I came across several really great articles during the past several days, and am sharing them with you. Some are technology-related, and some address productivity. So, we’ve got the bases covered, eh?
- First up is a link from 43folders, which addresses a couple of Bruce Lee’s productivity principles. (This article in turn links to an article on The Positivity Blog, a neat blog I had not heard of, but have just added to my feed reader.) I especially like Grant’s focus on hacking away at the unessentials.
- Next on the list is another article from 43folders: Merlin Mann talking about James Fallows’ use of GTD Apps. You can tell from reading this where I got the idea to talk about “buttload.” I love Merlin’s reminder, shown in the following quote:
As ever, though, friends, just remember: GTD’s power is in what it does to your approach and to your thinking; it’s not about magic beans and doo-dahs. Never allow yourself to obsess over tools to the exclusion of actually completing tasks. This is about action.
You all know I am in 100% agreement with Merlin on this. Living it can be a different matter, though, as we all know, but it speaks to one of my key productivity mantras.
Now, back to the links:
- The VMware Fusion folks have come out with a beta of Fusion Version 2. It has a lot of neat features (such as dual screen support), and is another demonstration of VMware’s commitment to continuous improvement. I’ve been using this beta for the past several days and have had zero issues with it. It seems to be a tad faster than the previous versions, which were plenty fast. (Thanks to it, Windows boots faster on my iMac than on my Windows laptop.)
- Paul Stamatiou has an interesting review of the Summize Search App for Twitter. I really like his focus on the value of the tool in branding maintenance. Since reading his review, I have done several searches on various web hosting providers, and was amazed at how much info one can get out of such a search. A neat tool that I expect to use a good bit.
- Gina Trapani interviews Wil Wheaton of Star Trek Enterprise fame. I’m impressed that Wil is such a fan of open-source, cross-platform software.
- Gina also put together an interesting PR Blacklist Wiki Page. While the focus is on keeping PR folks from filling up your Gmail inbox, the principles can be applied to anyone you want to blacklist from your Gmail inbox.
Update: And here is a comical article on how to write popular productivity blog articles. What makes it so funny is that it is so true. If that’s what it takes to become a popular blogger, then I will never be one, because I am not going doing that nonsense. It amazes me that there are popular bloggers who write articles using “the guidance” provided in this one.
Hmmm, buttload… I usually use pantload, an adjective I became fond of back when Clinton (the other one) was president.
I agree – the more I think about it, the more important reducing/eliminating the unessential seems to be. Pity it took me so long to figure that out. And indeed, it’s about action. Otherwise, all the prioritizing, planning, mapping and such is nothing more than a high tech excuse for procrastination.
VMWare totally rocks. I could go on for paragraphs about how I use their stuff and it performs admirably in every role.
Amen.
I had heard the word “buttload” before Merlin’s use of it, but it has become a sort of “fallen by the wayside” word. I think it was more popular when I was growing up. Regardless, one of the things I like about Merlin is his directness and no mincing of words. He might not always have just the right word, but he doesn’t waste a lot of time trying to find the perfect one … he’s just himself when he posts, which is what I like to see.