GTD

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  David Allen Company Podcast

• Podcast: David Allen - Making It All Work

  30 Oct 2009 | 4:46 pm

  In this podcast, recorded for "Inside Personal Growth," David shares the keys from his book Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life. Click here to listen now or click here to download. (mp3, 33:17) Related Links: Discuss on GTD Times Learn more about Making It All Work

• Podcast: David Allen - Best Practices of Organize

  12 Oct 2009 | 12:04 pm

  In this episode, the 3rd in this GTD best practices series by David Allen and his tech team, they take a look at the best practices of organize. Click here to listen now or click here to download. (mp3, 29:07) Related Links: Discuss on GTD Times Get started with GTD Check out more free podcasts

• Podcast: David Allen - Growing Up On GTD

  2 Oct 2009 | 10:13 am

  What would it be like to learn GTD as kid? How would that influence your work habits and productivity? David Allen chats with Garrison Harward, one of the youngest people we've ever coached, who essentially grew up on GTD. Click here to listen now or click here to download. (mp3, 10:49) Related Links: Discuss on GTD Times

• Podcast: David Allen - Coaching on the Weekly Review

  8 Sep 2009 | 12:36 pm

  David Allen, Meg Edwards & Marian Bateman discuss the best practices of the Weekly Review. Here their stories, tips & tricks for mastering this key process in your GTD system. Click here to listen now or click here to download. (mp3, 10:38) Related Links: Get the GTD System starter kit Discuss on GTD Times

• Podcast: Kelly Forrister - GTD Outlook Add-In

  29 Aug 2009 | 9:47 am

  Kelly Forrister chats with Dean Hering, chief innovator for Netcentrics--developers of the popular Getting Things Done Outlook Add-In. They discuss what's new in the latest release and why it's such a useful tool for GTD'ers on Outlook. Click here to listen now or click here to download. (mp3, 32:53) Related Links: Learn more about the Add-In Discuss on GTD Times blog

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  David Allen Company Updates

• Podcast: David Allen - Making It All Work

  30 Oct 2009 | 4:46 pm

  In this podcast, recorded for "Inside Personal Growth," David shares the keys from his book Making It All Work: Winning at the Game of Work and Business of Life. Click here to listen now or click here to download. (mp3, 33:17). For access to all previous podcasts, check out our complete podcast feed. Related Links: Discuss on GTD Times Learn more about Making It All Work

• Podcast: David Allen - Best Practices of Organize

  12 Oct 2009 | 12:04 pm

  In this episode, the 3rd in this GTD best practices series by David Allen and his tech team, they take a look at the best practices of organize. Click here to listen now or click here to download. (mp3, 29:07). For access to all previous podcasts, check out our complete podcast feed. Related Links: Discuss on GTD Times Get started with GTD Check out more free podcasts

• Podcast: David Allen - Growing Up On GTD

  2 Oct 2009 | 10:13 am

  What would it be like to learn GTD as kid? How would that influence your work habits and productivity? David Allen chats with Garrison Harward, one of the youngest people we've ever coached, who essentially grew up on GTD. Click here to listen now or click here to download. (mp3, 10:49). For access to all previous podcasts, check out our complete podcast feed. Related Links: Discuss on GTD Times

• Member Exclusive: David Allen On Twitter

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:51 pm

  Access the creative, reflective state of mind of a retreat, amidst the day-to-day crank-it-out. Do GTD.

• Member Exclusive: Chapter 10: Getting Projects Under Control - Featured Thru 11/12

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:47 pm

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  Did I Get Things Done?

• Productivity, Motivation, and Personal Development Links – 1st November 2009

  Andrew Mason

  1 Nov 2009 | 10:35 am

  My week was as busy, but well planned as I predicted and it was only the calm before the storm as I have to do a considerable amount of high pressure work this week in only four days. I am away from Friday on holiday in the English Lake District with my family, my second home. I imagine I will be working some late nights so I am leaving you here to make a start already! Here are my collection of links for this week. My first link for this week is a post from thr Willpower blog that looks at the Mac Writing Application that I use, Scrivener and how tool such as these make wok into play. This…

• Productivity, Motivation, and Personal Development Links – 25th October 2009

  Andrew Mason

  25 Oct 2009 | 1:01 pm

  This coming week brings with it some work challenges that will result in long hours and a requirement to focus more than usual. We have the same challenge every October so I know how to get through it. Hopefully my home office will be completed this week, framing my last picture and then it is time for a writing update. Had a list of five household items to do today, and glad to say that I did them all so I am just about to sit down with a noce Pinot Grigio and enjoy some R&R time! Here are my collection of links for this week. My first link for this week is to an intriguing application…

• OmniFocus, GTD, and You – Free Whitepaper

  Andrew Mason

  22 Oct 2009 | 3:07 pm

  This white paper has been out a few days and I was meaning to blog about it sooner but only just got the chance due to my every increasing workload. So, here is the news regarding OmniFocus and GTD. OmniGroup, the team behind the Mac and iPhone Getting Things Done app, OmniFocus have released an awesome and free white paper titled OmniFocus, GTD, and You. This is a 20 page white paper that looks at GTD and the way that you can implement it in a software application such as OmniFocus. Obviously this is very biased towards OmniFocus but the white paper is also of use and contains great…

• Productivity, Motivation, and Personal Development Links – 18th October 2009

  Andrew Mason

  18 Oct 2009 | 6:58 am

  The last week has been replaced with a blur! I had a great time at the A4UExpo in London. It was great to meet up with so many old friends. I was back at work for a day before going away for the weekend with my family and I have just returned. Hoping to get some more time this coming week. Here are my collection of links for this week. My first link for this week outlines the Pomodoro productivity technique as an alternative to GTD. This makes good reading for anybody interested in productivity. I follow GTD but must admit that some of what works best for me in my own system has crept in to…

• Productivity, Motivation, and Personal Development Links – 11th October 2009

  Andrew Mason

  11 Oct 2009 | 11:08 am

  After a hectic week I am tonight preparing to visit the 2009 A4UExpo that is held over the next few days at the Excel conference centre in London. Looking forward to meeting a lot of old friends and also hoping for a bit of inspiration to start some new projects this side of Christmas. Here are my collection of links for this week. My first link for this week is an old but very good post titled What is Wrong with GTD. This post was doing the rounds on Twitter so I thought I would mention it again although I linked to it in the past. Well worth a read and I would love to know your thoughts on…

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  43 Folders

• NaNoWriMo: A Pep Talk and a Warning

  Merlin

  2 Nov 2009 | 9:20 am

  I honor any project to write something — especially to write a long piece of fiction. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do but, like most people, I have always been too scared to attempt it. So, kudos. But, here’s the thing: it’s hard to start writing, and it’s almost as hard to keep writing. Believe me, I know. And, there will be times every day when you get discouraged or you want to throw in the towel because you feel lost or depressed or useless or just plain tired. Empty. That’s the word. Empty. All I want to say is, keep at it.

• Makebelieve Help, Old Butchers, and Figuring Out Who You Are (For Now)

  Merlin

  22 Oct 2009 | 2:17 pm

  Makebelieve Help, Old Butchers, and Figuring Out Who You Are (For Now) - Vimeo [NSFW] Here’s a video I made about a video I made. Consequently, it’s also about writing a book, fake self-help, the long road to developing expertise, and the ups and downs of repeatedly asking the world to tell you who you are. The video is long. As usual. This is how it works. I’d had this fancy idea that I’d do a DFW-style dump of annotations about what I talk about over these 40 minutes, and I might add that later, but for now here’s all you need to know: Dish soap…

• Fake Rocks, Salami Commanders, and Just Enough to Start

  Merlin

  4 Aug 2009 | 6:36 am

  MaxFunCon: Merlin Mann on Doing Creative Work (via TSoYA) Here’s the audio from a short talk I presented a few weeks ago at Jesse Thorn’s awesome1 MaxFunCon in Lake Arrowhead, CA. The talk is subtitled, “With All Due Respect to the Seduction Community”2, and it contains my typically NSFW use of, well, words, I guess. It’s about how to get started—just started—with any project that really matters to you.   Listen above Embedded audio starts at 4:00 (where my talk begins) Download MP3 of this episode Subscribe to The Sound of Young America via…

• Mud Rooms, Red Letters, and Real Priorities

  Merlin

  28 Apr 2009 | 4:28 am

  Thanks to my funny, literary pal, Jason B. Jones, today, I’m visiting lovely, warm Connecticut to do some talks and whatnot at CCSU. I mention it because I’d started typing this little post mid-way through the long eastbound flight that delivered me here from three fun (but very long) days doing a comedy thing with You Look Nice Today and Jordan, Jesse, Go! over on that other, top-left, edge of our nation. So, I was tired. Really tired. The kind of tired where your wallet hurts your butt, and coffee tastes weird, and you try super-hard to sleep, but – well –…

• Free as in "Me"

  Merlin

  10 Apr 2009 | 6:29 am

  This unbelievably long article is related to (but not necessarily about) a discussion that I and several other people have been participating in online over the past few days. It’s about (and not about) the increasingly popular practice of re-publishing someone’s online work on another site without the attribution, formatting, and linking that many bloggers regard as standard, ethical, and fair. It’s admittedly a polemic (which is what people who think they’re clever call, “a rambling rant”), but what may seem to many to be a childish and ungrateful…

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  Productivity in Context

• Collaborative Networks Produce Better Ideas

  @Stephen

  5 Nov 2009 | 11:32 pm

  I’ll bet you already knew this: Spigit Blog - Collaborative Networks Produce Better Ideas A key aspect of what one might term ‘Innovation 2.0′ is the ability to share ideas among a community, and have that community help identify and refine top ideas. It turns out that a University of Chicago professor studied this dynamic in 2003, and found it to be true. Professor Ronald Burt wrote an academic paper, published in the American Journal of Sociology, entitled Structural Holes and Good Ideas (pdf). “Structural holes” are the gaps that exist within organizations…

• Dave Seah is Reading My Mind

  @Stephen

  4 Nov 2009 | 11:26 pm

  I have been thinking in a similar vein lately, and Dave has hit the nail on the head. Unfortunately, I contracted an intestinal virus two weeks ago that has been nagging me and keeping me from writing anything. If you don’t subscribe to Dave’s blog, you should. He is wicked smart. A Return to Spirited Blather However, I’ve been sitting on this for months and have come to the conclusion today that it’s more important to just start the conversation flowing again. And so, this post marks the first of that; I’ll sort out everything else out as the external need…

