Ok...so now as I'm writing my new book, heaps of ideas for what "could be" are pouring into my head. Thanks (sincerely) for the inspiration...and thanks (sarcastically) for making the writing process way more complicated! (wink) Seriously - I love where technology is going as well.

I was at the Professional Communicators' Summit with Michael a year and a half ago. As someone who has made a living as a public speaker the last 14 years, I couldn't agree more about the quality and value of this conference! And as one of the coaches (and a former student) of the Dynamic Communicator's Workshop - which Michael metioned in reply to a previous comment - I can't say enough about Ken's talent, impact, and integrity as a communicator and a presenter.

I've got four I use all the time - though three are actually built in to Windows 7. The app I use for ALL my note taking is MS OneNote. Even makes inserted audio searchable. OneNote syncs seemlessly with my phone, too. Beautiful.

The 3 Win7 features are:
Universal Search - Hit the Windows Key, start typing anything (programs, documents, contacts) and they just show up. It "learns" your preferences too, so I usually am 1-2 letters in before it knows exactly what app I want to launch. Replaced any HotKey stuff I used to use.

Jump List - Right from the Launch Bar, just right click any program and the most common actions are right there. I also "pin" documents, playlists, etcs that I want there so they're 1-click away.

Snipping Tool - I think Mac has something similar, but highlighting anything on my screen and being able to click 1 button to share it with a contact, save it, or paste in into a document is great.

I have used this technique as well. Of course, sometimes I'm my own worst enemy so instead of just scheduling "office work" I'll assign one of my bigger tasks to that hour...or two...or three. Reminder to myself to focus on the task at hand.