The Brode Report | December 2010
 It’s December, and that means List Time. No, I’m not talking about naughty and nice, having QA check it thrice. But I do want to discuss a few goodies that have become essential tools of the trade. If you’re reading this newsletter, most likely you’re a busy professional juggling commitments and wanting to work efficiently. So here’s my list of my new critical tools: First, on the personal productivity front I have three favs. 1. Gmail / Google Calendar. I’ve grown accustomed to searching for emails instead of filing them. I can’t imagine doing it any other way. But I’ve returned to Google Calendar this year and have found new use for it as a reminder system. When I’m trying to get to the zero-item inbox for email, being able to put reminders in Google Calendar—which triggers an email to me at the appropriate time—gives me the peace of mind that the item won’t get dropped forever. 2. Active Inbox. This is a plug-in that works with Gmail. If you’re a fan of David Allen’s Getting Things Done, you’ll love this. Email is the center of my workflow for most items, and Active Inbox allows me to categorize emails on multiple dimensions. It uses Gmail’s labels, so it’s pretty intuitive, and lets me look at outstanding items by person, context, project, etc. See more at www.activeinboxhq.com. 3. Voice mail as text. For years I dreaded hearing that I had ten voice mails. Having to sit and listen and take notes and then get it all into a reminder system—oy veh! For a while I paid a service that transcribed the audio, but now I’m using Ribbit Mobile for free. The voice mail comes as an attached MP3 file if I want to hear the nuances, but 90% of the time I get the gist from reading the transcription. I don’t know how they do it, but my callers with strong accents produce hilarious text—a bonus. Check Ribbit out at www.ribbitmobile.com. Next I have two tools that have eased my work with clients: 4. Dropbox. If you’re in the same office it’s pretty trivial to share a folder with others. But for my kind of teams, where I may work on a project with five others for just two weeks, we don’t have lots of time to set up IT infrastructure. Enter Dropbox. In minutes we can all be looking at the same directory tree and sharing files without hassle. If you don’t have it already, go to www.dropbox.com. 5. BugTracker.net. Bugs? We don’t have any of those! This is open source software that I installed on a hosted Windows server. It has a pretty basic text interface, so it’s not the prettiest software you’ve ever used. But when you’re working on a complex project with lots of open issues over time, this is the best way I’ve found to keep everyone in sync. We renamed “bug” to “item” in our instance, and when an issue comes up during a discussion, we enter the item into BugTracker. We can attach files, screenshots, add notes, prioritize items, see what’s been completed in the last seven days, etc. It’s a great documentation tool. Read more at http://ifdefined.com/bugtrackernet.html. Finally, as I just launched a new website at www.brodegroup.com, I’m excited about the tools behind it. 6. WordPress. If you want to put up a new website, look no further than Wordpress. Mainly used as a blogging tool, the Wordpress software itself is free and the templates to skin your site cost a nominal amount. There is an incredible selection, and the capabilities are astounding. I found professional results in a cheap, easy-to-maintain package. Read more at www.wordpress.org. 7. WuFoo. Finally look to Wufoo to deliver form capabilities to any webpage. Prices range from free to cheap, the site is very simple to use and has a cheeky sense of humor. Find them at www.wufoo.com. Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2011! Best regards, David Brode 
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