Technology to the Rescue: Three Free Websites That Bring Balance to Life

     Technology is a blessing in a lot of ways, isn’t it? The internet has put the whole world at our fingertips. There has never been a more convenient time to send or receive a quick message, whether a text, a picture, or a video. It’s never been easier to research a topic, no matter how remote. And, of course, we can connect with people we haven’t seen in years through social media websites. 

     I have been around long enough to remember when the IBM Selectric Typewriter was a big deal. And then the dedicated word processor with its 8” floppy disks came on the scene, then 6” disks. Oh, my gosh, what about hard 3½” diskettes? (Don’t even get me started on zip drives.) And now we’re carrying computers around in our pockets. 

     At every stage, the changes in technology excited me, but they also overwhelmed me. Each surge in possibilities brought a surge in expectations. We needed to deliver information faster, more efficiently, more professionally, more succinctly, more…ugh! My head hurts. 

     

     All this expectation could really put a crimp in my quest toward a balanced life. But what if I could harness all that expectation and actually end up on top of the pile? I have stumbled upon three sites that help me do that, and I’m hoping they help you, too: 

        www.trello.com – Trello is a collaboration tool that organizes your projects into boards. In one glance, you can see what's being worked on, who has assumed what responsibility, and where a task is in the process. I found out about this site through my local Word Weavers group, where we use it to manage a job board of stories for a local publication, but the project management uses are limited only to your imagination. 

              www.hootsuite.com – Hootsuite allows you to manage all your vital incoming communication from varying social networking sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and the like) on one dashboard. It allows you to do custom online searches in nice, neat, digestible columns. Since your first five tabs for free, the only time you will see a charge is if you need more tabs. 

              www.ifttt.com – IFTTT (think, “If this, then that”) simplifies and automates your outgoing social networking communications. You create your own social media “recipes” of what you need to have happen if something specific occurs online. Channels (i.e., Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) are the basic building blocks of IFTTT. The this part of your recipe is a Trigger; an example might be, “I’m tagged in a photo on Facebook.” The that part of your recipe is an Action, for instance, “Create a status message on Facebook.” So, anytime someone tags you in a photo and posts it on Facebook, a status update posts on your behalf without you having to do a thing.

Cool? I know! Sometimes you don’t know what you need until you’re exposed to it, huh? Since I’m just getting into these sites, I’m certainly no expert, but I can envision them as helpful tools the more comfortable I become with them.

Have you found some other tools that help you keep “sane” on the internet and balanced in life? I’d love to hear about them.

Enjoy your day. Enjoy this blog.