International Mac Podcast

This is a part of my ongoing series on The Hit List. To read the first post, click here, and to read them all at once as they were meant to be read, here.

There are two types of true containers in THL, and several other pseudo-containers. The difference is that items actually reside in containers, and are just shown in pseudo-containers. Think of containers like folders in the file system, and pseudo-containers like smart folders. Note that these terms aren’t actually used in THL to the best of my knowledge, I just made them up to allow you to better understand their uses. (more…)

Because so many people got The Hit List as part of MacHeist, I’ll do a special series of posts on it. This was supposed to be one long post, but got over 5000 words. If you want to read the entire thing in all its glory, you can do so here. We now return you to your regularly scheduled post.

The Hit List. Not the most impressive of names, but quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with in the world of simple to-do lists almost through full-on project management. The simple design of the application, basically a computerized notebook pad, allows you to use it in nearly any way possible. A task can be as simple or as complex as needed. (more…)

There are do dates, and there are due dates. There are no doo dates, but the former two will suffice. There is a distinct difference, though, between the two.

You are most likely more familiar with due dates; they’re normally dates a task must be done by. However, they don’t strictly have to be. False due dates can help you, say, when you have a big project that you only have one due date for. If you separate the project and add a different due date for each section, it becomes much easier to avoid the dreaded last-minute scramble. (more…)

First of all, full disclosure. I made this up. Thus, it might hurt you more than it helps you. However, this is true for most GTD concepts, so that’s all the warning you get.

I call this Mindests, and here’s the elevator pitch: Mindsets is (are) one particular activity, such as writing, that is distinct from others, such as reading. They can be nested, putting blogging and emailing under writing, or not. They are useful when you are blazing along, have written three blog posts already and can’t continue on or you’ll have none for later, but don’t want to stop the creative juices flowing. Just continue on in your Writing mindset. (more…)

I haven’t talked to you guys about some of the ideas behind GTD in a while, so I think it’s time we rectify that. Last time we talked about Essentials, which was so long ago you wouldn’t remember this unless I brought it up, I promised I’d tell you about Areas of Responsibility. Truth is, there isn’t much to say and I said it all in my Things post. So today, I’ll be talking about Contexts. Next post I’ll get into another thing I’ve added to my personal GTD strategy which isn’t in David Allen’s, and that’s Mindsets.

Contexts are usually expressed as tags. That should tell you that they can apply to any task, project, or Area of Responsibility. Tasks in projects or areas will inherit their contexts, but projects and areas don’t inherit contexts from the tasks they contain. Tasks, projects, and areas can have any number of contexts, or none. (more…)

I promised in my last post (which was several weeks ago, for which I apologize) that I’d give you a look into the way I’ve gotten my schoolwork set up all fancy-like, and here it is.

First, before the solution, we must state the problem. This is a great concept everyone should borrow from Allison Sheridan. This problem is easy to state, and it might sound familiar:

Distraction

Now does it sound familiar? Well, then go read my last post, about Things. Then come back here. Don’t get distracted on your way out.

It is incredibly easy for me to get distracted, in fact this is almost guaranteed to. There is a simple fix for this. Simple, not easy. At least, not if you’re not on a Mac–but hey, you are, so lucky you. This solution is simply (there I go again) to not allow distractions.

At first, that doesn’t seem possible. It is not a trivial task to stay undistracted while on teh intarwebs. However, I’ve managed to create a solution that works well for me, and if you want one too you can follow along below. (more…)

I have a confession to make… I’ve been fiddling.

Fiddling is not a principle of GTD. Not fiddling is in fact more of a principle than fiddling. You see, GTD is about a trusted system. A system that is ever changing is very hard to trust. I think I now trust this system, but I’d have to ask my subconscious about that.

The big change I’ve made is Things. (more…)