Little productivity boosters – Texter, Mouse, Launchy and the like..(Predominantly Windows)


‘Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think, there are no little things at all.’

A few such things that came to my mind when considering laptop productivity are the following –

1) My Mckal mouse: For 3 years, I lived off an IBM mouse as I did not want to waste cash on buying a new one. Yes, the IBM mouse gave dozens of problems especially after the 1st 6 months but no, I did not feel spending cash on something as stupid as a mouse was worth it.. And boy – was that a mistake. The mouse has saved many many hours of time which could have been lost fiddling on a touch pad/ correcting the issues caused by a bad one. Here’s a pic of the mouse available for only 20 bucks @ Challenger @ Funan.

2) Texter: Texter is a brilliant little tool created by Lifehacker that saves tons of time especially for those who have emails streaming in by the 100s. This is a text replacement tool. A simple example is –

Most emails require a greeting like ‘Hope you are doing well.’ or ‘Thank you for your email! :)’

Texter enables you to configure keystrokes for these sentences. In my set up, I’ve got hyd for hope you are.., tyf for Thank you.., brg for Best Regards, Rohan etc..

3) Launchy: Another time-saver. Launchy helps open up any application. After a simple download and installation, launchy can be opened up with alt-enter and typing ‘word’ and pressing enter would open up microsoft word instead of going through the process of going to the start bar and searching etc.

Launchy can also open up favorited/book mark websites on your browser and can also be configured to open music files among others.

4) Ninite: Ninite brings them all together. Going through the ninite list itself would give you a list of some great free software.

4) X1 – For those who use outlook as their email client, there’s no better way to search and find email as fast as you type.

Other small windows utility that tend to add a lot of value in the background are –
Wizmouse
Taskbar Shuffle
Quickmonth calender

**For more advanced users, OneNote is a wonderful addition to your toolkit. And when combined with Dropbox, makes for a killer combination.

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There’s a LOT more when it comes to productivity boosters but I thought I’d start with a basic list first. I love looking out for new additions myself. A very good list is Lifehacker’s 46 apps we are thankful for.

Happy productivity boosting! And if you do have any interesting software/apps to recommend, please do leave it in the comments..

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And–which is more–you’ll be a Man, my son!

Aaron Ramsey – I hope this makes you stronger..

Football is a contact sport – as much as there is talk about better referees, maybe more protection – taking out that contact aspect would reduce the adrenaline to that of a sport like golf..

And often times, when we are watching sport, horrific incidents take place – those that transcend whether you like or hate a player, whether you are a fan of the club or not..

Yesterday, Aaron Ramsey’s leg was broken as a result of a dreadful tackle by Ryan Shawcross and he may be out for a year..

A lot can be said about Shawcross but it was plain from the moment after the tackle that he was devastated.. it’s not an easy ride for him as well. I just hope there is no football fan who will be coining up a song to taunt Arsenal.. there are some incidents that rise well and above the game itself.. and this is one of them..

As for Ramsey, I do hope he comes back much stronger.. and I’m sure he will!

Just on a different note, that’s the 3rd horrific tackle on an Arsenal player in the last 4-5 years.. what is it about the football club that makes it so susceptible to injury?

BNET: Top 10 reasons for Sales rep failure

I thought these are universally applicable –

REASON #1: They base their self-worth on what other people think. If you define your sense of worth based on how you assume your boss, co-workers, and customers see you, you’ll be deeply hurt by anything that smacks of criticism. Selling, and working inside a sales organization, begins to look like a series of horrible and (finally) intolerable rejections.

REASON #2: They assume that past failure defines the future. Some people find failure so unpleasant that they try to avoid it at all costs. As a result, they avoid any situations where failure is a risk. Because any meaningful sales effort entails risk, such people seldom, if ever, accomplish anything significant in a sales organization.

REASON #3. They believe in destiny, luck and fate. Some people believe that their status in life and potential as a human being is determined by luck, fate or divine intervention operating upon the circumstances of their lives…
These beliefs, however, constantly keep you focused on what you can’t change (e.g. fate) and not on what you can (e.g. your skill set.)

REASON #4: They lack the right attitude. The right attitude for a sales pro consists three qualities: 1) Empathy, so that you can understand customer needs. 2) Confidence, so that your can bring customers to the point of buying, and 3) Resilience, so that you can use rejection and temporary setbacks as spurs that constantly move you forward.

REASON #5: They don’t perceive the subtleties. When mediocre sales pros make sales calls, they are so busy “trying to sell” that they miss the nuances of the customer relationship. Top sales pros know that the most important element of a successful sales call is the value that the sales professional can bring to the customer, rather than whatever might eventually be sold.

REASON #6: They’d rather be doing something else. Failing sales pros often wish they had the nerve get out of sales and do something completely different. If a sales pro’s ideal occupation is to play baseball, be a musician, write a novel, or do anything else that not in Sales — they’ll eventually sabotage their sales career.
REASON #7: They don’t learn from their mistakes. Sales pros tend to avoid looking at their failures and would prefer to examine their successes – and then attempt to replicate them. However, until and unless you understand how, why and where your sales process is failing, it’s impossible to correct systemic problems in your sales approach.

REASON #8: They can’t follow simple instructions. Sales skills must be learned. Some people are naturally resistant to learning new ideas and new techniques, especially if they’ve already achieved a certain level of success. Many a sales pro has “topped off” at the lowest level because of a failure to understand that news skills are needed at each stage of a sales career.

REASON #9: They lack true honesty and candor. Sales is all about relationships and relationships are all about trust. People who lie and fudge the truth may become good at fraud or other criminal acts, but they’re at an extreme disadvantage when it comes to being successful at an honest sales job. Most customers can “sense” when a sales rep isn’t being real… and avoid buying.

REASON #10: They can, but won’t, do the work. This is true not just of selling, but of every other activity in the world. Sales pros who don’t makes their numbers either can’t or won’t do what it takes to make sale. When you can’t do the job, it’s usually because you don’t know what to do. When you won’t to the job, it’s because you simply lack the drive.