7 Productivity Tools I Couldn’t Live Without
Posted March 25, 2009 in Productivity, Tools/Resources 43 Comments »
There are only so many hours in a day, so as freelancers it is wise for us to use the time we do have effectively. From keyboard shortcuts to limiting outside distractions, we all have our own ways of speeding up the work involved in certain tasks.
Personally, my day can consist of a number of different tasks including web development, logo design, research, reporting and quite often…writing. While I love what I do and appreciate the opportunity to work from home, there are just some tools that I would find it hard to live without.
I use all the following tools on a daily basis, some less than others (you’ll see why) but they all have their place in my ‘work from home toolkit‘.
1. InFormEnter
Online forms are one of those things that are time consuming but always necessary. We see them everywhere don’t we:
- Blog comments
- Shopping site checkout carts
- Website registration forms
…and everywhere in between. There are a few possible solutions to this issue, but my favourite is definitely InFormEnter. This Firefox plugin means that I can fill in any field of any form in literally two clicks, especially handy for blog comments and other forms you tend to fill in regularly.
2. StumbleUpon Toolbar
I hear what you’re saying “StumbleUpon is a time waster, definitely not a productivity tool“, and if that was you’re response then you’re probably missing out on a great SU feature. As you may know, when you sign-up to StumbleUpon you enter your interests, and whenever you hit the Stumble button you are shown a random, but relevant page that has been submitted by someone.
There is often a time when I’m looking for design related material and Google just doesn’t have the results I want, whether it be a certain tutorial or some basic CSS templates that I can put my design onto. Therefore, I use the under-utilised StumbleUpon search function (All >> Search) and come across a popular page (as it has been voted for by the community) and fits my needs exactly.
The toolbar is especially useful for freelancers, because freelancers are a huge part of the userbase.
3. ToDoIst
Now this is one tool I really couldn’t live without. I’ve tried a number of online to do list tools including popular solutions like Remember the Milk, but nothing has fit my needs better than ToDoIst.
The site comes from the developer of Twitter rival, Plurk, and features Ajaxy-goodness throughout the site. If you don’t have an online to do list tool, I definitely recommend using this one.
4. Google Docs
I definitely haven’t made the full transition to an online office suite but I’m 90% of the way there thanks to Google Docs. Even with such serious competition from the likes of Zoho, I’ve found Google Docs to be reliable, fast and definitely enough for my needs.
Because I write a lot, I would love to see some form of online spell checker, but the sharing ability, ease of use and organisational aspects are just amazing. Whether you want to use this for serious team collaboration or you simply need a ‘note taker’ that is accessible from anywhere, you could definitely benefit from this.
5. Foxmarks
You might think I’m crazy, but for the last 3 weeks I’ve been using a laptop that has a hard drive which doesn’t work. Each day I boot my computer using a Xubuntu Live CD, use the already built-in Firefox to download Foxmarks, and then I’m ready to get on with my day.
Of course, I have another computer for the necessary programs like Photoshop, Filezilla and others, but I’ve found Foxmarks is a tool that allows me to get to work from literally anywhere in the world and very quickly. You sign up for a free account and it automatically saves all your Firefox bookmarks, allowing you to sync them at anytime.
6. LeechBlock
I worked as a social media manager for some of the biggest companies in the world for the last two years, and this was a life saver. As you know, online there are so many sites that can turn out to be timewasters, the likes of Facebook, MySpace, Digg, Youtube and more.
Leechblock allows you to effectively ban yourself from websites that you know are distracting. When I knew I had to get a project finished soon, I would simply turn it on and it would ensure I stayed focused on the task at hand.
The great thing about the tool is that it takes about a minute to actually re-enable the sites so you aren’t tempted to cheat yourself either.
7. Rescue Time
As everyone knows, one of the best ways to stick to your goals is to hold yourself accountable. Whether it is your website readers, your friends or even just having a note on the fridge to remind yourself of your aims. I guess you could class Rescue Time as an online alternative to this, allowing you to see how effective you are compared to other members of the site and exactly where your time is being spent.
The great thing about Rescue Time is that you don’t have to input any data. You install the software and it automatically records the tasks you are doing and then uploads them to the site for you so you can keep a track of your own activity.
You might be surprised to see how much time you are wasting, but at least you’ll discover where you can improve.
Now, it’s over to you guys!
What productivity tools could you not live without? See you in the comment section!
Image in this post: EricGjerde
About the author: Glen Allsopp writes on the subject of Personal Development at PluginID. His aim is to help you 'Plug into your Identity' and reach your full potential.