• Too Sick to Blog

  @Stephen

  3 Nov 2009 | 6:18 pm

  I have been sick with some dastardly virus for the past ten days, so I am just not up to blogging. However, today I felt well enough to do some reading, and here is a very useful post that I found, by Andy Eklund: Creative Streak: Solo Creativity, Part 1 As always, you should articulate the goal (what are you trying to solve?), and the need or problem (what’s preventing you from being successful?) Start with the tips below, but not necessarily in order. Write or draw your ideas on blank paper. (Be environmentally friendly and use old pages from your printer!) Don’t worry about how long…

• Book Review: Ignore Everybody by Hugh McLeod

  @Stephen

  12 Oct 2009 | 3:25 pm

  I started reading Hugh McLeod’s blog Gaping Void about three years ago, and was amazed (and a little bit shocked) at his ideas, candor, and language. Now he has turned a long essay on creativity into a book that you should read. Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity is an awesome resource. Here are the first ten keys: 1. Ignore everybody. 2. The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be yours. 3. Put the hours in. 4. If your biz plan depends on you sud­denly being “dis­co­ve­red” by some big shot, your plan will pro­bably fail. 5. You are res­pon­si­ble for…

• Work-Life Transition

  @Stephen

  6 Oct 2009 | 6:02 am

  Sorry for not posting in a while, I have taken on a new gig as a restaurant manager at Wolfe’s Tavern in Wolfeboro, NH. I have been in the hospitality industry for 15 years, and was not looking to go back to it, but they needed some help. The good news is that my GTD system has survived the transition and I am pretty confident that I will be able to get back on track with posting and finishing up my productivity e-book by the end of the month. Right now I am pretty busy training some new staff, getting expenses in line, and creating a community for the restaurant (follow us on Twitter…

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  GTD Times

• Why it’s important to keep your system current

  GTD Times Team

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:07 pm

  No matter how consistent the system is, if it is not current (i.e. completely up to date with all items in a category) it still can’t be trusted in a way that relieves the psyche of the job of remembering and sorting. You’ll look at a list and some part of you knows it’s not the whole list, so (a) you won’t totally trust your choices and (b) you’ll still try to use your head to keep track. And if your brain still has that job, instead of trusting your lists, you won’t be motivated to keep your external system going (it will be too much work for the value received.) You’ll feel…

• Two GTD tools to increase sales

  GTD Times Team

  4 Nov 2009 | 11:41 am

  As a sales executive, a great way to differentiate yourself from the competition is by helping clients manage the project your solution is supposed to help. While this is known as a “consultative sale” and might seem like nothing new, ask yourself: how many salespeople actually have a system for it? Salespersons are trained to sell, not to consult. So most people do not do well in “consultative sales” despite what they said when they were interviewed. Fortunately, those of you who discovered GTD have two great tools at your disposal. Specifically, they are David…

• Organizing on the iPhone

  GTD Times Team

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:52 am

  Thanks for this community contribution from Pete Tambroni. Here’s how he has setup his GTD organization on the iPhone… In the original Getting Things Done, much of the focus was on paper systems with an electronic complement. These days much of our world is the opposite. I try to have as much as possible in electronic form with a paper complement. Having things on a computer or PDA allows it to be searchable and easily changed from one category to another. But just because we can search for something doesn’t mean we should. Why not just know where it is?Despite limitations…

• Save some bucks on postage

  GTD Times Team

  2 Nov 2009 | 10:42 am

  The new GTD Workflow Map + DVD now also comes in a folded version, which is packaged in a flat-rate envelope, which makes international shipping much more economical.  You can also still get the rolled version, that ships in a tube, if you prefer that. What’s different about this map versus the diagram that’s in the GTD book? The diagram in the book (page 120) only includes Collect, Process and Organize phases. This new one also includes Review, Horizons of Focus, 3-Fold Nature of Work and Criteria for Choosing.  It’s a very cool map describing how all parts of GTD…

• Critical patch for GTD Outlook Add-in users

  GTD Times Team

  30 Oct 2009 | 3:37 pm

  Hey GTD’ers–for those of you who use the Getting Things Done® Outlook® Add-In by NetCentrics, make sure you grab the critical update before Sunday. Here’s what they say: NetCentrics has released an update for the Getting Things Done Outlook Add-In, Version 3.0.40.  This update is critical and provides you with the latest version of the Getting Things Done Add-In and offers the highest levels of stability.  This update needs to be installed before the Daylight Savings Time change (November 1, 2009) in the U.S. This update corrects the issues of the Add-In losing its…

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  Rock Your Day

• How To Train Yourself To Be In The Mood You Want

  Dave Navarro

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:26 am

  When you have major changes going on in your life, or you’re just frustrated about where you are, it’s easy to get trapped in a cycle of depression, bad moods and frustration.  I know, I’ve been there … and when I’m not careful, I still get there more than I want to. But lately I’ve had a particularly hard time, as I make some major (positive) changes in my life.  I hit these moments where I’m in a foul mood, or I’m just feeling paralyzed, and I’m just stuck.  Sometimes I just stew in that and stay there, but sometimes I actually get…

• This Is Your Chance. Don’t Settle For Not Taking It.

  Dave Navarro

  14 Sep 2009 | 8:51 am

  (This is a “Monday Morning Kick In The Ass” reprint from my Stop Settling newsletter.  I’m posting it because I’ve never received such a flood of “This is just what I needed” emails as I have for this one, and I want to expand its reach.) Please re-tweet at the end if you liked it. This Monday’s Kick: This Is Your Chance When we’re focused on a goal – especially a big honkin’ one, the finish line can seem awfully far away. And that distance can drain your desire to take action, because all you can see is how you’re Not There…

• Staying Motivated – Step 1: Uncovering Your Biggest Self-Doubts

  Dave Navarro

  2 Aug 2009 | 1:00 am

  << Previous | Table of Contents | Next >> (This is a post in the continuing 30 Hours a Day Project series.  To see all available articles, click the Table of Contents link above.) Now that we’ve covered the introduction, it’s time for Step 1 – we’re going to start uncovering all of the deep-down fears, uncertainties and self-doubts that have been holding you back from making progress at mastering your time.  While that may sound like a tall order, it’s actually a pretty simple process (the hardest part is really just showing up and doing it, but we’ll…

• Staying Motivated: Introduction

  Dave Navarro

  21 Jul 2009 | 3:40 am

  When You Finish This Module, You Will … Understand exactly what fears, uncertainties and doubts keep you from taking action Understand how to eliminate them, one by one Have a “doubt killer” tool you can use to kick-start your motivation whenever you need it Introduction Staying motivated to develop your time management muscles is crucial to increasing your productivity. It is the fundamental starting point for follow-through, and it has an instant impact on how much stuff you get done every day. But most people struggle with staying motivated to regularly invest time in developing the…

• Interview with Pamela Slim (Escape From Cubicle Nation)

  Dave Navarro

  17 Jul 2009 | 7:23 am

  It’s been too long since an interview, and the lovely and talented Pamela Slim has graciously given us some time during her book tour for Escape from Cubicle Nation.  If you don’t know her yet, now’s your chance, and if you do know her, give a shout out in the comments! – Dave Dave: Pam, I want to thank you for taking the time to give us an interview here. I wanted to get some time with you because I’m impressed with your willingness to take chances and push hard to design the life you want. Can you give my readers a quick bit about who you are and what you do?

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  Productivity501

• Learning to Stay Current

  Mark Shead

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am

  Imagine that your memory was only good for two years. Anything that you learned over two years ago was forgotten. The only education you had at your disposal was the things you had learned in the past 24 months. This should be a pretty terrifying prospect for anyone. However, some people would find themselves unable to function at all, while others would find themselves merely handicapped. It all depends on how much effort each individual has put into learning new things in the last two years. Some people graduate from college with the idea that they can stop learning. They pick up some…

• Interview: Productivity Tool

  Mark Shead

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am

  In our interview series we asked a number of people the following: What do you feel is your most important productivity tool?(1532) The metaphorical axe – no bit of software or technology would help me if I didn’t know how to constantly remove anything from my life that is getting in the way of living in a balanced and productive manner. Joel Falconer (rss) The word “No”. I am getting really good at establishing boundaries and saying “No”. “No” is probably THE most difficult thing for anyone, like me, who is interested in everything, loves…

• Tuesday’s Tip: College Records

  Mark Shead

  3 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am

  When I was in college, I quickly learned how important it was to keep records. You can’t rely on your university to keep track of everything correctly. Maybe they will, but just in case they make a mistake, you need to be prepared. One habit I formed early on in college was to get a copy of my transcript each semester. One semester, there were an extra 15 hours of credits on the transcript for classes I had not taken. After doing some checking, it became clear that they had accidentally given me credit for someone else’s work. I explained it to the university and they straightened…

• Working with Your Spouse Financially

  Mark Shead

  2 Nov 2009 | 10:00 am

  In the book The Millionaire Mind and The Millionaire Next Door, the authors point out that millionaires tend to marry people who support them financially.  One of the easiest ways to wreck your financial plan is for there to be competition between a husband and wife, financially. If you have ever heard a couple say things like, “well, you bought a new dvd player, so I can go buy a new dress” or “you spent $300 at the mall, so I decided to go buy a new television.” You know what I’m talking about.  If the members of a marriage feel like they are in competition…

• More Infuential than David Allen?

