time is money

10 Simple Tools for Increased Productivity

August 21, 2015 By Will Lipovsky 4 Comments

1. RescueTime.com

RescueTime.com is a web tool that tracks what websites you visit during the day and measures how long you spend on them. Are you one of those people who spend all day refreshing your email or social media sites instead of working? If so, RescueTime might be something you should consider using. In addition to tracking how long you spend on the website, it allows you to block any distracting websites for a certain amount of time. So next time you need to finish a project, have RescueTime block those distracting websites until you’re finished.

2. Post-It Notes

Post-it notes are a wonderful tool because for something so simple, they’re incredible useful. If you keep a stack of post-its around, you already know how easy it is to jot down a simple note for yourself. It’s a great way to keep track of thoughts or activities you need to followup on during future projects. Another great thing is that if you stick them somewhere you’ll definitely see – such as a mirror or a door – you’ll remember to follow through with that activity. Physical reminders are powerful. They are getting more and more rare in our increasingly digitized world.

3. Evernote

If you’re not fond of using post-it notes and prefer something digital, try Evernote. Evernote is an online tool that allows you to organize your projects and allows you to take notes and store them in a database. Do you have a website you want to take notes on? Evernote allows you to add notes to the page. Best of all, you can access Evernote from any device, thanks to its cloud-based storage.

4. Project Management System

There are plenty of free websites or online programs that are centered on project management. Trello, for instance, is an online program that allows you to create multiple projects and manage them as you see fit. Project management systems are a great way to keep all your projects organized. When you’re organized, you’re able to work more efficiently.

5. Dropbox

Do you need to access one document on three different computers? Dropbox allows that to happen. Dropbox is an excellent online program that allows you to stay organized and reach your files easily. It’s a free online database that allows you to upload files to your specified folders and share them with anyone or any device. This saves you the hassle of having to save files to a USB or having to email them to multiple people. What a headache that used to be. Instead, share a certain folder or log onto Dropbox on a different computer to reach everything.

6. Read It Later

Read It Later is another free online program that helps keep you organized. It’s easy to become distracted when you’re trying to do work that happens to be online. Are you researching something for a project or job? Do you become distracted by sites and articles that have nothing to do with what you’re working on? Well, with Read It Later installed on your tablet, laptop, or phone, all you have to do is click an icon in your browser and that link will be saved for later. This provides a great way to save sites you might want to revisit and let you concentrate on the task at hand.

7. Timer

Do you have trouble concentrating? Do you start one task and then get distracted by another? Well, a timer can change all that. A timer is a great, easy way to boost your productivity. Set it for whatever amount of time you think is necessary and get to work! Sometimes working with a time deadline is the easiest way to finish a project. Use a physical timer or an online timer. Simply Google ‘online timer’ to pull up plenty of options worthy of your time.

8. Notepad for To-Do Lists

Paper and pencils or pens might seem like obvious choices, but you might be surprised by how useful they can be. To-do lists can greatly improve your productivity. Get into the habit of writing a to-do list each morning. Writing everything down will help you remember what you need to do. Not to mention, being able to cross multiple things off a list is a very satisfying feeling.

9. Online Calendars with Pop-up Notifications

Online calendars such as Google Calendar are a great way to keep you organized and increase your productivity. You can input all your projects and their due date and set reminders before they’re due. Reminders can range from weeks to days to hours. Having deadlines and reminders will help keep you on schedule.

10. Collabtive

Collabtive (yes, I’m spelling that correctly) is an open source program that allows you to collaborate with other people by sharing files and delegating jobs. It’s a quick, easy-to-use program that will save you time and allows you to track the progress of all your projects. This platform is a great way to keep updated on all your projects. Since they’re all in the same place, you save yourself a ton of time that can be used to focus on other things.

Making Things Isn’t Always Cheaper

December 19, 2012 By Jennifer Derrick 5 Comments

Making your own things, sewing your own clothes, or making gifts are often touted as ways to save money. After all, the thought goes, you can make something for less than it would cost to buy the item. Unfortunately, while making your own items can bring you many rewards, saving money isn’t always (or even usually) one of them.

