I recently got a new blackberry and I must say I’m totally addicted to it! And of course the moment I got my Crackberry…I started looking for Free or cheap solutions to increase my productivity while on the road. And here’s the list for my fellow CrackBerry Addicts..

1. Gmail for Blackberry

Not only can you check your regular gmail emails with this, you can also use Gmail’s enterprise or small business edition and check multiple accounts easily. Can we say WOW now? And, it also comes with some handy shortcuts

2. Docs to Go and PDF to Go

Here’s office for your phone. Easily create and edit Word Excel and Powerpoint documents and read pdf files. Excellent for catching up with all the stuff right before a meeting

This one isn’t free but worth it!

3. Google Apps

Search the net, get feeds from your google reader account, access your google docs all easily with Google Apps for your phone.

4. MemoPad

This is by far my most favorite app and the simplest of all. It lets you create memos i.e. capture your ideas as soon as you get them.

5. BB Meta Blog

Blog from your blackberry?Why not And it’s totally free plus no messing with php files (eek!)

6. Google Calendar Sync

I love Google Calendar and I cannot live without important reminders on my Berry…so, why not marry the two?

7. Insta Spell Check

I’m a horrible speller on my berry (Hey, I went into engineering for a reason ;)) and I hate the fact that the native spell checker by RIM doesn’t highlight words as I type them wrong. Plus, this one is just more convenient. Don’t believe me, check out this review from BerryReview.

8. Ascendo Money

Not only can I keep track of my personal expenses, I can also track my business expenses, see how much money is left into each account and keep track of where my money is really going. I LOVE this app!

9. ShortCut Berrry

Nobody likes having to navigate screens and scrolling up and down to find the apps they want to use. That’s when ShortCut Berry comes in. One button and you are well on your way to playing with your favorite Berry app. Great time (and thumb) saver.

10. Viigo

A free app to let you stay connected to the latest RSS feeds for your favorite sources

Other cool apps

TwitterBerry - To stay connected with your colleagues and upto date on your projects.

MilkSync - If you are a Remember The Milk User, you really do need to get this one!

Facebook - Never miss a beat

Anything else you’d like to add? Any incredibly useful app that I totally missed? Just let me know!

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Got more accounts than you can possibly check in a day? (oops! me too!)

Here’s a cool tip on how to manage multiple accounts using Gmail from lifeh

Image via CrunchBase

acker.

Before you click the link though…let me tell you something..GMail still may not be the answer to all your prayers because of how Gmail handles the “from” field when you try to send emails from various accounts…

But that said…if you’re using multiple accounts just to keep projects organized and are not worried about people shooting you emails to your main account…here’s an easy way to make sense of multiple email accounts and stay on top of the email game.

Have your own method of making sense of multiple email accounts? Hit the comment button below and let me know…I might feature your solution on the blog at the end of the week

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Ever wondered why you prefer playing computer games rather than finishing that project with a looming deadline? Yeah me too!

As you might have guessed, procrastination is the culprit, and it seems to be pretty well buried deep within your system. But then, you might be wondering why this monster was allowed to eat up your discipline in the first place.

There are many causes of procrastination, but these causes can be classified into three major ones on why people tend to nurture a creature

Image via Wikipedia

like procrastination. Tackle these causes and you’re well on your way to productivity!

1. Body matters

It might be difficult to believe, but working on an empty stomach actually increases your chances to procrastinate. If your brain is starved for food, it will be difficult for it to think and focus on the task at hand. The brain becomes sluggish, and the end result is procrastination. So, yes watching your diet does pay off nicely!

It is also very difficult to concentrate when you do not get enough sleep. Chances are, you will only feel tired and sleepy while working. Make it a habit to sleep at least 5-6 hours a night so as to optimize your performance. Or, find some other sleep system that works for you. I have friends who swear that 4 hours of sleep makes them incredibly productive…me…not so…

2. Loss of interest

Doing the same task over and over  again leads to burnout, which is one of the most common causes of procrastination. If you are also not interested in what you are doing, then you will find more excuses to delay the task. It is advisable to try to break from your routine every once in a while so that you do not get tired of doing the same thing over and over again.

Also, make sure that you reward yourself for your hard work. Treat yourself to a cup of coffee after finishing a task, or go partying with your friends during payday. Rewards are great motivators for your hard work.

