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	<title>SimpleProductivityBlog.com &#187; Software</title>
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		<item>
		<title>Software Review: Benjamin &#8211; Franklin Planner Replacement</title>
		<link>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/software-review-benjamin-franklin-planner-replacement/</link>
		<comments>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/software-review-benjamin-franklin-planner-replacement/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>GuestPost</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/?p=4316</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Benjamin is a task manager that implements the FranklinCovey system of time-management - it's a replacement for a Franklin Planner. Here is a review from a user of both.<p><hr class="dayHR" />
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<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="photo" src="http://www.SimpleProductivityBlog.com/images/benjamin_icon_512.png" alt="Benjamin" width="256px" height="256px" border="0" /></p>
<p><em>From LJ:</em> Recently I was sent a code to review a new release for the iPod/iPhone/iPad. This software, Benjamin, was touted as being an electronic version of the Franklin Planner. The developer had this to say about it:</p>
<blockquote><p>Benjamin is a task manager that implements the FranklinCovey system of time-management. In other words, it&#8217;s a replacement for a Franklin Planner.</p></blockquote>
<p>Since I don&#8217;t use a Franklin Planner, I decided to ask my readers. One of the respondees, <strong>Sarah Zblewski</strong>, has used Franklin for years, and had just gotten an iPad. I asked her to review the software. Here is her review:</p>
<hr class="dayHR" />
<p>As an avid Franklin Planner user and a new iPad user, I was asked to give Benjamin a try. The company boasts that Benjamin is a replacement for Franklin Planner.</p>
<p>I am a full-time working homeschooling mother of three. I am an organizing junkie that lives in routines and the Franklin Covey way. I have spent the last two weeks working in the Benjamin program. I spent the first week placing data into the program and working with both my current system and the Benjamin program. The second week, I put away my original system and only used Benjamin.</p>
<h2>Tasks</h2>
<p>The app does have a basic to-do list with prioritization. It has the basic needs of recurring tasks but they are extremely restrictive to a couple prearranged options. The master list also doesn’t show which projects each task is related to without opening the individual task. My housekeeping tasks were not included in the overall master list since they are into part of a project. The input of all tasks are tedious and has no option to import from any programs to easy transition. A reminder from the program would be a nice.</p>
<h2>Notes</h2>
<p>There is a really nice note section that you can type notes into. You can either place it within the task or by day. The notes are then searchable by day they were written on.</p>
<h2>Other Planner Components</h2>
<p>The app does not have a calendar/meeting proponent. You lose the overview of your day without this function. I personally find having my task list and daily appointments visible on one screen or page extremely important.</p>
<p>The app also doesn’t have contacts, web address book or other useful tools for organizing; which are all a necessity for a good planner system.</p>
<h2>Email Support</h2>
<p>You can email today’s tasks, master task list, or project specific task list which is nice to have it in one view. The email isn’t visually stimulating but does give you all the information you enter for your task.</p>
<h2>No Sync/Backup</h2>
<p>The application has no way to sync with your computer or download in case of crash. I keep a lot of information in my planner and would be lost if I couldn&#8217;t access it for even one day.</p>
<h2>Summary</h2>
<p>I found the program extremely hard to understand and use. It doesn’t have all the proponents needed to replace my current planner. It is a basic task list program with priority capabilities. The app isn’t visually stimulating but is basic and plan. The program would be good for a beginning to do list user but a power user may not find to work for them.</p>
<p><strong>Software:</strong> <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/app//id484349262?mt=8">Benjamin</a><br />
<strong>Author:</strong> Daze End Software<br />
<strong>Price:</strong> $9.99</p>
<hr class="dayHR" />
<p><strong>Disclosure:</strong></p>
<p><em>This review was written by Sarah Zblewski, a reader of the blog. She recieved a copy of the software, provided by the software&#8217;s author, in order to review it.</em></p>
<p><hr class="dayHR" />
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>My App Diet</title>
		<link>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/my-app-diet/</link>
		<comments>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/my-app-diet/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Oct 2011 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>LJ Earnest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Clutter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/?p=4162</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Back in my <a href="http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/open-loops-20111018/#">"Open Loops 10/18/2011: Articles I Think Worth Passing Along"</a>, I mentioned an article from Lifehack called <a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/why-and-how-i-went-on-an-app-diet.html?">“Why and How I Went on an App Diet”</a>. I knew, deep down, that I needed to do this as well. My iPod Touch was crammed with apps that I never used and I was having trouble finding things.

