Its my job to know what’s happening, where, when and how much we’re billing for it. I have no choice but to have it all at my fingertips, and to get from A to Z in as few steps as possible.

Want to know my secrets? Here’s a list of some applications and tools I find so incredibly valuable that my life would be much different without them:

• Roboform password manager
  • Maybe there are other password managers out there, but this one will live with me forever:
    • It has firefox and IE extensions that automatically log me into the website I’m trying to get into.
    • It stores “passcards” and “safenotes” as simple text files, but they’re encrypted with AES (what I use) or 3DES encryption. Your single password unlocks all the rest.
    • Since passwords and notes are stored as text, they can be emailed or synced or backed up with simplicity.
    • Its free for 10 “passcards” but then you can buy unlimited upgrades for like $20. Duh.
    • $ my link above is an affiliate link. Go to roboform.com if you’re really not interested in me making $0.20 if you buy it.
• Anagram by Textual
  • Allows you to highlight any contact information in n email, resume, webpage or whatever and hit the shortcut key and import it right into your outlook contact list, salesforce, palm, etc… KILLER APP for anybody who values their network! You almost don’t “get” how valuable this tool really is until you check out how good it is. Try it!
• Gmail
  • Never again will I change “primary” email addresses.
  • Never again will spam rule my inbox.
  • Never again will I be without a message I had “in my other email”.
  • Never again will I gimp around trying to get access to my messages because my email provider won’t allow IMAP, POP, or web access or some other access vector.
• Google Desktop
  • Oh the WEEKS worth of my LIFE that I have spent searching back through emails and files to find “the document” I need or the “email trail” to show something.
  • No MORE!
• FolderShare
  • Keeping files synchronized between multiple computers in multiple locations USED to be a problem. Not now. Free!
• Blackberry
  • Yeah, I admit I used to think Blackberry users were snobs. They still are. But they’re still faster than you at communicating just about anything to anyone at any time, whenever and wherever they are.
  • If you’re at a killingly-slow networking event, Ask someone why they love their blackberry, and you’ll have no shortage of things to listen to.
• Twitter
  • I’m not spending energy explaining this one. If you don’t get it, fine. But this is one of my secrets of hyper-connectedness.

Philosphy: I think it makes sense to layer these tools with a bit of where my philosophy comes from. There’s three main sources of my general approach to how I do stuff, and they’re all books you can get:

• Getting Things Done by David Allen. I’m not a GTD freak, but I do like the book, and I really like David Allen’s theories and ways of thinking about how to accomplish stuff.
• Love is the Killer App by Tim Sanders. Slow down and really make a difference for other people. You know you need to.
• The Power of Full Engagement by Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr. This book gives you the keys and understanding of how to really connect deeply in all the facets of your life.