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robertogreco + gtd   88

Taming the Wandering Mind | The Moral Sciences Club | Big Think
"Reconciling oneself to the fact that projects "take the time they take" can be a necessary step in finishing projects at all. My mind is not simply prone to distraction, it is prone to rebellion. The wrong kind of pressure makes it resist its own commands, sends it spinning out of its own control. Bearing down, reining in, whipping harder doesn't get "me" back on track so much as set me against myself in a showdown I always lose winning. Better to just glide on the thermal of whim until the destination once again comes into sight and a smooth approach becomes finally possible.

Not to say that one can drift one's way to success. Aims must be fixed and kept in mind, even if one knows it's worse than useless to charge right at them. One must develop a sense of one's attention as one develops a sense of a powerful but skittish horse, calmly riding wide of known dangers…

We need to reconcile ourselves to our own temperaments, stop trying to fight or drug ourselves into submission…"
medicine  drugs  howwework  howwewrite  allsorts  productivity  focus  willpower  self-mastery  self-improvement  self-accommodation  gtd  effort  adhd  2012  hanifkureishi  attention  distraction  willwilkinson  from delicious
february 2012 by robertogreco
Task Management At Its Best With Wunderlist | 6Wunderkinder
software  todo  productivity  gtd  mac  osx  windows  iphone  ipad  ios  android  lists  applications  free  from delicious
february 2011 by robertogreco
Good and Bad Procrastination
"If you want to work on big things, you seem to have to trick yourself into doing it. You have to work on small things that could grow into big things, or work on successively larger things, or split the moral load with collaborators. It's not a sign of weakness to depend on such tricks. The very best work has been done this way.<br />
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When I talk to people who've managed to make themselves work on big things, I find that all blow off errands, and all feel guilty about it. I don't think they should feel guilty. There's more to do than anyone could. So someone doing the best work they can is inevitably going to leave a lot of errands undone. It seems a mistake to feel bad about that."
procrastination  gtd  paulgraham  productivity  2005  distraction  attention  interruptions  focus  creativity  innovation  work  cv  efficiency  errands  priorities  lifehacks  from delicious
december 2010 by robertogreco
Getting Creative Things Done: How To Fit Hard Thinking Into a Busy Schedule :: Tips :: The 99 Percent
"At first glance, the GCTD system seems obvious. “Block out time on my calendar for big projects,” you might think. “I've tried that.”<br />
<br />
Creative work, however, is a subtle affair. If your mind is not in the exact right state, it’s difficult to produce high-quality results. Because of this, details matter. This is what’s important about GCTD, not the general idea of blocking out time, but the carefully-calibrated details that accompany it: the blocks are treated like real appointments and are dedicated to only one (or, at most, two) projects in a week; absolutely zero interruptions are allowed during the blocks; and the focus is on process, not goals.<br />
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These little things add up to a system that consistently produces the types of ambitious results that, as Graham puts it, are “at the limits of your capacity.” The type of results that can make you a star."
creativity  time  scheduling  gtd  gctd  arts  business  advice  work  focus  goals  from delicious
december 2010 by robertogreco
Bunchberry & Fern: The Future of Workplace Learning (and this blog)
"My advice for people interested in Getting Things Done is to set aside all that productivity mumbo-jumbo until you're ready to optimise. If you're not doing what you want to do, it's not because you need a new calendar app, but because you have no real clear idea of what you want to do."
gtd  productivity  productivityasdistraction  distraction  from delicious
november 2010 by robertogreco
What we can learn from procrastination : The New Yorker
"Ainslie is probably right that procrastination is a basic human impulse, but anxiety about it as a serious problem seems to have emerged in the early modern era. The term itself (derived from a Latin word meaning “to put off for tomorrow”) entered the English language in the sixteenth century, and, by the eighteenth, Samuel Johnson was describing it as “one of the general weaknesses” that “prevail to a greater or less degree in every mind,” and lamenting the tendency in himself: “I could not forbear to reproach myself for having so long neglected what was unavoidably to be done, and of which every moment’s idleness increased the difficulty.” And the problem seems to be getting worse all the time. According to Piers Steel, a business professor at the University of Calgary, the percentage of people who admitted to difficulties with procrastination quadrupled between 1978 and 2002. In that light, it’s possible to see procrastination as the quintessential modern problem."
procrastination  philosophy  productivity  selfimprovement  economics  psychology  education  research  time  cv  ignorance  immobility  jamessurowieckygtd  freedom  effort  rewards  timemanagement  time-wasting  jamessurowiecky  gtd  from delicious
october 2010 by robertogreco
Mule Design Studio’s Blog: The Chokehold of Calendars
"Meetings may be toxic, but calendars are the superfund sites that allow that toxicity to thrive. All calendars suck. And they all suck in the same way. Calendars are a record of interruptions. And quite often they’re a battlefield over who owns whose time.<br />
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In my experience, most people don’t schedule their work. They schedule the interruptions that prevent their work from happening. In the case of a business like ours, what clients pay us to make and do happens in the cracks between meetings, or worse, after business hours.<br />
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I’ve yet to see a résumé—and I hope I never do— that lists “attends meetings well” as a skill. Yet attending meetings ends up being a key component of many jobs. And it’s stupid.<br />
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The problem here is two-fold. Part of it is software. Part of it is human behavior. You can’t fix the software without adjusting the human behavior. And there is no point to addressing the human behavior if the software won’t support it."