For example, I needed a new bookcase recently. I didn’t need anything fancy, just something to tuck in a closet to give me a little extra shelving. I could have made my own. I have the skills, tools, and knowledge to do so. However, I was able to find a perfectly serviceable unit at Target for $20. There is no way I could have made a bookcase for that amount of money. Just the wood alone would have cost more than that and that’s before I bought stain, screws/nails, etc. I bought the manufactured unit and had it assembled and in my closet that afternoon. Had I made it, it would have taken at least a week with all of the other things I have going on right now.

Sure, a handmade unit would have been nice. It would have looked a bit better than the store bought unit and I could have customized the size. But for the job I needed it to do, the store bought unit was just fine. I also needed the extra shelving fairly quickly. Having it in one day was preferable to waiting a week. Plus, buying the unit freed up a lot of time that would have been spent making a unit and, right now, time is at a premium for me. Buying rather than making saved me both money and time.

This is often the case, particularly when you don’t need to be super picky about the item you’re buying. Modern manufacturing processes and economies of scale simply make it possible to mass produce something for less than an individual can make the same item. This wasn’t the case in our grandparent’s day, which is why they so often made things and managed to save money. There simply weren’t any cheap goods to buy. Now, though, times are different and buying is usually cheaper.

It is possible to save money by making something if you already have the materials on hand, or if you can get the materials for free. If you’re able to make something out of scrap/trash, if you can find someone to give you the materials you need, or if you can scrounge up materials from somewhere else (think dumpster diving or yard sales) you can likely make something for less than the cost of buying new. However, if you have to go out and buy new materials, you might as well just go buy the item you need (if saving money is your main goal).

That’s not to say that it’s pointless to make your own stuff. Far from it. When you make your own, you can customize the item however you want it. You get the satisfaction of a job well done. The thing you make might be better/more functional/more durable than a store bought item. For some people, making things is a hobby that relaxes them, is fun, and/or provides a side income. There are plenty of reasons to make your own items but if saving money is the goal, you have to think carefully.

If you’re trying to save money by making your own items, figure out how much it will cost to get the materials/tools you need, as well as how much time it will take you to complete the project (your time is worth something, too). If you’ll have to learn some new skills to complete the project, factor your learning curve into your estimate. After you’ve got a figure in mind, look at how much it will cost to simply buy the item. By comparing the two numbers you’ll know whether making your own is a good deal or not.

(Photo courtesy of Rubber Dragon)

Things Worth Paying Someone Else To Do

August 23, 2012 By Dana O. Crandell Leave a Comment

I’m a cheapskate at heart. I do my own mechanic work, maintain my own computer, do my own home repairs and will do just about anything I can manage on my own, to save money. So, it might seem strange that I’m writing this article about paying for services. Well, I’m a cheapskate who’s learned that there are times when it’s actually more cost-effective to hire someone else. So, because I’m also a person that likes to share ideas, here are some on jobs you might want to pay someone else to perform, and why:

Changing Oil

Do it yourself oil changes is an activity that people sometimes suggest as a way to save money, but it doesn’t make sense to me. I have found that with a coupon (search online or in flyers or mailers that come to your house) you can get your oil changed for around $20 – $25 at most of the quick oil change shops. This is close to what you would pay for oil and filter at a retail outlet without spending the time (or getting dirty) to do it yourself. They key, of course, is that the oil change shops will try to up-sell you on other stuff, so you need to remember not to get hooked into these other services as they will be overpriced to make up for the cheap oil change.

Writing Ad Copy or Other Content

There are dozens of writing tasks you can probably handle on your own, but when the purpose of the writing is to put money in your pocket, there are good reasons to hire a professional. Writing compelling text takes more than just talent and grammar skills and by the time you learn how, your competitors will have your prospective clients. Fortunately, finding good writers is easy these days, thanks to sites like Elance and Textbroker.

Proofreading

There’s a very good reason that professional authors regularly hire proofreaders. Our minds have a way of tricking us into “reading” what we intended to write, instead of what’s actually on the page. For most, it takes days or weeks to “detach” from something we’ve written enough to proofread our own work accurately. Paying a proofreader may save you embarrassment, increase your profits and might even make the difference in having your writing accepted or rejected. Proofreaders work on a reasonable, per-word basis and are often a good investment.

