I get so many questions on how I like the iPad. I usually answer with the generic “I love it” but that hardly explains why or in what capacity I can use it. I’ve been threatening to do a blog on how I use the gadget in a typical day (which in part inspired this blog in general). One thing to keep in mind about this post, first and foremost, the iPad is a device that can transcend between work and play easily. If you are looking specifically for a work only device, the iPad won’t conform strictly to that limitation. I’m going to be mentioning apps I use with the iPad, but this entry is not meant to review them exclusively. They work for me here and now, but that does not necessarily mean I would recommend them for everyone or even myself in the future. That’s what I love about technology. It’s a machine that is always changing, growing and expanding. What works pretty well today can be improved even more tomorrow. And with that, I bring you why I love my iPad.
Morning
As many of you know, I work from home, so my day starts when I walk into my office first thing in the morning (even if I have an early call). This particular day, I have a later appointment around 10 AM. This allows me to sit down at my desk to get those early morning things taken care of. The first thing I do is to take my turn in a game called Words with Friends (like Scrabble) with various friends I’m playing against. It’s an easy game that can be played on my own time which may mean a game can last for hours, days, even weeks. It’s actually a good way to start the day because I have to put my thinking cap on right away to come up with the best word I can use to score against my opponent(s) with the letters given. I’m rather competitive.
Once that is taken care of, I actually start working on my computer which may lead you to believe that I don’t really need the iPad at the moment. Truth be told, I still use it, even in front of my various computers. I’m busy working on items like bills, invoices, outstanding invoices, status on jobs with backups, news and orders placed. I’ve got a dozen screens open to everything, including former emails, I’ve already downloaded. What typically happens though is I start to receive emails for the current morning. Some personal, some business and some certainly SPAM. If I were to stop what I’m doing every time I hear the telltale ding a new email comes in to see what it is, I wouldn’t have time to leave the house. Besides, another dilemma is if the email is not urgent and I’ve already read it, I will now show it as read in my email client and I could possibly forget to respond in a timely manner. This is where I can use the iPad to help me. I hear I received a new email, I can open up my iPad and check emails on the server level, reading them there. If it’s something that can wait, I can let it download and leave it unread so I won’t forget about it later. If it is urgent, I can stop what I’m doing and flip over to get it right away. And best of all, if it’s SPAM, I can just delete right there without letting it fill up my inbox, risking infection. The iPad’s email client (though not perfect I admit) allows me to quickly zoom through different accounts with a literal flick of the finger and my focus is not taken away from what I am trying to get done before I leave for my client appointment.
Mid-morning
When it is time to leave the office, I have one job to do before I leave. I fire up an app titled Harvest which I use to track my real-time for business related matters. This particular app works for me on multiple levels, the key one being I can open it whether I’m online or not. If offline, I simply track my time as normal, then sync up later when I hit a wifi hot spot.
The customer I’m seeing on this day doesn’t happen to have wifi, but because I chose apps that can be used in an offline environment, I still bring my iPad in. The reason I was called out was due to a machine constantly rebooting on the customer. I’m able to stop the reboot process and finally see the blue screen that is causing all the trouble. Though I’m fairly certain I know what the error message is referring to, I want to be sure, and thus I pull up my Evernote app which I’ve always kept up to date on the iPad and check my notes to verify I’ve seen this error before. Yes, sure enough, it’s faulty memory. The computer is turned off and I pull the offending module. The machine can be used now but it’s at half speed and the customer agrees to order some more. I need to take down notes of the machine’s type so I use the calendar feature which, when I’m online, will sync to my online calendar of Google Apps. I always keep notes of each customer visit, as well as writing up the machine type so I can get the right memory, I place it here. The next wireless network I hook up to, my calendar item will be synced automatically without me having to do anything. At the minimum, I’ll have the information when I get back to the office to order.
Before leaving the customer, I make sure to stop my Harvest timer so I know exactly when I was finished on-site.
Lunch
I got done with the customer earlier than expected but don’t really have enough time to do anything before my lunch meeting at 11:30. So I head to the restaurant, which was chosen because it had free wifi access, and wait for my colleague to arrive. I have a good 30 minutes which is plenty of time to pull up my Salesforce CRM information and update the customer I just visited. With the customer records updated, I also check my email and though I know the content of most of the emails thanks to my phone, I can now answer them properly whether they are business or personal. Of course, I technically need to keep track of this on the Harvest app since it applies to work, so I make sure it is tracking.
I still have time to kill, so I go to my RSS reader which on the iPad is Early Edition (I can’t wait for it to sync with Google Reader some day) and discover Television Without Pity has updated a recap of one of my favorite shows. This is not work related, so I actually pause the Harvest app. I’m always trying to be as accurate with my time as possible. I’m able to take some time and enjoy reading until the person I’ve been waiting for arrives. Once he’s there, I open up Bento, a database app which can sync with my desktop version and I use one of the libraries for Meeting notes. When we are done, I get ready to go to my next appointment. Opening up Harvest I realize I forgot to turn the timer back on, but it’s no problem as I can input the times manually. It’s not as accurate but necessary when things get missed. I also make sure to start it for my next appointment.
Afternoon
Now this customer I am going to has a wifi access point which makes things easier where the iPad is concerned. While I’m waiting on a computer to finish a particularly long install process, I get an email from a customer asking for my next available opening. I’m able to check my calendar, reply back, and receive an affirmative response, ending in adding a new appointment to my calendar before the computer is done with it’s job. As I’m leaving, the customer wants to pay me my previous invoice but needs to know the total, as he doesn’t have the number in front of him. That’s no problem, because I have all my invoices synced with Dropbox, and I can pull up his last invoice, and read it him the total (or resend the invoice in email if he would prefer).
Leaving his office, I turn off the Harvest app and head straight to the bank, always happy to deposit a check. The line is rather long, and while I’m sitting there, I realize that I forgot I needed to create a specialized card for a friend of mine, using Send Out Cards, and I had something in particular in mind. Knowing it’s possible I could forget it again, I need to make myself an note. I’m in the car and its awkward to type up much there, even with a phone. Using Dragon Dictation on the iPad, I turn off the radio and create a new note. It easily takes down what I say, which I can then copy right out of it. Opening up the calendar app, I paste a new item in a calendar I have marked as TODO, and paste the information into the header, setting the time for later in the day when I’m certain I’ll be home. (Google Apps allows you to setup separate calendars that can have default and distinct types of reminders for a new event. In this case, I have my TODO calendar set to always send me a text message so I can remember to do a certain task at a certain time, even if I’m away from my computer).
After I get back to my office, I’ve gotten a lot of my earlier work done. The only thing left is to order the memory for the customer and invoicing for the day’s work. I do have to manually open Bento, so it will synchronize the meeting notes with my desktop version but again, I’m happy to not have to duplicate any work I’ve already done.
Evening
After dinner, work hours are generally over but that does not mean I’m done with the iPad. I usually leave it on my coffee table as I watch TV. On this day, I actually log on using IM+ Lite so I can chat with friends while we watch a favorite TV show together. Of course emails coming in are also easy to answer right there instead of heading back to my office. When I hear thunder outside, I pull up WeatherBug to see the current radar. A commercial alerts me to a new movie released on BluRay, and I then open Netflix to make sure to add it to my queue. Finally it’s time for bed and I’m done with iPad for the day. I’ve used it from morning to night and it’s made my life a lot easier, as good technology should.
