Kolz Blog

Adii has released three new themes under the Live Wire name. We have Live Wire 2.0, Live Wire Edition and Live Wire Style. Very much a magazine theme, the Live Wire themes are still very usable without needing to have your own magazine blog. Starting at $99.95 for a single license, $149.95 for a three pack, which contains all three themes, and two licenses, or $249.95 for the developer license which allows you to use the themes on an unlimited number of blogs, the features help speak for the pricing. [Read more]

The question is this: Is your collection organized, and easy to share with your family and friends? In addition, is your collection backed up and protected? If not, then you need to take a look at the ReadyNAS Duo [Read more]

If I had to guess what the biggest challenge people have with GTD, it's not maintaining the system, it's building it. And you might feel that the task of building it seems daunting and undoable, given the world doesn't really slow down because you've decided to take time for yourself to get this thing off the ground. I doubt your colleagues are sitting back saying, "Hey, let's not send emails to him or pull him into this meeting. He's really trying to get his work defined and his GTD system built." Not likely. So right off the bat, unless you've got two days of uninterrupted time to dedicate to the building phase, as David suggests in Part Two of the GTD book, you're more likely going to build it in stages. It will take longer, but a great system can be built in stages. 1. Choose a list manager to track your projects and actions 2. Get a good reference filing system built for your non-actionable stuff 3. Get In/Pending/Out buckets/folders/trays to be able to move things through the system. Once the constructing is done (your house is built), then you're in populating mode (move your stuff in.) Get everything from all of your collection buckets, processed and organized into your new system. Look for the major [Read more]

Dial down your screen brightness; Turn off your system completely at the end of the day; you (still) have a CRT, consider upgrading to an LCD...

Follow these settings to save energy with the computers you already own.

Have you ever been in a team meeting, made a bunch of updates to your project plan, and then wanted to know later which tasks you had actually updated? A coworker emailed me with this scenario today and I decided that the solution deserved a blog post. There are 2 steps to this solution. Step 1: In the meeting, before you start making updates to the project plan, insert the Flag1 column. (If you are already using this column, any flag field will do.) Then as you update a task, set the value to Yes. [Read more]

Over on Noupe there is a great post that goes over some of the millions of ways you can effect major changes on your WordPress theme. Some are difficult, others are very easy, and almost all of them are powerful to bloggers looking to add customizations to their blogs. It includes links to dozens of tutorials from all the great sites on the web that cover WordPress, and can help you answer some of those questions you’ve been interested in finding out more about. Covering things like the [Read more]

Two things are happening. First, Shu responded to you and updated his Favorites addin. In his words, here is the update: I just implemented a new version (1.6.1) of the OneNote Favorites AddIn based on some of the valuable blog feedback. The new updates are: 1. OneNote Favorites Center become modeless dialog, and you can switch multiple favorite pages very fast. 2. Accessibility improved. You can add favorites and access OneNote Favorites Center by keyboard. The shortcuts for Add OneNote Favorite is "CTRL + ALT + D"; and for OneNote Favorites Center is "CTRL + ALT + I". (but due to the add-in framework of OneNote, the add-in will delay load for 10-20 seconds. so those shortcuts won't be enabled until the add-in got loaded.) 3. UI improvement: XP/Vista theme. 4. Fixed the bug: some of the status (treeview/listview, expand/collapse, pin) cannot be saved automatically. [Read more]

Quel surprise! I’ve just found out that GTD Wannabe made a top 100 blog list. I’m thrilled, especially considering how poor I’ve been at blogging lately. (Those of you who are interested should be happy to know that my implementation is basically “done”, and I’m just sitting down tonight to brainstorm a couple of conference papers. Woot!) [Read more]

OneNote 2007 has been out for over a year, we've shipped our first service pack for it and have had overall very positive comments sent our way from many people who have used OneNote. Thanks! It's not all sunshine, though, as a few shadows have been reported. Based on postings on various websites (like our newsgroup, or even this blog), bug reports, product support feedback and internal usage, we've identified three areas which are problems for OneNote users. In no particular order, they are: 1. Sometimes addins such as the powertoys we've released stop working. The symptom is usually a toolbar icon "goes gray" when clicked. I've seen this once, and by the time I got everything installed on my home computer to debug the thing, it started working. We know the problem exists but have not been able to force it to happen so isolating it has been quite difficult. The best we can do so far is the to recommend this workaround:

1. Exit Onenote and wait 15 minutes (or restart the computer, or, if you want, use Task Manager to kill dllhost.exe)
2. Uninstall the addin
3. Go to control panel and open Programs (or Add/Remove programs). Open the Office 2007 install and check to ensure .NET programmability is installed under OneNote [Read more]

Want to give better presentations? Learn from the example of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, the most charismatic pitchman in business today.