via:robinsloan  meetings  productivity  time  work  cv  gtd  management  calendars  administration  tcsnmy  from delicious
october 2010 by robertogreco
An interview with Keita Takahashi : The Setup
"MacBook Pro…w/…anti-glare display…<br />
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My music player is an iPod. It is an old model w/ blue-white LED backlit display. The capacity is only 20GB, but I love the design so I keep using it…<br />
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This year, I bought a digital camera after waiting 7 years…DSC-HX5V. It has a stereo microphone & GPS, & can take so-so movies & photos. I am moderately satisfied…<br />
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My vacuum cleaner is a Numatic Henry (Green). It is the vacuum cleaner I always yearned for. I was dreaming of it when I graduated from university, & bought it with my first salary…<br />
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My refrigerator is a SHARP SJ-XW44S. The door can be opened from either the right or left. Cool…<br />
<br />
Basically, I don't use especially impressive software…<br />
<br />
Until several years ago, my main web browser was OmniWeb. So, I bought OmniFocus to try it. I learned I was not well suited for such kinds of GTD software…<br />
<br />
What would be your dream setup?<br />
<br />
A big house with a vast garden. A miraculous notebook that enhances my ideas. That's perfect."
keitatakahashi  software  media  design  games  gaming  hardware  interview  computing  simplicity  mattescreens  vaccuum  ipod  refrigerators  gtd  omnifocus  from delicious
october 2010 by robertogreco
EPICWIN
"Our lives are full of quests. Remember that birthday card, send that email, or drag ourselves to the gym on a regular basis.<br />
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Trouble is, sometimes we’re having too much fun doing other virtual stuff like hunting down rare items in WoW or leveling-up in Facebook games, to remember the stuff we’re supposed to be doing.<br />
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EpicWin is an iPhone app that puts the adventure back into your life. It’s a streamlined to-do list, to note down all your everday tasks, but with a role-playing spin.<br />
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Rather than just mentally ticking off your chores, completing each one improves & develops your character in an onging quest to level-up, gain riches, & develop skills.<br />
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By getting points for your chores it's easier to actually get things done. We all have good intentions but we need a bit of encouragement here and there. Doing the laundry is an epic feat of stamina so why not get stamina points for it?!<br />
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Watch as your avatars stats develop in ways to represent your own life."
iphone  application  motivation  gtd  rpg  productivity  gamedesign  games  gaming  chores  epicwin  rewards  from delicious
august 2010 by robertogreco
Syphir
"Rules beta » turbo-charged filters for your Gmail
syphir  applications  iphone  email  filtering  filters  gmail  gtd  productivity 
july 2010 by robertogreco
Why You Can’t Work at Work | Jason Fried | Big Think
"With its constant commotion, unnecessary meetings, and infuriating wastes of time, the modern workplace makes us all work longer, less focused hours. Jason Fried explains how we can change all of this."
jasonfried  37signals  bigthink  interruptions  meetings  communication  business  distraction  gtd  office  management  design  leadership  productivity  process  workplace  work  tcsnmy  creativity 
july 2010 by robertogreco
Make Your Own Moleskine-Like-Notebook
"Your very own Moleskine-like-notebook/journal/sketchbook. The one we'll be making is 3.5 x 5.5 x .5 inches. I use this size because it fits nicely into my back or front pants pocket. Strangely enough it is also the same size as the Moleskine notebook. For the pages we'll be using 20# bond paper (the same paper you use in your copier and inkjet printer). As you might have noticed in the dimensions, the notebook is a half-inch thick. This gives you 192 single pages of writing/sketching/painting fun. For the cover we'll use vinyl Naugahyde (that's what I use but feel free to use whatever you have on hand). After we're through I'll offer a list of enhancements and alternative ways to make your notebook/journal/sketchbook to meet your individual needs.
via:migurski  art  book  bookbinding  moleskine  notebooks  howto  gtd  lifehacks  tutorial  tutorials  make  books  crafts  design  diy  papercraft  papernet  paper  projects  srg  glvo  tcsnmy 
may 2010 by robertogreco
Seth's Blog: The Rule of High School
"As in high school, the winners are the ones who don't take it too seriously and understand what they're trying to accomplish. Get stuck in the never ending drama (worrying about what irrelevant people think) and you'll never get anything done. The only thing worse than coming in second place in the race for student council president is... winning."
education  sethgodin  humor  highschool  psychology  relationships  gtd  work  life  advice  distraction 
october 2009 by robertogreco
Faking It as a Productivity Tip - ProfHacker.com [via: http://snarkmarket.com/2009/3698]
"Faking it is a crucial way to get anything accomplished. Many abstracts for conferences or proposals for books or sabbaticals or anything else are written before the project described therein is finished, or sometimes even started. You build a constituency for a new course in part by positing its existence, and then trusting that a successful iteration of it will lead to even more interested students. Al Filreis gave an excellent example of this on Twitter the other day: “In the late 90s univ’s had big plans for ‘distance learning’ but it all fell through (not enough $). Now it simply happens.” It happens through getting out there and doing the work–even if, or perhaps especially when, you’re not 100% sure of what you’re doing."

