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Do you want to save some time?

…. who doesn’t?

If you’re looking to save time and you’re wondering how to get started or where to start…Here’s the 8 tools guaranteed to get you the results you’re looking for!

I use them day in and day out and find extremely valuable in saving time, getting stuff done and reducing stress.

I’ve personally spent tons and tons of research time coming up with these tools and this list so please do leave a comment if you like it.

1. Google Calendar

I love google calendar because of how simple, easy and yet highly effective it is. It’s fast to add new events, edit events (I love their drag and drop feature). You can also use different calendars for different goals (like: home and office) and see all your commitments in the same place. If you aren’t using google calendar yet, I highly recommend you check them out!

Just take 30 minutes and poke around with it. I think you’ll love it

2. Task Management System (ToDoIst)

I blogged about todoist last week (or maybe it was last month)…Anyhow, the point is…todoist is an extremely simple yet effective task management system..

Or simply put, it’s one of the best places to keep all your to do lists.

I use my google calendar for day specific and time specific stuff and my task management system for other to-do’s for the day or the week.

3. Cool Timer

Note: I don’t know what’s wrong with the software but apparently you get a virus warning on Vista…I use it on XP and it works fine for me. If you do get a virus warning, look for a different software

Cool timer is an excellent tool to use when you’re trying to focus and weed out distractions. I’ll usually set a timer for an hour, or thirty minutes when I try to get stuff done..

For example – If I need to write a blog post, I might set 10 minutes and get to work..

I think the timer works for two reasons:

1. Increases accountability – when you see the time ticking, there’s less room for procrastination..

2. Creates a healthy level of pressure or “challenge” so you can still get stuff done faster. And, save tons of time that would otherwise get wasted in procrastinating or trying to get something perfect..

4. Autohotkey

This is the most excellent tool there is when it comes to taking care of routine tasks (or chores) on the computer.

I won’t go into a ton of details about this one..instead I’ll link to the blog entry that’s all about hotkeys..(saving time is a good thing..isn’t it?)

Here’s the link

5. RSS Reader (From Google)

An RSS reader is an excellent way to save tons of time that you’d normally spend visiting different websites, blogs or news sites. There’s tons of RSS readers out there including things you can install on your computer…but being able to access your RSS reader from anywhere is definitely a big plus.

Basically the RSS reader will get the latest updates from all your favorite websites and queue it up for you to read when you login..That’s all you need to know..all the techy bits are handled by google reader!

Cool..eh?

Just take 20 minutes, visit your favorite sites and add their RSS feed into your Google Reader account.

And while you’re at it..here’s the link to our RSS feed…remember to sign up!

6. Google Hosted Apps

If you haven’t checked out google hosted apps, you’re missing out on quite a bit!

Basically, if you run a small business or an organization..google will let you use a lot of their services like email.

Which means you get to keep your professional looking email address and still use google’s spam fighter tools and (of course) you get all the other tools that other gmail users get.

Also look into Google Docs for sharing information..it’s FREE and highly efficient!

7. Evernote

Evernote can help you tons and tons of time when it comes to researching information and keeping a file of all the cool things that you’d like to read someday..

If you find a piece of really cool information..just highlight and click on the evernote tab on your browser (once you’ve installed evernote) and the information is clipped for you (with a link to the webpage) so you can easily find it when you need it later..

8. Mind Maps

Mind maps can save you tons of time when it comes to brainstorming and planning (and also outlining)..and for clearing your head

There are tons of mind mapping programs out there, I personally use ConceptDraw…its not cheap but I like it

You can play around with something free like bubbl.us or even your pen and paper to see if mindmapping works for you.

That’s it!

I use these 8 tools almost everyday and it saves me tons and tons of time…

..Do you have any tools to add to this list?

Just let me know!

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