WIth the new year upon us, it’s a good time for web workers everywhere to brush up on new skills, get to know some new applications, and become more efficient. In this post, I’ll round up five ways to do better, more efficient work in 2008.

Get Better at E-Mail. Depending on whose market research you look at, the average worker spends between 90 minutes and three hours on e-mail every day. If you, like many a web worker live in Gmail all day, pick up some new skills. Likewise, if you are constantly in Microsoft Outlook, there are proven ways to work smarter.
Clean Up and Optimize Your Computers. The web is loaded with free tools for repairing and optimizing your computers. Invest a little time in this and you’ll be thankful all year.
Optimize Your Home Wi-Fi Setup. I get a ton of my work done while wirelessly connected to my home Wi-Fi network, which is what I’m connected to as I write this. If you don’t have a Wi-Fi network at home, take a look at how easy it is to set one up. In the same link, you’ll find information on how you can optimize the performance of your wireless network.
Upgrade Your Home Wi-Fi. If you are not yet using 802.11n technology, there’s no good reason to wait for it to be ratified in 2008. The Draft-N technology is very fast and very cheap. You can upgrade for under $200, unless you live in a palatial mansion .
Get Better at Mundane Things. The common applications and devices that you interact with all day take up lots of your time. If you, as many people do, write a lot in Microsoft Word, spend some time improving your skills. Likewise, even a gadget as seemingly ho-hum as a mouse can make you more efficient if you learn more about it.
What’s your plan for becoming a better web worker in 2008?
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