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News Home Archive Stepcase Lifehack</h3> <subtitle type="text">Daily digest and pointer on productivity, getting things done and lifehacks</subtitle> <updated>2008-07-21T14:00:00Z</updated> <generator uri="http://wordpress.org/" version="2.6">WordPress</generator> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.lifehack.org" /> <id>http://www.lifehack.org/feed/atom</id> <link rel="self" href="http://www.lifehack.org/feed/" type="application/atom+xml" /><feedburner:emailServiceId>71799</feedburner:emailServiceId><feedburner:feedburnerHostname>http://www.feedburner.com</feedburner:feedburnerHostname><feedburner:browserFriendly>This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use.</feedburner:browserFriendly><entry> <author> <name>Dustin Wax</name> <uri>http://www.dwax.org</uri> </author> <title type="html">Readers Recommend: 15 More Productivity Blogs You Probably Never Heard Of</h3> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeHack/~3/341560150/readers-recommend-15-more-productivity-blogs-you-probably-never-heard-of.html" /> <id>http://www.lifehack.org/?p=5934</id> <updated>2008-07-21T03:29:17Z</updated> <published>2008-07-21T14:00:00Z</published> <category scheme="http://www.lifehack.org" term="Featured" /><category scheme="http://www.lifehack.org" term="Productivity" /><category scheme="http://www.lifehack.org" term="community" /><category scheme="http://www.lifehack.org" term="link" /><category scheme="http://www.lifehack.org" term="website" /> <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/readers-recommend-15-more-productivity-blogs-you-probably-never-heard-of.html#comments" thr:count="10" /> <link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/readers-recommend-15-more-productivity-blogs-you-probably-never-heard-of.html/feed/atom" thr:count="10" /> <thr:total>10</thr:total> <content type="html"><img class="size-medium wp-image-5935" title="20080721-two-paths" src="/wp-content/files/2008/07/20080721-two-paths-380x249.jpg" alt="The Path Less Traveled By" /></p> <p>Last week, <a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/50-personal-productivity-blogs-youve-never-heard-of-before-and-about-a-dozen-you-probably-have.html">I recommended over 60 productivity blogs</a>, from the big name sites to some of the little-known discoveries I’d made in my travels through the productivity Web. At the end, I asked readers to recommend the sites that they’d come across that they felt deserved wider recognition, and this is what you came up with.</p> <ol> <li><a href="http://www.aimforawesome.com/">Aim for Awesome</a>: Vern Lovic shares his simple recipe for life (“smiles + smarts + success”) with an odd but interesting mix of high technology and spiritual seeking.</li> <li><a href="http://www.avani-mehta.com/about/">Avani Mehta</a>: Avani Mehta offers “Food for Mind”, with posts on motivation, stress and relaxation, and “mind hacks”.</li> <li><a href="http://positivesharing.com/">Chief Happiness Officer</a>: Alexander Kjerulf answers questions, shares tips, reviews books, and indulges in a little bit of silliness on this blog dedicated to living happily ever after – and today.</li> <li><a href="http://www.jeffruley.com/">Encouraging Greatness</a>: Jeff Hurley focuses on office relations, with tips and tricks for coaxing success from any staff.</li> <li><a href="http://effingthedog.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1">Effing the Dog</a>: A blog and podcast offering a not-so-slightly offbeat take on productivity: Eventualism, which as far as I can make out, holds that <em>eventually</em> everything gets done. Filled with interviews of productivity greats (that he eventually gets posted…).</li> <li><a href="http://www.markforster.net/blog/">Get Everything Done</a>: The blog of Mark Forster, author of <em>Do It Tomorrow</em> and other books on personal productivity and time managment. Here he offers tips and motivation for more productive living.</li> <li><a href="http://lessoninlife.com/">Lesson In Life</a>: Mohamad Zaki, known as “banji”, shares his lessons on living, with posts on self-motivation, attitude adjustment, studying kills, and related topics.</li> <li><a href="http://www.onsimplicity.net/">On Simplicity</a>: Sara shares her findings in her quest for “a happier, easier, more enjoyable life”. Contains a pretty even mix of practical advice and inspiring thought-pieces.</li> <li><a href="http://www.productiveflourishing.com/">Productive Flourishing</a>: Charlie Gilkey’s blog is notable for his philosophical approach to just living, as well as his free downloadable monthly planner pages.</li> <li><a href="http://aileenjourney.com/SneakUpDreams/">Sneak Up On Your Dreams</a>: Aileen Journey discusses how to make and achieve your goals in little steps on this new but promising site.