Constant interruptions

While most causes of procrastination can be controlled through simple discipline, interruptions are outside forces that cannot be easily controlled. An urgent call from your husband or an email from a long-lost friend can bring you out of your self-made cocoon of productivity.

While working, make sure that you have as minimal interruptions as possible. Stay away from your mobile phone or from the internet. You will surely be able to have more leisure time once you finish your work early.

Now…get going..tackle these 3 root causes and you should be ready to get a lot done 

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I thought I’d put this on top of my list for three simple reasons. a) Obviously we all want to do good for others all the time and so many of us struggle here and b) I know this one’s a biggie for me! c) sometimes it’s really hard to draw the line between ethical/moral and over the top unnecessary attempts to please.

Is it people pleasing or just good values?

As I mentioned above, the line between good values and people pleasing gets really blurry at times and that’s when it really helps to have a personal rule of thumb to tell between the two.

Here’s mine:

If something’s getting me too anxious or stressed out, I’m probably not doing it just as an act of kindness or out of generosity, I’m probably trying to please.

Now, if you need more points to decide if it’s people pleasing or generosity…here’s some questions to consider

Before we do that…lets make one thing very clear, trying to be understanding and kind does not equal people pleasing. These are two entirely different things.

Are you a people pleaser?

1. You try to be who others want you to be.

2. You try to agree with others and fit in even if that means having to loosen up on some of your values or beliefs.

3. You cringe at the thought of having to hurt someone’s feeling by delivering bad news or suggesting something that you honestly believe in.

4. You have a hard time saying No to people.

5. You always put others first before yourself

6. You are unwilling to ask for help.

7. You can’t stand the thought of upsetting people.

Any of these sound like you? If they do, listen up, people pleasing is one of the habits that seems harmless at first look but kills your chances of success.

Top 3 Reasons to Stop Being a People Pleaser

1. People pleasing means you’re willing to do stuff that are against your values to put others first. Which means you end up compromising your values and listen, anybody who doesn’t have a good set of beliefs they’d stand up for and die for has a hard time defining who they are, where they want to go and what they want to have. All of which lead to mediocrity not the kind of success you’re hoping for.

2. People pleasing isn’t based on respect of yourself or the other person. And, it’s not based on trust either and that’s a bad kind of relationship to have with anyone.

3. Now the point where people pleasing gets really messy is when you keep yourself from going after your goals because you’re scared of being judged by your current circle. This is when you stop working on your goals and end up making yourself miserable because you aren’t getting what you really want out of your life.

Listen, I honestly used to believe in being everything I could be for everyone, I tried doing that for a long time and I must say people pleasing is a habit I struggle a lot with myself. So, I understand the kind of resistance you’re probably feeling while you read this article. It’s Ok! Just relax…

Overcoming people pleasing doesn’t mean you are going to make people feel horrible from now on. It just means you are going to make yourself feel a lot better!

And here’s three easy steps you can take right now to overcome people pleasing.

1. Realize that it’s cool and completely natural!

Guess what? If you struggle with people pleasing, you’re in a great group of people. And guess what? People pleasing is very natural. Don’t beat yourself over it. Don’t sit down and feel horrible about it everytime you say Yes when all you really wanted to do was scream “No! Are you kidding me? I’ve got so much stuff of my own to do”. Just take a deep breath. Acknowledge times when you do say NO or do something that would’ve made you cringe before.

2. Learn to respect others and their differences

The main reason we tend to be people pleasers naturally is because we LOVE being part of a group. It gives us so much security that we tend to sacrifice our need to be individuals and unique in that process. But, tell you what? When it comes to success, your indiduality and your uniquess is a lot more important than your ability to please someone to fit in.

Your individuality makes you a good leader and leadership is critical to success. Of course, if you want to win, you’ve got to be a caring leader who respects others, not an arrogant dictator.

And that’s the sweet spot between giving in to please and standing up for yourself while showing you care deeply about others. Practice respecting others and all the wacky things that they “shouldn’t do” when they do it. No, you don’t have to agree with those wacky, unconvential things…you just need to keep an open mind and appreciate their courage instead of running in to say they’re a retard or morons to not have known the “rules”.

