I'm not sure how anyone feels about the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis - the idea that the words we use shape the way we think or exist - but I'm much happier knowing that the word "lagom" is out there.

I am entering it into my person lexicon forthwith.

How to nap - Boston.com

I'm a big fan of napping and often evangelize the transformative power of a quick Pzizz. If you're new to the nap habit -- or if you buy the propaganda that naps are only for infants and layabouts -- treat yourself to this cool infographic from The Boston Globe (shown in part above).

[via Arts & Letters Daily]

• Make It Stop! Crushed by Too Many E-Mails : NPR - I think somebody on Massachusetts Ave. must have called "Oy Vey, Email!" Week at NPR. Here's another one on email overwhelm, including tips and technology on "email organization." How 'bout that. At the risk of repeating myself, organizing your email is like alphabetizing your recycling! Call me, Yuki. Let's talk.
• Spark | CBC Radio | Episode 41 - June 11 & 14 - In my latest Spark segment, I shared some ideas on how to deal with annoying forwarded email from friends and family, or what I call "turkey bacn."
• lonelysandwich - Why Me? - Adam thinks "MobileMe" signals Apple's big move behind what used to be considered enemy lines. "Apple is removing the Mac from the Apple computer experience and laying the foundation for a browser-based OS..."
• Jonathan Coulton » The JoCo Primer - Jonathan has a really smart series of pages for introducing new fans to himself and his music, as well as suggesting where to go next. Memo to self, internet: steal this idea.
• Ars at WWDC: Exclusive preview of mobile NetNewsWire - Not only is my beloved NetNewsWire coming to iPhone, but let me also take this opportunity to congratulate Brent on his outstanding taste in demo web content.
• The $100 Distraction Device - "Why giving poor kids laptops doesn't improve their scholastic performance." I dunno. I respect that there's lots of sides to the OLPC debate, but this particular one's got a bit of damp straw and double standards to it.
• OmniFocus for the iPhone snags an Apple Design Award! - Congratulations to my OmniGroup peeps on their award. After getting lots of little sneak peeks from friends at WWDC [cough], I am so excited for the apps that are coming to the iPhone. This is going to be huge, people.
• Start! - I'm honored to be speaking at Jeff and Bryan's amazing-looking one-day conference for indie web folks, here in San Francisco. And, talk about a bargain. Register today.
• Word Spy - tweetup - "A real world meeting between two or more people who know each other through the online Twitter service." Kinda scared to try this; I'm pretty sure a lot of my Twitter friends are bots created by the influential Butt Joke industry.

Lost in E-Mail, Tech Firms Face Self-Made Beast - NYTimes.com

Is Information Overload a Billion Drag on the Economy? - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog

If you've seen the video of my Inbox Zero talk at Google, you may recall the moment when a few attendees start mentioning the hundreds of internal email messages they receive (and send) in a given day. I still remember, because I almost fainted.

Whenever I hear these and similar stories, the same question always comes to mind: "What does a company get out of its employees spending half their day using an email program?" Well, apparently, it's a question a lot of people are starting to ask. Including Google.

Linda Stone: Is it Time to Retire the Never-Ending List?

Linda Stone -- who coined the phrase "continuous partial attention" -- makes a thoughtful distinction between managing time and attention, deflating the misconception that making long lists and then overscheduling your day can be a bulwark against distractions, interruptions, and the crippling feeling of being overwhelmed.

In this recent blog entry from the Huffington Post, Stone talks about a pattern she's noticed from talking with people about how they think about and plan their day.

What did surgeons, artists, and CEO's have in common? Most of them reported that they managed both their time and their attention. In surgery, in the studio, and in the time carved out to think through strategies and issues, these professionals reported shutting down the devices and endless inputs (email, phone, interruptions), at scheduled times, and claiming those moments to focus. In almost every case, these professionals reported experiencing "flow" (a la Csikszentmihalyi) in their work.

[HuffPo link via Boing Boing]

How to Be a Productive Procrastinator : NPR (Talk of the Nation)

The Talk of the Nation that's on right now (available for streaming later) is on the topic of procrastination.

Why do today what you can do the day after tomorrow? Procrastination expert Timothy Pychyl and self-professed "structured procrastinator" John Perry discuss the latest research on this type of behavior and how to prioritize what's really important.

If you've been around here for a while, you'll remember John Perry for his excellent piece on "Structured Procrastination." Great stuff.

The Omni Group - OmniFocus for iPhone and iPod touch

[Disclosure: I'm a consultant on the OmniFocus project. You can blame me for having requested any of the features you don't like.]

