Productivity Science

Free GTD Timer review - part 3 of 3 (final part)

ProductivityScience — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 06:42:00 -1300

In the last part of the review of GTD Timer we'll focus on the very powerful feature which makes this software unique - actions.

Actions allow GTD Timer to execute any command after a time period. Commands can be any executable application, command-line tool or script written in JScript or VBScript. While executing command GTD Timer also may pass parameters to it.

5. Using actions to run automated tasks

Each preset allows to set command line to execute after countdown finishes (configuring presets described in previous part of the review).

In the picture below show action configuration window accessible via Settings -> Presets -> Setup Preset.

To enable the action just click "Command line" radio button and two edit boxes will become available.

Example actions for this window:

Force to shutdown system:
Command: shutdown
Parameters: -s -f -t 00
Open "D:\Documents" folder:
Command: D:\Documents
Parameters: <Leave empty>
Open e-mail client with address user@example.com:
Command: mailto:user@example.com
Parameters: <Leave empty>
Navigate to URL http://productivity-science.com
Command: http://productivity-science.com
Parameters: <Leave empty>
Run script:
Command: c:\ScriptName.js
Parameters: <Leave empty>

So creating preset for some specific task like turning off PC after some period of time is very easy with GTD Timer.

6. Example script to continuously restart GTD Timer

As example script we provide here is intended to automatically restart GTD Timer each time when countdown finishes.

Here are steps to create the script and add it to GTD Timer:

1. Create Folder on your computer with path "C:\SCRIPTS".
2. Download zip archive: http://productivityscientific.com/downloads/refreshtray.zip. And extract program refreshtray.exe from that archive to folder "C:\SCRIPTS"
3. Copy next text to a text file with name "Restart.vbs" to that folder

strComputer = "."

Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _ & "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2") Set colProcessList = objWMIService.ExecQuery _ ("Select * from Win32_Process Where Name = 'gtdtimer.exe'") For Each objProcess in colProcessList

objProcess.Terminate()

Next

Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

WshShell.Run "C:\Scripts\RefreshTray.exe"

command = """C:\Program Files\Productivity Scientific GTD Timer\Bin\GTDTimer.exe"" /T=10:00 /M=Message /P=4"

WshShell.Run command

4. Create new preset in GTD Timer, give it some name (Ex. "Continuous restart"), at the "Action" tab enter command line: "C:\Scripts\Restart.vbs".

Free GTD Timer review – part 2 of 3

ProductivityScience — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:16:00 -1300

This is the second part of the review of GTD Timer. The first part of the review is here.

3. Controlling GTD Timer window

Small semitransparent window which shows countdown also provides features to control the timer.

First of all, tiny controls in the bottom of the window allow to start, pause and stop timer, as well as set time period of two or ten minutes. Button with small clock icon calls time selection window described in the first part of the review of GTD Timer. Last control with pin icon allows to place countdown window on top of other windows in the system or behave like normal window (turn on by default).

Next, left mouse click on the time in the center of the window behaves as start/stop control. Small triangle button in the upper right corner of the window allows minimizing (hiding) window, cross button closes timer. To move the window on the screen use free area before or after the time shown to do left click and drag the window.

Finally, all controls in the window have keyboard shortcuts as described in the help system:
•    Space - start timer
•    Enter or T - open time selection window
•    S - stop timer
•    P - pause timer
•    Keys 1, 2, 3..0 - start timer with number of minutes from 1 to 10
•    C - open configuration window
•    O - switch on/off timer's on top while counting feature

4. Using presets

Presets – one of the most interesting features of the software. Presets are useful in two situations: to allow quickly switching between different settings and to allow distinguishing between multiple running copies of the timer. Preset switching possible only in a commercial version of the software.

Firstly, presets configured in special settings section include tray icon text and background color (which shows time left for the timer), sound played when countdown finishes (default beeper, .WAV file or no sound at all) and actions which will be described in the last part of the review. It is possible to create any number of new presets or modify existing predefined presets.

Secondly, while it is possible to choose preset manually in time selection window, GTD Timer allows automatically selecting next preset when another copy of the software starts (this option set in configuration dialog).

So, setting one preset for one occasion and one for another allows to use GTD Timer as presentation timer as well as just kitchen or egg timer.

Continue to the final part of the review >>

Free GTD Timer review – part 1 of 3

ProductivityScience — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:03:00 -1300

GTD Timer is countdown timer software available for free for personal use. Official site is: GTD-Timer.com. Commercial version ($19.95) is also available, it provides more features as well as ability to run multiple timers at a time.

In general, it is the most convenient software timer we’ve seen before. It greatly combines simple user interface with sophisticated features (like actions). What is especially good about it is its superb keyboard optimization. And “GTD” in the title means that the timer is focused on Getting Things Done approach (remember “two minute rule”?) but it is useful for anybody who looking for good digital timer, not only GTD followers.

1. Downloading and installing timer

Installation package is available from front page (Download GTD Timer here). Installer does not weight a lot – only 1.4 Mb. Installation runs smoothly, supported OS are Windows XP/VISTA/Seven. No adware or any other additional components included.

