Photo by joshbousel

I’ll be the first to admit it: I’ve become pretty jaded.

I receive emails every week to review some new life-changing productivity software/system/tool that will most certainly change my life.While all of these tools mean well, 99% miss on the most important part of product management.

Simplicity.

I’ve reviewed dozens of productivity tools, and I can say with certainty that the number one most important aspect of a good productivity tools is being drop-dead simple. Unfortunately, the number one most-overlooked aspect of GTD/organization software is also simplicity.

So, I do something a bit different, and it doesn’t require any schmancy tool that makes lists and a shot of espresso. I could use a sharp stick on leather if I wanted. (Note to self: get more leather at local tannery.) No, this system could be used on a phone, a computer, the back of a hand, turtle shell, anywhere. It’s the most versatile, ubiquitous system ever devised.

And I guarantee you’ll get more done.

Are you trembling with excitement, dreaming of all the free time you’ll have for doing all of those things you always wanted? You should be. This will change your life. Are you ready?

Photo by flash_nerd

The System

1. Write 3-5 major tasks/small projects/etc. that have to be done today. (These are your Most Important Tasks (or MIT’s.) Do them.
2. Capture all of the other little stuff that you have to do in the near future. Try to do a few of these each day, in order of when they need to be done (if there’s a deadline attached to them).
3. At the end of the day, make a list of tomorrow’s MIT’s, and add some of the smaller tasks below them.
4. Do this every day.

Are you picking up on my subtle sarcasm? You were correct in thinking there might be a little tucked in between the lines of this post. I can’t help myself, and it’s not because I’m disgusted with productivity software, the people who make it or the good people who read this blog that are interested in it. Everyone has their own system tailored to what works best for them (and they should!).

No, I’m disgusted with how many hours I’ve wasted fiddling, downloading, trying, tweaking, learning, changing, installing and comparing different types of productivity software that all promise to make my life simpler. Where has it gotten me?

Here’s What I’m Doing

Because there are those of you who still want to know what my personal system looks like, I’ll indulge. It’s still really simple, even though I use software to help.

I start with an awesome tool called TaskPaper, a really simple but powerful list organizer. It allows me to quickly add tasks, sort them, and tick them off when I’m done. And it outputs to simple text files, so even if I wasn’t using the TaskPaper software, I could still use the same system.

You don’t have to use TaskPaper to plan your day, or any other software for that matter. It’s just comfortable to me, and it’s basically the same as using a text editor with searching and tagging built in.

Photo by floodlama

If you’re thinking you’re still looking for the “perfect” software or tool to solve your productivity woes, it ain’t gonna happen. The problem is rooted deeper than that. It wasn’t until I realized that my productivity problems weren’t the fault of my software that I truly understood what it took to be really productive. It meant not using software and tools as an excuse to put of all the things I needed to do during the day. It meant taking responsibility for getting things done, and not relying on some tool to help me.

What about you? Do you find that your software or system gets in the way of the actual doing throughout your day?

1. Ahh… the Simple Life
2. Simple GTD Next Action Lists with Nozbe
3. Even Simple Multi-tasking Can Make a Project 30% Late

Firefox is my weapon of choice when it comes to browsing the web. It’s fast, free, and gives the user the best feature ever: Choice.

The beauty of the Firefox extension is that it allows you to add a specific feature or function, fully customizing your browsing experience. For someone wanting to make the most of their online time, this is a huge opportunity. There are limitless ways to tailor your browsing with Firefox extensions. Here are 25 of my favorite extensions that help me save time while online.

