patrickrhone

08.06.08 11.07 am

My Fountain Pen Picks @ Brassing Adds Character

I have a guest post today at my longtime friend Ryan’s excellent site, Brassing Adds Character. Ryan has been doing a series of posts that shore up the many great pens available at several price points. My post weights in with my single favorite pens picked from his excellent lists. It was a hard choice in many cases but I took my best shot. I really feel I ended up with the best of the best. Wanna see what I picked? Click the link below and find out:

Brassing Adds Character - Guest Post: Patrick’s Picks

07.28.08 07.00 am

Announcing Work. Life. Creativity.

Today I am proud to take the vale off of a new project - Work. Life. Creativity. As I mentioned last week, it is an online community devoted to discussing the topics of personal productivity, self growth, work/life balance and creative solutions. I am really excited and proud of the work that was done to get it to the point where we can have a “soft launch” and ask folks to take a look.

The centerpiece of it all is really the forums. Expect lots of chatter about lots of interesting topics there. I have been spending a lot of time in there lately and plan to continue doing so. Also expect some cross posting of topics between here and there. I expect as interesting stuff comes up in the forums at WLC that I would like to opine further on here.

Head on over and take a look. You will not be disappointed.

07.25.08 03.30 pm

Video Review: Levenger Circa Steno

My first ever video review and, boy, am I excited. This features a new Levenger product that I have been waiting to be released for some time now. Here is the thing though, it is not yet on their website. It is that new! My friend Eric Senf was kind enough to pick it up for me from the Levenger Store on a recent trip to Chicago.

Give it a look and let me know in the comments if you would like to see more of this kind of stuff.

Levenger Circa Steno Review from Patrick Rhone on Vimeo.

07.25.08 08.35 am

What I did on my summer vacation...

I have once again managed to go over a month without a post. I feel kinda bad about it but I have been busy with a lot of peronal and professional projects.

One of those projects I will be debuting here on Monday. It is a collaboration with some well known names in the GTD/personal productivity web space. It will be a place to commune with others, discus work, life and creativity, and lots of other topics that I often discuss here. I am very excited about it and have already been spending a lot of time there (and hence, not spending much here).

I am hoping that this project will spark some new ideas and conversation which will, in turn, cause me to post a bit more here.

Stay tuned…

07.25.08 08.33 am

Remainders 07.25.2008

It has been a while since I did a remainders post (or any post for that matter) and have a lot of stuff saved up. That being said, due to aforementioned time passage, you may have seen some of these already. Yet, into the breach I go…

Stepcase Lifehack has been doing a good series called Back to Basics about getting back to the bare bones of GTD. Here is a sampling:

• Back to Basics: Capture Your Ideas

• Back to Basics: Your Inbox

• Back to Basics: Processing

I personally find these sorts of little refreshers helpful in staying on the right path. I never tire of reading them.

I also will never tire of Merlin Mann dropping the mad science on the troubles with e-mail overload as he does in the post NYT: Businesses Fight the Email Monster They Helped Create.

Here is a post that resonated with me from Unclutterer… What to do if you are organized and your partner isn’t. Luckily, Princess Bethany and I deal pretty well with this issue (and I will leave it to you dear reader to decide whom is who in this equation).

Kelly Forrister of DavidCo recommends using that too-late-to-start-anything 4pm Friday slot in your workday for a context she calls @BrainToast. That is, regular maintenance type things that we all seem to forget way too often.

Linda Stone asks – Is it Time to Retire the Never-Ending List? Hmmm…. Princess Bethany has regular fantasies about completing everything on her “Big List”.

Perhaps you are stuck getting through that list. Well, here is a good primer on How to Jump Start a Listless Action List at Tool for Thought.

By now, I am sure you are aware of my affinity for the simple daily todo list. Here is one take on how to format such a list.

Finally, my beautiful and brilliant wife, Princess Bethany, offers up her Top Ten List of How to be Productive With a New Baby.

06.20.08 01.27 pm

Guest Post at Black Belt Productivity

I was recently approached by my friends at Black Belt Productivity to offer some thoughts on metrics in the realm of Getting Things Done – how to measure productivity and ensure that it is driving you to specific goals. Those who have read my work here for a while may already know what my answer is going to be. All the same, it may be worth while to check out my guest post on their excellent site. If you do not already follow Black Belt Productivity you really should. Excellent writing and a bunch of mighty fine guys who are deep in the Org-fu:

Patrick Rhone: Metrics and GTD? It’s Baked Right In

06.17.08 07.21 am

Remembering Rodney

I will never forget our last conversation. It was only a few days beyond six years ago. He called me up to see if I wanted to “hang out, have some brew, see some girls” in that sly way he regularly did. We had both worked for a time for the same employer and had become fast friends. I enjoyed his irreverent style and his unabashed fanboy advocacy of all things Macintosh. He even went so far as always keeping a weekend job selling Macs at a largely PC retailer. There was nothing he loved more than “converting sinners on the floor” by introducing those coming in looking to by yet another Compaq to the Macintosh, thus, he felt, changing the rest of their lives for the better.

I also loved his writing. As a freelancer, he wrote for a number of the Macintosh related web sites that I followed. I loved his confrontational style. He really enjoyed pushing peoples buttons. Not because he wanted to piss people off but because he knew if caused them to think. Perhaps, for even a second, they would be introduced to something they had thought themselves but never had the balls to say. I mean, this is the guy who had the balls to write an article called “Macintosh Is the ‘Nigger’ of the Computer Industry”. He took a lot of flack for simply using “The ‘N’ word” and he ate it up. I loved the passion that he poured into every word, thought and action. This was a guy who really wanted to suck the marrow from the bones of life and did so with a big impish smile on his face.

He also had problems, heck who doesn’t. He had long suffered from manic depression. I had as well. Yet another thing we had in common to make us such fast friends. We often shared our struggles with staying on medication. Medication that, in an effort to keep you from “feeling down” or “feeling crazy” mostly makes you not able to feel anything very deeply at all. Psychiatry in this area is a “true science” in that there are no right answers or perfect drug combinations. Everyone is different and even then things can change. It is all a matter of constant playing with dosage levels and trial and error until a person is lucky enough to stumble upon the right mix for them. The trip to not being crazy is a rollercoaster ride of emotions so severe and intense for so long that one feels… Crazy. He and I commiserated on these subjects often – usually while having some brew and seeing some girls at the local gentleman establishments. He seemed to be managing the ride as well as can be expected.

This time, when he called to hang out, I was too busy. Between trying to manage being a full time single dad, my consulting business, and way too many other seemingly important things, I had to decline. “Give me a call in a couple of weeks,” I said, “I’ll even buy.” Looking back, I still feel like that was the worst decision of my life.

