Tag Archive for technology

Putting Omnifocus To Work

February 22, 2011 Bradley Chambers Tech
omnifocus

Omnifocus (OF) is developed by the Omnigroup and is available for the Mac, iPhone, and iPad.  It is by far my most used application on my iPhone.  OF is built from the ground up to be a GTD (Getting Things Done) application.  GTD is a methodology written by David Allen. If you aren’t familiar with it, then I recommend you purchase the book or the audiobook.
In short, GTD is all about knowing what the next step is in any given project, setting locations for those steps, and starting/finishing at the appropriate time.  My favorite aspect of GTD is not having to think about an action step until it’s available to me (ie: I don’t worry about starting my taxes until all the forms I need are in my possession).  I highly encourage you to check out the books on GTD as my few sentences on it certainly do not do it justice.
I want to spend the remainder of the article discussing how I actually use OF in my daily business life:
One of the ideas of GTD is that everything gets put into a system that you trust.  For me, OF is that system.  Anything I need to remember gets thrown into the inbox (either on my iPhone or on the mac).  I do not try to process on the iPhone (more on processing later), but simply just try to get enough information down for me to remember what I’m talking about.  An example of this is that someone mentions their mouse is broken (I’m in IT) in the breakroom.  Instead of hoping that I remember that, I simply throw joan (person who told me) mouse into my inbox on my iPhone.  When I return to my desk, the mac app has joan mouse in its inbox.  I then further define that task and rename it ‘replace Joan’s mouse’ and set a due time of 4:30 and a start time of now.  Let’s say for example that Joan told me about her broken mouse, but said not to worry about it until tomorrow because she was leaving early.  I would set the start and due time to the next day and it would be off my radar until then.  It would not sit idle on a ‘to do’ list and constantly be on my mind.  If I am not able to taken action on an item at that time, I do not want to even know about it.  Expand this to a project and you only focus on each step at a time.
The iPhone app also has a ‘Due’ section that shows you the order the tasks are due in order they are due.  This allows me to always know exactly what I have to get done on a given day (but not all that is available to me, though).  It also has a contexts section to see the locations of due items (I might not want to due due items that have a context of ‘home’ when I am at work)
One of the best aspects of OF is that is does over the air (OTA) syncing between all the devices for free through the Omnigroup Sync Server.  I highly encourage you to check out these applications.
Bradley Chambers is the IT Director at Brainerd Baptist School. He is married to Leah and they have one son (Sawyer). Find him on Twitter

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How market shifts, government regulation and emerging technology can impact your business

November 4, 2010 Jon Moss Strategy
closed-business

With the world of business in constant flux, change is the one constant.  Market shifts, government regulations and emerging technologies are all influencing factors in the continued viability of a business.  Ignoring such changes can be detrimental to a company.

Case in point: health insurance agents are witnessing a radical change in how their business will operate.  The Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act will likely cause insurance agents to rethink how they’re doing business. Those who ignore the coming changes do so at their own peril.

Trends and market shifts can also greatly impact demand for certain products and services.  Is your product/service a fad?  I’m sure opening a hula hoop factory in the 50′s may have seemed like a swell idea. If you were banking on that VCR repair shop back in the 80′s to fund your retirement, you may want to revisit that strategy. Oh, and you may want to think twice before investing the life savings in Silly Bandz stock.

Changes in technology can have a huge impact on not only how businesses operate but also on their viability.  Locally owned video rental stores along with their larger rivals – Blockbuster & Hollywood Video – are struggling in the wake of NetFlix and on demand movie rentals.  Streaming movies straight from the Internet is a snap thanks to Internet providers like EPB which now offer Gigabit speed.

It’s been a struggle for bookstores too.  The proliferation of Amazon.com and other box store retailer web commerce sites has put a dent in in-store sales.  It was reported that Chattanooga-based Rock Point Books is closing their doors after four years of being in business.  Co-owner Albert Waterhouse cites competition from online retailers and the proliferation of e-book readers like Apple’s iPad and Amazon’s Kindle along with the economic downturn as per the Times Free Press.

So what’s a small business owner to do? First and foremost is keep up on the market especially how it pertains to your business.  Join industry-related organizations that provide updates on proposed and pending legislation that could affect your business.  As for changes in technology, whether you’re a tech geek or not, it’s very important to be aware of new products/services that could impact how your customers use your product or service.

Retail operators should expand their vision beyond just using their store front space to showcase product.  A book store that embraced the changing habits of readers and helped accommodate them could find new ways to serve them better.  Small business owners should take time to ask  customers what their needs and desires all the while paying attention to how the world is changing.

Only then can one adapt and change to keep their business viable and profitable. This is one area where small business has it all over big business: the ability to experiment, adapt, change and adopt new methods quickly.

Question: if you were a book store owner, what would you do differently to remain viable?  What unconventional methods could be employed to attract, engage and retain customers?

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