Back in 1983, the movie “Wargames” introduced a lot of the general population to this thing called the Internet. In that flick, a savvy computer hacker used his dial-up modem to change his grades, lower his family’s utility bills and almost launch WWIII. Soon after the debut of that film, the notion of having a home computer with a modem spread across the land. It wasn’t long before millions of users were logging into AOL and waiting for that dial-up to connect them to the world wide web. The rest is Internet history.

Today, with broadband Internet speeds and high performance home PCs, many people are taking the option of working or learning from home. Why not? If all the work you do is conducted online then you can do that work from anywhere, right? Before you decide if working from home is an ideal choice, consider the pros and cons.

THE GOOD

• NO TRAFFIC JAMS: The only traffic jam you’ll face is how much clutter you have in the hallway between your bedroom and your home office. The start of your work day is just a mouse click away.
• NO TIME CLOCK TO PUNCH: As long as you get your work done, you can do it whenever you want if you’re working from home. Want to take a long lunch or duck out to the movies? Wake up early and finish your project and the rest of the day is all yours.
• NO BOSS: If you’ve spent any time in the workforce then, chances are, you’ve got a boss horror story. Working at home means no one will be looking over your shoulder. The most you’ll get are some annoying emails from your supervisor. Yelling at the computer is not only allowed, it is encouraged.

THE NOT SO GOOD

• PLENTY OF DISTRACTIONS: Let’s face it, we can all get lost on YouTube. One click leads to another. Before you know it, three hours have gone by and all you have to show for it is a list of favorite videos including sneezing Pandas and dancing Thailand prisoners. If you treat your home office hours like your real office hours, the Internet surfing should be kept at a minimum.
• YOUR LIFE: Putting yourself into a home office is perfect if you’re single, but if you’ve got a family then they are going to assume your presence means you’re there for them. Sure it makes shopping, school pickups and helping with homework a lot easier, but you still need to set boundaries.
• NO SOCIALIZING: Say good-bye to the four o’clock slice of office birthday cake. Working at home means you’re on your own. Yes, you’re connected to the world, but there is very little face to face interaction. If you’re a social creature who lives for office gossip, working at home might not be the best choice for you.

If you decide to take the plunge and work from home, you’ll be making some adjustments, but will likely find it’s as easy to make it work as booting up your computer.

If you’re a small business owner, a freelancer, or anyone else who has full control over your time, you may have run straight into a common but devastating realization: It’s a lot harder to manage your time and projects when you don’t have someone breathing down your neck. So, how can you manage your day-to-day schedule in an effective manner?

Dealing with Crisis

As an entrepreneur, your time is subject to more crisis demands. There will be many things that require your immediate attention, including phone calls, meetings, emails, and in person business visits. However, this does not diminish the need to have a general system of organization for your time. Know when you’re going to start work each day, and start consistently at that time. While you may sometimes end up working beyond it, set a tentative end time for each day as well and try to stick to it. Burn out is no friend to a budding entrepreneur.

Time Management

Beyond setting your “start” and “stop” times, you will want to divide your day into segments for when you intend to complete specific tasks. At the commencement of each business day, examine the tasks that you would like to have completed by the end of the day, and create a rough and flexible outline of how your time will be spent on that day. Aside from this, there’s plenty of apps and sites that can help you with managing your time.

Managing Distractions

To stick to this outline, you will also need to manage your distractions. Distractions come in many forms, including PDA notifications of new emails, email notifications of social networking updates, or people calling your office. Rather than allowing all of these distractions to constantly enter your mind, eliminate any unnecessary notifications, and set rules for what requires your personal attention. Notify employees as to when they should avoid trying to get your attention directly, and encourage them to use email or other non-disruptive methods of contact.

You aren’t obligated to keep your email in-box open all day long, respond to every voice mail you receive within minutes, or address every employee concern as soon as it comes up. Instead, set aside specific times for “batch processing,” where you organize and respond to all the notifications you’ve received in a specific medium. For your most commonly used notification systems, such as email, you’ll want to set at least two to three sessions throughout your day to process these items. For less important methods, such as social networking sites, you can get by with once a day or less.

Handling Business and Team Communication

It’s going to get cluttered if every person on your desk has their own phone. Plus, let’s face it. Not everyone works in an office environment nowadays. You may need to get in touch with colleagues outside of the office or review projects without being face to face. For this, there’s plenty of communication tools you can use.

GoToMeeting- This allows you to have meetings, and among other things, share your screen and do screen-casts so the other person can physically see what you’re talking about.

