Quick User Experience Rant About Google's New App Icons

The new icons that began propagating across the Google universe last week are having an impact on how I work. Previously each application was a different color, so I could easily just look for a color and not really pay attention to the…
Steaming Pot

Pushing Past Procrastination: Learning to Take the Next Step with Pea Soup

I have a photo of a pea soup recipe that my brother sent me a few weeks ago. It was an old family recipe, hand written in a fine cursive as a paragraph on an index card. I managed to collect most of the ingredients before we began sheltering…
Globe wearing phone headset

How To Talk To Microsoft O365 Support By Phone

To get help with any of your Office 365 Business applications you can have Microsoft support call you. However, you won't find a Microsoft support phone number listed on their site. Instead, you need to open a ticket and wait for them to get…

Adding Docs and files to multiple folders in Google Drive

Did you know you can Add a Google Drive Doc, file or folder to multiple folders (kind of like Windows shortcuts)? Then you can access to the single copy of the file from different places. No need for managing duplicates. Say you have a Google…
Three generic Chrome avatar heads

Using Chrome profiles to manage multiple Google Accounts

Do you ever get frustrated because you are trying to use a couple different Google accounts at the same time?  You have work Gmail open in one tab, and personal Gmail open in another. When you click on an attached document in one email…
The Great Suspender extension icon in Chrome

Are Too Many Open Chrome Tabs Making Your Computer Slow?

Let's look at why our Tab-itis is slowing us down, and review how a free Chrome plugin- The Great Suspender - can help! I keep a lot of browser tabs open when I’m doing work, either because I am going back and forth between web applications,…
Padlock on Google Drive logo

Is It Secure to Store Passwords in Google Docs?

When someone wants to share logins and passwords with other team members, freelancers, or family members, they often put them in a Google Doc or Sheet. It's super convenient to share and have access from any device or location. But are…
Wall calendar and alarm clock

Google Calendar Reminders

When talking to people who have made the switch from Outlook to Google I’ve heard a couple concerns regarding the calendar reminders. Outlook's popup meeting reminder had an easily customizable snooze function. Outlook reminder…
USB data blocker

Holiday Gift Idea Under $10 – USB Data Blocker

Chances are you've been at an airport, on a bus, or some other public space and your smartphone’s battery was about to die. More and more of these spaces offer convenient and free USB charging jacks. Before you reach for your charging cord,…
Self adhesive camera cover

Holiday Gift Idea Under $10 - Webcam Cover

Black Friday is almost here and the sales have already started, so I thought it would be a good time to suggest a simple and very inexpensive holiday gift idea- stick-on webcam covers. In the last few years we’ve learned people like Mark…
Sketch of a simple Kanban board

Super-Simple Kanban

If you have ever used Trello you have used a Kanban board. Kanban boards originated at Toyota in the 1940s and spread to all kinds of manufacturing, then software development and now project management in various industries. The most simple…
Checkvist icon appearing on Android home screen

My favorite organizing tool - Checkvist

It’s like checklist but with a “v”. Checkvist is my favorite piece of software ever. At its most basic it’s a hierarchical list, but if you take advantage of the full feature-set it can be used by a team for simple project management.…

Getting Things Done

I don’t remember who suggested it, but I first picked up David Allen’s Getting Things Done in 2013. It offered a very simple framework for managing work, reducing inefficiencies, and increasing productivity. I'm often surprised by how…