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43 Comments
Danh ba web 2.0
March 25th, 2009 at 9:05 amGreat list for me. Thanks for collection
You can see more productivity tool in my blog: http://tr.im/hMCc
PhaoLoo
March 25th, 2009 at 9:09 amReally nice list. But the #1 sometimes can’t fill the comment form properly. StumbleUpon is also my indispensable toolbar.
Simmessa
March 25th, 2009 at 9:18 amI’m personally addicted to google calendar so I’m wondering why it didn’t make it in the top 10 :)
I’m off to give todoist a try soon !
All the Best!
http://simmessa.com
Nikhil
March 25th, 2009 at 9:53 amGood Toolkit…
Some are new for me…
Geoffrey
March 25th, 2009 at 10:06 amWith do you use Foxmark while a tool like Delicious is a hundred of times more powerfull ?
Glen Allsopp
March 25th, 2009 at 10:18 amThanks for all the comments guys, I’m glad you like the post.
@Geoffrey – Did you read my reasoning for using Foxmarks? It adds the folders to your firefox bookmarks bar, something I’m pretty sure Delicious can’t do. I hear that they are currently rebranding to Xmarks.
I hope that helps!
Cheers,
Glen
linda
March 25th, 2009 at 10:23 amSince reading David Allen’s book “Getting Things Done” I’ve tried a lot of “GTD” programs to make my lists. I used to use one made by a guy in Poland, iGTD, but he stopped updating it. Now I use “Things” http://culturedcode.com/things/
Daniel
March 25th, 2009 at 10:26 amIn reference to a Spell Checker in Google Docs, there is one. I even use my Firefox built-in spell checker. It’s more a dictionary that can be downloaded/updated.
Nelson
March 25th, 2009 at 10:57 amGlen – I’m a new visitor to Freelancefolder.com and am impressed so far.
Thanks for your article. I have added two of your suggested ‘add-ons’ to my Firefox.
Cheers buddy,
Nelson
bogdan pop
March 25th, 2009 at 11:13 amThere is no iCal in the list.
Geoffrey
March 25th, 2009 at 11:14 amWith Delicious you can transfert your bookmarks directly to your Firefox bookmarks bar, all well organized !
And you become browser independant !
In addition, the TAGging sytem is really powerfull, way above what a classical hierarchical organisation can do.
Colin Wright
March 25th, 2009 at 11:17 amI second Linda’s recommendation of Things. Best productivity software I’ve ever used!
Kim
March 25th, 2009 at 12:44 pmI use LeechBlock a little differently – I have about four sites that I check compulsively, so I have them set in a group that I can only visit for 5 minutes out of every hour. After that, it forwards me to a page I made with the large words “WHY AREN’T YOU WORKING?” I can’t quit them cold turkey, so knowing I have a limited amount of time forces me to evaluate whether I REALLY want to read this particular blog article or if I’m just wasting time, and so on.
I also rely heavily on a little dashboard widget called (10+2)5. Basically, it says “Start”, I work for 10 minutes, it says “Stop”, I get a 2 minute break. It helps me not to drift, knowing I can check my email if I just wait a few more minutes – and plus, if I have a lot of tasks to do, switching between them every 10 minutes helps me stay on track.
Blog Expert
March 25th, 2009 at 12:45 pmThey look good. Now to try them.
GoEverywhere Team
March 25th, 2009 at 12:46 pmWell, I have to say that the coolest productivity tool that I have come across in a while is my GoEverywhere webtop. It allows me to work on a virtual desktop from anywhere, any computer in the world with internet access. And I am able to access everything on that desktop with just a single password.
It’s the coolest thing that I have come across in a very long time. Give the beta test a shot!
Marie Poulin
March 25th, 2009 at 1:45 pmThe absolute best productivity tool that I can’t live without is http://www.freeagentcentral.com
Invoicing, expenses, time tracking, project management, accounting…
i’m in love!
Wellington Grey
March 25th, 2009 at 2:22 pmTextexpander has saved me litterally hundreds of hours of typing. Couldn’t live without it.
Adrian | Rubiqube
March 25th, 2009 at 4:26 pmI had no idea about the Search features in SU. I will definitely use that from now on, but not sure if productively. :) And I will start using ToDoIst and RescueTime, cause I feel like I’m wasting a lot of time without knowing where that time goes.
Jeff
March 25th, 2009 at 5:38 pmHey Glen- It sounds like you are about to make the full commitment to Google Docs, but before you convert completely you should give Office Live Workspace a try if you haven’t already. It integrates easily into the MS Office suite so that you can quickly save updated Office files “to the cloud” without having the extra steps of logging into an additional website. It can function as a stand alone service outside of MS Office as well, allowing members of a Workspace to collaborate on school projects, trip planning, essay writing etc via pre-designed templates. Take a look at the following link to see some examples of what can be done with Office Live Workspace: http://workspace.officelive.com/LearnMore
Thanks,
Jeff
Office Live Outreach Team
Lexi Rodrigo
March 25th, 2009 at 10:19 pmNice list, I actually hadn’t known about a lot of those.