Preparing Your Resume or CV

When it comes to landing a professional job or competing as a freelance professional, first impressions are everything. More often than not, that impression is going to come from the resume you submit, since prospective employers see it before they see you. While it’s true that anyone can create documents like these quite easily with modern technology, creating a resume that stands out from the rest isn’t quite so easy. Hiring a service or individual to at least “tweak” your resume may determine whether you land that dream career.

Transcription

Converting audio to printed text is tedious work and requires focus. It’s also a little like proofreading, in that your mind can often hear something your ears didn’t, so accuracy can suffer. Professional transcribers can be hired online for about $15 – $60 per audio hour, so it’s worth considering how much of your own time would be required to produce an accurate document from audio content, especially with any distractions you may have.

Research

The internet has placed almost any information you could want to have literally at your fingertips. If you know how to find and verify it, that is. Sure, you can Google just about anything and get thousands of hits. That’s part of the problem. Do you really have the time to go through all those links and determine which ones are from good sources? If you need lots of accurate information quickly, paying a professional researcher may save you a lot of time that you can use to make money. You can hire one through the freelancing sites or an independent agency.

Business Accounting

If you operate a business or invest, managing finances isn’t just important; it’s critical. It’s also enough work to take entirely too much time away from the other aspects of the business. Hiring an accountant not only lets you put the time saved back into your business, it can help you maintain a better picture of where you stand financially. That can mean solving problems before they cost you too much.

Business Website Development

No doubt you’ve seen hundreds of ads online and in the media promoting designing your own website with someone’s software. There are also dozens of great content management packages out there, like WordPress and Drupal, that may make the process of creating and managing a site easier and there’s a veritable plethora of themes available for any business. So, why pay someone else? There are several very good reasons, but here are just a few:

1. Eventually, you’re going to run into a problem you don’t know how to fix.
2. The developing process will take time away from running your business.
3. Downtime equals loss of profits.

If an online presence is important to your business, you’ll save yourself money and grief by hiring a professional.

Business Website Promotion

Even professional developers hire someone else to market their websites. There may be no more competitive business than website promotion and the stakes can be very high if you depend on leads or sales generated from a website. Think about the staggering number of sites you’re going to be competing with and check out how many already have a good foothold. If you’re going to compete on the World Wide Web, you need people to find your website. You may be surprised at how reasonably you can hire a professional promoter.

Ebay Listings

If you don’t spend a lot of time on the online auction sites, but have a lot of items to sell, you might want to consider hiring a Trading Assistant. It takes a lot of sales to build a reputation on sites like Ebay, and there are a lot of things to know about posting auctions, not to mention many pitfalls to avoid. For many people, it’s worth paying a small fee to a “Power Seller” to save time and use the leverage of the seller’s reputation. To find a seller in your area, start here.

Recycling

Getting rid of recyclables can be time-consuming, not to mention messy, even if you have curbside recycling available. If you live in an area where you pay a deposit for cans, plastic bottles, or other recyclables, you may have a big chunk of space reserved for saving those items until you return them for a refund. You may be surprised to find that there are a few enterprising individuals that will take those cans and bottles, along with your other recyclable materials off your hands for a small fee, or in exchange for the redemption value alone. Either way, before you discount this as a silly notion, think about the time you invest in sorting, hauling, etc. and see if it might not be better to use that time doing something profitable.

Semi-Complicated DIY Home Projects

Simple do-it-yourself home projects are a great way to save money, but I have found that anything that gets even a little bit complicated is better left to someone who knows what he’s doing. I think this one depends a lot on your DIY capabilities, but for many the time and possible damage that can be done trying to do it yourself can often make it a better choice to let a professional do it.

Anything You Hate Doing

This isn’t a free-pass excuse to say that you should pay others to do anything and everything, but if there is something that is important to be done on a regular basis that you absolutely hate doing, it is worthwhile considering paying someone else to do it. While you may be able to save money doing it yourself, the stress it causes you (usually for a prolonged period because you procrastinate doing things you hate doing) plus it not getting done as thoroughly or as well as it should be done can make it worthwhile to pay someone else to do it. While monetary costs are important to remember, how doing things yourself affects other areas of your life are also important to consider.