2. Starting timer

During the installation process GTD Timer installs tiny launcher (GTDTimerLauncher.exe) which monitors Win+S keystroke. So, to start GTD Timer is not necessary to call the Start menu, just type Win+S and timer launches.

The time selection window appears after program start. This window is optional – checkbox in the bottom of the window allows disabling it. But this window is very convenient , it lets to start the timer in a few keystrokes.

Let’s review the window in detail.

There are two fields, one drop-down list and several buttons on the window. Use Tab (or Shift+Tab) to navigate between controls.

First of all, optional Message field intended to provide us ability to leave the message what to do after timer finishes. Also it is very useful to distinguish between multiple timers running at a time (available only in commercial version).

Secondly, Time field is required if it is intended to start the countdown with non-standard time. Note, that in addition to two buttons (2 Min's and 10 Min's) which start timer with predefined time of two and ten minutes, it is possible to launch the timer with a period from one to ten minutes just pressing keystroke Alt+1, Alt+2,…. up to Alt+0.

There are several ways to fill the time period in the time field. Just typing integer number means a number of minutes. Typing integer with a fraction divided by point or colon like “2.45” or “2:45” means two minutes and 45 seconds. Adding one more integer with separator at a start of line ads hours (like “01:02:45”). Leading spaces are optional.

If it is necessary to countdown till some exact time, it is required to add “T” before time string and use AM/PM or 24-hour format to enter time (like “T 12:00 AM”).

Thirdly, Preset selection drop-down box is a very powerful feature to change timer’s behavior and appearance in a keystroke. Though this feature is available only in commercial version, it worth it. Presets configured from timer’s System Tray menu (we’ll show this in the second part of the review) and support changing font and background color of the timer’s icon to distinguish between multiple timers, as well as alarm sound played at the end of the countdown and, what is especially interesting, assigning actions with almost unlimited functionality.

Finally, when all options are configured click start button (or press Enter on the keyboard to launch the countdown). Semitransparent floating window as well as the icon in the System Tray show time left.

Continue to the second part of the review >>

Simple trick to increase personal and business productivity: using prediction instead of planning

ProductivityScience — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:36:00 -1300

Most people regularly experience stress from their schedules that were not implemented. Why there are differences between plans and implementations? Mostly because of drawbacks in planning procedure: actually, plans in most cases describe that things which we want to happen but ignore things which are likely or possibly to happen even against our will.

Now I want to share some simple but extremely effective time management technique that helps to make plans much closer to reality.

Actually, this technique is very simple: instead of planning try to focus on predicting. Simple, huh?

And now some explanations to show how this works. When someone tries to predict, s/he involves in the process much more factors than doing just planning. And it helps dramatically.

For example, you can plan for tomorrow to make some appointments and to complete some tasks. When you just plan, in most cases you try only to estimate how much time task or appointment requires and to find enough available time to it. But when you start predicting instead of planning, you will try to look at your tasks and appointments from some different point of view. First of all, you will try to identify factors which could interfere with your plans and decide how plans could be affected. Secondly, you could recall similar situations from your memory and assume how your past experience about your own or other's people actions could affect them. Finally, you will try to make more reasonable estimations and consider multiple situations in case if something goes wrong.

Let's review some practical example.

In the table below we can see some typical morning schedule prepared using standard planning approach.

Time window	Planned tasks and appointments
9:00 - 9:20	Meeting with the boss
9:20 - 9:30	E-mail quick review
9:30 - 10:00	Discuss project details with colleagues
11:00 - 11:30	Prepare to negotiations with the client
11:30 - 12:00	Negotiations with the client

But what's wrong with it? The point is that this schedule looks too sleek to be real - in real life similar schedules involving many people never goes in that way that was planned. If something goes wrong the whole plan may became faulty. In this case very important appointment with a client may cause serious troubles if not enough preparations was made.

Let's try to make some prediction to the schedule and add comments.

Time window	Planned tasks and appointments	Comments based on prediction
9:00 - 9:20	Meeting with the boss	Very often meetings with the boss requires at least thirty or even forty minutes. I can't be sure that this will finish in twenty minutes.
9:20 - 9:30	E-mail quick review	Actually, I spend much more time with E-mail and new sites at the morning than ten minutes. Indeed, I never count how much.
9:30 - 10:00	Discuss project details with colleagues	Considering all above, this would never start and finish in time. Moreover, discussions may be long if not well-guided.
10:00 - 11:30	Prepare to negotiations with the client	If I do not find at least an hour and thirty minutes for preparations I can get into some troubles with the client.
11:30 - 12:00	Negotiations with the client	This should start exactly at 11:30. This client is very punctual. And I have to be prepared well.

Modified schedule using planning approach based on prediction is shown in the table below.

