PPB November 2015

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There are many password managers you
can use. I recommend Lastpass (www.last-
) which is easy to use and extremely
secure. Once installed, Lastpass will fill in
your passwords for any site you visit. It will
also generate passwords for you when you
need to create a new one.
Chrome Extensions
Nearly 50 percent of the world’s internet
traffic comes from Google Chrome, which
continues to get better and better. In addition
to being a great browser, there are extensions
that make it even better. My favorite exten-
sion is Lastpass.
Adblock (by getadblock) is a must-have
extension as well. Adblock makes browsing
the web faster and less distracting.
Clearly, a program by Evernote, is a great
extension for formatting online articles, such
as a page in a book. Clearly strips out all ads
and unrelated “noise” and leaves you with just
the article. It also integrates nicely into
Evernote to store articles.
To get extensions, go to https://chrome.
and search for an exten-
sion by name. Once you find the extension
you want, click “add to Chrome” to install.
Dropbox
Nearly all of us have a Dropbox account
but you may not have turned on Camera
Upload from the program’s app on your
phone. Camera Upload will automatically
upload the photos and videos from your
phone to Dropbox. To enable, go into the
Dropbox settings on your phone and enable
camera upload. I recommend choosing the
setting to upload via Wi-Fi only. Once your
photos are on your Dropbox you can delete
them from your phone, giving you more
space. Caution: Be sure to open the Dropbox
app to verify the photos are completely syn-
chronized first. From your computer, you can
then move your photos to a different folder
to stay within your storage limit.
Computer Backup
If you have ever lost personal photos or
files (I have), you know how costly and
stressful it is. Everyone should have a full
backup of their computer and I recommend
crashplan ) from
Code42. For $150, the family plan protects
up to 10 computers for an entire year. I rec-
ommend turning on both a local backup and
using the included online backup.
Autocorrect
I never have to type in my phone num-
ber on my phone when I want to share it
with someone. When I type in “mycell” it
replaces it with my cellular number. To add
your own shortcuts go to settings and choose
General. Then select keyboard and finally text
replacement.
Voice Recognition
Voice recognition has gotten so good that
it is more accurate than typing for most of us.
Next time you need to send a text, use the
microphone on your phone keyboard and dic-
tate the message. You will be amazed at how
much time this saves you and how much
more productive you will be.
Mileage Tracking
A lot of businesspeople spend a great deal
of time tracking their auto mileage for reim-
bursement. There are many apps to help
make this task easier, with more reliable
results. For $60 per year, try out .
Evernote
More has been written on the value of
Evernote than I can cover in a short article,
so Google “Evernote” to read more. For me,
it’s my “junk drawer” of articles, travel infor-
mation and anything I want to store.
Use email better
Most of us spend more time in email than
any other application. Yet, because we use
email so poorly, it costs us a lot of wasted
time. Although I have entire articles dedicated
to email, here are three core tips that will help
you the most:
First, start unsubscribing from emails you
signed up for but never read. The amount of
junk email that litters your phone and desk-
top email box distracts you. Get rid of it.
Second, use your email rules and quick
steps to automatically filter email. In
Outlook, get started by clicking on tools, then
rules and alerts.
Finally, create four new folders to help
you prioritize your emails:
• @NextAction: For emails that you need to
work on today.
• @WaitingFor: For emails that are waiting
on someone else to do something, for
which you follow up.
• @Deferred: For emails that you want to
deal with when you have time.
• @Reference: For emails that you may want
to refer to in the future. I put items such as
reports, trip information and commitments
in this folder.
Improve Your Personal
Financial Management
Managing our money is important and
time-consuming. While online banking is
great, getting an overview all your accounts
can still be tough. Get a free account at
(owned by Intuit) and make
it easier to manage your finances.
Personal Technologies
It seems we have less personal time than
ever so I make the most of it with gadgets
that make me more productive. I use
Dropcam from Google ($200) for monitor-
ing activity at my home. Dropcam allows me
to see and hear what’s happening from wher-
ever I am in the world. I can even talk to the
kids and call them downstairs without hav-
ing to yell. Another great time saver is
WeMo (from Belkin) so I can turn off lights
in my home from my phone. Even better
than WeMo is Nest (from Google). Nest
saves me money on my electric bill but also
lets me adjust my heat and air conditioning
from my phone or computer.
My favorite personal technology is
Roomba. With four kids ranging in age from
6 to 12, my kitchen floor needs daily vacu-
uming. I bought a Roomba to keep me from
having to grab the stick vacuum every day. I
was surprised when I saw how well Roomba
also vacuumed (on a schedule) my entire
house. I would come home, and half of the
floors would be clean; the next day, Roomba
would vacuum the other half. We still use our
Dyson from time to time but our house is
cleaner all the time thanks to Roomba.
50 • PPB • NOVEMBER 2015 GROW
Dale Denham MAS+, is CIO
for distributor Geiger and was
named to Computerworld’s
Premier 100 IT Leaders list
for 2015.
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