What's the next action

The next action: Closing up shop

I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, but I have come to the conclusion to stop this weblog.
It may come as no surprise since my writing here has been on an alltime low the last couple of months. Like I said, I thought about it a lot and it comes down to one thing: You got to do what you love and what you do best. And during the last year, my focus has changed to other areas in the field of (amongst others) personal development. There are a few reasons for this conclusion

21 02 08 - 20:52 - Permanent link - twelve comments

Email reminders the easy way

I saw this service on a few other blogs and I must say I am intrigued by it. 3mindme.com is an email reminder service. You basically email a reminder to yourself at “tomorrow@3mindme.com” or “jan5th@3mindme.com” or “nexttuesday@3mindme.com” and it’ll forward whatever you sent back to you at the specified time. David Barret, the creator of the service has just started this and is looking for feedback. So any advice, tips and compliments are welcome!

30 12 07 - 21:36 - Permanent link - seven comments

New GTD app coming up - Things

This one came through the email grapevine: A new (another?) GTD app is bound to hit the virtual shelves these days. Things from CulturedCode is a Mac based GTD application with the basic features you need for your GTD pleasure (collect, organize, projects, next actions) but also has some nice new shiny features like tagging, collaboration and a quick entry window for collecting you thoughts. To be honest, I don’t see anything really outstanding or groundbreaking but when you’re looking for a GTD app in Leopard-style, Things might be your…erm…thing.

26 12 07 - 09:59 - Permanent link - one comment

Dutch version of GTD in stores now

I know most of my valued readers are non-Dutch speaking and mostly from the US. But I want to share a very special moment with you. For the past few months I have been working on a dutch site called Lifehacking.nl about, you guessed it, lifehacking and GTD. Together with dutch lifehackers Sanne and Martijn and a dedicated team of writers and technicians we launched it and it became very popular in a few weeks.
Because of that we got in touch with a Dutch publisher who wanted to publish the translated version of the GTD book. The translation was almost done but she needed some endorsements on the book…

15 12 07 - 20:20 - Permanent link - one comment

GTD World loses a true advocate with Marc Orchant

This morning I found the news that Marc Orchant has passed away following complications from a massive heart attack. Marc was a follower of my weblog and responded every now and again. We first met through email in november 2004 and I got connected on his Officezealot GTD website.
Thoughts go out to his family and friends, a good man has passed away. Thanks Marc, you are missed.

10 12 07 - 09:03 - Permanent link - two comments

David Allen on a trip?

In the latest edition of the David Allen Company Newsletter there are some new products for your travelneeds. They include

• GTD System File folders and GTD Zip pouches
• The “Instant Messenger” bag and the “Ready for Anywhere” rolling work bag
• GTD Tri-fold Notetaker wallet and accessories

Nice gear, I like the preprinted file folders. It’s all a bit of priceleague and most material can also be found in your local officesupply store. I can recommend the zip pouches as a way to keep your stuff safe while travelling. But I use simple plastic filefolders you can lock with a simple click.

(image courtesy of Malias)

29 11 07 - 08:18 - Permanent link - two comments

Nozbe makes me blush behind my screen

What a surprise this morning to see my humble weblog featured on Nozbe’s weblog as an affiliate showcase. I do recommend Nozbe to everyone who is fairly committed to GTD. But I have to be honest, if you’re starting out with GTD it might be a bit overwhelming, all those online tools trying to help you. Nozbe can be of great help though, because it helps you through the whole process of collecting, processing and organizing. No, it doesn’t do the tasks for you. You still have to do that yourself. But for me, it’s a great way to collect my thoughts and tasks and view them in a single system. Another great feature for me is the mobile version and the widget for Netvibes. They work even more intuitive for me than the site itself. And the emailfunctionality is a lifesaver for me. Great feature!
I’ve recommended more applications in the past and yes I would still do so. Backpack, Mindmanager, ThinkingRock. All great in itself. But as you grow more accustomed in your life with GTD, Nozbe is of the key players you should definitely check out.

Disclaimer: The links to Nozbe are affiliate links. The earnings go directly back to my website so I can keep it up and running.

27 11 07 - 08:58 - Permanent link - six comments

The Mobile Productivity Toolbox

I’m not a very frequent traveller but when you stay in hotels a lot or are on the move and have some internetaccess, be sure to check out this enormous list of resources when you’re on the move. Email, webtools and Wifi-tips. Great resources. Bookmarked!

25 11 07 - 21:41 - Permanent link - No comments yet

Gmail improves with excellent shortcut

Gmail had an overhaul in its interface the last few days. It’s a bit cleaner. With the revamp also comes an excellent addition to the keyboard shortcuts in Gmail. With the key “[” you can archive an open message and immediately open the previous one. If you use “]” it opens the next one. Finally! No longer switching back to the Inbox, but processing your email in one big swoop. Gmail is already my favorite app, but this shortcut was missing for me. Also, make sure this shortcut only works in the new interface. If you use Lifehacker.com’s Better Gmail extension (if not, you should) also upgrade that one to version 2. The Gmail Macros in the extension work perfectly with the mentioned Archive-Next/Previous shortcut in Gmail itself. Check out this article on the Gmail Blog for more improvements.

(Thanks to @erwblo for the tip)

17 11 07 - 11:39 - Permanent link - two comments

New mindmapping software by Tony Buzan

The inventor of Mindmapping, Tony Buzan, has also entered the mindmapping software space with the release of iMindmapping. You can find an introduction to his software and his philosophy about mindmapping after the click

11 11 07 - 11:10 - Permanent link - one comment

Email to Nozbe - it gets better every time

Nozbe, the online GTD-manager, gets better with every update. Michael is working like crazy to implement new features and I have to say, the new ones just rock. They might be the features to get you to try Nozbe. You should, because it’s worth it. The new feature in Nozbe is “Email to Nozbe” and yes it is a very intuitive way to email new tasks to your Inbox in Nozbe. With a very simple emailadress, consisting of your nickname and a secret pincode you can email yourself. And better yet, by adding the projectname in your emailadres, the task gets to the correct Project immediately. With some shorthand magic you can add more information in your email immediately. Michael describes all the possibilities in this blogpost. Also make sure you check his serie of blogposts about Getting Things Done and Nozbe. A very thorough and complete overview of the possibilities in Nozbe on your way to GTD-Nirvana.
More on Nozbe and Google Calendar from Jeroen Sangers on this weblog as a guestpost.

(Envelope by Tim Morgan)

10 11 07 - 16:11 - Permanent link - No comments yet