1. Autocopy – The name pretty much says it all. Instead of having to hit cmd+c (or ctrl + C for our Windows readers), every time you highlight text it automatically copies it to the clipboard. If you don’t want it on 100% of the time, you can toggle it on and off in the bottom-right of the browser.
2. Better Gmail – A must-have for any Gmail user. Maintained by the legendary Gina Trapani of Lifehacker, Better Gmail adds some killer features that would make any developer at Google scratch their head and wonder “Why didn’t I think of that?!”. Keyboard macros, saved searches, right-click preview views and integrate Google Reader to name a few. (The keyboard macros are enough of a reason to install this little filly, in my humble opinion.)
3. Better GReader – Another gem from Gina for Google Reader. Add feeds to GReader and bypass the default add page from Google, make the most of the reading area and take advantage of some great keyboard shortcuts, to name a few.
4. No Squint – Finding yourself going cross-eyed form leaning too close to the monitor? No Squint can fix it. Specify a percentage to show all text that’s larger than the default for your screen resolution. You can either make all sites a default size, or only specify a few with different font sizes.
5. Remember the Milk for Gmail – If you’re a fan of the todo list application Remember the Milk, you’ll love this extension. Fully mange your todo items inside of Gmail, instead of having to trek over to the RTM website every time you want to check off a task. You can also quickly assign emails as tasks. Very slick.
6. Shareaholic- An indispensable extension for those who do a lot of social bookmarking with digg, del.icio.us, twitter, or maintain a tumblelog. In one click you can share the page you’re on with the previously mentioned services (plus a few more) without spending any more time than you have to away from the article.
7. LeechBlock – If you’re feeling a little vulnerable to the addictive qualities of certain websites, use LeechBlock to literally force you from visiting them within a certain time period of the day. No joke. Not for the faint of heart, or those with problems with authority.
8. Read it later – Don’t have time to really focus on an article you’ve found? This extension will enable you to quickly save the page you’re browsing until you’re able to read it. Once you’re ready to read your saved articles, the extension will open the articles in new tabs with the click of a button.
9. Scrapbook – Much like the Read it Later extension, Scrapbook allows you to quickly save pages for later reading. However, it has a few more great features, like taking whole snippets of pages (like Google Notebook), searching within snippets, saving whole websites, and you can even organize the snippets like bookmarks. Perfect for researching or in-depth bookmarking.
10. Meetimer- Meetimer is a great way to get a handle on just how much time you’re spending on various sites around the web. You can group sites into categories (ie. facebook.com = “procrastination”), and track just how much
11. Copy Plain Text- The name pretty much says it all. If you do a lot of writing in WYSIWYG editors (blogging and other word processors), then this extension can come in pretty handy. Copy Plain Text will leave all the bolds, italics and other unwanted formatting when you copy and paste into text fields.
12. Ad Block Plus- For those obsessed with a zen-like minimalist approach to web browsing, this Ad Block Plus will surely keep you focused. Kill annoying banners and ads by simplying installing the extension and right-clicking the banner on the page. Once you’ve clicked the banner, you’ll never see it again as long as the extension is turned on.
13. Gmail Conversation Preview – A nifty little Greasemonkey script that allows you right-click and see the body of the email, without opening it. Simple and slick.
    
14. Invisibility cloak – Lifehacker’s solution to blank out certain time-wasting sites that kill productivity. This is a much smaller version of LeechBlock.
15. Add a second inbox to your Gmail account – Quickly and easily toggle between Gmail inboxes. Perfect for those with a business and personal email accounts at Gmail.
16. FEBE – On the surface, FEBE will quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions. But the fun doesn’t stop there. You can also sync multiple computers with the same Firefox extensions, and even set up automatic backups, ensuring that you’ll never lose your Firefox configurations again.
17. del.icio.us bookmarks – Save, search and share your Del.icio.us bookmarks easily inside of Firefox. Browsing your bookmarks is especially easy with the del.icio.us sidebar.
18. Googlepedia – I find this extension extremely valuable for getting a more holistic Google search. Googlepedia splits the Google search results in half and shows the relevant Wikipedia page for the search alongside the Google results.
19. Errorzilla Mod – This extension is pretty nifty for troubleshooting error pages that you might come across, giving you the Google Cache, Wayback Machine, Whois, and tons of other useful information about the site and page in question.
20. Pageaddict – Pageaddict simply shows your internet usage by website. It’s not as intrusive as Invisibility Cloak or LeechBlock, but it can provide a helpful look at where you really spend your time online.
21. urlfixer – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve typed in “gmail.cmo” to get a frustrating error page. Instead of having to perfectly type in every url, urlfixer can usually guess where you’re trying to go, and will send you there anyway.
22. Colorful Tabs – This extension is deceptively useful. Much like office file-folder tabs, colorful tabs gives a color to each tab opened in Firefox. Quickly find which tab you need without having to read it.
23. Faviconize Tab – Save some serious tab bar real estate with Faviconize tabs. With a simple right-click, you can shrink each tab to only the size of the favicon (16×16px), giving you much more room for open tabs.
24. Google Notebook- Google notebook is another bookmarking tool, except it can save whole excerpts from pages, images and links. Quickly save all parts of a page into an digital “notebook” for easily collecting. Not quite as nifty as the Scrapbook extension, but definitely a contender.
25. Dictionary Tooltip – A perfect companion for any writer. Just highlight any word and hit Ctrl + Shift + D to see the word’s definition, without having to open a new window.

