7 Tips for Digital Ninjas

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7 Tips for Digital Ninjas

by @jeremycaplan8

Full Notes: bit.ly/jcninja

by @jeremycaplan

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Slides: bit.ly/jcninjaslides

by @jeremycaplan

Why Bother withDigital Efficiency?

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We Are Flooded

with Information

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INBOX = SWAMP

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Weekly Emails

500+

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Daily Bits of Info Notes, Phone Numbers, Tasks, Sites, Tweets...

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2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

We Have More Stuff to Keep Track Of, But Less Time

Year

Number of Daily Info BitsAmount of Spare Time

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We Haven’t Even Mentioned...

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Manage this FLOOD = Make Time to:LEARNCREATE

ENJOY LIFE

Einstein’s Desk 20

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1. Streamline Your Digital Life

Image By Justin Leibow  24

Evernote is a powerful digital file cabinetMany Ways to Use Evernote

‣ Add notes from your laptop or the Web‣ Clip research from the Web‣ Email in attachments, notes, or forward received emails‣ Take snapshots with the mobile app‣ Record audio with the mobile app‣ Organize your materials with tags and notebooks

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Evernote

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Evernote

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Evernote

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2. Liberate Your StuffImage By Vadim Sherbakov

7 reasons to use google docs

(Or why i parted with Microsoft word)

Access Materials Anywhere

Reason #1

Access Docs from Anywhere: AirportsOfficeHome

Net Cafe overseas

From Any Device:PC/Mac/LinuxCell Phone

iPadwii

Preserveprecious pages

Reason #2

Gdocs saves and backs up automatically.

don’t lose docs anymore to:

Viruses kicked plugs

dropped, dead or lost laptops

collaborate easily

Reason #3

Fully private or shared

You can Share GDocs as word docs

Supports Multiple simultaneous editors

no more accidentally editing old versions of a document

Tracks revisions

Publish instantly

Reason #4

Auto-updates

grab a short link

wiki option

add images, tables, drawings

Integrates well

Reason #5

Search right from gmail

Edit any standard format: Docs, PPT, Excel, etc

upload docs and Back up your docs

UNIVERSAL STORAGE

Reason #6

Store mov files any other file

share folders

access from mobile devices

It’s free

Reason #7

SO WHAT DO YOU DO WITH IT?

EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING...

6 ways to use google docs

TAKE LIVE NOTES

USE #1

Example: bit.ly/nairtalk

GDOCS =

A SEARCHABLE COMPENDIUM OF BITS OF REPORTING,

WRITING AND BRAINSTORMING

A RELIABLE NOTE-TAKING TOOL E.G. FOR PHONE INTERVIEWS

publish instantly

USE #2 publish your reporting to the world: 1 button, no setup.

Press publish = an instant URL for your document.

This makes GDocs a powerful live-blogging tool. I consider

“Google Blogging” more flexible than live Tweeting

collaborate on a story

USE #3GDOCS =

collaborate in real-time with one or more colleagues

share feedback, comments, drawings, images, tables & links

organize story materials

USE #4stores images, video files,

spreadsheets, PDFs, Word Docs, large excel files, etc. for small

or big reporting projects

upload and download docs easily for backup and access

materials from any device anywhere

Build a personal or public Wiki

USE #5Create a document for

public editing = crowdsourced collaboration

Build a short or long-term group project

Create an instant site

USE #6 GDocs enables anyone to build a basic informational site

during a breaking news situation

Add text, images, links, diagrams

updates that are automatically published whenever you add to

the doc/site

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3. Turbocharge Your Email

Image By Vadim Sherbakov 60

Search, Don’t FileFinding a message by hunting through folders takes 3.4 times as long as searching for it.

Source: IBM Research

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4 Most Useful Searches: has:attachment

from:carensubject:budgetnewer_than:2d

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Or use a combo: has:attachment budget

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Or use a combo: has:attachment budget

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Examples: #ej13

#fms12@Sandy

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Send @ 6am Not 4pmA message sent at 6am is three times as likely to have a link clicked on than one sent at 4pm

Source: ReviveYourInbox.com 66

Sunday = Good day to reach people by email

27% of Sunday emails are read

Source: Yesware Study

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73 SecondsEmail replies take an average of 73 secs to compose

Be Super Brief

Source: ReviveYourInbox.com 68

Seefive.sentenc.es= a plea for short email

Batch, Don’t SquirrelFocus on 1 thing at a time.

Your attention is valuable.

Don’t squander it.

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Don’t Be a Squirrel

Check email every hour, not every minute

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4 Gmail ShortcutsC"="ComposeR"="ReplyA"="Reply"AllF"="Forward

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4. Manage Yourself

Image By Alejandro Escamilla

Consider your areas of focus, your projects and tasks

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Manage the Big Picture

‣ 2 to 4 Areas of Focus‣ 5 to 10 Projects for Each Area‣ 10 to 20 Tasks for Each Project

An example

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Manage the Big Picture

‣ My Areas of Focus: LEARN | CREATE | TEACH | LIVE‣ 10 Key Projects in each Area: e.g. Learn Motion 5‣ 10 to 20 Tasks Per Project: e.g. 15 minutes Read Chap. 1

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Trello

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Toodledo

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Toodledo

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Keep Task Lists Simple

Imminent vs. Someday

Use a Web CalendarAdd classes, meetings, deadlines and events

Google Calendar

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RitualsFirst Things First

Tech Sabbath

First Things FirstStart the day with the most important project

“Launching my work day by focusing first on whatever I've decided the night before is the most important activity I can do that day. Then taking a break after 90 minutes to refuel...”

- Tony Schwartz, Harvard Business Review

Tech Sabbath

Options:

No-Tech Saturday Morning

No Tech 1 Hour Before Bed

No Tech Before Breakfast

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5. Design a Dashboard

Image By Luke Chesser

How to Arm Your Dashboard

‣ Your Main Twitter Stream, Direct Messages & Mentions ‣ 3 Search Terms (i.e. Hashtags, Topic, Person)‣ 3 Lists (i.e. Experts, Colleagues, Quality Topic Curators)‣ 2 Other Networks (Facebook, LinkedIn)‣ Scheduled Messages, Sent Messages

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6. Save Yourself

Image via UnSplash.com

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bit.ly/500dropbox

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bit.ly/500dropbox

Dropbox Example

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WeTransfer

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WeTransfer

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7. Get Mobile

Image By Sebastian Müller104

Instapaper

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Instapaper

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Bonus ResourcesA few extras

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Useful resources for staying up to dateTech Tool Updates

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Netted Lynda.com MakeUseOf

A daily tech tools newsletter Top-notch online learning Free guides and tip sheets

Top news sources for new sites, apps, and toolsUseful Tech Blogs

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ReadWriteWeb The Next Web Alltop

Smart tech industry news Rising star in tech coverage Aggregator of top blogs

Help for figuring out tricky techBeyond the Basics

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Quora Lifehacker Mashable

Expert questions and answers Great tech pointers Social media news

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Contact [email protected]: @jeremycaplanbit.ly/jcfaves = Some of my current favorite sites