  Mark Shead

  29 Oct 2009 | 4:44 pm

  We Follow ranks twitter users by their influence by topic.  According them, Productivit501 is more influential than David Allen when it comes to productivity. I’m questioning how they calculate “influence”, but it still feels good to see Productivity501 at the very top of a list like that. ---Related Articles at Productivity501:Links and Tools RoundupLinks for Setting Up a Filing SystemFire (or keep) the WorkaholicsLinks On Remote AssistantsEncrypted Email Links

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  Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog

• Creating Abundance – Video

  Steve Pavlina

  5 Nov 2009 | 1:35 pm

  Yesterday morning I woke up with the idea of recording a video blog on the topic of creating abundance. A little later I checked our forums and saw a request for me to post something more comprehensive on the topic of abundance. Well, I thought… that’s a pretty blatant synchronicity! Is it possible to use the Law of Attraction to manifest true abundance in your life, including financial abundance, social abundance, and more? Absolutely, it is. In this 35-minute video (split into 4 individual clips for posting on YouTube), I explain why people so often fail in this area, and I…

• A Few Updates

  Steve Pavlina

  2 Nov 2009 | 10:42 am

  Here are some updates I want to share with you. Conscious Growth Workshop DVDs I received the initial DVD masters from the videographer — 8 DVDs total for the whole weekend. I’ll start watching them this week to see if any additional edits are needed to create the final product. After that I’ll need someone to design a cover/package for the DVDs and then get a bunch of them duplicated so we can start shipping them. For anyone who pre-ordered the DVDs at the workshop and paid via credit card, your card won’t be charged till the DVDs actually ship. It’s hard to say…

• Juicing and Physical Training

  Steve Pavlina

  1 Nov 2009 | 7:18 pm

  For most of the past year, I’ve been starting my day with a green smoothie for breakfast, but lately I’ve been getting back into juicing. I piled up a lot of experience in a short period of time when I did my 30-day juice feast a year ago. (I’d originally planned to go for a 92-day juice feast but decided to stop after 30 days.) Drinking fresh juice has many benefits. With the fiber removed, fresh juice digests very easily, so you don’t have to expend as much energy on digestion. This extra energy then becomes available for your body and mind. When I incorporate a lot…

• Separation

  Steve Pavlina

  25 Oct 2009 | 4:51 pm

  It’s time to let you know about a big personal change that’s happening with Erin and me. We’ve decided to separate, and we’re planning to get a divorce. We came to this decision very consciously, and we’re separating amicably because we can see it’s the best thing for both of us. We intend to remain good friends and continue working together, so as far as our blogging is concerned, it’s going to be business as usual for the time being. Why? Over the years we’ve both noticed that our goals and desires were pulling us in different directions. When…

• Conscious Growth Workshop #2 Registration Opens

  Steve Pavlina

  20 Oct 2009 | 5:53 pm

  I’m delighted to announce that we’re now accepting registrations for the second Conscious Growth Workshop, January 15-17, 2010 at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. In fact, we already received the first registration while I was still editing the workshop pages. The first Conscious Growth Workshop earlier this month was such an unqualified success that I started the process of booking another event less than 48 hours after it ended. It took a little while to select the meeting room and get the paperwork signed, but we’re good to go now. Workshop Details All the workshop…

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  Think Simple Now

• The Ups and Downs of Life + Personal News

  Tina Su

  15 Oct 2009 | 2:19 pm

  Photo by Vadim Pacev By Tina Su Coming back from India, I was floating on a cloud of utter joy, blissfully unaware of the personal challenges and surprises that were about to hit me in the coming month. While I had fantasized over the telling of what has happened over the past month, it quickly became obvious that the toughest part of my job is the potential of disclosing too much about my personal life, thus invading the privacy of those closes to me. Despite the juiciness of the story, I’ve decided to leave most of the details private. I contemplated on why I wanted to write about it,…

• How to Learn Without Memorizing

  Scott Young

  7 Oct 2009 | 6:29 pm

  Photo by Edwin Stemp By Scott Young Rote memorization is an inefficient way to learn. Just retaining a single formula can mean pounding the same information into your skull dozens of times. If your computer hard drive had this accuracy, you’d probably throw it out. Unfortunately, you’re stuck with your brain. The good news is that you don’t need to learn by memorization. The vast majority of information is better stored in your head using a completely different system - learning through connecting ideas together. A few years ago, I noticed that smart people seemed to learn…

• Living Enlightenment – A Personal Report

  Tina Su

  10 Sep 2009 | 12:25 pm

  Photo by Vanessa Paxton By: Tina Su After 76 days of living in an ashram in a tiny village town East of Bangalore in India, I am home at last. I still have not found a proper one-liner that concisely answers the common question, “How was it?” A cliché “Good!” seemed appropriate to satisfy the questioner, but it is not the right answer. I’ve tried several answers and nothing seems to accurately conjure what I experienced. “I’ll write about it soon” quickly became my reply… and soon, I started to avoid people all together. In this article -…

• Time for a Retreat – Personal Update

  Tina Su

  13 Jun 2009 | 8:05 am

  By: Tina Su (Update 07/08/2009: I’ve decided to extend my stay for two more months, and will be in India until September.) For the next four weeks, I will be living in an ashram near Bangalore India. I will be attending a meditation and spiritual retreat called Inner Awakening that I have been anticipating for many months now. It’s an opportunity to learn directly from an enlightened guru in a serene environment, along with several hundred other spiritual seekers from around the world. I’ve decided not to bring my laptop or cell phone, and to fully emerse myself in the…

• How to Quiet Your Mind

  Tina Su

  11 Jun 2009 | 12:22 pm

  Photo by Andrea D’Aquino (Germany) By: Tina Su Do you regularly feel at ease and at peace? Are you continuously overflowing with Joy and Bliss on a daily basis, such that you seem free of problems and emotional pain? If so, go directly to the comment section and share with us your secrets. If you’re still reading, you are amongst the vast majority of us striving for a better life, yearning for a more peaceful and joyful existence. Yet, it seems like an impossible challenge, where we end up mentally punishing ourselves for failing, concluding that “I’m just not made to live…

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  Zen Habits

• Low-Stress Ways To Move House and Declutter Your Life

  Leo

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:55 pm

  Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Annabel Candy of Get In the Hot Spot. Did you know that moving house can be one of the most stressful times in your life? It’s right up there with losing your job, divorce or the death of a loved one, as one of the biggest causes of stress. I’ve been there. In 2007 my husband and I sold our house along with most of our belongings and moved from New Zealand to Panama with our three young kids. We ended up spending 18 months in Central America and lived in Costa Rica for over a year during which time we moved house three times. Moving…

• The Only Way to Become Amazingly Great at Something

  Leo

  3 Nov 2009 | 10:56 pm

  “Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person.” - Albert Einstein Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter. Very often you’ll see blog posts or books teaching you to “master” a skill in only 10 days, or 3 days … in fact, it used to be 30 days but the time frame to master something seems to be shrinking rapidly. I’ve even seen tutorials claiming to teach a skill in just a few hours. Pretty soon we’ll be demanding to know how to do something in…

• How to Stop Being a Workaholic

  Leo

  2 Nov 2009 | 4:10 am

  Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter. Reader Carolyn recently asked, “How can an achievement-motivated workaholic learn to back off, relax, de-stress, and feel good about doing it? I am too driven!” This is a common problem, and one that has several parts we should look at separately: 1. Being achievement-motivated. 2. Being a workaholic. 3. Learning to relax and de-stress. 4. Learning to feel good about it. Let’s start by saying that there’s nothing inherently wrong with work — it can be fun, exciting, fulfilling, rewarding. I love my work in a way…

• The Beginner’s Guide To Minimalist Travel

  Leo

  30 Oct 2009 | 7:30 am

  Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Karol Gajda of Ridiculously Extraordinary. “Is that all your stuff?” While embarking on my current 100+ day sojourn I’ve been asked that question almost daily. Most people take more stuff for a 3 day weekend break than I’ve taken on this long trip. If you’ve struggled to pack what you need in a carry-on I will show you the light. It’s not difficult and you don’t have to do everything at once. Remember the old cliché, slow and steady wins the race. 1) The first step to minimalist travel is to use a…

• The Minimalist Gmail Firefox Extension

  Leo

  28 Oct 2009 | 3:45 pm

  Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter. Great news for you Firefox minimalists: have you always wanted Minimalist Gmail in one click? There’s an extension for that. After my post on creating a Minimalist Gmail experience using Greasemonkey scripts, programmer and artist Matt Constantine worked hard to create an amazing Firefox extension that did what I was looking for and a lot more: The Minimalist Gmail Firefox Extension. You can install this extension and not worry about installing Greasemonkey or any of the many user scripts I detailed in my previous post. This simple…

• 
  Unclutterer

• Ask Unclutterer: Selling something with an unknown value

  Erin Doland

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:30 am

  Reader Allison submitted the following to Ask Unclutterer: This question may be slightly outside the range of uncluttering, but I thought I’d give it a shot. I have a wooden chair that was designed around (his picture is painted on it) and autographed by a well-known rock musician. It’s a really cool piece, but having a piece of furniture I don’t use seems really silly to me now. I purchased it at a charity auction several years ago. I am curious about trying to sell it. The problem I have is that I can no longer find the certificate of authenticity. I suspect I didn’t…

• Workspace of the Week: Where the work happens

  Erin Doland

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:30 am

  This week’s Workspace of the Week is Jenny Newcomer’s LobotoME office: If you are unfamiliar with Jenny’s line of LobotoME organizing products, let me recommend you check them out right now. I’m a huge fan of the notepads and specifically the fun Fit Me exercise tracking pads. I like her products because they recognize that organizing doesn’t always have to be extremely serious. Her office is where the business of LobotoME takes place. I like her storage cabinet with the chalkboard covered doors, her separate computer and work surfaces, shelves that keep books off…

• Let go of the past from your wardrobe

  Erin Doland

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am

  Yesterday, I finally got up the nerve to say farewell to what was left of my corporate wardrobe. No longer taking up space in my closet are suits, long-sleeve collared shirts, or “business casual” sportswear. My dresser drawers are free of pantyhose, trouser socks, and sweater sets (wait, I did keep one black sweater set — but all the rest are gone). I haven’t worked in a traditional office in 3.5 years, but I was holding onto many of my corporate clothes out of fear. What if this writing and organizing thing doesn’t catch on? After the book went on sale Tuesday,…

• Video tour of Jay Shafer’s 96-square-foot house

  PJ Doland

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:30 am

  We’ve written before about Jay Shafer’s 96-square-foot house. We recently came across the following new YouTube video of him giving a tour and we’re particularly impressed by the amount of storage space: If you would like to see more pictures of very small dwellings, check out Jay Shafer’s book.

• Unitasker Wednesday: TwitterPeek

  Erin Doland

  4 Nov 2009 | 8:28 am

  All Unitasker Wednesday posts are jokes — we don’t want you to buy these items, we want you to laugh at their ridiculousness. Enjoy! This item was sent to us by many Unclutterer readers, and I specifically liked the humor expressed by those who sent it to us over Twitter. Today’s unitasker is the TwitterPeek: For $100, you can get this mobile device that ONLY checks Twitter. Sure, you could check Twitter on your smart phone or have it push text messages to your regular cell phone, which you already carry, but why do that when you could buy this additional device? How much fun is…

• 
  Notes On Productivity

• Thoughts on email archiving (Admins: Here’s how to keep your users from hating you or tell you Lotus Notes sucks)

  Eric Mack

  27 Oct 2009 | 11:09 pm

  First, a disclaimer: I do not use Lotus Notes Archiving. Instead, I use another method to invisibly move my finished work (emails, calendar, and tasks) to my archive. However, I serve many Lotus Notes users that use, want to use, or are forced to use Lotus Notes archiving. It is from these clients that I have learned a great deal about the relationship between archiving and lost productivity. This blog post is written for these people and it will consider the impact of poorly configured archiving and what you can do about it. I received an email from a customer today asking me a question…

• Playing with sidebar widgets in Lotus Notes 8.51. Cool!

