The Best Office Productivity Suite to speed up your progress in all those "Other Jobs"

Working Freelance or working remotely will mean that, at one time or another, you will need the use of an office productivity suite.

Basically an office productivity suite is a group of business orientated software packages that are bundled together. The main things include word processing and a spreadsheet software.

So to put it mildly, Office suites are for the boring but very important jobs. They can be vital if your spelling, like my own, is awful.

Microsoft Office is the staple productivity suite but costs a fortune. There are now many other equivalents that are free and offer the same, more, and different capabilities.

1, Open Office

Open Office is the most famous free office productivity suite, it offers a writer, calculator, impress, draw, base and math. There is a large community out there that can help with support although I doubt its needed as it is a very simple and intuitive software.

2. Koffice

This is another free office productivity suite alternative. It includes KWord (a word processor), KCells (a spreadsheet) and Showcase (presentation software). Because it’s free, it largely depends on volunteers and users to maintain and update it. There is a Userbase and forum.

3. NEOOffice

I suppose it’s obligatory of me to submit at least one specifically Mac OSX. It’s fast, intuitive and has a useful mobile version. It is funded entirely by user donations, so if you like then give a quid or two as support/

4. Google Drive

Google Drive is handy one. It is completely online so writing that letter remotely in a mountain in Peru is a no no. It does however act as a cloud storage device also, giving you 5 GB to play with.

All in all there a plenty of options, most of them not listed, but realisitically there all pretty much do the same thing. I work well just using Open Office and Google Drive. It keeps the budget in check.

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The Top Five Mind Mapping Software for your Apple Mac to help improve productivity.

Mind Mapping is a process of getting ideas from your head down on paper clearly quickly and uniquely. Drawing a circle around an idea and then linking it to a bunch of other circles is the essence of mind mapping.
It can be used for organising dinner parties to blueprinting a multi-billion dollar company.

In the previous post I mentioned the best tips and techniques for Mind Mapping and here I am going to suggest the top five mind mapping software for your Apple Mac. If you want the PC option then click here.

1. MindNode

Mindnode is very simple to use at every stage of your mind mapping. It has an intuitive interface that feels very at home with mac users. It can export to various formats and also has a companion iPhone app.

2. Freemind

Freemind is a versatile software that can be used for mind mapping! It comes with a number of templates to help you in mind mapping. It can also be used as a drawing tool, so if you feel the clip art is not working out for you then you can always go rogue.

3. Curio

Curio, developed by Zengobi, hosts an advanced interface layout that allows users to search several image websites and also includes a full screen presentation mode. There are very few extras with this software but it has everything you need to make clear colourful mind maps.

4. iMindMap

Another expensive beast, ranging from $99-$395, this software is endorsed by the guy behind the phenomena – Tony Buzan. It offers a wealth of templates to work with and has a very organic and colourful feel. If you are using the software to make presentations then I would certainly try before you buy as the visual layout of the software isn’t to everyone’s tastes.

5. Freeplane

Freeplane, a freeware solution, offers the biggest learning curve but once mastered is the most intuitive. It works with the function keys to allow quick adaptation of work. It speaks its own language talking about “Ancestors” “Decendants” and “Children”. These are things that would put off someone who just wants to get mapping straight away. However stick with it and you will soon find that Freeplane is a must.

I hope this list has helped you and please message me if you have any questions with regards to mind mapping or anything else you would like me to write about. J

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The Top Five FREE Mind Mapping Software for Windows to help improve your productivity

Mind Mapping is a process of getting ideas from your head down on paper clearly quickly and uniquely. Drawing a circle around an idea and then linking it to a bunch of other circles is the essence of mind mapping.
It can be used for organising dinner parties to blueprinting a multi-billion dollar company.

In the previous post I mentioned the best tips and techniques for Mind Mapping and here I am going to suggest the top five mind mapping software for windows computers.

1. Edraw Mind Map

Edraw Mind Map is the first Software on the list. It is free for non-commercial and home use. Edraw takes its visual cue from Office rather than the explorer style layout typical to most modern graphics apps so it has a very familiar feel.  The free version of Edraw comes with many different examples and has a wealth of symbols, shapes and clip art.

Edraw is very simple to use at every stage of your mind mapping. There is however a lot to this software and its takes some time to learn all its features and be fluent with it. It is very much worth the effort.

2. Freemind

Freemind is a versatile software that can be used for mind mapping! It comes with a number of templates to help you in mind mapping. It can also be used as a drawing tool, so if you feel the clip art is not working out for you then you can always go rogue.

3. Open Mind

Open Mind is a freeware software for creating customized mind maps. Like most others you can insert text images but with Open Mind you can also add youtube video.  Open Mind also allows each bubble to be a different shape just to add to the fun. There are very few extras with this software but it has everything you need to make clear colourful mind maps. It also has a very useful help file with screenshots.

4. Blumind

Blumind is a freeware software that looks more like a browser with Tabs and sidebars. Tabs open new mind maps and while the sidebar changes the colour of objects fonts and backgrounds. There is the useful folding menu with this software that allows you to keep your work clean and menus tidy.

5. Freeplane

Freeplane offers the biggest learning curve but once mastered is the most intuitive. It works with the function keys to allow quick adaptation of work. It speaks its own language talking about “Ancestors” “Decendants” and “Children”.. These are things that would put off someone who just wants to get mapping straight away. However stick with it and you will soon find that Freeplane is a must.

I hope this list has helped you and please message me if you have any questions with regards to mind mapping or anything else you would like me to write about. J

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Top Five Mind Mapping Tips to help improve Productivity and spend Less Time in the Office.

Mind Mapping is a process of getting ideas from your head down on paper clearly quickly and uniquely. Drawing a circle around an idea and then linking it to a bunch of other circles is the essence of mind mapping.
It can be used for organising dinner parties to blueprinting a multi-billion dollar company.
Mind Mapping adds a visual dimension to words and ideas, helping most people with the dreaded information overload.

Mind mapping can immediately enhance most people productivity and the more you use it the more productive your mind mapping will be.

There is a plethora of mind mapping software on the market today if one is uncomfortable with pen and paper and these software have several features that, when used correctly, can speed the process immensely.

1. Begin on Paper

I know I said there was several software to choose from, but nothing beats the first minute or two of doing a mind map with the good old fashioned pen and paper. Of course this is a matter of choice but I feel that using pen and paper to begin with allows me to work quickly on the core ideas and allows me to be messy. After that I will transcribe these to the computer in order to help with the more detailed parts and alleviate clutter.

2.  Use Different colours

A lot of Mind mapping software has the option to use different colours. This helps to make colourful boards but more importantly alters you thought process and allows you to think more clearly.

3. Use Templates

There is nothing worse than having a blank screen to work with and nothing easier then a good ole fashioned “Fill in the blanks”. Create different templates for different projects, blog posts, important phone calls, emails, shopping, newspaper articles, essay, speeches, anything.

4. Use keyboard Shortcuts

Mind maps are meant to be quick and organic, and nothing halts the flow of a mind map if you are constantly cycling through menus looking for the exact feature you want. Though there might be a slight learning curve but once you mastered it you will find it invaluable and your hands will never leave the keyboard.

5.  Be Visual

Most mind mapping software have the option to add images and graphics to your mind maps. These can help to emphasize importance and display progress. And like using different colours to stand for different things, using images alters your thought process and allows you to think more clearly.

Please check here for my top five FREE mind mapping software to get your productivity moving. J

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