Who wants to find an extra hour of free time in their day, every day? Considering we’re all stressed out because there’s never enough time to get everything done, this is what I would call a “leading” question.

So how can you do it? By looking at the seemingly innocent, time-sucking activities you are spending time on ever day and either automating them or speeding them to completion using technology. Can it really be that simple? It can, but you need to understand one critical factor first…

The “Latte” Factor

Best-selling author David Bach coined this phrase in his book “The Automatic Millionaire.” The latte factor is based on the simple idea that all you need to do to become wealthy is take a hard look at the small things you spend your money on every day and see whether you could redirect that spending into savings.

For example, a little $2 purchase made every day on common things like Starbucks (a latte), bottled water, fast food snacks, cigarettes, etc. REDIRECTED into an investment account earning 6% will become $10,199.30 in 10 years. If that’s true, why don’t MORE people do it? Because saving $2 a day seems so insignificant that people spend ALL their money on these things and then have nothing left over to invest.

5 Time-Saving Tips
That Will Add An Hour Or MORE To Your Day

So the question is, what are some small, time-saving technologies we can use to automate or speed up what we get done to save us that precious hour? Here are my 5 favorites:

1. Use an aggressive spam filter. Over 80% of the e-mails being sent daily are not-so-delicious spam. And if you’re like me, you’re getting dozens of these every day, which can easily add up to 5-10 minutes per day sifting, sorting through and deleting the spam from the e-mails you want. We recommend <<name the one you recommend or sell>> because it <<has this really cool feature, this other really cool feature and is the only one that does this really cool thing.>>. Plus, eliminating spam temptations from your STAFF will not only cut down on the time they waste on it, but will also drastically reduce your chances of getting viruses and spyware on your network. I think this is so important, that we INCLUDE spam filtering for all of our ConnectCare clients. If you’d like to find out if you are eligible for free spam filtering, check out what we do for our ConnectCare clients.
2. Replace Old PCs. While it’s hard to truly estimate how much total time is wasted waiting on an old, slow computer to process tasks, start up, etc., I can tell ya, it adds up. Let’s say your old PC takes 10 seconds longer to process a task than a fresh, new one. Might not seem like a lot, but with users averaging 100-150 tasks a day conservatively are wasting 16-25 minutes a day. Add in the crashes and other problems old PCs cause and you’re probably closer to 30-35 minutes a day.
3. Maintain Your Network. Another tip that will save you a lot of time is patching, updating and optimizing your server and workstations. You’d be surprised how much slower even a new machine will start to run if not maintained properly. Beyond the basics like patches for your Windows operating system, you should be patching the firmware on your switches, routers and firewalls. Even printers have firmware (firmware is basically software that is embedded on a hardware device). This kind of maintenace really requires a level of technical expertise beyond most users, but it’s something that we do for all of our ConnectCare clients.
4. Document management. This is a HUGE time-saver if you are a paper-heavy office (like attorneys, doctors, contractors, etc.). But even if you aren’t, scanning and storing paper documents so they can be searched on and located in seconds rather than minutes or hours is a HUGE time saver. Plus, it’s a greener solution, improves document security, enables users to access critical documents remotely AND (if that’s not enough) prevents important paper from loss or damage.

5. Implement SharePoint or Other Business Collaboration Software. Be honest: how much time is wasted in your office because people are duplicating efforts, can’t find information and documents they need or backtracking to FIX mistakes made? This, like time wasted on old PCs and downtime, may be hard to calculate, but I would conservatively guess that folks are wasting at least 30 minutes a day or MORE because of disorganization. That’s why we recommend growing companies implement some type of collaboration software that will help organize projects and information, making it easier for everyone to get on the same page.

Want To Implement Any Of These In Your Office?

Give us a call and we can show you how these technologies (and dozens of others we offer) can streamline your operations, saving you LOT of time!

He’s close friends with Godzilla.

He has an uncle named Murphy.

It’s my pleasure to introduce to you,

Jonathan Garber, The Master of Disaster!

OK -- maybe a little tongue in cheek here, but I think you will really love this! I’m proud of the outstanding team we’ve built at Connections. Since we want to make sure our clients can make informed decisions, we’ve always had an educational outreach that is engrained in our entire team. One of my team members, Jon Garber, had his creative juices boil over — he created a fantastic video blog that I think you’ll get a kick out of. The blog is called “The Master of Disaster” and each episode will help people “get it” when it comes to making a good decision on disaster preparation and business continuity. I’ve included his first blog entry here for your viewing pleasure. Remember, Jon is doing this for you… so if you like it, be sure to drop him a comment! You can follow Jon’s most recent exploits by following him on Twitter.

Photocopiers may hold personal information ripe for identity theft

This just in: According to a recent CBS news report, copy and multi-function machines in offices contain a huge, unknown security risk that all businesses must address immediately or face the legal, financial, and PR repercussions of a security breach.

A Surprising Fact About Your Office Copier

Nearly every printer, copier and multi-function machine manufactured after 2002 contains a hard drive that stores the images of every document you’ve ever copied, faxed, or scanned. These document images stay on that machine’s hard drive forever and can quickly and easily be reproduced with a little know-how. Surprisingly, this little fact has not received any press – until now.

A CBS Undercover Investigation

In April of this year, a reporter went undercover to a New Jersey copier warehouse that had over 6,000 used copy machines in stock for resale. This investigation reveals a shocking fact – it’s incredibly easy for a person to retrieve and reproduce every single document ever scanned, copied, or faxed through the machines available for resale.

As part of the investigation, the CBS reporter pulled 4 random machines that were available for sale and purchased them for approximately $300 each. These machines were immediately loaded onto a truck and delivered within 2 hours to this reporter’s office. Using a free application available online, he was able to access the hard drive of each machine and reproduce the documents within 30 minutes. What he uncovered was unbelievable.

Disturbing Facts Revealed By The Investigation

They discovered that one of the machines was formerly owned by the City of Buffalo, New York, Sex Crimes Division. In no time at all they were able to access over 249,000 documents that passed through that machine, including lists of sex offenders and crime data. Another machine from the Buffalo PD Narcotics Division contained a list of drug raid targets. The third machine was from a construction company. It contained blueprints of buildings, over $40,000 in check copies, as well as pages of paystubs, names, and the social security numbers of employees.

But the fourth machine was the most disturbing. It was previously owned by a New York health insurance firm and contained over 300 pages of detailed medical records including drug prescriptions, blood tests, and even a cancer diagnosis – all which blatantly violate the new HIPAA laws.

Know What Your Responsibility Is

Before you trade in, resell or dispose of any office copier, scanner or multifunction machine you MUST make sure the hard drive is wiped clean of all information as you would any computer in your office. Failure to do so could result in damaging security breaches and identity theft for your company, staff, and customers. This goes DOUBLE if you use your office machines to scan, fax, or copy social security numbers, credit cards, or medical records of any kind.

As always, we are here to assist you with all things digital. If you are getting ready to dispose of or trade in a copier, scanner, fax, or multi-function machine, give us a call. You can reach us at 954-920-9604 or online. We can make sure your data is forever erased and inaccessible to criminals looking for an easy hit.