about 700 emails came flying into the inbox. It was pretty gross but perhaps a blessing in disguise. I had to 'face them' rather than ignore them for any longer.

So this morning I disconnected the internet knowing I would need an extraordinary level of focus. Using Taglocity (see previous post here) I managed to obliterate the inbox and get it back down to zero in 5 hours. It wasn't pleasant. I had to take breaks and then go back to it. I was doing a very good clean up though - New Year sort out - unsubscribing to newsletters like you wouldn't believe. Some people/organisations make that easy to do, others make it more difficult and I understand why it's easier sometimes to just hit the delete key rather than kill the source properly!

Anyway I'm all happy now and ready to get answering all of the emails in my @Action folder. Taglocity is great I have to admit..... back to sleeping better perhaps!

Organising help from the Calm Tech Coach and A Little Elf starting this Thursday!

SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISING

A Little Elf and The Calm Tech Coach can help you get organised in your office!
Climbing over stacks of paper?
Is your current paperwork covering your desk?
Don’t know how to get started?

Agenda / Program

• 2 different ways to manage your Action/To Do paperwork - also known as the papers currently covering your desk

• Using Outlook to manage your Action/To Do items electronically- task list, calendar, email methods

• Filing methods and what every office needs to be functional and effective

• Questions and solutions time - please bring photos and specific questions, plus your laptop

Presented by
Karen Koedding is Australia's first and only Certified Professional Organiser. Karen is a member of NAPO and AAPO, the professional associations for Professional Organisers. Her background includes degrees in Accounting and Interior Design along with 15+ years of experience as a licensed CPA. www.alittleelf.com

Helen Crozier is known as The Calm Tech Coach. Helen is a technology coach and a member of AAPO. She is passionate about helping people find simple but smart ways to use computers, software, digital devices or websites in order to make their lives easier in these crazy hectic times. www.thecalmtechcoach.com

Home Ideas Centre
61 – 63 O’Riordan Street, Alexandria, Sydney
$98.00 +GST (includes afternoon tea) 10% discount for 2 attendees 15% for 3 attendees
All seminars: 2pm - 5:30pm
Thursday 22 January 2009
Wednesday 18 February 2009
Thursday 19 March 2009

Book Online Here!

Taglocity + Outlook 2007 = inbox zero

Taglocity has recently revamped it's services. I did purchase the program back in version 1 days and was quite impressed. Something stopped me from using it permanently and I cannot recall what that was. With a bit of a reinvention they now provide an easier user experience. I've downloaded the trial account and am so far loving it. For almost two weeks I've maintained 'inbox zero' as a result of reinstalling taglocity.

There is a small learning curve with setting the system up however this is well compensated for with the results.

What are these results?I am able to with one click of a tag on my tag bar assign a category to an email (it is possible to assign multiple categories).

Each tag can have associated actions. For example if I tag a file @read it will immediately put it into the @READ folder for me. If I tag it @Data it sends it off to my @ACTION folder but has the category '@Data' so it is grouped together with other emails requiring me to do some data entry. Nice!

If I tag an email @Call it creates a task in the @ACTION folder with the @Call category making a nice list of people to contact on the telephone.

If I tag an email @Archive180 it removes any other action tags that I have created and stores it in my 6 month archive folder.

I am now down to FOUR email folders and loving it.

My @ACTION emails are categorised within that folder with very little effort at all thanks to Taglocity.
@Call
@Computer
@Data
@Errands
@Home
@Office
@Pay
@Reply
My current @ACTION email folder when sorted by category looks like this!

What I try to remember to do is to 'flag' all the emails that go into @ACTION with a 'no due date flag'. If an email as been 'flagged' it will show up in the task 'to do list' view which is just wonderful. In that view I then have a mixture of tasks AND emails requiring action all in the appropriate categories.

This 'to do list' view in Outlook doesn't force me to convert my emails to tasks - it just treats them as a task because of the flag. On the other hand, items that are captured on the fly via Chapura's Key Tasks on the iphone are also seen in the lists.

The result is a system which is the merger of two different workflow inputs. The things I have to do result I think roughly from 75% emails and 25% other (meetings, calls, brainstorming, weekly review etc).

If I am still happy with this system after 30 days of constant use I will mark it as a complete success but in the meantime if you are having problems with email overload consider giving taglocity a go.

There is a free version but I will be upgrading to the professiona versionl. My main reason for that is with the professional version you can take away the 'travelling tags' at the bottom of your emails. It is not a feature I particularly embrace! Email support is provided for professional users and more premium features are promised. Currently there is a special offer - until 31st December you can purchase Taglocity 2.0 for $60US - 40% discount off full retail of $99US.

I will be writing about other benefits of taglocity soon but there is more information available on the taglocity site - eg Benefits for Individuals.

PS My inbox was persistently clogged at around the 200 email level - not huge but not what I was happy with. Since using Taglocity I've gone to sleep almost every night with an empty inbox. Do I sleep better? You bet!

Outlook Express? Not for running a business

I often find clients who are using Outlook Express for their email and using it to try to run a business. Outlook express comes pre-installed on most Windows PC's but some people don't realise that if they have purchased Microsoft Office (not the Home & Student version) that they have Outlook installed. This is by far the superior tool for running a business. Outlook Express has very few features and is not suitable for using as a contact database. Outlook gives you so many more features - calendar (including meeting requests), tasks, notes, categories. Even if the client doesn't have Outlook installed I suggest they purchase a standalone copy of it and export their emails plus contacts over from the express version. It is a move I have never seen regretted!

