Gift Guide for One's Many Work-Life Integration Needs

It is the holiday season, and chances are good that your shopping list feels endless. While there are plenty of smart home kits or home monitoring hubs and wireless charging options, not everyone needs such expansive tech tools in their lives. Instead, when determining which gifts to consider, it is important to think about lifestyle elements for the recipient of whatever gift you're giving. Here are some of my favorite clutter-free gift options:

- If the person to whom you are gifting is a runner, a walker or just someone who likes working out, assuming they don’t have an Apple Watch or similar toy, something to attach their phones to their arms would be helpful. Sprigs offers the Phone Banjees with up to 2 pockets so the phone goes on one side, their personal items go on the other side, and it slips right onto the arm. While you can purchase directly from Sprigs' website, there are alternative designs on Amazon, eBay and TheGrommet.com.

- For those fashionistas who love their current gloves but are frustrated by not being able to use their smart devices while styling and profiling, consider NANOTIPS. These transform any leather, rubber, fabric or fleece gloves into touchscreen compatible smart gloves and work well with iPhone, iPad or Android devices.

- I like having a “drop zone” by my entryway so my keys have a home and I can easily find them as I’m leaving; however, that’s not feasible for everyone. Lots of folks spend plenty of time searching for tiny objects, such as the car key when rushing to get out the door. There are several options for solving this, like Tile, TrackR and SecuriTag, but they all function the same: You attach a tile or tag that’s a little bigger than a quarter to the object you want tracked, sync that to an app on your smartphone and, then, track the object with your phone. Your gift recipient doesn’t have to limit use to just car keys; there are endless options for tracking!

- Cords are always an issue so a solution to wrangle in that problem is welcome by everyone: With CableDrop from BlueLounge, you can keep cords plugged in but not falling down as you plug in and unplug your devices. Simple peel and stick the adhesive backs to your desktop or wherever your devices sit to be charged, clip a cable through each CableDrop and it stays put whether connected to a device or not. Kableflags are tags you attach to each cord’s plug so you can identify which cord goes with which item, and you’re protected from ever pulling a wrong plug again. Neet’s Cable Keeper comes in many different colors to organize, protect and identify all your cords; with its inner wire to hold its shape, insert your cable, zip it up and wind, squeeze, loop or tie a bowtie to keep the cable together. If you put each device’s cable in a different colored Neet Cable Keeper, you go beyond just protecting them and can identify at a glance which is where. Likewise, the Cord Wrap from Bobino comes in 3 sizes and 6 different colors, allowing options for wrapping various cords for easily transporting them. CableKeeps secures the cable and charger for your iPhone or iPad together; adding a bit of fun and color while Cordlupa stays on your cord's plug cube so it's fast and simple to wrap up when ready to travel or store your cable. When planning your holiday gift giving, you could give these cord solutions individually or bundled together.

- Whether at home, in our offices or while traveling, plugs can be an equally big issue. Acoustic Research offers a travel plug with USB charger slots, perfect for airports, train stations and hotels where there are never enough plugs for all that needs charging, especially not located close enough together to be truly helpful. The PowerCube offers big, colorful outlets for 3-prong plugs on all 4 sides as well as 2 USB outlets for devices. The ChargeHub plugs into a wall outlet or an automobile to provide 7 USB charging options, and Easy Hub cleverly converts a single USB port into 4. Then, the Pivot Power Flexible Surge Protector offers variety in the angling of each outlet so chunky adapters and chargers can fit better side-by-side. Plus, with Quirky's Pickup Power, you can gift a surge protector for 3-prong plugs that includes USB charger slots and a portable battery pack. Wow!

- These days, we all have a love / hate relationship with our mobile devices, but I’d imagine most of us don’t have many days go by without using them at some point, making gifts related to our mobile devices especially popular. ZAGG, Logitech and Belkin each offer keyboard folio options to add a real keyboard to our iPad tablets, making it easier to type while working or playing on-the-go. Or, if your gift recipient is notorious for letting his or her smartphone batter go dead, there are tons of battery cases, like Mophie, Anker or Tylt Energi. Native Union's JUMP Cable offers a 2-in-1 cable and battery solution with attractive, brown leather case for easy portability. To protect the connections on charging cords, a Klip Cable Protector can be slid over the sensitive area of any plug. The Mist Screen Cleaner and Microfiber Sponge from AM Company includes antibacterial all-in-one spray and microfiber cloth designed to clean computer, tablet and smartphone screens. If you’d rather avoid liquids, the iRoller Touchscreen Cleaner is a liquid-free, reusable option for removing fingerprints, smudges and bacteria from touchscreen devices. The PhoneSoap Smartphone Sanitizer uses UV light as a safe, effective way of cleaning, sanitizing and polishing devices.

- If the person you are gifting lives with several others that have similar-looking mobile device cords, vinyl labels from Whooz can be a welcome gift; they help to differentiate which cord belongs to whom while adding character and color with all different options.

- Or, if the person you are gifting likes to work on plugged-in mobile devices but the outlet is far from where they’d like to be working, REACHarge offers extended lengths of charging cords for Android, iPad and iPhone devices.

