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Doing Less

2009 by 4 Comments
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A lot of what people write about being productive is centered around doing more.  GTD is based on trying to make sure you are able to do more.  Most planning systems are based on trying to do more.  While I can see the need for this, it is sometimes important to step back and think about what you are really accomplishing. Doing more is only valuable if you are doing things that really need to be done.  A system that just enables you to always be busy isn't really valuable.  Obviously there is some value in not letting anything "slip through the cracks" if you are talking about things like getting your wife a birthday present or going to your son's soccer game, but letting some … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Time Tagged With: ,

11 Free Word Processors

2009 by 16 Comments
lotus

AbiWord This word processor was developed by SourceGear Corporation as an alternative to other office software. However, SourceGear stopped developing the software, and a group of open source developers took over creating the later versions of the product. AbiWord is unique in that it can be run on a myriad of different operating systems: Microsoft Windows Mac OS X (10.2 or later, Intel and PowerPC) Linux React OS BeOS Solaris etc. System requirements for AbiWord seem to be pretty reasonable, overall, and it seems to work much like its non-open source counterparts. One final, useful thing about AbiWord is that the developers offer real time support through chat and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: , ,

Leadership Traits

2009 by Leave a Comment

If you work in a leadership position, you'll probably appreciate this article that looks at leadership traits from the perspective of what followers desire in a leader. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Asides

Optimal Sleep

2009 by 4 Comments
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Sleeping is something we don't usually think much about, but if you could do something to convert just 90 minutes of each day from sleep time into productive time, that would give you an extra 10 hours each week. Steve Pavlina discovered that he could reduce the amount of sleep he required by an average of 90 minutes each day by getting up at 5 am 7 days per week. He only goes to bed when he is tired enough that he will immediately fall asleep. You can find more about his experience here and here. Polyphasic sleep is a drastic method of changing your sleeping schedule. Basically, you try to train your body to enter deep sleep immediately by taking a 20 to 30 minute nap every 4 hours. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Development Tagged With: , ,

Review of DropBox Updated

2009 by Leave a Comment

We've updated our review of Dropbox after using it a bit more.  If you need to sync or share data, it is worth reading. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Asides

Top 5 Time Wasters

2009 by 12 Comments
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Here is my top 5 list of items that can waste my time without achieving anything of real value.  These aren't necessarily bad things, they are just areas where it is easy to lose precious time without realizing it.  Everyone has their own top 5 list of time wasters.  If you would like to share yours, please do so in the comments below. Television - It is very easy to lose a few hours mindlessly flipping through channels on the remote. For many people, a subscription in something like NetFlicks will provide a ready source of entertainment without dealing with commercials.  Also, with watching a specific movie, you have a definite end point, unlike channel surfing that can go on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Misc Tagged With: , ,

Where Did My Day Go Contest

2009 by 90 Comments
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Matthew Cornell has a great little PDF out called Where the !@#% did my day go? He has offered to let me give a copy away here on Productivity501.  See below for information about the contest. "Where the !@#% did my day go?" is designed to help you adopt a daily planning routine. It assumes that you have some type of task management and calendar system in place, already. From that standpoint, it kind of picks up where other system leaves off--once you've captured what needs done, how do you execute? Here are some of the things I found interesting: Task selection - Matthew has some really good points about how to select tasks so that you feel good about what you've accomplished … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Productivity

Utah’s 4 Day Work Week

2009 by 2 Comments

Previously we mentioned that Utah was trying a 4 day work week to save energy.  The results are in and there was very little energy savings.  However, they made a lot of savings in other unexpected ways. It is still up in the air whether they will keep the program or not. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Asides

New House Checklist

2009 by 5 Comments
realtor-main

If you are looking at moving, here is a checklist of not-so-obvious things to consider: What time does the mail come? I still prefer reading a newspaper.  Most newspapers are delivered via the postal service now, so I let my last two subscriptions expire because the mail didn't come until late in the day.  We just moved to a new house, and the mail comes at 9:30--much more convenient for reading financial news. How many minutes is it from the nearest grocery store? It isn't a bad idea to time how long it takes to get to the places you plan to go on a regular basis.  Just because a house is physically closer, it doesn't mean that it will take less time to get there. What types … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Misc Tagged With: , ,

Striving for Genius

2009 by 16 Comments
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Thomas Malthus ( 1766 - 1834) had a theory that continual increase in the world population would eventually cause food demand to outpace supply, and a collapse that would push the survivors back to subsistence farming conditions. Obviously, this hasn't happened and there are a number of theories why.  For example: Malthus' theory is just flat out wrong. He didn't take into consideration the growth of technology and the productivity of farming over the last 200 years has increased faster than what is necessary to (temporarily) prevent worldwide famine. Population levels determine agricultural output, not the other way around. Malthus didn't understand the impact of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Development Tagged With: , ,

Sunlight to Reset your Internal Clock

2009 by 8 Comments
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If you ever find yourself having trouble sleeping at night and feeling tired during the day, don't forget that your internal clock is set based on sunlight.  Getting even just 15 minutes of direct sunlight every day can do a lot to help reset your internal clock if you are coming from another timezone or have just messed your schedule up by working a bunch of late nights. Sunlight can also help you when you are feeling tired.  It is amazing how much you can improve a sluggish afternoon just by opening the blinds and getting some direct sunlight into the room or taking a 10 minute walk outside in the light. I'm not sure if sunlight works best because of the spectrum or if it is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: , ,

Random Thoughts on Comments

2009 by Leave a Comment

We have made a few changes and you can now have a picture show up next to your comments by creating a Gravatar. It is simple to do and will give you a visual presence on many websites. We have published 386,590 words since Productivity501 was launched.  Not bad, but even better is that readers have contributed 300,264 words in comments!  Thank you to everyone who is helping make Productivity501 a better place by adding comments and opinions to posts. … [Read more...]

