Kolz Blog

Windows only: Lifehacker's very own automated file manager, Belvedere, has hit its second release. Among various bug fixes, Belvedere can now set up rules to match multiple requirements and you can now edit your existing rules. Also, HUGE thanks to John from What Cheer for the excellent new Belvedere icon. It's oh so lovable. Hit the jump for a closer look Belvedere's latest and greatest features. Head to the download page to grab the latest version, and to install it just replace the old Belvedere.exe file with the new. I didn't add multiple actions in the 0.2 release as I had discussed in the roadmap, since the more I thought about it the less it seemed necessary, but if anyone's dying for this feature, let me know. I also added the option to send files to the recycle bin rather than permanently deleting them, which is obviously a much less worrisome way to point an automated tool at your files. Finally, I changed the time between scans to once every 5 minutes, since most readers felt once a minute was far too often. [Read more]

Motivation. Motivation is not something that you should have every now and then. Motivating yourself to excel at what you do, or to be an example for others, is something that a true entrepreneur or dedicated employee will always be doing. It’s an ongoing process that includes all aspects of your professional life. Your attituide, appearance, spiritual well-being, and interactions with others all come into play. Staying motivated is much easier than you think. “Experts” would charge you a pretty penny to “lay down the law” to professionals and entrepreneurs alike, conveying a road map for motivational success. I’m going to tell you something interesting: you don’t need to pay anyone anything to learn the secrets to staying motivated. Well, unless you want to pay me. I think I’d be fine with that. But in all seriousness, the question certainly remains: how do you do it? Simple. Follow five steps, and what the changes as they happen.

• 1) Maintain a Positive Attitude
- There’s something that you should know. Life is 10% about what happens to us, and 90% about how we react. Think back to every argument you’ve ever had and try to imagine something that you could have done to defuse the argument while it was in its infancy. Chances are it has something to do with how you reacted. We, as people, are responsible for our own actions. When you are around people that are positive, you’ll find it much easier to act in hte same way. You’ll have more confidence in yourself, you’ll smile more often, and your “problems” will be easier to solve. The same can be said for your workplace: enter the office with a smile on your face and a hop in your step and you’ll create the mood. Watch how quickly others follow suite.
• 2) Leave Personal Problems at Home
- Life can get you down. We all know that, as we’ve all experienced one thing or another that has “sank our ship”, so to speak, and left us feeling less than ecstatic. Your problems don’t belong at work, so when you enter your workplace turn your attention (and energy) to your job. This has the added benefit of, along with making you a much easier person to deal with, giving your mind a mental break from whatever your problems are. You know how a lot of people say that stress isn’t good for your health? They’re right, so give your mind a chance to chill out.
• 3) Create Positive Affirmations [Read more]

For those of you who haven't seen David Allen live and in-person, I highly recommend checking him out in action at one of his wonderful GTD The RoadMap seminars. Here's the current schedule. In GTD The RoadMap, David does a masterful job of elucidating the power and ease that becomes available when one has both perspective on and control over all of one's commitments. All control and no perspective? You're stuck in the realm of the Micro-Manager. All Perspective and no control? You're a Crazy-Maker with grandios visions and no grip on how to really make them happen. In GTD The RoadMap, David also shares some great perspective on how to get your own practice of GTD to "stick." His main point here is that in order to see how to implement and maintain GTD and feel compelled enough to stick with it, you must identify enough with the resulting experience that you can't help making it happen and keeping it going. That got me thinking. How can we take that wisdom and apply it in a real, actionable way to improving our own hit-rate on doing our weekly review, the essential and often neglected practice of GTD? How better to identify with the resulting experience of a weekly review than to actually do one and then immediately turn your attention to carefully observing your own specific experience of having just completed it. What I mean by this is to literally spend a few minutes checking in with yourself and answering the following questions: - How do I feel about myself and my work now that I've completed this weekly review? - How does my body feel now that all of my commitments are updated and current? Am I tired? Awake? Calm? Invigorated? - What is now possible that may not have been possible before I completed this weekly review? [Read more]

A lot of people are emailing and posting comments about the missing parts of 101 Goal Setting Breakthroughs: A 31 Day Blog Series That Will Make 2008 Your Best Year Ever! If you feel you are missing parts there are two reasons: 1 I used a template that posted the wrong numbers to some of the tips. 2. I wasn’t clear to you about how the tips would be presented and counted. I still have the rest to post (I know, I know I’m late!) I am usually slammed, but this has been the busiest January of my entire life. Regretfully I am running 2 or 3 days behind on the posts.