There are undoubtedly many other tasks I’ve neglected to include in this list. The point is, though, sometimes it’s not cost-effective to do everything on your own.

(Photo courtesy of quaziefoto)

10 Things That Don’t Seem To Be About Money, But Really Are

August 9, 2012 By Danielle Warchol 4 Comments

Many people fail to realize that almost all aspects of our lives are intricately weaved together with our finances, but it’s crucially important to understand that even things that don’t initially seem to have anything to do with finances or money management can have a great impact on these areas. By understanding that almost every decision that we make has financial consequences, you place yourself in a position to save money where you once wasted it without even realizing it. Here are a few of those areas that may not seem to have anything to do with money, but upon deeper reflection actually have a large impact in this area:

Stress

Almost everyone has been stressed out about something during their lives. Some of us deal with more stress on a daily basis than others. While stress can be caused by a variety of things, it’s often caused due to concerns about money. After all, which of us haven’t been stressed about our lack of savings, paying bills, or saving for retirement? Money is always a constant concern and it’s no wonder that stress is usually about money – even when it appears that the reason behind stress is something completely different.

Time

The saying “time is money” is definitely true. Time is a valuable thing and wasted time means wasted money. What this boils down to is people who squander opportunities to earn money – or spend less – in favor of being unproductive. How many of us could do an extra job for an extra paycheck but choose not to because we would rather hang out or sit in front of the TV? So, really, Benjamin Franklin was right when he said that “time is money”.

Relationship Breakups

More people than ever before state that the biggest reason their relationships fail is because of money. If one or both people in a relationship are barely breaking even, money is going to be an issue. It might not seem like it at first, but when you get down to the root of the problem or the arguments, you can bet that it’s going to be about money.

Health Problems

Just as money is often a factor behind stress, it’s also a factor behind poor health. Of course, money isn’t going to give you a disease, but constantly worrying about money will take its toll on your mental and physical wellbeing. If you’re worn down by your financial troubles, then you’re going to be more prone to getting sick.

Diet

Obviously, your diet is influenced by your financial status. Of course, on the surface level you’re going to worry about paying for groceries or your ability to go out to a restaurant is determined by how much money you have in the bank. But on a deeper level, your choice of food may be subconsciously influenced by money. For example, you might choose a generic brand over a well-known one because it’s cheaper. You might automatically skip organic produce because you don’t want to pay more money for it.

Education

Unfortunately, education has become about money. Sometimes it’s about sending a child to a public or private middle or high school. Sometimes it’s about whether or not someone can afford to go to a specific college. Additionally, instead of education being about obtaining knowledge and expanding one’s mind and skills, it’s become about obtaining a degree in order to obtain a job with a higher paycheck.

Habits

Most habits stem from someone’s financial status or awareness of money. This can range from having expensive clothing tastes to eating out every night to spending money twice a day for coffee. Or it could be obsessing about your budget and minimizing the amount of money you spend. It can even be something as simple as having the bad habit of leaving the light on after you leave a room, which makes your electric bill more expensive.

Emotions

Emotions are often tied to money. You’re happy when you’re not worrying about money and pleased when you can spend money without concern. But you’re angry when you don’t have any money and stressed when you’re in debt. Our emotions are tied to our financial stability. Even when money isn’t the first thing on our mind, it still affects our mood.

Entertainment

How you entertain yourself is definitely about money. Whether it’s going out to the movies, watching a sports game with friends, or staying home reading or watching TV, money is definitely involved. Your entertainment options are definitely affected by your budget and sometimes certain options aren’t feasible because you don’t have the money to spend. Even the decision to buy a DVD to watch repeatedly instead of paying for a movie channel on TV or Netflix is a decision that’s based on money and convenience.

Sleep

Naturally, sleep can be drastically tied to money. As with our emotions, health, and stress issues, the state of our finances can affect how we sleep at night. Are you worried about being able to pay your rent? You’re probably going to toss and turn all night. On the other hand, if you just got a promotion and a raise, you’re probably going to sleep wonderfully. Like most things, the more reassured you are, the better you feel. So, the next time you’re having a bad night’s sleep and are also having financial issues, you’ll know why you can’t get that rest you deserve!

(Photo courtesy of stevendepolo)