Rodney O. Lain passed away a few days later on June 16th, 2002 – six years ago yesterday. He took his own life with a gun to the head sometime in the late night/early morning of the 15th and lived for one day more (I imagine just as a final “Fuck you” to the gun – He was that type of guy). There is rarely a day or two that goes by that I do not think of Rodney. He was my friend. I miss him. I miss being able to share my life as it is today with him. My beautiful wife, the strong lovely young men my sons are becoming, my beautiful baby girl… I often think about how much fun he would be having right now with Apple enjoying such great success (I can imagine him writing “The iPhone is the Whitey of the mobile phone industry”). Not to mention the strong possibility of having a “Brotha” in the White House. What kind of writing about it all we are missing. Words that might make us laugh, or piss us off or bother to think.

Those words are hard to find now. Six years on the internet is a long time. Some of the sites he wrote for are now gone and his writing along with them. I even tried to do my part by reviving his old site a few years back but many behind the scenes complications kept it from staying live. Do a search on Google for him and you will find a number of loving tributes and obituaries and even still find an article or two written by him…

As for me, I still grieve. There is a hole in the world now that will never be filled. A friend that will never be replaced.

Update - Many of Rodney’s articles can be found archived at Low End Mac.

06.16.08 09.13 pm

Necessary Self Promotion

Things have been crazy busy here in Patrickland. Lot’s of travel. Lots of busy work. Lots of taking care of The Duchess. Who is The Duchess you ask? For those new around here, she is my little girl Beatrix and she has a blog – Team Trixie. The blog is a comedic outlet for me and I write it from her perspective. Of course, her perspective is that she is a Duchess from a mythical land called Heckofalot, her mommy is Princess Bethany and her daddy is The Butler. As I said, it is mostly a fun creative outlet for me and a unique way to share her with the world.

Well, that blog and it’s author (that would be me, The Butler) were featured in the June 15th edition of The Saint Paul Pioneer Press newspaper. They did a feature on Dad’s who blog and The Duchess and I were included. Check it out:

TwinCities.com: Daddy bloggers have stories to tell

05.12.08 09.36 am

What's in your notebook?

One of my favorite advertising campaigns of all time was from Apple (natch). It featured a number of Mac using celebrities giving a list in response to a simple question – “What’s on your Powerbook?”. What was great about this campaign was that it not only gave you an idea of what the product was possible of doing, it gave you the sense of what you could do with the product. That somehow, by buying this product, you too could write the next great American novel, a hit movie, or edit an award winning photo.

Well, in the spirit of that fine example, I challenge you to answer a similar question. It does not have to be comprehensive, just a sampling and there are no right or wrong answers.Are you ready? Good. I’ll start…

“What’s in your notebook?”

The Notebook: Field Notes Brand Pocket Notebook

Contents

• Notes from Edward Tufte, Presenting Data and Information conference.
• Recommended allocations for my 401K.
• Design idea for a new website.
• Early Childbirth Class notes.
• Stroller research.
• Weekend project list.
• Layout and amperages of my circuit box.
• Notes from first meeting with our Doula.
• Dimensions of the nursery closet.
• Phone number of a friend that I had not see in years that I ran into.
• Addresses/numbers/info of possible daycare providers.
• Notes from Minnebar 2008.
• Details and math on the offer on the house we have for sale.

There you have it. Like I said, it is just a sampling but it should give you a good peek into the sorts of things that have been ruling my life for the past few months. OK, now it’s your turn.

What’s in your notebook?

Leave the details in the comments…

05.09.08 08.00 am

My Addiction

My name is Patrick, and I am a notebook addict. I have never really tried to hide my addiction. Many who know me well know of this “problem” (I am sill not sure I feel comfortable calling it that). Sometimes I am able to fight it. I convince myself that I really don’t need yet another notebook that will sit on a shelf and probably never be used. Sometimes they are given to me. Sometimes, I just can’t stop myself. The paper is too nice, the aesthetic beauty too compelling. The myriad of uses flood my brain and I become drunk with the elixir of possibility.

Here are just some of the examples of the times I have fallen:

• Black n’ Red Ruled A4 – Years ago I worked for a company that had an office in Brussels. These were the office standard issue notebook there. It was love at first sight so on a visit I grabbed two and I still have both. These are big euro letter sized bound books with 192 pages of bright white paper. One was used as a Journal, during a particularly miserable time in my life, for about a dozen pages. The other remained unused. Looking back, I figure that the misery did not stop but my will and desire to chronicle it did.

• Grey Sketchbook – This was a birthday gift sent to me by my friend Adeline in the U.K. I am not sure of the manufacturer, as there are no markings to indicate it. The book has a grey suede slipcover, blank pages with the following quote from Gandhi stamped into the cover ” You must be the change you wish in the world.” At my most recent day job, I gave it to one of my student workers who is a wonderful cartoonist and had him draw something on the first page. What he returned to me is a true work of whimsical art. That is what is linked to above since I can’t find the manufacturer of the notebook.

• Xonex Ru – Bought this in the Walker Art Museum Gift Shop after seeing a friend with one. I have the charcoal grey model. There was just something about it that I was compelled by. Perhaps it was the European sizing – A bit more flat and geometrically shaped than a Moleskine. It has a number of the same features though, an elastic closure and a pocket in the back. Also, here’s the thing, I generally don’t use notebooks without ruled lines or grids. My writing is far too messy and my art skills are like those of a two year old.

• Muji – I actually have two different Muji Notebooks, neither of which can be found in the US. They were brought back for me by a co-worker from Japan. The first is about the same dimensions as the Xonex Ru, has a beige craft cover and decent blank paper (did I mention I usually don’t use blank notebooks). The other is very much like a Large Lined Moleskine but with a bookcloth cover and without a pocket in the back. It does have the elastic closure though.

• Moleskines – Since they keep popping up, I will discuss the several Moleskines I have. I have a Pocket Lined (this was my daily capture for a long while). I have a Large Lined (use this as a personal journal). I have a Pocket Squared (unused). I have a Reporter Squared (A few mind and process maps but otherwise unused). I have a Barcelona City Book (The maps were indispensable. Wish I had written more in it and hope to return soon to fix that).

As I said, these are just a few examples. I have intentionally left out quite a few. Many of which I have written about recently here. The two Levenger Circa Notebooks. The several Field Notes Brand notebooks I have waiting on deck for me to complete the one I am using. The list could go on.

OK, I guess I may need an intervention.