How the series changed…

Quality: When I first embarked on this journey, I figured I’d do two to four posts a day consisting of one paragraph tips. Instead, when I started getting into it, I started having a great time. Most of the posts exceed 500 words. And I feel that many of them are some of the best in this blog’s history. Reader response has born this out and inspired me keep with quality over quickness. I understand some of you, because of shyness or fear of public scrutiny, decided to email me directly instead of posting your comments. I especially enjoyed hearing stories of how one of the breakthroughs came just at the perfect moment and you were able to solve a problem in the nick of time. [Read more]

Remember how good it felt to squish modeling clay through your fingers? Being able to mold that material into any shape you wanted made it feel so good in the hand. This idea makes so much sense for a mouse. [Read more]

Life can become a movie sometimes where we are the ones sitting back and watching life pass us by. We have many ideas to make our lives better but we seem to be stuck in an inertia phase.

If you don’t take action, you will regret it, whatever it is you need to take action for. You are someone who is filled with the get up and go to change your life in so many fantastic ways if only you would get up and do something about it.

Here are 8 ways you can get up and take action:

Wipe the slate clean – If you have too many projects on the go, clear them all and start from scratch. When you have wiped the slate clean, concentrate on thing at a time until it’s finished and then move onto the next. If you can’t clear everything, just drop them temporarily, concentrate on one thing until it’s finished and then move on. You will find you move a lot quicker through everything you need to get done.

List everything – Make a list of everything you would like to do, whether it be cleaning the house to taking the dog a walk. Write it down.

Prioritise – Pick the most important thing you have to do for the day, or week or year, and then pick the next most important thing and so on until you have reached the bottom off your list.

Eliminate distraction – No I don’t mean kill your partner! Eliminate the things you do from day to day that distracts you from taking action for example TV, books, computer. When you eliminate distractions, your mind wants something to do and this makes you more inclined to take action on the things you want or need to do. [Read more]

The slower you build up energy in the morning, the more painful waking up will be. What’s better, spending thirty minutes wrestling with the snooze button followed by an hour ramp up to normal mental functioning or quickly starting the day with energy? In my recent article on morning rituals, I mentioned how I wake up at 5:30 each morning. A few readers asked how I deal with the initial grogginess that comes with waking up so early. As someone who isn’t a natural early-riser (I could easily sleep in until noon) getting over the early-morning sleepiness wasn’t easy. However, by using some of the tips I’ll describe, you can be more alert in your morning hours without having to inject yourself with a pot of coffee. Why Go Without Caffeine? I never drink coffee and I only occasionally drink caffeinated teas. While caffeine can be a temporary chemical solution to your drowsiness, I don’t believe it is the best strategy overall. I’ve found caffeine offers more energy, but it comes with side-effects. A few I’ve noticed:

• Post-caffeine crashes.
• Disrupting normal sleep.
• Withdrawal symptoms and addiction.
• Difficulty focusing. (Although some research suggests otherwise)

Whether caffeine is a miracle drug or junk is hard to say. However, given the side-effects, if you can boost morning alertness without the artificial stimulants, why bother drinking the stuff? How to Build Energy Into Your Mornings [Read more]

I am a columnist for the Boston Globe, so when I first started blogging, I was in the enviable position of being able to get advice from any top blogger I wanted. I called them up, interviewed them about some topic or another, and at the end, I asked them for advice about blogging. The universal advice was to write posts that big bloggers would link to. Before I could even figure out how to do that, something happened. I posted one of those Boston Globe columns on my blog, and one of the bloggers I interviewed, Gina Trapani, linked to it. The result was absolutely breathtaking: 10,000 page views in one day. And 40 bloggers linked to it. At this point in my blogging career, I need more than 10,000 page views just to get a normal day of traffic. But as new blogger, this level of traffic was astounding. I was still in the mode where I answered every single email, and after that day, it took me a week to catch up. Then I thought, I’m gonna write another post that Lifehacker will link to. Of course, I couldn’t. They didn’t pick up any of my specially tailored-to-Lifehacker posts. So I gave up. I went back to just posting. Then I was at the South by Southwest Conference and I was exhausted. I didn’t post for two days and felt like I absolutely had to post. No matter what. I wouldn’t let myself go back to the conference until I posted. So I banged out a post on how to do a phone interview. I’ve done a million of them—on both sides of the conversation—so I just wrote it off the top of my head. I hit the Post button and went to the conference, and then I worried the whole time that the quality of my blog was going downhill and that I need to do more research and that the post sucked. Lifehacker linked to it. To this day, it’s the third most popular post on my blog. It was a great lesson: I’ll never know what people will link to. [Read more]