Photo by *keng

1. How To Update (Some) Firefox Extensions For Firefox 2.0
2. Save Space and Minimize Tabs In Firefox
3. Productivity Software News: Stikkit updates, Firefox tabs hack and The Procrastinator’s Clock

Instead of giving you the usual, in-depth review, I thought I’d make a haiku of the beta-released Things project management software instead.

Things

Smart, pretty and fun
Without GTD jargon
Just needs Quicksilver

1. Time Management, Simplified: How to Be Productive With No Worries
2. Mind mapping program review: desktop or online?
3. Goplan: A Comprehensive Project Management Tool

It’s Christmas day and you’ve just unwrapped your shiny new piece of Apple goodness from your new favorite family member. You’ve installed the beautiful Leopard operating system, and are ready to conquer the world.

But you soon realize you don’t know which programs to install to perform your everyday functions on your mac. Sure, there are lots of programs you could install, but there are a few that you need to install first. The bread-and-butter, the staples of any mac experience.

Here are 12 must-have applications for your new mac. Trust me, you’ll be glad you installed these first.

1. Quicksilver- The right arm of all that is productive on the mac. You’ll soon learn to have everything center around this awesome program launcher extraordinaire. You can literally do just about anything you can think of with this program. Send emails, browse your iTunes library, capture todo items, launch websites… all with a few keystrokes.

2. Firefox- Safari is a great web browser. Fast, sleek, sexy… but it doesn’t allow you to really customize your browsing experience. Firefox is a swiss-army’d version of Safari on steroids. We’re talking baseball in the late nineties steroids. Firefox allows you to add any array of extensions to add to the experience. Need a bit torrent client? Done. Don’t want to see ads? Done. Want to wrap your web-browsing in a winter wonderland? Done. Firefox can do virtually anything when it comes to surfing the web.

3. Adium- Now, iChat is no slouch of an instant messaging client. But Adium allows you to login and use multiple IM clients simultaneously. You can save chat transcripts, and do many of the other things that you can do with iChat.

4. iGTD- What mac isn’t complete with a kickin’ GTD system? iGTD is a great out-of-the-box organization capture tool that doesn’t require all the incessant fiddling that most GTD software requires. Just add some contexts (and projects if you’d like), and go.

Another cool thing about iGTD is that it integrates with Quicksilver. You can be in the middle of a task and suddenly remember you need to email Roy about carpooling tomorrow. Invoke Quicksilver, type your task, and go right back to what you were working on. It’s insanely useful and allows you to capture everything. (You can read more about iGTD + Quicksilver here and here)

5. Cyberduck- Almost everybody needs an FTP client, right? Cyberduck is a great mac-only FTP client. It may not be as fancy as the likes of Transmit, but it has a simple interface and works quite well.

6. Anti RSI- If you use the computer more than an hour a day, it’s imperative you install Anti-RSI. You know how staring at the monitor can make your eyes feel like somebody switched your contact solution with wood glue? Anti-RSI makes sure that you’re taking proper breaks when using your computer. By looking away from the computer at regular intervals and stretching, you can prevent other fairly severe conditions like Carpal Tunnel. Anti-RSI ensures that you’re getting the proper pauses needed for healthy computer usage.

7. DeskLickr- It may not be an essential item per se, but sometimes a girl just likes to look pretty. This nifty program will launch a high-quality wallpaper (that matches your screen resolution, mind you) every time you start your computer up. You can even set it to display a new wallpaper every X number of minutes. WARNING: This setting is not recommended for those of us with ADD. You’ve been warned.

8. Gimp- Weird name, great photo editing. Gimp is the open source version of Photoshop. Gimp may not sport all the bells and whistles that Photoshop has, but it gets the job does. And to the tune of Free, who can complain?

9. Open Office- The open source alternative to Microsoft Office, Open Office is a full-featured document editor. (If you don’t have x11 installed on your mac, you may want to try NeoOffice. It’s pretty much the same thing as Open Office.)

