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Technology today allows us to do things that would have been unthinkable 10 years ago. However, sometimes it can feel like all the gadgets at our disposal are slowing us down rather than making things easier. Here are 25 iPhone apps that really can help you to manage your time and increase the efficiency with which you work – making you a better and more effective worker. Continue reading ‘25 Most Incredible Productivity Apps for the iPhone’ »

Outsourcing can allow most companies to dramatically reduce their cost structure while improving their service expertise, becoming more efficient organizations. Whether it is outsourcing payroll, accounting, marketing, sales, IT or other work processes, companies are able to realize substantial savings that go directly to their bottom line. While it’s understood that outsourcing is a proven resource for businesses, it can also be used by the average professional to improve their work performance. By freeing up valuable time, outsourcing allows workers to concentrate on what they do best.

An Outsourcer Can Help With Research: Carrying out research can be an extremely time consuming task, as employees hone in on exactly what they are looking for. While it might seem to be a job that only they can do, actually it is one that can easily be performed by an outsourcer, presenting just the information that needs to be known, and saving both time and energy. This can free up valuable work time for employees to pursue other, more specialized tasks.

An Outsourcer Can Help in Administration: Gathering the right information is one part of the equation. Another part is to properly document and use that information effectively. Building upon research is an essential aspect of tracking performance and an outsourcer can help administer this information, cutting out another layer of waste.

An Outsourcer Can Track Ongoing Performance: One reason why companies use outsourcing is their ability to track the performance of business initiatives and to identify trends and issues of concern. Tracking the results of a given business initiative can be both time consuming and extremely costly, but by replicating these processes on a smaller scale an individual employee can greatly improve their effectiveness. While this might not normally be feasible, an outsourcer can devote the time needed to track the results of an employee’s approach, thereby allowing them to improve their overall performance.

An Outsourcer Can Assist with Time Sensitive Reports: Every employee is burdened by the issue of providing reports, budgets and plans. Time constraints often lead to mistakes in application and those mistakes cost money. An outsourcer can be the employee’s second pair of eyes and help to compile and review documentation to capture any unforeseen errors.

By performing tasks such as these, outsourcers can free up employees’ time, reducing their workload and allowing them to focus on their core strengths.

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OpenOffice is a great alternative to Microsoft Office, which can save time and money. However, like any time saving tool it can be used even more efficiently if you know the ins and outs of the system. Here are 5 ways to save time with OpenOffice so you spend more time working on your projects rather than manipulating the interface.

1. Sending a document as an email: If you are composing a document to be sent as an email attachment, instead of saving it, opening your email client, writing a small introduction and then attaching the file, why not send the file directly from OpenOffice? Click File > Send > Document As Email. This option will take a snapshot of your current document, open your default mail program, and attach the document as the extension you specify, either as an .odt or .doc.

2. Use extensions: There are a wide variety of extensions available for OpenOffice to make certain tasks easier, such as MultiCloud File Manager for backups, CropOOo for improved cropping features in Draw and Impress, and Sun PDF Import for reading and editing PDF files. This makes the interface between different programs much easier to manage.

3. Quickly create tables: If you frequently use tables in your documents, instead of going up and clicking Insert > Tables, use this item instead: “+——–+———+”. When you type out the syntax, as soon as you press enter, the plus signs are converted into borders.

4. Perform a search within OpenOffice: If you find yourself needing to make sure you have used a word correctly, instead of opening your browser and typing in the word separately, you can click View > Toolbar, and check Hyperlink bar. Now when you highlight a word you have typed, the word will appear in the bar and you can click the small magnifying glass to use your favorite search engine automatically.

5. Remove the splash screen: There’s nothing worse than wanting to get your day started, only to be greeted by a five second splash screen. You can stop this screen from appearing by navigating to your OpenOffice install directory and finding the file called “soffice.ini”. Open it with Notepad and change the value “logo=1″ to “logo=0″.

Using these tips you can shave away the amount of time you spend on OpenOffice to make your day more productive and more efficient.

Image: OpenOffice

In order to make the best financial decisions it is important to understand that money is not everything – it is just as important to budget your time as it is to budget dollars. For example, you may think that performing a certain activity is profitable, but if you take into account the amount of time that you spend in order to earn that income, you may discover that it would make more sense to spend that time doing something else. The old adage that time is money is true, if you could more profitably be performing another task. In many instances it is even more cost effective in the long run to spend money than it is to spend time on something.

Timewerks is an iPhone app that takes this notion and lets you apply it to your everyday life. An onboard stopwatch lets you know how much time you are spending on a specific task. This lets you know where your time is actually going throughout the day, letting you budget your time in a way that was not possible before. It keeps track of the time even while the app is closed.

In addition to this, you can keep track of specific clients or projects using the app. If you are charging by the hour, this is especially useful. Even better, the program lets you send invoices for time spent on a specific project. For even more functionality, it can be linked with a credit card terminal, which allows you to accept a credit card payment using nothing more than your iPhone.

It has never been more important to keep track of where your time is going than today. An app like Timewerks provides you with an advantage when it comes to making rational decisions about how you should be spending your time throughout the work day.

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To succeed it is important for a business to have clearly defined objectives and goals. This is the reason that meetings are held and phone calls are made. They keep employees informed about what needs to be done. However, meetings can bog down the work force, preventing them from accomplishing their goals as they are too busy sitting in meetings. Phone calls can also be inefficient because what is said over the phone is often too easily forgotten. Meetings and phone calls are rarely as productive as a quick, more targeted email.

If you are in charge, try going a day without scheduling any meetings or making any phone calls. Instead, when something needs to be done, simply send an email to the employee or employees who need to be informed of the issue. This gives them all the information that they need, and unlike a phone call, the information is saved on their computer for future reference so that they won’t need to call back to find out if they forgot anything. You can also have them send you progress reports instead of holding a meeting. This eliminates the time that people spend waiting for meetings to start.

The ideal format for getting things done is by communicating through email, phone or finally in person. If somebody wants to meet with you, see if you can have them send you an email instead. If not, talk over the phone. Finally, if you have to meet in person, do so in a quick, one-on-one conversation. You should both be standing; there is no reason to set a formal meeting where time is wasted on coffee or lunch.

If you are not in charge of setting meetings, let the boss know that you are working on a project. Tell them that you would like to get through things as quickly as possible. If they still ask you to come to the meeting, let them know that you will need to have your deadline extended. Even better, get the work done before the meeting happens. Ask them to send you a copy of the meeting’s agenda. Accomplish everything on the agenda, and send them an email letting them know that you have finished everything they are going to tell you to do at the meeting, and that you would like to get to work on another project instead of going to the meeting.

Image: Robert Scoble