Listen, when you start respecting others and their differences, you send direct signals to your brain that says “It’s cool to be different. Differences add a nice touch”. And, when your mind can learn to accept differences, it will loosen up a lot and allow YOU to be different without nagging you to do something just to fit in.

3. Start doing something on your own

Winning feels good, doesn’t it? And it feels even better to have accomplished something on your own. It gives you a really nice boost and teaches you to believe in your abilities. That’s the kind of confidence we need to accept ourselves for who we are (including the not so good parts).

This is the easiest way I know to overcome people pleasing tendencies and become a great leader. Just try standing out of the crowd sometimes (stand against the crowd if you have to). Nothing says I believe in myself and my goals more than taking some heat for it from people you’d love to please.

And wanting to be successful means being able to take the heat and stand there strong even if you’re being laughed at by the people you care about the most. Now, that’s the kind of strength and leadership that makes things happen and creates success!

Go do it!

Image by ???§wêê†Båb??®å???? via Flickr

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Let me explain..

There are things you can do to increase (and almost guarantee) your chances of success as long as you follow some success principles regularly with all your heart. Now as you can imagine there are things that you can do to completely ruin your chances of success as well.

And, the bad news is…most of these come from pre programming and/or the “past” (all the “shoulds” and “shouldn’t haves” that we carry with ourselves all the time). Now, if all of these success killing habits are pre-programmed that kinda leaves us hopeless…doesn’t it?

Think about it, it basically means while we struggle to achieve something in our lives, set goals, read books and try to form new habits there’s stuff going on inside ourselves that somehow makes us self destructive and prevent us from getting what we want..

That sucks, doesn’t it?

But there’s some hope, the good news is..like everything else these are habits..sure these have been with us for years and years but habits can be unlearned (or correctly put, they can be replaced) and the easiest way I know how to replace a habit is to become aware of it and consciously choose to replace it with a better habit every time it pops up!

Is it easy? Not so much but the point is..it can be easy if you learn to identify these habits and follow some of the tips I’m going to give you over the next month to overcome these habits!

So, let’s get started here. (remember, we’ll take one of these nasty habits everyday and learn how to easily overcome it).

Here’s your links

Day 1: People Pleasing

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And it absolutely sucks when that happens!

So, here’s a great post I just found  by Alex Shalman on 30 Ways to Slow down and de-stress and I think you’ll love it! Alex’s tips are excellent and I personally use some of them..especially #3.

Every time I’m stressed out, I do run for my treadmill. It sure doesn’t sound relaxing but trust me, it helps (especially if you set it on high and run instead of just walking — it takes your mind off the ugly thing stressing you out). Plus, it’s good for your health..

No wonder I’ve lost some weight recently, somethings have me running for the treadmill every hour or so

Enjoy the article!

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It’s frustrating, isn’t it? You put tons of time into breaking down the goals, establishing habits to achieve it and then something pops up and you have no idea where you even stand with your goals. Worse yet, you’ve already committed yourself fully to the goal and now you keep working at it except you’re making more mistakes than progress and this goal is draining you out like nothing!

Sound familiar?

Want to know what’s going on?

Truthfully, it could be a whole lot of things. It could be your brain telling you to slow down, it could be your goal was a little unrealistic or it maybe as simple as forgetting the reason why.

Sure I know…You want to lose weight so you can look great, you want a business so you can make more money, you want to manage your time so you can be with your kids…I know you are aware of your goals and logical reasons why you want to achieve them. That’s great but…there’s something even more important if you want unlimited motivation and energy to achieve your goals..

Let me explain..

You see, we humans are emotional creatures and what drives us inside isn’t the logical reasons why we want something BUT the emotional reasons why we want them.

I’d say we are more driven by the feelings that certain things provide us than owning, holding or even being what we want to become.

Let’s take an example..

Consider working out or exercising. That sure made it to a lot of our new year’s resolutions and I’m sure we all have valid and strong logical reasons behind it like…we want to fit into that dress, health reasons etc.

But…is it really that dress you want to fit into or is it the feeling that wearing that dress and knowing you’re attractive? Is it just your health reasons or the feeling that you don’t have to depend on your medication, that you have complete control of your life?