Adding screen shots (information captured from your computer screen) to a document can be very helpful. Fortunately, it is also very easy to do. This tip explains a couple of ways you can get the absolute best screen shots from your [Read more]

A few times lately in GTD classes, people have asked me for recommendations on how often I process email. There are some approaches out there that suggest people only check email once a day. Sounds pretty extreme to me, especially if your world moves pretty fast and real work is getting done through email. I check email as often as I need to and at least once a day my Inbox is at zero. However, I do think stepping away from the constant stream of new input can be helpful, if not essential, to getting things done. Otherwise, it can be like standing in front of a fire hydrant with water blasting you in the face. You'll keep getting pelted until you step away from it. Here are a few tips around processing email: [Read more]

Hey guys I put together a video tips video on soapbox of the top 5 things you can do with your Windows Vista Media Center PC. This isn’t purist Home Server but one of the tips is! [Read more]

This small point release for Sony's PS3 just fixed a few bugs and exploits, but brought a new feature that allows PlayStation 2 games that needed to install onto a hard drive to do so. [Read more]

This small point release for Sony's PS3 just fixed a few bugs and exploits, but [Read more]

If you need more clarity, lift the altitude of your focus.

• If you are busy and unclear on what you’re supposed to be doing, go back to your plans.
• If you are planning and unclear, brainstorm to get the inputs you may be missing to create your plans.
• If you are brainstorming and unclear, revisit your vision to increase your focus. [Read more]

If you need more clarity, lift the altitude of your focus.

• If you are busy and unclear on what you’re supposed to be doing, go back to your plans.
• If you are planning and unclear, brainstorm to get the inputs you may be missing to create your plans.
• If you are brainstorming and unclear, revisit your vision to increase your focus. [Read more]

The Productivity Portfolio blog has a great walk-through on how to create a collection of personalized RSS feeds to show any new jobs that pop up on eight popular or specialized job search sites, including Craigslist, CareerBuilder.com, and previously mentioned site Indeed. Even if RSS feeds are old hat for you, you might not know just what each of the major job-finding sites offers in localized, career-specific searches. [Read more]

The Productivity Portfolio blog has a great walk-through on how to create a collection of personalized RSS feeds to show any new jobs that pop up on eight popular or specialized job search sites, including Craigslist, CareerBuilder.com, and previously mentioned site Indeed. Even if RSS feeds are old hat for you, you might not know just what each of the major [Read more]

Many people feel that once they are out of the rat-race, stress will be a thing of the past. If you are one of those who believes that the only reason for your stressed out life is a difficult boss, the long commute between workplace and home, office politics or difficult to manage projects, then you should think again. Even when you are managing a home-based business or working from home as a freelancer, there are bound to be moments of stress that you will need to handle. Sure, the stress will come in different forms, but there will absolutely be stress. Here are a handful of things that you should at least be aware of.

• Change: Some of the initial sources of stress pertain to managing the change. Handling the feeling when realization dawns that you no longer need to get up early and get ready for work may not be as easy as it seems. It is possible that you may enjoy the flexibility and the freedom to a large extent. However, the same feeling will become a routine and you may start to miss certain aspects of work that you enjoyed earlier.
• Business finances: As the capital set aside as investment for the initial months depletes, you may start to worry about the revenue and subsequent profits that you will make. Until the time your business becomes stable, you may need to live with such an ambiguity for a certain period of time.
• Free time: Since you are now working from home, everyone will expect you to flexible and available when they need you. Friends may call during business hours, your children may expect you to drive them to a friend’s party, your spouse may expect you to run to the grocery store, and your aunts and uncles may feel that they can call upon you at any time of the day.Setting expectations of family and friends is extremely important to ensure the smooth running of your home-based business. It is critical they understand that even though you have started working from home, the efforts involved in making it a success are by no means meager or guaranteed. The more serious you are about setting the rules about timings, the faster your friends and family will understand and internalize that you mean business. [Read more]

Many people feel that once they are out of the rat-race, stress will be a thing of the past. If you are one of those who believes that the only reason for your stressed out life is a difficult boss, the long commute between workplace and home, office politics or difficult to manage projects, then you should think again. Even when you are managing a home-based business or working from home as a freelancer, there are bound to be moments of stress that you will need to handle. Sure, the stress will come in different forms, but there will absolutely be stress. Here are a handful of things that you should at least be aware of.

