One of my daughters watches a show called "WonderPets." She loves it - and I like it a lot, too. One thing I like is a consistent theme: Teamwork helps you solve problems (there is even a catchy song about Teamwork - see link at end of this post) that I can't get out of my head).
In the real world, one of the tricky things about teamwork (particularly if you have distributed or remote teams) is keeping everyone "on task" and on the same page about joint projects. I recently heard from some folks who are doing something about that, in the form of a web-based tool called "TaskBin." I've tried other collaboration / group project approaches, but this one seems awesome so far.
Dirt simple (but elegant in its simplicity...)
One of the things I like about TaskBin so far is it simplicity. And yet, it's very powerful. Some highlights:
- It is really easy in all aspects. Easy to use, easy to maintain, and easy to invite others to your project.
- All the tasks in the project are visible to everyone else, and ownership is clear.
- TaskBin handles time zone translation for you - very transparently.
- It's really easy to add and update tasks.
- There is a private "Notepad" area to capture thoughts you haven't decide to act on yet.
- You can make others administrators, so you can have multiple project owners share responsibility.
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You can subscribe to updates via RSS, or get email updates.
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You can view and update task status on mobile devices (as well as receive notifications that way).
I'm sure there is more, but I'm still a newbie.
Don't pin me down...
Another interesting thing (that seems to fit well with my team's psyche) is the vaguely specific time frames you can assign to a task. Rather than a specific date, it seems much easier to assign TaskBin's due "time frames" - Today, Tomorrow, This Week, or Sometime Soon. Very liberating.
As free as you want it to be
TaskBin is currently in Beta, so it's all free. When they become a production product, you'll have two models to choose from:
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Cost-free - an ad-supported, no cost model.
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Ad-free - no ads, but you pay for service.
Teamwork Song:
Read MoreWhen you're traveling with a notebook computer or other electronic essentials, a power outlet is like an oasis in the dessert (and you can usually spot them by looking for clusters of tethered travelers huddled nearby, drinking up the precious current). When you're low on juice, it can be frustrating when you're in an airport with only a few outlets.
Well, Monster has a great way for travelers to increase their access to power on the go: It's their Outlets To Go 3-Outlet Portable Powerstrip and it's pretty cool. This allows you to expand a single (grounded) outlet and turn it into 3 outlets. This extra capacity can come in handy in several situations:
- In the aforementioned scarce outlet situation, you can provide the means to share an outlet with other travelers
- For international travel, simply carry this power strip and a single international power adapter, and you'll be able to plug in 3 devices at once
- Its short length of cord allows you to more easily utilize power outlets in tight spaces - especially if you have clunky power supplies for some of your devices
There are a few other nice features on this little power strip:
- It rolls up small (as in the picture) and you can plug it back into itself to keep the cord tidy, and maintain a small profile
- The outlets have enough spacing to accommodate even large power bricks (there are 2 outlets on one side; 1 on the other)
- The power connector is flat and exits to the side, so it is less likely to interfere with other plugs or devices
- The "Monster Power" logo glows blue when the strip is "live" so you can tell when the circuit is hot
- It has a built-in circuit breaker to protect you from dodgy power situations
You can get the US version of this for about $12 on Amazon so it's reasonably priced.
Related items
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My buddy Gene told me about a cool tool that is very helpful with time boxing. The tool is called "TimeLeft" and it is a very versatile tool for creating countdown timers, activity timers, and things like that. When you install it, it creates a "Happy New Year" countdown timer by default, and you can create your own timers. You can also customize the appearance of the timers, so you can tell them apart on sight - they just hover over your Windows desktop so you can glance at them to see the status (it's not as distracting as it sounds.
Useful countdowns
Countdown timers can be quite useful. For example, I created a countdown timer to help me keep track of how many shopping days remained for me to get my Christmas gifts delivered on time. I am currently tracking the time left until I have to turn in PowerPoint slides for a project at work. Yes, I often just set reminders in Outlook, but for some high-priority projects the countdown is just what I need to remind me to focus on the project.
Time boxing
You can create one or more general purpose timers with TimeLeft, and each timer has a pause and a reset icon on it so you can restart the countdown. This is useful for time boxing and GTD (create a 2-minute timer like the one David Allen recommends), so you can keep projects or sub-projects from taking more time than you intend.
Timeleft is very cool -- way better than I thought it would be from Gene's simple description -- but its amazingly simple, yet customizable, interface is powerful. On the site, you can see the plethora of features included in TimeLeft.
Try it, and I think you'll like it (Windows only - sorry Mac folks). There is a free version and a pay version, with the main difference being that the free version limits the number of timers you can use at any given time.
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I was chatting with a friend of mine about data backup this week and he mentioned he'd seen my previous write-up about Mozy, which I use (and love) for data backup at home. What he didn't realize was that Mozy is only $4.95 per month for UNLIMITED data backup (he thought you had to pay based on the data volume). It's a good deal and very reliable.
By the way - I got a notification from Mozy the other day with two pieces of good news:
To get the 10% discount, click this link, then use the codes for December on the signup page: DECEMBER gets you 10% off of an annual subscription to Mozy, and DECEMBERY gets you 10% off of a 2-year Mozy subscription (which is already cheaper on a per-year cost basis).
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