Getting Things Done GTD with Personal Development and Motivation for Success

Regular readers of this blog will know that I am a huge fan of Mind Mapping and the tool I use is the Mac version of MindManager from MindJet.

I do wish the Mac version had some of the cool functionality of the Windows version but still, the main aspect of being able to create awesome Mind Maps is there in the Mac version.

In my opinion, MindJet have really raised their game, especially since Michael Deutch (a regular reader of this blog) has joined the team and started writing for the blog.

I recently received an email from MindJet that provided a summary of some of their recent productivity and GTD activity via their blog and website. It is that good that I decided to repeat some of these great links here for the benefit of my blog readers.

So, here is the list of MindJet links to check out:

• Getting Things Done with MindJet
• Focusing on My Horizons with MindManager & GTD
• Making it all work – with MindManager
• GTD + Mindjet = Efficient + Effective
• Top Ten Solutions for MindManager 8

Be sure to Follow MindJet on Twitter and also Michael Deutch on Twitter.

I am a MindJet affiliate and do make money if you follow my links and buy MindManager. I love this tool and have been using and promoting it a long time before they launched an affiliate program!

As always, I would love to hear any other tips, tricks, or links you have regarding GTD and Mind Mapping!

Oh, and if somebody from MindJet reads this, get a move on with an iPhone application as I would really love to see MindManager on the Apple iPhone!

I have just driven 270 miles to Dover, the closest part of the UK to France. I am down here for a few days with work.

The journey was not that bad. Remembered to pack my iPod and my FM Transmitter so I listened to a couple of podcasts that really made the journey shorter. I started with the latest MacBreak Weekly with Leo Laporte. This one covered some of the rumors about the new iPhone 3.0 and maybe(hopefully) a new version of the iPhone.

I then listened to the Net@Night show also from Leo Laporte and also Amber McArthur. The show I listened to was titled Evernote and contained an interview with Phil Libin, the Evernote CEO. Great listening, enjoyed it.

I then spent the last 90 minutes or so listening to How to be a Winner by Zig Ziglar. Great CD that I have listened to many times.

So, all in all quite a productive 4 hours 30 minutes in the car. Now I need food!

Here are my collection of links for this week.

• My first link for this week is a link to the Net@Night show I listened to on the way to Dover. This contains a great interview with the CEO of Evernote. I really do like Evernote as a product and I am using it more and more.
• My second link is a link to the author profile of Zig Ziglar. If you have not yet listened to Zig, make sure you check him out. I have some great video’s of Zig in action that I am going to post this week.
• My third link is a link to the 100 Best iPhone Apps for Serious Self Learners. There are just so many cool iPhone apps that it is now impossible to keep uo with them all. This little post outlines 100 great apps for self learners.
• My fourth link is a link from Thinksimplenow.com introducing the 4 Hour Workday. I presume you have heard of the 4 Hour Workweek, well take a look at this post that outlines a 4 hour workday. Sounds nice doesn’t it!
• My fifth and last link is a link to a great little post entitled How to Live Life. I love little focus generating posts like this that help you to get back on track and remember what is important in life.

Well, hopefully my room service order will be here soon so I will leave you here.

Hope you all have a fantastic week!

At long last, the awesome collection tool Evernote is available for the BlackBerry mobile platform.

I love Evernote and currently use it on the web, my Mac, and my iPhone. I used to be a Blackberry user and I know that a lot of Blackberry users have been waiting for this for quite a while.

This was announced on the Evernote Blog where you can find full release information.

I will leave you with a little video from Evernote about the Integration.

Apologies for not much activity from me last week. I had to teach at college two nights instead of the usual one as well as the prep work I needed to do for a college assignment I delivered on Thursday. Combine this with a hectic work week and an office move on Friday and you can kind of see the week I have had 🙂

Luckily, all my tasks got done, just did not have a great deal of time to write the blog.

Here are my collection of links for this week.

• My first link for this week is a great GTD Primer from Black Belt Productivity. I found this via Twitter and it is great for anybody new getting into GTD and productivity.
• My second link is a post from Mr Self Development about the Science of Getting Things Done. Nice simple information that is worth a read.
• My third link is a link to a post titled When GTD Goes Too Far: How To Avoid Productivity Paranoia from the Bizzy Women blog. I posted this via Twitter and had a ton of ReTweets as it was a post with a great title that drew attention from the productivity crowd. I do agree with some of the points here. Sometimes we can get too focused on the methodology and we all need to relax a little.
• My fourth link is a link from John Morris about the Weekly Review. David Allen himself states that the Weekly Review is the normal part of the GTD Methodology where advocates fail. I know from my own experience that I can suffer from an inability to perform my review. I missed Fridays last week!
• My fifth and last link is a link to a little post about Ubiquitous Capture. I have blogged about this before

Well, going to spend some family time now as I am traveling again this week. This time I am on the South Coast of England, so hopefully the weather will be good. I am staying in a hotel with a superb seafood restaurant so I hope the lobster is good!

Have a great week!

Had a great week at InfoSec in London with RandomStorm.

I left early Monday and arrived home Friday. Luckily I have had the time to relax and progress my tasks and projects.

Tomorrow is a Public Holiday in the UK and I am looking forward to a day at home clearing a lot of tasks from my @Home context.

Here are my collection of links for this week.