• Change: Some of the initial sources of stress pertain to managing the change. Handling the feeling when realization dawns that you no longer need to get up early and get ready for work may not be as easy as it seems. It is possible that you may enjoy the flexibility and the freedom to a large extent. However, the same feeling will become a routine and you may start to miss certain aspects of work that you enjoyed earlier.
• Business finances: As the capital set aside as investment for the initial months depletes, you may start to worry about the revenue and subsequent profits that you will make. Until the time your business becomes stable, you may need to live with such an ambiguity for a certain period of time.
• Free time: Since you are now working from home, everyone will expect you to flexible and available when they need you. Friends may call during business hours, your children may expect you to drive them to a friend’s party, your spouse may expect you to run to the grocery store, and your aunts and uncles may feel that they can call upon you at any time of the day.Setting expectations of family and friends is extremely important to ensure the smooth running of your home-based business. It is critical they understand that even though you have started working from home, the efforts involved in making it a success are by no means meager or guaranteed. The more serious you are about setting the rules about timings, the faster your friends and family will understand and internalize that you mean business. [Read more]

“Always remember, your focus determines your reality.” - Qui-Gon to Anakin, Star Wars Episode I

The quote above, as cheesy as George Lucas’ writing often is, contains a nugget of Jedi wisdom that I’ve repeatedly found to be true. Your focus determines your reality. It’s something we don’t think about much of the time, but give it some consideration now:

• If you wake up in the morning and think about the miserable things you need to do later in the day, you’ll have a miserable day. If you wake up and focus instead on what a wonderful gift your life is, you’ll have a great day.
• If we let our attention jump from one thing to another, we will have a busy, fractured and probably unproductive day. If we focus entirely on one job, we may lose ourselves in that job, and it will not only be the most productive thing we do all day, but it’ll be very enjoyable.
• If we focus on being tired and wanting to veg out in front of the TV, we will get a lot of television watching done. If, however, we focus on being healthy and fit, we will become healthy and fit through exercise and good eating.

This may seem simplistic, but it’s completely true. This is the magical power of focus. Let’s look at some of the ways you can use focus to improve different aspects of your life.

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.” - Buddha

Focus on a Goal In my experience, focus is the most important determination of whether you’ll achieve a goal or stick to creating a new habit. Not self-discipline, not rewards, not sheer willpower, not even motivation (also an important ingredient, however). If you can maintain your focus on a goal or habit, you will more often than not achieve that goal or create that habit. If you can’t maintain your focus, you won’t achieve the goal, unless it’s such an easy goal that it would have happened anyway. It’s that simple. Why does focus matter so much? Let’s say you decide you want to declutter your house — that’s your goal for this month. So the first day, you’re completely focused on this goal, and you get boxes and trash bags and fill them up with junk. The second day, you’re still focused, and you fill up a bunch more boxes and you’ve cleared most of two rooms with progress on another. This goes on for a few more days, with your focus being on this goal, and lots of progress made. However, let’s say that a week into your decluttering, you decide you want to become a runner. You are now focused on running, and not only do you go out to jog for a few days, you buy running clothes and a Nike-equipped iPod and read running blogs and magazines. However, you’ve lost your focus on decluttering, and soon you aren’t doing much of it, because your focus is on running. In fact, you’ve added more clutter because you’ve bought all the running equipment and magazines and books. Meanwhile, I have maintained my focus on decluttering the entire month, and by the end of the month, I have a nice, simplified house. I did it through focus. This is why I am constantly advocating focusing on only one goal at a time. Having multiple goals spreads out your focus, and makes it less likely that you’ll complete any of the goals. It’s possible, but with a diffused focus, it’s much more difficult. Even with only one goal, maintaining focus can be difficult. You need to find ways to keep your focus on that goal. Some good examples that work for me: [Read more]

“Always remember, your focus determines your reality.” - Qui-Gon to Anakin, Star Wars Episode I

The quote above, as cheesy as George Lucas’ writing often is, contains a nugget of Jedi wisdom that I’ve repeatedly found to be true. Your focus determines your reality. It’s something we don’t think about much of the time, but give it some consideration now:

• If you wake up in the morning and think about the miserable things you need to do later in the day, you’ll have a miserable day. If you wake up and focus instead on what a wonderful gift your life is, you’ll have a great day.
• If we let our attention jump from one thing to another, we will have a busy, fractured and probably unproductive day. If we focus entirely on one job, we may lose ourselves in that job, and it will not only be the most productive thing we do all day, but it’ll be very enjoyable.
• If we focus on being tired and wanting to veg out in front of the TV, we will get a lot of television watching done. If, however, we focus on being healthy and fit, we will become healthy and fit through exercise and good eating.

This may seem simplistic, but it’s completely true. This is the magical power of focus. Let’s look at some of the ways you can use focus to improve different aspects of your life.

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.” - Buddha

Focus on a Goal In my experience, focus is the most important determination of whether you’ll achieve a goal or stick to creating a new habit. Not self-discipline, not rewards, not sheer willpower, not even motivation (also an important ingredient, however). If you can maintain your focus on a goal or habit, you will more often than not achieve that goal or create that habit. If you can’t maintain your focus, you won’t achieve the goal, unless it’s such an easy goal that it would have happened anyway. It’s that simple. Why does focus matter so much? Let’s say you decide you want to declutter your house — that’s your goal for this month. So the first day, you’re completely focused on this goal, and you get boxes and trash bags and fill them up with junk. The second day, you’re still focused, and you fill up a bunch more boxes and you’ve cleared most of two rooms with progress on another. This goes on for a few more days, with your focus being on this goal, and lots of progress made. However, let’s say that a week into your decluttering, you decide you want to become a runner. You are now focused on running, and not only do you go out to jog for a few days, you buy running clothes and a Nike-equipped iPod and read running blogs and magazines. However, you’ve lost your focus on decluttering, and soon you aren’t doing much of it, because your focus is on running. In fact, you’ve added more clutter because you’ve bought all the running equipment and magazines and books. Meanwhile, I have maintained my focus on decluttering the entire month, and by the end of the month, I have a nice, simplified house. I did it through focus. This is why I am constantly advocating focusing on only one goal at a time. Having multiple goals spreads out your focus, and makes it less likely that you’ll complete any of the goals. It’s possible, but with a diffused focus, it’s much more difficult. [Read more]

You may be wildly successful in your work life, but in the midst of that unbridled productivity, it's easy to push your personal goals to the back seat. To combat this common problem, weblog Zen Habits suggests several tips to make time for your personal goals. For example:

Make it your most important appointment. There are appointments we take seriously — a doctor's appointment, or an important meeting — and we will do everything we can to ensure that we make those appointments and are not late for them. But when it comes to our time for [Read more]

You may be wildly successful in your work life, but in the midst of that unbridled productivity, it's easy to push your personal goals to the back seat. To combat this common problem, weblog Zen Habits suggests several tips to make time for your personal goals. For example:

Make it your most important appointment. There are appointments we take seriously — a doctor's appointment, or an important meeting — and we will do everything we can to ensure that we make those [Read more]

Unclutterer.com, one of my favorite blogs, has published a guest post I wrote that I think you might be interested in reading: A Guide to Creating a Minimalist Workspace [Read more]

Unclutterer.com, one of my favorite blogs, has published a guest post I wrote that I think you might be interested in reading: A Guide to Creating a Minimalist Workspace [Read more]

What does it mean to be productive? That’s the question Dustin Wax asks in his Lifehack.org post, There’s More to Productivity Than Time Management - Lifehack.org. He suggests the typical answer might be, “Getting the most done in the least possible time.” Once upon at time, efficiency experts and time-management consultants would have been brought into the workplace with one goal in mind: getting the most work possible out of employees. It was a matter of a good “bottom line”. However, productivity goes far beyond time management. Dustin goes on to say,

“Here’s a different take on what productivity is: You’re being productive when your work is entirely satisfying and fulfilling.”

He touches on some of the qualities that define “entirely satisfying and fulfilling.” [Read more]

What does it mean to be productive? That’s the question Dustin Wax asks in his Lifehack.org post, There’s More to Productivity Than Time Management - Lifehack.org. He suggests the typical answer might be, “Getting the most done in the least possible time.” Once upon at time, efficiency experts and time-management consultants would have been brought into the workplace with one goal in mind: getting the most work possible out of employees. It was a matter of a good “bottom line”. However, productivity goes far beyond time management. Dustin goes on to say, [Read more]

Rolf made an interesting point in my recent post discussing problems with GTD, saying that in terms of the hype cycle (a graphical representation of the adoption and maturing of technologies) the system appears in be in the trough of disillusionment right now. I have had a couple of days to think over this one and I actually feel now that it is not so much GTD, but rather our current perceptions of what personal productivity is, that’s in the trough. Granted, GTD has had a big influence on this area of personal development but much of the negatives that have developed from it have been more down to the wrong perceptions and attitudes. For instance, while GTD is all about getting things done it was never about getting everything done all the time. Somewhere along the way that sort of thinking became the norm when judging productivity. Lifehack.org seems to be on a roll right now when it comes to looking at productivity differently. What my post about things wrong with GTD showed is [Read more]