In the spirit of "get organized, get laid" here's the opening shot in a discussion on boosting personal productivity and organisation.
When I don't have my shit together game always suffers. It's the canary in the coal-mine, the first thing to go downhill. I'm less motivated to go out and my game is less sharp. In contrast, when I'm top of things I have a zen-like focus when out on the prowl that delivers better results.
Recently too much stuff piled up around me. I wasn't as creative as I used to be with all the shit piling up. A couple of weeks into my new system and I have more energy, an easier time getting up in the morning and an all-round better outlook.
Picking the right tools was half the battle so I'll share what I've found. My list is geared to Mac users, but there must be Windows equivalents. What do you players use?
Here's my list -
Getting Things Done by David Allen http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Don...142000280/ - this is a book rather than a tool. The first half lays out a basic framework for managing all your to-do items. Allen proposes that if you have a trusted system where you know that ALL your future to-dos are kept (immediate, next few weeks' projects, two-year plan, five year vision, life goals) you are less likely to be distracted. The goal is for you to always know what you should be doing next and be confident that whatever you're working on at the time is what you should be doing. The idea is that you're less likely to be distracted and procrastinate when you don't have to track projects in your head any more.
The second half of the book is a step-by-step guide to implementing and maintaining the system. It's a lot of work and took me four days to set up, but I'm happy that I followed through with it.
Omnifocus http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnifocus/ - this is software built around Allen's productivity system. It took me a full day to get into it and set it all up. But it beats doing things on paper or in a physical diary. I know people who swear by Things (http://culturedcode.com/things/) that has very similar features but Omnifocus is more flexible, even if it looks more rough around the edges.
Both of the above come with $50+ price tags, so if you're on a budget check out free online app Asana http://asana.com/ built around similar principles. It has the added benefit of being built for teams and available from any computer so if you're working on project with others you can share and delegate more easily. Omnifocus and Things are more single-player.
Document scanner or CamScanner App http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/camscanne...24839?mt=8 - I hate paperwork. I hate not finding the documents I need. I used to start a project only to be held up for half an hour rummaging through crap for something that was mailed to me a year ago. Traveling a lot and living in different places made this problem even worse. Half my papers were in one place and the other half in another place. It got so bad that I traveled with a heavy portable file for a while.
The document scanner took this pain away. Every time you get a piece of paper that you need to keep (or that you're not sure about), run it through the scanner and throw it away. Just make sure you do regular backups. Since the scanner isn't always available I also use the CamScanner app for iPhone (also available on Android) to scan anything that comes my way when I'm out and about.
Dropbox and Google Drive https://www.dropbox.com/ and https://drive.google.com/ - set up both of these. Dropbox comes with 3gb free storage and Drive comes with 5gb. This should be enough for all your important files. Instead of doing backups every week, just put everything you need to save into the Dropbox or Driver folder and it immediately syncs to a remote server. An added benefit is that you can access all your files online. Great when you're on the road or away from your computer.
Virtual Mailroom http://www.earthclassmail.com/Virtual-Mailroom - just getting started with this but it looks promising. I hate receiving mail and it used to pile up for months. Most people use email but unfortunately governments and big companies don't. With the Virtual Mailroom (and other services like it) you receive all your mail to a third-party address. All your mail is opened and scanned for you and you can then choose what to do with it (forward or shred).
You'll never need to change your address when you move. An extra benefit is privacy since you no longer give out your home address.
Google Calendar https://www.google.com/calendar - everyone uses calendars so there's not much to add. I've been using it for a long time but made two improvements recently. First, I learned the keyboard shortcuts - here's the overview http://support.google.com/calendar/bin/a...swer=37034 - Second, I set it up as a separate app. Using Fluid app http://fluidapp.com/ you can turn any web app into a desktop app. Just enter the Google Calendar URL in there and you have a stand-alone calendar app that you can use instead of iCal (which a lot of people find less easy to use).