I spent some time clearing things out, and here is my list of 15 apps:<p><hr class="dayHR" />
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</p>
]]></description>
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<p><em>Fridays are tip days at SimpleProductivity blog.</em></p>
<hr class="dayHR" />
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/4970225216/sizes/s/in/photostream/"><img class="photo" title="Photo by cogdogblog" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/4970225216_6fd8500937_m.jpg" alt="Photo by cogdogblog" width="240px" height="160px" border="0" /></a></p>
<p>Back in my <a href="http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/open-loops-20111018/#">&#8220;Open Loops 10/18/2011: Articles I Think Worth Passing Along&#8221;</a>, I mentioned an article from Lifehack called <a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/why-and-how-i-went-on-an-app-diet.html?">“Why and How I Went on an App Diet”</a>. I knew, deep down, that I needed to do this as well. My iPod Touch was crammed with apps that I never used and I was having trouble finding things.</p>
<p>I spent some time clearing things out, and here is my list of 15 apps:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Weatherbug.</strong> I use this application to help me track not only the forecasts, but to let me know when there is severe weather. There are other apps that do this, but I find their severe weather warnings are not as prompt.</li>
<li><strong>MyKeepass.</strong> I use Keepass at home and on my thumb drive to track my passwords. MyKeepass is the best option I found to have that data with me on the go.</li>
<li><strong>Flashlight.</strong> If you need a light source when the power suddenly goes out, Flashlight is a good choice. This app has saved many a jammed toe as I try to find my way around a pitch-black house.</li>
<li><strong>Remember The Milk.</strong> This app is one that hooks me up to my task powerhouse Remember The Milk. I like this app because even though it links to a web application, you do not have to have an active web connection to use it. You can work locally and it will synch when it has a connection.</li>
<li><strong>Use Your Handwriting Gold.</strong> The tiny keyboard on the Touch makes it difficult for me to take a quick note. With this app I can write with my finger &#8211; essentially drawing a note- and email it to myself for processing.</li>
<li><strong>Awesome Note.</strong> this was one of the first apps I purchased, and I use it frequently. It pulls a subset of Google Docs down to my Touch. Since Google Docs is where I store things like birthdays, equipment specs and other lists, I have these with me everywhere.</li>
<li><strong>NFL Fantasy.</strong> I&#8217;m currently playing Fantasy Football, this app allows me to view scores, arrange my team and trade players without having to drag my computer down in fro of the television.</li>
<li><strong>Ambiance.</strong> I have written before about how I use ambient sound in order to concentrate. This app allows me to download various tracks to block out noise.</li>
<li><strong>iChakra.</strong> This app is a beautiful set of sounds that are intended to balance chakras. I bought it because of the singing bowls, but I find the chanting captivating. I find that listening to the chants brings my stress levels way down. I have come to rely on this app as a stress-reliever</li>
<li><strong>iPeriod.</strong> Keeping track of my monthly cycles, with email reminders. &#8216;Nuff said.</li>
<li><strong>Kindle.</strong> While I do own a Kindle, I use the Kindle app when I am at work and want something to read over lunch. It&#8217;s harder to read from, and I have to &#8220;turn pages&#8221; more often, but it&#8217;s better than nothing.</li>
<li><strong>Book Crawler.</strong> I have been keeping track of what I have read since the late 80s. Book Crawler allows me to know what I have read, what I want to read, and what I thought of a particular book.</li>
<li><strong>WordPress.</strong> While I don&#8217;t often blog from my iPod, sometimes I need to do things. WordPress makes it possible.</li>
<li><strong>Office Zombie.</strong> There is an app called Office Jerk, where you get to throw things at an annoying co-worker. The same company came out with a version where the coworker is a zombie. It&#8217;s absolutely hilarious, and I love throwing things at him.</li>
<li><strong>Shralp Tide.</strong> I live in an area where tidal flooding is a problem. With Shralp Tide I can check to see what the tides are going to be like and avoid areas that are prone to everyday tidal flooding. This means the difference between driving on high ground or driving through water up to my doors.</li>
</ol>
<p>Now I did keep some extra apps on the device. They are applications I could live without, but I do use them frequently:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Handy Level.</strong> My husband always forgets to put the level in the camper bag. So we get to a camp site and we have no way to make the pop-up camper somewhat level. This app solves the problem.</li>
<li><strong>Sally&#8217;s Spa.</strong> This is a fun little game where you get to run a spa.</li>
<li><strong>Nebulous.</strong> I like this DropBox client because I can hold files locally and not need an active connection to get the information.</li>
<li><strong>Bump.</strong> When my daughter got her iPod Touch, we tried this out as a way to share photos and addresses. She loves the built-in messaging feature.</li>
<li><strong>Pain Killer.</strong> I don&#8217;t often get migraines, and I have medicine for when I do, but there is still that excruciating time in between when they strike and when the medicine starts to work. Pain Killer plays a low-level frequency that does take the edge off the pain.</li>
<li><strong>Koi Pond.</strong> This one is just cute. It is a fish pond filled with koi, and you can feed them and disturb the water. It also has a sleep timer on it, and I have used it as a way to relax before bed.</li>
<li><strong>Read It Later.</strong> The mobile version of the application. It has problems that I find grossly annoying, but I will use it in a pinch.</li>
<li><strong>EZ Feeds.</strong> This feed reader allows me to read on the go. Mostly I process the articles into ReadItLater.</li>
</ol>