  Eric Mack

  21 Oct 2009 | 10:09 pm

  With today's release of eProductivity 1.81 out the door, I took some time to play with the widgets in Notes 8.51. This is really neat. I was able to easily configure two widgets in Notes and I even have them now floating on my desktop as their own windows. How cool is that? Here's a preview of the Today view and the All by Context views: While I'm testing this with eProductivity, you can use these steps with any view in any database in Lotus Notes. I've documented the steps I used to accomplish this here.Originally posted on eProductivity

• Lotus Knows it’s in Fast Company

  Eric Mack

  19 Oct 2009 | 2:46 pm

  From the title of this blog, you know that Lotus Software is the cornerstone of my productivity toolkit. Notes is the first app I load in the morning and the last one I shut down. Lotus knows it's in fast company -  some of the best and brightest (not to mention, most productive) people on the planet use and love Lotus Software. Now, everyone "knows". Well done, Lotus Marketing. Rock your work with Lotus Software Originally posted on eProductivity

• From 2400 Baud & Alligator Clips to 30,000 ft. w/Lotus Notes

  Eric Mack

  19 Oct 2009 | 12:08 am

  I've been using Lotus Notes for a few years (Since R2) and over the past 16 years, Notes has become the core of my information, communication, collaboration, and action management systems. I started using Notes back in the days of 2400 Baud SmartModems. One of the reasons I used, recommended, and deployed Notes for my clients at the time was because it allowed people to work locally (off-line) and it hid the fact that the modem technolgy was slow and phone jacks were hard to find. (Remember, this was back in the days when you had to carry screw drivers and alligator clips with you to the…

• 10 Min to upgrade to Domino 8.5.1; 20+ hours to recover

  Eric Mack

  18 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Short story: 8.5.1 upgrade was fast and easy but Windows Update killed my server. The long version: Saturday afternoon, I decided to upgrade one of my development servers from 7.04 to 8.5.1 today. I am pleased to say that as far as I can tell the upgrade was easy and fast. Once I backed up my data, it only took me about 10 minutes to install 8.5.1 and let the server do its thing at startup. I then restarted  the Domino service  and all appeared fine. How's that for a seamless upgrade? Sweet! The last step was to reboot the server to confirm that the Domino service would restart…

• 
  Ian's Messy Desk

• 10 tips for successful public speaking

  Ian McKenzie

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:51 am

  Toastmasters International has put together a list of ten tips that will help improve your public speaking skills. Know your material. Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use personal stories and conversational language – that way you won’t easily forget what to say. Practice. Practice. Practice! Rehearse out loud with all equipment you plan on using. Revise as necessary. Know the room. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids. Know the audience. Greet some of the audience members…

• A Christmas Planning Checklist for November

  Ian McKenzie

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:05 am

  One of the best ways to reduce the stress of holiday planning is to spread it over a number of months or even throughout the year. Even if you have done nothing else so far, you can relieve some of December’s pressure by putting these on your November to-do list. Shop for clothing, accessories, hostess gifts, etc. for any holiday events events. Buy tickets to seasonal entertainment. Mail gifts to friends living abroad: the sooner the better. (Hopefully you have them bought by now.) Check dishes and glassware for holiday entertaining. Make a shopping list for entertaining and decorating.

• 10 Simple and Inexpensive Christmas Gift Ideas

  Ian McKenzie

  2 Nov 2009 | 4:41 am

  Gifts for the teacher, babysitter, hockey coach, or for the hosts of your holiday parties, don’t have to be expensive. Here are 10 gift ideas in small packages: Dark Chocolate. The recently publicized health benefits of cacao are all the rage and some confectioners have packaged their dark chocolate in bright colours to make an instant gift; just add a bow or ribbon. Movie or Cinema Gift Certificates. The recipient can then choose a time and place that works for them, especially after the holiday rush. Coffee. Either a pound of gourmet beans or a gift card to their favourite coffee…

• How to Write a Christmas or Holiday Card

  Ian McKenzie

  30 Oct 2009 | 5:48 am

  Image via Wikipedia Writing Christmas cards should be fun, not daunting. Yet, we put off sending cards, we sit for hours try to decide what to say and wish we could just send a quick text message. Writing the perfect thought or holiday letter will make your Christmas greetings memorable. What you write should reflect you, your family and the spirit of the season. You have your cards at the table with pens and stickers in hand. Now what? Here are some etiquette tips from Hallmark to help you address and sign your cards: For family and friends: Personalize your cards with a little note, and…

• Reading and Understanding Body Language

  Ian McKenzie

  30 Oct 2009 | 5:40 am

  One of the more popular posts at Ian’s Messy Desk is, Control your body language for effective communication. Recently, I came across a website specializing in the area of body language, Body Language Expert. From their About page: BodyLanguageExpert was formed to offer a unique reference point on reading and understanding body language. Body language is an important part of communication. We discuss unspoken communication and what it might mean. Our concern was that there was no single UK resource for interesting features and practical advice on this subject. Our features and articles are…

• 
  Your best just got better

• Productivity MasterMind lunch - Ojai, CA

  Jason W. Womack, MEd, MA

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:39 pm

  What a group to show up at Papa Lennon's today (here in Ojai, CA). The purpose (as I proposed) was to initiate a Productivity MasterMind group here in town. I figure there's at LEAST one day a month when I'm...

• Project Manager Productivity Secrets - a presentation in Santa Barbara, CA

  Jason W. Womack, MEd, MA

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:49 pm

  The Project Management Institute (PMI) is an international professional organization focused on delivering business success using proven project management practices. Today I spoke for 42 minutes (but who's counting!) on the mistakes I have made over the years as a...

• Making a deal - quotes I found to be thought-provoking

  Jason W. Womack, MEd, MA

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:03 am

  Saw a couple of quotes, thought I'd share them here: Vince McMahon: I don't mind paying people more for something if we're getting more. But just to change a deal because you're greedy and you want more? No. I'm not...

• The Womack Company: What we do (Part 4/4)

  Jason W. Womack, MEd, MA

  4 Nov 2009 | 11:28 am

  We're working on a project to put together a short video, outlining what we "do" at The Womack Company. Our partners asked us to come up with four "quotations" that come together to summarize our work - the caveat: Each...

• Have you heard of Kiva.org yet?

  Jason W. Womack, MEd, MA

  3 Nov 2009 | 5:30 am

  Hey, psst...Do you have an extra $25? Want to see something cool? Check out our Kiva.org club! I've been a HUGE fan of this work (some of you know this, already!) and I continue to find myself inspired simply going...

• 
  Lifehacker: GTD

• Doit.im Is a Cross-Platform GTD Task Management App

  Adam Pash

  23 Oct 2009 | 11:00 am

  Windows/Mac/Linux: Doit.im is a free, attractive, cross-platform task management application built on the principles of productivity guru David Allen's Getting Things Done. It syncs to the web, it's easy to use, and soon it'll sync to your phone, too. (Click the image above for a closer look.) Once you install the app and register for an account, you can start adding items to your inbox, creating projects, and scheduling your tasks. A lot of the organizational tools will be familiar to GTD followers: notice the Projects and Someday inboxes, as well as the next actions section for arranging…

• Evernote 3.5 Beta Brings Tons of Tiny Fixes to Windows

  Kevin Purdy

  24 Sep 2009 | 12:30 pm

  Windows: If you're a happy Evernote desktop user and only wish it looked nicer, moved faster, and was smarter about how it handled your organization tools, the just-released 3.5 beta will make you very happy. Evernote for Windows doesn't get one big, shining, brand-new feature in this release, but a lot of annoyances were removed, code cleaned up, and fine-grain features were implemented. Click the image above to check out some of Evernote's more polished look in the "mixed" view mode, providing both note item details and the ability to sort by creation date, size, title, and other features.

• The Best Sounds for Getting Work Done

  Kevin Purdy

  22 Sep 2009 | 9:30 am

  The right kind of sound can relax your mind, hone your focus, drown out distractions, or get you pumped to kill your to-do list. We've assembled some research and free resources to help you create your own best workspace soundtrack. Photo by Sara Björk. Does music really make you more productive? The answer falls somewhere between "Listening to Mozart makes you a genius" and "Just be quiet and work." The most often cited study into the question of music's effect on the mind involves the so-called Mozart effect, which suggests that listening to certain kinds of music—Amadeus Wolfgang's…

• Dump Your To-Do List and Keep Your Sanity

  Rosa Golijan

  1 Sep 2009 | 5:00 pm

  Quickly jotted or carefully plotted out, to-do lists are a staple of many productivity methods. Yet in the wrong hands, these lists somehow morph from helpful road maps into overfilled energy-wasters. Could it be time to dump the to-do? Photo by *_Abhi_* Maybe you were lazy, maybe you had an emergency stop your week in its tracks. Either way you haven't kept up on your to-do routine for a few days and now you're repaying every precious second with interest. If you use something similar to the Gmail GTD Inbox, now your whole inbox might feel like that dreaded post-vacation email buildup. If…

• TxtGTD is a Text-Based System for Getting Things Done

  The How-To Geek

  19 Aug 2009 | 11:00 am

  Reader BishKopt writes in with his ubergeeky system for getting things done with a simple text file format and a script that parses items into separate contexts. His system works by entering all of your actionable items into a projects.txt file, following a specific format that indicates whether an item is a next action, the context of the item, or marking the items as complete. Once you've added all your projects into the file, you can launch the included AutoHotkey script for Windows users, or use the included perl script for any other platform, which will parse out the project list and…

• 
  Stepcase Lifehack

• 11 Ways to Think Outside the Box

  Dustin Wax

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am

  Thinking outside the box is more than just a business cliché. It means approaching problems in new, innovative ways; conceptualizing problems differently; and understanding your position in relation to any particular situation in a way you’d never thought of before. Ironically, its a cliché that means to think of clichéd situations in ways that aren’t clichéd. We’re told to “think outside the box” all the time, but how exactly do we do that? How do we develop the ability to confront problems in ways other than the ways we normally confront problems? How do we cultivate the…