</li> <li><a href="http://www.studymatrixart.com/blog/">Study Matrix Blog</a>: A unique site dedicated to exploring the potential of a kind of mind map known as a “study matrix”. Gorgeously illustrated, there’s lots of useful information here for people interested in learning how to explore and represent ideas visually.</li> <li><a href="http://www.successmakingmachine.com/blog/">Success Making Machine</a>: Heshy Shayovitz presents his “life management system” – along the way touching on topics related to productivity and effective management.</li> <li><a href="http://blogs.bnet.com/teamwork/">Team Taskmaster</a>: This BNET blog cy CC Holland is geared towards office workers, with an emphasis on workplace relations and other issues.</li> <li><a href="http://www.yangtown.com/blog/">YangTown</a>: A spiritual blog for men, this site is Ryan Randolph’s attempt to forge a new concept of masculinty. Scroll down – all the content was below my browser window when I visited!</li> <li><a href="http://www.zencollegelife.com/">Zen College Life</a>: Ibrahim Husain presents the technology news, health and fitness tips, study advice, and life knowledge students need to succeed at college – and life.</li> </ol> <p>Thanks to everyone who recommended sites – even if they were your own. There are a lot of sites here that I plan on subscribing to – and a few I wouldn’t, but that’s the beauty of the Web: there’s plenty for everyone.</p> <p>My larger list last week drew quite a few comments from people complaining about the length of the list. I’ve grown to expect the refrain of “you’re a productivity site, how can a huge list be good for productivity” on any post with more than a few ideas in it, but I suppose it’s a valid complaint and deserves to be addressed.</p> <p>First of all, I haven’t exactly hid <a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/theres-more-to-productivity-than-time-management.html">my feelings about productivity</a> – it’s a lot more than work work work. Some of these sites provide useful, immediately applicable information – and some provide inspiration, spiritual instruction, or just plain fun. Some I read every day, and some I read once a week or less – and some I visit just every so often, when I feel like it. Some are essential reading for the advice they give, and some are occasional reading to snuggle up with on a long afternoon with nothing else pressing.</p> <p>Second of all, I don’t expect anyone to read all of these sites. I don’t read all of them – and many I only read occasionally, as I said! I fully expect that some of you will absolutely <em>loathe</em> some of my recommendations – the author is too arrogant, too spiritual, too feminine, too masculine, too money-centric, too self-righteous, too <em>whatever</em>. Others might find the same site <em>exactly </em>what they’ve always looked for. This is not an all-or-nothing affair – by all means, pick and choose the ones that work for you.</p> <p>Finally, on a different note, if you write one of these sites, we’d love to hear from you. Maybe you’d like to join Lifehack as an ongoing guest contributor, or submit an occasional guest post. What has become especially clear to me in the year-plus at Lifehack (last week marked my one-year anniversary as a Lifehack writer) is that there’s a huge community of people out there seeking ways to better themselves and their lives.</p> <p>But that community is somewhat disjointed, scattered into tiny niches (student life blogs, management and leadership blogs, make money online bogs, and on and on).</p> <p>Let’s start changing that – let’s open up some lines of communication and see what we can achieve if we start building relationships amongst ourselves!</p> <p>If you’re interested and have any ideas, <a href="http://www.lifehack.org/contact">contact us</a> or email me directly at dustin (at) lifehack dot org.</p> <hr/><em>Dustin M. Wax is a contributing editor and project manager at lifehack.org. He is also the creator of <a href="http://www.writerstechnology.com">The Writer's Technology Companion</a>, a site devoted to the tools of the writing trade. When he's not writing, he teaches anthropology and women's studies in Las Vegas, NV. His personal site can be found at <a href="http://www.dwax.org">dwax.org</a>.</em></p><p class="akst_link"><a href="http://www.lifehack.org/?p=5934&akst_action=share-this" title="E-mail this, post to del.icio.us, etc." id="akst_link_5934" class="akst_share_link" rel="nofollow">Share This</a> </p><h3>Related Posts</h3><ul class="related_post"><li><a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/50-personal-productivity-blogs-youve-never-heard-of-before-and-about-a-dozen-you-probably-have.html" title="50+ Personal Productivity Blogs You’ve Never Heard of Before (and about a dozen you probably have)">50+ Personal Productivity Blogs You’ve Never Heard of Before (and about a dozen you probably have)</a></li><li><a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/the-productivity-family-tree.html" title="The Productivity Family Tree">The Productivity Family Tree</a></li><li><a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/the-lifehackorg-users-guide.html" title="The