Working out while traveling just got a bit easier

After quite a while of being a slacker, I have decided to pay a lot more attention to my diet and exercise regimen.  A big part of that is designed to help me follow much better habits while on the road.

One part of this change is to do some sort of workout or physical exercise every day.  It's been going well, but workouts on the road can be a challenge when it's hard to create a convenient time window to get to the hotel fitness center.

Bring the gym to you

Last week, I was in Dallas and decided to try out one of the Westin Hotel chain's "WestinWorkout" rooms in which you can reserve a room with fitness equipment in it.  I really like this concept - it allows me to get a workout in when I want to, under much more relaxed circumstances.  Here is a quick tour of the room I stayed in:

In the video, I mention I was expecting a treadmill (the bike worked fine, but I still like treadmills better).  Good news:  you can now specify whether you want a cycle or a treadmill, at least in some hotels - I had that choice when I booked at the Westin in Seattle a few days ago.

I hope this trend takes off and spreads to other hotels.  I'm a "Starwood guy" so the fact that Westin is a Starwood property makes me hopeful that other Starwood brands will follow suit. 

Job Seekers: How to stay organized while on the hunt

Job hunting these days is less like dating and more like having your face stomped on repeatedly by a rubber boot. Forbes reports that a single job listing will get an average of 118 applicants, yet only 27 percent of those applicants will actually receive an interview. If you're serious about your job search, you're very likely applying to dozens of positions every day. This can lead to a lot of complications, such as forgetting which jobs you've already applied to. Finding a new job should be treated like work: you need to be structured, organized and consistent if you are to be successful.

Managing separate résumés for better fits

If you're looking at multiple types of industries and positions, you need to have multiple résumés that resonate with the hiring manager you're targeting. If your last two positions were tech support in a healthcare company and administrative support for a real estate company, you might even have up to four resumes: healthcare-focused, real estate-focused, tech support-focused and administration-focused. There are applications such as Résumé Tracker, which will allow you to track the different versions of your résumé easily, but you can also simply name them in a consistent fashion, and keep them all in the same folder on your hard drive.

Mind the image you present

Take a look at the image you present to the people you're approaching - does your résumé look professional?  Are you using a professional email address?  If you're sending a physical résumé printing it on high quality paper can help - just avoid cheesy patterns or overly busy stationery.

If you plan on presenting references, be sure those references know about it, are willing to help, and are warned that you've just sent out a bunch of résumés.  It can also be helpful if you confirm that they believe you'll be a good fit for the jobs you're applying for and are willing & able to give you a positive reference. 

Organizing your job applications with ease

Applying to a specific job multiple times can be a disaster. Not only does it make you look unorganized, but you could also accidentally represent yourself in multiple ways, and thus make it appear as though you're being shady about your credentials. It's somewhat easy to tell whether you've applied to a position when using job applications online, as you can simply check to see whether you've signed up or not under your email address. Responding to classified ads, on the other hand, can be a little more difficult. You could keep everything in an Excel spreadsheet, or you could also start using an application such as Jibber Jobber.

Time management isn't only for after you get hired

It's important for you to be consistent when it comes to your job hunt. As Huffington Post notes, you should schedule specific times for your job hunt, and you should approach it like a job. You can create a routine that involves set hours of your day, and during this time, you should focus only on procuring your next position. You should also set small goals for yourself each day, much like projects. These tasks must be actionable steps you can control, such as filling out 10 applications in a day, rather than steps you can't control, such as acquiring an interview within a week.  This can also help you feel the momentum of the process.

Don't stumble at the finish line

Organization doesn't stop once you get an interview. You also need to manage your appointments effectively, and ensure you never miss an interview and you're never late. If you're going to an interview in an unfamiliar area, you may want to head out early, or scope out the location beforehand. Smartphones are absolutely superb for creating appointment notification, as well as getting directions. You should also remember that it's impolite to be late, but it's also impolite to be more than 15 minutes early.  It's OK to show up early to keep unforeseen delays from making you miss the appointment, but when you do, simply hang out at a nearby coffee shop and wait until 10 minutes prior to the interview before going into the building.

If you have any other tips to share, please let me know. 

Related articles: 

• Looking for a job? Preparation can make a difference
• Creating job descriptions with MindManager
• Job Seekers: Are you Defiant?
• The Image of Success

Keeping Your Life Synced Up

Everywhere you look these days, you see someone using a tablet.  That happened fast - in fact, my daughter's school just issued tablets for every student in the school - a big change from when I was in high school.

Pew Research says that 56 percent of Americans own a smartphone, and 34 percent own a tablet. Most people have more than one mobile device. The more devices you have, the harder it is to keep them in sync. You'd like to be able to use your laptop, tablet or smartphone and have access to the same information. It's time to get your life synced up and start using the apps that help keep your life organized.

Syncing and the Cloud

Early sync technology worked by downloading the same files to your devices to make them all have the same information. Cloud technology changed that by allowing you to store your files in the cloud where all of your devices can get to that information. There are two major ways that apps keep your information synced up now: through files or through an application.

An undeniably popular cloud service has been Dropbox. This application is a preferred pick for keeping files in sync because of its reliability and ease of use. Once you create an account, which is free until you need more space, you'll download a small app onto your smartphone, tablet or laptop. This creates a Dropbox folder in which you can create other folders. Just drop files into one of the sub-folders, and it will now be accessible to any device you connect to your account.

For example, you can take photos with your smartphone and place them into a photos sub-folder in the Dropbox folder on your phone. When you get home, you can fire up your laptop and go into its Dropbox Photos folder and touch up those photos before posting them on your Facebook page. Later, when you have more time, you can bring the photos up on your tablet from its Dropbox Photos folder for review.

