5 Tips for an Organized Computer

November 12, 2009

Integration is More Important than Features

November 9, 2009

10 Tips for Creating Secure Passwords

July 22, 2009

Cost of a New Computer

July 15, 2009

Interview: Areas to Stay Low Tech

July 9, 2009

An old-fashion book is still better than an MP3 or a PDF. There’s just something inexplainable about holding a good, hard-cover book in your hand. It feels more important. It feels like there’s actual knowledge contained within.

And it’s easier on the eyes too.

Michael Morton from Marketing Monster (rss)

I have been pleasantly surprised by how much I like the e-ink readers, but I still love a library of real old fashioned books.

I still use paper for a lot of things. My daily planning sheet is irreplacable. I also use a card based walleteer and desktop flowchart for planning tasks. You can download a lot of free paper based resources on my blog.

John Richardson from Success Begins Today (rss)

I think there is something very helpful about actually writing your goals down with a pen on a real piece of paper.

My experience with daily planners and forms is that paper forms, all things considered, are better than a bunch of software that we’re prone to fiddle with. The focus and tangibility of paper planners is a powerful productivity enhancer. For instance, the resistance to erase a planned activity and move it to another day makes it such that I’m more likely to plan fewer things – and actually accomplish them – than to have a digital list of twenty things I can’t do.

Charlie Gilkey from Productive Flourishing (rss)

I find that the software based planners are good when I have hundreds of things I’m trying to track. Paper works much better when I have fewer (but probably more important) tasks to manage.

Absolutely! I use a paper calendar. I just could not give up being able to see everything at a glance!

Ariane Benefit from Neat & Simple Living (rss)

I wouldn’t want to give up my ability to sync my calendar with my Blackberry and my wife’s computer, but if I didn’t need that I’d agree with Ariane. I used a Franklin planner for years and it is amazing how well you can organize your life with paper as long as you have a decent system and process.

I’m paper-centric—for portability and ease of use, there’s nothing better. For a shopping list, an index card suffices. For planning, a pocket notebook. My higher tech is often low too—when I’m writing on the computer, I like TextWrangler or WriteRoom. Writing, as I tell my students, is not word-processing.

Michael Leddy from Orange Crate Art (rss)

Sometimes the low tech software can help you be much more productive. (See the Paradox of Powerful Tools for a story about this.)

Note taking is my favorite low tech solution. Palms and tablet PC’s still do not compete with the good old notepad in this realm. I carry a pocket notepad just incase, and use a full size notepad and clipboard when prepared. Just remember to scan or transcribe important notes. It is also much less expensive to lose a notepad.

Ryan Cole from Practical Productivity (rss)

I haven’t found any computer program that can really give you the immersible experience of mind mapping as a way of taking notes.

I think that capturing thoughts and ideas, especially on the go, is quickest and easiest with paper. I have found that having some device I need to turn on, dial, wake from sleep, or otherwise manipulate gets in the way of what is most important. That is, getting that thought, idea, must do item out of my head and captured quickly, before it is gone.

Patrick Rhone from Patrick Rhone’s Journal (rss)

Even though I can type faster than I can write, I agree with Patrick that it is hard to beat paper for this.

My To Do List! I’ve tried numerous online apps as well as the usual Outlook/Note functions but what has always worked best for me is a simple spiral bound notebook in which I can write my to do lists, then tear them out when I’m done or need to re-write one.

Plus I can carry it everywhere easily and it takes 2 seconds to open up and scribble something in, instead of the time it takes to power up the laptop.

Lea Woodward from Location Independent Living (rss)

My most effective to-do list is a single sheet of paper in the middle of my desk with a short list of things I want to accomplish for the day.

Note-taking.

I have tried just about every electronic method of taking notes including trying a dozen different desktop programs as well as features for my Treo. In the end, there is nothing more conducive to learning for me than writing something down on a pad of paper.

It’s also an incredible tool for creativity - just take a pen, a pad of legal paper and do a brain dump on whatever problem you’re working on.

Jared Degnan from Vanderbilt OwenBloggers (rss)

The only thing I’ve found that works better than paper note taking is collaborative note taking with something like SubEthaEdit–where multiple people can type on the same document at the same time. But that only works in specific situations.

In general I’d agree with Jared. I find it much easier to think with paper when taking notes or brain storming.

I don’t have a PDA. I just use a notebook. I had a PDA once, but lost it. The notebook is helpful because it forces me to look over my notes/contacts after an event to enter them into my computer. Doing so helps me to remember whom I met and what I need to do next. Also, if I lose it, I’m only out 69 cents!

Anne from Writers Cabal Blog (rss)

I’m not a big fan of double entry because I don’t feel it really helps me remember the material any better. However, I’ve heard a lot of people say that this helps them, so it must work for some people.