lifehack.org 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src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?i=Bsz7XJ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?a=5VDlGj"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?i=5VDlGj" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?a=GiRqrJ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?i=GiRqrJ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?a=tl0HXJ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?i=tl0HXJ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?a=9OGm0J"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?i=9OGm0J" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeHack/~4/341560150" height="1" width="1"/></content></entry> <entry> <author> <name>Joel Falconer</name> <uri>http://www.joelfalconer.com</uri> </author> <title type="html">7 iPhone Apps to Boost Your Productivity</h3> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeHack/~3/341539629/7-iphone-apps-to-boost-your-productivity.html" /> <id>http://www.lifehack.org/?p=5946</id> <updated>2008-07-21T13:30:15Z</updated> <published>2008-07-21T13:30:15Z</published> <category scheme="http://www.lifehack.org" term="Featured" /><category scheme="http://www.lifehack.org" term="Technology" /><category scheme="http://www.lifehack.org" term="apps" /><category scheme="http://www.lifehack.org" term="iphone" /> <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/7-iphone-apps-to-boost-your-productivity.html#comments" thr:count="20" /> <link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/7-iphone-apps-to-boost-your-productivity.html/feed/atom" thr:count="20" /> <thr:total>20</thr:total> <content type="html"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5947" title="iPhone" src="/wp-content/files/2008/07/iphone.jpg" alt="" width="380" height="176" /></p> <p>The iPhone has been out for more than a week and the hubbub has started dying off and the realities are starting to set in. Not to try and put more fuel on the fire of hype, but I always think the point when the Reality Distortion Field effect starts wearing off* is the best time to look at the technology objectively as well as the application options available to you.</p> <p>I mean, when an application that tests how long you can push a button gets web-wide coverage, you know there’s some kind of reality distortion going on.</p> <p>So, I’ve compiled a list of apps from the iTunes App Store that I’ve found useful and good for productivity that you might be interested in trying out. That is, if you hadn’t already done so during the week’s excessive hype. Or if you’re not busy playing Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart.</p> <p>To find any of these apps and install them, fire up iTunes and run them through the iTunes Store search box. And if you’re favorite productivity application isn’t listed here, it could be because I haven’t tried it or didn’t like it—but then, just as likely, it might just be because of the bone-headed decision to restrict some apps by country.</p> <em>* I purchased mine well before this point in time arrived.</em></p> <h2>OmniFocus</h2> <p>I’m bringing out the big guns first, when it comes to productivity. OmniFocus is a great GTD task management application. It’s a “port” (and I use that word loosely) from Omni Group’s popular desktop application of the same name. Though it’s on the pricier end of the available iPhone apps, the functionality offered can be accounted for.</p> <p>Some developers just want to get a mobile version of their desktop application up at the App Store, but OmniFocus is one of the few that leverage the iPhone’s capabilities as distinct from the Mac with location-based task lists thanks to the iPhone’s GPS location services.</p> <p>OmniFocus for the iPhone will sync and integrate with OmniFocus on the Mac if you’re running the latest version of the software. If your tasks are important to you, make sure to keep your data backed up, because I’ve read a review or two where an application crash caused complete data loss.</p> <h2>Mocha VNC Lite</h2> <p>Oh, crap. I’ve just got in bed and want to do some reading online with my laptop, to relax before going to sleep. But I’ve left a torrent running on the computer in the home office and the Internet connection is so slow, it’s almost unusable!</p> <p>I’ll have to get out of bed, turn the torrent off, and if I want it done by morning, I’ll have to get out bed again when I’m done and turn it back on.</p> <p>Okay, I’m sure you can think of a scenario that’s more about becoming productive and less about pandering to laziness, but Mocha VNC works like Screen Sharing on the Mac does. You can use Mocha to control your Windows, Mac or Linux computer and the level of interaction is surprisingly high. You use the multi-touch finger controls to zoom around the screen just like when you’re using MobileSafari. Best of all, it’s free.