Following our earlier announcement last week of an updated version of TaskManager, we are today announcing an updated version of ProductivityMeter Personal Edition. The following updates are all based on your feedback and for this we thank you.The updates included in ProductivityMeter are the following:

1. Ability to pause ProductivityMeter so as to stop tracking of your activities. This can be done by right-clicking on the notification area icon and selecting Pause from the context menu.
2. Users of different accounts on the same machine where ProductivityMeter is installed can pause activity tracking forever using the Pause feature outlined in point 1 above.
3. Ability to not include time away from the computer in the reports. Time away from computer includes computer suspended, computer locked, computer sleeping or the screen saver running.
4. Improved logging frequency for virtually real time productivity reports.
5. Ability to print charts and data available under time sheets.
6. Minor bug fixes in the tag management page.
7. Other bug fixes that solved issues related to some people not being able to view productivity data, or have some missing productivity data.

You can download the latest build of ProductivityMeter Personal Edition by clicking here.

Honoring promises comes easy to some people.  Unfortunately, keeping promises may come as a challenge to some people.  There are people who often say yes to a lot of things, and to a lot of people and end up doing nothing at all.  They eventually end up failing to follow through their promise.  Oftentimes, people would say yes just so they won’t offend people, but they end up coming out as unreliable.  Too often, they’d end up hurting or offending people.

What are Broken Promises?

How good are you at keeping your promises?  How do you feel when you are not able to keep a promise?  What are broken promises?  Broken promises are promises that were not kept.  Is it okay to break promises?  Absolutely not.  Although it may be understandable that things may crop up that would hinder you from keeping your promise, still, it is not okay to break one.

Broken promises hurt.  People do not want to expect and end up clutching at straws.  People do not like to be dumped or set aside.  This is insulting, disrespectful, and hurtful.  If you are fond of breaking promises, you will be regarded as unreliable.  People will not respect or rely on your word.  In fact, you may lose your integrity.  You may lose people’s trust.

How to Avoid Breaking Promises

You may not want to break promises, but you seem to have the habit of doing so.  Your family is disappointed with you, and your friends do not rely on your word.  If you noticed that you have created a pattern of breaking promises, then you’re in trouble.  If you want to avoid breaking promises, you must know how to keep them.  Here are some tips on how to keep promises and avoid breaking them:
a.    Learn to say no.  Oftentimes, people break promises because they try to please a lot of people.  By wanting to please people, they end up failing miserably.
b.    Do not give your promise if you don’t feel like doing what you promised.  Oftentimes, people break their promise because of their disinterest.
c.    Reflect on why you break promises and pinpoint the problem.  By doing this, you would know where to start correcting your habit.
d.    Learn to prioritize.  By prioritizing things, you learn what to put first and what to put last.  You do not end up harassed trying to cope with a lot of things.
e.    Keep a schedule so you don’t end up promising two things to two people at the same time.

We listened to your suggestions and feature requests and today part of those requests went public with the latest update of TaskManager.

TaskManager is now at version 2.5.0.1 and includes the following updates:

1. TaskManager now uses a database engine instead of XML files to store and manage your tasks. This results in increased stability, improved performance, and a stable platform on which we can build future improvements and features.
2. Backup and restore functionality to easily backup your important task list information.
3. Various minor bug fixes and tweaks to further improve stability, performance, and user experience.

These updates are available in the latest build which you can download by clicking here.

All existing customers using TaskManager version 2 can download and install this latest version too. All your task information will be automatically upgraded to the new format.

We are pretty excited about this release and so should you, since on top of the new database engine we can add many useful features that were not possible, or would feel clunky, before. So stay tuned since we plan to release new useful feature from time to time.

How do you ask a question?  Do you ask intelligent questions?  Does your question result in answers that you were seeking?  Can you call your questions informed ones?

Importance of Asking Intelligent Questions

If you are going to ask a question, make sure that it has been well thought of.  Do not ask questions just for the sake of asking them.  If you do, your questions may come across as stupid or absurd.  There are questions with quite obvious answers.  These questions should not have been asked in the first place as this may only irritate the recipient of your question.  Most of the time, you’d probably get a dismissal or an irritated answer.

Your question also reflects you.  Your questions reflect how you think and how you perceive things.  There are people who would even gauge your intelligence through your questions.  An intelligent man would ask intelligent questions.  That’s how people perceive it.  By asking intelligent questions, you effectively extract from people the information that you need.  You’d noticed that some questions can prompt people on their feet, ready to furnish you with the things that you need while there are questions that would leave people annoyed.