• 12 Lists That Help You Get Things Done

  Dustin Wax

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am

  At the center of just about every personal productivity system are lists – GTD has it’s context lists, Pomodoro has it’s action inventory and daily to-do lists, todoodlist has, well, the todoodlist, and so on. But there are a lot of different kinds of lists besides your task or to-do list that can help you be more productive. Lists in general are powerful tools – open-ended, constantly growing, and effective at extending our memories past the 7 or so things we can keep on our mind at any given time. Some of the lists that can make you more productive or otherwise make life easier…

• Make Email Your Servant (Not Your Master)

  Paul Sloane

  4 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am

  Let’s be clear.  Your email is not your work; it is simply a tool to help you do your work.  But like any tool it can be ineffective or even dangerous when used wrongly.  Here is how to make email your servant not your master. 1.  Check your email inbox at set intervals. Do not have your email on and active in front of you all the time.  For most people it is better to check email no more than three or four times a day.  For example you could check email at 9 am, 12 noon and 4 pm.  Then you can spend the rest of the day doing useful work. 2.  Your do-do list is more important…

• Your Happiness Plan

  Craig Harper

  2 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am

  A Quick Survey Before we get under way with today’s briefer-than-normal chat, I want to conduct a little research on the run. Put up your hand if happiness is one of your aims in life. And no, participation is not optional at Stepcase Lifehack today. Yep, even you scaredy cats. Okay, keep ‘em up so I can count… 1001, 1002, 1003… yep; that’s all of you. Guessed as much. So it seems that despite the fact that we’re all different people, in different situations, inhabiting different parts of the globe… we have one common goal; happiness. Who’da thought? But do we Need a…

• Four Kinds of Vampires that Haunt Your Life (and What to Do About Them)

  Dustin Wax

  31 Oct 2009 | 7:00 am

  You are surrounded by vampires. They circle you, slowly, eyeing your throat, their teeth glistening in the moonlight. Your heart pounds in your chest as they move in, intent on draining your life’s blood for their own unholy nourishment. A scream rises up in your chest as they close in on you, their fangs bared, and then you feel the first pair of teeth sinking into your throat. “Hey, Dustin, got a minute? I want to tell you about this awesome party I went to over the weekend. We were sooooo wasted, and…” The horror! The HORROR!!! The vampires in this tale aren’t the…

• 
  Arif & Ali's Blog

• Sufi Comics: I am the Creator

  Mohammed Ali

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:42 pm

  Click Image to Enlarge This is a discussion a person had with Imam Jafar As Sadiq. He was a polymath: an astronomer, alchemist, Imam, Islamic scholar, Islamic theologian, writer, philosopher, physician, physicist and scientist. He was also the teacher of the father of Chemistry, Jabir ibn Hayyan (Geber). Several such discussions with Imam Jafar, on the evidence for the existence of God have been recorded more notably Hadith Mufaddal and Hadith Halila. <a title="Sufi Comics - I am the Creator"…

• Shame…shame…puppy shame.

  arif

  4 Nov 2009 | 8:41 pm

  I don’t know about you, but I really feel I need to go around life with blinders on. Even if there was something worthwhile to watch on TV, I never know when a shameful scene would be pulverised into your face, leaving an concrete imprint in my mind haunting me forever. If it’s not the TV program that’s embarrassing enough the TV spots would shamelessly make up for it. Some of the billboards out there make me shudder. Even a nice clean sport like Cricket isn’t complete without semi-clad cheerleaders romping all over the screen. Bangalore Times seem to be in almost in…

• Sufi Comics: How and Where is God?

  Mohammed Ali

  27 Oct 2009 | 11:15 pm

  This time’s comic is done in color. It is a dialog Imam Ridha has with an Atheist. This is just an excerpt, the actual discussion is much longer. Sufi Comcs - How and Where is God Did you like this comic? Copy this Code to add the above Comic to your Blog / Website: <a title ="Sufi Comcs - How and Where is God" href="http://www.vakil.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Sufi-Comcs-How-and-Where-is-God.jpg"> <img src="http://www.vakil.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Sufi-Comcs-How-and-Where-is-God-207x300.jpg" alt="Sufi Comcs - How and Where is…

• A few Quotes from Tuesday’s with Morrie

  arif

  27 Oct 2009 | 9:48 pm

  I read this bestseller quite some time back, after Ali informed me that it’s audiobook has been quite a hit on iTunes. Although not a spiritual classic and not a book that I would strongly recommend, a part of me is glad that I have completed it. Below are a sprinkling of quotes from the book that I placed in my Intention Journal. I felt like sharing them with you. “When you learn how to die, you learn how to live” “Well the truth is if you really listen to that bird on your shoulder, if you accept that you can die at any time-then you might not be as ambitious as you…

• Sufi Comics: Teaching Beautifully

  Mohammed Ali

  20 Oct 2009 | 9:51 pm

  Sufi Comics - Teaching Beautifully This is a very popular story that is often taught to children in Islamic Madressas. Did you like this comic? Copy this Code to add the above Comic to your Blog / Website: <a title ="Sufi Comics - Teaching Beautifully" href="http://www.vakil.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Sufi-Comics-Teaching-Beautifully.jpg"> <img src="http://www.vakil.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Sufi-Comics-Teaching-Beautifully-285x300.jpg" alt="Sufi Comics - Teaching Beautifully" title="Sufi Comics - Teaching Beautifully"…

• 
  moleskinerie

• OPEN SESSION: The Moleskinerie Open Thread Discussion

  Armand Frasco

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:43 am

  Welcome to OPEN SESSION:  The Moleskinerie Open Thread Discussion.Moleskinerie invites you, our visitors to share your thoughts on a special topic.Today it is "WHERE WOULD YOU TAKE YOUR NOTEBOOK?"An island in the middle of nowhere...lost in a souk in Morocco...atop a castle in the British Isles....if money were no object and your stash of Moleskine was bottomless, where would you take your notebook? Let your imaginations roam!VIEW ALL OPEN SESSIONS HERE.(Image: Timbuktu seen from a distance by Heinrich Barth's party, Sept. 7th 1853/ Wikipedia)

• Tim Baynes: Moleskines in London

  Armand Frasco

  4 Nov 2009 | 8:05 pm

  Update from our friend Tim Baynes' ongoing exhibit, starting with this excerpt from an article in The Times by Alan Jackson:"THE SEA, THE SEA: AN EXHIBITION BY TIM BAYNESJust as waves are impelled to break upon the shore, so man is and always will be drawn to the sea: Artist Tim Baynes feels that tidal pull more keenly even than most. “Whatever the time of day, no matter what the weather conditions and wherever I am in the world, I love being by the water’s edge,” he says. “Be it on the fringes of a city or amid a desolate landscape, whether in extreme heat or biting cold,…

• Urban Sketchers celebrate one year of drawing around the world

  Armand Frasco

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:12 am

  By Stuart Kerr, a correspondent of the Urban Sketchers blog, A year after making its debut in November 2008, the Urban Sketchers group blog has drawn more than 1 million visits and established a network of hundreds of members in more than 50 countries. From Venice to San Francisco, Greece to Bhutan, readers of the blog can travel vicariously through the thousands of drawings posted by 100 invited correspondents. Admire a breathtaking 360-degree panoramic of Liège, Belgium, drawn from a roof. Take in a driver's view of Bangkok traffic or the atmosphere of a flea market in Mauritania.

• Detour Recap: Detour Tokyo 東京

  Armand Frasco

  2 Nov 2009 | 11:49 pm

  The Tokyo Detour stop ended on November 4 after a successful run in the heart of Japan. Among the artists on exhibit were Setsu & Shinobu Ito Setsu's notebook. Setsu's work include photographs that inspire her sketches, giving the observer a look into the artist creative process. Shinobu's notebook is filled with light pencil sketches that let us see his style of dynamic and fluid forms.Learn more about the rest of the Tokyo Detour authors

• Collector Alert: The SFMOMA Moleskine

  Armand Frasco

  2 Nov 2009 | 9:39 am

  Just in time for the San Fransisco Museum of Modern Art 75th anniversary celebration on January 18th, 2010, Moleskine has released a commemorative notebook marking the occasion. The notebook is designed by Martin Venezky of Appetite Engineers and features a special foil cover, and colorful paperband honoring the SFMOMA.LINK

• 
  I'm an Organizing Junkie

• Round-Up Winner

  Laura

  5 Nov 2009 | 9:17 pm

  You know what I love to see?  So many of  the participants for last month’s round-up used my PROCESS steps to get their drawers organized.  Yay!  Everyone did such a great job and it was so hard to pick just one winner.  Really I have no idea why I do this to myself :) Thank you [...]

• Gift Wrap Stations

  Laura

  4 Nov 2009 | 9:02 pm

  The other day I showed you how I store my gift bags, wrap and cards in my gift closet.  In case you don’t happen to have an available closet, I wanted to show you some other alternatives that I’ve found that may be helpful to you as you set up a system that works for [...]

• I love photobooks!

  Laura

  4 Nov 2009 | 9:10 am

  Check out my Shutterfly review and enter to win a photobook of your own! Social Bookmarking

• Gift Closet

  Laura

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pm

  When the going gets tough, I get organizing.  It’s what I do to zone out and not think about anything else.  It works amazingly well.  The payoff at the end is awesome and it helps me to feel more in control when things around me might not necessarily be so.  I’ve been wanting to tackle [...]

• Menu Plan Monday ~ Nov 2nd

  Laura

  1 Nov 2009 | 8:00 pm

  Thank you so much for all the uplifting and encouraging comments so many of you left for me on this post.  I have read them over and over and am so thankful to have so many supportive friends in real life and in blogland.  We are hanging in there, taking one day at a time.  [...]

• 
  SheenOnline

• Leapfish Brings the Web New Life

  Rahsheen

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:25 pm

  LeapFish is an interesting search portal that creates it’s results by pulling together information from the major search engines. It also includes results from the social web and embeds all types of media directly on the results page. As you type your search, the results are pulled together using their “proprietary hyper-threading technology” in conjunction with the API’s of each service. Basically, LeapFish is a meta search engine. Today, LeapFish is kicking it into overdrive by adding something me and most of the web is pretty excited about: Realtime. They will combine this with…

• Getting Things Done with Doit.im

  Rahsheen

  6 Nov 2009 | 7:26 pm

  Doit.im is an Adobe AIR application that is closely tied to the original Getting Things Done techniques. The goal is to provide one simple interface that will help you hit the main GTD principles: Collect, Process, Organize, Review, Do. It’s a simple to use application with a clean interface and may be exactly what you’re looking for if other productivity solutions turned you off somehow. When you start Doit.im, you will be prompted to login. If you don’t already have an account, simply click “Sign Up” to create your account. This account is necessary in order for your data to sync…

• Do You Act Different When the Boss is Around?

