The mighty Jared shares some insight on how to get thang’s done with Evernote…

1. create an Evernote account
2. create 3 notebooks¹:
   • “Next Actions” or “To Do”
   • “Maybe” or “Someday”
   • “Projects” or “Dependents”
3. make Next Actions your default notebook
4. delete the example notebook
5. create two tags:
   • Contexts
   • Projects
6. create a bunch of context tags in the form “@place”; drag each under the Contexts tag
7. as-needed, create project tags in the form “.name”²; drag each under the Projects tag

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I’m reading John Maxwells new book Put Your Dreams To The Test and he made a great statement in chapter one that really spoke to
me.

Kelly how do you keep your inbox so clean?

People ask me all of the time how I get my Inboxes to zero every day (or nearly every day.) Here’s what works for me:
- I give myself enough processing time
- I’ve gotten really fast at the “assessment” step
- I have a simple clear model to know what to do with something after I assess what it is
- I’m really clear about my current 20,000 areas of focus to know whether something is my job or not
- I’m really current with my projects & actions to know if I can/should say no or yes

via kelly forrister

originally posted on productive_life

image by yow long lee

I think to be effective in life we all really need filters to keep the distractions to a allowable minimum. Social media by it’s nature can devolve into a magnificent time suck that can overwhelm you with minutia.

Goodbye to those who follow everybody back but use 3rd party systems like Tweetdeck to “filter out” the people they don’t really want to see. I’m not interested in being a placeholder for you anymore. Why not publicly own up about who you find valuable? Do that and we won’t even need #followfriday anymore! All I’ll have to do is check out the people you’re following to see who you endorse. Isn’t that a cool idea? (via seth simonds)

At the moment I’m a practitioner of anti-social networking which means that if the noise your producing doesn’t add value to my life you get cut off.

How do you keep from getting overwhelmed by the new media din?

Erin Rooney Doland of Unclutterer fame shares on how to increase the perception that your productive…

By Michelle Rene Mancha

To the mothers who have gone before me, blazing the “No Appliances For Mother’s Day” Trail, I thank you, sort of. For Mothers’ day this year, my husband presented me with a top of the line, state of the art, wireless headset to use with my cell phone. A huge step away from the traditional washer/dryer set, which I actually need, this luxury ear device is going to require a lot of love and attention. Lest ye think me unappreciative, let me provide some context. This is the fourth, hearing device we have purchased since I got this phone a little over 2 years ago (did she say she has had the same phone for over 2 years?!?). Actually, the phone will be 3 in July. This does not include the headset that actually came with the phone. I lost that years ago. I also lost a really nice Bluetooth that my husband bought for himself, and later gave to me.

Recently, I wore out a wired headset (in less than 6 months). I have managed to keep up with a Bluetooth he purchased a year or so ago, but it doesn’t work well with my phone. My friends constantly complain they can hear themselves echo when they talk to me. That said, I have this new super-duper, hi-tech ear piece that really is comfortable to wear and sounds GREAT. I can’t help but feel pressure to take good care of it and extend its life as long as possible.

I promise to do my best, to keep it charged and free from dust. I will remember to store it somewhere safe, away from my toddler’s imaginative fingers. I will cherish this as a thoughtful, non-appliance gesture from my husband and use it with pride. Now, if I can just figure out which button to push to answer calls.

Got a Moleskine and to much free time? Here you go…

Some years ago I did a collection of Moleskine hacks. However, now that there are so many new resources out there, I feel it’s time to update and expand on that list. Below you’ll find a wealth of tips, tricks, ideas, hacks and resources… but if by some chance I’ve missed a link out, please let me know about it!

via organize it

A list about list’s….

The Moleskine, though, made its way into my pocket or backpack all the time, because of one simple use I found for it: a list manager. Not a list of things to do, or people to call – different lists. The Moleskine is my perfect list-manager, and that’s all I use it for.

via lifehack

To cheap to buy a Moleskine?

