Riding iGoogle to the Clouds

Clearly Internet and computer technology are rewriting the definition of office. My office might be a desk in a room in my home but it might also be my patio table, “my” table at Starbucks or a picnic table in the park.

That’s the good news.

The bad news?

Well, it’s not really bad news but we do need to rethink how we access information. For example, you might have a desktop in your “office” but you might also have a laptop or notebook for your Starbucks office and you might use a Blackberry or iPhone to keep in touch during halftime of your son’s football game.

So how do you have access to all of this on whatever device you happen to be on at the moment?

Once again you keep your feet on the ground but your head in the clouds.

There are many ways but my favorite is iGoogle. As described by Google:
iGoogle is a customizable homepage

iGoogle lets you create a personalized homepage that contains a Google search box at the top, and your choice of any number of gadgets below. Gadgets come in lots of different forms and provide access to activities and information from all across the web, without ever having to leave your iGoogle page. Here are some things you can do with gadgets:

* View your latest Gmail messages
* Read headlines from Google News and other top news sources
* Check out weather forecasts, stock quotes, and movie showtimes
* Store bookmarks for quick access to your favorite sites from any computer
You can learn more about iGoogle here. I recommend that you take a look at Get Started and Personalize first. I have set my iGoogle as my home page and use it as a dashboard. From it I can access my gmail (I have all of my email addresses forwarded here for easy management), my Google calendar, my bookmarks, my Google docs and my Google Reader. I also make use of “sticky notes” to keep my Action Plans in front of me at all times. I have one for each project I am working on (such as ProVA). I add to and subtract from as I complete tasks and think of new stuff I want to do. This way, every time I bring up my homepage I know exactly what needs to be done. If something has a deadline I also add it to my Google calendar and set reminders.

I can access my iGoogle from anywhere at any time. I can export it if I feel the need for a back up. I can personalize it with themes and gadgets. It’s fun. It’s easy. It makes me more productive.

Reminds me of Marry Poppins - practically perfect in every way!

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