Skype- This allows you to have video communication, chat, as well as use the iPhone app to call others using VOIP.

Line2- The first dual mode iPhone/iPod/iPad VOIP app, this allows you to have a second line on your phone so you can have a dedicated number for others in your office to reach you. It also keeps you from wasting minutes if you have long business meetings to attend to and you happen to be outside of the offce.

Online Document Storage

Another way to manage your time is to cut out the time that you would spend sifting through physical documents when dealing with client work or personal business records. Using sites like Google Docs or even cloud storage to back up your documents is a safe and effective way to get rid of all your paper and unnecessary documents. A virtual file is easier to manage because you can CTRL+F and search quicker and faster.

Even with effective time management and organization, it’s possible for your anxiety and stress levels to go beyond your normal capabilities. To maximize your long term efficiency and avoid burnout, it’s a good idea to research stress management techniques. Everything from breathing exercises to stress balls to yoga can be helpful, and you will want to find the methods that work best for you.



One market that businesses have been moving into lately is the app market. iPhone apps. Android apps. iPad apps. Everything. People are so mobile nowadays that it’s incredibly important to have a place where consumers can access you that isn’t necessarily a computer. Certain businesses have made the move, successfully, into the app world- giving themselves a one up against the competition.

Starbucks

So this isn’t anything that’s REALLY useful (you have to actually be at the store to completely use this app) but the Starbucks app for the iPhone allows you nuild your perfect Starbucks beverage- as well as act as a locator for Starbucks locations. You can also look through jobs, view their menu, etc. All you Starbucks lovers out there… (me included)… I know you love this!

Edmunds

The Edmunds app (iPhone/iPod/iPad) is one that’s extremely useful when you’re looking for new cars but don’t feel like going out to the dealerships or sitting home on your computer. This not only lets you search for cars and find their prices within your area, but it also lets you build out the specs you want on your car, email it, save the car as a favorite, and more.

This app is great and also includes True Market Value, so you know what price exactly you should be negotiating to when dealing with the vulture salesman.

Apple Store

The Apple Store app for iPhone lets you do just what it says- access  different products quickly so you can see all the specs and compare/contrast. You can also reserve products that you want to pick up in a physical Apple Store, add your reservation time to your calendar, and also get your engraving and gift wrapping selections. It doesn’t have a lot of extra fluff, it’s clean and lets you find what you need.

Many businesses are slowly putting up “mini stores” or compliments to their business out as a smart phone application. Since not everyone can get out to your store (or have interest in getting out there) and people want to convenience of getting what they want, when they want it, these apps help buy into that way of life.

When you’re in the market to buy a car, there are a few top questions to ask your car dealer before buying. It doesn’t matter if you’re purchasing a brand new car or a used car, there are questions that every potential car owner should inquire about other than just car prices. Here are a few questions to consider before you make a decision on purchasing an automobile.

Warranty

A warranty is an important part of any vehicle sale and differs from dealer to dealer. Typically, a used car may not have a warranty at all or can have a limited warranty. Be sure to ask about the type of warranty you will receive, if any, and what the warranty covers. This applies to new cars and used cars. Some finance companies will offer a warranty that can be added to your monthly payment and help defer any costs you may incur if the vehicle has mechanical problems.

Service Records

If you are purchasing a used car, inquire about any service records that may be available. Sometimes private owners include the paperwork with the car they are selling so a car dealer may have these available to you. The service records will allow you to see what work has been done on the car, how often the oil was changed and any purchases such as new tires. On that note, ask if there is a CARFAX report available.

Test Drive

Ask if you are able to test drive the vehicle and have it checked out by a mechanic. If you are purchasing a new car then you’ll definitely be able to test drive it. However, on a used car it is even more important to be able to not only drive the car yourself but take it to your mechanic to look for any obvious issues. Certain dealerships will allow you to keep a vehicle a day or two to see how you like it. Ask if this is possible and if so, do you have to leave a deposit.

Price

The price of the car may seem like an obvious question to ask but it is important to inquire about the extras as well. Items such as tax, tag and title can increase the price considerably so be sure to find out what the extras will cost.

Fuel efficiency

Be sure to find out what the fuel efficiency is on the vehicle you are interested in. Consider how you will be utilizing the car; will you need it for school or work and if so, do you have a long commute or is everything close by? These factors can make a difference on the choice between two different cars you may like. One may have better fuel efficiency than another, making the decision easier to make.

By knowing what questions to ask, you can feel more confident that you’ll get the best vehicle for your money and can make an informed and knowledgeable decision when purchasing a new vehicle.