Chapura Key Task issue resolved

I had crashing problems with my task list on the iphone! Chapura support were very prompt in getting back to me with the solution. I needed to remove any & or < > symbols in the category names. Yes.... something quick and simple...what bliss that it works and now my lists are synchronising and keeping me sane.

Chapura Key Tasks adds Outlook category support for iPhone

Thank goodness. I swear to you I've been almost checking  my iphone three or four times a day waiting for this update. I was in bliss when Key Tasks appeared for Microsoft Outlook but without category support it was next to useless. Now it's there and it works I'm in heaven. Thank you Chapura... my only suggestion would have been to wait until you had it before you released. In plain english..if you have separate lists (like David Allen from GTD fame suggests) you can now have those lists appear in proper order on the phone - my lists are simple but necessary.

Here are mine....
@Calls
@Errands
@Home
@Work
@WaitingFor
Projects
Someday/Maybe

Now I can abandon all the other todo applications I had to use until this was sorted... yay!!!

Clients! Sometimes they do listen!

Busy week with work and trip preparation but had a pleasant experience when I caught up with a client on Wednesday. Had not seen her for several months and the first thing she wanted to do was show me her empty in box and neatly organised Outlook Task lists. She was very proud but also happy that the system was still working for her that we initially implemented some 3-4 years ago.

Her business had grown and we spent a solid session linking calendars & task lists between employees and computers using a variety of synchronising technology.

Very successful and satisfying for the both of us!

Outlook Tasks on iPhone with Key Tasks from Chapura

One of the things that gave me a heart attack when I picked up my iPhone was the realization that there was no synchronization of tasks from the desktop! I tried a few replacements but was not so happy that I had to stop using Outlook to manage my to-do list. I had been doing it for so many years - it was kind of hard to stop! Anyway I was working with toodledo - which synchronised at least to the web - meaning I didn't have to solely enter and manage the lists on the phone (I'm still pretty slow at typing on the phone ... please please please Mr Steve let us have a bluetooth keyboard!). It was working ok but didn't feel right to have to use something outside Outlook.

However.... on Friday night I discovered a little surprise! Chapura had released keytasks for the iPhone. Woohoo!! I was downloading it faster than the speed of light - excited about going back to my nice Outlook 2007/Getting Things Done lists!

I was unfortunately a little premature with my excitement. This version does not support categories. Oh dear!!! I find it impossible to work from one big long uncategorized list but tech support have promised that category support and a date problem fix will be coming asap in the next update. Can't wait.....

One nice benefit of the keytasks is that your tasks are synchronized to the 'cloud' on Chapura's server. You download free software for any of the computers you are using Outlook on and in a couple of minutes you are synchronizing away on auto pilot every 15 minutes. So technically I could have a computer at home and at the office plus a phone. When-ever I change my task lists by adding, deleting or completing etc the next time I use a computer it will synchronise and bring in the changes. Vice versa as well. This is what you pay $12.99 (in Australia) per year for.... The advantage is that if you dash out the door before synchronising via iTunes, you can still synchronize on the iphone itself and it will bring any new tasks down through the air. Bliss......and thank you Chapura - once the category support is here life will be restored to better than normal.

ps I've been a big fan of Chapura's Keysuite for Palm for many years - it gives you a much better interface and many more options than using just the inbuilt Palm calendar/contact/task & note applications

Outlook 2007 - a must have - but here's how to tell it to be quiet!

Having upgraded to Microsoft Office 2007 with my new laptop I must say how much I enjoy the new features and usability of the programs in particular Outlook. As always the older (2003) version now seems rather sad and shabby. Academic & home/student versions are available at very reasonable prices for the 'new' Office - seriously consider the upgrade if you want to improve your email/document productivity. Workshops/teleclasses & e-lessons will be coming very shortly.

I'm a big advocate (along with many others interested in getting the boring things done faster) of the following email practices.
1) Don't check email first thing in the morning.... do your three MIT's first (MIT = most important thing)
2) Turn off automatic send & receive.... otherwise email is just bugging you non-stop all day and you are constantly in 'react mode'.
3) Turn off the silly bell or pinger or what ever you have that TELLS you more mail has arrived (what a headache causer!)

For specific directions on how to stop Outlook being so 'in your face' with new mail notifications etc read how to do it all  here (written by the Outlook Program Manager himself!)

Outlook 2007: Email Zoom Facility

Somehow I must have accidentally clicked a button somewhere because suddenly my compose email screen was enormous - as if magnified by 100%. Clicking around various buttons on the 'ribbon' I couldn't seem to find the answer. Thanks to "The How-To Geek"  I found the solution. Useful facility to be able to turn on if you are becoming short-sighted.....

1. Click on Format Text
2. Click on zoom
3. Choose your level of zoom then click 'ok'

CTRL+F in Outlook FORWARDS the email you are reading

You might be familiar with using CTRL+F to 'find' (and replace) a word or phrase in a page or document. Big time saver as far as I'm concerned.

Using the same shortcut keys in your email program however will open a new email window enabling you to forward the message you are reading.

CTRL+F, don't FORGET!

Outloook calendar doesn't need dates

Feeling too tired to do the brain calculation for a date when entering appointments or meeting requests into Outlook? Don't worry about it - let the software do it for you.

From within the appointment or meeting request form after entering the what and where, just tab to the date field, type in for example 'next saturday' and voila Outlook will put the correct date in for you as quick as a flash!

Snazzy huh?