July 2010
2 posts
3 tags
Steve Job's a good un'
Last week we launched the first of 1DayLater’s phone applications, this one for the i-phone.
Die hard 1DayLater users will know that this has been a long time coming; mostly because the ‘bigger boys’ at the iphone store have kept returning our latest builds for picky reasons. But we’ve now squirmed our way in - hoorah!
The first of many phone apps which we will be...
2 tags
A chance to party in Gateshead new creative...
‘The Shed’ is a former Bed Warehouse in the UK city of Gateshead. After it’s former occupiers met some unknown fate (bankruptcy perhaps) the building was scheduled for demolition in around two years time. So the council, rather cleverly, have decided to turn the place into an open-plan workspace for creative companies.
And what’s more, 1DayLater is going to be one of...
June 2010
3 posts
5 tags
Creating a charity website in under 24 hours
It’s now just over 2 weeks until 1DayLater’s geeky charity event Webdurance. Although the idea to create charity websites overnight has been done before in the USA (see the overnight website challenge) we’re looking forward to adding some North East Flair to the concept.
And just to prove that it can be done we even created our own Webdurance website from scratch in just 21...
3 tags
We're creating a team..
Are you a skilled web-developer? Have you graduated from a North East based university in the last 3 years? If so 1DayLater would like to hear from you.
With a new office on the horizon we are keen to expand and start branching into new areas. Particularly integrating 1DayLater popular web-based programs such as project management tool basecamp.
Ok so it’s not a full time role for now,...
Shall I compare thee to a 1DayLater timesheeting...
If I asked you to think of timesheets you would probably think of last thing on a Friday afternoon, loads of grief, wasted time and drab spreadsheets. A necessary evil.
Well no more! When local company and Centre for Digital Excellence, Codeworks recently asked us to help save them admin time and costs we went to it with a venguence. And now we’re making timesheets beeeautiful!
A work in...
May 2010
3 posts
Tell tale signs that you have 'made it' in...
I love human psychology and what makes people tick. I’m intrigued by what people consider to be the important milestones for having made it in business or in life.
Naturally this all depends on what drives you. For the financially driven there are things to aim for like…
Buying a yacht
Retiring at 40
For the sex-driven…
Well there’s being Hugh Hefner of course!
...
Happy Birthday - have some #tags!
Friday was my birthday, I’m now 26! Making me only a few million years from being a fossil, and I like the idea I’ll someday fuel the hovercars of the future… Awesome!
So in celebration we’ve battled illness and deadlines to add the long awaited tagging system to 1DayLater!!! Today is truly glorious :-)
To tags your entries, just bash the hash key and you can create...
2 tags
1DayLater phone apps are almost here!
Over this last month we have been waylaid slightly from our feature roadmap by a large corporate tender we recently won.
The result (which you might have noticed) has been less frequent tweaks and improvements to the site. But rest assured that we are still here working hard and that there are some very exciting new things to come out of our current development.
Despite our current corporate...
April 2010
7 posts
2 tags
Codeworks DEV
DEV - (Digital Evaluation Vehicle)
The North East of England has long been at the cutting edge of science, from pioneering cancer breakthroughs to creating human sperm from embryonic stem cells - if you’re in the mood for a chuckle then hark back to our earlier Techcrunch video where David talks about high tech Geordie sperm!
And now there is something else very special happening in...
Help us write some blurb!
One of the hardest things in business is finding the right punchy words to use in your blurb, whether it is advertising for your site or a press release! For 1DayLater’s summer charity event, Webdurance, it’s no different.
(For some background on this twenty-four hour event, where volunteers will battle sleep deprivation to create websites overnight - read our last blog post)
Now we...
2 tags
Webdurance is coming!
Ah the summer air on your face, the sun out once again. Wow, it really feels good doesn’t it!
It gets even better though! This summer 1DayLater will be hosting a new event called Webdurance, with the help of some of the finest web-developer talent here in the North East.
The Webdurance robot - isn’t he lovely….awww
The gallant teams, made up of local web-professionals, will...
BAM! Get fit, smile and be productive
Even productivity guru’s such as the handsome King Brothers are subject to low morale every now and then - in my case lady-withdrawal symptoms, but this ain’t “Dear David”… So what’s a person to do? GET FIT!
Keeping healthy is one of the best ways to feel good about yourself, it will de-stress you, keep you motivated and even help your brain work harder! But...
2 tags
Five ultimate tips to help businesses get ahead
These rules will help you maximize your productivity, motivation and success in business - the 1DayLater way.
