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To follow on from the last post, have been using MyLife Organized heaps and I am liking it more and more. It is not quite perfect (needs better printing options and some tweaks) but it’s one of the most powerful yet simple organising systems I’ve trialled (and I’ve tried quite a few). It also has some inspired little features eg you can zoom in onto one task group and then that’s all you see so it’s great for holding master lists but still allowing you to concentrate on one area without the distration of all the other tasks. What I like most about it is the interface, it’s so simple but just perfectly laid out. I freaked out today when I thought I accidentally deleted all my year’s to-do/project list but it turned up again so I have no idea what I did. I does make automatic backups for you which is very nice. Will definitely be purchasing it when the trial period is up.

As for organising systems, I’ve discovered a possible twist on the Get Things Done (GTD) by Martin Ternouth (the system is outlined about 1/2 way down the page, there’s no direct link) picked up by 43 Folders. The main idea is quite simple, it is to have one task at a time on the desk and to have a clear Inbox by the end of the day. Of course there’s a nice flowchart to help get you there, eg tasks (or projects) are stored in clear files with coverslips, all project files are placed in an accessible project box (like an inbox), when you finish the task you collect all the paper and put it back into the coverslip the contents of which are to be reviewed weekly. All pretty basic stuff but then so is GTD and look at the cult that created. Maybe it’s the flowchart factor, it just makes it so much cooler and, well, systemised. I admit it, I’m a sucker for this stuff. Ishbadiddle has created a flowchart on a merged GTD/Ternouth system, it looks horribly complex but it’s not when you actually read through it. Anyway I implemented my own merged version at my new work today, it’s amazing being presented with a brand new desktop (unlike my normal computer where there is NO visible space and about 512MB free on an 80GB drive… arghhh).

It’s late so I won’t write a whole heap about this, I just wanted to collect some of the to-do list/organisational links I was searching through in the verve of New Year’s resolutioning.

While you’re reading all this, check out musicovery in the background, it’s a cute interactive radio station, it’s like the music genome project only it’s less linear. You can choose mood or dance and you can limit the choices by genre and decade (as far back as the 50s).

Software:

• My Life Organised - I’ve played around with this software a little and I think it has real potential. It’s got a really simple interface but is powerfully flexible. You can export in and out of MindManager mind mapping software which is pretty cool if you use it. Here are some reviews at 43 Folders, this one and this one explains how the program works a bit. There are some instructions for implenting the GTD system (see below). The developer is still very active and it has community support.
• For Mac users, Kinkless looks like it could be worth a test drive, it’s free but you need to have bought OmniOutliner (though that’s meant to be good too). What’s cool too is that it is should sync with your ipod.

Advice:

• 43 Folders advice on building smarter to-do lists: Part 1 and Part 2.
• To-done is a blog that isn’t updated anymore but worth looking through the archives for tips.
• Get Things Done (GTD): The system of allocating time and place to next actions promoted by Dave Allen (the other main competitor is the Franklin/Covey system which concentrates on importance/urgency - here’s a weird article about the Franklin Covey synthesis, a forum post on which system is better - I think a combination is best - it has some neat tips). 43 Folders is one of the big promoters of the GTD cult - here’s a nice intro to GTD.
• Flylady: Rather popular system for managing households and their chores. She suggests creating a Control Journal. One way to domestic goddess status I suppose, but all a bit TOO orderly for me though.

For more paper based to-do lists:

• The Pocket Mod: An online wizard for creating printed organisers. You can also download an offline version. Very neat.
• The Printable CEO Series: Free printable forms to help you manage your day to day tasks so you can focus on being a CEO/your business.
• 5 Steps of My To-Do Lists Revolution: How throwing away traditional to-do lists can be more productive for some people.
• Hacking a GTD Moleskine: A low-tech solution using my favourite notebook, the Moleskine.

Miscellaneous Stuff:

• Darkroom: A cool download when you have a writing project to concentrate on, it blacks out your screen so there are no distractions, your text then shows up in Matrix-esque green Courier.
• Discovered listible which is a community list making project, worth checking out: they have a list of best GTD software, online calendars and firefox extensions.
• Found some stuff on sleep and making it/you more productive, here’s one and another on polyphasic sleep (”taking multiple short sleep periods throughout the day instead of getting all your sleep in one long chunk”) - I can’t think that it would be good for you. And one on How to Become an Early Riser and Tips for getting to sleep faster & sleeping better.

Anyway, good luck with your New Year resolutions/goals and HAPPY NEW EVERYONE!

One of my favourite webcomics, xkcd (see below) always has little comments attached to each comic (at the xkcd site, not on my cut and pastes), you get to see them when you mouse over the comic image, but they truncate due to some firefox irregularity. Anyway, here’s the post on fixing it, and the Long Titles Firefox extension to download.

Via Ikea Hacker, Toon Beerten has hacked an Ikea Mylonit table lamp into a super cool mood lamp. I love the video of it changing colours, maybe it’s the music in the background (Goldfrapp - Lovely Head - YouTube clip), I’ve just been playing it over and over again. If you are comfortable putting together programmed circuit boards, there are instructions. Otherwise, enjoy the video:

At some stage, when I get round to making up some productivity templates, I’ll need a place to store then as I don’t want huge hosting bills. Anyway I wanted something free, that allows free public downloads (that’s a paid extra at box.net … stupid! immediately they lose all that free publicity), that doesn’t delete your files after 30 days if they haven’t been accessed (eg savefile.com) and has a nice community. Good design would be just an added bonus. Well I found all that at eSnips:
eSnips.com - Get 1GB free storage to upload and share files, photos and videos

I love the little birdy logo and the fact that the CEO is a woman. You set up folders which can be public or private, public folders have their own static (and short!) web address. You can link directly to a document or create cute little “widgets” buttons.

The fellow eSnippers all seem like a nice bunch, it’s not as daunting as the bigger players. Pigment is my favourite. He’s an English artist and here are some widgets linking to his paintings: