tonygoodson

"Don't Put it Down, Put it Away!'

I recorded a Productivity Show with Lissanne Oliver yesterday.

One of her phrases is "Don't Put it Down, Put it Away!", and I committed on the show to doing that for 24 hours, from yesterday. Failed!  It's amazing how much I run on auto-pilot, and it's a great exercise in being conscious of everything I do, every second of the day.

On the plus side, I seem to have got a few things done today, that I haven't done in months...and years.  Bought a new bin for the home office.  If I'm going to get rid of some clutter ("anything you Don't Love, Don't Use, or Don't Need") then I noticed I don't have a bin near at hand.  The kids broke the last one.  Got the TV working on a coax cable again, instead of the bloody SCART which is useless, with a terrible picture.  Bought a coax cable for the other TV, we were one short (from the move).

Actually, the coax cable was used reviving my Sony TV, from the UK, which seems to be regionalised.  It won't pick up the TV signal here, and won't even connect to a DVD player, so it's converted into a Nintendo GameCube Mario Kart screen, with built in VHS player.

And finally, I edited the show in WavePad, merging two channels of WAV into the one mp3, a bit of editing, but not the time to learn to add music yet.  I'd love to make some time and make audio my hobby.

Thunderbirds are Go - My own Productivity

I did it!  I ditched Outlook 2007 on Tuesday night and moved to Mozilla Thunderbird.  Why?  My Outlook 2007 is running like a dog; a three legged dog!  (And talking about productivity the latest Productivity Show podcast is now up, which I did with Michael Specht)

Now it might not be Outlook's fault.  My .pst is over 1GB, I have the Skylook add-in, and AVG and Avast anti-virus chipping away at the loading and performance.

However, would I recommend Outlook 2007 to an Outlook 2003 user?  Nope!  I can't work out the difference other than the ribbon in composing emails, and coloured squares for categories (you can't even colour in the whole line!).  The "Ribbon" - isn't it about time someone said the Emperor Has No Clothes.  It's just an expanded tool bar that is so thick it enables more functionality to be visible.  Big Deal!!  And you can't find some of the things that you used to use!  So it's swings and roundabouts.

I can't fully explain it, but Outlook 2007 seems bloody slow to load and use, just like the other Office 2007 products.  Ok, I don't have the latest  processor, and I have 500MB of RAM, but that's a reasonable configuration isn't it?

Maybe I should archive much of my email in Outlook, but why should I?  I want it immediately accessible and searchable.

And Thunderbird ain't no carnival.  It's a bit clunky with weird defaults, and I can't work out if what I see is is what I'm sending, from a font size perspective.

However, do you know how wonderful it feels to have Thunderbird load in 5secs, instead of the 2mins+ that Outlook is taking, plus another minute to populate the preview pane of an email I click on!!

Another part of this story, is I've had to move to sending emails in plain text and take out the SkypeMe logo and my website link as a hyperlink.  Why?  It seems that some spam filters including my own bloody email provider are using these criteria to call my emails spam.  Yeah, great idea sending in plain text, but most people on the other side have their plain text default set to some crappy font which makes only my emails look dull!!

And finally, I don't use Outlook Calendar, being a SOHO, but I do use Outlook Tasks, so I've transferred my tasks over to my MindManager mindmap.  Now what's amazing is the lumpiness of having my tasks on my mindmap, have made it easier to actually do actions, rather then see line after line of uniform things to do.  But here's the thing. MindJet need their ass kicking for following the same "Ribbon" development as Microsoft and thinking that I'm stupid enough to just pay for that as the only improvement, in MindManager 7.

So here's the thing....if I'm no longer using Outlook, MindManager isn't lumpy enough in organic feel and interface options, and I'm starting to think about OpenOffice, whilst I'm in the mood......what's stopping me from moving to a......Mac!!!  Holy Shit, I never thought I'd ever ever say that!

The Productivity Show

It's up and running again.  After 9 months away, a new Productivity Show has been posted on The Podcast Network, hosted by, err, me!  My contribution to productivity in the world.  I was a guest on the first show, 2 years ago, so it's come a full circle. The first guest is the previous host, Cameron Reilly.

It makes sense to have Cameron on first, because between us, we can cover most things on Productivity.  And also, we both have our triumphs and setbacks with productivity.  In fact, I think productivity is one of the biggest issues for most people.

So I'm looking for guests to interview and co-hosts to co-host with, listeners to attract, and sponsors to contribute.  All suggestions welcome.

There are of course hot-tips and gadgets as part of productivity, and I'd also like to go into the psychology and motivation (or lack of it) why we do or don't get things done.

And I'm wondering if some of the most successful people in life, are actually the most disorganised, which they realise early on in life, so they're good at engaging others to help them!!  The danger is for the majority of us in the middle, who are all fairly well organised, instead of being at the extremes, where the success happens!!

SnogFrog Blog

As I promised myself, my new blog is up and running.
SnogFrog Blog.  My wife hates the name.  My friend hates the name.  My mother hates the name.
I love it. Gut feel.
It's about Kissing Frogs.  Selling with Passion.  Networking.  Getting Organised.

Snog is a an English term for kissing.  Kissing with passion.  Pashing.

I've set up the blog and soon the podcast (SnogFrog Pod!) to talk about selling.  Interview people.  See what happens.  See what works.
I'm going to try my hardest to not make it like most other things about selling, which fall into this dull  world of sales talk.  Actually the language isn't dull, just that it sounds like a war.  Territory, Plan, Close, Win, etc etc.  That's fine for 80% of you.  This if for the other 20% who don't feel satisfied with what's out there, and feel there's a different way to sell.
Maybe it's not even selling.

Anyway, let's not define it too much, let's just see what happens.

Flow not Fun!

Hey I just realised something the other day.
It's not Fun that I'm seeking but Flow.
Flow being the thing that Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi talks about in his book Flow.

It's the "In the Zone" "Mind like water" kind of thing.

Hell, I'm an introvert, I don't do "Fun" I get an inner satisfaction with "Flow".

No wonder I hate golf.  I always thought it's supposed to be fun, but it ain't! At best, it's Flow.

All my things are about Flow, I now realise that.  Tennis, Cycling, Chess, Reading on the Internet. Go Karting, what a buzz that is, but it's Flow for me, not fun, I drive round the track muttering to myself and telling myself I'm Alain Prost "The Professor of the Track".  That says it all, nice and steady, wait for the person in front of you to make a mistake.  The same with tennis.  I hate doubles, unless I'm playing with a partner where we can really get to the net in unison.  That's rare.  I'll stick to the self muttering singles game.  All my sports are solitary things.  Flow.

It's the Flow I'm aiming for and not the Fun that I thought was missing.  Fun is about saying, "Whoopee I enjoyed that."  No way!  I'll stick to "Mmmmmm that was nice!"

So, more Flow in my life.

 

Prioritising doesn't work

Prioritising doesn't work, in terms of personal productivity.
If it did, then we'd simply prioritise all our tasks and actions and objectives and goals, and then do No1 and then No2, and work through them all.  Simply really!  But for most of us, we struggle to complete or even start our top priorities.

Why is that?  Merlin Mann of 43 Folders has written a brilliant brilliant piece on Priorities don't exist in a vacuum.

Unless you can always satisfy the big red letter commitments you’ve created for yourself — as well as the ones that are constantly being generated for you by others — an obsession with priority alone is pointlessly stress-inducing, unhealthy, and unrealistic. The truth is that sometimes you have crap days, pencils need to be sharpened, or maybe you just don’t have the tools or energy to do what you want the second you want. That’s life, pal.Deal.Please

Please go read the entry, it will make a great difference to your sad non-productive life!
Or maybe it's just me that it applies to!!

Mobile-List of People to Call

I have one thing that's missing from my cheapo Nokia mobile phone.
Lists of people to call, sorted by category/project.
In other words, I have a job I'm working on, and I want to be able to view all the people associated with that project and be able to call them from my mobile.  I call it a mobile task list.
An example would be a job I'm recruiting for.  I want to have the client's phone numbers and the candidates' numbers, and a single press to call them.

I've tried a Blackberry, which integrates the Address Book and Task Lists with Outlook, but I can't seem to create lists and categories so I can call people in a group.

I've seen it running on an O2 using Windows Mobile 5, and categories.  Given that I use Outlook to create my tasks, this would seem to be the best solution.

But I wonder what devices can create categories of calls to make.  Will a mid-range mobile handset do this and link to a PC?  I don't need all the fancy stuff in a Blackberry or Smartphone.  I  don't want to read my emails or see the Internet on some mini device.  I'm not that addicted. 
Oh and I want a keypad.

So it looks to me like an iMate Smartphone with Windows Mobile 5, unless someone can suggest a lower cost option.

Inbox Zero - Delete Delete Delete

So, seriously, if you’re not going to do anything with a message, just get it out of your sight, and make room for the actionable messages in your life. Delete it, or — if you’re a big chicken like me — archive it. In any case, remember that if this were something you really wanted to and could respond to, you would have done it the second it arrived. (43 Folders).

I'm good at having a zero inbox.  The trouble is, I do have quite a few emails in my @Action folder, ready for action, but never quite getting there.  And I feel guilty, because I hate people not responding to my emails to them, so I set myself up to try and answer every personal email.

So Merlin is right, if I could have done it the second it arrived I would have!

Actually, come to think of it that's not always true.
There are some email replies that need to be considered or you want to spend some time on.  Also, I don't know about you, but I have a weird relationship with some of the blogs I read.  Some of them are so good that I want to give them my full attention, so I never get round to always reading them!!
Examples include, Kathy Sierra, Guy Kawasaki, Merlin Mann!!, James Wall, Seth Godin.
They tend to write long and considered, whereas, the retiring Dave Winer, Scoble, write short and often, with the occasional rant.

Getting Things Done in 2006

I'm just having a look at my 2005 New Year's Resolutions, and almost everyone of them ended up as the opposite, which is largely how I intended them.
More Chocolate in 2005! was an attempt to give up chocolate by eating more.  And it worked.  I ate so much chocolate in the early months of 2005 that I think I've become allergic to chocolate by the end of 2005, so now I don't eat any or drink it.  Fantastic Tony, well done! Other 2005 resolutions;

2005 Resolutions
1. More Chocolate
2. Longer meetings!
3. More chocolate!!
4. Less food More Food!
5. More Cycling/Windsurfing
6. More holidays
7. More Blogging
8. More Improv
9. More time with Annie

I've blogged less, done no Improv, forgot about longer meetings, eaten the same amount of food as I always eat, cycled a bit, not windsurfed at all (but that wasn't a literal resolution), not been on holiday, and we now have a pool of babysitters, so Annie and I do spend more time together.  So all in all, my resolutions have mostly come true and how I wanted and expected them.

And so to 2006.  Getting Things Done.  Yes, partly following the book, and it's something I want to help more people with this year.  I think how we manage our lives, especially with information overload, is a big thing, and even if I can't get it right for myself (Ha Ha!) I can help others, who can then help me.

2006 Resolutions
1. GTD.  Work, Home, Network, Money,
2. Health.  I think this can be solved in one event.  Drink more water!
3. Cycle/Windsurf.  When it's windy windsurf, when it's not windy, cycle.  This applies to life.
4. Family.  I'd like to help teach Georgie to read, this year.  And more sport with Jay.
5. Tablet.  Take notes in meetings on my Tablet, with MindManager (and maybe learn OneNote).
6. Fun.  Go-Kart, Beach, Improv, Football, Ski/Snowboard, Annie.
7. MP3. Listen to more, maybe create more.

Oh, and one more thing.
8. $15Million!

p.s I've used Performancing, a Firefox add-on to create my first 2006 Typepad weblog entry.

Shine on you Crazy Diamond

A month ago I was reading Dave Allen's follow up book to Getting Things Done, Ready for Anything, and in it he says "Something was coming in a months time that I couldn't foresee that would effect me significantly."  So I made a note in my Outlook tasks.
Today it pinged up.  Bloody Hell.  He was right!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Firstly, I drove along The Great Ocean Road today.  Something we've been meaning to do for a few years, and finally we did it, from Warrnambool back to Melbourne.  We went down on Friday for the Children's Festival.  What a great idea, and we'll definitely go back again.
And something else massive happened on Friday, but I have to wait for the dust to settle to talk about it.

I was watching the telly last night, about to go to bed, and Parky is on.  Gerry Springer.  Not interested.  Patsy Kensit. Not interested, but I started listening, and it was an amazing interview with her.  I never knew her history, and it's amazing how she carries herself so well now.  Of course she's an actress so you never quite know what to believe, but on the face of it an amazing woman.

And then to bed.  But No.  I suddenly catch a documentary on Syd Barrett from Pink Floyd, and now I'm obsessed with looking into the the whole Syd Barrett thing, which I've never really followed, even though my first album was Dark Side of the Moon.  Actually, that was my first Vinyl LP, my first album was Tubular Bells on tape!!