Time window	Planned tasks and appointments	Comments
9:00 - 9:20/9:40	Meeting with the boss	This can be long. I have to be prepared
Canceled	E-mail quick review	It is better to make this afternoon.
till 10:00	Discuss only most important project details with colleagues	I can't cancel this but I have to made this productive
10:00 - 11:30	Prepare to negotiations with the client	Nothing should prevent me from starting preparations at this time.
11:30 - 12:00	Negotiations with the client	If nothing unpredicted happens all should be OK.

As you can see, we received much more reasonable schedule which takes into account possible deviations caused by typical time-consuming situations. Also this schedule is flexible and focused on productivity marking out most important tasks and is much more "stress-proof" than traditional one.

In the end, I want to add that the example shows only little part of possibilities of this approach. You can not only predict possible time deviations in schedule but to do some preventive actions to avoid them. Also you can create branched schedules based on "What...If" analysis like flow chart in computer programming. Moreover, this technique is very effective on time prolonged periods such as long lasting projects.

Simple 7-step scientific approach to select tasks from To-Do list

ProductivityScience — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 09:27:00 -1300

Sometimes our To-Do list makes us to feel uncomfortable about choosing Next Action to do. The most unpleasant thing is that you have to decide. But in general people do not like to make decisions and it is rather normal than not.

I'll show you how to make this decision in most painless way.

Here is it:

1. Count items in your To-Do list.

2. Promise yourself to start with that task which number you will receive.

3. Put number of tasks into "Max" field of the widget on the right.

4. Click "Generate"

5. Read result - this is task number from your To-Do list.

6. Force yourself to keep promise from Step 2.

7. Remove completed tasks from list, repeat from Step 1.

The numbers generated by this widget come from RANDOM.ORG&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s true random number generator.

Looks simple, isn't it?

If you like this approach you may bookmark this page for later use.

PS. If you want to go by a less straight way, you may use this software.

Personal Motivation Calendar 2.3 is out

ProductivityScience — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 09:32:00 -1300

New version of Personal Motivation Calendar 2.3 released. Very nice new feature introduced: nagging - now it will stop you procrastinating every time you try to.

Take a look at this inspirational video made using Personal Motivational Calendar.

How to do what is right, not what is easy: setting priorities with the Time Management Matrix

ProductivityScience — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 04:18:00 -1300

Most people feel overwhelmed with a number of tasks standing in front of them each day. Instead of getting things done, often we just trying to make oneself busy getting paperwork moved or something else like this, and what is just easy and not what is right.

There is only one way to overcome this situation: we have to learn how to set priorities and do what is right, not what is easy.

The Time Management Matrix also known as four-quadrant To-Do list is very simple but highly effective tool to choose from your task list that tasks that should be your next actions. This matrix was used by Dwight Eisenhower and described in detail by Steven Covey, the author of a very popular book titled "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People". Randy Pausch also mentioned it in his famous Time Management Talk. Personal Motivation Calendar (PMC) implements it (you can read my intro to it here) and I'll use it to show how this approach works.

The main idea is that you don't find time for important things, you make it. Each task we can assign two characteristics - importance and urgency and place them to the appropriate quadrant on the matrix. Next, you have to follow your tasks from most important to less, even if some tasks are more urgent. People easily confuse importance and urgency, but you have to remember that importance and urgency are not the same - importance always has a higher priority.

Let's take an example from PMC help. Let's imagine you have the following tasks (some of them are your wishes and plans delayed for future):

Help a colleague with the computer
Review news sites
Make a presentation on the new product
Prepare a report requested by the boss
Learn Chinese
Open a personal blog
Learn the speed text typing technique

Some of these tasks are more important for you, some are less important. Some of them have to be done "for yesterday", some of them can wait.

Let's enter these tasks into PMC four-quadrant matrix in such way:

As you can see, currently most important task is to finish marketing report, next - is to prepare presentation. You have to start from these tasks and continue as shown on the picture (from 1 to 4):

In each category tasks have to be ordered from the most important ones to less important ones (from top to bottom):

As you can see, such task as help a colleague with a PC is not important to you in current situation. Of course, you can help him or her instead of getting your important things done, but will it save you from troubles not making your important work?

Also it is worth to say that tasks are not static - you can reorder tasks inside quadrants or move them between quadrants depending on current value of tasks for you.

The 5 ways to delegate your tasks to robots or automated services

ProductivityScience — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:10:00 -1300

Sometimes we spend too much time to do some kind of work that can be delegated. If you do not have your own subordinates at work or housemaid at home, it is not necessary to wait until robots became as usual as refrigerators are. Even today we can make more free time using robots or automated services.

Here is my list.

1. Robots from iRobot Corporation

Yes, it is about real robots that you can buy today. Though iRobot corporation produces robots for an US army, maybe you've heard about Roomba - autonomous vacuum cleaner that is available for everybody. Roomba is very fun toy but also it is useful - it can save a lot of time cleaning the house. You can read nice review of it here.

Currently iRobot offers wide range of different cleaners, but the most impressive thing that is currently available in limited quantities is ConnectR (pronounced as "connector") - they call it "virtual visiting" robot. Virtual visiting means that you can walk in your home, talk with others and see everything while you are actually thousand miles away. You just have to use notebook with broadband Internet connection and have wireless network at home available to the robot to make all it work. It is even hard to imagine all possible scenarios when this thing can save your time with its virtual visiting feature.

