Personal productivity tips for scanning, note‑taking, and call screening

capture it), rather than spending hours inputting it all into contacts or searching through e-mail for that lost phone number. It’s mind- numbing how much time this saves. e » Scan all agreements, paper articles, etc., that would otherwise sit in file folders or on my desk. I use the Mac Fujitsu ScanSnap miniscanner ( http://bit.ly/scansnapmac_), the best I’ve found, which scans all of it directly to Evernote in seconds with one button. e » Take snapshots of websites, capturing all text and links, so that I can read them offline when traveling or doing later research. Get rid of all those scattered bookmarks, favorites, and open tabs. Screening and Avoiding Unwanted Calls > GrandCentral (www.grandcentral.com) and YouMail (www.youmail.com) In a world where your physical address will change more often than your cell phone number (and e- mail), it can be disastrous if your number becomes public or gets in the wrong hands. Enter GrandCentral, which will give you a number with the area code of your choosing that then forwards to your own phone(s). I now give a GrandCentral number to anyone besides family and close friends. Some of the benefits: e > Identify any incoming number as unwanted, and that caller will then hear a “number not in service” message when attempting to call you. e » Customize your voicemail message to individual callers (spouse, boss, colleague, client, etc.) and listen in on messages as they’re being left, so you can “pick up” if the message is worth the interruption. Call recording is also an option. e » Use an area code outside of your hometown to prevent people and companies from finding and misusing addresses you’d prefer to HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_013866