How will Soocial save me time?

Soocial (pronounced “social”) syncs my desktop, mobile, and gmail address books in one place on the web. If I update a contact, that change flows through all of my devices. If I lose my phone — no big deal, I’ll just sync my new phone with the app.
Services like Plaxo have been around for ages, but they were designed for the pre-smartphone era. Amsterdam-based Soocial is everything Plaxo should have been; it’s simple and it just works.  Soocial provides contact syncing and reconciliation of contacts wherever they may exist, including a long list of mobile phones.  It works similarly to MobileMe, with a focus on accuracy over speed.  Changes are bi-directional and synchronization happens over the air, never again will have outdated contacts or redundant information in 3 locations.

Another strength of Soocial is its backup feature.  If you somehow manage to completely wreck your contact list, restoring it to its previous state is only a click away. All in all, Soocial brings a compelling app with a Cupertino-esque user experience.  You’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

Soocial offers both free and paid versions.  For those with lots of contacts, the cost is negligible ($4/month or $39/year).

Get Soocial and save time at soocial.com

The recent release of Microsoft Office 2010 isn’t the only news on the productivity suite scene.  Last week, Microsoft launched Office Web Apps, bringing near desktop-quality versions of Word, Excel PowerPoint and OneNote to your browser.

The best part about Office Web Apps is that it’s FREE.

An alternative to Google Docs and Zoho

Office Web Apps offers superior support for advanced document formatting than Google Docs or Zoho.  In fact, you can open nearly any document in Office Web Apps and expect it to look just like you would expect in the desktop version.  Also, Microsoft provides integration with SkyDrive, meaning you have 25GB to store files, making Google’s 1GB offering look paltry.

So should you save be ready to quit the desktop version of Office in favor of the free web-based one?  The short answer is not quite yet.  There are still a few key differences between the two versions.  First, while Web Apps can open most documents without a hitch, editing is a different story.  For sophisticated formatting and graphics, Web Apps is limiting.  Second, as with any cloud application, you are at mercy of the provider, in this case, Microsoft.  If their servers are compromised there is little you can do but hope your data is safe.

Despite the web version’s shortcomings compared to it’s big brother, Microsoft is taking a big step in the right direction by making an otherwise expensive software suite more accessible to everyone.  It’s tough to argue with free.

For more details on Office Web Apps, check out Lifehacker’s writeup comparing it with Google Docs.

Has it every been more challenging to get work done than it is today?  It’s quite ironic that, as fortunate as we are to have all of the technological innovations we enjoy today, these “productivity boosters” can be too much of a good thing.

Sometime late last year, I found myself really looking forward to a free weekend where I had nothing planned – which would allow me to get “a lot of work done”.  So starting Saturday morning, I plowed away at my “to do” list.  Same thing on Sunday.  I knocked off more things than I would have during a normal work week, and in only two days.

These weekend work sessions have become a real boon to my productivity.  And many people I’ve discussed this with have shared my experience.

“Absolutely, I can’t get anything done during the week, there are just too many interruptions,” they’ll say.

But recently I got to thinking – wait, there’s something really wrong with this picture.

First off – I love what I do.  I’m building my own company, I’ve gotten to choose everyone I work with – so absolutely no complaints.  BUT – is it healthy to work for consecutive weeks on end, without breaking away.

I don’t think so.  Hard work is great, and absolutely required for entrepreneurs.  But often our best ideas will come when we least expect it – when our mind is free to relax and drift.  This can’t happen if we work 24/7/365 – we just never get the opportunity.

So recently, I’ve started devising a system that would help optimize my personal/business productivity, AND bring a little more balance to my life.

I started by immersing myself in many of the time management and productivity methodologies out there – and there are no shortage of them.

I actually have traditionally avoided these, because, well, I fancied myself as being relatively productive.