2. Online shops and ordering services

Do you know how much time you spend for shopping? Most people everyday drive their car to supermarket spending hours each week to buy almost the same batch of food. Today we have wide choice of services that allow to make orders without wasting time (like Freshdirect.com).

You can use Internet or mobile phone to make individual orders or customize regular orders for you. If you subscribe for regular orders, you may receive a reasonable discount.

3. Automated bill paying and online banking

We have to pay a lot of bills on a regular basis. Most banks have a feature to automate bill paying and provide online access to account management. You can subscribe to such services and greatly reduce number of visits you have to make to a bank.

Currently online banking is a secure way to make your transactions, especially if bank provides hardware security token devices.

4. Voice-to-Document service

If you hate typing text on a computer keyboard or have to type a huge amount of text, you may like Voice-to-Document service (http://www.speak-write.com) - you can record dictation, submit it to the service and receive electronic version of the text for a reasonable price (starting from 1.25 cents per word). This service uses highly trained personnel, you even can order to type legal texts requiring the use of a legal transcriptionist or a group conversation involving more than one person talking.

5. Automated routine operations at your computer

Most people intensively using a computer often repeat some typical operations. In most cases such operations can be automated and run very fast with a one keystroke or a menu command.

You can use program's built-in features to run macros - all programs in Microsoft Office provide such functionality or use some third-party add-ons and software. For example, for Firefox browser you can install plugin Morning Cofee that keeps track of daily routines and opens them in tabs.

You can use very popular and free software Autohotkey that is capable to record keyboard and mouse actions, remap keys, react to commands from hand-held remote controls and even create executable file from script that runs on any computer even without Autohotkey installed. Here is good article in PC Magazine describing how to use this program to save time.

You can add in comments more robots and services that you are using to free up more time.

Are your ready for hardcore approach to productivity? (Personal Motivation Calendar review)

ProductivityScience — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 23:24:00 -1300

Problems can't stop you. Most of all, other people can't stop you. Only you can stop you.

-- Jeffrey Gitomer.

Time is limited. Are you new to this? Of course not. But how do you live with this? Maybe you are trying not to think about time like Futureheads do? But how it helps not to waste time?

Maybe, you are well-motivated person, doing only important things in your life, never waste time and always reach any target that you've set for yourself? (Frankly, I do not know personally anybody who completely meets such criteria's, though, maybe, I've seen such person on TV or read about in some book...) But if not, you have to change something in your life, of course, if you want not to regret about wasted time and lost battle with laziness someday in the future.

I am not afraid to think about the time. I believe that we have enough time in this World to make something important. And the only thing that really matters is how you are using your time.

Personal Motivation Calendar is an unique software, though it's interface is simple and isn't shiny and cool, it does not affect on exceptional functionality - this software pushes you forward on your tasks, helping you to fight with laziness. Remember: time is not your enemy, your laziness is your real enemy. And you need something that helps you to fight against this enemy, in practice, this means something that nags you about important things and kicks you to do anything important. And Personal Motivation Calendar really helps me with this.

Indeed, I made it for myself several years ago. And it changed my life significantly. Many people interested in such thing and I decided to make a commercial product from it. The price ($30) is really not high and I have many satisfied customers, often receive letter of thanks and ideas how to improve the program.

But before you can use Personal Motivation Calendar you have to be ready for it. You have to be honest to myself and ready to work hard to reach your dreams. You do not have to search reasons why something can't be done, you have to get it done. Remember: "Only you can stop you".

The program is very simple - at top you can see the calendar of your life where all past years, month and days are stroked out. Below you can see clock in progress bar view and unusual 100-hour format (also displays in System Tray). The bottom part of the program displays your tasks in useful four-quadrant representation where you can prioritize them on urgency and importance.

Also Personal Motivation Calendar can display inspirational quotations while your computer is idle and has built-in handy GTD-Timer that is great for GTD two-minute rule.

If you are feeling that your laziness wins, you can click MotivateMe! link and read some recommendations how to stop procrastinating.

It's free to try for 15 days - it is completely enough to decide if you are really ready for it (yes, not everyone is ready for it, because it is hardcore approach indeed).

Download link is here, buy link is here.

Top 10 Google Chrome features to boost your productivity

ProductivityScience — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 08:24:00 -1300

Are you know that Google launched its own browser called Chrome? Already using it? It's good, but if not - you are losing in productivity, because it is first browser designed with productivity in mind, and I have 10 reasons to show you why.

And, please, do not mind of its "Beta" status - Gmail still Beta since 2004, but this does not prevent millions of people from successfully using it every day.

