Make your air travel easier

Before you leave for the airport

• Personally, I always like to reach the airport a good 2 hours before departure time for international flights. Airports can be crowded at peak time and with all the waiting for check-in, security and immigration you will have very little time to browse the duty-free or grab a bite if you intended to do so.
• Check and double-check your documents. I know a friend who’s actually reached the airport without the passport booklet which had the visa stamped in it.
• If you’re the types who travels heavy, then check your baggage weight before you leave home. I find it really messy to open up bags and re-shuffle the weight to keep the baggage within limits. As a back-up put in a carry-bag which you can use to dump stuff if you’re luggage is over-weight and not worth the excess baggage fee.
• Keep a bottle of water and some gum with you. The journey to the aircraft is going to be a long one and you’ll need it. And bottled water at airports is a bit expensive at times.
• Travel documents – keep them handy in a bag pocket which is easily accessible. And don’t forget a pen, you’re going to need this a lot.

At the airport

I won’t bother with the What is Evernote? Go read it online.

My Evernote has 4 top-level Notebook Stacks:

Clients – When I start working with a new client or a project, I start a notebook and put in multiple notes as I go along.

New Business – All potential clients and business opportunities go in here. This is a good place to collect all random notes, web articles about that client which can be used at the time of pitching or the essential pre-read for future meetings.

Work - Everything which is not related to a specific client gets filed here. Interesting statistics, case-studies, articles which I may want to refer at some later time.

Personal – Blog post drafts, scanned copies of important documents go in here.

How do I use it?

Evernote is always a minimized window on the laptop. If I see something interesting online or an email which can is good material for a presentation or client brief, goes directly to the appropriate Notebook.

Evernote is used to file meeting notes so that I don’t have to bother with multiple Word files or Emails sent by the client servicing team. And if I don’t happen to take notes, the minutes which come in are filed in the respective client notebook.

When brainstorming I prefer pen and paper. After I am done sketching, I run to the scanner and email a copy to my Evernote account. So no worries about not finding that paper when you really need it. Also a copy on the laptop means I can review it at home or at the client’s office.

At regular intervals, I collect all the new business cards I exchange at various meetings. Put them on the scanner’s flatbed and email a JPEG to Evernote. Because Evernote can read all text on the images, searching for that contact becomes much easier.

Blog post ideas are also put into Evernote. I just put in random lines, web articles which probably I want to explore later for a post. This way, I can work on them offline and not depend on the drafts at WordPress.

Personal documents like house rent receipts, car insurance papers and others are always scanned and put into a notebook. So I have access to them online even if I am away from the laptop.

All wine bottle labels are photographed and emailed to Evernote. So if you want to know a wine I may have enjoyed recently – Ask me and I’ll show you what it looked like.

Evernote Tools

Typically I use the Evernote on my Macbook, the Chrome Web Clipper, Direct Email to Evernote. I have the Blackberry Evernote App installed, but never managed to really make much use of it.

Like most other services online, Evernote too has a free version which you can start using right away. If you cross the monthly usage, you can get yourself a Premium Account. I’ve been an active user for the last 6 months and haven’t felt the need for it yet.

If you’re already an Evernote user, do share some of the tips of how you are using this tool. Leave a note in the comments area.

Launchy

Always a problem finding the right file? Look no further. Launchy has been the most useful piece of software to get me directly to a file/folder or application by just typing out it’s name. Of course you need to make sure you index your hard disk, the right way. [Download]

ObjectDock

Is your desktop messed up with short-cuts to files & folders? Get ObjectDock, the Mac look alike taskbar. Easy access to folders and other applications without cluttering your desktop. [Download]

IrfanView
Simple, light-weight image editor. Crop, re-size your images quickly without having to load a heavy application like Adobe Photoshop for simple actions. Also with a few plug-ins it will let you view some of the more complex image formats without those heavy software installs. [Download]