- Hyper’s Pearl is a compact, LED-lit mirror with a built-in USB battery pack to charge devices on-the-go.

- Although I personally use my Grid-It from Cocoon to organize my tech-related gadgets, gizmos and accessories, the ways in which this marvelous tool can be used are limitless and can apply to so many of the folks for whom you’ll be seeking gifts this holiday season. Golfers can keep tees, a divot repair tool, ball markers and even an extra ball or two snugly secured in this ultimate organizer. There are plenty of little objects that new parents need on-the-go which can be secured in the family’s bag with this tool. Even the items usually thrown loosely in a woman’s purse can be better contained with this gift. It comes in various sizes and has little rubber lines on each strap to secure things.

- Any time our car batteries go dead, we’re used to needing another vehicle to connect to ours for charging. Well, now, we have an alternative… Juno Jumper is the most portable smart jump starter available, offering a battery pack that connects to your car’s battery for jump-starting your own dead battery. It’s that easy! This would be an ideal gift for anyone that travels regularly, particularly folks that drive alone.

- As a huge fan of all types of music, I’m also a huge fan of the iHome Bluetooth mini speaker, which streams tunes from any Android, Blackberry, iPad or iPhone that has been paired to it. The volume is adjusted on the paired device; battery is rechargeable.

- Since the holidays are a peak time for traveling, this next item could be a good gift to give others or for yourself: PacSafe offers several tools with RFID-blocking, and I encourage considering the RFID-blocking passport protector as well as the credit card sleeve… Very important security tools!

- Although not tech-related, the Pocket Monkey fits in your wallet, is TSA compliant to fly with you and performs 12 different functions, including bottle opener, flat and Phillips screwdrivers, phone kickstand, orange peeler, Hex wrenches, earbuds wrap, letter opener, ruler, straight edge and door latch slip.

- For kiddos aged 5 to 13, I am loving Osmo, an award-winning game system that aids children's learning with hands-on play. Start with Tangram, Words, Newton and Masterpiece; then, choose if you'd like to add Numbers for an additional emphasis on math.

- Finally, since it is hard to go wrong with gift cards and gift certificates, consider Gyft to buy, send, organize and redeem eGift cards while Yiftee lets you send certificates to what's local for any recipient via text or email.

While my go-to resources for finding unique, useful and tech-related gifts are usually The Container Store, The Grommet and Uncommon Goods, there are other sites for you to check as you are shopping around this holiday season. Consider shopping ShutUpAndTakeMyMoney.com, OpenSky.com, TheGadgetFlow.com, Fancy.com and AwesomeClaus.com, and use each site’s filtering options to make the gift options less overwhelming; there are some very cool gift ideas floating between these sites.

If you are looking for more information to have an organized holiday and about giving clutter-free gifts, please check out my interview with Julie Coraccio in Episode 86 of her "Clearing the Clutter Inside and Out" podcast, entitled "Technology Tips for an Organized Holiday and Clutter Free Gifts Ideas", which can be found by visiting this website.

What gifts do you have in mind to help your loved ones boost productivity while taming technology? What tools do you currently utilize in your own work-life integration?

Confused By Options For Document Storing, Sharing & Syncing?

As new technology is created, there are more and more options, and it can be very overwhelming... I mean, have you seen all the cloud options for storing and sharing data?!? Wow! The key, though, is how each tech option makes your life easier, more organized and more productive. Read on for a little clarification about various available tools and what differentiates them...

Notes-Keeping Options:

Although Yojimbo and Growly Notes are Mac-only while OneNote caters to the needs of PC users, Evernote works in both the Mac and PC realms, making it easy to organize all information in one, reliable solution. Plus, whereas there is a fee to use any form of either Yojimbo or OneNote, there is a fairly robust option for Evernote that is absolutely FREE... Such a beautiful word, eh? With each of these tools, you can store text, images, PDFs, checklists and more, organized with tags, by labels or in groupings / notebooks and easily searchable. Access your Evernote or OneNote account via the Internet, on your computer's desktop or on your smartphone and access your Yojimbo or Growly Notes account anywhere data is synced through MobileMe.

Options to Aid in Creating a Paperless System:

Both Shoeboxed and OfficeDrop offer mail-in scanning services, where you package your papers in pre-paid shipping for those companies' employees to coordinate scanning your documents into an organized, electronic format for you. However, if you prefer to scan your own documents for yourself, there are several other options... The Neat Company offers NeatReceipts as a portable option and NeatDesk as a desktop scanner, allowing you to scan your business cards, receipts and 8.5" x 11" documents into a digital filing system. Both Canon Document Scanners and Fujitsu ScanSnap Scanners offer mobile, personal, sheet-fed and network options to scan your documents. Although each self-scanning device integrates differently with collaborative solutions, like Evernote, the option for you may depend most on current pricing so it's recommended that you research online before buying.