Your phone is ringing, your blackberry is vibrating and that annoying email alert notice is starting to sound like an oncoming train. Add to that a stack of bills on your desk and the "relaxing" dinner you're suppose to have with you in-laws tonight and you can almost see the steam coming out of your ears. There's no two ways about it, you’re stressed! Stress is all around us - at home, at work and in the car. With it so prominent in our lives, it's important to look at what's causing all this tension, some warning signals that you're on the brink, but most importantly ways to reduce it. Stress can show up in our live in a variety of ways, the two most common are behavioral and cognitive. Symptoms of Physical Stress (Behavioral)

• Lack of sleep and/or poor sleep
• Over/Under eating
• Aggressive behavior (can you say, "road rage"?)
• Nervous habits (pacing, nail biting)

Symptoms of Mental Stress (Cognitive)

• Impaired Memory
• Lack of Clarity
• Deteriorated Judgment
• Scattered Thoughts/Racing Thoughts

Stress can wreck havoc on your life, but you don't have to let this happen. If you’ve noticed these symptoms in yourself or others around you, it's time to take action. You can improve your productivity by creating some peace in your life - starting today! A level of sanity in your life is important for a healthy well-balanced lifestyle, but stress can leave you feeling overwhelmed. When you’re in this state of anxiety or panic, it's hard to see the big picture of your life. Creating a plan to reduce stress may be the last thing on your mind. Well, stop worrying, the tips below can help you start attaining nirvana sooner than you thought.

• Stress Busters For Your Body Exercise can blast away stress and tension, leaving you refreshed and rejuvenated. Endorphins are nature’s mood boosters, these guys make you feel great, exercise releases your endorphins.
  • Yoga - Yoga helps stretch your body and encourages proper breathing. Through Yoga you become more relaxed, leaving you calm, collected and ready for what lies ahead.
  • Run/Walk - A change of scenery can be just the trick you need to beat stress. On your lunch break, take some time and go for a walk, or run. Walking and running can reduce tension, plus it energizes your body.
  • Qigong - While not quite mainstream (yet), Qigong is known for its calming and centering benefits. The natural, slow movements of Qigong help to lower stress by reducing your respiratory and heart rate. [Read more]

I originally posted this article back in July of 2007 (which was the last time I got the flu), and since I was down for three days again this week, I thought I’d re-post it as a reminder: “How to bring your system back online when an unexpected incident occurs.”

1. Start with an Overview

Pause before you begin your day to take a look at your most recent Weekly Review notes. Catch up on where you were the last time you gave your Actions and Projects a review. This will “re-boot” your mind and create a fresh starting point for the coming week.

2. Review Your Hard Landscape

Scan your Calendar, Waiting For, and Next Actions lists. Check your capture notebook, and Collect everything that may have been by-passed or delayed during your illness. This will ensure that anything you might have had planned gets re-scheduled if you missed it. Some time-specific events or notes may no longer be valid, and perhaps a deadline has passed and the Next Action is no longer appropriate. On the other hand, a Next Action or Waiting For that was not pressing may now need to be moved up on your list of priorities - becoming a Most Important Task for today.