<p>There&#8217;s my list. That is what I have on my iPod at the moment.</p>
<p>Did you know you can get Twitter and Facebook updates from this blog? For Twitter, look for @SmplProdBlog. On Facebook it&#8217;s <a href="http://facebook.com/simpleproductivity">Facebook.com/SimpleProductivity</a>. You can also find me at Google+ as lj@simpleproductivityblog.com.</p>
<hr class="dayHR" />
<p class="photoby">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/">cogdogblog</a></p>
<p><hr class="dayHR" />
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		<item>
		<title>Software Review: LifeTopix</title>
		<link>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/software-review-lifetopix/</link>
		<comments>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/software-review-lifetopix/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2011 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>LJ Earnest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/?p=4105</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What if I told you there was a piece of software out there that allowed you to freely link planning, shopping, finances, notes, travel, projects and more together? And not only that, but integrated with iPhone/iPod Touch built-in calendars? This is the intriguing premise behind LifeTopix. &#160; &#160; &#160; &#160; [...]<p><hr class="dayHR" />
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]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="photo" src="http://www.SimpleProductivityBlog.com/images/lifetopix.jpg" alt="Lifetopix" width="175" height="175" /></p>
<p>What if I told you there was a piece of software out there that allowed you to freely link planning, shopping, finances, notes, travel, projects and more together? And not only that, but integrated with iPhone/iPod Touch built-in calendars?</p>
<p>This is the intriguing premise behind LifeTopix.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>LifeTopix Home Screen</h2>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="photo" src="http://www.SimpleProductivityBlog.com/images/lifetopixscreen.jpg" alt="LifeTopix Screen" width="320" height="480" /></p>
<p>You can see that this is a wide-spread application. Why all the applications?</p>
<p>Steve Marcie from LifeTopix explained this to me when I asked: &#8220;This product grew out of the recognition of our own needs for a single, integrated app that handled all the aspects of our busy lives. We knew that starting out with all the 12 topics as we did was very ambitious. However, we knew from past experience building products at our previous companies that the alternative (i.e., starting with one topic and then integrating news ones as we went along) would result in a less well-functioning product.&#8221;</p>
<p>I understand what he means. As a software developer myself, I know how challenging it is to take a product and add modules.</p>
<h2>Linking</h2>
<p>The thing that LifeTopix does, and does well, is linking.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s say you have a event coming up, a child&#8217;s birthday party. You would start an event item, and put in the date and time. This automatically puts it on the calendar. Then you set up the guest list, which loads from your contact list, and sets up an RSVP area. You can set up your shopping lists directly from the screen, listing items you need to buy, along with the stores you need to visit. Then you can add tasks in, like &#8220;send invitations&#8221;. You add a bookmark to a site for buying a pinata &#8211; never leaving the application because it hooks into the browser. So everything can be done from the event itself.</p>
<p>Now here&#8217;s the power of linking: you go back to the main screen, and your task shows up in the task list area. Your items are in your general shopping lists. Your people area shows which people are tagged for what events. Bookmarks all appear together. Your calendar items are grouped, and they can be sent to your iPhone calendar.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve only scratched the surface with this. You can enter in recurring payments, bills, health goals, education information and courses, home and asset information and travel plans.</p>
<h2>The Downsides, With A Caveat</h2>
<p>The one thing I was conscious of, going through LifeTopix, was how much it contained. You can get anywhere from anywhere. And the main screen can be very overwhelming. My first thought was that it was very complex, and it would be very difficult to get a lot of information in on a tiny screen.</p>
<p>I brought this up to the developers, and was told that the next version, currently in final testing, will have customizable dashboards and a way to enter&#8230;from a Mac. Alas, us Windows users are out in the cold for now.</p>
<h2>Overall</h2>
<p>I have to say that I am impressed with what LifeTopix is doing. If you are looking for an all-in-one solution that does life management in one place, this is the software for you. It&#8217;s power and ease of use make it the best software I have seen that attempts to link various planning functions together.</p>
<h2>Software Information</h2>
<hr class="dayHR" />
<p><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lifetopix/id399076264?mt=8">LifeTopix at the AppStore</a><br />
<strong>Price: </strong>$4.99<br />
<strong>Author:</strong> LightArrow, Inc.</p>
<hr class="dayHR" />
<p><strong>Disclosure:</strong></p>
<p>LightArrow, the author of the software, provided me with a free copy of the software to enable me to write this review.</p>
<p><hr class="dayHR" />
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		<item>
		<title>Using Excel to Generate Text</title>
		<link>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/using-excel-to-generate-text/</link>
		<comments>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/using-excel-to-generate-text/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Aug 2011 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>LJ Earnest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Techniques]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/?p=3978</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the course of my job as a web programmer, I use Excel a lot. Not in the ways that most people use it, for graphs and calculations and nice neat rows of numbers.

