Calling the IT Department! Oh Wait . . . That's Me!

As mentioned in my last post, I spent last week transitioning from my five year old PC to the new laptop I bought.  Doing this in the midst of a research and drafting project for a client posed additional challenges, but I'm happy with the result.  And it gives rise to a brief discussion of my home office, what I need and use, the software I like, etc.  So here goes.

First, a quick synopsis of the discussion I have with my Mac loving family and friends (and there are many).  The Mac lovers in my life mount compelling arguments in its favor, but in my own computer choice, the primary criterion is compatibility.  Most law offices operate on Windows PCs; hence, so will my home office.  I can’t afford to have clients complaining about my documents not working properly, and I don’t want to spend time on conversions, etc.  So it was a Windows laptop for me.

I have always been one to economize on hardware.  My family has a long tradition of handing down computers to each other, and getting by with upgrading and coddling along older hardware.  I know many will disagree with this approach, and believe it’s the best business investment to buy the very best (and consequently most expensive) hardware there is, but I believe I have a good grasp of how much computing power I need to adequately run my business, allowing for expected growth.  So, taking into consideration my still fairly meager budget, I purchased an Acer laptop (not the most expensive one), maxed out the RAM memory before taking it home, and called it good. 

Will this laptop still be serving me well five years from now?  Time will tell, but it certainly meets my needs now, and it feels light years faster than my old PC.  Moreover, when I’m working in my office, the larger LCD monitor, contoured keyboard and mouse from my old PC system are connected to it, greatly enhancing my speed and efficiency.

My laptop came loaded with Windows 7 and MS Office 2007 (a trial version, that is).  I immediately fell in love with both.  I won’t expound on all their many cool features; I just find them both very intuitive to use.

What other software do I find essential for my home office?

•    QuickBooks – I use this for all my business accounting.  It was invaluable last month when my taxes were being prepared, and I find it fairly easy to use.  I purchased this software, as the free version isn’t powerful enough for my needs.

•    Easy Time Tracking Pro – I use this for tracking my billable time.  I can create accounts for as many clients as I want, track my time for each client with a timer, and prepare detailed invoices.  There are a number of time tracking programs out there; this one meets my needs and is relatively inexpensive.  (Again, the free version isn’t powerful enough for my needs.)

•    SugarSync – I use this primarily for on-line backup of my most important data.  I have a free account, so I can’t back my entire computer onto it, but I back up everything work related.  I like the automatic nature of it.  Every time I hit “save” the document automatically backs up; there’s nothing I have to manually do.  SugarSync has file sharing capabilities, and I could in theory share documents with clients in this way, but it would require that the client have a SugarSync account as well, so I’m not using that function at this point.  (I know many people recommend DropBox for these same functions.)

•    Google Docs – I obviously didn’t have to download this, but I do use it in my business.  Google Docs allows me to set up folders through which I can share non-confidential documents with clients (I secure them so I’m not sharing them with the world), whether said clients have a Google account or not. 

•    TweetDeck – I like this platform for Twitter, and I view and respond to my LinkedIn and Facebook updates here as well.  I like the “one stop shopping” TweetDeck affords.

•    Skype – my family uses it a lot, and it is also available for use with clients if they choose.

I of course had to download and configure software and drivers for personal use as well, and transfer all my music, photos and files (Windows Easy Transfer really simplified this process, and enabled me to transfer software settings as well as documents).   All quite time consuming, but I am very close to being finished transferring my electronic life from my old PC to my new laptop.  And I managed to do so seamlessly enough that clients didn’t notice.

And now I'm looking forward to a peaceful and efficient work life in my new home office setup!