10. Skype- Skype is everyone’s favorite VOIP client. Essentially, Skype allows you to call other computers and talk (like a telephone conversation), for free. You can also do IM messaging with the client.

11. Mozy- The un-sung hero of your new mac. Mozy backs up all of the files on my computer (in the background) at regular intervals. If my hard drive ever crashes, I’ll just install mozy and hit “restore”, mirroring my drive pre-meltdown. Most times I don’t even know when the little bugger is working. It’s fast, quiet, and it just works. You can make backups up to 2GB before you’ll start needing a paid plan.

12. Text Expander- Text Expander is the only software on the list that requires you to pay for its use. But once you try it out, it’s pretty hard to part with. We’re talking geeky productivity to the max, people.

Text Expander allows you to program in shortcuts that you use when typing all of the time. For example, you could configure a shortcut for your email signature. Instead of typing out my signature every single time I write an email, I could just punch “sigg” and up pops

“Yours Truly,

Glen Stansberry
LifeDev.net”

This is only scratching the surface. If you do a lot of HTML or CSS work, there’s already preset packages with shortcuts of commonly used HTML tags. Very nifty.

So there you have it. Install these 12 programs on your brand new mac, and you’ll have the ability to be a power user in no time, without breaking the bank.

Well, after the successful launch of the productivity video blog, I’ve decided to start another blog on the brand new LifeDev network. I love just about anything involving productivity tools. The prospect of trying a new beta of a productivity app excites me in an almost unhealthy way. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to write and test the many cool tools that I stumble upon. Fortunately, I met Brett.

Brett Kelly is the writer of the awesome GTD blog Cranking Widgets. It wasn’t long after chatting on IM that we were like peas and carrots when it comes to productivity apps. So, Brett graciously accepted my invitation to help write the brand new Productivity Tools blog. We’ll be covering all things productivity tools, (both online and offline), with Brett doing the majority of the writing.

Oh, and don’t worry about the main LifeDev blog. Now I’ll have more time to focus on a few of my own passions here: creativity, productivity, organization, and the beautiful marriage of the three. So now any post that has to do with any sort of tool used for productivity will now be on the tools blog, and any post that has to deal more with everything else will remain here at the ranch.

I’m really excited.

So if you’re feeling like you’d like to join in on the fun, subscribe below to the LifeDev Productivity Tools.

Subscribe by feed:

or by email:

Oh, and if you’re wanting to subscribe to the entire LifeDev Network (main, video, tools), we’ve set up a feed that has all three wrapped into one. There will probably be somewhere between 4-6 posts per day, no more than 10 (extreme).

LifeDev Network Feed:

As always, we’d love to hear what you guys are thinking about the recent expansions, etc. If you’ve got any ideas/questions/comments/ screams of outrage, put ‘em in the comments below. We’ll be sure to respond.

Thanks and Enjoy!

1. Just Launched: LifeDev Productivity Videos!
2. The Big List of Online Productivity Tools Just Launched
3. We’ve Just Launched LifeRemix

The Stikkit blog informs us that an enterprising lad James Adam has released a Stikkit dashboard widget. With this handy little tool you can

Create new stikkits, find and edit existing ones—multiple at a time—and click the “synch” button to save them to Stikkit online. And the widget grabs a snapshot of the latest online each time you show the dashboard so that you always have piping hot stikkits just when you need them.

Brilliant!

I think I can feel the ground shaking as the herd of mac users who love Stikkit stampede over to Mr. Adam’s blog to download the tasty program.

1. Remember the Milk Dashboard Widget
2. Merlin Mann Joins Stikkit Advisory Board
3. Productivity Software News: Stikkit updates, Firefox tabs hack and The Procrastinator’s Clock

A lot of times people try to find the latest and greatest tool to fully organize their lives. I can tell you up front… it’s not gonna happen. What makes the self-help/productivity arena so interesting is there there isn’t one tool to “rule them all”. Some have come close, but tools aren’t meant to organize everything in our lives. That’s not their strength.

Because as of yet there hasn’t been the mythical app that controls every detail in our busy lives, we should focus more on becoming more productive with our existing tools. So in that spirit, I’ve decided to share a little trick that works pretty effectively with your online tasks. I’ve used this system mostly for blogging, but the uses are practically limitless. I call it the Browser Inbox.

