Tag Archives: Productivity

Productivity Tool – The Hipster PDA

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cards Productivity Tool The Hipster PDA

Photo by Hawkexpress

I have been trying the Hipster PDA for one of my projects.  The picture isn’t one but follow the link in the previous sentence to see it.  (I think the picture may be the son of Hipster PDA and way out of my league.)   I discovered it while working on an earlier post.  It seemed like a great idea but I havn’t used it until now.

It is working slick. This project involves twelve topic that I am developing for a marketing course. Right now I have the 12 cards for the twelve topics. They have been filled front and back so as I proceed I am adding a second card for each of the twelve with the additional information. What I like is how portable it is. I can put it in my Franklin Planner. I can put it in my briefcase. I can put it in my pocket. I can add information to it. I can organize the cards. I can delete or add cards.

I have only scratched the surface. I can envision my Hipster in action and my Franklin staying home, particularly when I get my Smartphone to keep my calendar with me. Technology is grand but paper can’t be beat.

How about you?  How do you stay organized?

Originally posted 2009-05-03 13:37:59. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Getting Organized with a Farmer’s list

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I’m still struggling to get control of my time after retiring last month.  That beautiful forty hours each week freed up with that decision somehow haven’t converted into additional productivity.  It seems like, instead of getting more done, I am actually getting less done.lazy Getting Organized with a Farmers list

Right now my challenge is getting a rhythm and a pattern going that makes sure that I get basic things done each day and move forward on the things that will make me some money.  I am putting in the time but I am sure that I could be managing much better.

For example, I dithered today trying to find a way to sync my windows mobile phone with a web based calendar like Google or Thunderbird.  There doesn’t seem to be anything.  I would probably have used my time better to just enter my appointments both places and forget about it but I keep thinking that there has to be something.  So that is just one example of how time gets wasted.

It is always better when I find a solution from one of the clear thinkers on the web.  Today it is Chris Brogan with his post on a farmer’s list.  Put simply, a farmer’s list is those tasks that must be done every day or else.  Farmers don’t have the luxury of postponing tasks.  Milking has to be done every day or the cows stop giving milk.  You can’t put off harvesting wheat or it shatters and falls to the ground. So Chris uses a farmer to help understand what kind of tasks need to be on the list.  He gives his list – and it is a good one.  I would like to say that I am doing everything on his list but I am not Chris Brogan – at least not yet.

So for today this is my list:

  1. Blog Post up for today.
  2. Draft tomorrow’s blog post.
  3. Check emails and respond.
  4. Read 30 minutes or more.
  5. Respond to blog comments.
  6. Check my blog follow list and comment when possible
  7. Work on income producing projects.

It is not as good as Chris’, but it does include everything that I know I have to get done each day.  When I get this list under my belt then maybe I can add more.

What does your Farmer’s List look like?

Getting Organized with a Farmers list

Originally posted 2010-01-22 09:24:34. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Diggin’ Persistence

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digging Diggin Persistence

Photo by Cedro

I found some good stuff about persistence on Digg.  You have to skip down a few pages to get to the gold.  The earlier ones  are on peripheral issues .

There was this nice one with a collection of quotes.

Who can resist Seth Godin?

And finally an inspired collection of persistent characters including Sylvester.

Originally posted 2009-06-29 08:39:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Productivity on the way up here!

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dontwork Productivity on the way up here!

Photo by Pablo Vieira

My new phone came Monday. It’s a smartphone running Windows Mobile. It seems to be one of the more highly rated models (HTC Fuze) and it has both a touchscreen and a slide out keyboard. It can run excel and word. Now the question is – what am I going to do with it.

I got it synced with my desktop at work and now have all my contacts and appointments but I am leaving my work emails off. There is nothing in the emails that I need to take care of when I am not at my desk.

I was hoping to set up personal contacts and appointments on my home desktop but I don’t run the expensive Microsoft tools there and it appears to be a challenge to link to other contact and calendar programs to Windows Mobile.

My first assignment is to get comfortable with the device. Right now, everything is twice as hard as it was on the old phone, but only because I have to think about it. I expect that to improve rapidly. I also will be reading the manual to discover all the things that never occurred to me that I can do with the device.

I am sure that many are experienced with using a PDA/Smartphone. Are there good places to find out productivity tricks for these devices? What do you like – or not like about them. I am pretty sure that I am not going back but I do want to get the biggest value for my investment.

Originally posted 2009-05-06 17:39:27. Republished by Blog Post Promoter