3. Make Notes for the Next Weekly Review

When your schedule gets off-track, because of an illness or an emergency situation, it is important to plan for your next review of Next Actions and Projects. Make an appointment with yourself to get back into your routine. I would recommend blocking out some extra time for this particular Weekly Review. Use the extra time for extra brainstorming and/or creative thinking about where you are and where you want to be. This forward-looking activity can give you a jump-start into the following week. This is a powerful method of motivation, providing inspiration for future goals rather than prolonging the feeling of “playing catch-up”. [Read more]

These are six things that will make you look stupid in email. In some cases breaking these rules will make you lose your job. In others they will simply annoy your readers. If you have any suggestions that should be added, please leave a comment. 1. Put Your Entire Message In The Subject Just because you can see the entire subject as you type it, doesn’t mean it will show up for your recipient the same way. Depending on their email program, it might even truncate it. 2. CC A Bunch Of Unrelated Recipients If you need to send something out to a large number of people who don’t already know each other, don’t put them in the CC field. That broadcasts their email address to each other. There was a case a few years ago where a real estate agent did this to a group of people who were all looking for apartments in New York. People who received it were able to sell the email to other agents for thousands of dollars because it contained the email addresses of qualified leads. You can use the BCC field if you need to send messages out to a bunch of people. Put your own email address in the TO field. That way recipients can’t see each other’s email addresses and no matter what they hit any response will come back to only you. 3. Hit Reply All Instead Of Reply I don’t really know how you could do this accidentally, but I’ve seen it happen many times. I’m guessing that some people have mail programs where the Reply and Reply All buttons are very close together. Other times I think people are just being lazy and hit Reply All (to 100 people) instead of taking the time to add the three people who need to see their reply. 4. Send A Message To A Superset Of People Who Need It [Read more]

Want to work from home? Surf first. I frequently receive emails from people hoping to learn how to start a home-based business or build a suitable home office. They’ve been laid off, or fear the axe is falling, and they wonder how they can be prepared for the perceived impending doom. Instead, take this time to prepare for [...]

Weekly reviews, the time Getting Things Done acolytes slot for themselves to look over their task lists and work systems, are an effective way of keeping a productivity system running smooth, as Gina has shown. The Lifehack.org blog recommends considering a few additions to your reviews, going past cranking widgets to look at other productivity factors. For example:

Social Review. What social activities will you be doing in the upcoming week? A lot of social events are spontaneous, but knowing when you want to visit with friends or family can make organizing your work easier. If you know about an event ahead of time, it can help schedule your work to avoid conflicts later. [Read more]

Chuck Frey has listed his 5 top add-in programs for MindManager:

1. GyroQ
2. TheRealizer
3. Word 2007 Map Editor
4. Ontaris Outlook Linker
5. ResultsManager

For my use, Mindsystems ThemeReader is a powerful knowledge management add-in for MindManager. Powered by Cirilab’s Knowledge Generation Engine, Mindsystems ThemeReader analyses a file or document, using proprietary algorithms, looking for recurring themes. It then takes those themes and builds a MindManager map. [Read more]

One of the most neglected aspects of our health is our posture. Amongst all the guidelines on healthy eating and workout methods, this essential facet of our well-being is often overlooked. Posture provides the foundation for a balanced workout, deeper breathing, effective digestion and efficient functioning of organs. Improving your posture will benefit your overall health, give you more energy, help rehabilitate or prevent injury and increase sporting performance. That’s a lot of benefits for such an overlooked idea and I didn't even mention that it would help you sit at your workstation longer and work harder without cramping! Here we take a look at six core stretches that will increase your flexibility from head to toe.

Stretch One: The “Superman” The aim of this stretch is to finish at 90 degree angle, leaning forward onto a stretch band or other object with your legs straight, torso horizontal and arms extended.

• Keep your feet shoulder width apart with a slight bend at the knees.
• Lean forwards with your arms extended and resting on a steady object or stretch band.
• Push your backside out, keep your shoulders high
• Gently straighten your legs
• You control the stretch.

You should feel the stretch in the front and back of the shoulders, across the back of the neck, through the back, glutes, hamstrings and calves.

Stretch Two: The “Reverse Superman” The aim of this stretch is to step forward pull your arms upwards behind your back. This is a great stretch for your chest muscles (pectorals) and especially good for anyone who has rounded shoulders from desk work, driving or poor training habits (too many bench presses and no back work!). You’ll need a stretch band for this one.

• Hang the stretch band over a steady object and grab hold of it behind you.
• Make sure you have an underarm grip on the stretch band – palms towards ceiling.
• Keep your arms straight and your body vertical as you step forward, pulling your arms up behind you.
• Keep your abs tight, chest out and head up.
• You control the stretch.

Stretch Three: Hamstrings The soccer player’s favorite! Connected to the glutes (backside) which in turn are connected to the lower back, improving flexibility here can help back issues. A stretch band will help you perform this stretch effectively.

• Attach stretch band halfway along foot [Read more]

BitTorrent is the go-to resource for downloading everything from music and movies to software and operating systems, but as its popularity continues to grow, so do the number of tools available for making the most of it. Some are must-haves, while others are a waste of time. Climb aboard for a look at 10 of the best BitTorrent utilities, tools, and resources for finding and managing your BitTorrent downloads quickly and efficiently.

10. Use BitTorrent to Send Files

Of course BitTorrent is a great place to go looking for files, but you can actually take advantage of BitTorrent's distributed download protocol to share your own files. This guide details how to create your own torrent to distribute a file on your computer. The guide covers creating the torrent with the popular, Windows-only uTorrent, but the feature is available in almost any BitTorrent client.

9. Start BitTorrent Downloads Over IM

Using IM applications like Pidgin or the Mac-only Adium, you can set up your IM client to automatically accept downloads from specific users (namely, you) and then save the file to a folder that your BitTorrent client watches for new torrent files (in Pidgin you'll need to go to Tools -> Plugins and enable the Autoaccept plugin). Most clients like uTorrent (Windows) and Transmission (*nix) support folder monitoring, so if your BitTorrent client is running it'll detect the file you've sent yourself and automatically start downloading the torrent. This method doesn't allow for very advanced remote management (like #5 below), but if all you want is a quick method for starting a new download, it's quick and easy.

8. Download BitTorrent in Your Browser

I'd always recommend using a dedicated BitTorrent client whenever you can, but sometimes installing or running another app just isn't an option. In those cases, web application BitLet is a perfect solution. It runs BitTorrent downloads through an applet directly in your web browser; all you have to do is point it to the torrent file. (Read more) You can even stream music directly from a torrent in your browser with WeStream, BitLet's other in-browser BitTorrent tool. (Read more)

7. Manage Your Video Downloads with Miro

Cross platform, open source application Miro is designed as a one-stop shop for handling video—whether that's video podcasts or BitTorrent. It doesn't have all the tools available to less specialized clients like uTorrent or Transmission, but it does work well to automatically download a season's worth of television while it's happening. (Read more) [Read more]

That jar of paprika might have lasted you through college, but is it still fresh? The Unclutterer organization blog rounds up helpful links to freshness checkers that decode the numbers and letters that replace actual dates on some containers. Here's the list of spice-maker links:

• Durkee
• McCormick
• Spice Islands (registration required) [Read more]

The Habit List Course is now live. You can signup below. If you are reading this in an email, you may not be able to see the form. Visit the site in order to sign up. Using the Habit List 30 Days - 10 lessons This course explains the Habit List–a method of tracking habits you want to develop that shouldn’t be on your regular todo list. It explains the theory behind the list and includes the popular PDF allowing you to print your own Habit List. (In Testing: Signup Below for Beta) [Read more]

My brother used to sell computers and software. Customers would regularly phone with questions that were already explained in the manual. RTFM (read the f***ing manual!) was a standard reaction among the technical help personnel. But there is something in us that does not want to read the manual. We do not want to get bogged down in details. If we read the manual we might convince ourselves that something is too difficult. If we do not have some hands-on experience, the manual is often meaningless. We know from experience that we will not remember what we read in the manual anyway. So we just start without the manual and either figure things out, or ask for help when we are stuck. There are many situations in life where following your inclinations, without the manual of instructions, is the best approach. I can think of at least five.

• Business. I worked for two large corporations in the 1970's and 80's. They were both established leaders in their field. Millions of dollars were spent in meetings, studies, Return on Investment(ROI) analysis and more studies, usually resulting in the decision not to go forward. Neither company exists today.I have now had my own company since 1987. The "gut-feel" decisions are the ones that really worked for me. I made my way forward and adjusted as I went. Dealing with the mistakes we made was what strengthened our company in the long run.
• Language learning. I speak nine languages fluently and am working on three more. In a recent post on his blog called, "How to learn any language in one hour", Tim Ferriss tells us to "deconstruct" languages. In other words, analyze and compare their grammar in order to decide which one to learn. Nonsense. I choose a language based on my interests and passion.A friend who speaks the language, the sound of the language, the culture, a desire to visit the country, a professional need; these factors will keep me at it, not the instruction manual. When I study languages, I avoid the grammar. I just listen and read and accumulate words. I let my brain get used to the language. I usually progress more quickly than most people in traditional classrooms, and I enjoy it more. How many people deny themselves the joy of learning another language because they think it will be too much like school.
• Child rearing. Parents all want to do the right thing for their children. Play Mozart to them in the womb, [Read more]