File Collaboration, Sharing, Syncing and Back-up Options:

If you are looking for a tool that relies solely or primarily on you manually moving a document from your computer to the cloud or web-based solution, there are plenty of options available. A free account through Dropbox gives you 2GB of storage for life, but a paid account will increase your Dropbox storage capacity; any file can be shared from Dropbox via the appropriate URL. Windows Live SkyDrive is very similar but is limited to PCs and bumps the storage limit up to 25GB with a 50MB cap for each file. A free account through Ge.tt gives you quicker, real-time storing and sharing of files for 90-day intervals. Furthermore, MediaFire has no restrictions except that files be smaller than 200MB. A free account through Box.net gives you 5GB of storage with a 25MB cap for each file, including a collaboration "holtlink" for any shared files. And the very popular option of Google Docs can be found at Docs.Google.com to upload files from desktop, access them from anywhere and do real-time collaboration with others.

On the other hand, if you are looking for a tool that will move documents from your computer to the cloud automatically, the available options are a little different. With these options, you simply install the technology on your computer (PC or Mac) and, at different intervals when your computer is connected to the Internet, your selected data will automatically be encrypted and securely backed up to the cloud, allowing you to restore or remotely access as-needed later. In February of this year, Mozy replaced its unlimited backup plan with a tiered storage plan of 50GB or 125GB, allowing users to purchase additional storage in increments of 20GB each. If you are looking for an unlimited option, Carbonite offers such a solution for $59 a year while the unlimited solution from Crash Plan is $49.99 a year, but Crash Plan has smaller storage options for less money, too. And there's good news... In addition to the aforementioned manual option, Windows Live Mesh's SkyDrive also offers an automated sync for PCs, too!

Finally, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud is a web service that offers a customizable, pay-as-you-go option for storing in a cloud environment, allowing you to quickly scale capacity up or down and pay only for the capacity that you actually use. For details on this new and different option, I recommend visiting http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/.

Options Enabling Remote Access to Paperless System:

Now that you've created all these electronic documents, some will be accessible via Internet access through cloud technology; however, sometimes, you just want to work with them on your own computer. If you travel a good deal, options for accessing your own computer via the Internet from a remote location might be very helpful, and there are several options for accomplishing that goal. LogMeIn and GoToMyPc allow you to access, support and manage devices (including Windows-based PCs and iOS-based Macs) at any time from any location via a secure, Internet login. Or you can use Windows Live Mesh to work on your PC from another location, running programs or browsing PC files remotely. Finally, if you have an iPhone or iPad, use Mocha VNC to connect to your Windows PC or Mac OS X and see your files/programs exactly as you would sitting in front of your computer itself.

Smartphone Solutions for Working with Documents:

Although many of the aforementioned tools enable access from your smartphone, a growing number of people elect to work via smartphone, rather than focusing on use of desktop and laptop computers. Quickoffice Connect and Documents to Go - Office Suite are options to create, edit and share Microsoft Office documents on your iPhone, iPad, Android technology or Blackberry.

Do you utilize cloud technology and, if so, how do you upload data to "the cloud"? Are you backing up data automatically or adding it manually? Which tools do you prefer most? Please share in the Comments below.

Totally Terrific Tech Tools

When it comes to computers and what goes with them, I help clients tame technological needs daily, speaking Mac and PC as well as iPhone, Blackberry, Android and much more, but the available options are virtually endless for electronic tools that make life easier and help obtain optimum performance day-to-day. Here are just a few that I find most helpful:

- Customer Relationship Management Tool... While there are tons of options, like SalesForce, ACT!, Zoho, GoldMine and Kyliptix's KiBS, I find that BatchBook provides the best option for the most different industries, allowing you to create and sync contacts, invoices, eBlasts and communication logs online.

- Electronic Password Keeper... When not using a printed list, I prefer RoboForm for storing my online usernames and associated passwords, but other great options are Password Safe, SplashID and KeePass.

- Online Backup Service... To automatically backup everything on my computer with a service that encrypts my files during backup and storage, I rely on Mozy, but Carbonite offers a good alternative, too.

- Scheduling Application... While I prefer using Doodle, it is also easy to schedule meetings or gatherings with groups of people using TimeBridge, Tungle.me or Meeting Wizard.

- Keyboard Macro Program... Although Macs come with all sorts of shortcuts built in, there are options like ActiveWords (which I prefer) or AutoHotKey that enable PC-users to associate select words with Substitute Text, Launch a Program, Open Document, Navigate to Internet Site, Send Email, Open Folder or Scripting.

- Online File Sharing... To share or sync files between computers, especially when email just can't handle those really big files, I rely on Dropbox, but Live Mesh, Syncplicity, SugarSync and SparkleShare work, too.

- Task Management Solution... While I prefer Outlook since it can combine email and calendar in the same tool as my tasks, other great options include Producteev, Toodledo, Remember the Milk and TadaList.

- "Remember Everything" Tool... To save images, text, audio and video somewhere I can access anywhere (including desktop, smart phone or Internet) through a quick search of keyword, tag or included text, I rely on Evernote, but OneNote offers an alternative that many others utilize, too... Evernote is such a fantastic tool!

Since these are just the tip of the iceberg for available tech tools, I'd love to hear what you like, too... What electronic tools do you use to make life easier?