TECH MAINTENANCE ARTICLES

How To Think Like A Geek (And Add An Extra Hour Of Free Time To Your Day)

Who wants to find an extra hour of free time in their day, every day? Considering we're all stressed out because there's never enough time to get everything done, this is what I would call a "leading" question.

So how can you do it? By looking at the seemingly innocent, time-sucking activities you or your staff are spending time on every day and either automating them, controlling them or speeding them to completion using technology.

Here are four time-saving techie tips that will add time to your day or your employees' day.

1. Use an aggressive spam filter. Over 80% of the e-mails being sent daily are spam. And if you're like me, you're getting dozens of these every day, which can easily add up to 5-10 minutes per day sifting, sorting through and deleting the spam from the e-mails you want. Plus, eliminating spam temptations from your staff will not only cut down on the time they waste on it, but will also drastically reduce your chances of getting viruses and spyware on your network.

2. Replace Old PCs. While it's hard to truly estimate how much total time is wasted waiting on an old, slow computer to process tasks, start up, etc., I can tell you, it adds up. Let's say your old PC takes 10 seconds longer to process a task than a fresh, new one. Might not seem like a lot, but with users averaging 100-150 tasks a day conservatively, they are wasting 16-25 minutes a day. Add in the crashes and other problems old PCs cause and you're probably closer to 30-35 minutes a day.

3. Maintain Your Network. Another tip that will save you a lot of time is patching, updating and optimizing your server and workstations. You'd be surprised how much slower even a new machine will start to run if not maintained properly.

4. Install Web Filtering. Many companies now limit the sites that can be accessed during a day, because many of them have nothing to do with job performance. The Internet has made all our lives easier. We can shop online, pay bills and, most importantly, keep in touch with our friends and family. Much of this web activity takes place during work hours. With the addition of so many social media options (Twitter, Facebook and others), the time spent using these sites on company time can only increase. The amount of time can be as little as 15 minutes a day to 40 minutes a day average. Oh and that doesn't include NCAA March Madness!

Give us a call at 717-291-0370 and we can show you how these techniques and technologies can streamline your operations, saving you a LOT of time!