Introducing My New eBook: Clutter 101

July 28th 2008   Clutter 101   14 comments

One of the most successful habits I have been able to implement in my life has been to consistently stay on top of clutter and keep my home organized and streamlined. Most satisfactorily I can now keep on top of it all with minimal effort and time. I’ve covered my thoughts and tips on how to de-clutter in the past with my Clutter 101 series, which has proved to be the most popular on the blog.

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The GTD Dictionary So Far: What Shall I Cover Next?

November 21st 2008   GTD, Updates   3 comments  

My GTD Dictionary series is one of the most popular on the site and over the last few weeks I’ve been expanding it. My intention has always been to cover as many productivity related words so that anybody who was confused about particular terms could quickly look them up, rather than having to browse around aimlessly for the information. Below is a summary of what I’ve covered so far.

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My Argument Against Batching Your Work

November 19th 2008   GTD, Productivity   10 comments  

Batching your work is one of the most common productivity tips out there. However, I’ve always had a little problem with it. Batching turns small, individual tasks into big, time consuming projects. Whenever I do any work I look to break it down so that I can do one individual element at a time, which makes it both comparatively easy and quick to do. Batching achieves the opposite.

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8 Simple Ways To Get On Track And Keep Your Focus

November 17th 2008   GTD, Personal Development   1 comment  

For all the tips and advice on being productive that are out there, it’s all useless if you cant focus on what you’re doing. To be productive is to do your work as efficiently and in as stress-free a way as possible but you can’t do any of that if your mind keeps flicking to other things every five minutes. Having had my own struggles with focus recently (more on that later in the article) I thought I’d share my own tips on how I got back on track.

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A Year Ago On Organize IT: Trim Your To-Do List, Key Rules For Organizing Systems And Should You Simplify Your Life?

November 14th 2008   Featured Content, GTD   1 comment  

A year ago on Organize IT you were reading:

The Three Key Rules For Any Organizing System
“Every system or tool you have setup to organize your life, whether it be the filing cabinet at work, the drawer in the kitchen or your home cleaning schedule, will ultimately flourish or fall apart depending on how easily it functions in three key areas.”

Simplifying Our Lives: Is It A Lost Cause?
“One thing that has always niggled away at the back of my mind when focusing on a simplified life is that all the practices seem to run contrary to the way society is evolving. If you think we have demands on our time or are overwhelmed with information and choice now, it will only get worse in the future. Rather than trying to fight (an arguably losing war) with this inevitability by simplifying everything, should we not be learning to deal with?”

10 Ways To A Slim And Trim To-Do List
“Your to-do list is not the place for putting general reminders, even if you do phrase it into the form of a next action. For instance, don’t put down ‘go to dentists at 9AM’ or ‘buy milk from the supermarket.’ That’s what calendars and shoppings lists are for.”

GTD Dictionary: Someday/Maybe

November 12th 2008   GTD, GTD Dictionary   0 comments  

Someday/maybe:

• At an indefinite time in the future.
• A possibility or uncertainty.

Someday/maybe covers a list of tasks that you intend to reassess in the future, but have no immediate intentions to act on them because they are currently outside the scope of your day-to-day life. They include interests like learning a new language, buying a particular book, building a new extension on your home or even taking a hiking trip across Europe… basically all those ideas and plans that you don’t have the time, information, inclination or capability to pursue today. For instance, the hiking trip would first rely on you building up some savings. You can’t fly over to Europe immediately but someday, maybe you’ll be able to do it.

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