I am writing this article on my desktop and considering where I am going to find the time to do my wife's and my tax return I thought to myself how would I manage this before the advent of technology. I am not sure I could have done it or maybe I could but I would have to have given up a lot of other things to do so.
As I look to my Windows desktop I see the following applications are open.
Gmail: I respond to my email a couple of times a day. I have turned notifications off so I am not interrupted by emails all day. I try to respond to personal email in the evenings only by forwarding any personal email in my business account to my personal email account.
Sage ERP Accpac: This is our accounting system. I am just reviewing our KPI for the month of April to see how we are doing at the mid point of the month. All signs are good. I think the economy may be finally improving.
Abak: Our time and billing system allows me to record my time for each day so I can ultimately determine if I am using my time wisely or poorly. One thing I have notice is that I do spend a lot of time dealing with emails.
Sage CRM: This is the most significant application. This allows me to see what I am doing today and every day. It allows me to schedule time to complete my tax return and manage both my business and personal time. It contains my to do list of task that I do not schedule specific time for. It contains the schedule of all the Plus Staff so I know what they are doing and if I need them how to get a hold of them. It shows me our sales pipeline so I know if more marketing activity is required. I tell me the status of any project we are currently working on. It tells me how many tech support issues are in the telephone support queue. It tells me which marketing campaigns are active and how many leads and opportunities they have generated. It tell me all of this with a quick click of an icon. I could go on....
What technology do you use to manage your time more efficiently?