• My first link for this week is a link to a post titled How I Get Organized by Stephanie Booth on her blog. This is a nice post that covers the methodologies and tools that author uses to get things done and organize her daily tasks. Good read!
• My second link is a post from the OmniGroup blog titled Staying Active with OmniFocus. I am an OmniFocus user and I also frequently read the OmniGroup corporate blog hoping to find little gems like this post. Another great read, especially if like me you use OmniFocus.
• My third link is a link to a a response from James of the Organize IT blog that was written in response to the Productivity Tips For People That Hate GTD post from Zen Habits. This was a post from Zen Habits that got advocates of GTD thinking and the points James puts across in his response are shared by many.
• My fourth link is a link from Lifehacker about the Tracks GTD Application. I have covered the Tracks Application quite a few times on this blog and it is certainly worth a look if you are looking for a web based GTD app that you can configure yourself.
• My fifth and last link is a link to a review of the GTD web based application, GTDAgenda. I reviewed GTDAgenda a while back and although it is not the prettiest web based application it certainly gave you the functionality you require to Get Things Done. This is another persons viewpoint of the app and worth reading if you are in the market for a no frills GTD app.

Yet another busy week for me even though this is only a four day working week. I have to post about a cool little Mind Map that I have been pulling together.

Have a great week!

The latest issue of Productive Magazine has just been released over at ProductiveMagazine.com.

I am happy to report that I have an article on page 16 of this latest issue. My article is about New Years Resolutions and what is wrong with them.

CLICK HERE to directly download the latest issue of this free magazine.

Here is a list of the articles in this new edition.

• Interview with Guy Kawasaki
  by Michael Sliwinski
• How to Set Goals That Lead to Success
  Dustin Wax
• The Single Secret to Making 2009 Your Best Year Ever
  by Leo Babauta
• How to Shave Ten Hours Off Your Work Week
  by Michael Hyatt
• Why You Shouldn’t Do New Year’s Resolutions
  by James Mallinson
• Say No to make Yes Sound better
  by Kris Rowlands
• What’s Wrong With New Years Resolutions?
  by Andrew Mason
• Making it all work with Mindmanager
  by Michael Deutch
• Productivity For Groups – Because You’re Not Really In Control
  by Andrew Yang
• Simply Get Things Done Course – Introduction
  by Michael Sliwinski

I have had a week of report writing yet again. One thing for sure is that my report writing is really improving as is my ability to focus and deliver the report in the given timescales.

I am spending the best part of next week down at Earls Court in London for the InfoSec show with my company RandomStorm. We have a booth so if you are at InfoSec or Internet World be sure to pop by and say hi!

Here are my collection of links for this week.

• My first link for this week is a link to a Lifehacker Post on how Steve Wozniak Gets Things Done. Steve Wozniak, or Woz is the original co-founder of Apple along with Steve Jobs and a much loved character. Interesting read to see how the great Woz Gets Things Done.
• My second link is a great post about Getting Things Done with OmniFocus for the Advanced User. Great to see a post for the more adept user rather than the usual focus on the beginner who is either new to the tool or new to the Getting Things Done Methodology.
• My third link is a link to a great little collection of Moleskine Hacks from James Mallinson at organizeit. I love my collection of Moleskine’s and I equally love these posts where others that share my passion release cool little hacks around these awesome black notebooks!
• My fourth link is a link from Jesse Ruderman on how he uses GTD. Jesse is pretty new to GTD and started out after using Things on his Mac to Get Things Done. This is a nice little review of how one user implements the Getting Things Done Methodology.
• My fifth and last link is a great post that I have featured before but some more sites have been added to it so I will run with it again. it is the 100 GTD Resource Post from Mashable.com. This is a great collection of GTD resources that you can get for free from the Internet.

Right, off to start packing for the week ahead at InfoSec and also I have to sort out some tech issues with a VMWare image, wish me luck!

Have a great week!

Just thought I would share this cool little screencast showing the features of the Desktop MAC GTD App, Things.

I do not use Things myself as I still prefer OmniFocus but I do prefer the visual look of Things and also The Hit List.

Hope you enjoy the screencast!

Had a great weekend mainly due to the great weather in the UK and I have spent most of it outside. Lit my new Weber BBQ a few times and cooked some great food!

This week has seen me away for a few days without Internet access. It is actually quite nice not having connectivity as it really enabled you to focus on the task at hand.

Here are my collection of links for this week.

• My first link for this week is a link to some rather funny productivity humor from Matthew Cornell. We all have to laugh at ourselves sometimes and I must admit that I can become obsessive towards productivity some times 🙂
• My second link is a great post from the Climb to the Stars blog about how the blogger gets organized. MindMaps, Evernote, GTD, all sounds very familiar to me. I like it..
• My third link is a link for TimeBoxed, a neat little Mac OS X app that acts as a timer. I have never really been into timing myself but I have started using this app and it is quite enlightening to see where your time goes. This app is very simple and easy to use and integrates with Growl.
• My fourth link is a link to a great blog I found about via Twitter called Productivity Hacks. The content is very relevant to this blog and the blogger is obviously another Productivity Geek who gets things done on a Mac.
• My fifth and last link is another comparison between Things and The Hit List as GTD Apps. The latest MacHeist bundle really has done wonders for The Hit List.

Just going to the gym now to hopefully kick start my summer workout plan and lose some of the excess winter fat!

Hope you all have a great week.

I have a had a busy week working away on a client site with no Internet access so I have been rather cut off, enough to miss this little gem from Evernote.

I love Evernote and Twitter so the ability to integrate these caught my attention.

So, in a nutshell you can add selective Twitter tweets to your Evernote account by including @myEN to your tweet.

I have just enabled this and I am going to think long and hard for some good usability reasons for doing so.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this, good or bad.

If you do not follow me, please follow me on Twitter!