Slate's special issue on procrastination. - - Slate Magazine

Slate is running a special issue this week on procrastination, a series of stories on why we waste time, what we do when we waste time, and how different types of people waste their time.

My favorites of the bunch so far:

The aptly named "Positivity Blog" recently had a rather compelling overview of Bruce Lee, Productivity Guru.

Like our own dear Merlin, Mr. Lee was from the Bay Area and took a lifelong interest in the fundamental rules underlying systems; unlike Mr. Mann, Bruce Lee could break Chuck Norris in half but never once listened to Zen Arcade.

• Can You Become a Creature of New Habits? - New York Times - "The small steps in kaizen don’t set off fight or flight, but rather keep us in the thinking brain, where we have access to our creativity and playfulness."
• How to answer the people who think you’re nuts? - "I’ve been doing a lot of radio interviews and I turn into a self-righteous bore when the host inevitably asks, 'How could you let your son take the subway alone?'"
• Dear Shaun, at bluishorange - "My writing is not some fragile vase that is going to shatter the second I split an infinitive..." [via mathowie]
• Clutterers Anonymous dot Net - "Clutter is anything we don't need, want, or use that takes our time, energy or space, and destroys our serenity."
• Spark 35: Your Digital Legacy - I'll be a regular contributor to the CBC's wonderful Spark (podcast). My first segment with Nora Young is on the basics of backup. (Hint: Next Christmas, send Uncle Joe a DVD with those hard-copy photos)
• TwitterSnooze! v0.13 - "TwitterSnooze is inspired by a Merlin Mann post and was written by Andrew Parker." Yay, nice!
  I think silent "snoozing" should be part of every social app. Warning, though; if your snoozed friend is the brittle type, note that re-following them will generate an email that gives you away. Caveat Twittor. [via del/andrewdparker]

N S G C D | Home

I'm still in a de-cluttering mode these days (more on that soon), so I was intrigued by this resource, which arrived this morning via Mrs. Folders.

While primarily a trade group for "professional organizers," the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization site has some handy documents and links to help with identifying and solving pathological problems with clutter and hoarding.

If you can tolerate the site's gruesome ardor for PDFs, you'll find some informative and eye-opening stuff. From their fact sheets page:

• Are You Chronically Disorganized? - The obligatory self-test. Mmm...yeah, I am guilty of #17: "Is it difficult for you to part with things even though they have outlived their usefulness?"
• Time Management for the Chronically Disorganized - "Remember that you are procrastinating if you work on a trivial task while a more important one remains undone."
• Tips for Communicating with the Chronically Disorganized - "Avoid what does not work...Don’t say: 'Just do it!'"

I really liked some of the Tips for Overcoming Procrastination for the Chronically Disorganized Individual or Household (excerpted):

Bright side #5: interesting GTD software, including for Mac

The Atlantic writer (and recent Mac convert) James Fallows covers three apps that have caught his attention, including OmniFocus, ThinkingRock, and MonkeyWiki. Fallows says:

The GTD Way mainly involves habits of mind and action, but it also places a lot of emphasis on having the right tools, gizmos, and gimmicks to support those habits. Over the years I've used a variety of software to set up GTD-based systems on my computer.

And, if you're in a real "grab the shovel" mood, don't miss his link to a metric buttload of GTD apps.

As ever, though, friends, just remember: GTD's power is in what it does to your approach and to your thinking; it's not about magic beans and doo-dahs. Never allow yourself to obsess over tools to the exclusion of actually completing tasks. This is about action.