Category — technology

World-class mentoring with podcasts and vidcasts - stop wasting your commute!

It’s a competitive world and the landscape of the workplace is always changing. In order to stay on top of your game you need to be constantly learning. You must stay on top of your professional knowledge while trying to expand your base so that you are ready to move into new areas in your business.

None of this is easy on top of a long work day and your attempts to have a personal life. Some folks have a solution - start every day at 5AM. Fine if that’s what you want. But I think you need to find a way to be more efficient.
I would urge yo to make efficient use of your forced downtime while meeting and learning from some of the greatest minds in the world.
Say what?
Your iPod, or Smartphone or laptop all have the ability to put you in touch with some of the smartest people in the world via podcasts and vidcasts. What began as an amateur industry as countless people tried to share their voice with the world have evolved in the last few years and there are many professional - and free - resources out there. The power of these is simply incredible. On a flight last week I watched several “Ted Talks” on my iPod - inspirational talks from brilliant minds. They left me uplifted when I got off the plane, my mind filled with all sorts of new ideas I wanted to apply to my work.
Every day I walk to and from work, and millions of other people drive or take the train. How many spend all those hours every week listening to music? Why not listen to the Harvard Business Podcast, or one from the MIT Sloan School of Business? Learn from expert marketers how to grow your business or from management experts on how to become a more effective leader. If you commute one hour in each direction that’s 10 hours in a week - more than a full day at your disposal for learning.

Imagine how hard you would work if your company could have access to the emerging Chinese markets? Take a few hours while commuting each week to learn some Mandarin - you’ll hae a huge leg up on the competition when closing the deal!

So many people will work until the wee small hours knowing their competitors are working just as hard - but you may have a 5 or 10 hour per week window available to you that your competitors are not taking advantage of. The next time you open iTunes to put another 99 cents in Apple’s war chest, why not search for podcasts and try some free educational opportunities?

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Use your phone with Excel, PDFs, Maps, Video and more to super-charge your productivity on the road.

Many people develop gadget lust for the latest and greatest smartphone. I’ll admit it - I want an iPhone. Apple has done a great job showing me all the great things that it can do and how it will help me every day.

But did you know there are all kinds of smartphones out there that can do most of the same things, albeit in a much less sexy way? Buying a new phone might help you, but chances are that learning how to make better use of your current phone would be an even better move.

Google Maps is Available for Many Smartphones

I needed directions in a hurry while in a city I had never been to before - and it wasn’t to a common place that simply asking someone could have solved in time. Instead, I puled out my Palm Treo which I have Google Maps installed on. Presto, my problem was solved, almost as fast as if I had been at my desk with a computer. Yes, an iPhone would have told me exactly where I was on the map at the time but guess what? I looked at a street sign and that told me too! Not as cool as the iPhone, but it worked just fine.

Other Useful Smartphone Software

I carry information about clients with me on the road all the time. More than a address book can handle. Enter Excel via Documents to Go on my Treo which can display basic worksheets very well on my Treo. When Excel won’t do, I create PDFs - I use a free PDF print driver on the PC (Cute PDF) and most MAC applications produce PDFs natively. Word documents, web pages and more are available on the road.

Most smartphones can play music, show photos, and even play video - you just have to take the time to discover how. Play around a bit, it will pay off. And yes, you can use the built-in camera to take a picture of your car so that you won’t forget where you parked!

OK, I still really want the iPhone so I can have beautiful photo libraries and movies to show clients. But I think I’m getting good value from my phone and chances are you can make better use of yours.

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