productivity

I love Seth. His custom notebook system is exactly what I expect from him and it’s truly great. He’s like a Jedi librarian.

Michael Schechter’s OmniFocus setup is an interesting read even for non-OmniFocus users. It’s interesting because of the result. Michael states in clear and concise language how his system works. That’s hard to do. I’d suggest to anyone struggling to make their task management system work, sit down and write your system design specification like Michael. Write like you’re paying someone to build you your own personal solution. One way or another we all pay for our poorly defined systems.

It’s hard to take this article at HBR seriously.1 The first sentence captures the entire sentiment: I knew right away, when you walked in here with a paper notebook — a paper notebook! — I realized that this meeting was not going to be a good use of our time. Or how about this darling: Maybe you believe that the act of handwriting improves your memory of what was discussed.

Now this is a well thought note system. Having more than one “home” for an idea on your mobile device is the first warning sign that your workflow might be dangerously ignorable. While I’m extremely unlikely to ever return to Simplenote, there are some very good ideas in this post. It covers every good trick or concept I’ve come across. By way of Pinboard.in

Patrick Welker just let loose with his new site, RocketInk.net and his first post is about using Keyboard Maestro to control OmniFocus. It’s a mix of all kinds of tips from around the web and some new ones I had not seen before. I follow Patrick on Twitter because he posts awesome links. I think his site is one of the best I’ve seen in recent memory. My favorite three features:

I really like the Pelle journals. The biggest selling point for me is the thick paper stock. The ruled and plain notebooks are 28lb. linen paper and the drawing pads are 80lb. textured linen paper. These are perhaps the nicest little notebooks I’ve ever tried. I use the Pelle journals without a special cover but I bought this gorgeous leather binder as a gift for someone that really doesn’t care about notebooks.

I’ve used OmniFocus since the first week it was released. I’ve reached a professional tipping point. I manage some large projects with dozens of contributors that span several years. My OmniFocus database has many, many hundreds of tasks. Six months ago I realized that contexts were becoming irrelevant in an always-available and online world. I can do email at any time. I can write or search the web from my phone.

Sean Korzdorfer has an excellent outline about how he uses OmniFocus and notes. I also love the way Sean is “blogging” by publishing notebooks like The Curious Case of Shitty List-Making Apps. The concept reminds me of the mysterious Lri whom I’d love to just chat with.1 Lri visits forums of my favorite sites and drops little knowledge bombs of awesomeness. Lri is the ghost in the machine. ↩︎

Rob continues his discussion on OmniFocus over at Gridwriter. Due dates and priority have lost all meaning. I couldn’t tell what I could put off for the next day from the truly urgent tasks. OmniFocus is a tool, not a prescription for success. The right methodology depends on the person and individual situation. To think otherwise is to assume too much.

Maybe one of the best expressed and thought-out systems for achieving goals I’ve read recently. Trust me, it’s worth a read. I divide a unit of time, typically a calender year, into subunits called mesocycles. During a given mesocycle, focus is directed toward the progression of a particular quality. By chaining together different mesocycles, block periodization facilitates long-term goal progression. But here’s where Seth gets my attention. It’s not a proposal or declaration.