Will Kelly

The Tools of My Trade: 2009 Edition

By tradition, at the end of every year, I take a look back both personally and professionally over the previous 12 months. This year—especially with 2009 being a challenging year—was no different. Part of this year’s review was taking a look at the tools I use on a daily basis to get my work done to make sure I had the right mix for productivity and hadn’t fallen into any of the latest fads or had software just idling away when I should really decommission it and streamline my workflow.

Latest WWD Post: Rediscovering Outlines As a Productivity Tool

Through high school and college, I used to rail against having to use outlines because I saw them as stifling my creativity. It wasn’t until years later, as more of my own consulting work grew past just straight up technical writing of user documentation, that I rediscovered outlines as a productivity tool, enabling me to quickly make plans, organize ideas and structure information. Now I consider them an important part of my project planning arsenal.

via webworkerdaily.com

The story of "how I got my outlines back" after growing to hate them while I was in school.

My latest WWD Post: Catch Google Wave With Waveboard 2.0 For the iPhone

I am on record as wishing that Google Wave would become part of the Google Mobile App, but until that happens there is an alternative. WaveBoard 2.0 recently went live on the App Store (iTunes link, $0.99, or a free upgrade from the previous version) and offers iPhone/iPod touch users mobile access to the service.

via webworkerdaily.com

New WWD Post: Blogging With OneNote 2010 Beta

Now that Microsoft Office 2010 is in beta (as I noted here), I’ve been spending more time using the applications, especially OneNote 2010 beta. I have long used OneNote for capturing project information when I am working on one of my Windows machines, but its potential as a blogging tool has been on my mind recently.

via webworkerdaily.com

My Favorite iPhone Apps for 2009

I broke down and upgraded to an iPhone 3Gs this year -- sure I "can blame" the move on my WebWorkerDaily colleagues -- but I am finding it to be a terrifically powerful mobile platform. While I used to carry a BlackBerry (and I still count myself as a BlackBerry fan!), the applications available for the iPhone were definitely a drawing card for me to switch.

WWD Post: Distraction-free Writing is Distracting to Me

Like over 300,000 other Mac users who downloaded the MacHeist nanoBundle (as covered by Simon), I received WriteRoom as part of the package’s bevy of software. This lightweight word processor promises distraction-free writing. Having read about it and the productivity concepts underlying it in the past (here’s an old WWD post from Leo about distraction-free writing tools, for example), I was interested in giving it a spin to see if it could help me.

via webworkerdaily.com

WWD Post: Trillian for the iPhone: Mobile Multiprotocol IM Goodness

I came to instant messaging (IM) late by many web worker’s standards. Spending time on some locked-down client sites meant that IM was never part my communications toolbox. However, when I started working with ISP and telecom clients, everybody wanted my IM details. At the time, I settled on Trillian because it supported multiple IM protocols, so I didn’t have to keep switching clients to communicate with clients and project team members.

via webworkerdaily.com

WWD Post: ShoveBox for the Mac and iPhone Helps Keep Your Stuff Organized

Perhaps the greatest treasure in the recent MacHeist nanoBundle (which was covered by Simon in a recent post) is ShoveBox. It’s a clippings organizer that lets you capture, view, organize and edit data that is elegant in its simplicity. This very usable application resides in the menubar, making it accessible at all times regardless of what application you are using.

via webworkerdaily.com

Importing Email & Contacts into Gmail

 
Gmail is increasingly becoming the email provider of choice for many individuals and organizations alike. Google is well aware of that fact and recently rolled out a new Import Mail & Contacts feature that joins Gmail settings. I found the new feature in my Gmail account but didn't see it in a Google Apps account I maintain under a personal domain.

The new import feature is a simple affair. Go to your Gmail settings and open the Accounts and Import tab. Click on Import Mail & Contacts and a new browser window appears. Enter the email address of the email account you want to import into Gmail.  Click Continue.