[via: http://snarkmarket.com/2009/3698 ]

[now at: http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/faking-it-as-a-productivity-tip/22762 ]
productivity  cv  doing  do  sabbaticals  diggingin  tcsnmy  iteration  making  thinking  process  academia  learning  learningbydoing  gtd  autodidacts  unschooling  faking  fakingit  michaelchabon  kiostark  brepettis  nobodyknowswhatthey'redoing 
october 2009 by robertogreco
Stefan Sagmeister: The power of time off | Video on TED.com
"Every seven years, designer Stefan Sagmeister closes his New York studio for a yearlong sabbatical to rejuvenate and refresh their creative outlook. He explains the often overlooked value of time off and shows the innovative projects inspired by his time in Bali."
stefansagmeister  sabbaticals  yearoff  sevenyears  cv  timeoff  lifehacks  gtd  creativity  work  projects  process  design  art  writing  innovation  productivity  life  ideas  bali  glvo  furniture  ted  time  management  google  3m  happiness  planning  tcsnmy  administration 
october 2009 by robertogreco
Caterina.net: Working hard is overrated
"a lot of what we then considered "working hard" was actually "freaking out"...panicking, working on things just to be working on something, not knowing what we were doing, fearing failure, worrying about things we needn't have worried about, thinking about fund raising rather than product building, building too many features, getting distracted by competitors...& other time-consuming activities. This time around we have eliminated a lot of freaking out time. We seem to be working less hard this time...Much more important than working hard is knowing how to find the right thing to work on. Paying attention to what is going on in the world. Seeing patterns. Seeing things as they are rather than how you want them to be. Being able to read what people want. Putting yourself in the right place where information is flowing freely and interesting new juxtapositions can be seen. But you can save yourself a lot of time by working on the right thing."
caterinafake  working  careers  life  work  tcsnmy  cv  wisdom  business  entrepreneurship  startups  productivity  gtd  lifehacks  focus  philosophy  time  balance  flickr  advice  ideas  culture  patterns  management  leadership  administration  confidence  freakingout 
september 2009 by robertogreco
Try Coding Dear Boy - Laughing Meme
"Laziness Impatience Hubris: This is the dark side of the geek virtue of laziness.
humor  programming  flickr  code  laziness  problemsolving  doing  iteration  gtd  practical  practice  howwework  howwelearn  via:migurski  asksomeone 
september 2009 by robertogreco
Take Back Your Time
"Take Back Your Time is a U.S./Canadian campaign that challenges time poverty: the epidemic of overwork, over-scheduling and time famine. The campaign promotes the idea mandatory vacations and of rewarding gains in productivity with time instead of stuff. In our view, such a strategy would leave Americans healthier, happier, and more connected to each other, their communities and the environment." [via: http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/010270.html]
work  culture  us  society  politics  business  vacation  environment  simplicity  slow  organization  gtd  happiness  sustainability  well-being  government  health  time  lifestyle  community  activism  life  productivity 
august 2009 by robertogreco
Fake Rocks, Salami Commanders, and Just Enough to Start | 43 Folders
"*Fear of Apathy. “I can’t start this until I’m positive the work will never become dull or difficult.” *Fear of Ambiguity. “I can’t start this until I know exactly how it will turn out (as well as the precise method by which I’ll do it).” *Fear of Disconnection. “I can’t start this until I’m totally up-to-date and current on everything.” *Fear of Imperfection. “I can’t start this until I know the end product will be flawless.” *Fear of Incompletion. “I can’t start this until I’m already done with it.” *Fear of Isolation. “I can’t start this until I know making it will never be lonely.” *Fear of Sucking. “I can’t start this until I’m already awesome at it (and know that even horrible people whom I dislike will hail me as a genius).” *Fear of Fear itself. “I can’t start this until I’m guaranteed that making it will never be scary.”"
art  creativity  procrastination  fear  productivity  merlinmann  inspiration  motivation  excusemaking  excuses  process  work  writing  humor  gtd  making  doing  glvo  barriers  failure  starting  learning  tcsnmy  diggingin  cv  iteration 
august 2009 by robertogreco
Concentrate | Mac App | Eliminate Distractions
"Concentrate helps you work and study more productively by eliminating distractions.
gtd  via:hrheingold  software  mac  macosx  osx  timemanagement  concentration  distraction  productivity  attention 
august 2009 by robertogreco
Meeting Ticker
humor  meetings  money  productivity  management  administration  gtd  calculator  projectmanagement 
july 2009 by robertogreco
Shut up! Announcing your plans makes you less motivated to accomplish them. | Derek Sivers
"Tests done since 1933 show that people who talk about their intentions are less likely to make them happen.
