WHAKATE

Dear Fellow Reader

I run my business (consulting services in the field of biotech) from home and for years have been struggling with issues concerning time management, organisation and the like. It often feels to me like a never-ending battle, for as soon as I manage to get one of the “fronts” under control, a skirmish breaks out on a different shore.

While I have found certain websites and internet discussion groups to be of great help and support, the magnitude and volume of what is on the net today concerning this subject can be overwhelming.

I thought I’d share some of the sites I have found most useful of late. One of them is Productivity 501. Run by business consultant Mark W. Shead, I am particularly fond of this site due to the range of topics covered. One recent post, “Managing Physical Media,” gave an assortment of tips for keeping books, CDs, DVDs, magazines and etc. organised. Another, the “Ultimate Virtual Assistant Guide,” was an in-depth article written by Shead about his experience hiring a virtual assistant (VA). The article covers every aspect, including the advantages and disadvantages of hiring a VA, expected costs and how to find, select, train and then manage your assistant from a distance.

Another site of which I’m sure many of you are already aware of is 43 Folders. Run by Merlin Mann, it contains a variety of tips and ideas to increase productivity, efficiency and time management. I find I have to dig a lot more on this site to find something that’s relevant for my life, but I also tend to find small gems I wasn’t looking for. Just a few weeks ago there was a post that redirected me to an article in the Boston Globe about the benefits of napping. Before reading this article I was extremely hesitant to take naps in the daytime – no matter how tired I was, I believed I should be sitting at my computer finding ways to be productive. This article explained the health benefits of napping and that humans are actually programmed to benefit from naps, which can boost alertness, creativity and productivity. I became convinced and have found that napping has seriously changed the quality of my days. I wake up in the morning well rested. I have more energy in the afternoons and I’ve found that my tolerances have increased.

There’s one more site I would like to mention, hosted by the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies. It contains a long alphabetic list of tools – the majority of them free to download - to increase productivity. As an example, there is ClipperZ, an online password manager; Dogear, an in-page bookmarking tool; and WinArranger, which helps arrange Windows on one’s computer screen for more effective workspace. I would be interested to know if other Whakate readers have tried any of the dozens of programs listed on this page and if you would post your recommendations for and against.

Congratulations to the folks at Whakate for the brilliant idea of starting this site – I believe it will save people like me valuable time in scanning many websites for advice, by providing all we need under one umbrella.

Author: Sheila Bates

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