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WikiReader – Wikipedia in your pocket

2009 by Leave a Comment

A $99 device that lets you carry all of Wikipedia around in your pocket:  WikiReader … [Read more...]

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Interview Productive Work Zone

2009 by 8 Comments
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What is your most valuable tip for getting into your productive zone for working? (190) Definitely keep a clean desk and inbox. Before I leave work for the evening, I clean off my desk. When I get to work every morning, I always have a clean desk. The only stuff that can be found on my desk are projects that require action that day. The same can be said for my inbox. Every evening I clean it out. The next morning only contains emails that I'll read/work on that day. Michael Morton from Marketing Monster (rss) Pavlovian conditioning. Here's where procrastination can really hurt you in the beginning. If you go into your home office (or cubicle or whatever) and do nothing, that's … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: , ,

Bounce Feature in OS X Mail

2009 by 1 Comment
Screen shot 2009-10-04 at 9.11.41 PM

OS X Mail has a neat little feature that lets you "bounce" an email back to the sender, making it look like your email address doesn't exist. This isn't particularly useful for dealing with automated spam because most spam is sent from fake addresses anyway.  However, it can be very useful to deal with emails from people who you don't want to have contacting you or who insist on sending you jokes and hoax warnings all the time. To use this feature, simply control click on the offending email and click "bounce" on the popup menu. They will get a message back that looks as if it came from your server saying that your email address doesn't exist, like the image you see below. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: , ,

Understanding Other’s Perceptions

2009 by 5 Comments
crook.gif

The other day I overheard some young people talking. A fresh graduate from high school was posing this question to his peers. Is it illegal to wear a ski mask into a bank to conduct business? Obviously, I would not suggest trying this to find out. The brief snippet of this conversation I overheard started me thinking about how important it is to understand others' perception. If you walk into a bank wearing a ski mask, your intentions are far less important than others' perceptions of your intentions. When I'm on a bus or subway, I like looking around and trying to see how much I can tell about the fellow passengers just by looking at them. It is a simple way I try to keep … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Development Tagged With: , ,

What Is Your Current Work Zone?

2009 by 16 Comments
Learning Graph

If you are really focused on expanding your capabilities, your salary is probably a secondary motivation when it comes to employment. Your major motivation is going to be your learning and growth opportunities. The graph below shows how learning opportunities change over time. At the beginning of any job, you will have many opportunities to learn because everything is new.  This section is marked by the green zone. Every day will involve new experiences and learning new things. As time goes on, this tends to level out, as shown by the yellow zone. Sometimes the yellow zone is only temporary and you will be given new responsibilities that will have new learning … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Development Tagged With: , ,

Dealing with Signatures and Email

2009 by 4 Comments

Today an insurance company needed my signature, and they sent me a TIFF of the file.  I used my scanned signature, added it to the TIFF and sent it back. They said they couldn't accept that because it came over email.  Since the document they sent me had their signature, I asked if I should reject it because it came to me over email.  The agents said I was "too funny". I sent them the same TIFF via fax and they seemed happy with that. This is why we need to get everyone using true digital signatures and encryption on email. … [Read more...]

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Overcompensating to Change Habits

2009 by 5 Comments
tune-main

The strobe light in the device flashed and made the wheels look like they were spinning one way or another.  Fred adjusted his pressure on the lever and watched the wheels closely while plucking the last string. "I think that does it" he announced as he shut off the power to his tuner and started to pack up.  I was eleven, and completely fascinated watching the piano tuner work his magic on our family instrument. I learned a number of things that day. One of the more interesting facts was the way that the pegs in the piano hold a tune.  I noticed that Fred would never tune directly to a note, he would always over-tune and then come back to the desired pitch.  He explained that if … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Development Tagged With: , ,

Making Bad Things Hard

2009 by 9 Comments
soda-main

In high school I had braces.  During college, my retainers broke and I didn't get them replaced.  Over time, my teeth shifted and became crooked again.  About a year ago, I decided to do something about it and went with Invisalign braces.  They are a type of clear plastic mold that fits over all of your teeth.  Every two weeks, you switch them out with a set that is slightly closer to the final position for your teeth. One of the side effects of having your teeth encased in plastic is that you have to plan out your eating a bit more.  You have to take them out before you eat.  When you are finished, you have to wash them and then brush your teeth really well before putting them … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Misc Tagged With: , ,

The Right Space for the Job

2009 by 2 Comments
chair-main

My work area has a comfortable chair, a nice desk, a computer, a large monitor, a phone, etc.  It is easy for me to get stuck at my desk and not want to go to other parts of the house because everything I need is right there. However, when I just stay in my office, I miss out on some of advantages of the other parts of the house. In fact, sometimes the tools that make me feel so productive actually get in the way of what I'm trying to do because they are distractions. Trying to sit and think while I'm sitting right next to my computer is kind of like the teenager trying to do Algebra in front of the T.V.  My email is right there along with all of my other online tools. Reading is … [Read more...]

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Managing Electricity (and everything else)

2009 by 1 Comment
electric-main

You can't manage what you can't measure. A lot of my consulting work centers around helping people deal with the business consequences of that sentence.  Giving businesses real-time data about what is going on can solve a lot of problems, just because it gets things out in the open where they can be seen and discussed. A good example of personal data that ignores this little truth is your electric bill.  Electric bills aren't real time--you get them once each month.  By the time you see how much you owe, you only have a vague idea about what might have produced those dollar figures.  You might see a low bill and think "Oh yeah, we were gone most of the month."  You might see a … [Read more...]

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