1. “Tak it on”
Translates as - take it on!
(North East slang used for extra kick-up-the-ass effect)
Have you ever had a full on mind-battle with yourself - knowing that you have something totally arduous or unpleasant to do? Have you ever then given yourself a mental...
4 tags
Stimulating Software Innovation
Attention all North-East developers, dreamers and entreprenuers
Here’s a quick heads up about another fine event hosted by our good friends at Sunderland Software City. We would urge anyone with the seed of a software idea or simply wanting to break into the software scene to check this out.
Dates: Friday 23rd April & Wednesday 2nd June Venue: North East BIC, Sunderland Cost:...
4 tags
PCmag's 'best free software of 2010'
I was just a gleam in my parents eyes when PCmag started up in 1982. For anyone who hasn’t heard of these guys, they are a well respected online computer magazine who were published monthly both in print and online till January 2009.
Now the magazine just has an online version, but still features reviews and previews of the latest hardware and software for the IT pro. Every year they...
March 2010
7 posts
4 tags
Help me find a word!
I need your help!
Part and parcel of being a programmer is that good naming conventions are important to us, hell, we often get riled up about it! Which is why I really need you to help me find the right term, right now… lest I die from madness
So, we’re working with Codeworks to create a custom reporting system to help them better explain how their time and resources are spent on...
Music and Motivation - the coder
As a follow up to Paul’s managerial music article, I want to discuss how music affects me when I’m “getting ma code on”. Now, I’m a bit of a music mentalist - I love everything, and I think a lot about how different music can change the way you focus and the way they make you think.
Problem solving
Sure, all programming is problem solving, what I mean here is those...
5 tags
The pie's the limit
Our new 1DayLater pie charts are almost cooked!
Imagine a pie…now imagine how it’s curvatious pastry dough shell covers a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Picture the pie in a variety of sizes, ranging from bite-size to family feast…mmm pie.
Ok, so that’s a good description of an actual pie and I’m starting to get hungry. But our new 1DayLater...
4 tags
Music and Motivation - manager
This one’s specifically for any managers out there, while my brother will be blogging the same topic soon for the coders amongst you!
1) The everyday grind
If you freelance or run a small business you will be faced with common tasks which need to be tended to a regular basis! It could be doing your bookkeeping, writing a proposal, or replying to a customers email query. Having some music...
3 tags
Two simple steps to 1DayLater
The field of time tracking is probably the most crowded online software market. There I said it out loud. Phew nice to get off my chest
Ok so I’m no statistician but a few rudimentary google searches of popular software types says so, so hey it must be true ;)
‘Time tracking software’ - 32 million results
‘CRM software’ - 11 million results
...
3 tags
My introductory blog for Webdurance, 1DayLater's...
Hey I’m Esther and I thought it was about time I said hello!
I’m now two weeks into a full time internship as the 1DayLater event manager which will see me planning their summer fundraising hackathon, Webdurance. And I’m very excited to be involved!
This event will see host to a 24-hour charity hack… 36 web programmers, designers and writers will be locked up in a...
4 tags
The WonDayLater Golden Ticket
A common problem faced by many software companies using a freemium pricing approach is:
“How do I show the value of our premium features without simply giving them away”
The answer for most (and the majority of our competitors) is to simply use a good old 30-day trial. Great, easy, badabing, badabong - yes?
Well although this might be straightforward, we realised that the 30 day...
February 2010
6 posts
3 tags
The Cost of 1DayLater
1DayLater currently stores over 22,000 entries tracking 26,000 hours, 72,000 business miles and over £3,000,000 of receipts and expenses. The cost? A £20,000 bank loan, 1,700 dedicated man hours creating 30 iterations of 100-200 files resulting in around 5,000,000,000 database queries, 2,000 users and hit spikes of around 5,000. But lets not forget the 85(+1) blog posts, 2,000 Tweets, 120 hours of...
4 tags
Bonding with Bond Solutions
I have 8 ambitions for this year. 4 are related to 1DayLater, 2 lifestyle, and 2 personal/professional development. I pin the list to the wall behind my desk helping me instill each point into my day-to-day efforts as I repeatedly mull them over.
Here’s a little peek at the first 4:
Get world wide recognition for 1DayLater
Become market leader for activity tracking software.
Integrate...
6 tags
Exciting New Tender For Programmers
If you’re a local (North East based) programmer who would like to work on an exciting new project we might have something just for you!