05.08.08 08.00 am

My Indispensable Twitter Tools

Many who have been following along here know that I have become a recent convert to the cult of Twitter. For those not in the know, Twitter is a social networking site where you simply post updates, and see the updates of others, about what you are doing right now in 140 characters or less. Think of it as a giant chat room with your friends and people who would like to be. I have found it to be a great tool to keep up with my real world and online friends.

It seems that every Twitter addict has his or her own tools for posting and following their friends. Here are the ones I use:

• Twitterrific - I don’t think I could even use Twitter as much as I do without this wonderful tool. It is basically a desktop Twitter client that not only allows me to post and follow others easily, it also makes the ability reply to tweets and direct message others so much easier. There are many other clients like it out there, even for other platforms. Using a client, IMHO is the best way to interface with Twitter.

• A URL Shortening Service -Because you only have 140 characters, there is rarely enough room to paste a long web site URL. there are many web based services out there that take a long URL and make you a shorter one to post in these sorts of circumstances. I have been trying several of these – Tinyurl, Snipurl – my current favorite is URLTea. It does not matter though, the point is that if you are going to post a URL to Twitter, you will eventually need to use one of these.

• TwitterLocal - Find recent tweets from people in your area. up to a 20 mile radius. Great for not only finding people you know in real life that you did not know were on Twitter. Also good for seeing what is going on around you. I love to lurk here.

That is all folks. As you can see, I am no Twitter ninja. That being said, I tweet often and engage in intelligent conversation and that is the point. If you are on Twitter, please follow me. If not, you should be and when you are, follow me.

05.07.08 10.50 am

Brassing Adds Character: Cheap Fountain Pens

My good friend Ryan over at Brassing Adds Character has a good little series of posts going right now about cheap fountain pens. How cheap? Well, yesterday he highlighted pens that can be had for $10.00 or less. Looking to spend a little more? How about a great budget writer for $30.00 or under? There are some fantastic suggestions, short reviews and tips in this series. If you are looking to get into fountain pens without breaking your piggy bank, these are must read lists. Be warned though, nice pens are addictive and that piggy bank will likely be broken into sooner rather than later.

05.07.08 08.24 am

Dash/Plus in Action

Almost two years ago to the date, I wrote a Productivity Whitepaper describing my complete GTD/Notetaking/Staying-on-top-of-stuff system at that time form top to bottom. I described a number of tools, applications, processes – Basically everything I could think of that got me through the day. Of all that I included in the post, nothing has seemed to catch on and resonate with people the way that my dash/plus Markup System has. Merlin Mann even referred to it as “sexy” in a post featuring my whitepaper on 43 Folders. Not a week goes by when I don’t see it mentioned in a post on someone else’s blog or I see it in actual use by a friend or co-worker. Here are some examples of how others have put it to use:

• Joe Ely posted about how he uses it for A Simple Index Card GTD System over at GTD Times. A nice little HPDA system he has set up for himself.

• David MacKay uses dash/plus with a Filofax and Moleskine. Another fine example of a paper based GTD system.

• Jon Crosby, developer of Actiontastic, mentioned that he used dash/plus for capture.

• Of course, my good friend Jason Echols of Black Belt Productivity uses dash/plus markup in his notetaking.

To save you the jump, the dash/plus system works a little like this…

In all, it really makes me feel all proud and puffed up to know that I started something that has proven so useful to many. If this blog were to get hit by a bus tomorrow, I would be satisfied with this accomplishment alone.

Are you using dash/plus? Do you have a blog? Have you posted about how you are putting it to use in your system? I encourage you to link it up in the comments.

05.06.08 11.53 pm

Boo!

Life has been kind of a whirlwind lately. Although I have several items in process for this site, my little experiment in blogging, I really have not had the time to sit down and put the finishing touches on a full post. Then again, if I don’t post for a while, those that follow me here, and don’t catch me at the several other places I peek my head out on the internet, start to make up stories about my horrible demise ( The incident with the meat grinder and the Shriner go-cart resulted only in a minor scratch. Honest.).

All is well, I promise, and new posts will be coming soon.

04.21.08 12.19 am

(Re)Introducing Machine Methods

Just wanted to take a brief moment for some self promotion. This weekend, I launched a redesign of the website for my technical consulting business, Machine Methods. Once again, a tip of the hat goes to my web design partner, friend and all around code ninja, Michael Armstrong.

For the design of the Machine Methods site, the idea was “one page, many purposes” . The majority of the information is on a single page – who we are, what we do, and how to contact us. Not only would this design function as a web page, when printed it would become a one sheet (8.5 x 11 single side) brochure that could be part of a promo packet. Then, when folded three way letter style and slipped into an envelope, when removed, the top of the page (as seen below) will be the first thing people see…

…Then, when unfolded, the page would be there in front of them appearing in the real world almost exactly as it does online. One page, many purposes.

As you can see, this site may be minimal and, therefore, may look easy to throw together, the idea I am going for and the execution of that idea are often complex. Because I often design for myself with a fairly limited and rigid constraint (i.e. only using text), a lot of thought and planning goes into how to make it look good and work well. It should not just be text thrown onto a page. And while the design may be minimal, the functions this design can serve are quite a lot. For instance, I could easily see a slightly modified version of the image above working as a quarter page advertisement in a newsletter or magazine.

So there it is, a little peek into my strange design brain. Take a look and, if you need some technical consulting, give me a jingle.

04.17.08 02.01 pm

Getting Real With Your Lists

Here is what I want you to do…

Take out your lists. This may be one single big list of to do items like Princess Bethany likes to keep. If you are a Getting Things Done practitioner, you probably have several lists – all broken neatly into contexts, a someday/maybe, etc. For you, the someday/maybe might be a good place to start… But, I am getting ahead of myself. Go ahead, take them all out. Get them all spread out where you can see each and every task/project/hope/dream/etc.

OK, do you have them all out? Good. Now, take a long look at that pile. Really soak it all in. Got it? Great. Here is what I want you to do next. Go through each and every task and ask the following question:

“Am I really going to do this?”

Seriously. Be honest… Get real.

If there is even a question in your mind about it. If it is something that would be better done (and actually done) by someone else get it to them like the hot potato it should be. If it is something that sounds good in theory but you know, deep down, will never happen, then kill it. Kill it dead.

Your to-do list should be a sacred place. It should be filled only with the things you really plan on doing, are consistently evaluating and are taking active steps move items forward and to get those things done.

Now I know what you GTD folks are thinking…

“But that is why I have a someday/maybe list. It is for things I maybe, kind of, would like to do someday.”

Um… Well, yes, maybe that is what you think it is for. You would be wrong.

