Backpack just got a whole lot cooler in my opinion.
Roling out an API, even a simple one, shows that they really mean it when they say things like “You should make the rules!” and “It’s organization the way you want it.” I can see how I might be able extend and “plug” backpack into my own way of working even more now, and that’s key in getting me up and running with any tool. Dashboard widget anyone? Customized reminder Web calendar? I was already impressed, but with this API coming out so quickly, I’m feeling really good about making Backpack one of my daily tools.
I can’t wait to see what comes of this. Makes me almost wish I was more of a programmer.
Popularity: 4%
Posted in Productivity Tools — No Comments
Posted May 17, 2005 — 4 Comments
In his book, Getting Things Done, David Allen talks about “a paradox that has emerged in this new millennium.” That paradox being that people have an “enhanced” quality of life, in general, but in order to maintain that quality of life they’ve also got less free time and higher levels of stress. Almost like the more you do, the more you have to do.
Makes you wonder if this “enhanced” quality of life is actually better…rather than simply “enhanced.”
This is one of the very reasons I’m working at trying to simplify and organize my own life. I love my work. I’ve got a passion for it, and because of that I’m always thinking, learning, reading, striving to get things accomplished. This creates stress and I’m learning that because I work so much, and try so hard, that I may actually be doing the opposite of what will make me the most happy and help me get the most out of my life.
I’ve taken to reminding myself that everything doesn’t need to be done yesterday and that it’s ok to take things one-at-a-time. As a self-proclaimed master multi-tasker, this is a bit hard to swallow, but I’m working on it. I think the goal of methodologies like GTD should be to free up your time, to help you relax and to get the most (not necessarily more) out of your time and life.
If you’re “Getting Things Done” just to add a bunch more things to do, it kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?
Drawing A Fuzzy Grey Line
Another thing David talks about in GTD is the blurry line between work and life. In fact he goes as far to say that there is no real line there, but that we’ve got a problem separating “work” work (as in what you get paid to do) from work (as in tasks to get things done, regardless of their nature). I know this is amazingly hard for me, and has been for awhile now. Pretty much ever since I began writing. You see, I love to write and while it is work, in a way it doesn’t always feel like “work” work.
Meaning it’s hard for me to know when to stop or put something on hold.
It’s almost like I’m addicted to it. I enjoy it quite a bit, and sometimes I just can’t stop…but I’m coming to realize that the more I do doesn’t really mean the better it’s going to be. In fact, I think my best writing is when I’ve taken some time off. Quite often I write things with all sorts of other thoughts rolling around my head, and that leads to somewhat unfocused writing. I used to just deal with it and move on. Now if I feel unfocused, and it’s something important I want to write about, I simply stop and come back to it when I’ve got more time and a clearer mind.
That line between “work” and work will always be grey and fuzzy to me, but I’m learning how to step away from it. My hope is by trying less, and taking time to focus more, my writing will be clearer and my stress level will go down.
The Moral
Sometimes the best way to get something good done is to not do anything at all.
Popularity: 4%
Posted in Philosophy — 4 Comments
Posted May 16, 2005 — 3 Comments
Over at space-age wasteland you can find a some great tutorials about how to be more productive and Get Things Done (GTD) with Gmail. Personally I’ve not being using Gmail, but the more I hear about it the more I’m thinking I need to give it a try. In any case, they’ve recently published a white paper on the subject that makes for a pretty interesting read.
Get the whitepaper (pdf)
Popularity: 5%
Posted in Productivity Tools — 3 Comments
Posted May 13, 2005 — 4 Comments
GTDTiddlyWiki looks to be a useful tool that quite a few people are checking into. I spent some time with it last night and I’ve got to say, it’s pretty cool. I’ve got nothing more than a few initial impressions to share, but if you’re looking for more check out How are you using GTDTiddlyWiki? over at 43Folders.
My impressions:
- First thing you need to do: turn off animations under “Options”. I’m not sure why this is even in here, it adds nothing to the user experience that I can see. Other than that, it’s pretty easy to get around.
- No Safari support, but that’s not a huge deal.
- No server-side implementation. Well, I guess it won’t compete with Backpack. I don’t see this as a huge drawback.
- Since it’s a single file, the ability to have multiple files, for different projects or people for example, is nice.
Popularity: 4%
Posted in Productivity Tools — 4 Comments
Posted May 13, 2005 — 2 Comments
Running a small company means you’ve got to stay organized and make sure you get things done. Staying on top of your to-do list and not letting it get out of control is key. I mean, what is a to-do list for anyway if you never get any boxes ticked.
Ryan Carson over at BD4D talks about how he handles his monthly to-do lists.
