Gmail, Gtasks, Gcalendar & Gdocs … the Gatekeepers ….

As a followup to using Gmail as a tasking and knowledge management tool … this is a simple discussion of taking some of the new capabilities of the G4 and turning them into the gatekeeper of an efficient cloud based system to keep you on track and in the flow ….

Many systems using the ideas of GTD and work flow exist and work for many … I tend to create my own structures within my space to enable my mind to freely flow rather than be encumbered by rules and things that I might forget and then have to redo …  so this has emerged from the chaos of trying to stay focused but yet trying so many “systems” to me that way ….

Let’s start with our core application, email … from there emerges most of the pathways that you normally take … ie, when an email thread contains information that must be kept and referenced, or dates emerge of importance that then must reference information, deadlines and tasks need to be not forgotten … etc etc

You get the picture … one of my most used integrations now is the task feature on gmail … it pops out the list that I can quickly add info to and put in deadlines, etc … this new task feature is enabled in the labs section and then appears in your left hand column as I have circled …

The neat thing is now the tasks are also on the Google calendar app, same button on the left side, same enabling in lab feature .. and Same task list from Gmail … now it is a simple thing to add a calendar item and create an alert (my calendar synchs to my blackberry … mobile heaven) …. see below another great feature for calendar … the world clock as I have many contacts internationally that allows me a quick overview of times and places ….

Now going back to the gmail screen … here’s where it really gets fun … now I have all sorts of choices for information storage … if you notice at the of my screen in the browser bookmark area … I can use Evernote, which also allows me to take any website or any info into a completely searchable web and desktop interface … or my new experiment  Spring it captures it into Springpad which also allows for web access … way more powerful recall engines for those info challenged types like myself … also covered earlier is the create document option of google docs that allows for document creation from the entire email string … this allows searchability and easy cut and paste into more spreadsheet or document work in your docs space …

Obviously with the google gears, you now have an application space and web system that allows you complete portability, searchability and useability … did I miss any bilities?   Have fun and play … this one works and gives you a great basis to create something that will work for you ….

Project Management for the Rest of Us …

A topic near and dear to my heart as I am always following developments in this area … it was prompted today by a great information piece that got me thinking again … in today’s post by Celine Roque called “Create Effective Project Milestone Sheets” in WebWorkerDaily .. she describes her system of utilizing a Milestone Sheet as the document that would interface with a client so as to bridge the gap between a formal PM presentation that tends to cause non techie clients to immediately move eyes to the glassed over state … (you know what I mean …) … too many times to be isolated …

The Milestone Sheet is like a PM tool for the rest of us … I took the article and created a map of the highlights to allow for a quick highlight of the article (technique I use often with things I want to summarize) … using this I then move to create a milestone sheet with dependencies using MindManager 8 that becomes the basis of the rich formal PM based application ….

By using MindManager to become my PM tool of choice allows me to use all the utility of the desktop on the web by utilizing MindManager Connect and the ability to have a full tool on the web with the MindManager Web client … It is truly amazing as you never skip a beat there as all of the normal tools and utility are as if you had never left the desktop … by using the tasks, resources and dependencies … you have a full PM solution that is both visual and simple to grasp but still having the ability to run and keep track of even the most complex of projects … I use the browser feature of the new MindManager to open a window and flesh out my companion software in the web that becomes my active milestone manager ….

I take the map and translate the milestones, etc into a web based project management tool that integrates into my flow … I have been trying out all sorts of tools and have found manymoon to be an interesting choice that I am using now … the highlights that have made this valuable to me are that manymoon integrates tightly with google services … I can place the milestones into my google calendar and tasks .. I can attach files and google docs (including doing new ones) to a milestone or discusssion ..

Another post in WebWorker Daily by Daniel Etherington brought me to Manymoon and is worth reading …. it shows how you may use the many other features of this new application that moves more utility into the cloud … (note that I access docs, calendar and manymoon from by blackberry for mobility …)  this is one you can play with to suit your flow and needs ….

Syncing, the key to the Cloud…

In this first installment of this series I’d like to highlight what I feel is what started my quest and what enables effective use of multiple computer setups and also working remotely by utilizing a transparent method of keeping key files always current.

Let me digress as I started this journey when I found a really great syncing application called Foldershare which served me will for many years … the sync app was supposed to keep my data synchronized between multiple machines so I would not have to worry about working on the current file or creating something on one computer and then transferring it when I worked on another … you simply download a client piece of software on all your computers you want coordinated, designate the folders to sync, and let the app work its magic … enter Microsoft who also thought this was a great service and who then bought it and rebranded it as Windows Live Sync … for some of you, having Microsoft behind the app may be a good thing, so your search can stop here … for all others, here is where I went …

I found Dropbox after searching and watching tech blogs who highlighted this as one of the best out there … I moved all my syncs to Dropbox by migrating all the folders I had put into Foldershare into my new Dropbox folder … I found the sync to be quicker and more reliable as far as keeping the proper versions of my files in order … another great feature is web access to my folder, as this allowed me to access my data when I travelled and didn’t have proper access to my own travel computer.  Another great feature of this is the ability to go back to a revised document … this saved my skin when I accidently overwrote a file .. simple to go to my folder on the web and revert to previous version … by downloading and saving I was able to sidestep a major disaster in the making …

  I was fine with Dropbox until I hit limits to the initial account (cost is always a consideration) … I started to search again and found SugarSync … several bloggers that I follow raved about it … so I signed up and am running them side by side on my computers … I have to say that they both do all the things I have come to expect … at this moment because I have far less data on the Sugar folders, it seems much quicker in execution … we’ll have to see how that is when I fill them up … Both application fulfill all my needs and function great … you could use either as I can tell and both offer free accounts of 2G to try … The annual subscriptions offer much larger storage options for those of you into photos and music … the prices for the next level are $99 for 50G on dropbox and $50 for 30G on sugar on an annual basis … try them both on the free accounts … I think you will like the quick and unobtrusive syncing that these applications allow … never having to say you’re sorry for your current files is priceless ….

