AbiWord This word processor was developed by SourceGear Corporation as an alternative to other office software. However, SourceGear stopped developing the software, and a group of open source developers took over creating the later versions of the product. AbiWord is unique in that it can be run on a myriad of different operating systems: Microsoft Windows Mac OS X (10.2 or later, Intel and PowerPC) Linux React OS BeOS Solaris etc. System requirements for AbiWord seem to be pretty reasonable, overall, and it seems to work much like its non-open source counterparts. One final, useful thing about AbiWord is that the developers offer real time support through chat and … [Read more...] about 11 Free Word Processors
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Leadership Traits
If you work in a leadership position, you'll probably appreciate this article that looks at leadership traits from the perspective of what followers desire in a leader. … [Read more...] about Leadership Traits
Optimal Sleep
Sleeping is something we don't usually think much about, but if you could do something to convert just 90 minutes of each day from sleep time into productive time, that would give you an extra 10 hours each week. Steve Pavlina discovered that he could reduce the amount of sleep he required by an average of 90 minutes each day by getting up at 5 am 7 days per week. He only goes to bed when he is tired enough that he will immediately fall asleep. You can find more about his experience here and here. Polyphasic sleep is a drastic method of changing your sleeping schedule. Basically, you try to train your body to enter deep sleep immediately by taking a 20 to 30 minute nap every 4 hours. … [Read more...] about Optimal Sleep
Review of DropBox Updated
We've updated our review of Dropbox after using it a bit more. If you need to sync or share data, it is worth reading. … [Read more...] about Review of DropBox Updated
Top 5 Time Wasters
Here is my top 5 list of items that can waste my time without achieving anything of real value. These aren't necessarily bad things, they are just areas where it is easy to lose precious time without realizing it. Everyone has their own top 5 list of time wasters. If you would like to share yours, please do so in the comments below. Television - It is very easy to lose a few hours mindlessly flipping through channels on the remote. For many people, a subscription in something like NetFlicks will provide a ready source of entertainment without dealing with commercials. Also, with watching a specific movie, you have a definite end point, unlike channel surfing that can go on for … [Read more...] about Top 5 Time Wasters
Where Did My Day Go Contest
Matthew Cornell has a great little PDF out called Where the !@#% did my day go? He has offered to let me give a copy away here on Productivity501. See below for information about the contest. "Where the !@#% did my day go?" is designed to help you adopt a daily planning routine. It assumes that you have some type of task management and calendar system in place, already. From that standpoint, it kind of picks up where other system leaves off--once you've captured what needs done, how do you execute? Here are some of the things I found interesting: Task selection - Matthew has some really good points about how to select tasks so that you feel good about what you've accomplished … [Read more...] about Where Did My Day Go Contest
Utah’s 4 Day Work Week
Previously we mentioned that Utah was trying a 4 day work week to save energy. The results are in and there was very little energy savings. However, they made a lot of savings in other unexpected ways. It is still up in the air whether they will keep the program or not. … [Read more...] about Utah’s 4 Day Work Week
New House Checklist
If you are looking at moving, here is a checklist of not-so-obvious things to consider: What time does the mail come? I still prefer reading a newspaper. Most newspapers are delivered via the postal service now, so I let my last two subscriptions expire because the mail didn't come until late in the day. We just moved to a new house, and the mail comes at 9:30--much more convenient for reading financial news. How many minutes is it from the nearest grocery store? It isn't a bad idea to time how long it takes to get to the places you plan to go on a regular basis. Just because a house is physically closer, it doesn't mean that it will take less time to get there. What types of … [Read more...] about New House Checklist
Striving for Genius
Thomas Malthus ( 1766 - 1834) had a theory that continual increase in the world population would eventually cause food demand to outpace supply, and a collapse that would push the survivors back to subsistence farming conditions. Obviously, this hasn't happened and there are a number of theories why. For example: Malthus' theory is just flat out wrong. He didn't take into consideration the growth of technology and the productivity of farming over the last 200 years has increased faster than what is necessary to (temporarily) prevent worldwide famine. Population levels determine agricultural output, not the other way around. Malthus didn't understand the impact of … [Read more...] about Striving for Genius
Sunlight to Reset your Internal Clock
If you ever find yourself having trouble sleeping at night and feeling tired during the day, don't forget that your internal clock is set based on sunlight. Getting even just 15 minutes of direct sunlight every day can do a lot to help reset your internal clock if you are coming from another timezone or have just messed your schedule up by working a bunch of late nights. Sunlight can also help you when you are feeling tired. It is amazing how much you can improve a sluggish afternoon just by opening the blinds and getting some direct sunlight into the room or taking a 10 minute walk outside in the light. I'm not sure if sunlight works best because of the spectrum or if it is just … [Read more...] about Sunlight to Reset your Internal Clock