Dropbox
A popular online storage which I only recently started using and it’s been super useful. I don’t bother with file transfers to the USB pen-drive anymore. Just copy the file in the Dropbox folder and it syncs with my Macbook at home. So I have access to important files at all time. [Website]

GTD wallpaper
If you don’t fancy those lovely desktop wallpapers here is something which is great to sort the files and shortcuts on the desktop. [Download]

And here is a bonus:

AvaFind/Google Desktop
If you’ve been unsatisfied with the search results given by Windows default search engine then get yourself one of these application. Google Desktop does a superb job of indexing content of the files, email applications so you can probably end up finding that needle in the haystack. [Ava Find Home Page / Google Desktop Download]

What’s your favourite piece of software that makes computing easier for you? Share your thoughts in the comments area.

And suddenly I felt stranded with nothing much to do, which sucks because I thought there has to be a lot more to do and so I thought of a couple of things which can help keep boredom away when the internet is down.

1. Open up a notepad and put down the things you need to attend to, once you are online. Memories are short, and you don’t want to miss out on sending that important email.
2. Clean up your PC. Sort files/folders, get them organised so that you can find data easily and faster.
3. Backup your data. It’s important. Imagine having a virus attack or hard disk failure and losing all those photos you love and that music collection you made after several overnight downloads. Burn DVDs, move data to an external hard disk.
4. Read. Yes, something which is printed on paper. Is there  a stock of magazines which remain unread on your side-table? Or a book which you haven’t read more than 20 pages? Go get it.
5. Write. Pen & paper is writing you know. So chuck that document editor and see if you can pen down some thoughts & ideas or better still send a hand-written note to a loved one [trust me he/she will cherish it].
6. Take a walk. If it’s the right time of the day/night, take your music player and get out for a walk. You’ll see something interesting, meet an old friend and come back fresh.
7. Watch TV. Are you spending too much time watching only DVDRips/ YouTube vids on your computer. Switch on the TV [although most of it is crap] you might just see feel entertained for watching something different from your regular stuff.

And of course, if you are one of those addicts – then you seriously need to get out of your room and try spending more time offline in the real world. Cheers!

Review your expenses
Credit Card, Mobile Phone, Internet schemes can be reviewed. This could be a good time to move to the that budget friendly zero commitment scheme. Unsubscribe from newspapers/magazines you don’t bother reading.

Spruce your business branding
Maybe you started your venture at the peak of the market and never really got the time to see how your business stationary looks like. Browse around and get a design school student to work out some interesting designs. A good branding exercise will help you later when pitching for new business.

Use the Internet
Online presence for many company’s is a low priority, yet. Take a look at your website and see if something more can be done with that tool to attract new business. If you don’t already have a website, maybe you should think of getting one. And if you can’t afford to get one designed how about starting a blog at one of the free hosting websites to at least establish your base online.

Get active online and register yourself in business directories, join forums/communities and check out what people are talking about your industry, competition, trends etc.

Get yourself introduced to GTD
Life is a mess – missing due dates, phone calls never returned, unanswered emails and a cluttered desk. If that’s how your life is, it’s time to get introduced to David Allen’s GTD [Getting Things Done]. Here is a good place to start.

And of course, above all let’s not forget this recession will hopefully be a phase and we shall tide over this one very soon. So, get out of office spend some quality time with your loved ones and build the attitude to help you move forward.

How are you beating the recession blues? Got any tips to share, put them in the comments area.

A: Do you know how many businesses does Anil Ambani run? … 19.
And how many do we run?

B: Not 19 for sure.

A: Correct we barely manage to engage ourselves in 1 or 2 and call ourselves over-worked. And when new opportunities arise we console ourselves that we are currently very busy to focus on new work.
What does ‘Anil bhai’ do? He goes out and grabs the opportunity with both hands and then worries about how to manage it.

B: it’s human tendency to be lazy and not kick ourselves to get involved in things more than what’s already on the plate.