Local quango (quasi-autonomous non governmental organisation) and centre for Digital excellence - Codeworks are pioneering a new timesheet system for their employees. The new system will bring data from Outlook into 1DayLater which will then be used to...
Rocket Ronnie Redesigns...
You’ve probably noticed that Paul has been running the blog on his own for the past few weeks, this is because I’ve been knee deep in a big rejiggle of the 1DayLater service. Now, the goal of 1DayLater is to turn a typically mundane task (keeping track of your business activities) into something enjoyable and rewarding we must do two things:
Make it easy to use - check!
Make it as...
4 tags
2600 hits and 915 new users - in 1 day
Words cannot describe what has happened here at 1DayLater yesterday. Here’s a clue..
But first,
This is what happened the day before
woke up
Had my cereal (Weetabix)
Made cuppa (Yorkshire tea)
Went to office
Discovered this nice little article on Webworkerweekly
Checked the site stats
I THOUGHT- “Oh 60 signups this morning - cool”
I SAID - “Here David,...
5 tags
Surround yourself with skilled people
Some advice I was given recently was “Don’t do it all yourself”, a great piece of advice I think every business owner should take to heart. Which is why when it comes to dealing with law or accounts it’s wise to enlist the help of a pro.
As brothers, David and I are generally very trusting with a shared optimistic outlook on life and people. We find life is just nicer that...
January 2010
6 posts
6 tags
1DayLater phone & desktop applications
Some months ago we surveyed our beloved 1DayLater users to find out what the most-wanted features were. A mobile phone application came out on top, with a desktop application not far behind.
We’ve decided to kill these two particular birds with one stone. And enlisted the help of some local pro’s to help us do it.
Twisted Studio are a digital design house operating from the heart...
3 tags
Techcrunch Europe and other great exposure
January has been a phenominal month in terms of press for 1DayLater. Almost overnight we’ve started to attract a swash of Beta sign ups from across the waters. And like proud parents we’d like to share with you some of the great reviews 1DayLater has had.
1DayLater - A feisty time-tracking solution from the North East of England
Techcrunch Europe is ranked as the most influential...
3 tags
Sunderland Software Ventures 3
Helping to drive forward the software industry in our region
We’ve had a small request from our good friends at Sunderland Software City. They have asked us to spread the word of their new Software Ventures program.
“The program itself is designed to help encourage the creation of high-growth software based businesses.”
“It is aimed at individuals who have the seed of...
4 tags
Graphic.ly, the beautiful comic beta
Probably the fasted I’ve gone from thinking about writing a blog entry to actually doing it…
”@1DayLater writes: So there’s bugs and missing features - but it’s *very* clear that @graphicly is the Usain Bolt of the comic world… Time to blog”
Graphic.ly, another North-East startup has begun handing out “Baby Beta” invites for their graphic...
The Export feature lands!
7 days between 1DayLater blog posts?! It’s unheard of!!
Being busy is a terrible excuse for not writing on the blog, I think it might be time to invent a word that’s busier than “busy”… We’ve got some great news about 1DayLater, but first lets recap other goings-on:
Me and Paul have moved in together a shared home office = double productivity
We’re...
7 tags
Time Management Tips - no.2
Understanding Urgent Vs Important
By being pro-active rather than reactive, and ensuring you work on ‘the right’ things rather than on all things you will become far more effective in work and in life.
Maelstrom is a timeless classic and favourite game of mine, a lot like the popular asteroids. It provides a great visual aid to describe how your daily activities fit within Urgent...
December 2009
6 posts
Dan Hurst introduces 1DayLater
1DayLater now features a delightful “how to use 1DayLater” video animation for our new users which you can see on the main page when logged in. It’ll stay there for a week, so make sure you check it out. It’s been sat at the top of my list for about a month now and I can’t express how happy I am to see it up and running, it’s beautiful!
Of course I’ve put...
1 tag
Merry Christmas Everyone!
HUGE thanks to all our friends, Beta testers and supporters. You’ve made this year very special and enjoyable for us.
Hope that you all have some nice time off with your family and loved ones :)
Paul & David King
9 tags
Our Ambitious Vision for 2010
1DayLater have enjoyed a great 2009, and look forward to celebrating this Christmas and New Year. But before we go, here are a some exciting things to look forward to in 2010…
A Full feature set — with outputs including invoicing, mileage claims, export, more in-depth analysis, and 3rd party add-ons.
Mobile phone & desktop app development — you’ll be able to...
