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November 9, 2001

Holiday Highlights

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It is more than likely that everyone will be a bit more circumspect this holiday season over what they request as gifts. Gone will be the Apple Titanium Powerbooks and 60 GB hard drives. Instead the focus will be more on family, friends and making friends of those we haven't yet met. While our technological consumption may fall a bit, there are still a few things you can add to your holiday wish list that can help you build your career in the coming year.

Personal Digital Assistants

The most important tool I purchased over the last year is a Handspring Visor Solo, one of the least expensive options in the PDA world. I highly recommend that you add one to your toolkit this year. Although PDAs cost a fraction of a fully configured laptop, they can improve both your work and personal life in some amazing ways.

I consider myself a fairly organized person but I could feel my collection of appointments, contacts and to-do items getting out of hand. Things were falling through the cracks. Handwritten to-do lists were disappearing. Phone numbers were lost on the back of business cards. My life had increased in complexity, but my filing system hadn't. Best of all, price drops had made a PDA a possibility instead of just a wish list item.

With my Visor I now have nearly any piece of information I need at my fingertips no matter where I am. The startup of my new business in Palm Springs, California has made this even more important. Several weekends a month I am away from my home office, but I still need to work. When I got the Visor I promised myself I would use it as much as possible. Today it contains, the usual contacts, to-do items and appointments as well as mileage logs, web pages, topic lists for this column, my grocery/to-buy list. I even use it to hold info for my newest hobby of Geocaching (http://www.geocaching.com).

Syncing my Visor to my desktop Mac or PC laptop keeps my data safe and also allows me to use my traditional word processing tools and other software. Even if you are just a busy parent, carting your kids to pre-school, soccer practice, or dance class, a PDA can help you keep a handle on everything you do.

Hardware

Due to market conditions it is a great time to add memory or hard disk space to your existing computer. If you are getting ready to upgrade your computer, these would be great items to add to your holiday wish list. A CD burner or tape backup device could also be an excellent addition to any system. Easy backups can give you great peace of mind.

Even if you are going to buy a new computer, the addition of more memory or hard disk space could make your old system an excellent hand-me-down for a younger family member or your favorite charity.

 

Software

Of course, any software that can help you be more productive at work or at home is a great idea for the holidays. Quicken or Quickbooks (www.intuit.com) are great solutions for keeping track of your money, especially if you are working as an independent consultant with several clients. Invoicing software would be another great addition to your computer toolbox. You could also improve the holidays for your favorite shareware software authors. Take a few minutes and a few dollars and register your favorite piece of shareware that you use everyday. It's the holidays, you might as well spread around the good will.

Training

Finally, the holidays are a great time to brush up on your education, whether by attending classroom training or picking up a few books at your favorite bookstore. I don't necessarily recommend going into debt to finance complex certification classes, but a little self-study can go a long way towards building your technical skills. While it might not be the same as curling up with a great novel, a book about web servers or Photoshop could make your work life a lot easier.

It is hard to believe that the holidays are already approaching, but I wish you all the best for the end of this year and the beginning of 2002. May your career flourish!

 

about this column.

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Douglas E. Welch is a freelance writer and computer consultant in Van Nuys, California. Readers can discuss career issues with other readers by joining the Career Opportunities Discussion on Douglas' web page at: http://www.welchwrite.com/dewelch/ce/

He can reached via email at douglas@welchwrite.com

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