The one productivity tool I couldn’t live without is my iPod Touch. It lets me stay connected – check Emails, Twitter, surf the ‘net, listen to podcasts, write notes to myself, read PDFs – even when I can’t be at my laptop (such as when I am putting the munchkins to sleep). It has upped my productivity by at least 100%.
work from home
March 26th, 2009 at 6:24 amGood list, I had not heard all of them but like the idea of banning myself from sites that distract me, I find that some days I am really good and really get into my work but other days I really struggle and lose track when I work from home so it would be really good to click it on and it be my concious for the rest of the day.
Marcus Neto
March 26th, 2009 at 9:46 amGoogle(search), Things, Mail, CSSEdit and a good collection of music in iTunes
Sarah
March 26th, 2009 at 11:32 amOut of the 7 tools, number 1 tool: InformEnter is the best tool for me to use.
Trina L. Grant
March 26th, 2009 at 12:55 pmI love Google Docs! I realize that many people prefer OpenOffice.org 3, but Docs but you basically have limitless space to store your work. I too, write so much that I would spending a lot of money on storage devices or space, so Docs works great for me for that reason. The one thing I do not like about it is that I cannot figure out how to personalize which folder I want to open with. I do not like the full-frame view that shows all items. Otherwise, it’s pretty awesome for a free service.
Sharon
March 26th, 2009 at 9:58 pmGreat list. I use many of these tools. thumbsup
Paul
March 27th, 2009 at 2:15 pmThank you for the great list.
TammyQuitter
March 27th, 2009 at 2:33 pmThanks for the list. I’m addicted to Foxmarks. I usually just use a Word doc. for my to-do list. First task: Make to-do list. Second task: Cross off #1.
C’mon, I know I’m not the only one! LOL
I will definitely check out some of these tools, because my computer tends to suck me into a gigantic black hole every time I use it.
I sometimes go “old school” and use a kitchen timer. If I want to let my mind wander through the internet, I’ll set the timer, and when it goes off, it’s back to work! Works best if the timer isn’t within reach so I actually have to get up (step away from the computer!) to turn it off.
Chris
March 28th, 2009 at 10:42 pmGreat list. I will be adding informenter – that looks very useful.
Krystian
March 29th, 2009 at 7:19 pmI would add another two timesavers: AutoPager and ReadItLater. Regards.
Deb
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:50 amChecking them all out – thanks! Just wish LeechBlock could block my TV for me.
Robin
April 3rd, 2009 at 2:08 pmI might have to try leechblock.
I have been known to either restrict myself to pen & paper or the laptop with the broken wireless, to keep myself from going astray…lol. This might be a more practical solution.
Chris
April 4th, 2009 at 7:32 amWhen we started adding computers to the house, I considered foxmarks. It is probably a nearly perfect solution if all the systems you might be using are equipped with firefox, and mine are.
I ended up choosing Gmarks instead, which is a FF addon that connects with your google bookmarks. Already being a user of several google services like docs, gmail and notebook, I’m signing in there regularly anyway, so no need for another username/password pair.
It’s ended up to be the perfect solution for me, and I’ve been glad on more than one occasion to be able to just go to the google bookmarks site to find a page I needed when I was on a client’s computer.
Maia
May 28th, 2009 at 1:42 pmPersonally, the way I keep track of my bookmarks across computers is by using Archivd. It’s a web-based centralized database, so I can access all my bookmarks from anywhere (no syncing necessary!) Check it out sometime…
Glen Allsopp
May 30th, 2009 at 7:24 pmThank you Maia, I will check it out!
FruitfulTime
June 5th, 2009 at 9:26 amI would like to suggest two other freewares
free to do list software: http://www.fruitfultime.com/products/free/software/taskmanager-1/free-to-do-list-software.php
free note taking software: http://www.fruitfultime.com/products/free/software/notekeeper-2/free-note-taking-software.php
Andrew
June 21st, 2009 at 7:50 amHere’s one more tool to simplify our life (time management and time tracking):
http://www.timemanagementrocks.com/
indian
January 25th, 2010 at 9:19 amThe best productivity enhancement tool that I have ever used is JDownloader. Earlier I used to waste lot of time everyday trying to download books/mags/software, etc from file-sharing sites. Now I can automate the download process by just adding the links to JDownloader and it takes care of everything else, including countdown, captcha entry, and unpacking!
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