A few uses for it could include:
Review and edit a business letter with a colleague
Collaborate on an essay with my classmates
Work with my editor on a book chapter
Work with my client on copy for their web site
Collaborate with our PR firm on a press release
Draft and revise an important email before I send it
Work on copy for an ad campaign
Draft and revise a blog post before publishing
Craft a letter to the editor of my local paper
Perfect an article before sending it for publication
Write, review, and edit a cover letter for my resume
Refine a product description
Draft the text for a presentation
Write a couple paragraphs without having to use Word
Brainstorm ideas for a business name
Refine text before putting it into a page layout program
Write and revise a song, poem, or short story
Have my co-workers help me write my resignation letter
Collaborate on a new Constitution

I’m using it to brainstorm the feasibility of a new venture with a potential partner so we can post our thoughts and questions along with research we find and conclusions we’ve made about the various centers of the venture, all without having to setup meetings or try to email back and forth. It helps get email back to the tool it was created to be, a communication tool and not a project storage tool.

There’s an efficiency (aka time management) guru that I think is the best out there named David Allen and I read his book (Getting Things Done) and went to one of his seminars just over two years ago. It’s taken me this long to get to the point where I’m actually implementing his strategies into systems that I can use and stay on top of without more work than just letting it all pile up.

His whole philosophy centers around having a simple retrieval and reminder system so that you can get everything out of your head so you don’t have to remember anything until it is needed. His term is to have ‘Mind Like Water’ so you are more productive at the task at hand. It’s a lot easier said than done, but I think I’m getting it down.

Here’s the systems I had to create to make it work in my life:

1. Two drawer legal file cabinet in my desk to capture long term files I need handy, like corporate info, marketing ideas, along with tasks for those that report to me to pull out when I meet with them. Having regular employee meetings to go over projects and their development is powerful and it is great to just reach in the drawer and pull out everything I needed to go over with them. It cuts back the amount of times I interrupt them throughout the week when an idea comes because I have a place to store it and retrieve it effectively.

2. Folders in my Outlook to store emails that are needed for future reference, like receipts, various correspondence from contacts I need to track what was said about something and so on. These folders are categorized by area of my business and are as specific as they need to be for easy retrieval, ie: so there are not more than a few dozen emails in every folder.

3. Gyronix GyroQ idea capture: This is a little tool that I can pop on my screen by pressing [ctrl] + Q and allows me to log ideas or reminders to get them out of my head and in a place that will be sorted through later. I can be as specific as categorizing something as a ‘waiting for’ item that asks me who I’m waiting on it for and when they promised it to me. Then at various times throughout the day I file the list and it goes into the next program on my list.

4. MindManager: This is a brainstorming software that captures ideas really well. GyroQ posts the tasks and ideas I jot throughout the day and allows me to move them to brainstorming maps based on projects I’m working on. This becomes my storehouse to review weekly to pull projects from to work on next that will be my best investment of my time.

5. Gyronix ResultsManager: This is a layer that sits on top of MindManager and gives the ideas and tasks I post in MindManager more robust info that allows me to run filters and it creates a dashboard (visual report) that tells me what the very next step is that I need to take on any of the various projects I have running at any given time. It’s amazing! That way I can run the filter to create a dashboard through all of the brainstorming maps I have for all the projects I’m working on or tasks I need to get done and it gives me one map that tells me what the very next actions are that need to be done and that I can take action on. It even segments it to show me what context I need to do them in (phone, internet, at my desk, anywhere, etc).

6. Jott.com: Programmed into my speed dial on my cell is a service that records what I say and then emails me a text version of that note. That way I don’t have to write it down and can just copy it from my email and post it into MindManager or just do it right there when I get to the office and see the email. If it doesn’t transcribe it perfectly I can click a button to listen to the message I recorded. It’s free too!!

7. MotorolaQ Cell Phone: I get my email, contacts and calendar from Outlook updated to my phone automatically and can respond to and delete emails when I have down time and keep them manageable. My assistant can see my calendar from her Outlook and can update info for my schedule and it posts to my phone automatically so I’m kept current all the time.

8. Scratch paper (4×6) on my desk by my phone to capture tasks and ideas to put in employee files to go over with them later and to also capture quick info that then get’s filed, done or put into MindManager.

You wouldn’t believe how nice it is to get close to having ‘Mind Like Water’ and not have to try to remember stuff that needs to be done because I’ll get reminded of it when it’s needed. I don’t have that sinking feeling like I forgot a homework assignment on Sunday night that’s due Monday morning. Also, I don’t miss deadlines and get back to people when I say I will because I have a system to remind me to do it. It’s amazing!!

I only have one more system to implement and that’s Goldmine, a Contact Management program (CRM) that will keep track of all my sales contacts and reminders of when to follow up with various prospects, etc. I decided to take my time over the past month and get MindManager/GyroQ/ResultsManager down since I’ve had them for almost a year now and hadn’t really taken the time to learn them properly. Now that I’m feeling really good about using them together, Goldmine is the only mountain to conquer next and will be something we can continually improve to make our client contact experience better and more robust.

When you get inspired to post something to your blog, simply click on the little paper and pencil icon in the bottom right corner of FireFox and an editor box pops up for you to enter a title and content to. It’s full featured with everything you’d need to publish a full post like any blog platform you currently use. You can have it post to different blogs you setup through the wizard and also select which category you want it to post under in the ‘Tags’ section of the editor. When you’re done, just click on ‘Publish’ at the bottom of the editor and the rest is history.

For a couple years now I’ve been using PrimoPdf which is a free program that converts any file type to pdf. They have an online version as well for those of you using computers that cannot download software to. It works well 95% of the time and is a great alternative to buying $200 software from Adobe.

I just stumbled upon another online tool that supersized what PrimoPdf could do. It’s called Zamzar and it not only converts to pdf, but it can convert to just about any other file type imaginable. It also converts audio and video files as well. It’s completely free, too!