</p> <h2>BookShelf</h2> <p>BookShelf is an ebook reader for your iPhone. It does text documents all the way to Mobipocket books. I definitely think this app can boost your productivity because it allows you to get more reading done quicker. You can read any book in your entire library in the living room, on the train, heck, even when you’re pedaling away on your exercise bike. Ever tried to lug an entire library of books around? Not fun. This is simple and easy. I’ve had the iPhone 3G since Friday and I’ve already finished two-and-a-half books thanks to BookShelf.</p> <p>Mobipocket, the ebook reader I’ve been using on Windows Mobile or CE devices for close to a decade, is apparently coming out for the iPhone in months to come. But BookShelf beat them to the punch and they get a vote from me.</p> <p>What I’d like to see: a smoother desktop app for shoveling books onto your phone and a revision of the “chunking” process that turns it into a background function you don’t need to worry about.</p> <h2>Evernote</h2> <p>I can barely live without Evernote these days. The iPhone app makes it easier to create notes on the go and also easy to view them, but if you want to edit your notes, you won’t be too happy—it’s not possible (unless I’m just thick and can’t figure it out). I’m hoping, nay, begging, that they’ll build the ability to edit existing notes into a future version. Please, guys?</p> <p>You can do snapshot notes with the iPhone’s camera or audio notes. And, of course, you get searchable images as usual once your snapshot has uploaded to the Evernote server.</p> <h2>NetNewsWire</h2> <p>I’m a user of NetNewsWire on the Mac, so this app had me excited. Unfortunately, it’s not quite the experience I had hoped for, and not only that, but it won’t seem to download my entire collection of feeds as synced with Newsgator.</p> <p>But, where before I spent precious office time catching up on feeds (after I got my real work done, of course), I can now get (most of) them done when I have an idle moment—like when I’m waiting for someone to say something interesting at that dinner party! This frees up extra time to work on new projects or take on another small client project back at the office.</p> <p>Sidenote: before you lambast me for my previous habit of reading feeds when I could’ve been working on a new client, feed reading is actually an important task for a writer whose work is primarily online. It’s not extra time I was desperate to have before, but thirty minutes a day can add up.</p> <h2>Google Mobile</h2> <p>There may be no Spotlight on the iPhone (<em>yet</em>, the optimist would add), but Google Mobile does the job just as well as a Mobile Spotlight would. That is, aside from the system-wide integration that it obviously lacks.</p> <p>Google Mobile will let you perform a search that hunts through all the data on your phone—contacts, email, and so on—as well as the web and provide you with the most relevant and local results first. Does the job damn well, while we’re waiting on Spotlight. You hear that, Apple? We want it along with copy and paste, okay?</p> <h2>Twinkle</h2> <p>You might be surprised to find a Twitter client in a list of productivity apps, but there’s a good reason for it. Since I’ve installed Twinkle, I’ve stopped using Twhirl or constantly refreshing the tab I have Twitter open in; I know Twinkle will let me know when someone replies to or messages me and since installing it my time spent on the site in general has decreased a lot—without really affecting my participation in the community there.</p> <hr/><em>Offering a unique perspective and insight on productivity based on his experience as a writer, musician, family man and manager, <a href="http://www.joelfalconer.com">Joel Falconer</a> has been published online and off, and brings to Lifehack's readers practical advice you can use to be more efficient and effective.</em></p><p class="akst_link"><a href="http://www.lifehack.org/?p=5946&akst_action=share-this" title="E-mail this, post to del.icio.us, etc." id="akst_link_5946" class="akst_share_link" rel="nofollow">Share This</a> </p><h3>Related Posts</h3><ul class="related_post"><li><a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/create-your-portable-office-with-a-flash-drive.html" title="Create Your Portable Office with a Flash Drive">Create Your Portable Office with a Flash Drive</a></li><li><a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/complete-iphone-links-list-apps-hacks-reviews.html" title="Complete iPhone Links List: Apps, Hacks & Reviews">Complete iPhone Links List: Apps, Hacks & Reviews</a></li></ul> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/LifeHack?a=Z30GGo"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~a/LifeHack?i=Z30GGo" border="0"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?a=lhrBMj"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?i=lhrBMj" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?a=6El97j"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?i=6El97j" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?a=NtmxAJ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?i=NtmxAJ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?a=exCGKj"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?i=exCGKj" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?a=Gf7SOJ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?i=Gf7SOJ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?a=HrJFKJ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?i=HrJFKJ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?a=0hYhzJ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/LifeHack?i=0hYhzJ" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeHack/~4/341539629" height="1" width="1"/></content></entry> <entry> <author> <name>Dustin Wax</name> <uri>http://www.dwax.org</uri> </author> <title type="html">Back to Basics: Your Task List</h3> <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/LifeHack/~3/339251004/back-to-basics-your-task-list.html" /> <id>http://www.lifehack.org/?p=5922</id> <updated>2008-07-18T19:03:38Z</updated> <published>2008-07-18T19:00:00Z</published> <category scheme="http://www.lifehack.org" term="Featured" /><category scheme="http://www.lifehack.org" term="Money" /><category scheme="http://www.lifehack.org" term="Productivity" /><category scheme="http://www.lifehack.org" term="Resource" /><category scheme="http://www.lifehack.org" term="back-to-basics" /><category scheme="http://www.lifehack.org" term="gtd" /><category scheme="http://www.lifehack.org" term="list" /><category scheme="http://www.lifehack.org" term="task" /><category scheme="http://www.lifehack.org" term="todo" /> <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/back-to-basics-your-task-list.html#comments" thr:count="23" /> <link rel="replies" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/back-to-basics-your-task-list.html/feed/atom" thr:count="23" /> <thr:total>23</thr:total> <content type="html"><img title="Todo List" src="http://www.lifehack.org/wp-content/files/2007/11/20071126-todo-list.png" alt="Todo List" /></p> <p>Everyone makes a task list (or “todo list”) at least now and again. Usually, we wait until we’re overwhelmed with stuff to do, and then we’ll sit down and list everything we need to get done in the next day or two. Then, one by one, we go through the items on our list, do them, and cross them off.</p> <p>We do this because it feels better when we do. One minute, you’re at wit’s end, your attention divided 60 different ways, with no idea what to do next, and the next minute you’re in control, with everything neatly plotted: do this, then do that, then do this other thing. And, eventually, we cross the last item off and throw the list out.</p> <p>Until the next time we’re overwhelmed.</p> <strong>We make todo lists when we’re under pressure because they work.</strong> Imagine how much better they’d work – and how much more rarely we’d reach that “freaking out” stage – if we simply integrated the list-making into our day-to-day routines.</p> <h2>Your brain is for doing</h2> <p>Todo lists are important because every unfinished task you’ve made a commitment to causes stress. What’s more, your brain knows its own limits, so as you add more and more unfinished tasks, your brain starts thinking that some of them aren’t going to get finished – causing even more stress.</p> <p>That’s why it feels so good to write that task list – your brain lets out a sigh of relief, knowing that now, at least, it doesn’t have to try to keep track of all that stuff. <strong>Your brain doesn’t want to be remembering all the things you haven’t done. It wants to be <em>doing</em> them, so it can feel good about itself. </strong>The neurology of all this is a bit more complicated, but that’s the basic idea.</p> <h2>Of Paper and Processors</h2> <p>Your todo list doesn’t have to be anything fancy. A pocket notebook, a 3×5 index card, any of about a hundred computerized task lists whether online or off. I use a two-part system.</p> <p>I have a section of the same notebook I use for <a href="http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/back-to-basics-capture-your-ideas.html">capture</a> that I use to list tasks; it’s marked with a Post-it Tab Divider. I use this as a kind of “task inbox” – what I don’t get done right away gets transferred into an online task manager called <a href="http://www.toodledo.com/">Toodledo</a>. I use a computerized one because a) my list is usually longer than a page, and I don’t like having to flip back and forth and sort through finished tasks and unfinished ones to find the one I’m supposed to be doing next, and b) I can sort them by due date instead of by when I thought of it, as well as by project. And, I suppose, c) it’s a lot neater than my handwritten lists.</p> <strong>It’s helpful to write not just the task but the <em>reason</em> for the task</strong>, to give you a pointer to what’s next after you’ve finished any particular task. 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