There is still something to be said for a personal connection in your personal and business relationships. We often forget that business is really about people. We tend to do business with people we trust and trust is best gained by getting to know someone personally. So don’t forget to connect with people in person and over the phone as well as through email and other forms of digital communication.

John from Fiscal Musings (rss)

Good point. I would add postal mail to the list as well. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but there is something special about a physical letter coming in the mail.

If you’re talking about life in general, I use tech for all my work, so for anything that’s not work, I try to avoid using technology. I do read books from my PDA, so ‘try to’ is operative. Television is for people who haven’t got a clue what they’re living for.

If you just mean work, no – not really. I find that pretty much everything I do throughout the workday can be augmented and improved by technology.

http://www.joelfalconer.com from Joel Falconer (rss)

I tried to get away from reading so much on the computer by subscribing to some newspapers. I was amazed at how much paper accumulates in just a week.

Fountain pens.

Brendon Connelly from BikeHacks
(rss)

I love fountain pens, but I’ve finally settled for a nice gel pen. It is a bit more airplane and Kansas heat friendly.

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Interview: Computer Setup

June 18, 2009

My system pretty much revolves around the Omni Group’s OmniFocus – it holds all of my to-do lists, reminders, and the like. I try as much as possible to use my smartphone as my capture device, from which I’ll either send myself an email or use Jott, depending on the circumstances.

The phone also keeps my calendar and lets me know when I’m due somewhere soon.

I’ve also recently started using my little point-and-shoot camera to record meeting notes from the whiteboard at the end of team meetings. Rather than take the time to write stuff down after the meeting, or have someone do it during the meeting, I just take a few pictures of what’s on the board and then type up notes as soon as I can.

Sam Kale from Vanderbilt OwenBloggers (rss)

Using the camera to record whiteboards is a great idea!

I use a Vista computer at home with two monitors. At work I have a desktop and laptop that I use at the same time. Having two screens is a big help when writing or trying to use multiple programs at once.

John Richardson from Success Begins Today (rss)

I’ve been surprised just how often you can use two computers simultaneously. I’m not sure how efficient it is, but having two computers on my desk, I do find I jump back and forth a lot. I think I’d do it even more if they weren’t sharing the same monitor.

I use a Sony Vaio with WinXP. The most important piece is my Sprint Card. With that, I get the WWW (Whatever, Whenever, WiFi or not) all the time

Mike Sansone from ConverStations (rss)

I’ve been pretty impressed with my Sprint card as well. It lets me work from some places where the only other option is dialup or satellite.

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Opera Unite

June 16, 2009

Interview: Technology Investments

May 21, 2009

Interview: Learning New Technology

May 18, 2009

Adobe ConnectNow

May 13, 2009

Interview: Effective Gadgets

April 8, 2009

Sharran Srivatsaa from Vanderbilt OwenBloggers (rss)

The idea of separating your organization software from your email is interesting. Most people are trying to get tighter integration between email, calendar and tasks. I can see the advantage the Sharran is talking about in getting you away from email.

I use the following…

Treo Smartphone for e-mail and appointments. This helps me remember appointments and is a great contact solution with e-mail. This unit does NOT work well as a phone (3 out of 5 rating)

Small digital timer for timing my 48 minute singletasking sessions. This little timer rules. I do ONE FOCUSED THING while this counts down.

Standard Ipod for taking Audio books along in the car or when exercising. Ipod Audio books have enabled me to listen to over 50 books a year when I’m otherwize non-productive (driving etc)

Ipod Touch for getting e-mail and entertainment when on the go. Wireless internet connection required. A fun addition to my technology collection. Great when you have to wait for long periods of time (jury duty etc)

John Richardson from Success Begins Today (rss)

I have an older iPod that is mounted in the trunk of our car in place of the CD changer. Every once in a while, I will take it out and load it up with audiobooks and podcasts. Since we spend a lot of time on the road this helps make sure we always have somethign educational to listen to while driving.

My Macbook is the hub of everything; I run my business from the road on it and use wireless internet connections wherever I find them to stay connected and keep in touch. I love the Spaces functionality which lets me have several desktops open at once – so I run Windows and Mac concurrrently on different desktops as well as having a “blogging” desktop and a “client” desktop.

An HTC TyTnII cellphone is a great backup for the Macbook as I can access email and use Skype wirelessly on it. I use it frequently to allow me to take breaks from the laptop and go and explore the latest place we’re staying in (currently Thailand) but stay connected to my business at the same time.

Digital camera (Canon Powershot SD700) which I use to ’scan’ important documents when I travel and store them on my hard drive.

