RescueTime is probably one of the coolest new web apps I’ve found. RescueTime helps individuals and/or teams analyze how time is being spent by tracking activities on a given computer.

I first used this over the weekend, and was immediately able to see how much time I spent in Adobe programs, browsing the Web, and blogging. It’s a great way to find out how productive a person or team really is. What a great idea!

There is a small application installation, but it works quite well on my Mac, and is fairly easy to access. I definitely recommend this program to business owners who want to increase productivity or better manage their time.

RescueTime even offers assistance for business owners that want to track productivity without invading their employees’ privacy.

I hope you find RescueTime as valuable as I do!

If you’ve never watched the popular cartoon featuring a happy, hyper, yellow sponge named Spongebob Squarepants, you’re truly missing out.

As a teen, my younger brother (sixteen years younger) really loved this cartoon. As his primary babysitter, I basically had to watch it. After a while, though, I saw what makes this cartoon so great! My husband and I watch it on a regular basis now!

Spongebob is part man, part boy. He lives life like a young adult, but with a childlike mindset. He works as a fry cook in a popular fast food restaurant called the Krusty Krab, home of the Krabby Patty. The best part about this? Spongebob LOVES his job.

Now, when I say he loves his job, I mean he literally cries if he has to miss work. He found something he loves to do, and he does it. He’s probably the most dedicated employee in television history. It’s beautiful that he is so happy doing something so simple. If more people chose a job they loved, the world would be a much better place. More importantly, if people chose to love the job they have, they would probably be a lot happier in general.

Granted, some people make decisions in life that limit their available job choices, but even those people should be thankful that they are able to have a paying job.

I’ve been in jobs that I didn’t like, but I don’t think I ever took for granted the fact that I was always able to find a job that paid the bills. That, in and of itself, made me happy to be there.

We can learn to at least not complain while we work. Spongebob teaches us that having what you need, having some fun, and having good friends is a great way to live life - even if you live in a pineapple under the sea.

My husband and I talk a lot about the makings of a good story. A good story will make you laugh, make you cry, or act as a mirror, showing you a part of yourself. We enjoy reading, and being told, great stories. The Harry Potter series is probably one of our favorites, and we re-read them often.

I started thinking about this, and realized that my favorite blogs are all a collection of great stories, told by great storytellers. The blogs I read offer information in the form of an entertaining, old-fashioned story-style moment. In this moment, I pause from my day to reflect on what the person has written, enjoying their experience and input on the topic at hand.

What is even more beautiful about blogs, is that the reader can interact just as if the person were sitting in their living room telling the story. Not much is lost in the art, except for some good facial expressions and hand gestures, but that’s why we have photo and video blogs, right?

Blogging is really a beautiful art form, as is storytelling. And being a good storyteller isn’t easy. In researching for this blog post, I found an article about telling good stories written by one of the greatest bloggers in the blogosphere, Mr. Seth Godin. This article is geared more toward marketers, but as bloggers, we are all marketers deep down.

His first line, “Great stories succeed because they are able to capture the imagination of large or important audiences,” applies to bloggers most of all. Bloggers who are successful at what they do are able to reach a lot of people. But more than reaching a lot of people, they reach people that are almost guaranteed to spread the word. These successful bloggers write relevant, truthful, interesting pieces with a sprinkling of entertainment thrown in. It’s good stuff, really.

I encourage any blogger who is serious about taking the web by storm to brush up on their storytelling skills. You might just find a group of motivated people who want to share your story with the world. When that happens, you’re golden.

Thanks for reading!

Ever wonder if your press release is lacking? This handy tool can help! Man, isn’t HubSpot great?

I’d love to hear how it works for various press releases. Please feel free to comment!

I had the pleasure of talking with an awesome mom who is passionate about working from home. The At Home Mom Blog is a great resource for work-at-home-moms of any profession.

Check out the interview and don’t forget to comment!

Tabloid design. Perhaps some of the most hideous graphical depictions to uglify the newsstands in the history of forever. Take a look at this blog post for some of the funniest headlines ever. Great stuff!

You can learn a lot from bad design…yikes.