Francis' Attic

Combat Productivity in 5 Ways

2007-03-05T18:50:00.000-08:00

Here's a great post I just read over at GearFire. It's a simple list of
5 Easy ways to Combat Feeling Unproductive. Go give it a read, and you'll get a nice productivity boost.

This Too Shall Pass

2007-03-03T07:55:00.000-08:00

There's a great article I found via Lifehacker. It discusses how to stay calm during an argument.

The basic principle is quite simple: remember that it's temporary.

The article is clear and to the point, so I'll leave it at that. Just be sure to give this one a good read.

Be Mindful and Enjoy the Moment

2007-02-26T07:06:00.000-08:00

We are always encouraged to multi-task in today's world. Computers are made for it. Our bosses expect it. Our lives demand. But we're human!

Use your mind

One important key to having a better life is to use your own mind. But you have to use your mind correctly. As humans, we're not built for multi-tasking.

So if we don't multi-task, what should we do instead?

Do one thing at a time

This is the important key to mindfulness. Stop multi-tasking and do only one thing:

The idea of one-mindfully is to do one thing at a time.
If you are going to eat, eat. Don't read or watch TV at the same time.
When you are working, work. Don't try to work and worry about something at home at the same time.
When you are talking with a friend, talk with your friend. Don't try to be on the computer at the same time.

Enjoy that thing

When you do only one thing, you can more fully participate in that activity. By really participating in that thing, you can enjoy it.

Here's a simple example: grocery shopping. I went to buy groceries the other day, and I really just focused on buying food. I tried to pick out good produce, I looked for sales on items I needed, and I actually had fun. The key was that I focused on only one thing.

Your thoughts?

Have you experienced any good examples of mindfulness? Post a comment or track it back to your own blog!

Distractions Can Help Focus

2007-02-18T07:11:00.000-08:00

One of the hardest things to do sometimes is to focus. It's difficult to block out things and do what we need to do.

Ironically, distractions can sometimes help us focus.

For instance, doing something a bit different from the work at hand might help stimulate the brain. Try a short little walk or some other type of exercise. Maybe even just a walk down the hall to the restroom.

A classic distraction is to watch a little television. While this can be helpful sometimes, it can also be more of a distraction at times, like right now. It's incredibly hard to write and watch television.

I guess I should choose a better distraction to help me focus. Maybe I should go for a walk.

A Quiet Super Bowl Sunday

2007-02-04T18:51:00.000-08:00

Over the past couple of years, I've almost become oblivious to the Super Bowl. In fact, I usually don't even know when it is.

This year has been interestingly different. Because I'm blogging, I'm a bit more connected to the world. OK, I'm really connected to the world. Thus, I knew the Super Bowl was today, and I even knew what teams were playing (to my wife's surprise).

However, blogging leads me to make a new and different observation today. The blogosphere has been really quiet. Yeah, it's a Sunday. Bloggers usually slow down on the weekends in general. But this is much more pronounced than a normal weekend blogging hiatus.

Weirdly, my quiet feed reader today reminds me of this last Christmas. In fact, I think there was more activity on Christmas day than this Super Bowl Sunday. I don't know of an empirical way to measure that, but it would be fascinating.

I don't quite know what this says. Maybe more bloggers are football fans than Christians. Who knows.

Do you have any thoughts on this?

Get a Magnetic Board for Easy Notes

2007-01-28T06:47:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you, but I can't stand putting holes in my paper and notes with push pins. Thus, I use magnets to hang notes.

This works especially well at home, with my current desk setup. My desk is actually hung on the wall with metal brackets called "standards." Thus, I have metal bars to which I can stick magnets. Also, I have a metal filing cabinet right beside my desk for extra magnet space.

Just what kind of things do I put up there? Usually a receipt or bill that can't get lost will get hung up with a magnet. Right now I have a paper that I really need affixed to my desk with a magnet.

If you're looking for a good note-holding method, try magnets. I love them.

Do We Need Phones?

