» Simplifying David Allen’s Complicated GTD Setup Every Monday is Productivity & Organization Day at Zen Habits. Take a look at the setup on the right. It was published in a recent CNNMoney article on David Allen and GTD, and it outlines The David’s GTD setup. It’s way too complicated. That’s just my opinion, of course, but the master of GTD is a living example of how GTD is a great system that has great concepts, but can get way too tool-heavy and complicated when implemented. It doesn’t have to be that way. There’s no reason GTD has to be so complicated. Let’s do a David Allen vs. David’s Tools A five-tray desktop inboxA laptop with USB hub for iPod, camera, cell phone, labeler, digital recorder, external hard drivePalm Treo organizer and cell phoneLotus Notes software for all GTD stuff and email; Word, Excel, PowerPointTwo-drawer file cabinetBriefcase5 plastic travel file foldersDesktop organizer Leo’s Tools pocket Moleskine notebook & pensingle-tray desktop inboxdesktop computerFirefox browser; Gmail, Google Docs, WordPress That’s it.
Self Help Substance Abuse & Addiction Recovery | SMART Recovery® 10 Ways to Stay Focused and Productive - OPEN Forum Be your most productive self with these ten smart tips from someone who knows how to get things done. October 15, 2012 For our brains, being in the Internet Age is like being a five-year old in a candy store. Here are ten ways to improve productivity by preventing your brain from turning work into playtime. 1. For those of us who don’t trust out own willpower in the face of that shiny, browser icon, you can get Internet-blocking software like Freedom that actually prevents your computer from logging onto the Internet for set periods of time. 2. Of course, some jobs require constant access to your phone. 3. Make your brain a chores list, and don’t let it go play until the chores are done. 4. 5. Promise someone, or something, you’ll get something done. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Jacob Harper co-founded the Vintage Vice clothing store and apparel brand in 2006 when he was 23. Read more productivity advice. Photo: Thinkstock
3 Surefire Ways to Be More Productive Clear your mind, fuel your body, and lighten your workload with these three productivity tips. June 08, 2012 A simple Amazon.com search for books on productivity will bring up more than 46,000 results. Don't waste your time sifting through reviews, take the next 4 minutes to read the following tips that will help clear your mind, fuel your body, and lighten up your workload. Meditate for 10 minutes per day. “I’ve only missed one day of work in that whole time and it is all because of meditation,” says Puff, a clinical psychologist in Newport Beach, Calif., and host of the free Meditation for Health Podcast. The more you meditate, the deeper the relaxation. Even if you aren’t convinced, give it a try (10 minutes every day) and compare your work productivity. Eat, a lot. A meal might be a half sandwich with fruit, and snacks could be string cheese, a bag of low-fat popcorn, oatmeal, and a handful of nuts. Avoid packaged snack foods and sugar-sweetened beverages, especially energy drinks. 1.
Wallpaper Roundup: GTD With Workflows And Quadrants Whether you’re chugging away at school or you’re plugging along at your 9 to 5 like usual, we’ve got a roundup of productivity-centric wallpaper to help you keep focused. Note: The “Full Size” link directly under the picture only shows you the full size of the sample image we uploaded for this gallery. You need to click on the name of the particular wallpaper in the right hand column to access the full range of sizes at the source site or click on “Direct Link to Largest Available Image” to jump right to the biggest size available. Entropia Design Studio Direct Link to Largest Available Image Several years ago I had an idea about creating wallpapers to organize your desktop(s) to increase productivity. David Fisco Direct Link to Largest Available Image This PNG file is a wallpaper for your computer’s desktop. Petitinvention: Desktop Organising Wallpaper Direct Link to Largest Available Image Is your desktop messed up with files and folders? Quality Nonsense: GTD Wallpaper
7 Laws of Good Time Management Good time management skills can make a world of difference in your personal and professional lives. In most cases, we begin to pick up our time management habits in primary school, but really hone those skills later in life – when our parents aren’t around to watch our every move. Later on, we’ll translate the life lessons learned in education into the time management principles that allow us to balance both personal activities and professional responsibilities. At work, time management is one of the most important skills you have. A good worker gets things done with time left over – and bosses take notice of workers who are able to achieve this. Law #1 – Write lists You may think that you can keep all of your daily “to do” tasks organized in your brain. Writing lists should be one of your top time management tools. Law #2 – Set priorities Now that you’ve got your list finished, go through it again in order to determine which tasks should take precedence. Law #4 – Focus on essentials
5 Steps to Set -- and Achieve -- Your Business Goals Are you making progress on your business goals for the year yet? If not, consider taking a more strategic approach to business growth by setting measurable (and realistic) goals, planning for obstacles, preparing for change and, ultimately, having a better and more clearly defined purpose for your business and your team. Below are five things you can start doing now to help you strategically dominate your competition: No. 1: Strategic Goal Planning It’s one thing to set a goal for the future, but how accurately are you keeping track of your accomplishments? What systems do you have in place to keep you on target? Writing your goals down is the first step, of course, but that’s just the beginning. Write down what you want to accomplish this year, then take a step back… What do you need to do this month to realize that goal? Most people fail to achieve their goals because they have a flawed process, set unattainably high expectations, or because they set goals that do not inspire them.
