What's Context Gotta Do With It?

Elliot, A. J., Maier, M. A., Moller, A. C., Friedman, R., & Meinhardt, J. (2007). Color and psychological functioning: The effect of red on performance attainment. Journal Of Experimental Psychology: General, 136(1), 154-168. doi:10.1037/0096-3445.136.1.154 Andrew Elliot, a professor of Psychology at the University of Rochester,  and Markus Maier, a professor of...

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So, You Want to Be More Productive?

The past four months have helped me to move forward with the idea that technology isn't all that bad, and if we use it properly - it can help us. Below is a quick summary of my findings, and technology can help you be a little more productive. Procrastination I stumbled across an interesting article that highlights the 7 common causes for procrastination, and they are as follows: 1) Fear of the outcome, 2) Helplessness in the face of complexity,...

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Did I Get Stuff Done?

Reflecting over the past few weeks (exactly 22 days, from the 21 day course) and the art of getting stuff done... and while I had my struggles, I did walk away with a better understanding on the fact that if you want to be productive - you have to work for it. It's not a simple app to fix everything or a course, it's being intentional and you're only going to be productive...

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"Doing Things" Phase 5

And we're almost there! The final phase focuses on doing things and with that I was given a 4-Criteria Model for Choosing Actions. 1) Context  What can you do? What tool do you need to accomplish this task? What tools do you have available? Tag your tasklist item with the tool required, so when you do have some time you can filter out what can be done with the tools...

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"Reviewing Projects and Areas of Responsibility" Phase 4

The Review, is one of the most important parts of achieving the goals of getting things done. To the left is what Tiago highlights as the importance of doing a weekly review. In reality, a review is something that is a good way to recollect yourself every week, this can help you to manage your loads week to week versus letting it pile up to the point of being stuck in...

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"Organizing Tasks in a Trusted System" Phase 3 - Roadblock

So, alas I have hit a roadblock. The roadblock is the app Evernote and while my teacher explains it well and uses it - I still don't like using it. This is going to take a bit longer than a month to get use to it. The frustrations of not being able to understand Evernote could trigger some steps backwards in productivity but looking at some outside resources, I was able...

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"Processing Tasks Using Next Physical Actions" Phase 2

Processing: Asking yourself a series of questions about your open loop. Take a look at the flow chart above to see what questions you should be asking yourself. What is it?  Is it actionable?  > No? > Trash, or > Someday/Maybe, or > Reference > Yes? > What's the next action? > Projects (planning), or > Project Plans (review for...

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"Collecting Your Open Loops" Phase 1

Getting Things Done: "It is a toolset to help people focus on their energy strategically and tactically without letting anything fall through the cracks." - David Allen, productivity consultant and author of "Getting Things Done"  Collecting Your Open Loops: "Most people's productivity system consists of incomplete lists of unclear things." - David Allen According...

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"Getting Things Done"

To embrace the world of technology, I am taking an online course through SkillShare called "Get Stuff Done Like A Boss: Design Your Workflow and Double your Productivity in 21 Days." The class is broken down into 5 different Phases: 1) Collecting Your Open Hoops, 2) Processing Tasks Using Next Physical Actions, 3) Organizing Tasks in a Trusted System, 4) Reviewing Projects...

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Why Social Media Isn't That Bad

You name it, you have it - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, LinkedIn... and there's more. For the lucky few who have escaped the abyss-like world of social media, you may be disconnected.. sure. But, I can bet you that you aren't refreshing Facebook around 25 times or day - and maybe even you are getting more done. For some reason, I subconsciously just always...

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Busy vs. Effective - And No, They Aren't The Same Thing...

I came across an interesting article on one of my new favourite websites Inc.com, entitled '7 Habits of Highly Ineffective People.' At first I was expecting something along the lines of not communicating, not doing work, having an apathetic attitude, and etc. But, I am wrong - boy, am I ever wrong. Sometimes the illusion of productive is really an act, the illusion is...

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The 4 Hour Day

It's a regular work day, 2pm hits and everyone hits their productive low on the job. A typical 9am - 5pm shift consists of 8 hours of work, no time to recollect or refocus - only time to work. If you're self-employed, you can expect 10-14 hour days. I recently came across an interesting concept of The 4 Hour Work Day. The 4 Work Day Day consists of well,  a 4 hour work day. So, I know what is going through your head right now - But that's not...

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What Are You Even Doing?

I suppose in my last post that I didn't really explain WHAT my tutorial actually is. Yes, there's stuff about productivity and computer science... but why? Introduction Procrastination and productivity are probably the two biggest issues when we talk about school/work, and technology. We have this notion that 'technology,' and I say that in quotes for a reason, is 'bad' - it's too distracting and we never get stuff done. Society believes that the...

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The Problem with Getting Started

I write to you with a rather ironic post. Here I am - a student that opened a blog around the importance of productivity and the use of technology to aid the sting of procrastination… only to realize that I am my own test subject. My life revolves around to help others and the contribute to the environment around me - while also working on myself - but the tables have turned. I am exhausted, irritated, and burnt out. To be honest, being a student...

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Technology: The Procrastinator Enabler or The Productive Assistant?

To many when we think about technology (smart phones, computers, the internet, apps, etc.) - we associated it with being the enabler for procrastinators everywhere. Apps fight for the top spot in the productivity category in the Apple App Store - "We can help you!" "Organize your life!" and "Say bye to procrastination, say hello to getting stuff done!" These flash across our...

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