Recently in Productivity Category

Two days of essentially sitting on my rear between dog walks is both relaxing and conflicting. I certainly enjoy the time to "do nothing," but the lost time always leaves a small wake of regret. The opportunity costs not only include work-related to-do items and household chores, but leisure activities as well. Case in point: reading. I don't do well reading for leisure in my normal home routine. I'd announce that will change in 2008, but the mostly unread reading list I posted in January suggests that's not likely, at least in that large a shift. More on productivity goals for 2008 later this week. If I can pull myself away from the recliner, that is.

It has been a week since my last post. I was in Stevenson, WA (in the Gorge) for the 2007 Driving Assessment Conference. The conference was great, as was the setting. Before returning to the Portland airport (PDX), my travel companions and I headed to the world famous Powell's Books in downtown Portland. There were nearly as many books as there were tattoos in the joint.

I now have a week at home and work before heading out for a 7-night Eastern Caribbean Cruise with my wife. I'll do my best to post several times before next Saturday afternoon when we depart.

The new moleskine PDA worked well during the conference. I'll continue to post updates on my progress with the it.

BTW, any comments on the trial new blog name?

After several years of failing to maintain a time management system with digital tools, I decided to return to the medium in which I was last successful. The paper and pen approach with, you guessed it, a Moleskine. Some background is required. I was indoctrinated with the Franklin (before Covey) system in my first job during the mid-1990's. This method used a physical daytimer as it was before most digital implementations (gasp). I was quite diligent in maintaining the daily prioritized task list and writing notes in the daytimer. When I got my first Palm PDA I quickly bought the Franklin software to go along with it. I found that I was using the desktop software much more than the PDA itself (it was such a pain to write things out on the Palm rather than quickly type them with the desktop app). I continued to faithfully use the desktop software until I changed jobs and my employer's IT policy prohibited non-sactioned software installations. What followed was a few years of lax time management and makeshift "to do" lists on post-it notes. The idea of returning to the hardcopy system seemed like a step backward.

Most recently, I've been trying to adopt David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) system on my laptop. There are several free implementations of the GTD system for both Macs and Windows. I was working with an implementation of GTD on DevonThink, but it was a bit clumsy. I tried iGTD, which is an excellent application, but it just never took off for me. Despite my past success with using the computer-based software for time management, I just wasn't clicking with any of the recent applications.

While reveling in the newfound glory of Moleskine notebooks, I stumbled across an implementation of GTD with Moleskines. Partly inspired by Merlin Mann's Hipster PDA, there are a handful of these GTD Moleskine Hacks, as they're called, but I quickly decided to give the hyalineskies GTD System a try. At $10 for the Moleskine Pocket Ruled Notebook, it was worth the investment even if it ultimately fails.

So, here's a picture of my new PDA. I'll keep you posted on how it works out. For you GTD users out there, the tabs are Inbox/Next Actions, Projects, and Lists (including Someday/Maybe).

Much like how Mac owners frequently associate their choice of computers with a superior sense of computing style and discernment, Moleskine (mol-a-skeen'-a) notebook owners often carry a similar air of superiority. With its rigid, bound oilcloth cover and fine Italian acid-free paper pages, the Moleskine communicates a deeper dedication to one's notes.

Not surprisingly, I have joined the ranks of Moleskine users. Mine is a lab notebook, so I use the squared version. In the past, the Mead Composition Quad Rule Notebook, which is much like the PC of notebooks: Functional, but utterly without style or quality, was sufficient. No longer!

Now I just need an iPhone to complete the package of superior thinking tools.

In a previous post, I noted how cool the new iPhone looked but that I'd wait for a later version. Remarkably, I find myself seriously weighing the possibility of buying one now. This is new territory for me because I'm generally a late-adopter for new devices and technologies, a strategy that has generally worked well. However, the reviews of the iPhone have been largely positive and the price isn't bad if you consider it includes the price of a new iPod. See, the rationalization is even creeping into this blog entry.

Then I made startling discovery yesterday afternoon. I'm out-of-contract with Verizon wireless right now! No penalty for early dissolution. And, unlike some other bloggers out there, my account isn't tied to my wife's. Surprisingly enough, the plan rates from AT&T are actually reasonable for my usage pattern (i.e., I don't use a lot of minutes).

Here are the pros and cons:
+ I'm an Apple apologist
+ My current cellular contract is expired
+ My iPod is old (it's 3G--monochrome with a click-wheel)
+ I just earned a bunch of extra cash by teaching this summer
- I'm notoriously incapable of pulling the trigger on big purchases
- My wife is against it (that's a minor negative point)
- I need most of that extra cash for our new house

Look for an announcement in the future, but don't get your hopes up (as if you would).