Sync is the gateway to new productivity. Imagine having your assistant (virtual or otherwise) or those in your office know what changes you’ve made to your schedule immediately without liftig a finger. Or getting that new client’s contact information without having to input a single keystroke. Using some simple tools, many of them free, you can have all of your information at your fingertips without very little effort.
Start with calendaring. If you use the latest vCal standard, your calendaring program can communicate with any number of other calendars automatically, sharing only the information you want. So some people or computers or devices can see various parts of your schedule with as much detail as you want. You can give some to make changes to your day according to permissions you set or others only to see that you are ‘busy’. So if you are in court and receive a continuance date for a hearing, you can put that information in and your assistant will know immediately to reschedule that two o’clock deposition. Or a scheduling assistant can book appointments for you without having to ask you if you are available and that appointment will show up on your laptop or smartphone immediately.
The same can be accomplished for your contacts lists or your email, phone messages, faxes, or even your documents, whether it is a forms library or pleadings in a client’s case. It doesn’t matter whether you are on a Mac or a PC or a Blackberry or iPhone. If you can connect to the internet in some fashion, you can sync up and always have the latest information at your fingertips.
Here are links to some of the tools to begin the process with calendaring:
- Google Calendar
- Sunbird (free calendar program for multiple platforms based on open standards)
- iCal (for Mac users only)
What do YOU use to keep your information current across all platforms?
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