Awesome Productivity Tools (Time Tracker & Manager)

[AdwordsPro]

I started a club recently on 'another site' about this very topic. Disappointing results - was it the topic, or was it the 'other site', or just me (surely not!)? Will soon find out!

I discovered a life changing piece of software recently - that's a rare thing for me. It's a time tracker, but I also use it for time management and planning. That's why it's life-changing. This probably sounds like spam - but I'm not affiliated in any way - use it, or don't use it - I don't care!

Klok time tracker

They want a donation - this is mine, free evangelism!

The other reason to do this is to get your recommendations for awesome productivity tools - got any? So far I've had no suggestions - so that makes Klok the hands-down winner!

[BetterWebSpace]

For anyone that's looking for productivity tools/advice - I'd recommend you start out reading Getting Things Done... Even if you don't follow the process to the letter parts of it stick out as really useful!


I'll have a look at this software later!

[trevorwood]

OK - this stuff goes on all my systems
AdAware - spyware cleaner
Acrobat reader - what? You don't know what this does
Auslogics Disk Defragmenter - much better than MicroSnot's own
CCleaner - originally called crap cleaner, now you know what it does
Defraggler - another disk defragger, but this time can defrag free space. Slow but thorough
Hijackthis - Trojan spotter. recently bought by Trend Micro who don't offer an analysis of the log. However, you can still get an analysis done at HijackThis Logfileauswertung
IrfanView - the best (IMHO) freeware image viewer and manipulation software. It's not a graphics program but it'll view, resize and change image formats.
MultiRen - Rename multiple files. I got this of PC Mag 11 years ago. I can't find where to download it from. If you want a copy, PM me and I'll email it to you
PDFcreator - adds a PDF printer to your list to create PDF files
SocketWatch - correct your PC clock to an Internet time server

In addition I seriously recommend
Audacity - the best sound editing software ever
CDex - copy tracks off CD to MP3. I think the latest version you now have to pay for
DisplayFusion - if you have 2 or more monitors, put a different wall paper on each
FileZilla - FTP client (if you're not in to web developing or running Unix/Linux/PC networks it's probably no use to you)
SyncBack - backup and synchronise files & directories

Thank's it for now

[AdwordsPro]

Thanks Trevor!

DisplayFusion reminds me of another 'goody': Synergy
"Synergy lets you easily share a single mouse and keyboard between multiple computers with different operating systems, each with its own display, without special hardware. It's intended for users with multiple computers on their desk since each system uses its own monitor(s)."

The PDF ones put me in mind of another recent favourite: gDoc Fusion PDF Editor
Lets you drag drop pages from multiple PDFs into a new one, edit, redact text etc. Handy if you need to be creative with your published expenses ;-)
- pay-for software, but you can try it for free. I edit/merge a lot of PDF in my job.

I agree with some of the others, must look at SyncBack. There's nothing on the list that really lights my fire though - cool yes, awesome, life-changing? Not being critical - it's a great list, but I'm really looking for awesome!

[AdwordsPro]

Thanks BetterWebSpace - what/where is 'Getting Things Done'. On this site somewhere? (bet it's under my nose ... but that's the darkest place).

[AdwordsPro]

More activity here than that 'other site' - that tells me a lot!

I wanted an anti-virus software that didn't run all night and hogged resources - any suggestions anyone? Kaspersky and AVG were mentioned - AVG doesn't seem to fit the bill for me.

[trevorwood]

Originally Posted by AdwordsPro

cool yes, awesome, life-changing? Not being critical - it's a great list, but I'm really looking for awesome!

They can all be awesome under the right circumstances - IrfanView is totally indispensable once you've used it a few times you'll wonder how you ever managed without it

[AdwordsPro]

Ok - IrfanView is on my list - thanks! I used to use paintshop pro in the old days, then Gimp (in photoshop mode). Not been happy with image editing for a long while though ...

[NikkiPilkington]

Getting Things Done (google it) is a Time Management book - it's a very specific system and they now have an Outlook plugin IIRC...

I'd recommend Clare Evan's Time Management for Dummies book - I think it's more realistic that GTD.

[BetterWebSpace]

I've tried the full "GTD" approach - just doesn't suit me or my lifestyle... But context sensitive next action lists are something I've started to use far more when the pressure mounts these days!