psychology  goals  success  productivity  life  health  behavior  brain  planning  creativity  projects  gtd  lifehacks  motivation 
july 2009 by robertogreco
One Lesson from the Crisis: It’s Time to Create Your Own Economy | Fast Company
"Much of the Web's value is experienced at the personal level and does not show up in productivity numbers…Each day more enjoyment, more social connection, &, indeed, more contemplation are produced on the Web than had been imagined even 10 years ago. But how do we measure those things? That question -- and I don't yet have a full answer -- reflects the state of flux we're in today.…I call it the "human capital dividend." The reallocation of consumer time into the "free sector" on the Web will liberate the efforts of many producers and intermediaries…A second part of the human capital dividend comes from our productivity as Web consumers. Billions of people are rapidly becoming more knowledgeable and better connected to one another. Self-education has never been more fun, and that is because we are in control of that process like never before…it may sound counterintuitive, but the more time you spend staring at your screen, the bigger that human capital dividend will be."
tylercowen  economics  blogging  productivity  twitter  crisis  gtd  collaboration  participatory  socialmedia  self-directedlearning  self-education  autodidacts 
june 2009 by robertogreco
Gmail: Tips
"Become a Gmail Ninja
gmail  tips  howto  gtd  tutorial  productivity  tutorials  tricks  support  email  shortcuts 
june 2009 by robertogreco
The Real Time Web is a Beautiful Distraction – Opposable Planets
"The ability to pay attention, focus and strategically disconnect will be a winning discipline of the next generation of business leaders." via: http://www.euansemple.com/theobvious/2009/5/9/learning-when-to-switch-off.html
attention  distraction  continuouspartialattention  focus  work  learning  behavior  twitter  internet  gtd  procrastination  concentration  parenting  psychology  facebook  advice  realtime  technology 
may 2009 by robertogreco
Defeating Delmore
"Astronomers know to look slightly away from the point at which they expect to locate a star. Analogously, when a person aims to most clearly articulate her own guiding goals, she would be more successful by calling to mind the values which are peripherally related and supportive of her complete self.
procrastination  goals  selforganization  lifehacks  gtd  productivity  careers  psychology  learning  incentives  research  gamechanging 
may 2009 by robertogreco
Why setting goals can backfire - The Boston Globe [via:http://www.kottke.org/09/04/setting-goals-can-backfire]
"a few management scholars are now looking deeper into the effects of goals, and finding that goals have a dangerous side. Individuals, governments, and companies like GM show ample ability to hurt themselves by setting and blindly following goals, even those that seem to make sense at the time...Goals, they feared, might actually be taking the place of independent thinking and personal initiative...Although simple numerical goals can lead to bursts of intense effort in the short term, they can also subvert the longer-term interests of a person or a company...goals need to be flexible when circumstances change...the best goal you can have is to reevaluate your goals, semi-annually or annually, to make sure they remain rational." "Rather than reflexively relying on goals, argues Max Bazerman, a Harvard Business School professor and the fourth coauthor of "Goals Gone Wild," we might also be better off creating workplaces and schools that foster our own inherent interest in the work."
goals  gtd  incentives  business  psychology  attention  decisionmaking  management  self-improvement  motivation  policy  administration  tcsnmy  productivity  entrepreneurship  failure  work 
april 2009 by robertogreco
Bre Pettis | I Make Things - Bre Pettis Blog - The Cult of Done Manifesto
"1. There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
brepettis  procrastination  make  do  manifestos  gtd  writing  tinkering  tcsnmy  philosophy  motivation  inspiration  design  development  research  work  howto  productivity  efficiency  life  cultofdone 
march 2009 by robertogreco
Getting Real: The alone time zone - Signal vs. Noise (by 37signals)
"Guess which part of day we get the most work done? The alone part. This is why many people prefer to work either in the early morning or the late nights — they’re not being bothered. And when you have a long stretch when you aren’t being bothered you can get in the zone. The zone is when you are most productive. It’s when you don’t have to mindshift between various tasks. It’s when you aren’t interrupted to answer a question or look up something or send an email or answer an IM. The alone zone is where real progress is made." See also: http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1590-left-to-my-own-devices-with-no-family-i
cv  work  productivity  creativity  programming  gtd  time  nightowls  sleep  37signals  process  howwework 
february 2009 by robertogreco
Caterina.net: Singletasking
"Sent to me by my friend David Kidder, and guiding my workdays, as much as possible. I'm not sure where it's from."
via:preoccupations  multitasking  singletasking  discipline  attention  management  gtd  flow  productivity  work  email  life  distraction  continuouspartialattention 
february 2009 by robertogreco
Digital Overload Is Frying Our Brains | Wired Science from Wired.com
"Paying attention isn't a simple act of self-discipline, but a cognitive ability with deep neurobiological roots — and this complex faculty, says Maggie Jackson, is being woefully undermined by how we're living.
education  technology  attention  multitasking  singletasking  continuouspartialattention  overload  infooverload  brain  twitter  gtd  computers  productivity  creativity  psychology  memory  distraction  culture  society  neuroscience  stress  maggiejackson 
february 2009 by robertogreco
100 Powerful Web Tools to Organize Your Thoughts and Ideas | Online College Blog and School Reviews
"Whether you are a busy executive, a single parent, a freelancer working from home, a student, or a combination of these, you have probably found yourself needing help when it comes to organizing all your thoughts and ideas that occur throughout your busy day. Now you can turn to these tools found on the Internet that will help you with tasks such as note-taking, bookmarking websites, highlighting important text during online research, creating mind maps, tracking time, keeping up with appointments, collaborating with others, managing projects, and much more."
