Saturday, July 26, 2008

My Productivity Tools

My Productivity Tools and Techniques

pro·duc·tive (prə duktiv, prō-) adjective

  1. producing abundantly; fertile productive soil, a productive mind

  2. marked by abundant production or effective results a productive day

  3. bringing as a result (with of) war is productive of much misery

  4. Econ. of or engaged in the creating of economic value, or the producing of goods and services

  5. Linguis. designating any affix or method which can be and still is used to make new forms “non-” is a productive prefix

Etymology: ML productivus <>productus, pp. of producere: see produce

From YourDictionary.com

We all want to be productive. We all have limited resources in everything we do and nearly limitless demands on our resources. Our time is usually the most limited of the resources and those demands on our resources include work, family, friends, school, video games, blogging...

There are lots of things we can do to become more productive and there are many blogs, seminars, books that try to teach us how to be more productive. Over the next few weeks (or months depending upon the other draws on my time), I'll write about the tools and techniques I use to be more productive.

I'm no productivity expert or life coach. I'm a married father of three young kids, working in corporate America, attending Business School at the University of Washington, who enjoys cooking and getting into the outdoors. I'm a geek when it comes to computers. My kids are involved in competitive swimming and I telecommute (though as I type this in early March, I am on a plane on my way to Oakland for a week long meeting).

This list is not a “woe is me” list; its not about how tough I have it. I know that I have a lot of things going for me. The list is meant to illustrate some of those competing demands on my time. With all those things going on, things that my wife and I have chosen to do, I need to be able to best use my time.

Tools and Techniques

Getting Things Done

Remember the Milk

Jott

ScanR

Online Grocery Shopping

Note taking

Online Banking

Google Calendar

Google Documents

Gmail

Grand Central


Over the course of the next few months, I'll post write ups on each of these tools.


I have Roger to thank for the inspiration behind this series. I wrote about some Web 2.0 resources I used and he asked for a review and this is what it turned into.

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