Merlin’s weekly podcast with Dan Benjamin. We talk about creativity, independence, and making things you love.
BlogsGTD: Boing Boing Mark gets itMerlin Mann | Feb 3 2006Mad Professor: Getting Things Done Getting Things Done has occasionally been criticized for lacking a focus on what I call Capital Letter Nouns -- as an action-based, tactical toolset for managing life's verbs, it was never intended as a top-down treatise on generating Big Life Decisions. I happen to think that's a big part of what makes it so appealing to people (esp. the techies who crave "actionable items") -- it takes you as you are and says "Okay, let's get to work." But, funny thing: the folks who stick with GTD past the experimental try-on phase often discover it gives them sharper insight into their goals and values than some of the theoretically more lofty systems that are out there. It's always satisfying to see folks make that big breakthrough, and that's what I hear Boing Boing's Mark Frauenfelder saying over at Mad Professor:
Get those verbs under control, folks, and it's a shitload easier to even see the big nouns. 7 Comments
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SFGate talks with the father of "patterns"Merlin Mann | Feb 3 2006To be a good builder, you need a feel for what surrounds you. Christopher Alexander knows. [SFGate.com] Berkeley's Christopher Alexander -- author of A Pattern Language -- talks with Chron art critic Kenneth Baker in a 2-part feature discussing his career and his 4-volume collection, The Nature of Order (official book site) read more »POSTED IN:
OmniOutliner: Spacebar for mouseless dropdown selectionMerlin Mann | Feb 3 2006Speaking of R'ing TFM, OmniGroup's crackerjack techs responded almost immediately to my recent "feature request" that I be able to select items from OmniOutliner dropdown menus without using the mouse. Already there. Just hit In other news, the new unofficial motto of 43 Folders is going to be “The only truly obvious things are those things that you already know. (And, regrettably, not everyone is you yet.)” POSTED IN:
4-1/2 tiny ways to master Mail.appMerlin Mann | Feb 2 2006Seriously, though, suck it up and just check for new mail as seldom as your job and your patience will possibly permit. Really push the envelope on this, even just for half a day, and see if you don't notice a difference. The world actually can spin without you for a while. read more »POSTED IN:
Solve problems by writing a note to yourselfMerlin Mann | Feb 2 2006Dear, Merlin, For someone so fond of lecturing other people about their problems, I have a lot of annoying tics (I mean, duh). One of my worst, at least back in the day, was seldom bothering to RTFM before demanding lots of time-consuming help from others. For years, my court of first resort was almost always to email the smartest, often busiest person I knew about a given topic, alerting them as to their new role as the speed bump between me and solving my problem (cf: the classic Balloon joke). I've gotten better at it over the years, for sure, and, in the age of Google, it's a habit that's easy enough to shed. The funny thing I eventually realized was that I could and often did find the solution to my problem -- part way through writing the email in which I was asking for help. I realize this sounds kind of silly, but the next time you're having trouble figuring something out, try writing a note to yourself. read more »POSTED IN:
Real Simple: Plugging money leaksMerlin Mann | Feb 2 2006Money-Saving Secrets: RealSimple.com This article from the March, 2006 Real Simple has some handy tips on plugging the "money leaks" in your life. Leaks to plug include:
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