A few days ago I sent you a strategy for leveraging your signature file. Do that and you will save time with every email you reply to. If you missed that email I’ve put it on the blog here:

http://www.tnpcnewsletter.com/blog/2009/05/24/how-is-your-signature/

A few people wrote and asked if this only worked with Outlook. Every email program I’m familiar with will let you edit your signature file. I have edited the signature inside Outlook Express, Windows Mail, Outlook, Thunderbird, Pine, Gmail, Kmail, Eudora and several others I’m sure. Those are just the ones I have experience with.

Some email programs let you use multiple signatures with is very nice. Set one for replies and one for new mails. Then make a nice one to use with your friends. If your program does not let you use multiple signatures there is still a solution. I’ll tell you about that in the near future.

Finally here’s a tip that helps me reply to emails quickly. As soon as I see an email that I plan to reply to I hit reply. I mean before even reading it. Then I’ll read and reply at the same time. Before I started doing this I would see a longer email and think “I want to reply to this” but because it was long it would get put off. Now I just hit reply  and answer that email as I go.

If you have tips or comments please leave them below.

My friend was typing this anyway. Now she simply copies their
question, hits reply, pastes the question inside the ” ?”.  Now she
is off and running.

Expanding your signature file may seem like a small thing that only
saves you a few seconds. That is true. But those few seconds spread
over all the email you reply to day after day add up.

This morning a friend called to talk about how much bad news is out there and how little good news we usually hear. Neither my friend or I normally watch the news. You really don’t miss much and the day goes much nicer.

After our conversation I went to the office. Someone had sent me some good news. In this case a link to an incredible and inspiring video. It’s interesting how often “coincidences” like that happen.

Seeing this brought to mind a question one of my mentors would ask me. He would ask

“What are you going to do today that will make a big difference in how your life turns out?”

What are you going to do?

The good news is the answer to that question often involves small kindnesses, small gestures, small actions, over time that add up to something big.

So be inspired by this man’s achievement. Then ask yourself the question and see what you can do today.

What do yo think about this man’s achievment? Share your comments below.

The first software challenge I ran into was Time & Chaos v.6. I’ve used Time & Chaos since v.1 way back when. Well over ten years in fact. It has been interesting to watch the growth of the company over the years.

When I first registered the program I called to ask where to send the check. Spoke with the author of the program and he gave me the unlock code on the spot without waiting for the check to be mailed. Then spent a while teaching me to use his program. Well things change. The program is still nice albeit a bit larger.

So what is Time & Chaos? Simply a nifty Personal Information Manager (PIM). It tracks the things you want to track and doesn’t bog you down in options. Version 6 of the software does not work in Vista. You have to upgrade to v.7. I don’t like that but that is the case.

You can download and install v.7 from the Chaos Software website.

Seeing the words System Administration in the title of this book
may scare some of you off. I believe System Administration
encompasses many types of jobs today. At the core System
Administrators have a set of routine tasks that must be done
daily, weekly, monthly and at the same time have *many*
interruptions and fires to put out. Does this sound similar to
your job? If so you may want to give this book a chance.

The core of the book is the Cycle System. This refers to a task
and its cycle through your calander, to-do, delegation, follow
up, and other systems.

I described the Cycle System to a friend of mine and he asked me
how it compared to David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD). If
you have read GTD you will find similarities. There is more in
here than just GTD.

What I found useful was seeing time management techniques and
principles applied to specific situations. Too many time
management books have general principles applied to general
situations. You try to implement the system and start finding
problems. Now you have more frustration than you started with.
This book already understands the frustrations a system
administrator encounters.

There area only a few sections that get really technical. Most
of the book and tips are useable by anyone in an environment
that has many interruptions and unavoidable emergencies.
Depending on your situation you may find it difficult to
implement some of his technical solutions. Don’t let that deter
you. The principles are sound and you will find ways to
implement them.

In short – I recommend this book to anyone in an administrative
position. It is geared toward System Administrators but you will
find useful

More info at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596007833/tnpcnewsletter

David Allen’s Getting Things Done:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0142000280/tnpcnewsletter?tag=tnpcnewsletter?tag=tnpcnewsletter