Here is the deal, if you are not including that Someday/Maybe list as part of a regular review (weekly or otherwise) and going through each item regularly, evaluating it, tying to figure out how and when to move it forward, put it into an active project state, or otherwise getting it done – it should be gone. If you are indefinitely deferring things there and are always saying “maybe”, “not now”, “someday” to those items – they are your weakest link. Are you really going to learn Chinese? Learn how to ski? Buy that big fishing boat? What are you doing to make those things happen? Is it possible to Call to enroll in a Chinese language class at the local community college? When? Today? Then do it. Don’t dream it. Don’t defer it. Don’t try to “hope” it into reality. Do it. Pick up that phone and make that call.

All I am trying to say here is be really honest with yourself about your intentions. If you have an item (or several) on that list that you always glance over, perhaps it should not be there in the first place. Don’t set yourself up for failure. If there is something you really want to do or need to do, then don’t half commit to it by parking the idea somewhere and never really looking at it again. Define what it will take to get that item to the next level and try to commit time to do just that.

04.08.08 03.46 pm

Thoughts on "The Pleasures of Uninterrupted Communication" (and managing expectations)

Boing Boing’s Cory Doctorow, wrote a great article for Internet Evolution recently - The Pleasures of Uninterrupted Communication - detailing his strategy for dealing with interruptions and not having to deal with the mountain of e-mail one encounters after having returned from and extended break or vacation - “email apnea” as it has been coined.

So I eliminate the mountain: when I go away for an email fast (usually coinciding with a holiday), I set up an auto-responder advising correspondents that I’m away and that I “won’t be reading their email” when I get back, asking that they re-send anything urgent after my return (I make sure a few key people, like my business-partners, parents, and agent know how to reach me by phone). When I sit down at my desk again after the break, I download all my mail while I have a little walk or tidy up my desk. Once it’s all downloaded, I select every last message and delete them. No email apnea.

Cory does not delete the e-mails because he does not care about the people who sent them, he does so because he cares too much to not be able to respond due to the sheer volume.

You see, I love communicating too much to be interrupted. Whether I’m writing an essay or a novel, composing an email, or chattering with someone by voice, the last thing I want is to be given a jolt of useless adrenaline every time something new lands in my queue. Indeed, the oppressive weight of the knowledge that the queue is lengthening is enough to stress me out — any time I go away for a day or a week, all I can think of is that mountain of mail accumulating on my server.

One of the many things I love about this is that it is yet another wonderful example of managing others expectations, through simple and compassionate communication, in order to achieve your own freedom. Compassionate? Well, you see, if you let people know what to expect from you - that you only check your e-mail twice a day and at particular times, for instance - then they will not be disappointed that you did not respond to their e-mail as soon as they sent it.

For those of us old enough to remember, there was once a time when this kind of access and availability did not exist. Leaving a phone message is a good example. Once upon a time if you called someone, and they were either not home or on the phone, your only option was to call them back later. The responsibility was placed upon you to remember to take action at a later time, not upon the person you were trying to reach.

Now, all of this has changed around. Now, because there are so many ways for people to place the responsibility of follow-up upon us, even while we are “not available”, it adds up to increased workload and stress placed upon us. I think one of the many dangers of our growing “always connected” society is the idea that license is given to others to always have a way to interrupt others at anytime. The expectation has already been set by the sheer existence of tools that provide ever increasing ways to get our attention. People naturally assume that everyone treats these tools as they do. If they prefer (or are conditioned to) jumping on their email, mobile phone, “crackberry” every time it buzzes or blinks, then they, somewhat naturally, assume the same of you. The onus is therefore upon each us to manage those expectations to fit our needs.

Here is an idea, how about sending an e-mail to your coworkers that goes something like this?

Dear Comrades,

Because I value my communication with you and would like to make sure that I respond to your needs with the appropriate level of action, I have set up some basic criteria for handling my e-mail and mobile phone.

I check and respond to e-mail twice a day. Once in the morning at 9am and again in the afternoon at 4pm. I do this in order to give my responses complete attention at those times. Because of this, I would prefer all non-urgent communication to be e-mailed to me and it will be acted upon at those times.

If there is something that requires my immediate attention, please call me on my mobile phone at 555.555.5555. I assume that anything coming to me via phone is urgent and requires my immediate attention. Therefore, as a courtesy to those that truly require urgency, please do not call my mobile for non-urgent items.

To recap:

Urgent = Phone

Non-Urgent = E-mail

Thank you for your cooperation in helping me provide you with the service you desire.

Sincerely,

Patrick

As I have said before, Be Pavlov, not the dog…

04.07.08 04.58 pm

Remainders 04.07.2008

Here are more random whisperings I picked up in overheard conversations in the crowded and overpriced pick-up bar that is called, The Internet:

There are some new and updated GTD Apps that may be of interest to you.

First off, if you live in GMail and have yet to give GTDInbox a try, now may be a good time. This Firefox extension converts GMail into a “productivity and personal management powerhouse”. It has recently been updated to version 2 and contains a bunch of new features.

If GMail is not your thing, maybe you want to give GTDAgenda a try. It is a new GTD based web application that is aiming to be the solution to all of your GTD needs. It contains it has all the tools required for getting your Org-fu on, like goals, projects and tasks, contexts, next actions, checklists, schedules and calendar.

Then again, maybe you have a Mac running Leopard (Mac OS 10.5). Well then, Dennis Best says that you really don’t need a specific GTD application – you have all of the tools you need right there in Leopard. He makes a pretty convincing argument for using iCal, Mail.app, smart folders in the Finder, and many other default tools to string together a pretty workable system.

04.03.08 08.33 am

Whither Productivity

The Growing Life is a recent favorite new blog of mine. One of the things I have enjoyed in the past few weeks of checking it out is the often “alternate” takes on productivity Clay, the author, offers. He often counters many of what has become accepted ideas about productivity and lifehacking - sleep hacking for instance - with reasoned, and well researched, counter arguments.

Recently, Clay laid down the gauntlet, by making this “Alternative Productivity” the main focus of the site - “Anti-Hacks” if you will. I love some of the ideas he is trying to express here:

Albert Einstein correctly started that “problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” Anti-hacks attempt to solve problems by approaching them at a higher level of thinking. For example, while David Allen says that peace of mind (i.e. mind like water) comes from creating exhaustive todo lists and getting everything out of your head, an anti-hack might involve meditation, because all the list-making in the world will not bring you to a meditative, mind-like-water state. An anti-hack might also involve quitting your job or taking the inefficient but nevertheless effective high road.

I think there is really something to this and am excited to see a different angle taken on the productivity/lifehack meme that I consider myself a member of. I recently posted about the trend I have noticed of productivity/lifehack bloggers becoming increasingly interested in Zen, Buddhist and Mindfulness practices. Some might argue that these ideas are in fact the opposite of what we in the western world have come to accept as “productivity”.

