I know I’ve mentioned these techniques to improve your business and personal productivity in various columns over the years, but they really work. So, I’ve put them all together for you in this month’s column, and I promise not to mention them again until 2013.
First up, Google Chrome. If you’re using browser-based tools online, whether it’s Google Docs, Quickbooks Online or an application specific to your industry (think the MLS system for realtors) or company (timekeeping, anyone?), you owe it to yourself to use the fastest browser available. At the moment, that’s Google Chrome. Even though Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 9 in response, Chrome executes benchmarks nearly four times faster. Give it a whirl and see if your web-based tools don’t seem noticeably faster. Plus, Angry Birds is available as a free Chrome app. Chrome, like every other browser, is free, so this upgrade is clearly the best bang for your buck. You’ll want to keep IE around for the few sites that, for some reason, force you to use it. But your online life will improve considerably by making Chrome your default web browser. Trust me.
Second: More RAM. Most companies that sell Windows computers have traditionally economized on random access memory (RAM). Which is a shame, since Windows (as well as Mac OS X) benefits from having plenty of memory. More RAM means your computer isn’t swapping things to and from your hard disk, so it feels peppier. The worst situation is when Windows is being swapped in and out of RAM, making your computer feel positively glacial. Two gigabytes (GB) of RAM is the minimum amount recommended by Microsoft for Windows 7 on a modern (64-bit) system. These days, a 2GB “stick” costs between $10 and $15 at retail (imagine what the manufacturer pays). Most computers can fit two (laptops) or four (desktops) sticks of memory of any size, so feel free to spend a few bucks and get at least 4GB of RAM for your system.
Yes, adding memory requires opening up your computer, but it’s pretty darn simple. My non-technical teenage daughter managed it on her own. So can you.
Third: Dual Monitors. It’s rare that we do only one thing when working on our computers. As a writer, I have Microsoft Word open, as well as multiple web pages open in Chrome. Plus my email program (the ancient but venerable Eudora, but most people will have Outlook open to keep track of their email and meeting times), and maybe Facebook, Twitter or CNN. Sure, you can make do switching between your open windows, or you can print something out for reference. But there are lots of advantages to being able to switch between various functions without having to think about making it visible. The more tools you use at the same time, the more useful you’ll find a dual (or more) monitor setup. There are a variety of statistics about how much an improvement dual monitors can make: claims range from 9 to 50 percent, depending on the task (hint: cutting and pasting, or reading one document while working on another are big winners). On the other hand, a decent second LCD monitor costs less than $200, so it really only needs to save a few hours of your time over the course of a year to pay for itself.
The reason I put dual monitors in third place is because setting them up requires a little bit more technical expertise. Laptops are easy: you plug in a second monitor to the VGA port and “extend your desktop” across the built-in LCD screen and the external monitor. The display preferences on Microsoft Windows give you great control over the settings for each monitor. With desktop computers, it’s just the same, providing your display adapter has multiple output adapters (like a VGA port and a DVI port). If not, you may need to get a new adapter or a second display adapter. For most people, this is a step beyond their comfort zone, which means it’s time to call your third-party IT provider. Regardless of whether you tackle this yourself or farm it out, take a look at this helpful article from Microsoft.
Finally, the 0.5 of my 3.5 recommendations: a Solid State Drive (SSD). Do you spend a lot of time watching the hard-disk light on your computer? If so, it means you’re waiting for your hard disk to respond. If you have plenty of RAM, you’re not waiting for your computer to move pieces of your program (or Windows) in and out of memory: what you need now is a faster hard disk. If your computer is of a recent vintage, your hard disk is pretty fast, so you’ll need to step up to a new technology. SSDs are as much as 100 times faster than hard drives, but they also have less capacity and cost more. For example, a 256GB SSD will set you back about $400. For the same price, you could buy 16 times as much hard disk storage (4 terabytes)! So, this recommendation is a little “out there.” The benefit of an SSD depends a lot on your particular usage patterns. Still, it’s a pretty cheap experiment to see what sort of impact it might have on your business.
Some small businesses have the resources to experiment with new ways of doing things. On the other hand, success tends to make small business owners resistant to making significant changes to the methods that made them successful, particularly since each dollar spent comes out of their pocket. This makes owners loath to spend much without a very strong promise of short-term returns, particularly when technology isn’t their core expertise.
There are also marginal small businesses that know what they’re doing isn’t viable in the long term. They desperately want (and need) to change, but the cost of a failed experiment may put them out of business.
If you’re successful today, you need to be committing a small portion of your resources to making smart experiments. If you’re struggling? Well, I’m not going to tell you to bet the company. But chances are, you’ll come to that point eventually. Either way, insanity is repeating the same action and expecting a different outcome. Let me know about your experiments at mduffy@northbaybiz.com.