onlinetoolkit  online  organization  gtd  bookmarking  bookmarks  annotation  research  internet  learning  education  productivity  software  mindmapping  notetaking  wikis  todolists  collaboration  calendars  timetrackers 
february 2009 by robertogreco
Wiki:this very short warning | Social Media CoLab
"This is definitely related to the mindfulness-about-laptops-in-class issue. The technology has leaped ahead of social norms -- the ways we integrate social processes like college courses with media like Wi-Fi. So I'm interested -- as you should be -- in finding what the advantages and dangers of unfettered use of laptops during class meetings are, then exploring ways to leverage the advantages and avoid the dangers. My hypothesis, formulated inductively by experimenting with four previous classes, is that it's a mixture of attention-training (just as note-taking is a form of attention-training) and social norms (if most people put their laptop away most of the time, when they aren't using it to look up something class-related, then most people will be able to Facebook, email, or Twitter part of the time). So there is a collective action social dilemma involved, akin to the tragedy of the commons. Individual self-interest, if aggregated enough, can act counter to the interests of all."
learning  laptops  society  etiquette  teaching  information  multitasking  attention  pedagogy  overload  filtering  via:preoccupations  newmedia  flow  time  rss  gtd  socialmedia 
january 2009 by robertogreco
To Do: Check Out Remember The Milk Gmail Gadget - ReadWriteWeb
"What RTM offers - in gadget form - is the to-do list that Gmail users have been asking Google to build, and RTM does an admirable job of satisfying those requests.
google  productivity  rememberthemilk  todo  gmail  gtd  readwriteweb 
november 2008 by robertogreco
Change Agent - Issue 31
"next time you review résumés, try ignoring all of "perfectly qualified" applicants...disqualify everyone who is clearly competent to do the job at hand...Don't hire people w/ experience at another airline unless you're sure that they can unlearn what they've learned at that other airline. "Competence" is too often another word for "bad attitude." Instead, find serial incompetents - folks who are quick enough to master a task & restless enough to try something new. The zoomers...Competent people resist change. Why? Because change threatens to make them less competent. And competent people like being competent. That's who they are, and sometimes that's all they've got. No wonder they're not in a hurry to rock the boat...In the face of change, the competent are helpless. It doesn't take a lot of time to change...to reinvent…or to redesign. No, it doesn't take time; it takes will. The will to change. The will to take a risk. The will to become incompetent – at least for a while."
sethgodin  innovation  change  productivity  gamechanging  learning  creativity  work  management  administration  leadership  business  philosophy  fastcompany  process  sociology  gtd  hiring  1999  reform  cv  unschooling  deschooling  unlearning 
october 2008 by robertogreco
russell davies: slow strategy
"whenever you hear mention of speed, it's worth remembering the eternal Project Triangle...if you're going to be quick then you're also going to either bad or expensive...going fast will tend to reduce the amount of collaboration you do...Fast strategy might yield a big idea, but a slow strategy, a socialised strategy is maybe more likely to yield a rich one....I guess the real answer, as always, is the shoddy compromise; make sure that you can think and do both quickly and slowly. And then work out which suits you and your circumstances more. Because doing strategy happily is probably more important than doing it quickly or slowly."
projectmanagement  slow  russelldavies  strategy  gtd  quality  thinking  planning  speed 
october 2008 by robertogreco
Some recent Merlin Mann goodness
"Merlin Mann has been on a tear lately. He's been rethinking what he wants to do with 43 Folders -- a site he started four years ago to think in public about Getting Things Done (and other stuff) -- which rethinking has resulted in a bunch of good writing on weblogs, creative work, and online media. Some links and excerpts follow."
kottke  merlinmann  gtd  change  writing  blogs  creativity  organization  time  attention  passion  meaning 
september 2008 by robertogreco
Who Moved My Brain? Revaluing Time and Attention
merlinmann  gtd  productivity  meetings  time  attention  continuouspartialattention  creativity  presentations  43folders 
august 2008 by robertogreco
ideas are just a multiplier of execution - O'Reilly ONLamp Blog
"To me, ideas are worth nothing unless executed. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions."
business  entrepreneurship  ideas  gtd  innovation  creativity  process  execution  startup  design 
august 2008 by robertogreco
Overcoming Bias: Planning Fallacy
"planning fallacy is that people think they can plan...fairly reliable way to fix planning fallacy...Just ask how long similar projects have taken in the past, without considering any of the special properties of this project...ask an experienced outsider how long similar projects have taken.You'll get back an answer that sounds hideously long, and clearly reflects no understanding of the special reasons why this particular task will take less time. This answer is true. Deal with it."