Oh, man. It's so nice to lift the veil on this one. It's been like I knew you guys were getting the big Lego Millennium Falcon for Christmas, but I couldn't tell you until Santa had gone back up the chimney (in his black mock turtleneck and jeans). Anyway.

Merry Christmas, Mac productivity nerds: iPhone synching for OmniFocus is coming. And it is gorgeous, usable, and location-aware. More here on OmniGroup's blog.

From the OmniGroup site:

Using your location, OmniFocus can create a custom list of actions to complete nearby. Buying groceries? OmniFocus can show you the closest grocery store and create an instant shopping list.

Capture tasks anywhere, anytime with OmniFocus: you can enter text, take a picture, or even make a quick voice recording.

Yum. Screengrabs and more -- including a reminder that you should totally visit me at the WWDC OmniFocus meetup tonight -- after the iJump.

Apple - MobileMe

There's lots to digest from today's WWDC Stevenote -- not least of which was the dramatic announcement of a 3G iPhone for only $199. But you'll be hearing lots about that in a million places. I want to talk about my first impressions about something even closer to my heart that's at least different this time around, if not entirely new.

Today, Steve announced the upcoming release of Apple's MobileMe service, which will replace the existing .Mac service at the same price of $99/year for an Individual account, while adding some new features, including:

• Individual account quota doubled to 20GB of storage, including email and files (.Mac currently offers 10GB at the same price)
• MS Exchange-like "push" syncing between applications on multiple Macs as well as your iPhone, via the MobileMe "cloud"
• Revamped, web-based Me.com versions of Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Gallery, and iDisk applications

As someone who's had strong feelings, high hopes, and occasional disappointmens with .Mac, I'm going to spend some time over the next few weeks looking into what these changes will mean for the always-on knowledge worker -- particularly now that the service is clearly moving toward tighter integration with iPhones, the iPod Touch, and web-based usage. But first, just a few things to note here (quickly and on first impression):

My pick of the week on the latest episode of MacBreak Weekly wasn't so much my new Kindle (which I do like a lot), but rather a few services that make it easier to find and download free books you can read on the Kindle. These picks included Project Gutenberg, Manybooks.net, and the wonderful Feedbooks.

• Best. Paper. Ever. - Miss Conduct's Blog - Advice column with manners and etiquette information - Boston.com - "Thus, when we conclude someone is 'simply a bastard,' we feel both relief (because we have finally hit on a way of interpreting their behavior that makes sense) and guilt (because we feel we ought to have done better)."
• Research Brief: Minorities Dominate Use of New Media - "According to the analysis, minorities have a higher regular usage of new media than Whites across all media types. They are more likely to use iPods, text on cell phones, play video games, use video/picture phones, instant messaging online and watch video on cell phones."
• The Web Developer's SEO Cheat Sheet - Very handy printable guide with white-hat advice and best practices for pleasing Google without spreading unnecessary cheese. - [via Global Nerdy]
• Research Brief: Online Video Viewing Surges - In March, "84.8 million viewers watched 4.3 billion videos on YouTube.com (50.4 videos per viewer)." Damn. Could you ever have imagined this, even 5 years ago?
• Video Road Hogs Stir Fear of Internet Traffic Jam - New York Times - Related: "Last year, by one estimate, the video site YouTube, owned by Google, consumed as much bandwidth as the entire Internet did in 2000."
• XBMC For Mac: XBMC Turns Your Mac into the Ultimate Media Center - Wowzers! Nice work, Gina. This looks like a go-to solution for using OSXBMC to turn a Mac Mini into a pain-free media center.
• Hacking the Kindle part 3: root shell and runtime system - Oh, sweet fancy Moses: here are some inexplicably undocumented key commands that will so improve yr Kindle world. Kiss me, ragged-right justification! (BTW: ♥ my new Kindle, and am collecting my favorite time- and money-saving tips for a future post)
• 8 fonts you probably don’t use in css, but should - Personally, I'm not so big on Copperplate or Impact, but I'm a fool for Gill Sans. Nobody asked me, but I'd also add Mac-friendly faves Hoefler Text, Futura, and American Typewriter. [via anarchaia]
• We're sorry this is late; we really meant to post it sooner - "Most people's New Year's resolutions are doomed to failure...Most self-help books have it completely wrong when they say perfectionism is at the root of procrastination...Procrastination can be explained by a single mathematical equation" In keeping with my return to posting here, yes: that's meta-research on procrastination. Swish.

And, in passing, a personal note: many thanks to you for your patience while I took some time to see to other projects; my more normal (which is to say, irregular, by most “pro blog” standards) habit of posting to 43f when I have something to share or say restarts now. I’m grateful for your hanging with me.