1. Ultimate browser speed

Chrome is very fast. To render pages it uses one of the fastest engine WebKit, but when it comes to the JavaScript execution, it has an exceptional speed. An innovative JavaScript engine developed by Google called "V8" runs in comparison to other browsers as fast as supercar compared to a bicycle. What does that mean? It means that you can open more complicated sites (especially Ajax-enabled ones like Gmail) and be more comfortable than with any another known browser. Also Chrome lets you to be more productive on a PC that is not a high-end for today.

2. Integrated search into address bar

Unlike any other known browser, Google Chrome does not divide address bar and site search pane. You have to type address you want to open or search string you want to find into one combined box. When you type Chrome looks through addressed previously visited by you and like Google Suggest service makes queries to the search service in real time. If you just type a string (not domain name) and hit Enter, you'll open search results with this string. It is really cool feature that will save you a lot of time, but it requires a bit of adaptation do get most of it.

3. New tab opens with your favorite links and most visited pages

If you launch a new browser window or just open a new empty tab, you are ready to visit some site, aren't you? If you are not a newbie to Internet, it is very high probability that you'll open one site from you bookmarks or will go to any other site that you like the most, even if it is not stored in your bookmarks. Google Chrome helps you in such scenario opening not empty window, but some kind of a visual menu displaying your bookmarks, most visited pages and recently closed tabs. Such feature will save you a lot of time, greatly reducing a number of clicks and keyboard strokes you have to make every day surfing the Internet.

4. Get most of your screen

Google Chrome economically uses your screen space - that means that you can view more information at one time and have less time losses to scrolling. It has no main menu bar that some other browsers have and display on top of the window even if not needed. Also Chrome does not display status bar, just popups ribbons which disappears when not needed. Also size of title and address bars noticeably smaller than other popular browsers (as displayed on image). Yes, you can customize any other browser to have minimalistic look, but you'll loose in productivity compared to optimized out of the box interface in Chrome.

5. One-click bookmarks with categorizing

Like FireFox 3, Google Chrome displays a star near address bar where you can click to add a bookmark. You do not have to, but if you want, you can name your bookmark or choose a folder for it. This convenient feature greatly simplifies dealing with bookmarks and is a bit more considered than FF3 has.

6. Shortcuts to web apps

With Google Chrome you can make shortcuts to your favorite Web services like regular applications on your Desktop, Start Menu or Quick Launch Bar. When you activate such shortcut, Chrome starts with simplified interface without address bar. With a such feature you do not have to start browser first to open you favorite Web service. Although another browsers provide similar approach opening shortcuts, they do not modify interface and do not free space on the screen.

7. Offline mode based on Google Gears

Chrome introduces offline mode based on Google Gears technology. This mode allows to continue work with supported sites even if Internet connection is closed. Actually, in this mode browser browser works like operating system running application and providing a disk space for it. Now, with offline mode in Chrome your productivity is not bound to permanent Internet connection, you can take a part of the Web where you want.

8. Tabs management

Chrome raises tabs management to a really new level. You can reorder your tabs, drag them between different browser windows and even put them out of browser to open new window. This feature is especially useful when you prefer multi-monitor workplace.

9. Independent processes for opened tabs

Each tab in Google Chrome opens as a separate process in operating system. This means that you are protected now against possible browser crashes - if one window or tab fails, all other will run without any consequences and you do not have to restart a browser and reopen all tabs. Also independent processes for browser windows are optimized for speed on modern multicore CPU's.

10. Incognito mode

Google Chrome introduces "Incognito mode" where you can open links without any activity recorded to browser history. How this can increase your productivity? Very simple: you do not have to waste your time to clean out activity recorded by browser.

Review of official GTD online service GTD Connect from David Allen Company

ProductivityScience — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:03:00 -1300

GTD Connect is an official online service from David Allen Company and is accessible via site davidco.com (you can directly get here click this link: http://gtdconnect.com).

GTD Connect is supplied on a subscription basis and price is not cheap - $480 for a year ($48 for a month, two months you'll receive for free if you pay for a year), but sounds reasonable for always busy business people to whom promised "to make life easier".

It is possible now to register for free and try the service for a two weeks. In this article I'll try to make a review of the service helping you to decide with a subscription.

Let's look what promised for subscribers:

The world's largest collection of GTD multimedia content (audio, video and text), with more added on a regular basis.
Sixteen Getting Started Modules (video and audio) delivered right to your email inbox.
Exclusive videos of David's coaching and insights.
An extensive collection of essays on topics from managing email to prioritizing and goal setting.
Interviews with leading productivity experts, technology gurus and leaders in business, education and non-profit organizations.
Member forums where you can learn from and share with others – about technology, work life mix, implementing GTD – whatever is on your mind.
Weekly reminders and reinforcement pushed directly to your email, when and where you ask for it.
Social networking features that can help you to find other GTD Connect members in your city or state.

Looks promising. Let's try to register.

Registering

When registering, you'll be asked to complete a profile including personal information (it is not mandatory to fill all fields) and some productivity-specific questions, for example "What Belt would you give to yourself?". While choosing a belt, you'll receive very descriptive recommendations helping to decide at which step growing to GTD-Ninja you are. Despite of that, I am well-organized and high productive person, I can't receive any belt higher than White because I do not emptying my inbox to zero.