A: More than “laziness” it’s our mind-set which says “NO” first unless we are pushed to do it. We need to keep motivating ourselves.

Suddenly this conversation caught mid-way had ended on superb note telling me that it’s so very human to always say NO first, push off the work and only take it up when it comes under pressure onto us. Every weekend I get charged to take up new work in the week and promise myself to say YES to a job and then figure out how to accomplish the task. Of course all weeks are not the same and sometimes you want to just finish off what’s on the plate without getting onto anything more. But then a few things which help me stay focused to achieve more.

• I spend the first 30 mins in office only evaluating my work lists and putting down all the thoughts I may have for the day. This could be ideas, meetings and phone calls to be completed.
• That being done, I send off emails to the respective teams which are as detailed with all necessary material put in so that I am not disturbed during the day for a file which could have been sent earlier in the morning itself.
• Discipline. I try not to distract myself away from work related stuff. I load Google Reader only if I know there is no reading, thinking to be done on work related subjects.
• On the not-so-busy weekends I try and spend time with my little notebook thinking of value additions that I can make at work.

Of course as the gentleman said, all this helps only if you have the RIGHT MIND-SET to do more. I’ll try and write something on creating a right mind-set but for now tell me what’s keeping you motivated.

[Contact Name][Company Name]

However there is a good possibility that a few months later you may remember the name of the company but not the contact’s name. Happens with me all the time and so I decided I could make things easier for me by reversing the format. So now I store the number like this:

[Company Name][Contact Name]

Besides making it easy to search it also lets me get a quick view of all the people I know from that particular company.

Let me know if you have a better idea. Meanwhile you can also read my other GTD post on marking notes.

In recent meetings I have started marking my notes with little brackets like this: [ACTION], [THINK], [FUP], [PA] where FUP=Follow up with client for information, PA=Pro-active thinking required with creative team.

This has been rather useful because when I get back to my desk I can quickly glance through the notes, see the items marked [ACTION] and send off emails to necessary associates. The rest of the notes can wait till I have some more free time on hand for thinking and pro-active initiatives as maybe necessary.

Taking it further I am also thinking of having 2 word documents on my desktop which are titled "thinking" and "pro-active" so that all thoughts collected in the meetings are put in there and looked at every week to see how I can serve the client better.

Let’s see how it goes. Do you have a GTD idea you can share with me? Put your thoughts in the comments area.

Productive Talk Compilation: 8-episode podcast with GTD’s David Allen
It’s about a year now I guess since I have been following David Allen’s Getting Things Done system. I haven’t read his book yet so when his interview by Merlin Mann of 43 folders popped up I was more than keen to see what’s in store. He does share a few GTD nuggets like email management and what things should go off your head immediately. Merlin shares MP3 files, iPod friendly chapter files and an Odeo powered file for online listening.

Deliver Authentic Leadership by Robin Sharma
A 4 minute talk where Robin explains us that Authentic Leadership has nothing to do with position or title. It’s all about taking responsibility over your life, its problems, challenges you maybe facing and how you strongly over-power them.

• Click here to download the MP3 file.
• Nirav shares the transcript of the talk here.

The Four Hour Week
Extract from Nirav’s post: 

Yes, you read it right, “Four Hour” week, not a “Four Day” week. Timothy Ferriss has written a book on how you can work only for four hours a week, yet deliver much more productivity and results. Not all of us may be able to shrink our work weeks to four hours, but the principles he talks about can certainly take off five to fifteen hours off the week, allowing you to do something else you enjoy.

If you have any favourites I would like to know what are you listening. Leave your pick in the comments.

You can use it to organise your icons in groups, like:

• the paper area for work stuff;
• the aluminium plate for personal projects;
• the wooden desk for yet to be categorised elements, like finished or in-progress downloads.
• the post-it for urgent elements (I usually have the files I am currently working on in here).

Download the high-res file and instructions on how to fit it to your desktop.