  Rahsheen

  17 Oct 2009 | 6:54 pm

  I have had many different types of jobs in many different fields, but there is one thing that remained consistent from job to job. The manager always acted all brand new when his boss showed up. Suddenly, procedures we had been following at the managers request were “wrong” and the manager admonished us for doing things that way. Suddenly, the manager was deeply concerned about the fine details of the business. Suddenly, we weren’t moving fast enough, nothing was clean enough, we weren’t smiling hard enough or greeting customers enthusiastically enough. Every time I…

• 15 Things You Can Do Right Now to Help Stop Climate Change

  Rahsheen

  15 Oct 2009 | 7:18 am

  Stopping global climate change when it comes to the individual simply boils down to going green. Any actions you can take that help prevent greenhouse gas emissions, physical waste, and wasted energy will help. Going green is really not as annoying as you might think and you don’t have to take things overboard to make a difference. Here are 15 things you can do immediately to go a little green and help fight climate change: 1. Shave some points of your thermostat. Set your thermostat a few degrees colder in winter and a few degrees warmer in summer. You probably won’t notice the…

• Edivvy Makes Big Ticket Gifts Less Ridiculous

  Rahsheen

  14 Oct 2009 | 6:43 pm

  Edivvy.com is a service that wants to help you spend less, but give more. Sometimes, an average gift just won’t suffice. For instance, someone going back to school might desperately need a new laptop, but who wants to buy an entire laptop as a gift? Well, what if you could divvy up the cost with a couple of other people? A $700 laptop seems pretty steep to give as a gift, but split the cost between 7 people and it’s only $100. Of course, this could still be pretty steep depending on how you feel about the person receiving these particular back to school gifts, but I think you get…

• 
  Effing The Dog

• PageLime Is Not A Productive Lemon

  I consider myself a bit of a visual artist.  Not oils or watercolors - mostly markers.  The smelly kind. Yesterday i went to draw some grass (of the garden variety) and found that my green/lime-scented marker had run dry.  It was bound to happen, eventually, but this was particularly bad timing.  ...

• Eventually Spirited Away

  Happy Monday! I say that now because it's almost come to a close.  I also say it because it was a rather happy day for me.  Indeed, it took an incredibly eventual amount of time to get that way, but I found by starting the process yesterday it made for a ...

• As Blog Action Day Eventually Ends…

  Today has been Blog Action Day...and the cause of "celebration" this year is climate change.  I put celebration in quotation marks because it's not really a celebration; it's a travesty.  The changing climate is happening in far too an "uneventual" manner.  The reason it's being talked about is due to ...

• Writing A Book Is Hard

  Yep, it sure is. But before I get into that, I’ve got a few quick announcements: 1. Due to circumstances well within my control, I’ve decided to extend the "This Brand Is Your Brand" contest until November 30th, 2009. Since the number of entries was over-underwhelming - which was expected as you ...

• EffTD Tool Of The Day – Twitter

  It’s been awhile (both for a post and for one of these fine tools to help you better “eventualize”), and I can really only blame myself…for continuing to take Eventualism to new heights.  Well, that - and Twitter. It’s become apparent that Twitter has taken over the world, 140 characters at ...

• 
  Matt's Idea Blog

• When you don't want to decide

  matt

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:14 am

  You should have a reaction immediately, one way or another. If you have to think about a dress to say you like it or not, then the dress doesn't really mean anythying. I make up my mind very, very fast about things, because anything that takes long thinking doesn't really interest me. -- Oscar de la Renta, on dress shopping in Time Tactics of Very Successful People Have you had the following happen? You have a decision to make, but you don't want to make it, so you put it off or avoid it, but it leaves you unsettled and disturbed until you deal with it. This had come up because I have two…

• MUS - Trusting and Tracking What Catches Your Fancy

  matt

  2 Nov 2009 | 10:20 am

  I learned a text tag from a technical writer (I forget the context) that's stuck with me: "MUS," which stands for Might Be Useful. I love it for two reasons. First, it represents an active experimenter because she is aware and observing. You have to pay attention to grab things that MUS. Second, There's the underlying assumption or spark that spoke to you - "Pay attention to this (but I don't know why)." That's an act of faith, actually - what my divinity school graduate and Think, Try, Learn collaborator defines as hope without evidence. Trusting that an items is important means, of course,…

• Two Second Poll: How do you like my new blogging style?

  matt

  29 Oct 2009 | 6:01 pm

  For three weeks I've been experimenting with shorter, looser, and more frequent posts, that have - gasp! - images. Do me a quick favor? Vote on how you like this style. Comment below if you want to share more detail. Thanks! How do you like the new IdeaMatt blog style?(poll) How do you like the new IdeaMatt blog style?(polls)

• Time, Space, Objects, and Interrelationships. Plus: FastCompany.TV Goodies

  matt

  29 Oct 2009 | 5:21 pm

  I stumbled across the FastCompany.TV interview IBM's "brain" guy: Dharmendra Modha with Robert Scoble. While I didn't finish it (mainly due to the terrible interviewer) an idea jumped out: An Ontology for perceiving the world: Time, Space, Objects, and Interrelationships. Since I love categories, what's the translation to time management? Let's play with it. Time: Well that seems clear; it's the fixed currency to which we are budgeted. I and my commenters explored this in What Are The Laws Of Work?, especially time's special qualities (expensive, precious, perishable, etc.) What else can we…

• Share Your Inbox Delights!

  matt

  28 Oct 2009 | 8:36 am

  On my birthday last week I received a wonderful surprise in the mail: A lovely assortment from of TCHO chocolate from a client and entrepeneur. Yum! (Side note: I was turned onto great chocolate when my wife dragged me into one of Larry Burdick's cafes and got me to try a few bon bons and a cup of drinking chocolate. No kidding, It changed my life; see How To Make The Ultimate Cup Of Hot Chocolate from four years ago.) This got me thinking about the emotional impact of incoming items (attention tokens as I called them in These Are The Inboxes Of Our Lives). As an anxious person, I especially…

• 
  LessonInLife.Com

• How To Say NO To Abusers At Work

  banji

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:20 pm

  Summary – How to say NO to abusers Very recently I have received an email asking a very interesting question. First of all, I would like to thank the sender, Pankaj, who had taken the time and sent me the email. It is always a pleasure getting to know my reader. The following is the email Pankaj sent me. “I want to know how exactly to say NO to people. My work is almost always overloaded, but even so, when other people come to me asking for help with his work, I can never say no. I always try to help others but in this way I am always taken negative.” Well Pankaj, this is…

• Basic Trick To Success You May Not Know

  banji

  19 Oct 2009 | 3:54 am

  Summary – Success definition I talked to one of my colleague this morning. To make things easier, let’s call him Peter. Peter is an acting manager to an estate here but he’s going to retire next year. I actually asked him whether he will apply for extension and maybe then he will be confirmed as a manager. He simply answered “No, I don’t need the “Manager” title to become successful. I am already successful by my own definition.” That simple sentence had left me speechless (For a few seconds of course). I then continued to ask him what he meant…

• Pay Yourself First Without The Money

  banji

  12 Oct 2009 | 3:18 am

  If you are into financial management, I bet all my money that you have heard of the concept “Pay Yourself First”. Rest assured this post is not about finance. Basically, the idea is to allocate a portion of your paycheck to be saved elsewhere before you even settle your pay-or-die bills. The concept is created simply because saving if not forced, is an impossible thing to do. I know it is kind of harsh, but it is the truth. You can see the proof from my bank account (which of course I will not disclose here). Forget about my bank account. Just look at yours. Did you manage to save…

• 10 Simple Ways To Backup Your Life

  banji

  28 Jul 2009 | 8:01 am

  Summary – Sometimes redundancy is a bliss It was the year 2001. I was doing my internship at the time with a petrochemical company. I remember this year very fondly because this is the year I make one of the biggest mistake in my life. Please bear with me as I explain some details about the mistakes. You see, being a student, my computer was my life. I had files about everything saved in my PC. This includes notes, assignments, projects, personal pictures, diaries etc. In short, the last 5 years of my life were well documented in that PC. One fine day, I mistakenly formatted the PC and…

• How To Use Emotion & Solve Problem Effectively

  banji

  21 Jul 2009 | 4:20 am

  Summary – Use emotion The following story is one of the many interesting stories published on the net. The Story Once there was a school with quite a unique problem. The girls at the school were beginning to use lipstick and like everyone else who just started a thing, there were lipstick prints all over the mirrors of the school bathroom. This however was a problem to the janitor since he would have to clean the mirror every single day. One day he reported the problem to the school principal and she immediately called up all the students to the bathroom (of course in groups). She then…

• 
  Dragos Roua - Brilliantly Better

• Lifestyle Design

  dragos

  4 Nov 2009 | 12:42 am

  Every house you see has a blueprint behind. Before it was built in real bricks and mortar, it existed in somebody’s mind. It was first a drawing on a drawing board. A wireframe. A scheme. A design. Your life as you live it right now has a blueprint behind. A set of rules and values. Every day you live your life according to that blueprint. You’re building your life based on your own lifestyle design. What’s Your Lifestyle Design? From my experience there are at least 3 ways in which you can design your lifestyle (and more than 100 ways to improve your life, for what matters). Think…

• November Mariner Promo Code

  dragos

  2 Nov 2009 | 1:42 am

  We’re almost there. This is the last month of our year-long promotion on Mariner Software. We started last year and had each month a different, exclusive promo code which gave you an instant 15% discount to ALL Mariner products. I would like to tell you more about this, but I know you’re eager to get your discount, so, without further ado, the November Mariner Promo Code: eagle How to Use It Go to Mariner eStore, add this code to the designated field and start shopping. What You Get You get a nice piece of software, called MacJournal, which is my blogging and journaling software…

• How to Overcome Frustration in 3 Easy Steps

  dragos

  31 Oct 2009 | 10:57 pm

  “Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion . . .  I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.” – Kurt Vonnegut Jr. I used to totally, utterly, absolutely, downright hate frustration. It was an emotional reaction, I just couldn’t help it. Whenever I got caught in its the subtle yet powerful chains I felt like crap. I think you know the feeling. Hands tied up, no possible solution to the current situation and a lot of mess to deal with. Yes, frustration can do that to you. Being so keen on doing things, starting new…

