Using Your Blackberry to Manage Your Life and Business

Here’s an interesting article on how to manage yourself using a Blackberry. Some of the applications mentioned (read: ToDoMatrix and IdeaMatrix) are bit costly and might not be for everyone but there are some free tools mentioned as well that are worth checking out.

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Really Use Your Blackberry to Manage Your Life and Business
By Stephen L Scott

You know the scene. Blackberry users are a loose club. Own a Blackberry – you’re in. When we see each other we compare notes on the best programs to add. We all are looking for ways to make our lives faster and easier to manage.

Personally, I need to be flexible. One moment I’m at my desk working on an email. Two minutes later I’m sending a reply but now I’m down the hall or even heading for the car. Blackberry to the rescue.

Now on my third blackberry over four years, I’ve had the chance to try lots of programs. This is the list of the best ones that work for me.

Wall Street Journal reader for Blackberry. Use it several times a day. Very quick to scan headlines. Then click for summary and click again to get the full article. Did I say this is free! So far they are not charging for blackberry users. The app will send articles to anyone in your phone book, Facebook, or quick link to your email. Also has custom search and your portfolio is automatically updated.

HP 12C Financial Calculator. This one will cost $13. Works perfect. I took the basic calculator off my phone. You can chose RPN or algebraic. Check it out at lygea.com

Project Manager – Task List. And fully searchable free form database. Rexwireless offers a bunch of software solutions. I chose two that fit my needs for flexible and detailed task and project management and another to handle all of the databases and notes I want to carry with me. (I replaced a palmtop computer with the blackberry). ToDoMatrix and IdeaMatrix work very well. Most people that use them claim they are the best applications available. They integrate well with the rest of the BB apps. All of the data is automatically and instantly synced with the web-based versions. So you can work on the phone or on the web. Customer service has been incredible when needed. They also offer enterprise level versions where the whole company can share data. Best application on my BB, I live in these applications. Cost is $60 each or both for $100.

Google Mobile products. Google has several great tools. I use some but not all. GoogleMaps goes right on top. Love the live traffic updates and quick searching for a place I need by just scrolling to the general area on the map and searching. GoogleSync is critical for me to automatically back up my calendar and addressbook. You will need a Google account, then you sync with an online calendar and addressbook. The calendar can then be shared with staff. Watch who takes priority with the gmail/sync. I recommend you back up the BB databases using the desktop and cable also. Sync works well, but is confusing until you get the preferences right.

Google also has a gmail client for the blackberry. I use this for email sometimes. Mostly to get email that I’ve already removed from the BB. (I frequently delete the BB email to clear memory.) But with gmail I can find anything for years back.

Beyond411 Quick location based and every other type of search too. I use this as my first line of search. Don’t have to open a browser to start searching. Just quick type and click. It is location based so it is great for finding a place you need close by. It gives maps, directions, addresses and phone numbers. Just click on the phone number and you’re making table reservations! It also does general web searches, white pages, and 1000 more special searches so you only get the type of responses you want. It’s free and used a lot. Faster than calling 411 and let me it say it again, FREE. You can find it at thebogles.com.

eOffice. Recently paid the money so I could write Microsoft Word docs and Excel spreadsheets. $30.00 Dynoplex offers this. It is difficult to use though. Email or Tweet me for an update on how I resolve issues in being fully mobile with office tools.

What are your favorite apps? Just let me know.

Steve Scott is a CEO-for-Hire and CEO Confidential Advisor based in California. After 25 years improving bottom line performance as senior management (several times CEO), six acquisitions, several turnarounds and raising a few hundred million he know what he speaks about. Get Steve’s insight on critical issues for CEOs and board members at http://blog.ceocomplete.com Connect to Steve at http://linkedin.com/in/stvscott

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Productivity on your smartphone in transit

I find myself in transit for 12.5% of my conscious day. That’s a lot of time spent on a train, in a bus, or in a car. Some days I can’t help but close my eyes and daydream of more pleasant things. (Not usually while driving.) Other days I make the most of my commuting time by knocking off a few tasks directly with my phone. What, besides email, do I usually do? In no particular order:

• Back fill the rest of my day in my calendar. We track time for billing purposes at work, so it helps to keep this logged so it’s a straight transfer at the end of the week.