Then, there is the idea of asking the question - To what end are we desiring greater productivity? I often wonder if there would be less need for productivity and lifehacks if we did not feel the need to do so much. If such demands were not put upon us (expected of us) by the society we live in, the companies we work for, and the people we are accountable to. Some more food for thought - How is it that Americans work more, take less vacation, shorter breaks, yet still do not best many countries (Japan, Europe) in “productivity”. Is it because, perhaps, by doing more we are actually so stressed that we get less done?

What if, as the metaphor of “Atlas Shrugged” suggests, we simply give up on the weight of our worlds on our shoulders? What if we commit to going the other direction? This means doing less, not more. Doing it all slower, with greater attention and mindfulness, and, perhaps, actually getting things done.

Link: On Alternative Productivity and Anti-Hacks for Living | The Growing Life

04.01.08 07.39 pm

The Today Page Experiment

In a post last week, I discussed my strategy for using a Today Card. That is, an index card with three tasks that I would like to accomplish with some room left for additional tasks, notes, and scratchpad items that come my way. One of the things that I find fascinating about blogging is that, sometimes, the real interesting things said are in the comments, not in the original post itself. That was very true in this instance and it spurred a new variation of this idea that I am experimenting with. It was mentioned by Damon in the comments and I am calling it the Today Page (I have a picture of it posted here).

Instead of an index card, I use one of my Cornell Ruled Circa pages. Title and date go at the top, then I divide it thusly:

• Action - These are the same three items as on the index card before. Three things I would like to try to accomplish that day.

• Agenda - I write down any and all calendar items that I may have going on that day. Even though they are on the calendar, I use a web based calendar and that tab is not always front and center in my browser. Writing them here helps to keep them front and center so I am mindful of them.

• Notes - This are is for anything I need to jot down for the day. It ends up being both scratchpad and short form journal of the day.

So far, this is working out very well. Some of the advantages are that, due to the left hand whitespace, I have an area for metadata. Also, by collecting everything together on one page, at the end of the day I have a pretty good top level view of the course of my day and how the time was spent. While not as small and portable as an index card, I have my Circa on my desk anyway so why not use it and ditch the card?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this, if you have tried anything similar, and how it has worked for you. Special thanks once again to Damon for spurring the idea.

03.30.08 10.26 am

Ben Willis | The Remarkable Simplicity of Online Connectedness

Ben Willis recently wrote a short, but thought provoking, post about how the power of our connected world makes meeting, connecting with and reaching out to new people - complete strangers - very simple. He believes that while it certainly does not trump the quality of a face-to-face communication, the power of the ease and simplicity of it can certainly be powerful…

Three times in the past two days, I’ve made new connections with people (One through Twitter, another through this blog, and another through e-mail) who I would consider highly respectable, and would have likely never had contact with otherwise. Are they high quality interactions? Not necessarily, but they were simple and as powerful as they needed to be.”

I think that there is something to this. What struck me is the fact that several of my online acquaintances have quickly grown into real friendships and professional relationships largely because of the ability to communicate quickly and regularly via the electronic medium.

I will also mention that Princess Bethany is a member of an online forum for women and that has resulted in several close friendships for the both of us. Members of this forum who are also local have become some of our closest friends as a couple.

As with any relationship, it is all about the time and attention you are willing to put into it. I would also say that the sheer amount of communication and interaction methods available to us all in this day and age makes it all the easier for those with a desire to foster and grow these otherwise casual interactions. When we approach a request to “friend me” as more than a desire to expand some popularity credits, but a real desire to interact, we open the potential to make new, honest, fruit bearing connections.

Link: The Remarkable Simplicity of Online Connectedness

03.29.08 12.14 pm

Weekend Self Promotion

Since it is the weekend, I thought I would take a little to to point out some of the places that my little blog has been popping up:

• This site, patrickrhone.com, was featured in the February 2008 issue of the UK magazine .Net ( branded as Practical Web Design on this side of the pond). That’s right. An actual dead tree publication. The particular article we are featured in is a focus on minimalist web design and, if you could not tell, it don’t get much more minimalist than this. I can’t begin to tell you how honored we are by this. Totally stoked is more like it. If you are wondering why I keep saying “we”, my web design partner, Michael Armstrong, gets credit for doing most of the “heavy lifting” around here web wise. I mainly point to where I would like him to put the boxes down.

• Speaking of Michael, he has recently started a fantastic photoblog featuring pictures he has taken in and around the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul - MyTwinCities.net. Some beautiful photos there. Show him some love.

• This site was also mentioned among the Top 100 Productivity and Lifehack Blogs by CollegeDegree.com. I’m at #22 under the Life Organizers section. Very cool.

• Remember, not all of the action pertaining me is happening here. For other topics of interest, make sure to check out The Random Post. There I cover, link to, quote and prognosticate on a variety of topics that just don’t seem to fit here but otherwise may be compelling. For instance, have you heard of Muxtape yet? No? Well, I did a little write-up on it over at The Random Post.

Also remember that I can be found all over the internet. I am very active on Twitter. I ghost write a blog for my new baby daughter, Beatrix. Of course, there are my photos on Flickr and well as my FriendFeed. I am easy to find.

03.28.08 08.00 am

Remainders 03.28.2008

Another round of the various items that have caught my eye while traversing the deep caverns and the the twisting rivers that we collectively refer to as “The Internet”:

• My current favorite little pocket notebooks, Field Notes, have themselves a whole new redesigned website. They even have a nice little call out to my friend Ryan’s review. Check these things out if you have never heard of them. I know I have mentioned them before. Really good stuff.

• My friend Brad Blackman at Mysterious Flame reminds us all to do the right thing by keeping your Inbox the Inbox. Mark it clearly for you and the whole world to see if you need some help.

• I can’t say enough good things about this review at Lifehack.org of David Allen’s “Weekly Review” Audiobook. As a matter of fact, It might be too good. The review is so comprehensive in covering the main topics and ideas expressed in the Audiobook itself, you may not even need it after reading the review. There is a metric ton of goodness here for any of you GTDers out there. A must read… There, have I said enough good things yet?

• Speaking of “The David”, did you catch the wonderful three part interview with him over at Web Worker Daily? No? Clear a little time and work your way through it. Time well spent.

• I can seem to go a month without posting something about the 37 Signals guys but, hey, it is not my fault. Tell them to stop being so damn cool. Take some of the workspace experiments they are trying out amongst themselves. Four day workweeks are standard, paying for peoples hobbies and passions, liberal discretionary spending policies. Every business, especially the small ones, should take serious note of this. Happy, less stressed, content employes mean more productivity - not less.

