I really have a fantastic team!  Every now and then you will see they will come out to play sharing some fantastic information.  So, let me welcome my assiststant and MJVA Associate,  Karen Greenhalgh to the VA voice for her first guest blog post.

I bought my Blackberry Pearl 8120 in November and since then I can say my nickname for it has been my “Crackberry”.   It’s an addiction (well to me it is), organizing both family and work schedules, contacts and playing even the odd game while waiting in the Tim Horton’s drive-thru line has become a lifestyle. Keeping up with E-mail that I can reply to instantly while away from my computer, Shhhhhh don’t tell Michelle (she thinks I live at my desk).

I wanted to personalize my Blackberry and discovered www.crackberry.com where there are many others who share in my addiction not just for the Pearl, but all Blackberrys on both US and Canadian carriers.  The forums offer both free and licensed software, themes, tips and tricks to keep your addiction going.  Step-by-step guides to personalizing or even – GASP – recovering a dead Blackberry.

Another feature I LOVE is syncing it with Outlook 2007 for my calendar/tasks/address book. That way I stay ultra organized when I am booking appoints from the dentist to a meeting. Mind you, you’re not limited to just Outlook; there are a ton of other programs that you can use to keep yourself organized. Everything stays up to date, plus having Bluetooth enabled, it auto-syncs when I enter the house.

Another plus of having a Blackberry and a data plan is to do those “fun” things like upload a picture onto Facebook or even update your status on Twitter, login to your favourite website or catch that last minute bid on eBay. If equipped, GPS would get you to those hard to find places. As well it has a great battery life and always has a strong signal when calling out and maintaining conversations. Using the “QWERTY” keyboard, it has never been easier to fire off a text message or even a word document (another plus when using a Blackberry).

In conclusion, using the Blackberry to its full potential has increased productively in both the home and office. I would highly recommend this, for everyone who likes to stay organised but sometimes has a hard time keeping up with the post-it notes piling up on their desk.

Written by: Karen Greenhalgh