GTD in 15 minutes – A Pragmatic Guide to Getting Things Done GTD—or “Getting things done”—is a framework for organizing and tracking your tasks and projects. Its aim is a bit higher than just “getting things done”, though. (It should have been called “Getting things done in a much better way than just letting things happen, which often turns out not to be very cool at all”.) Sound like all other run-of-the-mill to-do list systems, you say? One of the basic assumptions of GTD is that you are dumb—or, rather, that your subconsciousness is quite dumb when it comes to thinking about things you should have done. Jessica Kerr put it perfectly: Pretend your brain is a white board. A great part of the “magic” is to convert both tasks and whims into physical and visible actions as you soon will see. What GTD gives you—when understood and implemented properly—is a foolproof system for keeping track of what you need to do, should do, or should consider to do. Awesome! You will have to make the following lists: So what’s the next actions list? Agenda contexts
Time management systems - how to choose from the leading systems. Time Management Systems - There are many time management systems available today. An effective system is a key part of getting control of your time. The Systems we have selected for this overview are: Getting Things Done - GTD - David Allen Time Management Franklin Time Management -- Fraklin Covey Time Power -- Brian Tracy Time Managament from the Inside Out -- Julie Morgenstern Firstly lets look at why you should consider using a System at all. The idea of a System is that it captures all key information. Next we move on to what we suggest you look for as a starting point for your System. Look for a System that includes: 1. Please note, that we are talking about a system here, not a planner or diary. At Time Managment Central we don't have A SYSTEM that we have developed and want you to use. So, we have summarised 4 leading systems for you. Let's look at each in a little more detail. Getting Things Done (GTD - The David Allen Time Management System) The step-by-step method includes;
The Item Hierarchy in v0.8 Parents and children When we want to get something done - like, say, get a web-package to manage my task list - then usually I can't do it in one action: it gets broken down into several tasks. So, I create a project "get a web-package to manage my task list", and then I set out what the very next thing I have to do, to start making that happen: "search web for existing GTD software". A lot of the things I do are very specific, with a definable completion status - they are projects. A description of the hierarchy In 0.8, the hierarchy of projects and actions that form the core of the GTD productivity system, has been extended as follows: Values -> Vision -> Roles -> Goals -> Projects -> Actions This is a synthesis of the hierarchy set out in Covey (needs reference) , with the runway-50,000ft analogy set out in the GTD book. For these four categories: # vision # role # goal # project You can use it as you see fit. Values are viewed as being fairly stable over the long term. Example
How to Organize Evernote for Maximum Efficiency Please note: The way I organize Evernote today is completely different than what I wrote here. You can find my updated methodology here. I have been using Evernote for months. Photo courtesy of ©iStockphoto.com/STEVECOLEccs However, thanks to Brett Kelly’s very helpful e-book, Evernote Essentials, the Evernote user forum, and a little experimentation, I have begun to see the incredible power of this digital repository. It all begins by establishing a solid organizational structure. If you are just getting started with Evernote, I suggest that you buy Brett Kelly’s remarkably practical e-book, Evernote Essentials, 4.0. First, let’s define some terms: Notebooks: These are collections of individual notes. I tend to think of stacks and notebooks as a vertical (or hierarchical) way of organizing, and tags as a horizontal (or lateral) way of organizing. For example, you might “tag” a piece of paper within a folder by printing invoices on yellow paper. Here are my current tags:
Org Glossary: An Explanation of Basic Org-Mode Concepts One of the most common questions for new (and seasoned) users of org-mode is how to organize agenda files. Should you put everything in one big file organized by project? Should you create a new file for each project? Or should you have separate "containers" for different types of data: i.e., one file (or subtree) for appointments, one for reference, one for todos, and so on. The short answer: it doesn't matter. If you are using org-mode for the first time, the simplest approach may be to use a single file and to enter projects or todos as the appear. Perhaps the main consideration in organizing your files is to consider inheritance and restriction. An example: If you'd like all your appointments to belong to the category "appts", then it probably doesn't make sense to scatter them as first level headings among multiple files.
Forums : Tips & Tricks : My Setup to Semi-automate Gmail, Toodledo, Evernote and Calendar Here's the system I've put together to implement GTD using Evernote, Toodledo, Gmail and several add-ons that provide for automated functionality. It all starts with Gmail. This is where most things “start” in my business and personal life. In comes an email and something has to be done (task) or scheduled (event). To get the email into Evernote I use a Google script from HarryOnline.net called “gm2en” This script has some configuration choices. Back in Evernote all my emails of interest are now in my default notebook and tagged with “Gmail.” Finally, if the “note” created in Evernote from the email requires a calendar entry (event in Google Calendar), then TaskClone handles that, too. Evernote Premium, Toodledo subscription and TaskClone all cost money.
The 4-Hour Workweek The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (2007) is a self-help book by Timothy Ferriss, an American writer, educational activist and entrepreneur.[1] The book has spent more than four years on the The New York Times Best Seller list, has been translated into 35 languages and has sold more than 1,350,000 copies worldwide.[2][3][4] It focuses on what Ferriss refers to as "lifestyle design" and a repudiation of the traditional "deferred" life plan in which people work grueling hours and take few vacations for decades and save money in order to relax after retirement. Background[edit] Ferriss developed the ideas present in The 4-Hour Workweek while working 14-hour days at his sports nutrition supplement company, BrainQUICKEN.[5] Frustrated by the overwork and lack of free time, Ferriss took a 3-week sabbatical to Europe. Synopsis[edit] Elimination is about time management, or rather about not managing time. Blog[edit] Reception[edit] Charity donation[edit]