• Need a little more focus from your meeting participants? Go topless. No, really, it is not what you think.

03.27.08 01.00 pm

In Defense of Fiddling

Some one sentence thoughts in defense of fiddling with your system…

I often find that switching things up a bit, to a new task/productivity application or cool new paper product, often brings the “interstingness” in my productivity system back to life for me and gives a whole new spark to my productivity.

In other words, I am so excited by the shinny new car that I tend to drive a little faster, turn up the radio and sing along with a joy an exuberance I have long since lost.

While the basics of the system (capture, review, do) never really change, and neither do some of the tools that just plain work for me, I like changing things up a bit for freshness.

Don’t get me wrong, there are certainly people who are more interested in searching for the “perfect productivity system” then in actually implementing and sticking with one.

There are also people who think that the perfect piece of software or someone else’s methods will solve all of their productivity problems like the holy grail.

I am not defending this behavior.

What I am defending is people who have a system in place who regularly change out the tools they may use to implement that system just to try out new things and keep it all fresh.

It is all about developing a system you trust after all, if you have that then the tools should be fairly interchangeable.

03.27.08 08.00 am

Dropping the Science on Dropbox

I have been an active user (and mostly a fan) of Apple’s iDisk feature. It is probably the main reason I have kept my .Mac membership for so long. With the recent increases in storage there I thought I would never even look in any other direction. That being said, along with the recent storage increase has come even more flakiness. Sometimes, my iDisk will go for days with a “failure to sync” and then, mysteriously, just start working again. After trying everything possible to fix this, it still remains and has become something I just have accepted as “part of doing business” with .Mac because, well, I know I am not alone in my troubles.

Dropbox is a new file synchronization service that has just entered into private beta, and boy is it exciting. It takes all of the features of of other similar services (Box.net, FolderShare, and the aforementioned .Mac iDisk feature) and does them better, faster and more elegantly. I have been happily using it for a couple of weeks now and, dare I say, I am about a few days away from disconnecting my iDisk and never looking back.

In my mind, here are the ways that Dropbox beats iDisk:

• Syncing is faster. Way faster. As in “I can’t believe it synced the files that fast. I better open the file to make sure” faster. This is due, in part, to the fact that once a file is synchronized, and you then make changes to that file, only the changes are then synced. It is also due to the fact that the underlying technology is not Apple’s slow-as-dirt implementation of WebDav.

• It keeps a copy of any and all changes to your documents and files. Make a change that you wish you had not? Delete a file or folder by accident? No problem. Just log into the web interface and revert to a previous version - any pervious version. Or if it was a deletion, undelete it. That change will then sync to your machines. Awesome!

• You can login to the web interface and have access to your files from any machine. Therefore, if you are not on your machine and need to retrieve a file and have synced it with Dropbox, you can do so using a web browser. You can also upload new files via the web interface and those will then sync to the machines you have interfaced with Dropbox.

• You can also share any folder in your Dropbox with others, even if they do not have Dropbox. Simply enter the e-mail address of the person you wish to share with and they will get an e-mail with a link to that folder, granting them the access you have per the permissions you have given them.

To get an even better idea of Dropbox, they have a video demo up on their site that is worth checking out. As stated, this is still in beta and there are many more features coming down the pipe. The beta is closed right now but keep this service on your radar screen and sign up for an invite if any of this stuff may be even remotely useful to you.

03.26.08 08.00 am

Remainders 03.25.2008 - Zen Edition

A little something different for the remainders this time around. As some out there may know, I have been a long time practitioner and subscriber to Buddhist philosophy. While I am certainly no zen master, I have used these practices to keep a whole lot of daily stress (and many a personal demon) at bay.

I have recently been impressed by the number of great posts on meditation, mindfulness, zen practices and Buddhism that have been popping up amongst my productivity blog brethren and sisterhood. Here are just a few of the better ones that have caught my attention:

• 43 Folders: Video: Jon Kabat-Zinn on mindfulness and “falling awake” - This is a great commentary and link to a fantastic video of noted meditation and mindfulness expert, Jon Kabat-Zinn. The video was taken at a recent talk he did a Google. If you would like some sort of low impact introduction into the practice of these techniques, I can think of no better place to start than here. The video is longish (about an hour) but well worth tuning out for a bit to tune in.

• Zen Habits: 12 Essential Rules to Live More Like a Zen Monk - A few things that you can take away from the way a buddhist monk lives their daily practice. These include, doing one thing at a time, doing these things slowly, completely and with a deliberate effort to do less in order to appreciate and enjoy more.

• Dumb Little Man: Meditation Techniques for the Busy or Impatient - Meditation does not have to be some difficult, time consuming, years to master task that a lot of people perceive it to be. As a matter of fact, you can incorporate simple meditation into many ordinary daily activities. This post covers exactly that. The shower meditation is a particular favorite of mine. Good stuff.

Kudos to all who continue to allow this stuff to bubble up to the surface. I deeply believe that freedom from stress and worry is only achieved when we learn to let go of the past, allow the future to remain in place, and take real, honest, compassionate, right minded, action in the present. After all, if you waste energy worrying about things you can’t change, then you miss spending that energy right here and now - in this very moment- on the things you can.

03.25.08 08.00 am

The Today Card

In my last post, I mentioned a little something I call my “Today Card”. Here is a bit more about how that works.

I keep an index card with three simple things I would like to accomplish for the day written on it. I keep this on my desk next to my laptop. Why? Well, when you have a time sucking, life consuming, attention draining source enter your life (referred to by some as a “baby”), allowing a low expectation bar for yourself can go a long way towards sanity. Being able to pick some low hanging fruit off of a otherwise full and getting more so action tree is a Good Thing™. Of course, I am lucky if I am able to accomplish any one of those three things but if I am able to get at least two done, I feel like I have done something to move life a little bit forward.

The other advantage is that it gives me a ready scratch pad as I use the rest of the whitespace on the card to capture notes, phone numbers, and other like incoming items. At the end of the day, I move any undone items from the original three to the card for the next day, add more to equal three on that card, and then toss the old card into my Inbox or Circa for processing the random notes, incoming actions, phone numbers, and such if there are any.

Having this simple list at the ready helps to draw quick focus for the few minutes I may be able to steal here and there.

03.21.08 04.06 pm

How I'm Workin' The Circa -or- GTD, Baby, and Levenger Makes Three

As many a reader of this journal knows, I am a big fan of Levenger’s products. I love them. Covet may even be a more apt word. I recently noticed, while placing yet another order with them, that they are celebrating their 20th anniversary. It was then that I realized I have been a customer for almost 18 of those. My first order from them was a Lap Desk which I still own to this day. They happened to be running a promotion at the time that gave me a free pack of their Cornell ruled pads with my order. While I was more than happy with the Lap Desk, the Paper Pads were a revelation to me. I was a young man of 22 years old who had never even thought about the satisfaction that could come from writing on nice paper. Let’s just say, I never looked back and have been hooked ever since.