No, Excel is my powerhouse for assembling text.

It occurred to me that people might get some benefit from learning how to do this, so here is my method:<p><hr class="dayHR" />
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]]></description>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="photo" title="excel" src="http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/excel.jpg" alt="" width="120" height="127" /></p>
<p><em>Fridays are tip days at SimpleProductivity blog.</em></p>
<hr class="dayHR" />
<p>In the course of my job as a web programmer, I use Excel a lot. Not in the ways that most people use it, for graphs and calculations and nice neat rows of numbers.</p>
<p>No, Excel is my powerhouse for assembling text.</p>
<p>It occurred to me that people might get some benefit from learning how to do this, so here is my method:</p>
<h2>The Data</h2>
<p>Usually when I am assembling chunks of text, the data has come to me with bits of it in columns, and I may have to add in other text. Since I don&#8217;t want to geek out on you here, I&#8217;ll use an example with putting together addresses.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s say we have a spreadsheet with 6 columns: First Name, Last Name, Address, City, State and Zip. We want to transform those into three columns: Name, Address, CityStateZip. Here is what the data would look like to start with:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/excel1.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3984" title="excel1" src="http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/excel1-300x67.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="67" /></a></p>
<h2>Basic Text Formulas and Operators</h2>
<p>There are a few things you need to know about working with text. Here is the summary:</p>
<p><strong>All formulas start with &#8220;=&#8221;.</strong> The equals sign tells Excel it is going to do a &#8220;calculation&#8221;, even if it is on text.</p>
<p><strong>Reference cells by their location.</strong> Excel has columns that are labeled with letters and rows that are labeled with numbers. To reference a particular cell (or &#8220;box&#8221;), use the column letter followed by the row number.</p>
<p><strong>Know that Excel uses Relative Referencing by default.</strong> Excel formulas reference things relative to the position from where you are. So if you are in column G, row 2 and you reference column A, row 1, Excel sees this as &#8220;go to the left of where I am 5 columns and up 1 row&#8221;. Be careful with this, or it can lead to unexpected results.</p>
<p><strong>All text that doesn&#8217;t change goes in double quotes.</strong> If you want to add something that doesn&#8217;t change into a text string, you put it in double quotes (&#8220;). For example, if you wanted the text to start out saying &#8220;The Grand High Exalted Muckity Muck&#8221;, the formula would be</p>
<pre>="The Grand High Exalted Muckity Muck".</pre>
<p><strong>Concatenate with &amp;.</strong> To put two chunks of text together in Excel, you need to use concatenation, which is the ampersand (&amp;). The plus sign (+) is for adding numbers.</p>
<p>Example: to put John and Doe together, it would become</p>
<pre>="John" &amp; "Doe"</pre>
<p><strong>Trim off the spaces.</strong> Nothing can throw off putting text together than extra spaces. Trim off the extra spaces in your text by using TRIM(). If you wanted to format the name in the example above, the formula would become as follows. This translates to &#8220;trim the spaces off either end of the text in cell A2, then add a blank space, then add the text of B2, which has also had the spaces removed from both ends.</p>
<pre>=TRIM(A2) &amp; " " &amp; TRIM(B2)</pre>
<p><strong>Pad zip codes with 0s.</strong> Zip codes can be a bear. They are numbers that are treated as text, but sometimes Excel doesn&#8217;t seem them that way. You can fix this with some padding. We use the REPT function to generate a string of 0s, then add the zip code to the right of this, and take the rightmost five characters. (It sounds more complicated than it is).</p>
<pre>=RIGHT(REPT("0",5) &amp; F2,5)</pre>
<p><strong>You can add new lines to the text.</strong> If you need the text to appear on multiple lines (say for address labels) you can do that by inserting a CHR(10).</p>
<pre>=C2 &amp; CHR(10) &amp; D2</pre>
<p><strong>Extend the formula with copying.</strong> To get the formula where you need it to be, copy the cell with your original formula into the cells that need it.</p>
<h2>The Results</h2>
<p>Below you can see the formulas and the results:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/excel4.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3985" title="excel4" src="http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/excel4.jpg" alt="" width="545" height="54" /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/excel3.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3986" title="excel3" src="http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/excel3.jpg" alt="" width="290" height="57" /></a><a href="http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/excel4.jpg"><br />
</a></p>
<hr class="dayHR" />
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		<title>The Traditional and the Creative Ways to Use Evernote</title>
		<link>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/the-traditional-and-the-creative-ways-to-use-evernote/</link>
		<comments>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/the-traditional-and-the-creative-ways-to-use-evernote/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Jul 2011 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>GuestPost</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/?p=3865</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Most of the readers know or at least have heard of Evernote. Simply put, it is a productivity powerhouse. It allows you to document and take notes and access them from anywhere you have an internet connection. Our guest author today looks at traditional and creative ways to use this very flexible tool.<p><hr class="dayHR" />
<p>Thanks for subscribing to the RSS feed for SimpleProductivityBlog. More great content can be found on the site at <a href="http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com">SimpleProductivityBlog.com</a>.</p>
