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Productivity, Motivation, and Personal Development Links – 6th December 2009

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Just returned from a great weekend in London with my family and some close friends.

My cold is still hanging around, giving me sinus pain and one of those coughs that you just cannot shake!

I spent four days out of the office last week and drove over 600 miles in two days. Then I finished the week off with a great but hectic weekend in London so I am looking forward to a bit of a rest now!

Here are my collection of links for this week.

  • My first link for this week is a great post from Brent Ozar titled How I Use GTD 50,000 Foot Goals. Brent is a Microsoft SQL Server developer and in this post he provides some great information on how he used GTD for those bold and hairy goals!
  • My second link is a link to a nice little post from the Wall Street Journal about How to be More Productive. We can always be more productive but is getting up at 0400 the best way to do it?
  • My third link is to the first post I have linked to or read about Getting Ready For 2010 – Preparation. In under a month it will be 2010 and many people use the start of a new year for a fresh approach to many aspects of their life.
  • My fourth link is a link to a rather interesting post about Hedonist GTD. A slight angle change from the usual but worth the read.
  • My fifth and last link is a link to a review of Omnifocus from the SmokingApps blog titled OmniFocus: An Innovative Approach To Keeping Track Of Your Thoughts. I still use OmniFocus daily and I still love it.

Hope you all have a great week. I hope your Christmas planning is well underway by now..

Productivity, Motivation, and Personal Development Links – 6th September 2009

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Another week is over.

I have had another good week although I was only working three days of it after a great short break to Swaledale. Spent all weekend doing DIY as we are now ripping out the en-suite bathroom.

Here are my collection of links for this week.

  • My first link for this week is a great post titled GTD with a Baby on Board. This post is from the Glad Dads blog and it is a great post about the changes that a baby can bring, especially to your Getting Things Done methodology.
  • My second link is a link from Mashable that provides 5 Steps to Getting Unstuck and Pursuing Your Goals. 5 simple but effective tips on how to get out of your goal setting rut!
  • My third link is a link to a post from LifeHacker titled Dump Your To-Do List and Keep Your Sanity. This is an interesting post that presents the concept of ditching the to do list. Worth a read.
  • My fourth link provides information about 10 great ways to use Evernote. I love Evernote and use it every day. I am using it more and more after purchasing my ScanSnap scanner. This post provides 10 ways to use Evernote to your advantage!
  • My fifth and last link is a link to a blogger who is running a competition for the chance to win free copies of the Getting Things Done book by David Allen for signing up to his newsletter. If you do not already have the book, this is worth a shot.

Wishing you all a very productive week ahead!

Books to Read at Christmas – Well, books that a productivity blogger would read

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I have just ordered myself two books to read over the holiday season. Now, these are not your traditional festive tales of snowmen and Santa Claus, but what would you expect from a productivity blogger?

The Creative HabitMaking it all work
The first book I ordered is The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp. I first heard about this book via 43Folders and as I normally like the book recommendations from Merlin Mann I thought I would order it on Amazon and read it for myself.

What makes someone creative? How does someone face the empty page, the empty stage and making something where nothing existed before? Not just a dilemma for the artist, it is something everyone faces everyday.

What will I cook that isn’t boring? How can I make that memo persuasive? What sales pitch will increase the order, get me the job, lock in that bonus? These too, are creative acts, and they all share a common need: proper preparation.

For Twyla Tharp, creativity is no mystery; it’s the product of hard work and preparation, of knowing one’s aims and one’s subject, of learning from approaches taken in the past. It’s a process undertaken every day. It’s a habit.

The Creative Habit is not merely a look inside the mind of a remarkable woman with remarkable skills, but a programmatic, inspiring, encouraging guide to help each of us achieve our fullest creative potential.

The second book is Making it all Work by David Allen. This is a book I am really looking forward to reading and it is supposed to start where Getting Things Done left. This is a productivity book that we are all looking forward to it and I must admit that this will be my first read as I want to get the book digested and provide the review as fast as I can.

David Allen’s Getting Things Done hit a nerve and ignited a movement with businesses, students, soccer moms, and techies all the way from Silicon Valley to Europe and Asia.

Now, David Allen leads the world on a new path to achieve focus, control, and perspective. Throw out everything you know about productivity- Making It All Work will make life and work a game you can win.

For those who have already experienced the clarity of mind from reading Getting Things Done, Making It All Work will take the process to the next level. David Allen shows us how to excel in dealing with our daily commitments, the unexpected, and the information overload that threatens to drown us.

Making It All Work provides an instantly usable, success-building tool kit for staying ahead of the game. Making It All Work addresses: how to figure out where you are in life and what you need; how to be your own consultant and a CEO of your life; moving from hope to trust in decision-making; when not to set goals; harnessing intuition, spontaneity, and serendipity; and why life is like business and business is like life.

I am looking forward to my Christmas reading. Do you have anything planned to read over the festive period? If so, I would love to hear about it.

Productive Magazine Launches Online

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Productivity MagazineJust had to write a little post about the new Productive Magazine.

I had not heard about this magazine until fellow blogger John Kendrick commented about it on one of my posts.

The Magazine is brought together by Michael Sliwinski, the guy behind Nozbe, and it is a collection of 17 articles from top productivity bloggers in the format of an online magazine.

The first edition also features an interview with David Allen, the author and founder of the Getting Things Done methodology.

The first edition of the magazine can be read online by following this link.

The content of the Magazine looks great. Cannot believe I missed this but this just shows how much is going on in the Productivity space right now.

I have set a goal to try and get an article into the next edition of Productive Magazine so I will have to pull all the stops out and write a killer article that will get accepted by the magazine.

I hope you all take a look at the magazine and download it. Looks a great read and thanks go to Michael for putting it all together!

Ziglar on Setting Goals – Zig Ziglar

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Just thought I would post these great videos from Zig Ziglar. Zig is one of my all time greats when it comes to motivational speakers. His mix of humor and great beliefs make him a pleasure to listen to an learn from.

Enjoy the videos and I would love to hear your comments on them.

Setting Goals 1 of 3

Setting Goals 2 of 3

Setting Goals 3 of 3

Be sure to also check out my other GTD and Self Development Videos.