Technology that makes you productive

I’d like to introduce a few technology items, software and hardware, that have tremendously increased our productivity over the past years. These items might have been considered geeky at the time they came out, but over the years, have proven to be amazing productivity enhancers. Here they are, in order of (perceived) importance:

1. The Herman Miller Aeron/Mirra Desk Chair: I used to have back pain before I tried this chair. What sets the Aeron apart from other chairs is that once you have adjusted it to your personal weight, your intervertebral disk is in constant slight movement. This movement ensures the blood flow through your lower back. According to my orthopedist, the restoration of this blood flow made my back pain disappear.

In addition, the Herman Miller ensures the optimal distribution of pressure on your spine and hip. In short, you can sit on it all day (believe me, I’ve done the all-day test many times) and still not feel any kind of discomfort. I remember, before we got our La-Z-Boy recliner, I even used to relax and watch TV on this chair.

2. Skype: Now that finally all notebooks have webcams and internal microphones, Skype has become the ultimate productivity tool. Patching together 5 people for a quick ad-hoc call, then removing two of them to have a chat in a smaller group and finally adding the sales guy on his cell is amazingly simple. And of course the voice quality is stellar. It might be cooler to use G-chat, but in my opinion G-chat does not even get close to Skype.

3. Microsoft OneNote: Everyone has heard of OneNote, but nobody has used it. That’s the impression I get when I mention this brilliant piece of software. In short, OneNote allows your entire organization to collect information (meeting notes, project specs, client information, tasks, passwords, anything) and share it in near real-time. Everything is shared and retained and nothing is ever lost. It’s the ultimate knowledge base. The incredibly powerful search (even searches within images) is just the icing on the cake. This tool should be every CIO’s dream.

4. The Blackberry: I know people love the iPhone and the Droid and God only knows why RIM cannot produce a competitive browser for their phones, but the Blackberry is still my number one phone. The simplicity and the great keyboard make the difference to me.

5. LED Screens: Finally you can use your notebook outside, even when it’s sunny. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are great! Remember the days when you weren’t sure if your laptop was actually switched on, as the screen appeared entirely black in sunlight?

6. Squeezebox: I know, the Logitech Squeezebox is technically speaking not a productivity tool. However, it makes me more productive, as I can listen to my favorite radio channels worldwide and choose from my Rhapsody albums or Pandora channels. By now it supports almost any streaming service under the sun.

Of course there are many more great productivity tools out there, but the above six clearly stand out of the crowd.