Listen, it’s true that all our goals have logical and emotional reasons why. In fact, if there weren’t emotional reasons we wouldn’t bother coming up with logical reasons. It’s the same thing we do when we buy stuff…emotions come first and then we back it up with some logic, don’t we? And, let’s face it half the time our logic doesn’t even make sense or in the case of our goals doesn’t provide enough glue to stick through when times get tough.

The solution:

Ok, take a deep breath and get a piece of blank paper. Imagine yourself being, doing or having what you want…how do you feel?

Or, how about the last time you exercised or had your weight under control or doubled your sales, how did that make you feel?

C’mon! Bring out the feelings..it’s those feelings that are driving us and the simple reason we want to achieve our goals is to experience those feelings again..

It’s that simple!

So….the next time you lose your drive for something..sit down and look at this piece of paper, I’ll guarantee you your drive will come back in an instant.

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So if there’s a business owner dying to come out within you or if you are already a business owner trying to understand how to take your business to the next level…grab a cup of coffee and let’s begin!

Here’s part 1 of the top 50 things you need to know before starting your own business.

1. It’s not easy — It really isn’t easy being the boss (and the employee at the same time). You’ve got to make tons of decisions and you’ve got to make them fast. Being your boss and earning as much as you want sounds like a ton of fun but the road to get there, my friend, isn’t quite easy.

2. You need to take full responsibility — People who like pointing fingers and playing the blame game need not apply. If you want a successful business you’ve got to say “Oops…my fault!..Now let’s fix it by doing so and so…..”

3. You need to put in long hours — It’s like pulling all nighters to get those college essays done again…

4. Time is your best friend or your worst enemy — Time Management = your key to success in business. You’ll be wearing so many different hats that without proper time management skills you’ll drive yourself (and your family, clients and employees) insane.

5. Organize, Organize, Organize — No matter how skilled you are at finding your personal files and clothes, owning a business means the number of files you need to manage has just gone up by atleast a factor of a 100. Organize, Organize, Organize! Your mental peace depends on it.

6. Your Emotions begin to depend on business profits — Try to watch for the grumpy lack of sales days. Other people around you may not understand how passionate you are about your business and how that’s affecting your emotions. My best advice is to catch yourself every time this happens and try to emotionally detach yourself from your profits. Your relationships depend on you being able to do this!

7. Shutting Your Computer will Sometimes feel like Pulling the Plug on a Loved one – High Stress time? Own an internet business? Having to turn off the computer can be stressful and equally challenging when your family won’t go away from your office until you turn the little monster off and spend time with them again. They are probably right….besides, you need a little break too!

8. Don’t lie or make false promises – Besides this being a good moral practise and good ethics. Tell you what? I’ve encountered several business owners who’ve lied to me and the sad thing is as a business owner you have so much going on that you don’t even have time to keep track of your lies. So, just speak the truth all the time..it’s a lot less stressful.

9. It takes time to build momentum – Building a business isn’t easy, gaining momentum isn’t easy and it takes a lot of patience and courage to sit through the agnozing waiting period.

10. Don’t get emotionally attached to your products and services — Let the market be your judge. I’ve had to walk away from a lot of business ideas I’ve had, a lot of product and services I’ve created …even the ones that looked like they’re doing well. And that can cause an incredible amount of stress…and please stop calling your product or services “my baby”…that just increases the attachment you have and makes it harder for you to walk away.

11. Keep an exit strategy — As mentioned above, walking away from your ideas is one of the most stressful parts of being an entreprenuer. Make it easier by keeping an exit strategy, which means building your business/services etc so they can be sold or taken care of in your absence. Remember, you’re in business to enjoy life and NOT to be held a prisoner inside it!

12. Identify your support group — There are going to be times when all you want to do is run away screaming, there are going to be times when all you want to do is sit down and sulk and that’s exactly when you need your support group. This is a group of individuals you can count on to comfort you and tell you to hang tight when you feel like running away. This can include your friends, family, mentors, significant other, or other business owners who you’ve built a lot of trust with over a number of years.

13. You’ve got to be Up, Up, Up for the people you hire — Your employees are not your support group. You are the leader in your business and what happens when the leader walks around acting defeated? Everybody loses focus.

