Peace of Mind Organizing

A couple of time (and money) savers

17 January 2008

This year I’m a quest to save time and be more productive. It’s going well. Thanks to the techniques found in Mark Forster book, Do It Tomorrow (link in the Links section at right) and Don’t Break the Chain I’m more productive than I’ve been in a long time.

Part of my new routine is to schedule time to read organization and productivity blogs. Today, on one of my favorites, Lifehacker, I came across a money and time saver from our friends at Google. It’s GOOG-411. Rather than dialing 411 from your land line or mobile phone to get the phone number of a business, which will incur a charge on your phone bill, dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-4664-411). I realize that takes longer to dial, but if you program it into speed dial, it won’t. Once you’ve dialed GOOG-411, state your location (or enter your zip code on the key pad) and say a business name or—I love this part—a business category. Stating “office supplies,” for example, will get you a list of nearby office-supply stores, from which you can choose. GOOG-411 will connect you, and there’s no charge (except for airtime charges, of course). If you’d like, GOOG-411 will text message you the information.

Here’s Google’s YouTube video about the service. The service is free and you don’t have to listen to ads.

The other free service I wanted to mention I also learned about at LifeHacker. It’s Jott. With this service, you can dictate messages to yourself or others that are transcribed and emailed to you (or other recipient). You register with Jott and give them the phone number you’ll be dialing in with. Once you dial in (Jott is now in my Contacts list on my cell phone, since I’ll be using this service in my car), Jott recognizes you. You say who the message is going to—you must register all your recipients on Jott’s website—and them just talk. In a short while, what you said appears as an email in the appropriate in box. I’ve used it for reminders to myself. It’s a great way to capture ideas while on the run.

Jott’s also free and there are (or will be) ads on the emails you receive. That’s a small price to pay, in my opinion.

Tagged with: don't break the chain, jott, mark forster, productivity, time management

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