I like to know about the people who write the blogs I read, so for anyone curious, here are 5 facts about me:
1. I go to Rice University - I am a Cognitive Science and Religious Studies double major about to go into my fifth year.
2. I love Apple products - I will not use any thing created by Microsoft, including Office. I own an Apple iBook (which just died on me… It’s kind of old) and am borrowing an iMac. I have an iPod Nano and as soon as the 3g iPhones come out, I’ll have one of those too. (I had just gotten a 2 year Treo contract when the iPhones were first announced.)
3. I swing dance - I am part of a group called Second Cup Swing in Houston, TX, where I am currently subbing for the regular follow teacher on Monday nights.
4. I love programming - I am currently working at Rice’s Web-Services and on the side working on two iPhone Apps, both of which are productivity Apps.
5. I believe there is a difference between “work” and “living” - My goal in life is to “work” as little as possible, but that doesn’t mean I’ll sit around and do nothing all the time. To me, “work” is doing something that you’ve been assigned to do that you don’t have any real connection to, usually in exchange for money. Life is short and I have little time for “work.” I have too many computer program ideas and big dreams to spend too much time working.
My obsession with productivity started way back in elementary school. One of my favorite past times as an eight-year-old was to do workbooks. Usually I would pretend to be teaching the material to a stuffed animal, but the real joy was in the workbook. I just loved answering the questions and filling in the blanks.
But a time came when I had too many workbooks going all at once and the act of choosing a workbook took as much time as actually working. I got rather frustrated with them and my indecisive nature, so I made up a way to eliminate the choice. First, I made a spreadsheet with the days of the week across the top and put seven rows below them (even though I had six workbooks to choose from). It looked something like this:
I then chose a workbook for each day of the week (I put my favorite one in twice to fill up all the days). Then I filled in all the rows by moving each entry down and to the left one spot, wrapping as needed. The result ending up looking something like this:
Some features of this included:
- Everything getting equal exposure
- Once a task is the main task, you won’t see it for a while
Now, moving up 14 years to the present, I’m looking to adapt this technique to my own life. The first obvious difference is number of tasks. Back then, I had six things I could do. Now, I have 11 goals and housekeeping tasks. That’s 12 things to fit into seven days.
This is easily solved by grouping tasks and assigning one task group all even numbers and the other task group all odd numbers. Because there are seven days in a week, the task will alternate. I leave my two most important tasks ungrouped. I created a separate table to help me with this:
Another problem I have is that some days I have more work time than others. For instance, I work at an office on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I take this into consideration when assigning tasks to days. Smaller and easier tasks are assigned to work days.
Getting Things Done - Each day I have to complete something towards my main goal of the day. This keeps things moving. But once I start getting tired of the first item, I just move onto the next one. The cycle continues until I use up all my time.
The benefits of this system, as elementary as it is, are enormous for anyone working without hard deadlines like me. It makes me work towards all my goals, not just my favorite ones.
In order to make this simple to implement, I created an Elementary Productivity Planner form. Here is what it looks like (both blank and filled in):
Want a copy of the Elementary Productivity Planner? It comes with a sample and a blank version.
PDF: Download Here
Numbers: Download Here
I hope to offer an Excel version soon.
June 29th, 2008
1:00 am
Links
Here are 5 of the best articles that I have read in the past week:
1. Create a personal productivity app using Wordpress and Twitter (Hack Your Day) - An interesting idea about using two technologies for something that is totally different from what they were meant for. It also sounds like a very useful idea. I’ve been having some trouble with the twitter plugin for Wordpress (I think the problem lies in the twitter API being limited due to Twitter problems), but as soon as it starts working again, I’m planning to set this up and give it a try.
2. 10 Ways to Save 10 Minutes Daily (Marc and Angel Hack Life) - A list that contains some very good tips. I really need to work on number 10: Productively Use Waiting Time!
3. Numbered Folders: the easiest way to keep track of works-in-progress (Academic Productivity) - This is an intriguing idea for anyone who has lots of project ideas. It’s like a folder version of GTD’s idea capture and process. The only down side for me is that I do a lot of work on paper… but I still may give this is try.