I can especially relate to the planning session he has each Sunday where he decides what he’s going to tackle each week. This gives you a plan for the week, so visible and hopefully do-able goals and a sense of accomplishment you can enjoy while sipping your Friday afternoon beer.
Popularity: 2%
Posted in Methodologies — 2 Comments
I thought about titling this post “The Tao of Delete” but then figured that might be a bit too cheeky. Accurate…but cheeky. Still, I like the phrase, so I’m going to go with it.
Long before I ever put any really conscious effort into getting myself organized and simplifying my life and work, I made good friends with the “delete” key. In fact it was kind of a running joke when I worked for Boeing and later Children’s Hospital that my #1 tip for being more productive was liberal use of “delete.”
We’d have these “5s” (sorting, simplifying, sweeping, standardizing, and self-discipline) training sessions at Boeing and I’d walk out of there shaking my head thinking, “we just need to get rid of more stuff.” And that’s pretty much what “The Tao of Delete” is all about—cleaning out stuff you don’t need and will just plain never use.
The best work-a-day example I can come up with is e-mail. If I can’t say for sure that I’ll need to keep a message (to be taken care of, filed, or whatever) I delete it and never look back. I’ve been doing this for years and it’s worked just fine. I find that if I ever really need to take care of something important and have “lost” the e-mail relating to it, a simple phone-call or follow-up e-mail will usually sort that out. The one place I don’t use this method is with sent items. I usually keep those for quite awhile, you know, to cover my ass. As well, this doesn’t mean I don’t keep and file e-mails, I just try to be pretty heavy handed in deciding what I actually need to keep.
Beyond E-mail
I use the same method when cleaning out my hard drive. I simply go through everything and ask myself some hard questions about the files I’m looking at. It’s usually pretty easy for me to decide what is safe to delete and what’s not. When it comes to my files I usually err on the side of keeping them or archiving them, so I’m less “maverick” than I am with e-mail.
I just went through this last week and freed up almost 2 Gb of space. Most of it was from PDFs and other crap I’d downloaded from the Web. With the state of my poor 30 Gb drive, I needed it. Plus, my files are much less cluttered than they were before. Deleting makes for much easier sorting, for obvious reasons.
Beyond The Computer
I remember a George Carlin bit about “stuff” where he talks about how people just keep accumulating stuff until they need to get a bigger place to put all their stuff. It’s really funny, and totally true. Don’t I know it. My place used to be packed with crap and it stressed me out. It just made me think about all the crap I need to do with my crap, you know?
I’ve got a “collector” mentality. I like my stuff. I like to shop and I don’t mind a little clutter. Makes me feel at home. The problem is that my place is pretty small and “a little clutter” turns into “a lot of crap” pretty quickly. This is when I take the Tao of Delete to my home. I go through almost everything and decide what I want, what I need and what I can get rid of. Last year when I did this I had to call some haulers to come and cart this stuff away. I had two truckloads! Made me wonder where I was keeping it all.
I felt so good…so relieved after those haulers left. My place was clean, and easier to keep clean, for a long time and in general I just felt better about my living arrangements. Sure I could have gone and got a bigger place to keep all my stuff, but I realized what I really needed was less stuff.
The Bottomline
I guess I can’t really recommend The Tao of Delete to everyone. It doesn’t come without risks. However, I’ve found that one of the easiest ways to eliminate a problem or to make something better is to take something away. I use this method in my designs, I use it in my Web development (for example, my most effective way of troubleshooting CSS is to begin removing things) and I’m using it in my writing.
So far it’s worked well for me.
Popularity: 5%
Posted in Methodologies — 24 Comments
Posted May 10, 2005 — 7 Comments
Backpack is a nice, clear and simple online application to help keep yourself organized and all of your information in one spot online. I’ve been using it for about a week now and I’m finding it very helpful. Being a huge fan of Basecamp, which was created by the same folks, I was pretty much looking forward to Backpack, which in many ways is similar, yet done on a more personal level.
The thing I like the best about it is that it’s flexible. You can apply your own rules to it. This is actually one of the core ideas behind Backpack. It’s an online application that intended to work with your own way of working. The Backpack Manifesto is a way to get some insight into the philosophy behind the tool.
Aside from all of that, it’s just plain practical. You can store notes, to-do lists, images, reminders and a whole lot more in an easily accessible place online. I know I’ve already made quite a bit of use of their reminder system, which will send you an e-mail or SMS to your phone. With so much on my mind of late, this has been extremely helpful in letting me set a reminder and clear my brain for more important things.
In any-case, it’s a very useful personal productivity tool that does just what it should—no more, no less. Well worth checking into.
Popularity: 3%
Posted in Productivity Tools — 7 Comments
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