The Main Page layout introduces to you access to 16 Getting Started modules, GTD-Q system, David's column, video materials and some dynamic information - latest activity and upcoming seminars list. At the bottom of the page you'll see personal intention journal (we'll talk about this later) and inspirational quotations.

Let's look deeper at theses features.

Features of the service

"Getting Started" section contains professionally prepared videos and audio recordings that intended to make a quick introduction into GTD system. All who are not new to GTD maybe do not find anything new there, but for all others it is highly recommended to start your GTD-travel there. Anyway, it is very good multimedia variant of the original GTD book and I can recommend it to anybody, even if you have a Black Belt on GTD - you'll definitely find something new and useful.

But most interesting thing on GTD Connect is exclusive content - articles, whitepapers, electronically available issues of GTD Journal (where Editor is David Allen) and more in PDF format good for printing. When you'll get access to most recent exclusive articles written by GTD gurus, you'll feel like a GTD-master too.

GTD-Q is an assessment (currently in Beta status) to examine how organized, productive and sane your life is. It differs from GTD Belt because Belt is assigned on your GTD performance but GTD-Q tests your way of life and does not use any GTD-specific features or questions.

You can re-run GTD-Q assessment as many time as you want after you have reached some advancements in your life, and see your progress in terms of control and perspective on the graph.

GTD-Q is a really helpful feature to find out areas of life that need an improvement. You can start here and understand where to move further.

Another interesting feature of GTD Connect is exclusive forum where you can ask or answer questions and share your experience on learning GTD with active community. Although on the site exists public version of the forum, the closed one is more structured and well-supported by DavidCo staff, you even can meet David Allen here answering questions.

GTD Connect is highly customizable. When you complete your profile, you'll receive a list of materials recommended to review in a special personal section "My GTD Solutions". Whereas a lot of materials on the site, this feature is very helpful, especially for very busy people.

And one important thing more - GTD Connect is not only sort of closed resource for chosen only, but also an effective online service to set up tasks and priorities. You have tab MyConnect here where you can setup remainders for any of your objectives and get them via e-mail (personal intention journal). Once a week (you choose the day) you'll receive weekly reminder with text written by David Allen helping to motivate your to Get Your Things Done.

Conclusion

I have very positive impression from GTD Connect. It is live service with a great content and community. If you are fan of GTD, you'll definitely like this service and enjoy it, especially access to exclusive content or even possibility to consult with such iconic person as David Allen. If you are simply trying to implement GTD and know price of your own time, you'll receive great support and motivation from this service for a reasonable price. Anyway, you can check this service for free and make your own conclusion, just visit this link.

Is it true that GTD becomes mainstream Time Management approach?

ProductivityScience — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:55:00 -1300

David Allen's approach "Getting Things Done" (GTD) is very popular now, though is relatively young. Although in official definition of GTD it's author avoids using term "Time Management", we could consider GTD as one of the Time Management variations. Readers who are not new to Time Management, know that like Allen today, there were other famous names referred to Time Management in past, for example, Alan Lakein and Stephen Covey.

I made some research using Google Trends to determine how changes popularity of GTD with time and compared it with Time Management itself.

Next graph shows how fast GTD popularity grew from 2004 to mid-2008. Starting from his first book Getting things Done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity published in 2001, David Allen managed to greatly improve success of his approach. And it is no surprise that search popularity of GTD grew rapidly.

But how GTD popularity is compared with Time Management itself? If you look at next graph you'll see some unexpected results: on the same period as GTD popularity grew, the Time Management popularity noticeably decreased!

How to interpret received results? The most simple and obvious interpretation stated at the caption: GTD becomes mainstream Time Management approach and even more - it step-by-step substitutes the wider philosophy with more narrow system. We can't say definitely is it good or bad, but what is absolutely clear is that GTD now is strong as never before.

Introducing Time-Management-Portal.com

ProductivityScience — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:50:00 -1300

Introducing a new Web 2.0 project - The World's largest news feed from time-management, productivity, self-development and GTD blogs - Time-Management-Portal.com.

If you like reading this kind of blogs, you'll definitely like the Time Management Portal. Maybe this site become your most visiting page of the day!

Time Management Portal constantly scans a huge number of popular blogs focused on time management and displays most recent entries in a ribbon. Each entry is started with a small preview image which you can enlarge by hovering mouse pointer over it. Feed updated every 15 minutes, the time of last update is shown at top header in a local format. Refresh page to get most recent records, scroll down to automatically load more records to display.

All posts are arranged by posting date and time - there is no rating or any other system to rearrange posts in ribbon. Thus all scanned blogs are equal!

If you are owner of the interesting blog on time management, productivity, GTD and self-development, or just know a link to site worth adding to Time Management Portal, do not hesitate to post link in comments to this post and you'll see your site on Time Management Portal. (You can review list of all scanned blogs here).

Visit Time Management Portal, just click this link.

