2008
August
For any of us in the ‘knowledge economy’, I’d say that having some time to think is crucial. Without it, we are condemned to a life of being reactive to events, rather than being in control.
The more things change, the more they stay the same
It’s been way too long since my last confession – but once again, I’m back on the wagon.
February
The thin red line: my current favourite notebook hack
A bit obvious, maybe, but it’s the cheapest GTD hack I’ve tried in a long time, and it’s a good one!
2007
August
Whitepaper v3: Taking advantage of Exchange
A new job and a new office is a good opportunity to take stock of how things are working — and to revise my setup where it’s not working so well.
Without going on and on about it, my apologies for the extended delay in posting here — the usual excuses apply but I recognise it’s been quite some time!
January
Gearing up for working across lots of projects, all at once
My stress levels increase as immediate information about the status of everything I’m working on vanishes. I don’t need to have details available, but I do need to know exactly where things stand.
Here’s the first of several posts about my new task: working across a lot of projects, all at once…
Finding balance through a posting schedule
I’ve recently taken on a lot more responsibility at work, across two teams and working on some pretty important social issues. As a result, I’m working longer hours (10-hour days are becoming the norm) than I ever have before. Here’s my plan to keep posting through all of this…
Vertical integration: advice, please!
I’m after some advice. Over to you, wise and widespread readers: what tips would you give to someone wanting to get the ‘upper levels’ of GTD working smoothly?
Filofax for GTD: your very own tickler file
In theory, the tickler file is a great tool — simply file things away in the folder for the correct date, and then don’t think about it again until the day rolls around.
In practice, though, I’ve often found it’s more trouble than it’s worth. But the idea itself remains an excellent one. Wouldn’t it be great if you could carry a tickler file with you all the time? Well, now you can…
Using a Filofax for GTD: setting up the pages for tasks and calendars
In part two of my series on using a Filofax for a GTD-style personal productivity system, I go into detail about how I’ve used Filofax’s standard designs in my own system. (Includes two example pages!)
In a world of ubiquitous connectivity, of bounteous bandwidth, of cheap and fast internet access, of ever-more-powerful consumer electronics, why would anyone choose to lug around the venerable Filofax instead of something smaller, sleeker, faster, with more features?
No more! Here’s why the Filofax is, for me, the perfect tool for personal organisation — better than a PalmPilot, a PocketPC, a Treo, Basecamp, Vitalist, Backpack, the lot.
Review: Vitalist, a new GTD application
The race to produce a good GTD application continues. And, I have to say, the results so far are pretty underwhelming.
The first day of the new year is a pretty good time to talk about ‘getting back on the wagon’, I think — unless you have a job that means you have to work right through New Year’s Day, it’s likely that, like me, you’ve spent the holiday period not thinking much about work.
But also like me, you might have had some of those awful moments of waking up early on Christmas morning with deadlines, ideas, and problems running through your head. Remember, open loops = no time to enjoy the rest of your life.
2006
December
Other places you might be interested in
One of the powerful features of the Getting Things Done system is its use of contexts. As part of my preparations for 2007, I’m revisiting the idea of contexts, along with a brief description of how I’m using them in my own system.
Taking a recent pro-clutter, pro-mess piece in The New York Times as a starting-off point, here’s why I’ve put this website together, what it’s going to feature, and why I hope you’ll find it useful and entertaining.
The system - getting set for 2007
For the new year, I’m getting my paper-based organisation system under control. It’s based on David Allen’s Getting Things Done methodology, with a few adaptations for the way I work, and where I work.