estimation  time  planning  scheduling  projectmanagement  management  psychology  learning  gtd  fallacy  estimates  via:preoccupations 
august 2008 by robertogreco
tiny gigantic » Blog Archive » Smart-people traps
1. Professions...tempted by rewards...pressured by family, culture...cannot leave security of pre-defined track...unwilling to explore themselves enough to see individual course...for many there is no passion or purpose, no vision or meaning, no intuitive individual truth...soul-sucking 2. Smart people are good at school...tempted to stay...whole lives...get into spiral of irrelevance & isolation from rest of world 3. Politics...trap...in order to change world through politics, you must gain power...4. Critical thinking...spend all formative years getting rewarded for finding problems...focusing on negative...leave school thinking way to be useful & show smarts is to point out why things won’t work, rather than using smarts to find a way forward"
society  careers  culture  intelligence  education  criticalthinking  cv  work  vocation  gtd  behavior  thinking  life  yearoff  gamechanging  making  learning  deschooling  unschooling  problemsolving  creativity  professionals  professions  change  freedom  value  lcproject  usefulness  academia  intellectualism  cynicism  entrepreneurship  activism  politics  rewards  fulfillment  via:preoccupations 
august 2008 by robertogreco
Tasktop Technologies
"Tasktop Technologies is striving to reduce the information overload faced daily by computer users through the introduction of task-focused tools and interfaces. With a task-focused approach, less really does become more."
productivity  software  gtd  management  projectmanagement  organization  lifehacks 
july 2008 by robertogreco
Macworld | Review: Basic to-do apps for iPhone and iPod touch
"I decided to focus on the first group—basic list managers—as I suspect that most iPhone owners will be more than satisfied by a simple app for tracking lists of to-dos. (We’ll be covering the other types of apps in future reviews.)"
iphone  applications  todolists  productivity  gtd 
july 2008 by robertogreco
Things for iPhone and iPod touch
"Other task managers either oversimplify or are too difficult to use. Either way you are not getting stuff done. Things instead has the right balance between ease of use and powerful features. With Things' elegance and beautiful design, procrastinating ne
via:preoccupations  applications  iphone  gtd  lists 
july 2008 by robertogreco
Interview with Garr Reynolds
"Work is not always about “getting things done” or always having something to show for it at that moment. Creative thinking, for example, requires alone time, solitude, and even thinking about a problem by not forcing it — that is, by not thinking a
work  time  life  slow  creativity  gtd  productivity  procrastination 
june 2008 by robertogreco
"Zerstreutheit" and the Attention Management Cure | 43 Folders
"Every one knows what attention is...taking possession by the mind, in clear & vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought...implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others"
attention  continuouspartialattention  time  organization  focus  gtd  lifehacks  words  german  via:russelldavies 
june 2008 by robertogreco
Linda Stone: Is it Time to Retire the Never-Ending List? - Living on The Huffington Post [also posted at: http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2008/06/is-it-time-to-retire-the-never.html]
"In the cases where people reported managing their time, they more often reported experiencing burn-out, they didn't know how much longer they could go on at their particular job or lifestyle. There was often a sense of helplessness and overwhelm."
lindastone  productivity  gtd  management  time  lifehacks  burnout  overload  efficiency  clutter  attention  organization  lists  howto  focus  work  simplicity  life  gamechanging  psychology  continuouspartialattention 
june 2008 by robertogreco
Chore Wars :: Earning Experience Points for Housework
"Finally, you can claim experience points for housework. Recruit a party of adventurers from your household or office, and whenever one of you completes a chore, you can log it and claim XP."
games  housework  chores  arg  rpg  gamedesign  roleplaying  mmorpg  janemcgonigal  collaboration  gaming  productivity  parenting  seriousgames  gtd  classideas 
june 2008 by robertogreco
8 Useful Tips To Manage And Avoid RSS Overload
"Make a ' Primary ' or ' Everyday ' Folder, Make a ' News ' Folder, Use Keyboard Shortcuts, Track your time, Create an ' Unread ' Folder, Mark all as read when required, Search, Analyze once in a while"
feeds  howto  gtd  rss  overload  management  tips 
june 2008 by robertogreco
Online Web Notes - UberNote
" UberNote is an all purpose notes and personal information manager accessible through your Internet web browser. Do you use yahoo mail, gmail, or hotmail? Just like those systems allow you to access your email, UberNote is used to access your personal no
notes  productivity  tools  onlinetoolkit  webapp  notetaking  reminders  gtd  applications 
june 2008 by robertogreco
Cornell Notetaking Method Custom PDF Generator
"create custom notetaking sheets for any or all of your classes. The custom sheets can be blank (Cornell Style), ruled, or graph style. They are output with your name, the name of your class, and the date - that is, if you provide that information."
onlinetoolkit  pdf  generator  notetaking  productivity  notes  tools  gtd  studentsupplylist  classideas 
june 2008 by robertogreco
Isolator
"small menu bar application that helps you concentrate. When you're working on a document, and don't want to be distracted, turn on Isolator. It will cover up your desktop and all the icons on it, as well as the windows of all your other applications, so
mac  osx  software  productivity  tools  utilities  gtd  screen  freeware  via:migurski 
may 2008 by robertogreco
Living the Prolific Life: A How-to Guide | Zen Habits
"Prolific people often purposefully take on mindless jobs because it allows them to devote their thoughts entirely to art...People who engage in cognitively taxing jobs are often too mentally exhausted at the end of the day to be creative."
creativity  productivity  lifehacks  work  howto  simplicity  habits  glvo  gtd  efficiency  philosophy 
may 2008 by robertogreco
Disconnecting Distraction
"Eventually, though, it became clear that the Internet had become so much more distracting that I had to start treating it differently. Basically, I had to add a new application to my list of known time sinks: Firefox."
gtd  paulgraham  addiction  productivity  procrastination  tips  advice  learning  lifehacks  discipline  technology  television  tv  multitasking  psychology  attention  management  work  distraction  add  adhd  internet  concentration  information 
may 2008 by robertogreco
Tips For Dealing With Information Overload
"I sent a couple of people the following question: “What are your top tips for dealing with information overflow?” Here are some of their answers"
information  productivity  overload  attention  informationmanagement  hacks  multitasking  infooverload  GTD  lifehacks 
may 2008 by robertogreco
Time Management. Polychronic time.
