telecommute

Yes, the long anticipated Firefox 3 Web Browser is finally here. It became available yesterday and according to Information Week it’s fast!

There are many enhancements made to the Firefox 3 browsers. Besides the increase in speed, there is easier navigation, super simple bookmarking, an awesome address location bar, download manager, improved full page zoom capabilities, text enhancements, instant website identification, and many more. Actually, according to Mozilla, there has been 15,000 enhancements.

The download of the new version of Firefox has been incredible. For the first 24 hours, the download was at 4%. Quite impressive.

So, if you are a huge Firefox fan as I am, you can download the new version here

Are you looking to obtain a new, catchy domain name for your business or website? Now, may be the time to get one because a new domain extension has been released, the .me domain. With all the “good” .com, and .net domain names already taken, now may be the time to latch on to a catchy one with the .me extension.

During the so called “landrush”, domain names are open to the public and anyone can apply to purchase one. After the landrush ends on June 26, 2008, the domain names will be auctioned off.

I wonder if help.me, love.me, bite.me, or byte.me is taken?

If you want one, it will cost you $49.99 for a year from GoDaddy. That’s with a minimum of a 2 year registration.

On Friday, June 6, 2008 episode of ABC’s The View, a segment on scanning business receipts came on that I thought would be useful to some of you telecommuters out there.

As telecommuters, we can oftentimes take tax deductions for home office expenses. (Of course, check with your accountant first).Things like computers, ink, printer, fax, paper, postage, computer supplies, and others. Well, there is a neat little device and program, aptly called Neat Receipts, that will help you maintain and analyze your receipts virtually without having to keep all that PAPER!

The device was demonstrated on The View and it seemed really simple. One thing I liked about it was that it was very small and seemed portable. It seemed like it would be useful for the business traveler that has to fill out those dredged expense reports.

The feature I really liked about it was that it comes with software that allows you to organize and analyze your receipts. You can export statements to Excel, Turbo Tax, Quicken, and QuickBooks. You can also scan business cards.

I really like what this product claims to do. In honor of their segment on ABC’s The View, they are offering a $20 discount using the coupon code found on their site. How cool is that?

The price listed today on NeatReceipts.com was $199.95 but you can also purchase Neat Receipts at Staples, Amazon, Costco, Target, Buy.com, Office Max, Best Buy, Sky Mall, Office Depot and a couple of other places.

You can read more about it here.

I wrote about Indeed.com, the mega job search website, yesterday. Well, they added a new search criteria that is sure to be very popular.

Now, you can search by estimated salary. That’s right, by salary that Indeed.com estimated for the search terms in addition to by job title, company name, keywords, and location all in one spot. And you still get results from all the major job boards, company career web pages, newspapers, and associations.

For example, to locate all Office Manager positions estimated to earn an annual salary of at least $40,000 per year, just key in Office Manager $40,000. Indeed.com will do the rest.

Per Indeed.com, they estimate salaries by using a proprietary methodology. Since many job postings don’t contain salary information, the proprietary methodology that Indeed.com uses is based on an analysis of similar job listings that include salaries.

This estimated salary feature is still in Beta, so they are requesting your feedback.

Have you heard about the job search site called Indeed.com? It was ranked one of the Top Ten websites of 2007 by Time Magazine.

Indeed.com is a job search engine. But not your ordinary job search engine. Indeed searches multiple major job boards, newspapers, associations, and company career web pages to report on your search terms and criteria.

You can search by job title, keyword, or company name as well as the optional city, state, or zip code. It compiles all results from many different sources such as Career Builder, Pro Blogger, Monster, Yahoo, Dice, newspapers, and company websites.

A nice feature of the site is that you can save your search criteria (keyword, job title, company name) and you can have the results delivered to you through an RSS feed or email.

It’s great! If you are looking for a job, try Indeed.com. You may just find what you are looking for!

So you just landed your first home-based position that you have been dreaming of, but now reality sets in and you are wondering how you are going to make this transition from an office job to a work at home job. Working from home isn’t for everyone. You need self-discipline, a high level of motivation, ambition, organization, and great time management skills to name just a few traits. Loving what you do helps too.

Now, there is a misconception out there that working at home in your PJs is all fun and games. I am here to say that it is not. It’s work – real work. If you don’t do the work – you don’t get paid. Simple as that! It’s like any other job – except that you do it out of your home office versus the company’s office. However, a few tips can help you stay on track while working at home.

Mini Goals

Are you one of those telecommuters that are prone to being distracted? Do personal phone calls, tv, kids, pets easily pull you away from your work? If so, having mini goals can help. For example, you can say to yourself, or better yet write down, that you won’t go down to the kitchen to get that second cup of coffee until you have written 2 articles, transcribed 30 minutes of audio, coded 25 medical records, logged 2 hours of customer service time, or written 5 blog posts.. Whatever your job is, make these mini goals before taking a break.

Take breaks/Eat Lunch

On the flip side, there are some telecommuters (like me) who tend to work too much. For some of us who love what we do, pulling ourselves AWAY from our work is actually tough. This is actually a common telecommuting habit. Some of us need to be forced to take a break. A tip here is to make it a point to have lunch, BUT eat it away from your desk. Try to do this at least 3 times a week instead of eating in front of the computer everyday.

Set and Stick to a Schedule

For both types of telecommuters, sticking to a schedule is key. Get up the same time every day and “arrive” at the office at the same day each day. Try to maintain the same lunch hour and “leave” the office around the same time everyday.

So, if you find yourself struggling at your telecommuting job either by being distracted or by working too much, try some of these tips. Either way, they could help.