• Create tasks from emails. A combination of Flexmail and Pocket Informant allows you to do this quite easily by copying the body of regular text-based messages into the notes portion of your task to give you context. The only gripe is how many embedded menus you have to scroll through to get there. I have a quick snapshot of how below:

Screenshot of how to create a task from an email in Flexmail

• Organize inbox. Messages can be moved and filed very easily, even with the native Outlook mobile application.

• Backup my phone. It’s good to do this once in a while, particularly on the windows mobile platform. I’d be lying if I said I’ve never had my device lock up on me to the point that a hard reset was in order. With that said, the WM Standard (non-touchscreen) variants are far more stable than the Pocket PCs.

• Create meeting agendas. I’m in meetings for more than 50% of my work day, and I end up running half of those. Word processing on your mobile devices isn’t great on a 2.4″ screen, but it’s sufficient for simple things like meeting agendas or simple notes.

• Listen to podcasts. Ok, I know this one doesn’t necessarily imply productive work, but it is if you listen to more educational casts like TedTalks or GTD virtual study group.

I can do all of these things directly from the Samsung Jack, although the podcasts are much better suited for the iPod Touch. Some of these activities take longer than others. I’m planning on commenting about the platform and processor issues (i.e. it can be slow!) in a future post.

The list above isn’t comprehensive, so I’ll keep adding to it as other ideas come up. And of course, contributions are welcome…

PSp

Smartphone Devices for Productivity

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So let’s start with the devices that we’re currently using to increase our productivity. Mind you, there’s a limit to how many devices you can use at the same time before you start to lose productivity. (There’s an article in that thought for the future I think.)

A brief primer

There are 6 competitive smartphone operating systems to choose from:

• Windows Mobile (Standard non-touchscreen or Professional PPC touchscreen)
• Symbian (predominantly Nokia phones)
• Blackberry OS
• iPhone OS
• Palm OS (also known as Garnet OS)
• Andriod (Google’s new OS, currently out on the HTC Dream)

There are scores of information out there on each and it would take weeks to review them at length. I will leave that to the professionals, so you can check out comparisons of the first four here.

Each OS has it’s own strengths and limitations. Personally, I’ve always been inclined to go for Windows Mobile as I like the flexibility it provides as well as the seamless integration with MS Exchange server which my company uses to host email. The platform isn’t without fault, and I’ve had moments where I was just about ready to take a sledgehammer to one or more of my WM phones. All in all though, it seems to work (with the right amount of finessing). I”m sure there are many waiting in the wings to debate this point…

The Devices

So enough jabbering – here are the devices currently in use:

Smartphone devices

From left to right, we have: HTC Touch, Samsung Jack (or Blackjack 2), Blackberry Pearl 8120, and an iPod Touch for good measure. I know, the iPod isn’t technically a smartphone, but it has all of the same capabilities minus the (non-wifi) network connectivity, camera and a mic so am including it in our discussion.

This gives us a fairly solid breadth of experience among three different platforms. I’m eager to get my hands on a Symbian phone, but am paralyzed by the often discussed slow syncing of emails. So for the time-being, I remain out of the market for a Nokia phone (although the E71-2 has subtly caught my attention).

Unfortunately, the idea of carrying around 4 different devices is absurd enough to not do it more than once or twice, so what do I keep with me day-to-day? My primary workhorse is the Samsung Jack, backed up by the uber-revolutionizing iPod. I don’t think I could live without one or the other. The Ipod is essential for ease of note-taking (app: Evernote) and list making (app: ShopShop). I use Evernote as well on my Jack, but it expectedly cannot hold a candle to the usability of the iPod version. And of course, the defacto WM email syncing keeps me forever bound to the Jack. The HTC Touch is impressive for it’s time, but is a bit dated and can frustrate you to no end with the lack of hard buttons (notice that this is NOT a drawback on the iPod).