There are other services that offer a similar cloud service. such as Microsoft Skydrive, Box.com, and Google Drive which all do something similar and allow you to keep the files on all of your devices in sync. With the speeds available to you through broadband, high-speed cellular connectivity, and even satellite Internet now, keeping your files in sync between all of your devices is quick and easy.

Syncing With Applications

The Evernote application, one of my "go to" apps, gives you a tool on all of your mobile devices to make notes and save web pages and images, and it keeps everything in sync for you. There are no files to deal with. You can browse a website on your phone, copy it into the Evernote app, and make some notes about it. When you get home, you can bring up Evernote on your laptop, and do some further research on that website.  One of the killer features of Evernote is to do character recognition on things like whiteboards - you take a picture of them and the handwritten text becomes searchable.  Very cool.

Google Sync is a way to keep the calendar and contacts on your smartphone or tablet in sync with your Google Calendar and Contacts. This is a small app that runs in the background on your mobile device at specific intervals that you pick during its set-up.

Toodledo is an example of one of many task managers that will help you create and manage a to-do list on all of your mobile devices and keep them in sync.

For your entertainment needs, Apple's iTunes will keep music, movies, TV shows, and audiobooks on all of your mobile devices in sync. Given Apple's focus on its own ecosystem, this app is streamlined for iOS devices, and there are some restrictions for Android devices, but you can use tools like DoubleTwist to bridge the gap and make it easy to sync your iTunes content to your Android device.

Finally, some streaming services are creating apps that let you control your TV viewing from multiple devices. For example, DirecTV Mobile Apps work on smartphones and tablets. You can start a movie from your smartphone on your TV, then go into another room, bring up the app on your tablet and watch the movie from where it left off on the TV. While not truly syncing, these apps allow you to use different mobile devices to access the same information.

Stop people from spying on you using your webcam

With all the talk about unwanted surveillance these days, one of the things I've heard people worry about is the privacy of their webcams.  "Could someone spy on me via my webcam without me knowing it?"  It's unlikely, but possible. 

If you don't want to be seen without your consent, there is an easy way to handle it:  ‎Scotch® tape or its equivalent. 

I've heard of people using duct tape, electrical tape, masking tape, etc. but I prefer the clear, but opaque ‎Scotch® tape for a few reasons:

1. ‎Scotch® tape allows light through, which enables your computer's light sensor to gauge the ambient light and adjust your screen brightness accordingly.
2. This tape allows you to see the "camera active" LED next to the lens when it comes on.  This can be an indicator that someone is watching, so you'll know when it's happening.  Note that some eavesdropping toolkits are able to monitor your webcam without  turning on the light, so the light alone isn't a perfect indicator.
3. The tape is easily removable without leaving a residue.  That means you can easily use your webcam when you want to without a lot of hassle. 

How well does it work?  Take a look at these two views - one normal view, and one with tape over the lens. 

As you can see, a simple bit of inexpensive tape does the trick. 

One other thing to keep in mind:  This does nothing to keep people from listening in on your microphone... 

Out of the Office: Smartphone Apps for Busy Employees

Continuing the theme from my last post, let's take a look at things that can help you be more productive on the go.  

As you may know from this blog, I'm a bit of a gadget addict and I try out a lot of new phones.  With each release of new lines of smartphones comes not only temptation, but also plenty of new or updated apps to help you stay or become more productive. The lines are blurring between personal and work devices, as companies decide to implement 'Bring Your Own Device' (BYOD) policies. The need for BYOD polices only grows due to the fact that many of us are on the go and no longer sit at a desk nine hours a day. We need apps that keep us moving, whether we're on our computer in the office or our smartphone in another location.

One of the ones I've been considering is Blackberry - thanks to a friend of mine who's been showing off his new Blackberry Q10 with its excellent keyboard.  Although Blackberry is now targeting the main consumer audience with it's latest smartphones and OS system, Blackberry began as a phone targeted to business users so it seems appropriate to look at the best business apps currently available so you can keep your competitive edge no matter where you are.

Mobile Communication

In the car: If you are frequently on the road during your workday, you can safely deal with emails and text messages without needing to pull over with the free DriveSafely app. It reads you your emails and texts, and then lets you respond by voice giving you complete voice-controlled messaging and emailing.

At busy times: While you want to make sure you don't miss any wanted communication, it would be nice to be able to ignore annoying robo calls and unwanted text messages. AlertMatrix lets you assign priority tones to the people you want to hear from so you know exactly who is contacting you and can safely ignore non-priority contacts.

Restaurant conferences: Wanna go to lunch but still get all your work taken care of? Conduct conferences on the go with the free Panaton Conferencing app. It plays well with Salesforce.com, Plaxo, Outlook and Google and does not require that invitees have a PIN to participate.

Mobile Office

Expense reports: Keep on top of your expenses as you incur them and even export them to a spreadsheet with Exgis Expense Tracker.

No FedEx, no problem: No need to find a copy machine while you are out and about. Turn your Blackberry into a scanner for free with PDF Scanner, where you can convert paper, business cards, and documents into PDF documents and even send those documents to co-workers or your boss.

Computer at hand: If, in spite of turning your smartphone into a mobile office, you still need to access your computer, RDM+: Remote Desktop for Mobiles gives you full access.

Mobile personal assistant: Perfect for managing projects and employees on the go, Nice Office allows you to manage email, calendar, contacts and tasks. You can store documents online and send them to your customers or team members. Nice Office also includes some CRM functionality.

What about you?  Are you using the new Blackberry Q10 or Z10?  Do you have any killer productivity apps to share?  And how do you like the device so far?  I'm all ears.