WWD Post: Compare Multiple Documents With CompareMyDocs.com

One of the banes of many writers’ existence (including my own!) is inheriting a slew of documents where the people working on them previously haven’t paid much heed to document versioning, leaving you trying to make sense of a mishmash of documents. On more than one occasion, I’ve been left hoping for a tool that would enable me to compare documents in bulk so I can get a mess of a documentation library under control before I can begin the real work on a project.

via webworkerdaily.com

WWD Post: Corporate Telecommuting: The H1N1 Virus Edition

News of a possible H1N1 virus, or “Swine Flu,” pandemic is causing many commercial firms and government agencies to examine their Continuity of Operations (COOP) plans so business can soldier on during the crisis. The threat of an H1N1 outbreak is even prompting the United States Centers for Disease Control to recommend that small businesses have telework and business continuity plans in place.

via webworkerdaily.com

My latest post to WebWorkerDaily was inspired by one too many discussions about how an organization can extend their infrastructure in short order to maintain a continuity of operations in the advent of an H1N1 virus outbreak.

Recent Thoughts about Personal Information Management

One of the great things about writing for WebWorkerDaily is the exposure I get to the latest technologies and thoughts about Web 2.0, productivity, and web working. Professionally, it has helped me think deeper into some of my own personal information management issues and approaches.

Growing up with dyslexia always made personal organization a challenge for me. Also, I found out years ago that I am better organized electronically than I am in a traditional paper and filing cabinet method.

WWD Post: 5 Tips For the Aspiring Part-time Freelancer

The down economy is making many workers realize that it is no longer safe to have just one source of income. On the flip side, employers are also making smaller jobs available to outside contractors, opening up more opportunities for people to have side projects outside of their regular day jobs.

via webworkerdaily.com

My latest WWD post is drawn from my own experience in managing side projects. Today's economy is driving more people to diversify their income sources and part-time freelancing is the way. It can also help make you feel more secure if your day job appears to be shaky.

WWD Post: Create Mind Maps on the Go with MindJet for iPhone

Meryl recently wrote about the benefits of developing mind maps with pen and paper. However, what about those of us who are cursed with poor penmanship and want to develop mind maps on the go without having to carry around paper and a pen?

via webworkerdaily.com

MindJet for the iPhone is one of the first apps I purchased for my new iPhone and I am finding it a very usable and well done application.

WWD Post: Manage Information Overload with iKnow

As the amount of data we all use and store grows, information management is becoming an increasingly important topic. It’s often ignored until something happens, like losing a software serial number or other vital piece of information in what was once thought to be an organized email inbox or My Documents folder.

via webworkerdaily.com

My latest WebWorkerDaily post is online. If you are looking for a Windows-based information, I recommend giving iKnow Standard Edition a try.

WWD Post: Evernote 3.5 Beta Launches, Features Now on Par with Mac Version

Evernote has released Evernote 3.5 Beta for Windows, as James over at jkOnTheRun reported yesterday. I was keen to try it out as I’ve come to depend on Evernote to keep track of the random ideas I need to record, like WWD post ideas and other project research. The beta is available to both premium and free users.

via webworkerdaily.com

My latest WebWorkerDaily post is now online. The Evernote 3.5 Beta client really raises the bar for Evernote on Windows. However, they just need to get rid of the introductory multimedia!

WWD Post: Yojimbo 2.0 Adds Usability Refinements

Yojimbo 2.0 from Bare Bones Software is the latest release of this popular information organizer for the Mac. It’s a tool that users can use to stow their random bits and bytes in an organized manner, making them easy to search for and retrieve.

via webworkerdaily.com

Yojimbo is where I stash some of my most important personal and professional information. The latest update adds some great refinements to the product.

WWD Post: Yojimbo Adds Usability Refinements

Yojimbo 2.0 from Bare Bones Software is the latest release of this popular information organizer for the Mac. It’s a tool that users can use to stow their random bits and bytes in an organized manner, making them easy to search for and retrieve.

via webworkerdaily.com

My latest WebWorkerDaily post is now online. Yojimbo is a useful information manager for the Macintosh.

WWD Post: When Evernote Meets Twitter

Along with the addition of collaboration features, Evernote now integrates with Twitter. My first reaction to this news was that Evernote was falling into the “me too” trap that some companies get into with social media, especially with Twitter.

via webworkerdaily.com

My latest WebWorkerDaily post went live today. It is the second time I've written about Evernote and look forward to seeing what else is coming from their product roadmap.

Deciding On My Next Primary Desktop PC

I am still one of those writers who uses a desktop PC. Reason being is that I like the fact I can have a lot of hard disk, heavy duty processing power, and two large screen monitors. While I use a MacBook Pro as my other primary writing machine--nothing beats a large monitor for my eyes.