• 44 Tips for Traveling Long Distance

  dragos

  30 Oct 2009 | 12:39 am

  Last year I traveled more than I traveled in my entire life. I’ve been on 4 continents and circled the Earth 2 times by plane. It was an exciting time, knowing my propensity for travel as a personal development tool, but it was also pretty draining. Never having long distance trips until that was definitely a huge roadblock for me. I had to learn on the fly (sometimes, literally on the fly). Somewhere between my 2nd and 3rd trip I started to write down some simple steps I should follow, sort of self directed tutorial. For your information, long distance traveling means for me one to two…

• Twitter versus Facebook

  dragos

  29 Oct 2009 | 12:20 am

  In the last 5 years, the most important digital places I spend time in are Twitter and Facebook. Surprisingly enough, they seem to be the most popular social networking sites too. Recently, I had a short morning conversation on Twitter with one of my followers about what  question these sites are answering. What is the reason Twitter and Facebook exists, after all? The following post was born out of this interaction. Twitter and Facebook Question The Twitter question is undoubtly: “What are you doing?”. As simple and dumb as it seems it responds to a fundamental need of human beings: …

• 
  Popular Science - DIY

• Obscure Tool #2 Revealed: Latham Wire Stitcher

  Vin Marshall

  4 Nov 2009 | 1:25 pm

  For your bigger stapling jobs Yesterday's mystery tool is officially known as the Monitor model 107 "Patented Wire Stitcher" manufactured by the Latham Machinery Company of Chicago, IL. Bookbinding operations like the one that gave the machine to me used it to place those big staples in thick stacks of pages to be bound. I'm sure you've always wondered what kind of stapler it takes to make that staple. This is it. The machine does not use staples as we know them in the common desktop stapler. It has a spool of wire, lengths of which it punches through the materials being bound, folds twice,…

• Tool School: More Precise Measuring

  Vin Marshall

  4 Nov 2009 | 12:39 pm

  A micrometer helps you measure more stuff down to 1/10,000 of an inch In my post about vernier calipers, I highlighted one rugged option for making highly accurate measurements. When building projects that involve things like sliding fits, interference fits, shafts and bearings, rotating parts, measuring sheet metal thickness (and the list goes on, and on), accurate and repeatable measurements in the range of 1/1000 of an inch become very important. In this Tool School, I look at another option: the micrometer. A standard micrometer is capable of the same 1/1000-inch accuracy as the vernier…

• Kit Pick: A Rugged TV Transmitter Kit

  Vin Marshall

  3 Nov 2009 | 4:03 pm

  An easy way to send a TV signal anywhere If you were anything like I was as a kid, you'll remember fondly the time spent soldering electronics kits. In recent years, I've been busy building things like pink camouflage tanks, and have mostly missed the recent electronic-kit resurgence. That is, until I had the need to broadcast live video images from the cockpit of a recent project to TV screens piled around the arena, and rediscovered an awesome kit source. An internet search reintroduced me to the venerable Ramsey Electronics. The Web site brought a smile to my face with things like a DTMF…

• Guess This Obscure Tool, Win More Tools: Part Deux

  Vin Marshall

  3 Nov 2009 | 1:10 pm

  Tell us what this machine is and win a Stanley Fat Max tape measure Last week, we inaugurated a new challenge for you here on PopSci.com that lets you show off your deep tool knowledge and walk away with not only our abiding respect, but a less obscure tool of your own. Here's how it works: We post a picture of a strange object from my shop, maybe a clue or two, and you guess what it is in the comments section below. The first and most precise among you to guess correctly will win the prize. This week, it’s a 30-foot Stanley FatMax tape measure. Pretty sweet. This week, the obscure object…

• FAA Review May Scuttle Hobbyist Inventor's Ingenious Method For Shipping Drugs

  Jeremy Hsu

  3 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

  An Ohio inventor's cargo box has drawn interest from major shipping companies, but now faces years of FAA review A new refrigerated cargo box for moving pharmaceutical products has attracted the likes of delivery giant UPS, but its inventor may go out of business first because of a lengthy review process by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The Columbus Dispatch brings the story of Scott Farrar, owner of the small Ohio company Farrar Scientific. His reinvented "PharmaPort" cargo box uses a "passive" technology to keep drugs and other products at a constant temperature, and can fit…

• 
  Get Organized Wizard

• Goal Setting 101: How To Use SMART Goals to Change a Habit

  Michele Connolly

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:36 am

  [Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hikingartist/ / CC BY 2.0] You might find it easy to apply SMART goal principles to your life goals or other personal goals, like losing weight or getting better grades. But what about changing habits – can SMART goal setting apply there, too? In today’s class *puts on teacherly glasses* we’re going to turn a desired habit change into a SMART goal. Speaking Up In Meetings Let’s say Sally has plenty of good ideas but she keeps these to herself in meetings, and it’s holding her back, career-wise. We’ll make a SMART goal of ‘speaking up…

• Don’t Let Self-Help Turn Into Shelf-Help

  Michele Connolly

  2 Nov 2009 | 12:25 am

  Does self-help become shelf-help for you? Here’s a trick to better use what you read: As you read, have a notebook & pen beside you. When you find something to do or remember, make a note. Transfer actions to your schedule with a due date. Share ideas to remember – email or call a friend, write a summary for clients, blog it, tweet it or present it. Donate the book to a friend or library. I post Today’s Tips like this one on my Facebook Professional Page. Please come and be a fan! Related posts:Organize Your Facebook Settings For Privacy★Simplify Life Tips★ (Twitter Tweet…

• Announcing the Design Your Life e-Program

  Michele Connolly

  29 Oct 2009 | 6:04 am

  Design Your Life is Here! For some time I’ve been busy preparing the Design Your Life program for you. I’m very excited that it’s now open! This comprehensive, 12-month self-improvement e-program delivers ongoing structure, motivation and accountability for taking action on the things you want in life. It’s based on the popular Life & Goal Organizer DIY system, but I’ve now created a complete action-based e-program with weekly e-classes, interactive workbooks and action planners, videos, e-books, and access to exclusive accountability and community forums. Quite simply, it’s…

• Organize Your Bathroom [Mission #22]

  Michele Connolly

  25 Oct 2009 | 3:08 am

  [Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/urbanelife/ / CC BY-SA 2.0] This week we turn to the bathroom. Follow these 3 simple steps and you’ll have your own little spa in your home. Remember: you only need 30 minutes for the basic mission. Extended Options are below. If you’re new, you might like to start here: 52 Organizing Missions. Get Organized Mission #22: Organize Your Bathroom Step 1: Take everything out (5 minutes) Take everything out of the cabinets and drawers, and off the shelves, sills and ledges. Place it all on a bathmat in the centre of the room, or just outside if there’s no…

• Family Management Tools

  Michele Connolly

  23 Oct 2009 | 10:56 pm

  Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/whiteafrican/ / CC BY 2.0] Family organization is made easier with the right tools. The blog Wise Bread has put together some helpful resources for organizing the family, covering: Money Management for Kids and Their Parents – With a family budget spreadsheet Remembering What Foods Your Kids Have Tried and Liked – With a new foods chart Organizing Events – With an event to-do spreadsheet Homework – With a homework chart Depending on the age of your kids and your current challenges, you might find something really helpful here. PS If…

• 
  Notes On Productivity

• Thoughts on email archiving (Admins: Here’s how to keep your users from hating you or tell you Lotus Notes sucks)

  Eric Mack

  27 Oct 2009 | 11:09 pm

  First, a disclaimer: I do not use Lotus Notes Archiving. Instead, I use another method to invisibly move my finished work (emails, calendar, and tasks) to my archive. However, I serve many Lotus Notes users that use, want to use, or are forced to use Lotus Notes archiving. It is from these clients that I have learned a great deal about the relationship between archiving and lost productivity. This blog post is written for these people and it will consider the impact of poorly configured archiving and what you can do about it. I received an email from a customer today asking me a question…

• Playing with sidebar widgets in Lotus Notes 8.51. Cool!

  Eric Mack

  21 Oct 2009 | 10:09 pm

  With today's release of eProductivity 1.81 out the door, I took some time to play with the widgets in Notes 8.51. This is really neat. I was able to easily configure two widgets in Notes and I even have them now floating on my desktop as their own windows. How cool is that? Here's a preview of the Today view and the All by Context views: While I'm testing this with eProductivity, you can use these steps with any view in any database in Lotus Notes. I've documented the steps I used to accomplish this here.Originally posted on eProductivity

• Lotus Knows it’s in Fast Company

  Eric Mack

  19 Oct 2009 | 2:46 pm

  From the title of this blog, you know that Lotus Software is the cornerstone of my productivity toolkit. Notes is the first app I load in the morning and the last one I shut down. Lotus knows it's in fast company -  some of the best and brightest (not to mention, most productive) people on the planet use and love Lotus Software. Now, everyone "knows". Well done, Lotus Marketing. Rock your work with Lotus Software Originally posted on eProductivity

• From 2400 Baud & Alligator Clips to 30,000 ft. w/Lotus Notes

  Eric Mack

  19 Oct 2009 | 12:08 am

  I've been using Lotus Notes for a few years (Since R2) and over the past 16 years, Notes has become the core of my information, communication, collaboration, and action management systems. I started using Notes back in the days of 2400 Baud SmartModems. One of the reasons I used, recommended, and deployed Notes for my clients at the time was because it allowed people to work locally (off-line) and it hid the fact that the modem technolgy was slow and phone jacks were hard to find. (Remember, this was back in the days when you had to carry screw drivers and alligator clips with you to the…

• 10 Min to upgrade to Domino 8.5.1; 20+ hours to recover

  Eric Mack

  18 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Short story: 8.5.1 upgrade was fast and easy but Windows Update killed my server. The long version: Saturday afternoon, I decided to upgrade one of my development servers from 7.04 to 8.5.1 today. I am pleased to say that as far as I can tell the upgrade was easy and fast. Once I backed up my data, it only took me about 10 minutes to install 8.5.1 and let the server do its thing at startup. I then restarted  the Domino service  and all appeared fine. How's that for a seamless upgrade? Sweet! The last step was to reboot the server to confirm that the Domino service would restart…

• 
  Wrike - the most practical project management software

• Digging into the Value of Collaboration 2.0 with SDForum

  Daria

  27 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am

  What impact does online collaboration make on our everyday lives? We’ll be among those searching for the answer to this question during the upcoming Collaboration 2.0 Conference organized by the SDForum in Santa Clara, Calif. Wrike will be presented at the event, which will be held on October 30 and will gather the industry experts, as well as companies interested in innovating their collaboration practices. Our project management software will be showcased as one of the cutting-edge solutions that streamline collaboration in a corporate environment. SDForum, the organization behind the…

• Latest Twitter News about Wrike

  Daria

  15 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am

  Here are a few selected tweets from us, our friends, followers and even people outside of our network to give you a sense of the Twitter community's buzz about Wrike. wrike Netbook giveaway went to Jürgen Oschadleus - here at PMI NA Congress all the way from Australia. Congrats! #pminac  http://twitpic.com/leb2s varjuluceno Check out Wrike - helps bad project managers become good ones http://www.wrike.com/ bradruben @andrewsthoughts Can users of @Wrike win the Netbook! And can we do it remotely! We love your product! at #pminac andrewsthoughts RT @wrike Come to our booth for the…

• And the Free Netbook from Wrike Goes to…

  Daria

  14 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am

  Jürgen Oschadleus, MBA, PMP, an international speaker, trainer and consultant on project leadership and communications! He became the winner of the free netbook drawing that was previously announced in our blog. The final phase of the giveaway took place yesterday at the PMI Congress North America 2009. We were thrilled about the vibrant attention of the audience to our drawing. Over 300 people registered for the giveaway, but only one of them turned out to be the lucky winner. Jürgen came all the way from Australia to give a speech on the role of communications and leadership in…

• Wrike’s Interface in Spanish Is Released. Other Languages Are Coming Soon!

