Free applications that could save you an hour a day!

Are you on the lookout for time-saving programs? Maybe your friends use different instant messaging programs, such as ICQ or Windows Live Messenger, which means you need to run both to keep in touch. With applications such as Pidgin and Digsby you can stay in contact with all your friends from within one program.

Permission to launch

Perhaps you find that navigating your computer to open up programs that you use regularly is a chore, but don’t want to clutter up your desktop with shortcuts? There are application launcher programs available – such as Rocket Dock – that launch programs from your desktop with one click. And if you have a memory for keyboard shortcuts, you can even cut out the mouse click by using AutoHotKey to create your very own shortcuts.

Get organised

One of the biggest time wasters is disorganisation; hours can be lost while you search for a document or memo, or scour your inbox for an email that contains a forgotten password. With programs such as Evernote, you can search through all the notes kept on your computer – be they text documents or hand-written notes scanned in as an image – so you never
forget an important date or address again. Keeping your notes on your computer rather than your desk will help save your workspace from getting cluttered, saving you time even when you’re not using your PC.

If you have trouble keeping track of all your passwords for various web sites there are applications available, such as Roboform, that store all of your passwords securely so you don’t have to waste time trying to remember them. What sets Roboform apart from simply letting your browser remember your username and password is that you can save a master password to make sure only you have access to your passwords, and you can save multiple log-in details for the same web site – ideal if you have more than one Windows Live Hotmail account, for example. Perhaps the biggest time-saving feature of Roboform is its ability to store your details – name and address, for instance – so you can fill in online forms with just a single button click.

10 applications that will save you time on a daily basis

1 ROCKET DOCK

rocketdock.com

Launch any program straight from your desktop; drag and drop the app on to Rocket Dock, giving you direct access to your most-used applications.

2 PIDGIN

www.pidgin.im

If you have a number of instant messaging accounts, you can use Pidgin to talk to all of your contacts without switching between programs.

3 PORTABLE APPS

portableapps.com

This enables you to run selected applications straight from a USB drive – a web browser with your bookmarks, an email client, even the Open Office suite.

4 AUTOHOTKEY

www.autohotkey.com

With this application you can reduce any task you perform regularly to a keyboard shortcut, speeding up the way you use Windows Vista quite a bit.

5 EVERNOTE

evernote.com

With EverNote you can create and organise typed or written memos, and excerpts from web pages, documents or emails, making them easily searchable.

6 LOGMEIN

www.logmein.com

LogMeIn is a free remote desktop application that gives you access to your PCs from any other computer that’s connected to the internet.

7 LAUNCHY

www.launchy.net

With Launchy you type in the name of a program, file or web site you want to launch and press Enter; it even guesses what you want while you type.

8 DIGSBY

www.digsby.com

Digsby enables you to access all your instant messaging contacts, emails and social networking accounts from one central place.

9 ROBOFORM

www.roboform.com

With Roboform you can fill in online forms with one click and log into web sites automatically, saving you from having to remember all your passwords.

10 REMEMBER THE MILK

www.rememberthemilk.com

This online application helps you manage tasks. You can be reminded when tasks are due via email, SMS, instant messenger and Skype.