4. 5 Tips to Accomplish Low Priority Tasks (Hack Your Day) - This is something I really need! I have many low priority tasks clogging up my productivity line, as I’d expect many of you do too. Daniel gives some really good tips on how to tackle them.
5. How LaTeX Helps Me Write a Paper Without Microsoft Word (The Productive Student) - As a dedicated Apple fanatic, I hate Microsoft Word. But even if you like Word, using LaTeX can really help you focus on writing instead of how your paper looks or how many pages you have written. After reading this post, I finally set up LaTeX and am now using it to write a novel. If you’re hesitating because of the resemblance to programming, don’t worry. There really isn’t that much you have to write beyond your paper; Most of it is generated for you. Check it out!
Here’s my list of essentials that go with me everywhere:
1. My phone - I’ve had a treo700p for two years and I’m about to get an iphone. Although I don’t keep my schedule on my phone, it does have my e-mail and stores reference links, as well as connects me to people I need to talk to. I can’t imagine not having the internet in my pocket.
2. My planner/journal - I use a paper planner and it works pretty well for me. (I’ll give details in another post). But the real key is that I plan and track my daily activities all in one place.
3. A travel hard drive in a secure case - I highly recommend a Western Digital Passport and a case to go with it that has room for the cord. This lets my documents be portable.
4. Ipod - My Ipod Nano is filled with all kinds of music separated in playlists. I have a “relax”, “study”, “dance”, “airplane”, “favorites”, and “new music” playlists. So if I need music to block out background noise or unwind, I have my Ipod.
5. A small cheap spiral notebook - This is used for fast thought/idea capture as well as composing. I’m currently using a Mead Lil’ Fat notebook. Such a small notebook makes it easy to capture my ideas quickly.
As you see in a future post, I had to grow into my productivity. It wasn’t something that I just got suddenly. After implementing a system, it took small steps. Here are five small things you can do to increase your productivity and begin to grow into your own system.
1. List Your Goals - It all started with a list of 11 goals that I wrote for my summer. Some were big and some were pretty small, but all of them were doable. Having something to work towards made me much more productive right off the bat.
2. Keep a Journal - A journal is not only good for self-reflection, it is also good for tracking how productive you are. The first step to going anywhere is knowing where you are. I write first thing in the morning and the last thing before bed. It centers me and helps me create my day.
3. Make a Next Action List - Go through those goals and write down the very next thing you needed to do on that goal. When it is time to work you’ll just need to select something off this list.
4. Buy a Binder Planner - Get a planner that goes in a binder. I recommend Franklin Covey for inserts because their pages are wider than some of them. It doesn’t matter in what size you use (I use the compact size), just so long as your pages can move around. Buy dividers and note paper and set up a divider for each goal. Now you have a central place for goal notes and your schedule (and possibly your own journal).
5. Learn Scripting - On a Mac, learn AppleScript. Script out some normal routines you do on your computer everyday, like a morning web-checking routine. You’ll be amazed at the time saved.
Welcome to RunKittyRun, my new Productivity, Apple, and Life blog. I have spent years studying productivity and would like to share my findings and my own struggles with you. Here’s the kind of stuff you will see here:
5 Item Lists - Five is a good number… Not too many, but not too few either. The 5 item list will be the daily feature here. I will write lists about productivity, money, Mac, and life in general. Hope you enjoy!
Longer Posts - I will write longer posts less often that go deeper into my own systems of productivity. Here is where I share the nitty gritty of productivity and using a Mac.
Link Posts - Although these will also be done in the 5 item list format, they will appear regularly with the best 5 articles since the last link post.
And for those of you wondering about the name of the blog, it came from a poem I liked in middle school. I would read it before working to get in a productive mood. The poem is quoted below:
Run Kitten Run
The dew’s still on the meadow
The day has just begun
Run kitten, run kitten, run kitten run
It’s time you were astir
To greet the rising sun
Run kitten, run kitten, run kitten run
The day is all too short
There’s so much to be done
Run kitten, run kitten, run kitten run
The mice are in the kitchen
There are battles to be won
Run kitten, run kitten, run kitten run
The rats are in the corncrib
Hurry, kill them every one
Run kitten, run kitten, run kitten run
Oh speed thee gallant little friend
You’ll be missing all the fun
Run kitten, run kitten, run run, run, run, run