A Hitchhikers Guide to the Cloud ….

For the past couple of weeks I have been totally laid out with a summer cold … first one in years and it took it’s toll … fuzzy brain and all …  Well, I’m back and I have been thinking about a kind of summary piece for all of you to bring you up to where I am currently ….

As you know I started this blog with the idea of searching for the best mix of hardware and software for mobility and utility … over the past years and myriad hardware choices, I have settled on the Thinkpad series of tablet PC’s as my primary machines for this purpose … one of the best testaments is always in the reliability, utility and support for the machine … I have had several opportunities to need support for my hardware and I have always gotten immediate and effective help from IBM (now Lenovo) … I needed to reformat my drive earlier this year and they got me the discs in a couple of days from Atlanta (I am in

Hawaii) and that was eye opening … not only are the machines super well built, but they will never be out of place in any business setting … very important point!  My current machine is a Thinkpad X61t …  review and photo courtesy of Tablet PC Review dot com

 

In the coming installments I am going to cover an assortment of topics highlighting the solutions that I employ for various tasks like syncing, bookmarking, notes, productivity, mapping, collaboration, project management, and a catchall section on hybrid solutions including how I am using my Blackberry Pearl as an extension of my work flow …  I have arrived on these choices based on integration and ease of use, productivity gains, and cost .. not all of the services I use are free, but most are and serve me will …  watch the blog for next installments coming soon …..

New Search Presentation … Google Squared …

Noticed a new type of search that Google rolled out today … they call it Google Squared and it is pretty good … here is shot of a search keyed by US Presidents .. notice how the info is presented in a matrix format that could be highly useful for many types of info gathering … this is first day out, so play and give them feedback .. I think this one has big possibilities … notice the recurring theme on my internet apps … I normally will come through MindManager and its new browser window … this allows me to save searches or apps by simply joining the open item to a branch … when you are done you can simply delete or keep it active for further use down the road … the browser in MindManager is an essential tool in my toolbox ….

Agriculture 2.0, Using Technology to Find Solutions …

In response to a Farm Foundation Challenge, I have created a white paper entitled, Agricultural Innovation Through Public Policy Initiatives.  This brief essay acquaints a first time reader with the systematic inclusion of many technologies that can be synergistically applied to solve many of the ills brought upon our environment and society by our wasteful ways.  The call to arms is necessary at this stage of the game as the tipping point of many critical systems are being approached.  This is a beginning read on ways to solve these problems, all well within the reach of our generation if we can move forward NOW ….

Agricultural Innovation Through Public Policy Initiatives

Using Firefox Xmarks to Create Super Knowledge Base

Here is a really neat trick using several items to create a custom knowledge base for either projects or just general use.  As I was putting together a white paper (to be described in the next posting) I needed to open up a lot of previously bookmarked items along with new research … it became a real chore keeping the windows open and shifting between items as needed, so here is the system that I came up with …

Using Xmarks (formerly Fox Marks), which has become my standard bookmark utility as it is cross platform using firefox, the system revolves around the hundreds of bookmarks that I routinely make throughout my day from feeds and reads … this first shot shows my new map in MindManager 8 using the browser to open up the Xmarks account … notice that I establish this connection in the MM8 map as the starting point … you can initialize any project or compilation completely by also establishing your google app (see older posting) directory and you would then have old docs ready to go (another aside, google finally enabled file compatibility with Office 2007 files this week) … when you open up your Xmarks web interface, you then have all your bookmarks compiled … notice the highlighted entry on the shot …

Now, the trick is to open any of the bookmarks in the browser … then hit the attach and notice what has happened in the second map entry … your article is now viewable and linked directly into the map … you can do this as may times as you like and create more singular entries … you can nest info on thoughts, you can create subsets of info, you can work in distinct areas … you are limited only by your imagination …. this simple trick greatly enhances work flow … you can go from page to page without losing track of your thoughts as you always have your defined structure bounded by the map …

By starting with the marks, you can use this trick as a reuseable template to grow ideas, erase areas no longer needed, and explore paths while having your trail always defined … 

Handy Utility for Printing and Saving …

Happened on this great utility while reading my daily dose of Web Worker Daily … featured this super handy print utility that is web based and also a tool for web sites you may have …  printfriendly

Picture the common problem of web pages with so many headers and links and all you want is the content (printing a web page has always been a big problem) … this first shot show a blog that I commented on in a previous entry …

This is the normal view you get and try to print while browsing … by copying the url into the printfriendly web page, this is what you get …

Notice the buttons allow you to print the cleaned up copy or save as a pdf … the pdf copy allows you then to print to other things or archive the work … for those of you using google docs … you can then take it all back up to the web and save it in your cloud space …. neat …

This is a shot their web page and notice several other cool items … you can embed a printer friendly button on your own website to provide this to your readers … and you can also put a button on your browser so you don’t even have to go to the site to do this … very valuable resource for all the time and resource challenged among us …