I have opened a few different doors and will be walking through each of these in due time. For now, I will leave you with these thoughts when it comes to picking the hardware to meet your needs:

Things to look for in a smartphone

The Operating System. See above and choose the one you like. Keep in mind that more mature systems (e.g. Windows Mobile, Symbian) have more 3rd party applications to choose from. The caveat is that both RIM and Apple now have appstores to make it easy for you to download what you want. And don’t forget about email integration. This will be the last time I mention it in this post, but the most powerful integration solution comes with Windows or BB BES. Everything is else is second place.

Keyboard. The most noticeable distinction between phones outside of the actual OS is the presence of a hard keyboard. How often to you plan on typing with your device? How stubby or slim are your fingers? I don’t actually have a strong preference one way or the other as I am just as quick to type on the Touch as I am the Jack, but my general recommendation is to go with a hard keyboard. In addition to providing tactile feedback, the keys make great shortcuts to different applications that can save you time with menu-intensive operating systems.

Physical Phone Size. How do you want to carry your phone? If you have a purse/murse, problem solved. If not, deciding whether or not to wear a holster can be a tough choice. The leather blackberry holsters can seem professional, and the more people that wear them the more natural it looks, but there are still some holdouts that find the “clipped to my belt/pant pocket/waistband” look ridiculously silly, especially in more casual attire. Here’s an example:

Holstered phone. Slick.

Horsepower. If you want to be productive, you need speed (cpu speed, not the drug which also eerily fits this sentence). Phone’s tend to lag when you try to do too much, which is one of the reasons why the iPhone doesn’t allow you to multitask aside from their music player. The CPU speed isn’t always indicative of how fast the device is; the make and model as well as the OS play a big part. Read some reviews, google some performance tests or actually try the thing first if you can.

Resale value. It may not be as important to you if you’re still carrying a Palm Treo 650 or if you’re with a CDMA (Sprint, Bell etc) carrier where the phones aren’t as easily interchangeable. But if you’re on GSM, you might be inclined to upgrade more often than your contract subsidizes for, which means grey market (craigslist anyone?).

What else do you look for in a phone?

Once we get into the tools, it will be easier to make a decision as what you get out of it should be driven by how you intend to use it to enhance your productivity.

PSp

Productive Smartphone – The Introduction

If you’re anything like me, you’re constantly looking for new ways to be more productive. The word of the day is efficiency, and what better way to achieve that than through the effective use of your mobile device? It doesn’t hurt that you already have a penchant for spending hours of your life toiling away with tweaks, mods, and hacks of your device as a result of this inane urge to toy with technology. You are a gadget freak, so it’s time to make that freakiness work for you.

Why focus on the phone?

Who doesn’t have a phone these days? It is one of the few tools you carry with you everywhere you go. It’s in your pocket, in your purse, or in a fancy holster clipped to your waist. Either way, it’s always within reach. Nowadays, ubquitous tools are at the height of popularity. These tools allow you to access and integrate information from your many phones, iPods, and laptops through the internet. Think Gmail or Yahoo! Mail.

Topics for Discussion

This site is organized into several themes:

1. Devices. Everyone loves to know about all the cool new devices. OK, not everyone, but I do. If you’re looking for reviews of the latest and greatest, you won’t find them here – try Engadget or Mobileburn – but I do go through a few different ones every so often and will be sure to provide thoughts on how they perform.

2. Productivity. This is a general category for new ideas on how to be productive, irrespective of the tools you choose. We’ll talk about everything from emails to organization, GTD to other methodology, and the sort.

3. Smartphone Tools. This is the bread and butter – all about how you can set up your phone to work for you, and the tools to help you do that. One day your smartphone may be able to do your dishes and take out the trash, but until then, we’ll focus on applications that help to simplify your life.

4. General (everything else). Who knows what else we’ll think of? This category is for all other things related to the productive use of your smartphone (and sometimes not!).

Over the course of the next little while, we will post as much as possible about our pursuit to ultimate phone-driven productivity. Sometimes the posts will be systematic; other times at random depending on our mood. Either way, we hope something will cross your screen that may save you a few minutes of time down the road…

PSp

Coming Soon…

This is a new blog about how to make your smartphone work for you. Most of what will be written here is from experience. However, there’s more than one way to skin a cat, and we hope that you will provide as much feedback as you’re able to give…

Cheers,

PSp