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<p><em>This post was written by a guest author. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the <a href="http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/guest-post-guidelines/">guest post guidelines</a>.</em></p>
<hr class="dayHR" />
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/whatleydude/3597072349/sizes/s/in/photostream/"><img class="photo" title="Photo by whatleydude" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3589/3597072349_f2a09c6a1e_m.jpg" alt="Photo by whatleydude" width="240px" height="180px" border="0" /></a></p>
<p>By now, I bet most of you reading this blog know or at least have heard of <a href="http://www.evernote.com/">Evernote</a>. Simply put, it is a productivity powerhouse. It allows you to document and take notes and access them from anywhere you have an internet connection. And by notes, I mean anything you can see, hear, or read; it stores photos, audio notes, text, and even attachments. Not to mention, it also allows you to easily organize your notes into separate notebooks and through tags, which can apply across notebooks. It is available as an app on any smartphone – iPhone, Android, or Windows Mobile.</p>
<h2>Traditional Ways to Use Evernote</h2>
<p>Most people have a general idea of how to use Evernote. I personally think it serves best as a complete reference filing system for anything worth remembering. Some of the more practical and common uses of Evernote include the following:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Window Shopping</strong>: See something you like that you can&#8217;t buy right now? Snap a picture of it with your phone and tag it under &#8220;gift&#8221; or &#8220;shopping.&#8221; You can also do this when surfing the web as Evernote has a browser extension for pretty much every major browser out there.</li>
<li><strong>Mind Dump</strong>: If you ever have an idea just come to you out of nowhere, and you&#8217;re afraid you&#8217;ll lose it if you don&#8217;t record it right now, Evernote has you covered. Not only can you type it in a notebook and tag it, you can also just record an audio note if your hands are currently busy.</li>
<li><strong>Track Finances</strong>: A lot of people are trying to go paperless, scanning bank statements and bills, and Evernote is a great tool for keeping those on hand for any time you may need them. Also, though more uncommon, you can track every purchase if you desire by taking a photo of your receipts with your phone and then storing it on Evernote. Typically, I only do this for items which I may return or can write off as a business expense.</li>
<li><strong>Everything Inbox</strong>: This pretty much encompasses the above uses. Pretty much anything that you think you need to remember or act upon can be stored in Evernote. In fact, I actually recommend creating a notebook called &#8220;Inbox,&#8221; so you have a place to put things that you may have not built into your filing system yet. Later, you can process them into existing or newly created notebooks to organize them.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Less Traditional Uses of Evernote</h2>
<p>While the above uses are definitely helpful and even life-changing, many people have yet to realize the full potential of Evernote. The following are some of the less common uses of Evernote:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Tickler</strong>: I&#8217;ll admit that Evernote is not the best scheduler and reminder system. It worksbest for just storing and organizing stuff. Still, with a little innovation, you can create a Tickler notebook for any notes that you want reminded at a specific date by formatting the title of the note with the date first in a YYMMDD format. This simply orders the notes so that more recent upcoming reminders are viewed first. You still have to take the time to view this notebook frequently though for it to function well as a tickler.</li>
<li><strong>Backup Everything</strong>: I mainly recommend this if you plan on paying for the <a href="http://www.evernote.com/about/premium/">premium account</a> ($5 per month or $45 per year) which allows you to upload 1GB per month rather than 60MB per month. Now you can back up any files, documents, IM conversations, email exchanges, and whatever else you can think of on Evernote. It is actually extremely nice having everything you could possibly need available on any computer or smartphone.</li>
<li><strong>Writing</strong>: While Evernote may not be my &#8220;goto&#8221; whenever I have to write something, I have used it constantly to backup and extend current projects. A lot of times I will initially write in some text editor, but then I&#8217;ll copy and paste it into Evernote, so I have it backed up and available whenever I&#8217;m ready to work on it some more. Of course you can also do this in Google Docs, but I like having everything all in one place, and Evernote allows me to do this.</li>
<li><strong>Airport Parking</strong>: A small but important use. Ever park your car at the airport only to spend 30 minutes searching through the 13,000 parking lots at the airport? Use Evernote to store your section and space, and then use your phone to find your spot after a long trip.</li>
<li><strong>Health Tracking</strong>: I&#8217;ve found this particularly useful if you believe you&#8217;re having dietary problems. Use Evernote to snap a photo of what you eat each meal. And, if you&#8217;re not the squeamish type, you can also use Evernote to record how the food came out the other end<br />
with perhaps a tag describing the experience (&#8220;uneasy&#8221; or &#8220;messy&#8221; or &#8220;explosive&#8221; for the worst case scenarios)</li>
</ul>
<h2>Do You Know Any Creative Uses?</h2>
<p>The best part about Evernote is that there is no limit to how you can use it. The beauty in its simplicity allows you to think outside the box to help you remember and track important things that would otherwise be untraceable. So, how do you use Evernote?</p>
<hr class="dayHR" />
<p><em>This guest post is contributed by Lauren Bailey, who regularly writes for <a href="http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/">best online colleges.</a></em></p>
