• Head of IT Operations -...
• Network Engineer - (Cisco...
• Project Manager (S15CM0052)...
• BUSINESS ANALYST / IT PROJECT...
• SALES ENGINEER- NATIONAL UPS...

Getting (more) things done, on the Internet

Bill French, Information Age

18/08/2005 15:01:25

There are many research tasks I perform that involve the use of information from two (or more) Web sites at the same time. A good example is the CRM (customer relationship management) system that we use at MyST Technology Partners. We use Packaging the browsing process We build complex blogsite applications for businesses, and in the process of this work we create (and complete) project tasks for other people in our company, we edit administrative settings in the blogsite, and we also manage account information for billing and support requirements. This typically involves the simultaneous use of many browser windows, a process that can lead to desktop clutter, and reduced productivity, very quickly. But there is also a different opportunity for personal productivity enhancement; packaging the Web site collection as a unified information source.

When you open a series of browser windows to do one job (which I'll refer to loosely as a project), there is some degree of process setup required. You must find all the information sources necessary and open them each in a browser window before you can begin. There is an equal amount of effort required when your job focus must shift from project A to project B, as happens frequently in the real world of business.

Link managers can help with this process by helping you collect the related browser URLs into one location. However, there's a turbo-charged method that allows you to create a single click that displays a pre-packaged collection of Web sites. It requires two basic capabilities; i) a Web browser that supports tabbed windows, and ii) a way to persist a collection of links that can be automatically loaded in one step.

Tabbed browsers Today, FireFox and Maxthon seem to work well for me, but other browser products including Opera, Avant Browser, and NetCaptor also have these features.

Maxthon provides a mechanism for saving a collection of Web addresses as a "project". FireFox allows you to save a collection of tabs as a "folder" of links. In both cases, it's very simple and straightforward to save, or load a collection of sites with one click. Desktop organisation

Aside from the shear productivity gain from loading project-oriented Web site collections in one click, is the added advantage of simplifying your workspace. Many of us can't afford large (or multiple) monitors. Minimising a single browser window that contains six Web sites is a snap. Managing your desktop in this way reduces clutter while eliminating wasteful minimise/maximise clicks that you typically perform by the dozens each hour.

Process agility All too often, you're in the middle of a task and the last thing you want to do is break your focus to solve another problem that is urgent. The use of a tabbed environment also has the added benefit of agility; you can easily switch gears without losing your "spot" in Web space. This makes it much easier to satisfy those nagging little interruptions we all must deal with.

Improving your digital environment In terms of productivity, enough cannot be said about your environment and how you configure your computing work space. This is a critical aspect of getting things done (efficiently) on the Internet. It takes a little practice to adopt the idea that your Web site work patterns should be persisted for instant reuse. This involves a little extra effort on the front end, but massive productivity gains on the back end. Recognising work patterns

As you do your job each day, try to observe the steps you repeat with regard to Web browsing. If you typically open Google, and Yahoo whenever you perform a certain task, say competitor research, consider creating a tabbed group for that.

Example patterns... Blogging - you might have your blog authoring site open with a second browser displaying your blog. You might also have a search engine open as well as another browser opened to an article you're blogging about. Support - as a web developer, you might need a browser window for tests, and another browse instance to your online support system. Writing - as you author content with a desktop application, you might use other online applications like Wikipedia, dictionaries, or news portals.