When you ask intelligent questions, you also allow the person you’re asking questions from to think.  People are forced to think.  This is especially true if you are asking questions that are well-crafted and well-thought of.  This opens the door for many answers, possibilities, and ideas.  You don’t really have to ask a lot of questions in order to get the answer you are seeking.  The key is to ask intelligent questions instead.

Tips on How to Ask Intelligent Questions

Now, how do you ask intelligent questions?
a.    Ask appropriate questions.  If you want to open a dialogue and leave room for discussions, ask an open question.  If you would like to ask a question which does not open a room for a dialogue, ask closed questions.
b.    Do not ask vague questions.  Phrase your question in a manner that your listener would know what you need from them.
c.    Be respectful and gracious.  You would avoid arguments by being respectful.  You may have a different view, but you have to learn to respect somebody else’s view.
d.    Never ask question just for the sake of asking anything.  This annoys people.
e.    Start with simple questions.  People will be more receptive in this way.

Examinations are very important because the scores you get from them can be a huge determining factor for the kind of school or job you can end up with.  Sure, they might not really reflect your true skills or your hands-on expertise, but your numerical scores are still scrutinized by the schools and employers out there.  Because it doesn’t look like that sort of system will be changed anytime soon, it’s time you knew how to ace your exams.

Prepare, Prepare, Prepare

You’ve probably heard it from everyone, from your parents to your teachers, that the best way to get a great score on any exam is to study for it.  That time-honored nugget of wisdom holds true even today.  There’s really nothing like knowing the subject matter and being comfortable with it for getting as high as possible a score on any test.  Remember, the tests are supposed to be measuring how well you understood the lessons.  Studying reinforces and improves your grasp of the content, so you’ll be prepared for whatever a real test throws at you.

Sleep Well

Studies have shown that one of the major reasons why test takers get a lower score than expected is lack of sleep and proper rest.  Not resting sufficiently before a test can significantly lower your score because you end up taking the test tired.  When you’re sleepy and you find it difficult to focus and remember facts about the test content, it’s hardly surprising that you’ll get a less than stellar score.

For a couple of nights leading up to the exam date, get a good eight hours’ worth of uninterrupted sleep.  Lighten your reviewing load and adjust your schedule to accommodate your extra resting time.  And make sure that you get those eight hours at regular sleeping time – from around 10 PM to about 6 AM – so that your body clock isn’t disturbed.  On the test day itself, double check that you have all the necessary materials and get yourself to the testing center at least half an hour early.  This ensures that you’re not in the least bit stressed or frazzled when you start on the test.

Similar to the way that any champion athlete would prepare for a competition, you have to condition your mind and your body to get them ready for the exam.  It’s a stressful and taxing exercise, so you’d best make sure that you’re fully up to the task.

Introducing FruitfulTime BookmarkManager, a free professional bookmark manager software for Windows 7 / Vista / XP / 2000 that is browser independent, portable (can be installed on USB / thumb / pen drive), and through which you can bookmark documents, files, folders, and programs.

All major web browsers have a bookmark manager but they all feel like this feature was added on as an afterthought. Even worse, your bookmarks are locked in the specific browser. We all know how this ends up. Multiple bookmarks in various places and no synchronisation.

So we developed BookmarkManager to make it possible to add bookmarks from any major web browser with the same customizable global hotkey. BookmarkManager supports labelling instead of hierarchical folders since this provides more flexibility to catalogue bookmarks. BookmarkManager also supports fast search as you type functionality to quickly find the bookmark you are looking for.

Another productive feature of BookmarkManager is the ability to bookmark local resources on your computer, such as documents, pictures, files, folders, and frequently used programs. How many times do you navigate each day through Windows Explorer to open your work files or folders? With BookmarkManager you just drag and drop your frequently used files, folders, and program shortcuts onto BookmarkManager and a handy bookmark is created. The next time round you only need to press a global hotkey, type in a few characters to look it up and press Enter to open your required file, folder, or program.

Do you need to carry your bookmarks around with you to access from a different computer, from work, from home, or at school? BookmarkManager makes this easy. Just install BookmarkManager on a USB thumb / pen drive and carry your bookmarks with you.

Need to share bookmarks with friends or colleagues? Easy. Just filter out the bookmarks you want to share using the search box and then email them to your friends or colleagues through your Gmail account all from within BookmarkManager.

To top it all off BookmarkManager is free. While in free unlicensed mode the only limitation is that you can launch 10 items per day. To remove this one limitation you can purchase a license key for only $29.99.

Download BookmarkManager

Are you a blog author?

If you answered yes to the above question and would like to write an honest and informative review on one of our software products than we are looking forward to hear from you.

