Showing posts with label favorite things. Show all posts
Showing posts with label favorite things. Show all posts

My Favorite Things: StayFocusd

During the school year, one of the best tools I use to stay on task is the Chrome extension StayFocusd. It tracks how much time you've spent on certain websites, and when you hit a daily time limit it blocks those sites.

There are three exceptionally awesome things about the extension. The first is how customizable it is. You set the websites that you know are your personal temptations. You tell it when to enforce the rules. You tell it how long to let you visit those sites before shutting you down. I, for example, have it set to allow me a total of 30 minutes on my "banned" websites list - which includes Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and Netflix - between 8am and 5pm. That way I only have the potential to spend 30 minutes goofing around in that prime grading time after my last class ends and before I go home.

The second awesome thing is how foolproof it is. Any change you make to the settings takes effect 24 hours after you submit the change. Adjusting your allowed minutes per day, changing enforced hours, and changing enforced days are all possible, but you have to wait a whole day before taking advantage of the new parameters. That knocks out a whole lot of temptation.

Then there's the third awesome part: it's called the "nuclear option." You can use it when you really need to knuckle down, because it blocks *all* websites (or a set list, or all except a set list) for a given period of time. The only drawback, which is really a feature, is that if you end up wanting to get to a blocked site, you can't. There is no way to cancel the nuclear option once you've set it.

Every Thursday is "Favorite Things" day, where I bring you a short recommendation of a product or service that I have found useful and/or helpful. Unless I say something, I'm not paid or compensated in any way for the plug. I just do it out of the goodness of my heart. 

My Favorite Things: SquareCash

Problem: You owe your roommate for toilet paper, but you don't have any cash on hand.
Solution 1: You add the money to the running total you keep on a whiteboard or random spreadsheet and plan to buy TP next time.
Solution 2: You run to an ATM, get your $20, and  hope your roommate has change. She doesn't, because she doesn't carry cash either. You revert to Solution 1.
Solution 3: Just always carry cash. (HAH!)

THE REAL SOLUTION: Use SquareCash.
I love SquareCash. It's the best thing since Undo Send. It's a service that lets you email money to people. When you sign up, you link your debit card to your email address. When you want to send somebody money, you send them an email with a dollar amount in the subject line, and put cash@square.com in the cc field. The person you're sending money to links up their debit card, and the money is transferred from your checking account to their checking account. There are no fees ... get that? NO FEES.

Every Thursday* is "Favorite Things" day, where I bring you a short recommendation of a product or service that I have found useful and/or helpful. Unless I say something, I'm not paid or compensated in any way for the plug. I just do it out of the goodness of my heart. 

My Favorite Things: Undo Send

Today's favorite thing is a simple one: the Undo Send feature in Gmail. It's only available on the desktop version of the service (not on your mobile app), but even with that limitation it's incredibly useful. Basically, it presents you with an "undo" button for about 10 seconds after you click "send." That way, you have a short window to decide if you really meant to send the email you just dispatched. If you realize that you goofed, you just click Undo and the email is never sent.

In the interests of leaving you fully informed, I should explain that it's not a true undo button. What's really going on is that Gmail pretends to send it, but waits ten seconds before actually sending so that you can change your mind. In other words, this isn't like stealing the email out of someone's inbox - it's like having a Jeeves who holds on to the telegram patiently waiting for you to say "On second thought, I shouldn't tell Aunt Agatha that she reminds me of a Cossack."

To turn this marvelous delight on: go to the settings menu (little gear icon in the top right corner), scroll down, and check the box that says "enable Undo Send." You can tell Jeeves how long to wait using the drop down menu. And there you are!

Every Thursday* is "Favorite Things" day, where I bring you a short recommendation of a product or service that I have found useful and/or helpful. Unless I say something, I'm not paid or compensated in any way for the plug. I just do it out of the goodness of my heart. 

*This week's installment is a day late. Beg pardon; I'm on vacation.