Category Archives: Productivity
Review: Instapaper for iPhone
Hopefully, you’ve heard of the free Instapaper for saving Internet shortcuts that you don’t necessarily want in your permanent bookmarks. It’s very handy to save a shortcut and be able to view that shortcut from any location when you are on the go or even just to save it for later (for, say, a blog article).
Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to view those pages reformatted for your iPhone on the go? I’m always looking up addresses, for example. It would be nice to look up an address on Google Maps and then read the directions on the iPhone without a lot of manual reformatting, for example, which I had been doing by pasting directions into Notepad, reformatting it and putting it into my Outlook calendar (which then syncs with Google). Granted, I could just look it up on the iPhone Maps app, but if I have to look something else up, it changes. If I have to turn off the iPhone, it’s gone. Then, there are the times when I simply want to move from big screen to small screen or vice versa.
Well, there’s an app for that. Instapaper has been updated for the iPhone. As apps go, it may seem a little pricey at $4.99 for a bookmarking utility, but that’s not really what makes it worth the price. One consolation is that I’ve been using it on my laptop (and before on my desktop) for years for free, and one could (and I have) just used it for free using Safari on the iPhone. So, it isn’t like I haven’t been getting my money’s worth for some time now. However, doing that won’t reformat the page for the smaller screen. It is the page optimization, not the bookmarking, you are really paying for, and it is well worth it, IMO.
If you’re not familiar with Instapaper, try out the free version for a while. It really is slick. Then, when you get tired of squinting for your web pages that aren’t optimized for mobile devices, try out the iPhone version.
Is Your Focus to Make Money?
If so, I’d argue you are doing it backwards. It appears that Seth Godin would agree with me. He wrote in Seth Godin’s Blog about “Seth’s Blog: Publishing books to make money…”. He compares it to hanging out in a singles bar expecting to get married.
One of the common themes you see at reputable blogging and freelance writing sites is that you can usually tell the ones who are doing it for the money. They end up faltering and falling away because their heart isn’t in it.
Let’s face it: Not everyone is a Perez Hilton. Not that I’d want to be. However, for most people, blogging is a means to much more modest goal. It can be an outlet for the pent up creative person who is sick of doing nothing but business reports all day long. It can be used to promote a business, a profession or teach someone more about a subject. Hilton has a successful blog because he is passionate about what he does.
I feel this extends to just about anything, though. If you are just doing it for the money, you’re heart won’t be in it, and you are likely to fail. However, if you are doing it because you are passionate about it, the chances of you succeeding are much greater.
Don’t get me wrong: I like to eat, and I like having a roof over my head. However, given a choice, I’ll do something I’m reasonably good at and enjoy doing in order to get to that point.
Checking Your Email First Thing in The Morning
On DailyBlogTips, Daniel Scocco gives us a productivity tip. He says, “DON’T Check Your Email First Thing in The Morning. Instead, prioritize your tasks and work on the most important items first.
I don’t know that I could survive for long like that, so I use a different approach. I use a lot of email filters so that the routine stuff goes into a folder for later viewing. Much of it goes unnoticed until I am ready for it. The ones that aren’t filtered away are prioritized, deleted or sometimes just downright ignored (how many times do I need to watch cats flushing the toilet?).
How about you? How do make your day more efficient?
