Archive for the ‘General Items’ Category

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Shiny New Theme - Illacrimo from Design Disease

Author: Andrew Mason

3 Jan

Well,

Short of paying $1400 for a fantastic Unique Theme from Unique Blog Designs, as done by ShoeMoney, John Chow, and Kieron, I have changed my theme to the Illacrimo Theme from Design Disease.

I spent some time looking around the web for Themes for this blog and was quite surprised how many exist, and also how many of these are quite bad. A lot of the themes require quite a bit of work to get them looking something like.

When the finances permit, I will go for a more unique theme and brand for this site. One alternative I have found to Unique Blog Designs is a service from the UK called PSD2HTML. These guys take a PSD design file and create standards compliant CSS and HTML code. One option they offer is to create a WordPress theme based upon your design. So, you can get a PSD design done the way you like it, and then these guys create you a Wordpress template for around $300. Sounds cool and I would love to hear from anybody who has used these.

I would love to hear any comments you have about my new theme and if it works OK with your browsers. I have tested it in most and apart from a problem with the WordPress MORE tag, all seems fine.

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Things - GTD System Reviewed at LifeHacker

Author: Andrew Mason

2 Jan

I mentioned Things, the new Mac GTD application in a previous post.

I have just read a pretty good review of the Alpha release of Things over at LifeHacker.com

I have briefly toyed with Things, but I am spending a lot of my GTD research time right now still with OmniFocus, which I must admit I am loving and the daily updates are bringing new features to the party all the time.

It is a fantastic time to be a Mac owner, and into Getting Things Done. I cannot wait to fully review all these new GTD applications.

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Filed under: GTD General, General Items

Happy New Year

Author: Andrew Mason

1 Jan

Here’s wishing you all a Happy New Year.

Let’s try to make 2008 a more productive year than 2007.

For myself 2007 was a very challenging year for me. I left a company which I had founded, and worked on for five years. It was a big decision but the best I had ever made. Sometimes in life you get stuck in a rut, and you need a jolt to get you out of the rut. I had the good salary, pretty good work, close to home, but I was not happy. Things were not being run the way I liked and direction was not heading in the way it should. So, it took a pretty big decision, but totally the right one to jump ship and run with an idea that I had for a new company.

The new company, RandomStorm set sail in May of 2007 and has been going great. It is always slow introducing a new company into established markets but we have managed to obtain a foothold and the future for the company is looking really bright. I have a house, wife, four children and a dog to look after so that always motivates me to succeed. My destiny is my own once again, just the way I like it!

So, I wish you every success in 2008 and hope you keep reading my blog of tips and tricks that I use to manage my extremely busy life!

All the Best

Andrew Mason.

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Filed under: GTD General, General Items

Getting Things Done GTD on Your iPhone

Author: Andrew Mason

30 Dec

Just watched this video on YouTube for Nozbe on the iPhone, iNozbe.

Now, I haven't yet played with Nozbe, as I tend to be a bit of an offline app love for GTD and don't really know how the online version would be for myself.

The app seems pretty cool on the iPhone. The fact you have to log in etc.. and the general slow time to get things entered would see me grabbing for my Moleskine anyday!

Anyway, check out the video, and I promise one day to fully review Nozbe.

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Filed under: GTD General, General Items

Things - New Mac Getting Things Done Application

Author: Andrew Mason

30 Dec

I have just been having a good look at a new GTD application to hit the scene. It is called Things, and comes from CulturedCode.com.

I have not yet had chance to play with it although I have signed up to their newsletter so hopefully I will get on the Alpha/Beta program to test it out.

Must admit that it does "look" nice. I am still Alpha testing OmniFocus and I have migrated most of my projects and next actions away from iGTD to OmniFocus now. Must admit that I am loving OmniFocus. They just seem to have thought of so many keystroke saving usability functions that it makes using it a dream. I must admit that Things seems to "look" nicer than OmniFocus, but when I review them both I will report back on the findings.

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What’s Wrong With New Years Resolutions?

Author: Andrew Mason

28 Dec

It has come to that time of the year again!

I heard it on the radio on the way home from work today about how many people set, and break their New Years Resolutions.

The timeless classic for the New Years resolution is to lose weight, improve your appearance.

This is normally an automatic next action after a festive season of over indulgence! 8 lbs is the average weight gain in the UK over the festive period, and I can talk first hand of people who love nothing more than to drink and be merry over Christmas and the New Year.