(photo from flickr) A few months ago, I had a terrible time sleeping and getting up. After a party one night, I slept late and for the next 20 days, couldn’t get my sleeping pattern back on track. I fell asleep very late every night at around 3 AM and wasn’t able to get up till at least 11 AM each day. For someone like me who usually sleeps by midnight and gets up at 6 AM, I didn’t enjoy this. I was eventually able to overcome that problem and now have a way to get a good night’s sleep anytime I need to get back in the habit I enjoy. I did all that without taking drugs or sleeping pills. Here are ten ways you can get a good nights sleep naturally. Try to implement one or more together and you’ll get better sleeping patterns, deep sleep and body rest.

1. Stick to a schedule. Mum was right when she set a time we always had to go to sleep as kids. Sticking to a schedule allows your body to set its internal rhythm so you can get up at the time you want, consistently, every single day. Also, make sure you try to keep the same schedule on weekends too, otherwise the next morning, you’d wake later and feel overly tired.
2. Sleep only at night. Avoid daytime sleep if possible. Daytime naps steal hours from nighttime slumber. Limit daytime sleep to 20-minute, power naps.
3. Exercise. It’s actually known to help you sleep better. Your body uses the sleep period to recover its muscles and joints that have been exercised. Twenty to thirty minutes of exercise every day can help you sleep, but be sure to exercise in the morning or afternoon. Exercise stimulates the body and aerobic activity before bedtime may make falling asleep more difficult.
4. Taking a hot shower or bath before bed helps bring on sleep because they can relax tense muscles.
5. Avoid eating just before bed. Give yourself at least 2 hours from when you eat to when you sleep. This allows for digestion to happen (or at least start) well before you go to sleep so your body can rest well during the night, rather than churning away your food.
6. Avoid caffeine. It keeps you awake and that’s now what you want for a good nights sleep. We all know that.
7. Read a fiction book. It takes you to a whole new world if you really get into it. And then take some time to ponder over the book as you fall asleep. I find as I read more and more, regardless of the book, I get more tired at night and so find it easier to fall asleep. Different for others?
8. Have the room slightly cooler. I prefer this to a hot room. I prefer to turn off the heat and allow the coolness to circulate in and out of the windows. If I get cold, I wear warmer clothes. It also saves on the bills as you’re not going to require the heat all night long.
9. Sleep in silence. I find sleeping with no music or TV on more easy and restful. I guess others are different, but sleep with no distractions is best for a clearer mind. [Read more]

Posted in Productivity My wife is the queen of lists. She carries a Palm Tungsten T3 and can, at the swipe of a stylus, pull up whatever information she needs to plan her next action. For example, she uses HandyShopper to track all our shopping lists. If we pop into Home Depot to pick up a gallon of paint, she checks to see what other hardware items we might need, saving a second trip. She has lists of gift ideas, quotes for greeting cards, honey-do’s and much more. Lists are the simplest tool or system for managing your life. They consolidate all your tasks in one place. They can tickle your memory or stimulate your creativity. Lists can be as simple or as complex as you need. You can read lists that give insight into who we are in the Sasha Cagen book, To-Do List: From Buying Milk to Finding a Soul Mate, What Our Lists Reveal About Us. Here is a quick outline of some of the lists you can keep:

• Reference
  • Address Book
  • Dates
  • • Birthday
    • Anniversary
  • Personal information
  • Account information
• Action [Read more]

Why do soloists and home officers work so hard? Why do we aspire to deliver more, to work more hours, to get more done, to eke out just another 15 minutes of productivity from an otherwise fixed work clock? Is it fear, as Seth Godin might claim? In a recent blog, Godin suggested the workaholic lives [...]

As ususal, the ever-pithy* Dave Walker has managed to produce a flow chart that captures the key steps in managing paper.