<hr class="dayHR" />
<p class="photoby">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/whatleydude/">whatleydude</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>3 Ways Knowing Software Can Save Time</title>
		<link>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/3-ways-knowing-software-can-save-time/</link>
		<comments>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/3-ways-knowing-software-can-save-time/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Mar 2011 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>LJ Earnest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Productivity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/?p=3421</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Fridays are tip days at SimpleProductivity blog. Do you know how to use your software? I mean REALLY use it? Not just the basics, but things that can make your job easier? You might think, &#8220;who has time? I need to get the job done!&#8221; But a small investment in [...]<p><hr class="dayHR" />
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<p><em>Fridays are tip days at SimpleProductivity blog.</em></p>
<hr class="dayHR" />
<p align="center"><img class="photo" title="Photo by matsuyuki" alt="Photo by matsuyuki" border="0"  src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3002/2607912618_9998d38773_m.jpg" width="240px" height="180px" /></p>
<p>Do you know how to use your software?</p>
<p>I mean REALLY use it?</p>
<p>Not just the basics, but things that can make your job easier?</p>
<p>You might think, &#8220;who has time? I need to get the job done!&#8221; But a small investment in time could pay off in huge time savings.</p>
<h2>Basic Time Savings With Shortcuts</h2>
<p>Here&#8217;s an example: to make something bold in Microsoft Word, you can press Control+B. So if you&#8217;re typing along, making something bold becomes part of the sequence of keys you press.</p>
<p>If you don&#8217;t know the shortcut, you must type, stop, use the mouse to highlight, then click the button, then resume typing. This can really expand your time spent on a simple task.</p>
<h2>Saving Time Knowing What Your Software Can Do</h2>
<p>By familiarizing yourself with the functionality of what your software can do, you become aware of the capabilities of the tool. You might find an easier way to do something.</p>
<p>Back in the day, envelopes used to have to be addressed by hand, or typed on a typewriter. But most word processors can do that for you, either by printing labels, or by printing on the envelopes themselves. This replacement of manual effort saves a lot of time if you have to do a mass mailing.</p>
<h2>Saving Time By Knowing When To Find A Different Tool</h2>
<p>By knowing what your software can do, you also have a better idea for when you need to look for something else. It&#8217;s possible to pound a nail into a wall with pliers, but that doesn&#8217;t mean it&#8217;s the best tool for the job.</p>
<p>Keeping inventory in a spreadsheet is possible, but you can&#8217;t generate sales trending reports like you could from a database.</p>
<hr class="dayHR" />
<p>If you find yourself struggling to make a tool do what you want, ask yourself if it really is the right software for the job. Maybe you need to learn more, or find another tool.</p>
<p>What do you think? Do you struggle with software?</p>
<hr class="dayHR" />
<p class="photoby">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/matsuyuki/">matsuyuki</a></p>
<p><hr class="dayHR" />
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		<title>MyMind: An iPod/iPhone MindMapping Tool</title>
		<link>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/mymind/</link>
		<comments>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/mymind/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Feb 2011 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>LJ Earnest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Productivity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/?p=3381</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Mondays are productivity days at SimpleProductivity blog. I like brainstorming. I like being able to loosen the gates on my ideas, give them a good shake, and see what comes out. That being said, I have never liked mind mapping. My thoughts don&#8217;t come out in ways that lend themselves [...]<p><hr class="dayHR" />
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<p><em>Mondays are productivity days at SimpleProductivity blog.</em></p>
<hr class="dayHR" />
<p align="center"><img class="photo" title="Photo by torres21" alt="Photo by torres21" border="0"  src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1219/1155113039_de9da1a5e8_m.jpg" width="240px" height="161px" /></p>
<p>I like brainstorming. I like being able to loosen the gates on my ideas, give them a good shake, and see what comes out. That being said, I have never liked mind mapping. My thoughts don&#8217;t come out in ways that lend themselves to diagrams on paper. I always end up with ideas clustered in one corner and a tangled knot of lines leading off to unintelligible blobs.</p>
<p>When the maker of the iPhone/iPod application MyMind contacted me to look at the software and provide feedback, I almost said no. As a software developer, I realized that software without feedback often lacks, so I decided to give it a shot.</p>
<p>Wow.</p>
<p>MyMind blew me away. After all, we are dealing with a tiny screen. But it was so easy to add bubbles that I found it could keep up with me. It automatically moved things around so that there were no jumbles. It was also fast to jump to another place to add ideas.</p>
<p>A tiny screen is no barrier to putting in ideas. The standard zoom in and out for the iPod Touch applications works extremely well and gives you an overview of your mind map.</p>
<p>Here is a look at one of my maps, straight from my iPod:</p>
<p align="center"><img src="http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/images/MyMind.jpg" height="320px" width="480px" style="border:solid 1px;"/></p>