"polychronic person will use plans but is quite happy to be flexible in approach to achieve desired goal...may flit from project to project as mood takes them gaining inspiration from one project to utilise on other. Flexibility is a useful trait of the polychronic person."
cv  time  gtd  generalists  flexibility 
may 2008 by robertogreco
10 Things I Learned from Mental Detox Week | iain tait | crackunit.com
"phones are good; email can wait; ipods breed ipods; pens vs pixels; screens & sleep (funny side-effect); fractalization of stuff; computers create width not focus; felt cut off from stuff not people; w/out computers felt less creative; computers are easy
via:cityofsound  computers  detox  technology  ipod  gtd  television  tv  internet  wen  analog  concentration  process  attention  productivity  creativity  focus  learning  digital 
may 2008 by robertogreco
Cory Doctorow: How to stop your inbox exploding | Technology | guardian.co.uk
"1. Sort your inbox by subject 2. Colour-code messages from known senders 3. Kill people who make you crazy 4. Half-resign from mailing lists 5. Keep a pending list"
lifehacks  productivity  internet  tips  organization  gtd  overload  howto  corydoctorow  email 
april 2008 by robertogreco
Get Smarter: 12 Hacks That Will Amp Up Your Brainpower
"1. Distract Yourself 2. Caffeinate With Care 3. Choose Impressive Information 4. Think Positive 5. Do the Right Drugs 6. Juice Your IQ Score 7. Know Your Brain 8. Don't Panic 9. Embrace Chaos 10. Get Visual 11. Exercise Wisely 12. Slow Down"
brain  productivity  memory  neuroscience  comprehension  memorization  education  efficiency  learning  lifehacks  knowledge  mind  tips  gtd  science  psychology  sleep  drugs  health  medicine  howto 
april 2008 by robertogreco
10 Ways History’s Finest Kept Their Focus at Work | LifeDev
"1. Don’t work long hours 2. Take breaks 3. Take even longer breaks 4. Stop work and sit down for meals 5. Don’t work in the afternoons 6. Mix it up 7. Aim low 8. Take time to relax 9. Get up early(?) 10. Exercise!"
productivity  lifehacks  howwework  work  life  leadership  happiness  advice  health  balance  gtd  habits  management  time  workflow  efficiency 
april 2008 by robertogreco
Remember everything. | Evernote Corporation
"Evernote allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at anytime, from anywhere."
software  productivity  evernote  memory  web  online  internet  search  bookmarks  bookmarking  aggregator  semanticweb  webapps  notetaking  mindmapping  gtd  memex  database  onlinetoolkit  iphone  notebooks  notes 
april 2008 by robertogreco
Whining, Blue Smoke & the Mechanics of Getting Unstuck | 43 Folders
"whining should be telling you something...{it's] the blue smoke in your tailpipe that lets you know you’re burning mental oil...you’re unconsciously devoting cycles to something that you can’t, won’t, or shouldn’t be spending time thinking abou
productivity  lifehacks  writing  creativity  gtd  advice  procrastination  motivation  whining  learning  work  boredom 
april 2008 by robertogreco
Infomania: Why we can’t afford to ignore it any longer
"combination of e–mail overload & interruptions is widely recognized as major disrupter of knowledge worker productivity & quality of life, yet few organizations take serious action against it....action should be a high priority, by analyzing the severe
email  distraction  attention  productivity  work  technology  sms  concentration  continuouspartialattention  burnout  gtd  interruptions  psychology  stress 
april 2008 by robertogreco
Getting Real: Alone Time (by 37signals)
"Many people prefer to work either early in the morning or late at night — times when they're not being bothered. When you have a long stretch when you aren't bothered, you can get in the zone. The zone is when you are most productive."
productivity  gtd  attention  cv  work  flow  37signals  interruptions  time  offices  officedesign  psychology 
march 2008 by robertogreco
RescueTime: Web-based Time Management Software
"web-based time-management tool that allows you to easily understand how you spend your time. One of the coolest things about RescueTime is that there is NO DATA ENTRY. You install a doohicky on your computer and we magically track all of your time usage.
attention  projectmanagement  productivity  habits  gtd  procrastination  management  time  software  web2.0  lifehacks  statistics  applications  mac  osx  windows  webapps  monitoring  tracking 
march 2008 by robertogreco
Internet Evolution - Cory Doctorow - The Pleasures of Uninterrupted Communication
"You'd think that I ran some kind of IM in the background, and picked up the phone a dozen times a day to chat...You'd be wrong. But once you add an interruptive medium like IM, unscheduled calls, or pop-up notifiers of mail, flow turns into chop."
attention  communication  email  internet  overload  productivity  emailapnea  continuouspartialattention  alwayson  flow  technology  GTD  corydoctorow  online  writing  multitasking  im  addiction  culture  information  mobile  work  web 
march 2008 by robertogreco
Technology Review: Blogs: Ed Boyden's blog: How to Think: Managing brain resources in an age of complexity.