2007-01-26T12:22:00.000-08:00

Seriously, shouldn't we ask ourselves that question? What do we really need phones for?

I guess they're handy for communicating with each other. They help us connect quickly and efficiently.

But don't email and IM do the same thing? Why call someone when you can just IM him? Or you can even do a voice chat over the internet.

Maybe the problem is that we don't always have access to the internet. But we usually do, don't we. Maybe we're just too connected with people. Do we really need to be able to call people at any time of the day? Who knows?

Room Temperatures Are Crazy

2007-01-25T13:16:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been in a building where one room is freezing and another one is a furnace? What's up with that?

The school I attend is one large building. It's newly rennovated, but it still has horrid circulation problems. I froze in yesterday's class. Today I wore a sweater. The rooms I was in today were boiling hot. You just can't win.

I guess the only solution is to bring a pullover or something. That's it. I'll get some zip-off pants and a pullover. I'll always be prepared.

Try the Train for Travel

2007-01-22T08:03:00.001-08:00

I took my first real train ride this weekend. It was pretty nice, a great way to travel.

I only rode about three hours in the morning, and then the same trip back home in the evening. But I think this simple ride gave me a neat glimpse of the United States' train system.

The best part of the trip were the train seats themselves. They are huge! Plus, you get tons of leg room (important for me: 6'3"). I'd say the regular "coach" seats on the train were the size of the nice airliner first class seats. I wonder what the sleeping cars are like.

A cool feature that I noticed is that all the seats have wall 120v wall outlets. Thus, you can plugin your CD player, DVD player, computer, etc. Since train rides can be lengthy, especially across country, that's a really convenient feature.

The most comical thing that happened was when I arrived at the station to leave in the morning. The train was supposed to leave at 7:20 AM, so I checked in at 6:45. The lady at counter said, "Didn't you know, the train's always late." It didn't pull in until 8:35. But it only actually delayed us about an hour, so that's not too bad.

My advice: if you need to go somewhere, give the train a try.

Separate Contexts to be More Productive

2007-01-19T14:48:00.000-08:00

I'm anticipating next week to be busy, at least for the first few days. Surely you've had similar weeks. You know the storm's approaching. Here's how I'm going to handle it this week.

I will be traveling a lot on Sunday. I'm taking a three hour train ride in the morning and evening. For the past couple days, and up until Sunday, I'm trying to do things that I can't do while I'm traveling. I'll save things that I can do on the train for Sunday.

This is a big key in the GTD methodology: separate the contexts. For this simple example, I'm thinking in two contexts: home v. travel. To be most productive, I'm trying to do things when & where I can do them. This takes planning, but the rewards will be worth it.

In the end, I'm saving some computer-based tasks for my train trip. I'll leverage my 9-cell laptop battery and get as many things done on the computer as I can. Mostly this will be writing, such as blog posts, letters, etc.

Hard to Get Motivated

2007-01-12T07:20:00.000-08:00

Do you ever have problems getting motivated? I know that I do.

Lately, my biggest problem has been getting things done in the morning. I'm doing good with getting up at 8:00, even though I have no time commitments right now (winter vacation from school). However, I tend to sit around like a slug. Or, worse yet, fall asleep at my desk.

This morning I did better by watching a little online TV. CSI will get anyone awake. :) Now, I'm sipping a latte, and that's definitely going to get me wired for the day. Yippee!

Disclosure Policy

2006-12-28T20:36:00.000-08:00

Yep, I'll be blogging for money around here. Nope, I'm not ashamed of it. And no, I won't do it all the time.

But I guarantee that you'll know when I get paid for writing a post. That's what disclosure is all about. Thus, any time I'm getting paid to write a post, I'll put "Sponsored Post" at the top. You'll quickly know that it's a paid post.

Also, I guarantee that I will NEVER write a post that is required to be positive. I will only provide my honest opinion on products/services. If I can't tell it to you straight, I won't accept the sponsorship. That's what I'm guaranteeing.