Image below illustrates web page preview with mouse hovering over thumbnail:

PS. Do you have any ideas to improve this project? Feel free to post comments here...

Why emptying your inbox is dangerous for your productivity and how to keep sanity without Inbox Zero

ProductivityScience — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:33:00 -1300

It is popular now to blog about empty mailbox or "Inbox Zero" approach. That idea is now hot and most people even do not realize that exists alternate ways to manage a huge amount of e-mail and keep sanity. I'll show you the one.

First of all I need to say that I get tons of e-mails every day. I have nearly two dozens of e-mail accounts organized mostly on different activities and each of them continuously brings e-mail. It is hard to say precisely, but I surely receive more than one thousand e-mails every day including e-mail lists that I am subscribed. I can handle this amount of e-mail relatively easily, but I do not try to make inbox empty - it simply would take all my time and even more.

I'll try to show you in 5 steps how to be more effective than that people who try to make their inbox empty.

1. Powerful e-mail client significantly simplifies e-mail handling. The first thing I want to say is that good instrument always worth all money spent on it. I prefer Microsoft Outlook (full version, not Express) to manage my e-mail because it is almost infinitely flexible adapting to my needs. It is not cheap but definitely worth all money spent on it. There are a lot of other e-mail clients but I haven't seen anything that is close to Outlook. This point is important because e-mail client should be much more than just tool to download messages from server and read them, it should allow you to process and organize your messages in that way that fits your needs. And Outlook has one very useful feature: it allows to flag e-mails requiring action and you can view all flagged messages in special search folder. When e-mail is marked as "done" it disappears from that folder. Recently I switched all my e-mail lists to Gmail to save bandwidth and also because this service groups messages by subject in convenient threads and allows to label e-mails. The combination Outlook+Gmail works really good.

2. E-mails are not the same. Another important thing is that e-mail messages have different value: from useless spam to high priority correspondence with customers or top managers. As e-mails are different, we should react to them differently too: spam should be deleted, high priority e-mail should call for action and most other messages should be quickly scanned just for information. Of course, you do not have to answer to all incoming e-mail and most messages do not require anything more then reading them. Most e-mail clients distinguish read and unread messages. You can easily understand what messages where read and do not have to do anything like moving them to special folder just to make inbox empty, even more: it is dangerous for you productivity because doing anything that is not directly related to your tasks is a kind of procrastination (more about this in step 4).

3. Better store than delete. If you do not hunt for empty inbox you may store you messages inside inbox forever. Do you ever think why you have to delete your e-mail? Maybe to save space? But text messages take miserable part of disk space on modern computers, for messages with attachments just trim attachments. Maybe old e-mails can distract your attention? It is not serious argument, more better to leave you messages untouched because you don't know when you may need them again.

I know one instructive story with my friend:

His job was to support complex software system developed by outside organization. Although he was extremely good technical specialist, the system was enormous buggy and his work looked like hell. Anyway, day by day by spending hours to pull out important information from original developers by e-mail he achieved significant progress in stabilizing that system and adopting it to normal work. Though his boss was not satisfied with his progress and raised a question about his professional capabilities and was going to fire him. Just to show volumes of his work my friend printed out all correspondence with developers of the system and it took more than five hundred sheets of paper printed with small font on double sides. The boss understood that he was incorrect and doubled my friend's salary and later promoted him. Is it worth to tell what would be happen if my friend did not wisely store all correspondence and deleted all messages?

If you store all your e-mail you do not have to waste time to extract important information from it. For example here is reasonable recommendations how to manage serial numbers in Gmail (and this way is suitable for Outlook 2007 too).

4. Emptying inbox is a support operation. Doing anything else than solving your useful tasks even if it looks useful but it is not necessary, is a kind of procrastination. For any kind of useful task we can find a lot of relatively useful but absolutely not necessary support operations. For example, before writing report for you boss we can reorder all thing at our desk, but is it necessary for the report? Definitely, no. Emptying inbox is a kind of support operation: it may help you to organize your information but does not make your closer to your targets. If you simply deny idea to hunt for empty inbox, you will save considerable amount of time and energy to make your useful work.

5. Your inbox is not your To-Do list. Actually, it is the most important thing that I want to say. Relatively small part of e-mails requires action, most of actions such as replies could be managed using GTD 2-minute rule and only few e-mails require a new record in To-Do list. Of course, you can use your inbox as To-Do list and even send e-mail to yourself to put them in inbox, but for my opinion it is a bad idea because it is not good when anyone can make a new record in your To-Do list, isn't it? Remember: anybody can send e-mail to you, but only you alone should manage your To-Do list.

And now it is time to summarize: if you do not treat your inbox as To-Do list, you do not have to make it empty, even more: hunting for empty inbox is useless waste of time and energy. Powerful e-mail client will allow you to handle e-mail flexible and you can be far more productive if you do not even try to keep your inbox empty. And it is very useful for your sanity too.

And how to handle huge amount of emails I'll show you next time, please, subscribe to my feed.

Which temperature is best for your productivity?

