Who else has Internet ADD?
I do… I do!!!!
How many times have you sat down to do some work and ended browsing the internet? Next thing you know, you are looking for something completely unrelated to what you were supposed to be doing.
It happens to a lot of people. There are so many distractions that can get in the way of us being as productive as we can be. The phone ringing, the television blaring in the background, the kids fighting in the next room and etc. It is extremely difficult to just sit down and concentrate on working on a project for a set amount of time.
Introducing “The Action Machine“!!
This is an amazingly simple but effective piece of software created by Derek Franklin. The Action Machine is designed to help you stop procrastination, achieve goals, and get things done.
Pros:
Cost: The investment for The Action Machine is a paltry $47 as of the time of this review. It could go up at any time according to the creator’s website. My personal opinion is that any tool that can help me to stop procrastination, is a welcomed addition. The ability to get things done in a timely manner and help with achieving my goals is priceless. I personally have tried everything from checklists to using a calendar for reminders… NOTHING HAS WORKED! Until now!
Focus: After using this software for a week I can honestly say that the biggest benefit of using this software is accountability. The way the software works is by allowing you to set timers for the tasks that you want to get done over the course of a day. So when you set the timer you mentally realize that you have a set amount of time to get that particular task done within the time that you have allotted yourself. This will help to keep you on task and hopefully help you reign in the Internet ADD that you may be suffering from.
Increased Productivity: These benefits are mostly interconnected. Once you become focused on completing your tasks within the allotted time, you will then notice that you have more time to accomplish other things. Let’s face it, there are only 24 hours in a day. It is recommended that you get at least 8 hours of sleep per day. This leaves you with 16 hours in a day. If you were to write down every action you completed during those 16 hours you would be able to see exactly how much of that time is wasted on tasks that are helping you to achieve your goals. Using The Action Machine, you will be able to gain back those valuable lost minutes, hours and days.
Achieved Goals: What if you had a pressing project that was due in a short amount of time? You would probably need to make sure that you devoted the majority of your time to tasks that would help you to meet your deadline, right? Imagine if you had a piece of software to make sure that you stay on topic. The sense of urgency that The Action Machine gives you would help to ensure that you meet your deadlines.
Cons:
Scheduling: This is more of a feature request than a con for The Action Machine software. Mainly I wish that there was a way to setup my schedule and tasks for an entire week. This software is a tasks based program. Meaning you create tasks and determine the amount of time that you would require to get that task done. Personally, I would prefer to be able to sit down on a Sunday and plan out my entire week.
Customized Report: Let me clarify this for you… You see the software has a reporting function that summarizes all the tasks that you have done and presents it in a nice little tidy format so you can see what tasks you spent the most time on. This is a great function! The only problem I had is that I would like to customize the report to be able to either use it as a billing tool for clients or to break down the tasks into buckets or categories. This would be great way to know what areas I spend the most working in.
Summary:
I give my highest recommendation to this software. One of the pros that I didn’t mention above is the simplicity of The Action Machine. It is extremely easy to use and the installation was a snap! You really can’t go wrong with buy The Action Machine. It can be a great addition to your arsenal of tools.
Rating: 5/5
Popularity: 1% [?]