  Valerie

  12 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am

  If you were you waiting for the release of Wrike’s interface in Spanish, you will be pleased with the latest updates. Since today, it becomes more convenient for you, as well as your Spanish-speaking team members, clients and partners to collaborate on projects with the help of Wrike.  To make your experience as pleasant as possible, we made our best to carefully translate Wrike’s workspace, notifications, alerts and help pages. We believe that the possibility to work in the Spanish interface will make your work with Wrike even more enjoyable. Also, it will let you invite…

• New Shortcut for Creating Tasks for Mac Users

  Valerie

  6 Oct 2009 | 12:00 am

  As you know, Wrike has a keyboard-friendly navigation that makes it easy for you to create and update tasks. Today, we added a new shortcut for creating tasks inline: “C”. You simply click the right pane with the task list (1), hit “C” on your keyboard, and a new task is created (2). Then, you enter the task title (required), due date and the responsible person (optional) and hit “Enter.”   Why is this shortcut so special? It works well for Mac users!   As before, you can create tasks by hitting “insert” on your PCs.

• 
  Complete Organizing Solutions

• Creative Reuse Of Cabinet Doors

  Tanna Clark

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:42 am

  Jen from A Thousand Words used this Ikea kitchen unit in her previous home office. I just love how versatile their products can be. I chose a few of their kitchen units for a recent craft room organizing project as well. In her new home Jen bought white cabinet doors to go with her studio desk. However, she did not let the brown doors go to waste. She was able to creatively reuse them throughout her home. Here is a warm and inviting “Home Sweet Home” sign made by applying wooden words and distressing the edges. I love this headboard Jen made from using four of the upper cabinet…

• Label Leftovers To Avoid Science Experiments In The Fridge

  Tanna Clark

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:49 am

  Let’s give a big welcome to this weeks Inside Tips From The Pro’s guest contributor, Kathy Jenkins! Make sure you join in every Wednesday right here for another peek into a professional organizer’s home… The best way to avoid science experiments in the fridge or freezer is to mark your food. I keep a roll of masking tape and a sharpie in the kitchen. Whenever I have left over’s I put a small piece of tape on the lid and mark it with the date. Same goes for food bought in bulk and then frozen. Mark the container with what is inside and the date. I do this when I open…

• Five Things For Fall Gardening

  Dave Townsend

  3 Nov 2009 | 6:18 pm

  November is here which usually means a slow down of sorts for most gardeners and lawn aficionados. We start to think of turkeys and holiday decorations and begin to put the garden beds to sleep for the winter. But what should and shouldn’t you do during the fall to wind down the garden? Here are five things that hopefully will help you organize your fall garden tasks! Love those leaves. Leaves are one of the best and, at the same time, most underused resources for the garden. As I drive through town every fall, I see plastic bags filled with leaves and yard waste. I suppose bagging leaves…

• Welcome To Our New Writers!

  Tanna Clark

  3 Nov 2009 | 8:45 am

  I recently announced that there were going to be some changes around here. I love writing about organizing your home and your kids but there are so many more aspects of organization than your schedules and coat closets. I like sharing unique organizing ideas and snippets of my life as a professional organizer and I will still be doing that here. In the grand scheme of things I see Complete Organizing Solutions becoming a resource for organizing all areas of your life. So the big news is that I have brought on a team of writers that specialize in other areas of life like cooking, gardening and…

• 
  There, I Fixed It

• Load ‘Em In From The Other Side And They’re None The Wiser

  Ms. Fix-It

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pm

  Submitted by: pixialted via Submit a Kludge!

• Friday Friends: Some Lovely Kludges

  Ms. Fix-It

  6 Nov 2009 | 11:00 am

  There are times when a kludge is necessary. For example, you’re stuck in the middle of the woods and just tumbled into a ravine and judging from that white bit protruding from your leg, a temporary cast made from a stick and some duct tape will suffice until you either get to help or a bear eats you. Sometimes, a kludge is just easier. Or funnier. But trying to sell your house should not be one of those times. Luckily for us, my friend Sara has a blog to point out that common sense when it comes to real estate is pretty uncommon. Check out these gems: I’m not entirely sure what…

• It’s Like Some Sort Of Handwashing Device…

  Ms. Fix-It

  6 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

  Submitted By: Checotah

• Whaddya Mean My Identity’s Been Stolen?

  Ms. Fix-It

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:00 am

  Submitted by: EKSYT via Submit a Kludge!

• Who Knew 4H Had More Gear Than Marching Band?

  Ms. Fix-It

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:30 pm

  Submitted by: Taken by a co-worker via Submit a Kludge! Favorite Comment: Fixer Joe says, “School bus says: I made you a tractor, but I eated it.”

• 
  How to of the Day

• How to Clean a Scanned Manga Page in Photoshop

  7 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  This is tutorial on how to use Adobe Photoshop to clean a scanned black and white manga image. The techniques here can be applied to any scanned black and white image from a book.

• How to Appreciate Confessional Poetry

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pm

  Confessional poetry gives you a very personal peek into the writer's life, and sometimes such details are unflattering to the writer and/or uncomfortable for the reader. This is in contrast to poetry that discusses public issues, with the poet using a detached persona, with minimal implicit hinting at their personal life.[1] Like all literary movements, confessional poetry has its unique features and up and downs. In order to understand and enjoy reading it, you have to look at it deeply, so you can gain a truly deep appreciation of what you've just read. This article will guide you through…

• 8 Ways to Cope With Being Pregnant at Work

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  Being pregnant doesn't mean finishing work in our modern world. It does, however, require consideration of the possible challenges that you will face as a pregnant worker. From needing to be aware of the risks to unborn children from handling chemicals and dangerous items, to understanding how fatigue, weight changes, and nutritional needs will impact your work day, knowing in advance how much you might be impacted will help you to plan a successful, continued stretch on the job before the baby arrives.

• How to Keep Seed Beads in Plastic Straws

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pm

  REDIRECT Store Seed Beads in Plastic Straws

• How to Do Crunches Properly

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  Crunches are a lot like sit-ups, except that instead of lifting your entire back off the floor, you only lift your upper back. This isolates ("crunches") the ab muscles without engaging muscles in your hips. Crunches are also safer than sit-ups because they don't compress your spine as much.[1] When paired with adequate weight loss, doing crunches regularly can lead to six-pack abs. If your goal is simply a flat stomach, however, spot exercises won't help. Read How to Lose Belly Fat instead.

• 
  Organize IT

• Productivity Tips #15: Focus On That Which Matters Most

  James

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  I think I’ve realized why it’s so easy to succumb to the whole getting things done, do stuff for the sake of it attitude. We all want to achieve Big Things in life. We want to feel like it’s all worth it and that at the end of the day we’ve achieved something with our time. But what happens if you don’t have that in your life? Rather than looking for that sense of achievement through quality, we try and achieve it through quantity – replacing a handful of big achievement with lots of small, often irrelevant things. This doing things for the sake of it…

• Rethinking How To Fix Bad Habits

  James

  2 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  Getting things done, being productive, identifying your big goals and doing something about them regularly… it’s all easy and simple compared to habits. We spend all of our time lamenting how we can’t stop snacking on chocolate, we can’t stop smoking or we can’t stop idly browsing pointless websites and pissing our time away. Unlike a simple little activity or project, you can’t put a habit on your to-do list. You can’t write down “Do not do this habit today” and expect to tick it off at the end of the day. You can’t break it down,…

• Best Of Organize IT: October 2009

  James

  28 Oct 2009 | 11:11 am

  The end of October is rapidly approaching so it’s time for another recap of all the best posts over the last several weeks. Whether you’re looking for a reality check on simplifying your life, thoughts on whether GTD is good for your memory or you want to know why we’re all inherently time wasters, there should be something for you here. If you’ve missed out on any of these posts please check them out, share them on Twitter and join in the conversation! Simplify Your Life: It’s Time For A Reality Check “Simplifying is about making things less complicated…

• Simplifying Your Life: It’s Time For A Reality Check

  James

  26 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am

  Simplifying your life is very popular idea nowadays. It’s been popularized, I think, by people like Tim Ferriss of The 4-Hour Work Week who pushes ideas like the 80/20 rule and the low-information diet, and Leo Babauta of Zen Habits in particular. Simplifying your life is good. No, it’s actually great and I believe everybody should have a go at it just to filter out some of the crap in their lives.  Modern life is complicated and hectic enough without us blindly letting in and taking on board everything that comes our way. But I’m afraid I’m going to be a little…

• Ask The Readers: How Did You Learn GTD?

  James

  22 Oct 2009 | 1:00 am

  A simple question today that I hope will get some varied responses. How did you learn GTD (or if you use something else, how did you learn that)? The obvious answer will probably be that you just read the book, but that wasn’t the case for me and I suspect it isn’t the case for many of you guys too. I originally came across GTD via several blogs like Lifehack.org and picked up tips from those for a few months before finally purchasing the book. I applied bits and pieces from the book as I needed them so I suppose you can say I never really had a “full” GTD…