On this week’s episode of the Nested Folders podcast, Rosemary Orchard and I discussed our approaches to reflection and review of our productivity systems.
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When Not to be Productive
On this week’s Nested Folders podcast episode, Rose and I talked about when not to be productive. In thinking about this even more, there’s a second quote from the Merlin Mann interview with David Allen that I really like, which is to have a great list of things to have in order to procrastinate with. That is, stuff you can do to “safely” avoid doing other things.
This is where some of my favourite lists come in. I thought I’d share them here, along with how I use them:
Me on LearnOmniFocus
Earlier this year, I had the great pleasure of working with Tim Stringer of Learn OmniFocus to present my workflows and OmniFocus set up.
Announcing Nested Folders
After several months of discussion, planning, preparation, and writing, I am so proud to announce that I have partnered with the wonderful and talented Rosemary Orchard to co-produce the Nested Folders Podcast!
We’ll discuss all manners of productivity topics, mostly centres around philosophies, techniques, and approaches, so that listeners can benefit from our experiences, regardless of apps or systems they might use.
We’re just starting out, and no doubt we’ll iterate and improve, but I am very excited to share and learn through this new podcast, and would love to hear any and all feedback from everyone!
Also, a huge thanks and shout out to Josh Hughes for the amazing cover art. Love this!
From Digital Bankruptcy to More Attention: How I Fixed My Broken System
My system has been broken. Not broken in the way that the mechanics of it don’t work, but broken in its content. Here’s what happened:
I had an OmniFocus inbox of about 40 items. For a week. And I didn’t touch them. Why? Because 40 is a lot. 40 is many. And like everyone, I have a lot to do, and getting to clarifying and organizing that stuff just couldn’t make it to the top of my attention. But I hate baggage like that.
Finally, on our about day 8 of this inbox (now more like 50), I rolled up my sleeves and I got to sorting it out. And a funny thing happened.
The Boss Review
A weekly status review on projects with one’s boss tends to be part of having a job, and I was recently asked about how I use OmniFocus and Agenda for this process. It was a great question, because it made me think about my workflow so that I am optimizing for both:
- Simplicity – having the right amount of detail and ease of execution
- The audience – making sure my workflow makes it easy for my boss to consume the content I’m offering up
Fifty-Two Project Goals
We’re well in to January, but it’s still resolution season, right?
Every year, around this time, I resolve to lose the weight I’ve gained since my twins were born, and every year I… don’t. This year, things are different.
Managing Gift Giving
Need to do some last minute holiday shopping? I know I do. Thankfully, I have a workflow for how I approach gift giving, powered by OmniFocus.
I wrote earlier about how I use OmniFocus for organizing my holiday experience, but in response to a reader question, I thought I’d expand on my gift management workflow.
My Agenda Action Workflow
In a previous post, I wrote about my iOS Shortcut that connects Agenda to OmniFocus. With thanks to everyone for their questions, I wanted to follow up with some additional details around how I use the Shortcut and what my workflow is like.
OmniFocus for the Holidays
It’s that magical time of year where I have to shovel my driveway four times in one weekend, but it’s so worthwhile, because I’m cozied up by the fire now while the outside is blanketed in beautiful snow that reflects the lights my neighbours have hung with care.
Also, there’s a bajillion things to do. How does one cope?
I thought that, for both my sanity and for the purposes of sharing, I’d break down my holiday construct in OmniFocus.