The basic premise is this: use your browser’s tabs to track your things to do. If you have a modern browser like Firefox, you can have multiple tabs open within the browser. Each tab can be thought of as a task (or Next Action for the GTD Junkies), and once you’re done with the task, close the tab. It’s extremely simple, but it’s surprisingly effective.

Here’s an example.

Blogging

I’ll crack open my trusty Google Reader and start browsing feeds. If I see a story that’s compelling and a possible post topic, I’ll hit V and open the original page in a new tab. By the time I’m done reading, I may have 6 or 7 tabs open. I systematically go through and read each story, deciding whether each one is blog-worthy. If it is, I write the post. If not, I close the tab. Easy, right?

I love this approach because

• The tabs are physical reminders that I can’t ignore
• I’m not bringing any other tools or extra processes into the mix
• I have everything I need in one spot

Granted, this system has some obvious limitations (like all tools). The browser inbox only works if I know I’m going to be writing in the immediate future. Also, if Firefox crashes and the system can’t restore your session, or your browser is accidentally closed, you’re screwed.

But, at the same time, the simplicity forces you to quickly get through the “inbox” of your browser’s tabs quickly. The physical closing of each tab is pretty satisfying too, so that’s a subtle motivator as well.

So there you have it. The Browser Inbox: Gently forcing people to finish their online tasks quickly. A nice tagline, don’t you think? ;)

I’d love to hear any thoughts or suggestions on this system. Can anyone think of other uses for the BI?

[Update: You guys had some great suggestions! Be sure to check out the comment thread for incorporating the BI with offline tasks as well.]

1. Save Space and Minimize Tabs In Firefox
2. Productivity Software News: Stikkit updates, Firefox tabs hack and The Procrastinator’s Clock
3. Tips For Keeping Your Gmail Inbox Empty

Stikkit evangelist Brett Kelly of Cranking Widgets Blog has just launched a windows tool that allows you to post stikkits from your desktop.

Fire up WinStikker, type in some text for a new Stikkit (just like you would through the website), and click “Stikkit!”. It’s that easy, folks. If you’re the kind of person who creates new Stikkits all day long and processes them later, this is a very lightweight solution that should work well for you. It even stores your API key between sessions!

If you’re running Windows and enjoying Stikkit as much as we are, you’ll definitely want to try out this simple program.

I just got an email from Chris at Calgoo saying that their calendar service is going live tomorrow.

In case you haven’t heard of Calgoo, it’s a calendar that allows you to roll all of your calendars, (GCal, iCal, Microsoft) into one, with sharing among contacts. It looks like it’s a desktop/online combo with a download required.

Here’s some of the features releasing tomorrow that I was notified about:

• Easily import and synchronize Google calendars Outlook calendars, and iCal calendars
• Manage all aspects of your life with calendar groups, searching, filters, tags and colours
• Quickly arrange meetings or share events via buddy lists
• Add and manage tasks and link them with your calendars
• Work online and offline with Google Apps (free and Premier)
• Use your Google Calendar settings for sharing and SMS/email reminders
• Work offline and sync automatically when you have access to an Internet connection
• Single click “Map it” to generate a Google map of your event or appointment location

Honestly, with my interest piqued with Scrybe and it’s online/offline capabilities without requiring a download, I’d probably much rather wait for it’s launch.

Also, as far as social calendars go, 30 Boxes is still the best by far in my opinion.

If you get around to trying Calgoo out, let us know what you think of it. It still looks pretty interesting.

I don’t think I have to tell this blog’s readers how hard it can be to stay on task when working on the computer. That’s why “concentration applications” are great tools to have.

If you’re a mac user, check out the elegant Isolator for blocking out all of those outside distractions associated with working with a tool that can do soooo many things.

Isolator is a small menu bar application that helps you concentrate. When you’re working on a document, and don’t want to be distracted, turn on Isolator. It will cover up your desktop and all the icons on it, as well as the windows of all your other applications, so you can concentrate on the task in hand.

We’ve already profiled some concentration apps like Think here before.  However, both of those are Mac only programs.  Anyone know of any good Windows concentration apps?

1. The Facebook Application Creator… for Bloggers
2. Free Mac Productivity Software Update: Think, DoIt
3. Mind mapping program review: desktop or online?