So here’s an overview of a hybrid system I’ve developed.  One thing I learned is that, as an entrepreneur, my playbook is always changing.  So I need to develop a very flexible system – beyond just optimal efficiency.  Sure, it’s great if I get a lot done, but if it’s not the right stuff, who really cares anyway.

The three principles I’ve been successfully incorporating:

1. Always be prioritizing – most things don’t actually matter.

Classic 80/20 rule – 20% of the things you do will provide 80% of the value.  If you have 10 things on your “to do” list, the top 2 are much more valuable than the next 8 combined.

I’d encourage you to chew on this concept a bit – it’s simple, yet very powerful.  I try to reprioritize my top items on a weekly basis (this is a better use of weekend work time).  I’ve found that many of the “next 8” are no longer important anymore.

2. Don’t get too busy – fake it if you feel guilty.

Resist the urge to fill up your day with meetings, phone calls, and items that you need to get done.  I constantly ask myself: “What’s the worst that will happen if I don’t have this meeting?  If I don’t get this done?”  If it’s not that bad, axe it.

Sure, it feels great to be busy, and to “get a lot done.”  But I think as an entrepreneur, this is a trap.

If I look back at all the time I’ve invested in Chrometa since we founded it, most of the things I’ve done haven’t mattered at all in the long run. I’ll bet just 5% of my efforts have yielded 80% or more of our benefits.

Since I realized this, I’ve tried to sit back and think that if I only had one hour to work today, what would I do?  That usually helps push a sales/marketing activity to the forefront.  It’s never administrative work, that’s for sure.

And if you want to project a busy façade for the rest of the world to see?  Go for it – nobody’s going to know you’re not really that busy.  Heck, Ben Franklin used to run through the streets of Philadelphia carry reams of paper by hand back to his printing shop.  It was all for show – because not only did Franklin value hard work, but he also valued the appearance of hard work.

3. If it has to be done, then just focus and do it.

The old weekend phenomena revisited.  On weekends, with no incoming distractions, I can just focus in and knock something off.  Weekdays it’s been a challenge – emails, instant messages, phone calls, clicking over to the web (what’s the DOW doing today?).

So here’s how I am trying to emulate the weekend experience, during the week:

1. Practice time boxing for the items that I need to do – specifically, what is it, and how long will it take.  The list is a manageable size for the day, thanks to the vetting system we’ve discussed.  Never more than 5-6 “to do” items for a given day, and preferably even less.
2. Just do them – minimize interruptions until it’s done.  If it’s a long task, break it up into sub-items.  I’ve been quite amazed that even the most daunting task can often be knocked off in 60 minutes or less – provided the focus is there.
3. See how long it took.  This is something I use our time management software for, and it’s quite helpful.  I can see what time I started something, what time I finished, and how long it took.  Interruptions are also there.  Since I know I’m “on the clock”, and will be graded afterwards, I’ve been on my best behavior.

In sum, I’ve found that the key to my personal productivity is exactly what small business and time management guru Brian Tracy has been preaching for years – focus on just one thing at a time, your most valuable activity, and don’t stop until it’s completed.

Further Reading: The First Rule of Productivity: One Thing at a Time

Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto initially observed this in 1906, when he discovered that 80% of Italian real estate was owned by just 20% of the population.  Then he went out to his garden and saw that 20% of the pea pods contained 80% of the peas…so this was clearly a larger phenomenon!

In the business world, this means that 20% of your actions will account for 80% of your results.  Which means that, on the flip side, 80% of your actions will only account for only 20% of your results.  These are the activities that fill up your schedule, but add little or no value.

So if you find yourself wishing you had more time in the day to get everything done, this is a critical principle to keep in mind.  Because while you can’t add more hours to the day, you can make sure that you’re spending time on the most valuable activities.

Imagine the possibilities.  Right now, you’re probably spending only the equivalent of one day a week on your most important items.  If you doubled this to two days a week, and took the rest of the week off, you’d actually increase your productivity by 60%!