Lea Woodward from Location Independent Living (rss)

The idea of using Skype wirelessly on a cell phone is interesting. Earlier today I was placing some Skype calls over my MacBook Pro using a Sprint EVDO card. It worked surprisingly well, but it looks like we are starting to see a carrier backlash as they try to control what applications you can run on your smart phone in order to protect their voice revenue.

Personally I find Skype to be a huge timesaver. I can search my contacts and click to call. Also since the new version will let you send your cell phone number as the caller ID that shows up, it significantly improves the experience–people don’t ignore your call because of the strange number.

I use my cell phone for organization more than I ever thought I would. I send myself SMS reminders via GoPingMe.com and Google Calendar. Ironically, usually the very act of setting up the reminder makes me remember the task without any help!

Also, if I get an idea, make an appointment, or am assigned a task that I can’t write down, I call my Jott account and speak the information, which is then transcribed to text and sent to my Gmail account, where it is filtered to a special label.

Damian Bariexca from Apace of Change (rss)

That sounds like a pretty nice setup. I haven’t used GoPingMe, but I will check into them.

Only a Treo 700p. It tells me my calendar wherever I go. And I can get email and IM, too.

Brendon Connelly from BikeHacks (rss)

I used to carry a large Franklin Planner around everywhere with me. It is nice to see how much smaller that functionality has become.

Gadgets are probably the bane of effectiveness!

Just kidding – it’s the user that’s the problem. I use Apple Macs and an iPaq PDA phone to do my day-to-day work, and an external hard drive to store extra stuff and just as a useful item to have when you’re out. This system allows me to get plenty done, wherever I am, though I have my Mac mini and home office set up just the way I like it with an ergonomic mouse and keyboard (you don’t know how great those are until you’re using them every day).

iPods are also great – I have to use my iPod nano at the studios, since the Pro Tools HD system sucks so much power from USB that it won’t run my external hard drive!

http://www.joelfalconer.com from Joel Falconer (rss)

I think that searching for the right gadget can be the bane of effectiveness. Some people become so absorbed with finding the perfect gadget that they forget that it is supposed to save them time.

I use a cheap mp3 player, on which I have every lecture from my courses in the current semester of university. It means I don’t have to take notes, and I can revise while I’m walking to work, driving or doing housework. Plus, it isn’t nearly as boring as studying, and having something physical to do at the same time makes it easier for me to concentrate for long periods.

David Robertson from The Church of Chris Martin (rss)

Being able to listen to a lecture again is very helpful. I was taking some college classes online and I found a plugin that would let me play the lectures faster or slower. When I understood the material, I would play it faster. If I was having trouble understanding I would slow it down. When reviewing I would speed it up again.

I am a big fan of my Nokia N800 Internet Tablet. Nice high-res screen, great battery life, decent Mozilla based browser w/support for Web 2.0, not to mention open source so plenty of expandability. It is does a great job of filling a void until the next rev of the iPhone comes along.

It is nice to have at a meeting if ones needs to look up something on the web instead of having to do the same with a big, clunky laptop. Seems far less, well, rude. With this, my Levenger Pocket Briefcase and/or Field Notes notebook, I have a connected, pocket sized, total meeting solution.

Patrick Rhone from Patrick Rhone’s Journal (rss)

Of course the trade off is, that a small device that gets you to the internet can help waste time as well. But we are seeing a shift. There is a lot of information that used to require paper, radio, or TV that now is more efficient to lookup on the internet. If I need to know the weather, I just type in weather and the name of my city. If I need to look up a phone number, I just do it on Google. A small device like you described could be very useful for those types of things.

The only real gadget I use is a travel alarm clock with a timer and alarm. I set it for a certain amount of time and then forget about it and what time it is, which allows me to focus that much more Psychic RAM on whatever I’m working on. It’s always visible slightly out of my primary field of view, but I hardly ever look at it, as there’s really no need to worry about the time.

Charlie Gilkey from Productive Flourishing (rss)

I think this is a very effective way to work. It is easier to commit yourself to a particular task when you have a specific amount of time in mind.

Jott.com, in conjunction with my cell phone, lets me send reminders to myself via email and/or text message. It’s especially useful when I’m driving or running errands, and don’t want to fumble around for paper.

Eva Holtz from College Admissions Secrets (rss)

That sounds a lot safer than trying to type yourself a message on your phone keyboard.

I find too many gadgets can just get in the way and slow you down. However, if you can find something simple, that does something well, it can be a great boost. Two software gadgets I use are gmail.com and jott.com – gmail for managing all my email accounts and jott for text-to-email phone call notes to myself.

John Koontz from West Coast Shaving

This is a good point. It comes down to having a purpose for each gadget and understanding what you are trying to accomplish. I’v seen people so focused on trying to have a perfect gadget setup that they waste more time than they would have without using their gadget at all.

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