To thank you for your time and service we will give you a free license of the software product you review for you to keep and enjoy.

FruitfulTime develops simple and effective productivity software designed for professionals and small to medium sized businesses.

Therefore, if your blog is about being productive in a business enviornment or in general, or if your blog readership is interested in business productivity software then we strongly suggest you contact us on admin@fruitfultime.com.

Are you a non-profit or charitable organization?

If you answered yes to the above question we would be very happy to provide you with free licenses of our software.

So send us an email on admin@fruitfultime.com and specify which software product you need.

Free task list software and note taking software from FruitfulTime.

Since you are subscribed to the FruitfulTime blog there is a good chance that you know about TaskManager Free Edition, our free task list software offering. It is pretty popular and many people rely on it daily.

During one of our regular product development meetings we were discussing the free edition and decided it is time to let our free edition users get the benefits of the full feature set and better user experience of TaskManager 2.

So as from today, TaskManager Free Edition has all of the features of TaskManager 2. The only limit set is on the number of tasks, subtasks, tag categories, and contacts you can create at any time.

But the good news does not end here, since today we also released NoteKeeper Free Edition. As with TaskManager Free Edition the only limit set is on the number of notes and tag categories you can create at any time.

Do you forget to do things? Do you have a very busy schedule? Do you regularly miss deadlines or completely overlook important tasks? If you answered yes to any of those questions than a task organizer is a must have tool in your life. The best way to organize and manage your tasks is with task software, also known as to-do list software. Task software offers many advantages over to-do lists on paper. With task lists organized on a computer you can easily add new tasks or sub-tasks, edit existing tasks, sort and filter tasks, group tasks using keywords, and so much more. Most important of all though are reminders. The list could go on and on since there are several features that on paper are simply impossible to have.When you use task lists to organize your busy schedule you will:

• Never forget important tasks.
• Do not have to rely on your memory.
• Prioritise what you need to do.
• Focus on what you are doing and not on what is to be done.
• Always deliver work on time.
• Be on time and prepared for all meetings.
• People will perceive you as a trustworthy individual.
• Reduce stress in your life.

Try the free 30 day trial of FruitfulTime TaskManager now and see for yourself how task software can put you in control of your busy schedule.

Task list software is the best way to organize and manage busy schedules. Scribbling to-do lists on paper just doesn’t cut it if you juggle multiple things at a time. Today, anyone from the CEO of a huge multi-national company to the mom next door has to take care of a gazillion and one things in their daily life. Task list software is no longer that thing that guy uses at work because of a busy schedule. So below are 3 quick tips to help you make the best use of task list software and get organised in no time.

1. List the tasks you need to do

Sounds pretty obvious but sometimes that is what most of us overlook. Task lists are an effective way to organise your life. So before starting to work on your tasks, make a list of all the tasks that you have to do. Make sure you prioritise your tasks, putting those tasks that are urgent at the very top. This will help you focus on the important stuff that you have to finish today. Also, put an estimate of how much time you think each task will take to complete. This will help you plan your time.

2. Split a complex task into simpler subtasks

Caesar, the great Roman emperor, used the principle of divide and conquer to win countless battles and nearly ruled the whole world. So, if that technique worked for Caesar it should be good for you too. We are not used to handle complex tasks in one go. Instead, we are more comfortable with smaller and simpler tasks. Splitting a task into simpler sub-tasks makes what at first glance looked like huge or impossible task become a sequence of small and manageable tasks. By finishing off the smaller tasks, you will be working towards finishing off the big scary task. Therefore, when you need to solve a complex task, split it up into several sub-tasks until each sub-task is simple enough to handle.

3. Set deadlines, reminders and track your progress

Now that you have all your tasks listed and diced into manageable chunks, you are ready to set deadlines for each task. What? Deadlines? Yep, you heard me right. If you want to get things done and finish stuff you have to set realistic and achievable deadlines. In tip one you had to estimate the time you would need to complete a task. Now is the time to use that information to set deadlines. Rule of thumb. If you think something will take 2 days, plan for 4 days. Always double your time estimate since something will always crop up to distract you from your work. If you have a boss, it is better to tell him you need 4 days and get your work delivered on time then to promise to deliver in two days and fail. You do not like it when people do not keep promises, and so does your boss. Next set multiple reminders, say a week, three days and one day before the deadline. That way you do not run the risk of forgetting. Finally, track your progress. This will help you decide whether you are behind schedule and if yes take steps to catch up. The other reason to track you progress is because it is a morale booster to finally see your task marked as complete.

So get organized today and put the above tips to work now. Download the free 30 day trial of FruitfulTime TaskManager and get your busy schedule under control.