Productivity

Productivity is less about time management than it is about mind management.

Simple, straightforward, and totally true. Of course the idea applies to just about anything we do that’s more parts procrastination than getting things done. Time is static, and you can’t really do much to manage it. Your mind, on the other hand… that thing can really wander.

GTD (Getting Things Done) is the most effective way I’ve found so far to manage my mind and tasks. It stands on five “pillars,” or steps to getting and staying organized:

1. Capture everything. Write it down, record the sound, screenshot, copy text, photograph it or make a video – do anything the capture what’s on your mind – every time.
2. Clarify the things you have to do. With every item that you captured ask “whats the next action?”
3. Organize those actionable items by category and priority.
4. Reflect daily on your to-do list.
5. Do.

This short video might help explain the benefits of this to you better than I can do here:

To save myself from a hard-drive failure and losing all my work, or simply to have my files accessible wherever I am in the world, this is how I organise anything that can be captured digitally:

• Dropbox (paid version) – photos, videos, music, project files and anything else that doesn’t fit into the categories below
• Evernote (paid version) – all thoughts, snippets from the web, and tasks to do
• SkyDrive – any Microsoft office documents
• Google Drive – any other text, spreadsheet, presentation or form documents
• Gmail – all contact information
• LastPass (paid version) – any login information that I need

I use paid versions of the applications to access extra features and security on my mobile and tablet, and thankfully can be sure that if I lose any of my devices for whatever reason, I can still access my information….