The PocketMod is a small book with guides on each page. These guides or templates, combined with a unique folding style, enable a normal piece of paper to become the ultimate note card. It is hard to describe just how incredibly useful the PocketMod is. It’s best that you just dive in and create one. Build a PocketMod now!

via pocketmod

Need a free desktop remote access app?

The benefit of CrossLoop has always been that it’s very easy to set up and use, even for beginners, making it an ideal tool for those of us who’ve been unofficially designated as tech support for our loved ones. Just install (on both your computer and the computer you want to control), sign up for accounts, and you’ll be up and sharing screens in no time once you swap the automatically generated access code.

via lifehacker

SugarSync is now free…

Good news! SugarSync, a file synchronization and backup service for PC and Mac (reviewed positively here on WWD), today started offering free accounts (previously the cheapest option was $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year.)

via web worker daily

Clean up your Twitter clutter…

If you’re disappointed that you let your Twitter "following" (aka "friend" list) get out of hand, there’s finally a solution to clean it up that’s a million times faster and easier than using Twitter.com itself. It’s a new web app called Nest Unclutterer and it simplifies the process of knocking out those Twitter friends who are no longer bringing you value.

via read write web

image by foxmuld3r

Spent a big part of my day downloading installing and updating Windows 7 RC on my Macbook Pro and for the most part the experience was positive. Microsoft has seemed to have got a clue and removed a lot of junk that hindered the groovy(ness) of Windows Vista.

Besides my Apple wireless keyboard and mouse not working, all in all I would have to say that Windows 7 RC doesn’t suck…hey it only locked up on me one time today!

What are your priorities and how do you set them, are they based on a global vision or are you just reacting to external pressure?

This is why I say priorities can only be observed. In my book, a priority is not simply a good idea; it’s a condition of reality that, when observed, causes you to reject every other thing in the universe — real, imagined, or prospective — in order to ensure that things related to the priority stay alive. (via 43 folders)

How do you set your priorities?

image by mrmole

Leave it our favorite power blogger to state the obvious in a fun and semi-informative fashion…

If you aren’t blessed with ample windows or non-annoying overhead lighting, getting a bit of illumination around your workspace can be accomplished in ways more subtle, and less expensive, than adding more lamps. One of the Dumb Little Man blog’s 10 cheap home office improvements involves a strategically placed mirror, which helps those with bright light going the wrong way re-capture it. When Jason was deep in his extreme home office makeover, he found that cheap rope lights made for great ambient illumination, especially as the sunlight changes in early morning and late afternoon.

via lifehacker

Print you own Moleskine pages?

Moleskine is offering a new service where they let you print whatever you want on the pages of one of their notebooks. Great for keeping your address book handy without re-writing it every time you get a new notebook.

via make

A shoe that grows with your kids feet…thank ya Jesus!

The INCHworm shoe is a decent solution to the ever-growing child’s foot. The shoe is adjustable and extends itself by one whole size, in half-size increments. So a size six can become a six and a half and then eventually a seven. This would surely extend the life of the shoe by several months. From the product description.

Fun with whiteboards?

I have a 24″ x 36″ whiteboard hanging on the wall in my office that I use for brainstorming ideas and capturing concepts. I love it for a variety of reasons, but primarily because it is so easy to edit. Try something, draw something, write something – if you don’t like it you can erase it and try again.

via work.life.creativity

Now you don’t have to pay tens of thousands of dollars to go to college and hear long boring lectures…

So Ludlow launched Academic Earth with the goal of building a user-friendly platform for educational video that would let anyone be able to freely access instruction from the scholars and guest lecturers at the leading academic universities. The site offers 60 full courses and 2,395 total lectures (almost 1300 hours of video) from Yale, MIT, Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Princeton that can be browsed by subject, university, or instructor through a user-friendly interface. Additionally, editors have compiled lectures from different speakers into Playlists such as “Understanding the Financial Crisis” and “First Day Of Freshman Year.” The site also features a roster of famous guest lecturers on entrepreneurship and technology including Larry Page, Carol Bartz, Tim Draper, Elon Musk, and Guy Kawasaki.

via techcrunch