<p>MyMind also exports to and from an open source mind map tool called FreeMind. So after creating the maps on my iPod, I could pull them onto the PC for printing. And the other way as well: outlines on the PC can be carried on my iPod Touch.</p>
<p>The price is $6.99, and it is worth every penny. MyMind is available from the iTunes store.</p>
<p>But if you&#8217;d like a chance to have the software for free see the <a href="http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/contest-MyMind/">contest announcement.</a></p>
<hr class="dayHR" />
<p><em>Note: the makers of MyMind have released a version specifically for the iPad. It can be found through the <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mymind-g-start-mindmapping/id418726097?mt=8">iTunes store</a>.</em></p>
<hr class="dayHR" />
<p class="photoby">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/torres21/">torres21</a></p>
<p><hr class="dayHR" />
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		<title>Browser Protection for the iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch</title>
		<link>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/browser-protection-for-the-iphoneipadipod-touch/</link>
		<comments>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/browser-protection-for-the-iphoneipadipod-touch/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Feb 2011 22:24:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>LJ Earnest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Parenting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/?p=3385</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My daughter loves using my iPod Touch. But after catching her trying to Google something innocent and coming up with some not-so-innocent results, I had to put my foot down: no iPod Touch browsing. At the time I wished that I could have the same protection on my iPod Touch [...]<p><hr class="dayHR" />
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<p>My daughter loves using my iPod Touch. But after catching her trying to Google something innocent and coming up with some not-so-innocent results, I had to put my foot down: no iPod Touch browsing.</p>
<p>At the time I wished that I could have the same protection on my iPod Touch that I have on the computers at home: namely Bluecoat K9, a free product that filters by category.</p>
<p>My wishes were granted. I got an email today from K9 announcing their browser for iPod Touch/iPad and iPhone. (See <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/k9-web-protection-browser/id407657840?mt=8">http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/k9-web-protection-browser/</a>)</p>
<p>It makes me feel a little bit better, although I will still be watching her carefully.</p>
<p><hr class="dayHR" />
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		<title>Quick Tip: Restoring Google Contacts</title>
		<link>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/quick-tip-restoring-google-contacts/</link>
		<comments>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/quick-tip-restoring-google-contacts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 24 Dec 2010 16:47:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>LJ Earnest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Techniques]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/?p=3305</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I just about panicked this morning. I went in to email a friend and her email address was gone out of GMail. And when I went to Google Contacts, everyone was gone. The problem was a POS piece of software that I had bought to help me sync between Google [...]<p><hr class="dayHR" />
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<p>I just about panicked this morning. I went in to email a friend and her email address was gone out of GMail. And when I went to Google Contacts, <em>everyone</em> was gone.</p>
<p>The problem was a POS piece of software that I had bought to help me sync between Google and my iPod Touch. It has a wonderful side effect where it wipes out my contacts. And I had accidentally launched it yesterday morning as I was fumbling for the snooze button (we won&#8217;t go on to why it was still on my Touch after I discovered the side effect).</p>
<p>Anyway, long story short. You can restore your Google Contacts by going to the Contacts screen and choosing Restore from the Actions menu. It will give you a bunch of options for restoring, up to 30 days.</p>
<p>Two clicks and I had my contacts (450+) back.</p>
<p>One click and the POS software was gone off the Touch.</p>
<p>Whew!</p>
<p><hr class="dayHR" />
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		<title>My Most-Used iPod Touch Applications</title>
		<link>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/my-most-used-ipod-touch-applications/</link>
		<comments>http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/my-most-used-ipod-touch-applications/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Oct 2010 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>LJ Earnest</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Software]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.simpleproductivityblog.com/?p=2928</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Someone was asking me recently about the things I have on my iPod Touch. Since it has replaced my PDA completely, it is essentially my mobile brain with music. Here are my current favorites: Productivity Awesome Note ($3.99). This syncs with Google docs and allows me to keep various lists [...]<p><hr class="dayHR" />
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]]></description>
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<p align="center"><img class="photo" title="Photo by DerkT" alt="Photo by DerkT" border="0"  src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1412/1419793862_a6e8bcaa94_m.jpg" width="180px" height="240px" /></p>
<p>Someone was asking me recently about the things I have on my iPod Touch. Since it has replaced my PDA completely, it is essentially my mobile brain with music. Here are my current favorites:</p>
<h2>Productivity</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Awesome Note ($3.99). </strong> This syncs with Google docs and allows me to keep various lists with me at all times.</li>