14. Go out and meet people – Running a business by yourself is lonely, uncertain and scarey. Meet people, call up other business owners and chat up! It’s a great way to start a friendship and even a profitable partnership.

15. You Must fully commit yourself to your business growth — Even if it’s a home business you need to set aside the hours you want to work and work during those hours. Laziness can kick in and that will kill your chances of growth.

16. Track your numbers — You gotta track your income, expenses, return on investments for everything you do.

17. Take care of your health — Your business depends on you. (It’s a scary realization to have..I know)

18. Be coachable and seek out mentors, coaches — Having a mentor and/or a coach increases your accountability, gives you more confidence and helps you learn faster. That’s exactly where you want to be.

19. It’s addictive – At some point in your business you get addicted to the “high” of getting things done and making things happen and that will cause tremendous withdrawals during your family vacations. Solution — keep a way to stay informed about your numbers so you can get your “high” anytime you want Or just find a way to cure your addiction and let me know when you’ve found one.

20. Manage Information Flow — How many business owners does it take to change the lightbulb? Depends on how much paper work they are buried in. Information gets crazy when unmanaged. The simplest thing you can do right now is to setup an “IN” and “Out” tray for information..whether it’s mail, paperwork, some cool website you found. Everything that doesn’t help you do what you are trying to do right now can be thrown into the IN tray for later use.

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I was listening to 177 Mental Toughness Secrets by Steve Siebold this morning and one of the secrets he talks about is the whole waiting for the “right time” syndrome.

I must admit I was quite hesitant to embrace the idea of not waiting for the “right time” when I first heard about it. It sounded like the greatest betrayl of our intuitive feelings!

That was a couple years ago…my thoughts on this topic have changed a lot since applying some of his strategies into my life AND in working with a lot of people who’re struggling with procrastination…

And here’s the scoop…

Intuitive feeling is a good thing but when waiting for the “right time” stops you from achieving your goals…it’s probably not an intuitive feeling, it’s usually your fear of failure or perfectionism tendencies acting up!

And that’s exactly where most of us get stuck! We have a goal and then we end up listening to this feeling that says “Uh…not today”

Well here’s a quick way to get over the “not today” argument… Listen, the “right time’” is never going to come down and knock on your doors…it’s something YOU have to create..

Falling victim to the “right time will come and will eventually motivate me to get this thing done” will just put you into a panic mode when the deadline’s too close or worse yet, it will prevent you from achieving your major goals..

So the next time you’re waiting for the “right time” feeling…try this…Just get started on the work…

Counter-intuitive? You bet!

But here’s the deal with this…

The hardest part of feeling good about what you’re going to do is to overcome the inertia of doing it…it’s the inertia that creates the “maybe this isn’t the right time” feeling to try to keep you from not doing it. (Remember Newton? A body at rest remains in rest..)

Just try it!

(and let me know how it goes)

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Wouldn’t it be nice to kind of say…”Well you know what, I have a perfectly valid reason here for procrastinatinating and here it is…XYZ…”

Wouldn’t you love it to relieve that whole horrible feeling that comes from not doing what you know you’re supposed to be doing at the time when you’re supposed to be doing it…

I know I love that! In fact, tell you what?

Getting rid of that horrible nagging feeling is such an important step towards getting off your own back…which surprisingly (or not so surprisingly) also motivates you to get up and get stuff done. I don’t want to go into the whole mechanics of why this works (that’s for a later blog post).. But, for now…I can tell you it has to do something with recognizing why you’re procrastinating and acting to fix it!

You see…when most of us procrastinate..we sit down and feel horrible about it but don’t seem to be able to do anything about it! I know it feels horrible and it kills self confidence faster than anything else!

One of the easiest ways to get out of this procrastination — feeling horrible — and feeling trapped cycle is to take  a close look at your procrastination habits and try to understand why you procrastinate and where…

Ready?

Get a piece of paper and a pen

Draw out two columns

On one side write down the tasks you’ve procrastinated on recently (or the ones that still bug you)

On the right write down why you think you procrastinated…

You’ll discover some really cool patterns and learn a lot about yourself..I promise!

And, the most important thing is..you’ll be a step (a big step) closer towards breaking free of your procrastination..

Sound good? Let me know if you had an “aha” moment or any other breakthroughs with the exercise!

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