Over on the Notes on Productivity blog, I asked Notes users two questions about what gets in the way, when implementing GTD in Lotus Notes.

If you currently use, have tried using, or are considering using Lotus Notes as your GTD implementation tool, I hope you will post your thoughts...

Productivity Countdown

Friday, May 23rd, 2008
eProductivity Countdown ClockI usually do OK tracking individual actions and small and medium sized projects. These are items for which I can easily envision the completed state - I know what "done" will look like and I know I will mark these complete in a few days or weeks. Sometimes, however, I have projects where the completion date is not days or weeks ahead but months or years ahead. I find those harder to keep in front of me. Even with regular review, I sometimes find it hard to keep a sense of time about a project that is off in the distant future.

As I prepare to launch eProductivity, a GTD implementation tool for Lotus Notes, I need to keep one or two key milestones in sight at all times. Specifically, we have a few big milestones - things like "launch web site" or "Prepare for meeting with David" or "Deliver presentation to IBM" that we have been working on for many months or in the case of the product launch, several years.

Several months ago, I watched a NASA Shuttle mission video and I was inspired by their countdown clock and their mission elapsed clock. I decided that I needed my own countdown clock, so I decided to create one for myself.

eProductivity Countdown Clocks for my team - notice dancing Ian?Starting with a countdown clock mechanism that I purchased on-line, I created a custom clock face and built five eProductivity countdown clocks. I set each one to the date of a key milestone. I kept one clock for myself and I sent the other four to key people on my team. Now, I have a tangible reminder of the event and the time remaining to complete. I've had the clock on my desk for a few months now and it's been a fun reminder of an event that I am looking forward to. The key question "What's your next action?" keeps me focused on the little things that I need to accomplish to achieve my goal.

It's been a fun way to get things done.

Happy 37th Birthday, Ian

Sunday, May 18th, 2008
DancingIan.gif

Getting Nothing Done with Fire and Water

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
Several of us recently got together at David Allen's house for a casual get-together. For some of us, me at least, it was the first time to see David since he surfaced from writing his soon-to-be-bestseller GTD book #3, Making it all work.

David's been submerged in the details of the book writing for some time and, with the current draft off to the publisher, it was time to hang out.
20080503-DavidAndEricE90.jpg
David and I got a few minutes to geek out with the new Nokia E90 Executive Communicator and talk about Notes 8. (We kept the geek talk to a minimum.)  



Then, we visited with several of the David Allen Company team in David and Kathryn's way cool "outdoor living room".
Continue Reading "Getting Nothing Done with Fire and Water" »
Mother'sDayBible.jpgPastor Roger gave a fitting sermon for mother's day in church today. After the usual formalities, including reading Proverbs 31, extolling the virtues of  The Excellent Wife, Roger asked this question: How can a husband can honor the mother of his children'?

Research has been done that says that the most number of things we can remember is seven plus or minus one. Well, guys, let's start with two;. I want to take a look at two things we can do as husbands to love the mother of our children:

How can a husband honor the mother of his children'?


1. By recognizing his own God-ordained role in the family

Men, we have a responsibility to lead our family, to care for our family, and to protect it.  Too many of us fail to do this. It's more than a missed opportunity -- it's our responsibility.

2. By loving the mother of his children with sacrificial love

Men, we are called to love our wives as Christ loved the church. (Ephesians 5:25) Our children are watching what we do and how we treat their mother; they will learn more from what we DO than what we say. This will impact them and future generations (our grandchildren). Are you loving the mother of your children sacrificially?

Of course, there is much more that we can do, but I think these two points get to the core of our role and responsibility.  Still, there are so many areas in which I can improve. How are you doing with this?

I'm blessed to have a wife that is a living and godly example of an excellent wife to her children. She is my Proverbs 31 wife. (yes, including Prov 31:21). I hope and pray that my daughters will grow up to be like their mother.

Her children do call her blessed and she deserves my praise.

Happy Mother's Day, Kathy.

143
Perhaps this post should have been called, "Microsoft may force me to switch to a Mac" (If you want to help and are short on time, follow the link at the end of this post.)

I have been running Windows XP for many years. Other than my unfortunate experience with Toshiba and the Tecra M4 Tablet, my experience with XP has been excellent. Since moving to my Lenovo T60p I have had the most reliable and productive work system in my experience. As many of you may know, Microsoft has announced the end of XP, however, their replacement, Vista, has not been well received by the IT community. (I do run Vista on my wonderful Lenovo X61 Tablet PC and as a Tablet OS it's the best, but I do feel like my productivity has taken a huge hit compared to XP.)

If I were forced to choose between Vista and a Mac OS on my primary machine,
Continue Reading "Microsoft: Save Windows XP! (or I'll switch to a Mac?)" »
Michael, this one's for you. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Mimics my own experience - especially the part about trying to move things on screen.

Warning. This guy is really upset and, toward the end,  uses a few curse words to express that. (Sorry, I guess he's really upset with Apple.)

Have a great day. I'm off to reload my Vista PC; it keeps bluescreening.

Via: GTD Times
I'm in Newport Beach today, attending the GTD Mastering Workflow Seminar. Although I've been to about a dozen GTD and MAP* seminars over the past 15 years, I continue to learn something new each and every time I attend.

20080502GTDMasteringWorkflow.jpgKelly Forrister is our presenter today, so I'm certain it will be a great day of learning and fun with a group of people committed to getting things done at work and play.  I've had the good fortune to work with Kelly at four different organizations over the past 15 years. She's as passionate as I am about productivity and she's also a geek and we share a mutual interest for high-tech gear to support our productive lifestyle. (If you haven't done so, check out Kelly's blog.) Oh, and did I mention that Kelly uses Lotus Notes? She and I have been using Lotus Notes productivity since the early R3/R4 days.

Continue Reading "GTD Mastering Workflow with Kelly Forrister" »