"Synthesize new ideas constantly. Never read passively. Learn how to learn (rapidly). Work backward from goal. Always have long-term plan. Make contingency maps. Collaborate. Make mistakes quickly. Document everything obsessively. Keep it simple"
thinking  habits  gtd  life  lifehacks  learning  knowledge  mind  metacognition  productivity  creativity  brain  tips  howto  strategy  simplicity  via:kottke  projectmanagement  teaching  ideageneration  ideas  collaboration  complexity 
march 2008 by robertogreco
Five Methodologies to Deal with Email Overload - ReadWriteWeb
"There are numerous methodologies, best practices, tips, and tutorials available, but are any of them really effective? We'll explore that question as we delve into the top five email management methodologies."
email  gtd  hacks  howto 
march 2008 by robertogreco
Busy vs. Productive
"Busy-ness is impressive...puts you in heat of action...gives you elevated sense of importance...late for social engagements...hardly get a moment’s sleep...Emails exchanged, meetings fill up schedule...Of course, it’s all just an illusion."
productivity  lifehacks  gtd  work  administration  leadership  management  generalists  procrastination  business  advice  life  happiness 
march 2008 by robertogreco
Remember The Milk: Online to do list and task management
"We created Remember The Milk so that you no longer have to write your to-do lists on sticky notes, whiteboards, random scraps of paper, or the back of your hand. Remember The Milk makes managing tasks an enjoyable experience."
gmail  googleapps  iphone  aggregator  todo  organization  gtd  workflow  productivity  web2.0  calendar  applications  twitter  webapps  sms  software  planning  management  scheduling  schedule  extension  email  addons 
february 2008 by robertogreco
Half an Hour: Things You Really Need to Learn [also here: http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2006/09/11/how_to_be_successful_stephen.htm]
"How to predict consequences; read; distinguish truth from fiction; empathize; be creative; communicate clearly; learn; stay healthy; value yourself; live meaningfully" - resonse to Guy Kawasaki's 'ten things you should learn this school year'
stephendownes  advice  learning  lessons  life  philosophy  perspective  skills  pedagogy  teaching  education  psychology  creativity  happiness  lifehacks  self  schools  survival  success  strategy  howto  productivity  management  gtd  self-improvement  homeschool  unschooling  deschooling 
january 2008 by robertogreco
iPhone To Do List Applications - Some Good Choices | Just Another iPhone Blog
"Here’s the shortlist of todo applications I’ve tried out over recent weeks: * Listingly * pTasks * TaDa Lists * Toodledo * Vitalist"
applications  gtd  iphone  productivity  organization 
january 2008 by robertogreco
Russ Casenhiser: The perfect first
"hype and pressure around "firsts"...Kiss, Date, Step, Word...We want to make these events more than are...So after months of procrastinating, false starts and rabbit holes, I've finally decided there is no perfect first. Note-to-self, "Get over it and ge
procrastination  blogging  writing  firsts  life  gtd  productivity  perfectionism  work  art  design 
december 2007 by robertogreco
Sandy — your personal email assistant
"Life moves too fast for your calendar. Hi! I’m Sandy, your new assistant. I'll remember the details so you can focus on what's important."
email  productivity  gtd  web2.0  free  scheduling  schedule  webapps  personal  information  management  calendar 
november 2007 by robertogreco
Structured Procrastination
"With this sort of appropriate task structure, the procrastinator becomes a useful citizen. Indeed, the procrastinator can even acquire, as I have, a reputation for getting a lot done."
productivity  procrastination  humor  creativity  distraction  writing  work  psychology  learning  lifehacks  gtd 
october 2007 by robertogreco
Noodlesoft: Hazel
mac  osx  utilities  files  gtd  tagging  software  rules  management  productivity 
october 2007 by robertogreco
Rising Email Immunity Leads to Conflict over Email Etiquette « Web Worker Daily
"As some people become immune while others retain traditional expectations for email, we’re seeing conflict over exactly how email should be treated."
email  etiquette  communication  society  gtd  productivity  work  internet  business  collaboration  culture  trends  overload  social 
september 2007 by robertogreco
Write a perfect email / Wired How To's
email  howto  etiquette  gtd  communication  advice  productivity  writing  tutorials  work 
september 2007 by robertogreco
scottberkun.com » #54 - Writing Hacks, Part 1: Starting
"In the grand tradition of lists and books of hacks, writing hacks are clever little actions that give you leverage and put the dynamics in your favor. Here in part 1 it’s all about how to start."
advice  blogging  books  burnout  creative  creativity  gtd  howto  hacks  lifehacks  productivity  tips  writing  work 
september 2007 by robertogreco
How to Work
howto  gtd  productivity  work  jobs 
august 2007 by robertogreco
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