In addition, I have been on paternity leave from my main job since the birth of my daughter last Month. As anyone with children knows, at this stage, your to-do list mainly consists of “Feed baby”, “Change Baby” and, perhaps the hardest item “Baby is sleeping. Now what?”. It is that “Now What?” where the methods espoused in Getting Things Done really come into play. You see, you have about one hour, maybe two, before she wakes up. When she does, you will really be unable to pay attention to anything else. The house may be a wreck. There may be calls to return or errands to run or doctors appointments to be made. It is in these moments that having been capturing these items into a trusted system and organizing them by context gives you the best insight into how to use that “free” time.

How do these two things relate? Well, since I am not “working”, the number of things I have to track has become more simple. That being said, there are still many things I have to stay on top of, and some brainstorming for my consulting business I have been trying to take the time to do. Also, these days I often only have use of one hand (since the other has a baby in it). This makes using the computer for capture, notes and project tracking difficult. Paper on the other hand is faster, only requires one hand for writing and therefore is just plain better. One Levenger product has really helped me stay on top of my Org-fu in the last few weeks is my Junior Sized Circa Notebook. The Circa Notebook system is designed so that it is highly customizable and pages can be moved around and mixed and matched with a ton of add ons and such. I wont go into a long detail about that here. Levenger has plenty of that information on their site.  Here is how I have mine organized…

I have the notebook divided into three sections using some of the plain white dividers available from Levenger.

• Action: The front section is for Action Items and Capture. I keep things open to this page most of the time while on my desk and a pen at the ready.

• Notes: The notes section is for notes and where I flesh out projects. I also have a page marker for my Circa that gets used here. Active projects and notes go in front of the marker, non-active go behind. This way, I know that anything between the section divider and the page marker in the notes section is in play.

• Archive: When my Action items pages get mostly complete, I start a new one free of completes items. I move the old pages to the Archive.

• Back Section: In the rear of the book I have a clear pocket to hold loose items and ephemera such as stamps. I also have a 3x5 dock that I, in all honesty, have not really sussed a good use for yet. Finally, in the built in pockets of the leather cover, I keep a stencil and some extra 3x5 cards (will cover my use of these in a future post).

So, is there anyone else out there reading this using a Circa? I would love to hear in the comments about how you have yours set up and what you use it for. Share it people!

Click here for more pictures of my setup.

03.04.08 10.03 am

Ink

Based largely on my friend Ryan’s urgings, I finally made a visit to a pen store here in the Twin Cities called Ink. Three words… Completely Blown Away! Proprietor Barry Rubin has created, what has to be, one of the most amazing shopping experiences I have ever had. It is something I will remember forever.

There are a few unique things about shopping at Ink. In order to shop, you must make an appointment. Barry explained that he does this to give each shopper the personal service he strives to provide. When in the store, he is at your sole serivce, ready to answer any questions or grab any pen you wish to try.

Another thing is the selection. He has a vast assortment at every price point. You could walk in and spend $20.00 or $20,000.00 or anything in between. There really is something here for everyone. For me, I walked away with a Taccia Staccato (pictured above). Words simply can’t explain what a big beautiful pen this is. Extremely smooth to write with. As the Ink tag line says, this is “Art. Five inches tall.” (although this one is a bit larger than 5 inches).

Finally, the view. Ink is located on the 45th floor of the IDS Center in downtown Minneapolis. One of the tallest buildings in the state. When you walk in the door of Ink on a clear day, you are met with a jaw dropping southward facing view that stretches for miles. It takes several minutes to simply take this all in before you even notice the store.

Barry has a true passion for pens. His passion shows in every detail. From the location, to the business model, to the hand written receipt. He provides not just a shopping experience, but an owning experience. He made me, the customer, feel like an old friend and gave me a true sense of ownership in a shared passion.

If you live in the area or plan to visit soon, you must make an appointment if for simply the view alone. Be warned though, it is hard not to get lost in the beauty of the fine five inch art that surrounds you. You will want to take home a work of your very own.

02.19.08 10.23 am

Backpack Gets Down To Business

Backpack, the personal organization tool from 37 Signals, got a lot less, well, personal today. They have rolled out a new multiuser version that makes it easier for small teams to organize and exchange information. As stated on their product blog “Backpack brings the promise of the intranet back and delivers real value by keeping things simple”. Indeed!

Amongst the new features are:

• Multiuser - The ability for multiple people to log into a single Backpack account.

• Calendar - The calendar gets multiuser aware as well with the ability for users to share a single calendar and selectively allow access to calendar items to certain people in your group.

• Newsroom - The new Newsroom tab gives you a birds eye view of all of the recent activity in Backpack. Very handy in a multiuser environment.

• Messages - The new Messages feature allows people to post messages to the group and allow for comments. Great for general announcements.

• Reminders - Now, reminders can be sent to many people as well as just yourself, via e-mail or as a text message to a cell phone.

If you have a small team and are looking for simple and straight forward way to collaborate, share task lists, share appointments, etc., Backpack is now a fantastic solution.

02.11.08 02.12 pm

All Hail Duchess Beatrix

For those who are not aware, Beatrix Camille Gladhill Rhone, our first daughter, was born on February 9th, 2008. Mother and baby are doing very well. All updates, pictures and pronouncements can be found on her blog (yes, Beatrix already has her own blog). Link is below.

TeamTrixie.com

01.31.08 11.42 am

Instapaper

Instapaper is a new online bookmarking service from the creator of Tumblr (which drives my side project The Random Post). Unlike other popular online bookmarking sites, like del.icio.us, Instapaper has no social component, no tags, no bells and whistles. It just allows one to quickly bookmark a page for later reading.

Those who know me know that I am a sucker for any tool that does things in a simple, minimalist way. I love applications that do one thing, do it very well, give you very few features beyond what you absolutely need, thus providing little distraction for the task at hand. Everything about Instapaper is simple. Sign up with an e-mail address or username (no password necessary), drag the “Read Later” bookmarklet to your browsers toolbar, that’s it. Then, as you are surfing, click the bookmarklet while on any page you want to catalog for later reading. When you are ready to read, go to Instapaper, log in with your credentials, and there is everything you marked in a simple, orderly list. Reading an item on the list causes it to drop down to a “Recently Read” list. There is also a button beside the item to “skip” it and read it later (which then creates a “Recently Skipped” list). Brilliant!