Legendary self-help author and guru Brian Tracy often encourages you to constantly ask yourself if you’re working on the single important thing that you could be doing.  Get in the habit of doing this more often, and you’ll find your productivity increasing by leaps and bounds – without actually working any longer – all thanks to the magic of the 80/20 principle!

You’re probably wondering what kind of lettuce I’ve been smoking to write this in a blog focused on productivity and – hello – time management.

I’m talking about time management in the classic sense of the word. Getting through your “to do” list faster. It’s a complete waste of time.

What you really need to do is to look at everything that you have on your list – and pick the single most important thing. Then work on it, uninterrupted, until it’s completed.

The uninterrupted part is the toughest, by far. It’s SO easy and tempting to check your email, answer the phone, respond to an instant message, or click over to a website.

But if you can master this ability, you’ll boost your productivity significantly, and you’ll be able to work the same, or even less, hours.

This is possible because you’re assuring two things. First, that you’re working on the single most important task at hand. Not the most urgent task, or the easiest one – but the most important one. So often, we plow down our “to do” lists, with our heads down, without seriously questioning whether it makes a difference if we even do most of the items on it.

And the sad truth is – it doesn’t. The 80/20 principle tells us that 80% of our results will come from 20% of our inputs. By picking the single most important task to work on, we’re making sure that it falls within the critical 20%.

And secondly, by focusing 100% of our energies on this item, we’ll accomplish it much faster than we would have if we’d allowed ourselves to be distracted by interruptions, or worse, tried to multi-task and complete two or three items at once.

Interruptions are the real killer. It’s amazing how fast you can get something done, if that’s all you do.

I hadn’t realized this until I started using our time management software to measure the amount of active working time I was spending on work items. Sadly, items would often sit on my “to do” list all week, where’d I’d get to them on the weekend.

And with the benefit of no incoming interruptions (because the rest of the world was out having a life), I was able to focus, and get the thing done.

The real surprise came when I checked my elapsed time spent on the task after the fact – I realized that I could get A LOT done under an hour. Like, basically anything on my “to do” list would be accomplished in an hour or less – provided I just sat down and did the work.

So try this exercise tomorrow – pick one thing, and work on it until it’s done. No distractions, and no excuses. You’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.

I just learned that I spend a quarter of my working hours staring at my Inbox.

You may be wondering – how is that even possible?  Brett, what are you – braindead?!

Sadly…I may be.  Here’s the shocking proof – captured by Chrometa itself:

Note that in this sample, I have 37 hours of active time (so that does not count phone or meeting time – only active time on my PC).  This was recorded over a 2+ week span.

Due to product testing and such, Chrometa was not running all of the time (though my co-workers may scoff and say that I’m busted for putting in 20 hour weeks!)

AND here’s the really sad part – individual emails are recorded separately, by their subject line, and are therefore not even included in this massive number!

So the 8+ hour entry under Microsoft Outlook – Inbox is solely due to time that I spent looking at Outlook, without an individual email open.  There are a limited number of things I could have been doing, and none of them are particularly productive:

1. Checking for new email
2. Reading an email through the preview pane
3. Looking at my calendar

I’d like to look at the bright side of this finding.  Like you, I often consider myself way too busy to get everything done that I’d like to.  So in a sense, this underperformance is a good thing, as there’s a lot of room for improvement!

In fact, I know that productivity experts often assert that any time you waste is not limited that time itself, but also encompasses the “switching cost” of diverting your focus.  So if my Inbox time is in fact due to obsessively checking for new email, then I’m losing a lot more time than is even displayed here!

Since it is a new year, and a new decade to boot, it’s a perfect time to look at this area as some real “low hanging fruit” for improving productivity.  It’s safe to say that checking email every 5-10 minutes is a disastrous approach – but what is the right approach?

Personally I’m used to being on the “front lines” from a sales and support standpoint, so a once or twice a day checking of email wouldn’t suffice.  But what would the optimal frequency be?  Every hour?  Longer?  Shorter?

What email best practices would you recommend?