If you have just about given up on fulfilling your New Year’s resolutions to get more done in less time or be more productive at work or at home, don’t despair.

Productivity501 is here to save the day! *insert cheesy superhero music here*

Productivity501 is a site dedicated to bringing you regular tips and tricks to help increase your personal productivity. This site focuses on original content so the publication schedule is a little slower than other blogs out there. However, the content is always fresh and easy to understand. Mark W. Shead, the site’s owner and writer, is a consultant specializing in helping businesses use technology to solve and/or prevent problems.

For years, I prided myself on being very organized and knowledgeable about all things productivity related. However, graduate school (and hating it) kind of dampened my desire to do much of anything, let alone be productive. And it showed in my grades and overall attitude.

I am obsessive about cleaning out my inbox. Of course, this started a debate with my beautiful sister, so I had to find some ammo. Fortunately for me, I found Productivity501 during my search for tips for dealing with email. The post was good and helped me win my argument (GO ME!) - so, I decided to subscribe via Google Reader and read the articles once or twice a week.

I am SO glad I did! I have learned a lot more about how to be productive and a better technology user.

Posted just a few weeks ago, 10 Tips for Creating Secure Passwords is one of my favorite posts. I have tried for years to get a good idea of what a “good” password is. My training says one thing, my brother, a systems admin, says something else, and every techie out there has a theory. However, having an easy to understand post like 10 Tips for Creating Secure Passwords is a lifesaver and time saver. Now, instead of arguing about secure passwords with my brother over birthday cake, I can just send him this URL and watch his jaw drop!

This post was so good that I ended up reading ALL of the archives for Productivity501. Yes. Every single article. In October, Mark posted about Effective Web Browsing. Right up my alley! All of the tips are ‘common sense’, but sometimes, we just don’t process the idea unless someone else tells us. I was glad to see one of my Web Browsing tips was included:

Use RSS readers. RSS readers allow you to subscribe to a website feed. They show you all the sites you’ve subscribed to and indicate which ones you’ve read and which ones you have yet to read. By putting the content of all the sites you are interested in in one place, you can easily scan the headlines looking for things of interest.

This tip alone has saved me a lot of time and made me a much better web surfer. I’m so glad I’m not alone in thinking this is a great idea!

For those of you who need a little incentive to visit Productivity501, they are currently having a contest!!!! Visit today and enter the contest. If you win, just be sure to send me an email with a picture of you using your new Ipod!

Open until July 11, 2007

Spam, not that ultra yummy treat (sike) but the email variety, seems to have become a way of life for those of us who use email. I don’t know about you, but it is a major letdown when 3 out of 5 emails in my inbox are spam messages. Or when I have more unread emails in my spam folder than in my inbox.

After using some of these services, I can honestly tell you that there is no better technology to prevent and block spam than temporary emails. Not only does the email address expire after a certain amount of time, but your personal email address is protected from being sold and used by spammers.

1. I’ve used MyTrashMail for a long time. Some of the best features include OPTIONAL sign-up to use a disposable email address (they call this Secure Temporary Email) and a RSS feed of your email inbox. Your email address is kind of cool, too - yourname@trashymail.com.
2. SpamBox gives you a temporary email address in the format of yourname@spambox.us. It also allows you to set the lifespan of your inbox.
3. 10MinuteMail generates an email inbox with a life span of 10 minutes for your temporary email needs. The email address I got was mail3132210@gorillaswithdirtyarmpits.com.
4. MailExpire gives you the option to have a temporary inbox - ranging from 12 hours to as long as 3 months. The email address is formated as yourname@something.mailexpire.com. You can actually set the email address to expire immediately after creation or before your expiration time.
5. Spam.la is a fast disposable email service which requires no registration. The website is also very simple and Web 1.0-ish. You can see every message sent to spam.la accounts, or just your own by using the mail filter.

Do you have any favorites? If so, what are they and why do you use them?