Dusk Till Dawn

 

Not so long ago in a galaxy far, far away, oh wait that’s a movie. But seriously not so long ago items on your desk that were considered essential to success would have included a Rolodex of business cards, a pad full of notes and a road map to make sure you knew how to get you where you had to go. To say things have changed over the last 25 years would be the understatement of the century.

Imagine how difficult life would be without email, your cell phone or God forbid could you fathom the thought of life without Google! But these are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to utilizing today’s technology to its fullest extent. It can be using tools you already have, simply in a different way, or a quick couple seconds in your app store to download a helpful app. Here are some ways to get the most out of tools that you may or may not be using already.

Cell phones can be used for so much more than an address book, emails and making calls. Try using your I-phone or Droid to:

• End scanning receipts that take forever by simply taking a picture of them. Today’s cell phone camera gives a crystal clear image with great resolution for book keeping departments to use.
• Use your address book to write down all those notes you have about your buyer that you don’t want to forget. Just go to the notes section on your contacts and BAM you have an instant database.
• Take a pic of your itinerary or hotel confirmation for quick access on a trip. Printing all that info out can be a time consuming pain!

In addition to the above we have the endless amount of resources in the App store. There are a ton of free apps that can make your life easier. Try checking out some of the below. These are free apps that you can down load in seconds. 

• Evernote – basically it’s a cloud that will sync all your devices. Tablets, cell phones laptops etc. Instant access to your work from anywhere. Take notes, documents or pictures and at the touch of the share button you can upload it for instant access anywhere or to easily allow access to other users in a link form. You can even chat within Evernote with other users
• Flight View, Flight Aware or Flight Stats– These are travel apps that provide updates on all your flights. Departure and landing gate info, flight delays and more. They make it easy to check your route in a pinch on a short layover and you won’t have to go looking at flight screens wasting precious seconds.
• Cam Card, Business Card Book or Key Ring – These are business card apps. Just snap a pic and it instantly uploads all that cards pertinent information and image into your contacts.
• Snip Snap or Retail Me Not- These are coupon apps. I personally use Snip Snap. How many times have you needed & bought samples or office materials & paid full price? Just type in the store you’re in and 9 times out of 10 there’s a coupon for that store, why not save some money?
• Drop Box – A cloud for you to save files, photos and documents for easy access anywhere.
• So the days of the Rolodex, Beepers and brick phones may be behind us but if you check some of these tools out, you’ll find they make your life incredibly easy and they’re just a click away. You might even find yourself wondering how you ever lived without them.