The page also looks great on mobile devices like the (coveted) iPhone or the (beloved) Nokia N800/810. Therefore, when you find yourself stuck waiting somewhere and you have some internet access, you can whip open Instapaper and have something to occupy your time.

After using it for only a few hours I must admit what a revelation this is to me. Previously, I spread such things across multiple services with no real system of followup or easy from anywhere access. I have since, gone through all of those other places and added those items to Instapaper.

01.24.08 11.49 am

Outsourcing E-mail

I was recently discussing some of the money making strategies used by Tim Ferriss, blogger and author of the very popular book “The 4-Hour Workweek”, with a friend of mine. Despite the fact that some have questioned whether it is possible to really achieve the level of anti-productive zen the book espouses, there are still many take away items that can be employed to one degree or another in our own lives. The idea of creating sources of constant income that require little to no maintenance for instance, but I digress…

The upshot of what my friend responded back with was that they did not believe that even Tim himself was able to truly walk the walk. The basis for this theory was (paraphrasing here), “I wrote him an e-mail once and got back a very long personal reply from him.”

My response, “It was probably not from him directly. I bet he outsources that too.”

Well, true enough, Tim outlines exactly how he does that in a recent post to his blog. His strategy:

“For the last 12 months, I’ve experimented with removing myself from the inbox entirely by training other people to behave like me. Not to imitate me, but to think like me.”

Not only does he outline the strategies he uses to achieve this, he also includes the actual set of rules he gives to his Virtual Assistants to help them process almost any e-mail as if he were doing it himself.

Just like the book, you may not be able to do exactly what he does. That being said, there are still many smaller time saving strategies one can take away from this. Here are some of my favorites

• Pre-written replies for commonly asked questions - Are you are in a position where you often have people ask you the same questions. Why reinvent the wheel for every reply. Have the same one always ready to go.

• Send social networking requests straight to the trash-bin or archive - LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and other friend requests can all be handled the next time you log into those services. No need to have them clutter up your Inbox.

• Cluster tasks via context - GTD folks will be familiar with this idea. Set aside times of the day for dealing with e-mail, returning phone calls, etc. and only those times. Cluster like tasks together via context. Be Pavlov, not the dog.

This is just the start. There are so many thought provoking ideas in here that it is really worth the time of reading it all. Then, if that has you going, delve into some of his other posts. There is so much nougaty goodness inside the candy shell.

The Holy Grail: How to Outsource the Inbox and Never Check Email Again

01.19.08 09.14 pm

Remainders 01.19.2008

Here we go again. Yet another rundown of some of my cool finds as I drift away on the internet…

Proving that you can implement the Getting Things Done system with anything, Kelly Forrister of DavidCo shares an Excel template for GTD that she designed for a client. My little Excel addict, Princess Bethany, would be quite proud.

Are you using Jott yet? Why not? It is the greatest invention since the delete key. I mean, you can make voice notes and have them translated into text and dispatched off to you e-mail inbox, friends or a variety other services. And it’s free! It is truly every kind of awesome. Not only that but Dustin Wax at Lifehack.org has an excellent tutorial on using it to get your GTD on.

Merlin wants to remind you that, while you are doing that capture, via Jott or any other method, make sure you give as much context to that capture as is needed to remember what it is about.

I have to say, it is nice to see Gina at Lifehacker catching the Levenger Circa bug. Addiction LOVES company.

Speaking of Gina and GTD, she practices a much simplified version of it that may just be a revelation to you.

Finally on the GTD front, if you are having issues with getting on board and staying on board, perhaps you need to follow Brett Kelly’s advice and learn that this is about getting into a habit. Getting a system down and working it. Capture, Process, Do, Review, Rinse, Repeat.

Oh, and don’t forget my three favorite productivity tools - The Trash Can, The Delete Key, and The Word “No”.

David Seah has updated all of his print-it-yourself task planning forms for the new year including his wonderful Emergent Task Planner. I use this at work frequently when I want to drill down and focus in on getting a few tasks done. I use them enough that I bought some of the pre-printed version. Good stuff.

12.19.07 09.37 am

The Random Post, Now Easier to Read

For those not familiar with my little side project, The Random Post, now is the time to check it out. Being a tumblelog, I post all manner of content and small infochunks there. It is a fun little site. I have just refreshed the design using a ever so slightly modified version of Bill Israel’s Easy Reader. The new theme gives it more of the “newspapery” feel I was looking to have.

12.18.07 01.37 pm

SpeakerSue Says... Read this blog!

Just thought I would take a second to call attention to the blog of my friend Sue, SpeakerSue Says… . Not just because she is a friend, but because she is also an expert on using e-mail, and other forms of written communication, as a powerful sales and business tool. She has trained some of the most well known name brand organizations all over the world.

Her new blog has started out very nicely with several great posts. Here are a couple of my favorites with short comments:

• The Etiquette of Email Productivity - Even an e-mail expert can struggle with that Pavlov response many seem to have to the new mail sound.

• Thank someone today - On the importance of a handwritten thank you note.

• Blue Man Group = Presentation Mastery - What silly guys painted in blue can teach you about giving great presentations.

These are a few of my favorites but all of them are great. Especially if you are in sales or business, this is a must add little gem to your RSS feed.

Link: SpeakerSue Says…

12.05.07 12.58 pm

Take Notes like and Alpha Geek

Author, blogger, and self-described note taking addict Tim Ferriss shares some of his best tips for becoming a note taking Ninja. I myself have been trying to be better about the notes I take and making sure I do so as often as is needed. Therefore, I find much of this very compelling. Here are some of my favorite take away bits:

”Put page numbers on the upper-right of each right-hand page but not on the left (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.)… Whenever you complete a page, put the page number in an index on the inside cover (front or back) and a few words to describe the content. If it’s on the left-hand page, just take the prior page and add “.5” to it. Thus, if you flip over page 10, for example, and write on the back, that second page is “15.5” in the index.

I love this idea. Some notes one takes may span half a page, some multiple pages. This is a numbering scheme that can accommodate them all without having to number every single page.

”Not all notepads are created equal… This doesn’t mean that one is better for all things, just that you should match the form factor and durability of a notepad to the content.”

Not to keep being a Levenger pimp but this is one of the reasons I am loving the Circa system. Some notes cry out for a cornell style page while those with sketches may require a grid style. Some may need a letter sized page, others a smaller one. With the Circa, I can mix and match the sizes, rule types (lined, grid, cornell, etc), colors that fit the topic and put them all into the same notebook.

There are many other good take away items in the rest of Tim’s post, well work the read.

_How to Take Notes Like an Alpha Geek _