6 tags
Time Management Tips - no.1
Aggressive Prioritizing / extreme time management
Here’s one of the most effective ways to boost your work productivity. I do this every day and seriously - it works!
Bend time to your will…
Step 1-Create a to-do list every morning
First thing in the morning (after you’ve had your morning cuppa of course) spend 15 minutes constructing a to-do list of activities you feel...
4 tags
100 users in London, 100 up North
Tis time to celebrate - the 100th user signed up to the system today! Our beer-based motivation system (we’ll blog about that in the future) says that we must have a pint together to celebrate, happy days.
The real reason we’re writing is to talk about The Big Smoke - London. Last week we took an extended weekend to visit Kingpin Intelligence to talk about the marketing campaign that...
6 tags
Use-Case diagram for the API
Happy December people, Christmas is really creeping in!
As 1DayLater is a member of the Codeworks DEV project (Digital Evaluation Vehicle) and as such we’re required to supply certain technical documents to tick some boxes. One such document is the “use-case diagram” that explains the 1DayLater API, while a doodle on a scrap of paper would have been OK we realised that other...
November 2009
7 posts
4 tags
1DayLater - An Update
With Beta testing well underway and our userbase expanding rapidly, I thought it was about time we had a wee update on general progress.
But what’s that you say? Our good friends at Ifwecanyoucan (a subgroup of Entrepreneurs Forum) have done it for me? Oh cool - well I guess you’d better have a mosey over there then, my work here is done! I’ll just hold the fort here and slurp...
4 tags
Time to Take Stock & Celebrate
Starting a business can be pretty hard work
But that said, we think it’s important to occasionally stop, take stock, and celebrate our successes. And the success of our friends, many of whom are also starting businesses :)
Here are a few things we’ve enjoyed celebrating recently!
1DayLater’s Beta launch - 60 lovely beta testers in under a week!
The Launch of exciting...
4 tags
First impressions count
After almost a week of the Free Beta we’ve discovered a few things about “first impressions”, currently when you sign up to 1DayLater there are no example entries, there’s no tutorial or introduction video and you’re left to discover how to use the system on your own. The first lesson we’ve learned during the beta is that without a guiding hand only a brave few...
Feedback - your vote counts!
Today we added a simple feedback system to 1DayLater that will give us direction while developing the service. The idea is very simple, we know what features we plan on adding but by casting a vote you help us decide which order to do things, it’s wonderful!
Not only that, but you can even create your own suggestions, things we haven’t even thought of to help shape our future. Of...
3 tags
Warm Winter Worktimes
Spot the difference :D
As winter rolls in, a programmers touchpad finger knows it’s time to man up. While it’s mates are all snug he must battle on…
We salute you :P
Ha!
4 tags
1DayLater needs Beater testers
Aaaah bad pun sorry! I just couldn’t resist
We’re kicking this week off by asking if anyone would like the chance to Beta test 1DayLater. As well as doing us a massive service, you will also be getting a super early peek at our web-based software in action.
Ideally, we’re interested in testers who have a genuine need to track their day-to-day business activities. Remember...
5 tags
An Update - "Analysis"
One of the core features of 1DayLater is being able to view your activities in a way that is easy to interpret and understand. This might be visualising time spent with clients, business miles or everyday expenses.
Alternatively it could be observing your day-to-day productivity by tracking time spent on tasks such as admin, finance, sales etc. This is the kind of thing I generally track, which...
October 2009
6 posts
6 tags
Codeworks to Beta test 1DayLater
We have some fantastic news - We’ve mentioned before that local giant Codeworks have agreed to be the very first testers for 1DayLater, and tomorrow they are stepping up to the task!
We couldn’t have asked for a better business to do this, Codeworks are regarded by many as the guardian angels of Software in the North-East, as well as having a highly intelligent team, they also...
The mentors of 1DayLater
As 1DayLater goes into it’s beta testing phase, we want to show some respect to the mentors who have helped us get this far.
Teesside’s Institute of Digital Innovation -
“Developing ideas into industry”
http://www.digitalcityfellowships.org/home
Sunderland Software City -
“Striving to create a regional software hub where people are inspired and enterprising...
3 tags
The Entrepreneur and his/her Cornerstones
Ever since reading the Beermat Entrepreneur by Mike Southon (see earlier blog post on this), I’ve become interested in the stages of growth faced by companies. It considers that a good arrangement for a very small (seedling) company looks a little something like this
The ideas guy (also known as the entrepreneur) sits at the top with his 4 cornerstones around him. Each of the cornerstones...