Incoming paperwork from The Cartoon Blog by Dave Walker [Read more]

I’m still amazed at how well my current GTD system is working for me. I’ve made a few minor tweaks but essentially I’ve been using the same system for over 6 months now! It also never ceases to amaze me how well the entire GTD concept fits into my personal and professional life. I can’t really imagine how to be productive, effective and organized without it anymore! So, it seems my search for the “perfect” GTD system is finally over and I can safely conclude that GTD has become an important foundation for structuring my life. You may have noticed that I’ve been busy over the past couple of months. I’ve been busy at work and with my family, but I’ve also spent quite some time catching up on my reading and learning more and more about productivity, personal development, NLP, life purpose, achieving goals, coaching, success and financial freedom. More on that later, I’ve got some things brewing! For now, I would like to share 3 quick-and-dirty productivity tips with you. These tips have proved to be useful in combination with GTD to help me keep organized and decluttered. (more…) Share This

Our pursuit at the Productivity Café is to use as many tools as possible to get our work done. Tools leverage our efforts, streamline actions, and give us superior systems. We're looking at Feng Shui tools on Wednesday for a while. The first tenant suggested in all my reading and research on Feng Shui is decluttering. One of the foremost authorities in Feng Shui is Karen Kingston whose practice focuses on Space Clearing.

Karen explains, "For your life to work well, it is vital to have a good flow of clear, vibrant energy in your home and workplace. Feng Shui is a beautifully organized system of knowledge that teaches us how to enhance this energy flow by improving building design, furniture placement, color schemes, and so on. Space Clearing is a specialized branch of Feng Shui that works at even deeper levels by cleansing and purifying the chi [energy] of a building [or office], thus enhancing the quality and nature of the energy in the space."

Karen wrote an entire book on a low clutter space called, Clearing Clutter with Feng Shui. She identifies clutter as

• Things you don't use
• Things you don't love
• Things that are untidy or disorganize
• Too many things for a space
• Anything unfinished

So, our work is to remove clutter. Do you have a stack of books that you haven't gotten around to reading for a year or more? That's clutter. Do you have a plant that is dying nearby? That's clutter. Do you display an award from your job though it reminds you of a lousy team dynamic? That's clutter. Do you have a file drawer that is so stuffed that you haven't put anything in it for ages? That's clutter. Clutter can be easy to remove if you use Karen's guideline to keep only things that help you today and are vibrant. The rest can go in the trash or storage somewhere else. If you find you're nagged or teased by others to do something about your mess recognize that you are probably hurting your productivity as well as reputation and other success factors. Consider getting someone impartial and effective such as a professional organizer who specializes in offices to help you declutter if the task is daunting to do yourself. [Read more]

Whilst users have been excited about the backup and remote access capabilities Windows Home Server brings to the home, many have cited the lack of a mail server as a major weakness of the product. Clearly, the WHS team are aware of the community’s desire for a mail server within Windows Home Server, but this is one area in which the product is differentiated from other Enterprise-focused offerings. That’s not to say, however, that you can’t run a third-party mail server on WHS. WGS reader Dave Marchant has been successfully running Mercury Mail Server on his home server for sometime. I’m delighted to say he has written a detailed and extensive guide to running Mercury on WHS, which, advanced users can walkthrough to get the software up and running on your home server. [Read more]

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Windows Home Server didn't take long, but Ubuntu was rewarding for the geeky hobbyist willing to experiment with the creations of the open-source community. Either way, we got a powerful, low-cost machine.

I was interviewed recently from Uruguay by Marco della Cava of USA Today for a cover story that appeared yesterday titled “Speeding Up the Mad Dash”. It’s a quick read and good food for thought:

If you’re reading these words, the chocolates and flowers are on their way. Because given the gazillion draws of modern life — the cellphone, the BlackBerry, the boss, the kids, the TiVo, the dog — it’s a small miracle this sentence has made it into your day. Our fast society is only getting faster, putting inordinate demands on our time and prompting the people and companies that service our lives to come up with ways to help us reclaim some of it. Don’t have time to read all those magazines you subscribe to? Not a problem. A new website called Brijit offers one-paragraph summaries of even the most complex and deeply researched tomes. “It’s like drinking from a fire hose these days,” says founder Jeremy Brosowsky. “There’s more good stuff than ever, but the problem is consuming it day to day”… Is playing Monopoly akin to sitting through an endless symphony? [Read more]

In case you guys are interested, I wrote a post over at the LifeRemix blog that I think you’ll enjoy: Lazy Productivity: 10 Simple Ways to Do Only Three Things Today [Read more]