The 2 Minute Blog

Let People Schedule Meetings with You with Tungle.me

Zac Gordon — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 14:21:56 +0000

If you’re too busy to respond to those emails asking “When is a good time to meet” try Tungle.me. This app integrates with your calendar (Google, Outlook, iCal, Facebook, and others) and shows when you’re busy and free.

A cool built in “Schedule a Meeting” feature allows co-workers, clients, families, friends, and anyone with your Tungle.me url to request a meeting during a time they know you’re free.

Get Your News Faster with NewsRack

Zac Gordon — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 05:00:11 +0000

NewsRack is an iOS feed reader.

For those of us who still read RSS feed I found this app makes browsing through my feeds a lot faster. Some of the features I really like:

Left and right keys toggle you between the feed list and feed article.
You can see the list of feeds and the article at the same time.
Only $7.99 from the mac store
Has tabs so you can open multiple articles at once (or click through links in articles)
Opens article in a webkit (I think) browser in the app
It even has integration with Delicious!!! (Something I didn’t know till I downloaded it)

Some of the minor inconveniences I’ve noticed:

Have to login to delicious (and any other site) every time app launches
Read articles listing doesn’t scroll when you navigate with keyboard (like Google Read)

Overall I think this is a great desktop app for getting through our web news a bit faster. If you’ve used it, let me know what you think!

Outlook Tasks (for Mac)

Zac Gordon — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 21:13:33 +0000

I recently moved into a working environment that uses Outlook. Not my choice of email clients, but in the name of trying out new things I started playing with the Task’s in Outlook.

So far, here are a few things I like:

Shortcut to create a new task (command + N)
Can set deadlines and reminders for taks
Has a follow up feature
Has a nice date picker

As with any app, there are always some cons

No way to switch between mail, calendar, and tasks via keyboard
Can’t add email to a task (like in Gmail)

Overall, I would say that if you’re already using Outlook for your Email, give the Tasks a go! If you use Outlook Tasks, let me know what you think?

Gmail Archives and Action Method To Do App

Zac Gordon — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:21:22 +0000

I recently posted an article on Dabrook about how I use gmail archives along with the action method to do app to zero my inbox and stay on top of my to dos.

Back to School

Zac Gordon — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:30:00 +0000

After a nice break for the summer, I’m starting back at the 2 minute blog again.

I had a life changing summer with many new insights into living life and getting stuff done.

Starting next Monday, I’ll do my best to resume with Monday morning posts on 2 minute tips for all areas of life.

If you have ideas, please let me know!

Get up and walk away for 2 minutes

Zac Gordon — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 05:30:35 +0000

Preferably outdoors.

With warm weather approaching, I thought I would post a little reminder about how helpful it is to get up from your computer (or work) and take a little walk.

It clears your head
Helps blood your circulation
Opportunity to talk with people
It inspires others to take a break too

Now, this is not to be confused with the procrastinations, I don’t want to work, I am easily distracted breaks.

Run Weekly and Monthly Budget Reports in Less Than 2 Minutes

Zac Gordon — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:30:09 +0000

If you haven’t checked out mint.com yet, I would suggest it. It is a free personal finance online application that runs beautiful reports on your finances for you.

You do have to give it some information about your bank, so folks weary about giving away finance information online may not be interested. However, I have been using it for a while, and love it.

Think Google Analytics for your finances. Plus, it will send you weekly reports showing if you are under or over budget.

Find out more at http://www.mint.com/.

Review of Things To Do App for the iPhone

Zac Gordon — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 05:30:08 +0000

A while back a gave a list of some different to do list applications that I use or have used.

Since then, I have primarily been using Things on my iPhone for my to do list. I had downloaded the free demo version of Things for the Mac, but it did not sync automatically, and I found that just having my to do list on my iPhone works pretty well for me.

The nice thing about the Things To Do app for the iPhone is that I can easily move to do items between “Today”, “Inbox”, “Someday”, or “Project”.

Today: items that I need to do today or be constantly reminded of. The number of items in your today section display similarly to the way Apple Mail displays your unread emails. Items that are checked off are automatically logged at the end of the day
Inbox: this is the place for ongoing to do items. Often items start in my Today box and get moved to Inbox if I don’t see getting to them soon. Every few days I will go back and move a few items to the today box to make sure they get done.
Someday: we all have these great ideas that we want to do… someday. I like the idea of the idea of this box, but I don’t use it much
Projects: This is where you can keep track of ongoing projects that you have. You can then have a to do list for each project, that will show up in the respective Inbox or Today box of your choosing.
Scheduled: I haven’t used this one yet, but it allows for you to have a to do appear in your Today box on a scheduled date.

Things may not work for you, but I have felt that the cost has been warranted because I feel much more on top of my to do items. They have some great screenshots and a videoon their site if you want to look into the app further.

Help Me Choose a Temlate

Zac Gordon — Mon, 25 May 2009 05:30:38 +0000

The 2 minute tip blog has been running for two months now with new 2 minute tips every Monday morning!

A month ago I asked you to help me decide on a logo to use for the site. Thanks! Now that I have some idea for the branding, I would like to move the site from wordpress.com to its own domain.

In the future I may do a unique design for the site, but since I promised myself not to spend too much time on this site… being as it is about productivity, I am going to use a free WordPress theme.

Please help me decide which one you think I should use. You can click on the image to see a preview and vote below.

View This Poll

Thanks for your help!

Save a paper towel and air dry in way less than two minutes

Zac Gordon — Mon, 18 May 2009 05:30:34 +0000

I know some people won’t open a bathroom door without a paper towel, but if the situation allows for it, you can air dry your hands and save on the paper (or on the machine air dryer).

If you rub your hands together they will dry well before 2 minutes are up. Over the course of one’s lifetime of doing this, that is some signifant paper saving.