So yea, who doesn’t like to have some free time. I use some things to save myself from being eaten up by the computer screen. Hope you find this useful in some way, and if you actually manage to save time, use it to e-mail dare about it. lol.
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| Rajaram Rajendran |
It’s been gadget mania of late. You already own an iPad, don’t you? Gotcha! Alright, if you do, then you already know what reading and workin on the go is like. Smartphones, of course, everyone has a blackberry. But apart from being typecasted, (who cares about those kind of stuff anyway) we’ve to agree that these actually save time. The only problem is, we use the saved time to to do more stuff on the computer and less at real life. Well that one, we’ve to figure it out ourselves.
I use an android phone, and if you happen to have one, try the mindmapping software. It’s free, it’s great, and it’s called thinking space. You’ll be surprised at how organised things can get. Simple as well. androlib.com is a great resource. Try this app called Slidescreen. Saves you from even going to apps. Same with the iphone. Get language translators. Heck, the phone even reads things out for you. Remember that the next time you travel. There are free ftp apps that let you upload the new changes to your website on the go. No need to find a computer and transfer files. I use voice recorders to save that ‘flash-in-the-head’ ideas I get every now and then, which I totally forget later otherwise. Get Twitter apps, but I’ve to say I’m overloaded with information sometimes, and I do turn that off. Use Google maps, or gps, know your route before you start driving. The time you spend waiting in traffic blocks, relax and listen to a podcast. Or let your phone download mails and have a conversation with your driver. Let’s not forget human beings, right.
If you’re on a Mac, try Curio. You can download a trial, and it really doesn’t cost much. Its easy, simple and addictive. It’s a large size canvas (just like your table top). Great for organising stuff. Clicks and drags. Keep inspiring articles, music, videos, pictures, all in one place and move them around, or group them, as you like. You can even write stuff or draw on top of these. Great for sorting all that data while research or when starting a new project. And finally, export your thoughts to a regular format that others understand. This one does it all. If you access external windows hard drives, don’t go around with a pen drive, use a simple software called Paragon NTFS.
If you run windows, there’re a lot of small utilities that we overlook. Free pdf makers, which help you send all those reference images you collected in an organised format. Use Google docs, its convenient. Download rocketdock and switcher. Switch applications faster. Get deskspace, and all of a sudden you have six different desktops. Great for multitasking. Small utilities which view artwork files, will help you see the files your designer just sent. It takes a small amount of time to install things like these, but saves a lot of time later. Subscribe to feeds. You dont really need to go to all those websites opened in all tabs and waste time. Get all the things you need in feeds, use one reader, read it while you travel. Or when you’re waiting for something, say traffic to move in peak hours. I rarely watch news on TV, you get much more updated news on the web. Get simple download managers, we should stop staring at the screen as the progress bar moves and do something else.
Browsing takes up a lot of our time. There’s this browser called Rockmelt, if you haven’t heard of it already. Works brilliant. Sign up for an invite, and you’ll get one. See it for yourself. All those bookmarks, interesting sites that you see, all feeds, social networking, and everything else is integrated onto a simple interface. The best part is, you find new interesting links, bookmark them at home. When you reach office, or your friend’s place, you get them there. Helps you not waste time on social networking websites themselves, and have your coffee in peace.
Hope this helped in some way, there’s a lot more, maybe some other time.
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The writer is an entrepreneur, designer, digital artist, wannabe musician and a jack of all, who thinks black & white photography is very cool. To write to the author, please send an email to dare@cybermedia.co.in with the subject line 'Rajaram Rajendran'. Disclaimer: The views expressed here are that of the author and do not represent the magazine's.
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