IBC recommends | 37signals contact & project management software

I’m following a handful of blogs closely these days and one of them is Signal vs. Noise by 37signals. 37signals is a new-school software outfit offering a handful of excellent web-based tools, most of which are designed for small business use. They blog at Signal vs. Noise to talk about new products, stay in touch with their customers/community, and share their views on business, design and working smarter.

I highly recommend the Signal vs. Noise blog as well as the two 37signals products that I’m currently using. The first is “Highrise”, which is a web-based contact management system. The second is “Basecamp” which handles project management. Both are powerful, affordable, well-designed and easy-to-use platforms for start-ups and small companies, especially those with remote/disparate teams.

Hands-free typing with MacSpeech Dictate

Hello readers. Believe it or not, I am writing this post without typing! Yes, I am testing some new voice recognition software (MacSpeech Dictate, $199 at Tekserve) that I bought today as part of my campaign to reduce the pain in my hands (carpal tunnel syndrome). So far, so good. It’s quite a feeling to be writing a blog post without typing, feet up on the desk, cold beer on hand, character after character appearing on the screen in front of you. And thus far, no mistakes!

Fight the funk with your own inspiration board

How often do you have a bad day at work? A few times a month? More?

I think a few times a month is normal, but anything more than that - e.g. long drawn-out periods of negativity and tail-chasing is clearly not a good place to be.

But we’ve all been there. Oh yes, we have.

Borrowing a page from graphic designers, here’s a simple, effective method I’ve stumbled upon to escape that hell: create your own inspiration board.

By this I mean a page/space where you keep track of the most inspiring people, things, places, ideas, moments you’ve experienced over the past year or so.

Friday mash-up: iGoogle, Confucius, 30-day detox

I started using iGoogle recently to set up a “dashboard” with my to do list, the weather, quotes from Confucius, word of the day (today’s is “ruralism”) and so on.

iGoogle offers tons of small apps for your “dashboard”, but I kept mine studiously uncluttered, like my work desk. I visit the dashboard a few times a day - it’s a useful tool.

Personally, I like to keep a web-based “master to do list” with prioritizing functionality. Then each morning, referring to the “master”, I write a brief daily to do list in my Moleskin. It works.

(I settled on iGoogle after reading an interesting article on Web Worker Daily about how to manage your to dos. I highly recommend Web Worker Daily if you’re a productivity nut like me - it offers a choice stream of useful tips for the DIYer/creative/home office worker.)

Anyway, back to the “dashboard”. A few days back iGoogle served up a plum from Confucius which went something like: “If you set out to seek revenge, dig two graves before you leave”. I think that’s good advice.

Oh, one more thing (I said mash-up): after my recent chance encounter with a very healthy-looking fellow, I’m going to try a 30-day detox - here’s my shopping list.