<li><strong>Remember the Milk (free).</strong> This application is the backbone of my life. I use the web version when on the computer, but the portable version when I&#8217;m not.</li>
<li><strong>Google Mobile App (free).</strong> All the Google apps in one icon. Mail, calendar, and more.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Travel</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Best Alarm Clock + Weather ($0.99).</strong> This alarm clock allows me to select my own music to wake up to, plus shows the current temperature and weather for my current location.</li>
<li><strong>Flight Aware (free).</strong> This tracks flight information, departure, arrivals and delays. I use it more for when my husband is traveling than for when I am, but it is a great little application.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Writing</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>MessageEase (free).</strong> An innovative way to enter text on the Touch. It can then be copied into other applications.</li>
<li><strong>WordPress (free).</strong> I can write blog posts from my iPod. I usually reserve these for my family blog, but drafts for this blog sometimes get written this way.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Entertainment</h2>
<h3>Reading</h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>Kindle Application. (free)</strong> This syncs to my last read location, so even if I don&#8217;t have my Kindle with me, I can still read.</li>
<li><strong>101 Classic Novels. (free)</strong> All the books I always meant to read, but didn&#8217;t. For free, without searching Amazon.</li>
<li><strong>Read It Later (free).</strong> Allows me to read items from my Read It Later list on the go.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Games</h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>Tanzan ($0.99, but they have a free version).</strong> A relaxing way to put Tangrams together.</li>
<li><strong>Tooples (free).</strong> This is a no-frills Yahtzee-like game. Very nice.</li>
<li><strong>Boggle ($1.99).</strong> A great version of the classic game. It does disallow some words that are in the standard English dictionary, though.</li>
<li><strong>Carcassonne ($4.99).</strong> This is one of my favorite board games.</li>
<li><strong>Cookie Dozer (free).</strong> Cookies mixed with a carnival game. Lots of fun, although a bit buggy at times.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Other</h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>Netflix (free).</strong> I now have the ability to stream from my Netflix WatchNow queue direct to my iPod Touch. </li>
<li><strong>TV Guide (free).</strong> Television listings for the times when I actually want to see if anything good is on.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Relaxation</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Koi Pond ($0.99).</strong> This application is amazing. It&#8217;s simply a fish pond. You can feed them, put your finger in the water (and they&#8217;ll nibble). You can change the sounds. Very relaxing. And during the holidays the application changes.</li>
<li><strong>Pzizz Energizer ($4.99).</strong> I recommend the full version on this one because you can change the settings, like length of nap. This generates a sleep nap that leaves me wonderfully refreshed.</li>
<li><strong>Ambience ($2.99)</strong>. This application allows you to download various sound tracks that can be used to block out sound or relax.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Utilities</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>iTalk Recorder (free).</strong> I have used this for everything from making memos on the go to recording song parts to rehearse while I am in the car. </li>
<li><strong>MyKeePass ($0.99).</strong> After months of struggling with iKeepass, I found this. It allows me to get my passwords on the go, and sync between iPod and desktop. Until I found this application, I thought I was going to have to leave KeePass altogether.</li>
<li><strong>Flashlight (free).</strong> Don&#8217;t laugh. There are times when the power has gone out, and I have used this application to help me find my way to where light sources are stored.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Weather</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>iHurricane (free).</strong> This software, along with an email address, will notify me of new storms and track them for me. It is very useful to get the information and be warned automatically.</li>
<li><strong>Weatherbug elite ($0.99).</strong> This is the place I go to for forecasts. Unfortunately, it still doesn&#8217;t have push notifications of life-threatening weather, so if it indicates there might be severe weather at night, I still leave my laptop running with the PC Weatherbug and the volume turned all the way up.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Other</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Touch Karma (free).</strong> I can keep track of the chores my daughter has done and how much I owe her.</li>
<li><strong>Mint (free).</strong> This allows me to access my Mint.com account and financial information on the go.</li>
<li><strong>PainKiller 2.0 ($2.99).</strong> As weird as it sounds, listening to the binaural beats can help dispel a migraine.</li>
<li><strong>Starbucks Card Mobile (free).</strong> This allows me to manage my Starbucks card as well as pay for drinks at the local Target.</li>
<li><strong>Grocery Gadget ($4.99).</strong> A robust shopping list manager that doesn&#8217;t lock up and crash like Splash Shopper did. Plus it has a web interface so I can enter items via the computer.</li>
<li><strong>Use Your Handwriting (free).</strong> Write messages in your own handwriting, then email them.</li>
<li><strong>MoonPhase ($1.99).</strong> Living in a place prone to tidal flooding, I like to keep my eye on the moon phases. We don&#8217;t flood just during storms, but also during full and new moons.</li>
</ul>
<hr class="dayHR" />
<p>These are not all the applications I have on the Touch, but the ones I use daily. </p>
<hr class="dayHR" />
<p class="photoby">Photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/derkt/">DerkT</a></p>
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