When I don't have my shit together game always suffers. It's the canary in the coal-mine, the first thing to go downhill. I'm less motivated to go out and my game is less sharp. In contrast, when I'm top of things I have a zen-like focus when out on the prowl that delivers better results.
Recently too much stuff piled up around me. I wasn't as creative as I used to be with all the shit piling up. A couple of weeks into my new system and I have more energy, an easier time getting up in the morning and an all-round better outlook.
Picking the right tools was half the battle so I'll share what I've found. My list is geared to Mac users, but there must be Windows equivalents. What do you players use?
Here's my list -
Getting Things Done by David Allen http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Don...142000280/ - this is a book rather than a tool. The first half lays out a basic framework for managing all your to-do items. Allen proposes that if you have a trusted system where you know that ALL your future to-dos are kept (immediate, next few weeks' projects, two-year plan, five year vision, life goals) you are less likely to be distracted. The goal is for you to always know what you should be doing next and be confident that whatever you're working on at the time is what you should be doing. The idea is that you're less likely to be distracted and procrastinate when you don't have to track projects in your head any more.
The second half of the book is a step-by-step guide to implementing and maintaining the system. It's a lot of work and took me four days to set up, but I'm happy that I followed through with it.
Omnifocus http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnifocus/ - this is software built around Allen's productivity system. It took me a full day to get into it and set it all up. But it beats doing things on paper or in a physical diary. I know people who swear by Things (http://culturedcode.com/things/) that has very similar features but Omnifocus is more flexible, even if it looks more rough around the edges.
Both of the above come with $50+ price tags, so if you're on a budget check out free online app Asana http://asana.com/ built around similar principles. It has the added benefit of being built for teams and available from any computer so if you're working on project with others you can share and delegate more easily. Omnifocus and Things are more single-player.
Document scanner or CamScanner App http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/camscanne...24839?mt=8 - I hate paperwork. I hate not finding the documents I need. I used to start a project only to be held up for half an hour rummaging through crap for something that was mailed to me a year ago. Traveling a lot and living in different places made this problem even worse. Half my papers were in one place and the other half in another place. It got so bad that I traveled with a heavy portable file for a while.
The document scanner took this pain away. Every time you get a piece of paper that you need to keep (or that you're not sure about), run it through the scanner and throw it away. Just make sure you do regular backups. Since the scanner isn't always available I also use the CamScanner app for iPhone (also available on Android) to scan anything that comes my way when I'm out and about.
Dropbox and Google Drive https://www.dropbox.com/ and https://drive.google.com/ - set up both of these. Dropbox comes with 3gb free storage and Drive comes with 5gb. This should be enough for all your important files. Instead of doing backups every week, just put everything you need to save into the Dropbox or Driver folder and it immediately syncs to a remote server. An added benefit is that you can access all your files online. Great when you're on the road or away from your computer.
Virtual Mailroom http://www.earthclassmail.com/Virtual-Mailroom - just getting started with this but it looks promising. I hate receiving mail and it used to pile up for months. Most people use email but unfortunately governments and big companies don't. With the Virtual Mailroom (and other services like it) you receive all your mail to a third-party address. All your mail is opened and scanned for you and you can then choose what to do with it (forward or shred).
You'll never need to change your address when you move. An extra benefit is privacy since you no longer give out your home address.
Google Calendar https://www.google.com/calendar - everyone uses calendars so there's not much to add. I've been using it for a long time but made two improvements recently. First, I learned the keyboard shortcuts - here's the overview http://support.google.com/calendar/bin/a...swer=37034 - Second, I set it up as a separate app. Using Fluid app http://fluidapp.com/ you can turn any web app into a desktop app. Just enter the Google Calendar URL in there and you have a stand-alone calendar app that you can use instead of iCal (which a lot of people find less easy to use).
"A flower can not remain in bloom for years, but a garden can be cultivated to bloom throughout seasons and years." - xsplat