ProductivityScience — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:47:00 -1300

It is summer now. Outdoor temperature raises to unseen peaks and only air conditioner can help you to stay smooth. No doubt that temperature influences your productivity. But how? And what temperature is best for office productivity to setup your air conditioner? Let's find out.

In majority of cases existing standards for the temperature of the work environment allows wide temperature range from 65° F (18° C) to 88° F (31° C) depending on working conditions. But this range is quite lengthy and most people feel uncomfortable working outside relatively short 'comfort zone'.

Scientific studies confirm that indoor temperature can significantly impact on productivity and most performing 'comfort zone' lays between 72° F (22° C) and (77° F) 25° C. The graph below based on research by Helsinki University of Technology 'Effect of Temperature on Task Performance in Office Environment' shows how relative productivity changes with the temperature.

As you can see, the productivity changes significantly and highest performance achieved in relatively short peak between 70° F (21° C) and 73° (23° C). Outside 63° F (17° C) and 82° F (28° C) temperature range the productivity decreases more than 5% and significantly impacts on workers ability to work and even can influence health.

Though most scientific researches return close results, on the other hand there are some differences. Scientific studies on the subject performed by Cornell University concludes that most convenient temperature for best office performance is at 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius). When the office temperature is outside this mark the productivity decreases (research was attended mostly to temperature decreases).

"At 77 degrees Fahrenheit, the workers were keyboarding 100 percent of the time with a 10 percent error rate, but at 68 degrees, their keying rate went down to 54 percent of the time with a 25 percent error rate."

It is important to add that most comfortable temperature for best performance can be determined only on personal level and it depends on physiological characteristics of a human. For example, plump people prefer a little lower temperature than thin people.

Thus while using air conditioner remember, that it is important not even to overheat yourself but also not overcool too. Productivity Science recommends to setup range between 71° F (22° C) and 77° F (25° C) on you air conditioner remote control and maybe it is good to try different temperatures in this range to find most appropriate for your performance.

Simple paperless todolisting with smartphone and MS Outlook

ProductivityScience — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:50:00 -1300

I hate writing on paper - especially making paper todolists. I do not like to stick that little yellow sheets of paper on my workplace because it is not as helps to remember to do something as distracts my attention. Also it so easy to lost that important task list with notes written on paper that sometimes it prevents do get into work at all. And frankly I love trees.

There is very simple way not to jam mind with tasks and do not use paper at all - just use Outlook e-mail software from MS Office and synchronize notes on the Outlook with notes on the smartphone (my personal recommendation is a QWERTY-smartphone with Symbian OS from Nokia like E61, E71, E90 or any Windows-mobile smartphone with touchscreen).

I take my smartphone everywhere and have a rule: do not write anything on paper if I can write it on the smartphone. If I am working with my laptop I use standard synchronization software to synchronize notes on the smartphone with notes on the laptop (the last one is much convenient to review and edit lists). I can use both of them to make corrections on the TO-DO list, remove completed or add new tasks.

This way is simple and convenient, do not requires any additional software or web service. If you do not have MS Office suite you can use any other software to maintain task list on a PC.

Of course, if you want to get paper version of your TO-DO list you can simply print it. But always remember about trees...

Speed-up your computer productivity with Launchy

ProductivityScience — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:40:00 -1300

How do you start your programs? Let I tell you: it depends of kind of program do you want to start. In most cases you press 'Start' button on screen or 'Windows' key on keyboard and open a start menu. Some users (such as me) have tons on software installed on PC and this menu is so overfilled that user has to spend some minutes to hunt through it to launch some program that used not very often to remember where it is hidden.

Another way is to open folder containing you files in Explorer and double click on some file to open program associated with it. If you want to open some address on the Web you have to open browser first. Of course you may create shortcuts on your programs, files or Web addresses on Desktop or Quick Start menu but you have to choose first which programs or documents you use more often to setup shortcuts for them. It is not as easy as it looks.

Is it another way to greatly simplify and speed-up opening documents, Web addresses and launching programs? Yes, it is free software called Launchy.

Simply press Alt+Space combination and program window appears where you can type a part of program's or document's name. Launchy tries to guess which program or file you are looking for and will launch it when you press enter key. It is worth to try - I am sure you will like it.

Just watch a video on YouTube how Launchy works.

How to unblock access to attachments in Microsoft Outlook 2007

ProductivityScience — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:30:00 -1300

Here is our video tutorial how to allow access to attachments blocked by Microsoft Outlook using AgileEra Outlook Attachment Security Administrator 2008 (you may receive following message: 'Outlook blocked access to the following potentially unsafe attachments: [...]').

Welcome to Productivity Science!

ProductivityScience — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:49:00 -1300

Productivity Science is a new blog for modern people that are intrested to do more work for a less time. I'll give to you unique tips and show most intresting videos on productivity, time-management and GTD. Subscribe to RSS and stay tuned!

PS. And some to add. English is not my native language. I try my best to do it well but my current language skills are too far from being perfect. Please forgive me my mistakes and do not hesistate to post corrections in comments.