Tag Archives: apps

How To Increase Your Productivity By Next Week

Leave a reply

We all want to be more productive, but it is usually easier said than done.

Productivity is something that we discuss all the time at ComputerPeople. This time, we took it one step further by talking to people with excellent habits, researching, and brainstorming how to we can more productive in the short term. We liked these five habits because they can make a huge impact on productivity AND you can definitely work them all into your routine pretty much immediately.

Hope they help!

1) Delegate, delegate, and delegate some more. The worst thing you can do for your productivity is put too much on your plate when some of your tasks could be handled by others. Do not try and to everything yourself when someone else could do it better.

2) Have a plan. You should constantly create lists and know what you need to accomplish in the next 24 hours. Prepare for the next day by getting a realistic plan in the works.

3) Take Breaks. Yes, I’m serious. You will be more focused and productive if you reward yourself with small breaks about every 90 minutes, and you will be less vulnerable to getting off track and losing motivation.

4) Find useful apps. Do not take all day to do something that an app could have done for you in an hour. There are thousands of productivity apps out there that will help you get the job done and make your life easier.

5) Get up early. They weren’t kidding when they said the early bird gets the worm. If you want to be productive, you shouldn’t waste your time sleeping the day away. Go to sleep early and start grinding when there are few distractions.

 

by Kaitlyn Gahagen

Prezi, the future of presenting?

1 Reply

By: Kaitlyn Neese

If you work in an environment with a lot of presentations, you’ve probably heard of Prezi. It is gaining popularity among the younger generation of the workforce, but I imagine that it is soon going to be utilized by all ages.

If you are unfamiliar with Prezi, it is a free, web-based, more visually appealing version of PowerPoint. It is pretty simple to use and the final product always looks stunning. Prezis are typically much more interesting than PowerPoints, and even the most boring information comes to life with Prezi.

Prezi is new and different. It is fun and it looks so much smoother and more sophisticated than PowerPoint.

So what’s the problem? Why isn’t everybody and their mother flocking to download Prezi and kick the outdated PowerPoint to the curb forever? Long-time PowerPoint fans have a hard time retraining their brain to effectively use Prezi.

Personally, I have become comfortable with the setup of Prezi, but will admit that I have had technical difficulties in the past. Saving presentations has been an issue, and sometimes it takes a while to open up a saved presentation. This can be awkward if you are in front of a group and about to present.

A complaint of Prezi audiences is that it can be distracting. Listeners may be so involved in how gorgeous your presentation looks that they do not hear a word you say. So that definitely defeats the purpose.

So what presentation aid to I prefer to use? I’m going to have to say Prezi, despite its downfalls. Though I will admit Prezi can be distracting and confusing at first, the seasoned Prezi user will learn the tricks of the trade and be able to create excellent presentations. PowerPoint is just too mundane, outdated and limited.

So yes, I believe that Prezi is the future of presenting. If you are uncomfortable with Prezi now, you might as well get used to it. Although your hesitations are probably valid, Prezi is eventually going to be everywhere, so I suggest getting ahead while you still can!

What do you think of Prezi? Are you a loyal PowerPointer? Why?

My favorite FREE apps for Business People

Leave a reply

By: Kaitlyn Neese

There are thousands of apps out there, all claiming to simplify your life in some way or another. Many of these apps are impractical, but some really are must-haves for the time-constrained business person. Here are three of my favorite apps that you should try!

Evernote

 

Seriously. This app rocks.

Evernote is the best app for note-taking and research in my opinion. Also, the collaboration aspects of this app make it great for businesses or groups working on a project.

When you create a notebook in Evernote, you have the option to make it private or share it with a team, and that notebook will also sync across all of your devices so that you can access anything at any time (PC, Mac, iPad, smart phone, etc).

This app has been referred to as a “virtual filing cabinet” because you can add tags to your files in order to find something you have saved in just a few clicks. One of the best parts of this app is that it is extremely easy to snip content from the web and add it to your notebooks- making research documentation simple and accessible.

There is a free version and a pro version for $4.99/month. The free version is really awesome, but you may want to try out the pro version at some point as well.

 

 Wunderlist

Are you one of those people who cannot stop making lists? I am. Sometimes, if I accomplish something that wasn’t on one of my lists, I will put it on a list just so I can cross it off. Crazy, right?

Well, if you are anything like me, you have probably tried multiple list apps, hoping to someday find the perfect app to satisfy all your list-making needs. I finally found that app with Wunderlist.

The free version is great. You can create as many lists as your heart desires for different categories. I use Wunderlist for homework lists, grocery lists, wish lists, and work task lists. Wait – was that a list…? Sorry.

Anyway, I use this app for remembering all the stuff I have to do TODAY, but it can also be used for a more long term to-do list if that works better for you.

Another cool thing is that it syncs across my devices, so I can add and check off tasks from my laptop or my iphone. It is quite handy.

 

Expensify

Okay, so I have to admit that my company does not actually use this app. But I wish we did. It is really fantastic.

Many of my previous employers have complained about how frustrating it is when people lose receipts from business lunches or do not record expenses accurately. Especially when they are the ones that reconcile the receipts. This app totally eliminates that problem by easily allowing you to digitally store all expense information when traveling.

With this app, you can quickly add cash expenses, card expenses, record mileage from travel, and store photos of receipts so that you will never lose one again. Additionally, this app is really helpful to managers because they can approve expenses, reimburse employees right from their phone, and set max expense limits for different categories. Managers can view your entries right from their device or set the app to automatically integrate with Excel, QuickBooks, Xero, Netsuite, Dynamics, Salesforce, FinancialForce and more!

Another cool aspect of Expensify is the ability to log and bill hours to clients using the time entry feature.

Oh yeah, and it’s FREE.

What apps does your company use that you find helpful?