Most of these people will have at some time set a News Years resolution. I know that for years I did. Most of the time, the resolutions were pretty much the same every year, and it seemed like the correct thing to do, to let people know that you were going to make an effort in the New Year.

I live and breath goals, next actions, and projects, yet I have not set a New Years resolution for years! Keep reading to find out why..

I kind of disagree with the idea behind New Years resolutions, and would like to share my thoughts into why I think they are flawed, and how they can be improved.

January the 1st occurs once each year, and this is normally brought with a swollen head from too much alcohol and the first line from Rabbie Burns' Auld Lang Syne. How many of us have made New Years Resolutions?

Let's take a snippet from Wikipedia to see what a New Years Resolution is defined as..

A New Year's Resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. The name comes from the fact that these commitments normally go into effect on New Year's Day and remain until the set goal has been achieved, although many resolutions go unachieved and are often broken fairly shortly after they are set.

Hmm, even the Wikipedia entry points out that "many resolutions go unachieved and are often broken fairly shortly after they are set".

So, what is the problem with New Year resolutions? Well, I am a goal setter and avid fan of the Getting Things Done methodology from David Allen. As well as this, I subscribe to the good stuff from motivational speakers like Zig Ziglar and Tony Robbins. I strongly believe in the power of decisions.

When I make a decision, I follow this up by action! Too many of us do not understand the importance of making a decision. A New Years resolution is a perfect example of procrastination, that disease that we all suffer from time to time, and some, a lot more than others.

What we are saying with a New Year resolution is that you want to do something, but you will postpone it a few weeks until New Years day. For example, if your resolution was the timeless classic "I want to lose weight", you would gorge yourself over the festive period, happy in the knowledge that it is OK as you are going to lose weight in the New Year. If you want to lose weight, make a decision, take action, and lose the weight. Don't put it off for a few weeks due to some time constraints. Setting out on any major goal planning such as this is destined to fail, and probably why so many do.

I firmly believe in All Year Resolutions, also known as goals. It is very true that you cannot hit a target that you do not have. However, action must be taken in order to realize your goals. Losing weight is a mammoth task, usually involving a major change in the way your life is run. I still love the losing weigh quote from Billy Connolly, which is to "Eat less and move more!".

Any major goal in your life is going to need the support of your family and friends. Personally, I think that most people are ridiculed with their New Year resolutions, because virtually nobody keeps them. When you set and break these resolutions, people lose faith in what you are saying and do not offer you the support you need. I can not think of a worse time of the year to announce to the world that you will shed 5 stone, or run a half marathon. Expect to get a tongue in cheek reaction from the people you tell.

In summary, if you want to change your life, don't wait. Make a decision, and act now. After all, there is no time like the present!

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Filed under: GTD General, General Items

Merry Christmas to All!

Author: Andrew Mason

24 Dec

Just a quick post to wish all of my readers a very Merry Christmas. It is the time of year again when the majority of us let go, eat everything in sight and be very merry.

I heard on the radio on my way to work this morning that the average person in the UK gains 8 lbs in weight over the festive period. Wow, maybe that is why so many people feel inclined to join a gym and start a new year with the resolution they never keep. Probably a good reason so many of us are ill in January, excess and stress of Christmas taking a toll.

On that jolly note, I will leave you and I will be back sometime later in the week with another post.

All the Best!

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Filed under: GTD General, General Items

How to Fail at Getting Things Done

Author: Andrew Mason

19 Nov

Just read a great article over at the Cranking Widgets Blog that provides a Roadmap for GTD Failure.

The post is not too long and a great read for anybody involved in Getting Things Done.

Read the post, and then see how many of these items on the list you are guilty of!

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Get More Things Done - Cut Out the Distractions - WebWithout.com

Author: Andrew Mason

28 Sep

Be sure to check out and sign up for WebWithout.com.

WebWithout is a new free service that has just gone beta that provides safe Internet browsing. I have kids and I have configured this on their computers so that I can assured that what they are searching for in Google, is verified and filtered to take the nasties out. There is nothing to set up apart from making a change to your DNS servers which can be done manually or their is a Windows application that does it for you.

I am also using this on my desktop right now and find it a great way to reduce the distractions so I can focus on getting things done.

WebWithout offers