Merlin’s weekly podcast with Dan Benjamin. We talk about creativity, independence, and making things you love.
Merlin’s weekly podcast with Dan Benjamin. We talk about creativity, independence, and making things you love.
”What’s 43 Folders?”
43Folders.com is Merlin Mann’s website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.
BlogsVox Pop: Managing actions from list emails?Merlin Mann | Jul 30 2007During the Q&A portion of my Inbox Zero presentation at Google the other day, an audience member stumped me with a question about how to manage action around mailing list distributions (the question starts at about 48:22). He said he frequently receives email requests and questions that are also distributed to the other 20 people on his team. He describes a "waiting game" in which team members hang back to see if other people will respond first -- at least partly out of not wanting to duplicate effort or flood the sender. I thought it was a really intriguing question, although I said (and still believe) that distributed email would not personally be my first choice to handle this kind of communication. Well, based on the reaction in the room that day, I gathered that this is a common dilemma for Googlers. Funny thing is that, since the video went up, I've received a lot of email from people outside the Googleplex who share the same problem -- a few of whom were aghast that I wasn't aware what a huge pain this is for knowledge workers. And to an extent, I'll admit those folks were mostly right. read more »39 Comments
POSTED IN:
Piano prodigy on focus and flowMerlin Mann | Jul 30 2007TED | Talks | Jennifer Lin: Magical improv from 14-year-old pianist (video) This video from the 2004 TED Conference is extraordinary for a few reasons. First, the prepared performances by then-14-year-old composer and pianist Jennifer Lin are lovely and technically very accomplished. And -- wow -- the improvisation she creates on the spot (16:45) is really something. But, I also wanted to draw your attention to her thoughts on creativity and flow -- discussing how she tries to beat distraction and gain focus in both drawing and composition. Her discussion starts around 13:31, but do stick around after for her improv based upon randomly chosen notes. [via Metafilter] POSTED IN:
Vox Pop: Implementing GTD for Creative Work?Merlin Mann | Jul 27 2007creativepro.com - Getting Design Done Interesting article here by our old pal, Keith Robinson, introducing GTD to creative types. This is a fascinating topic for me, particularly since I sometimes find it difficult to "crank widgets" when it comes to anything creative. Keith's an old hand with this stuff, so it's not surprising that he's developed his own tweaks for Getting Creativity Done. Here's a novel idea:
That's an interesting way to think about contexts. Ordinarily, you'd think of contexts as representing access to a certain kind of tool or as a physical or temporal limitation, whereas Keith is using it almost like a project. This is challenging stuff that my buddy, Ethan, and I end up talking about all the time. We both agree that you can use GTD to "clear the decks" for creative work -- to move aside all the mundane workaday tasks that might keep you from focusing on blocks of time for creative stuff. But we, like a lot of people, both struggle with how (or even whether) to put truly creative work into our GTD systems. What do you think? How are you using GTD for creative work? What do projects and next actions look like for a painter, a screenwriter, or a dancer? What's your best trick for getting creative stuff done? POSTED IN:
Old-timey phones exchanges; boss Wii shirt; new Backpack; cool RSS filteringMerlin Mann | Jul 26 2007Recent remaindered links you might enjoy:
POSTED IN:
Video for Merlin's "Inbox Zero" talkMerlin Mann | Jul 25 2007This is the video for my Inbox Zero talk I presented in July of 2007 at Google. Is Inbox Zero an idea that your company should learn about in person? You can invite me to speak to your organization, live and in-person. read more »POSTED IN:
Macworld: Mac Gems PicksMerlin Mann | Jul 24 2007Macworld Feature: Connect with the world Macworld Magazine asked me to pick out a few of my Mac Gems, and I was happy to respond with four favorites. Default Folder, for example, is a PreferencePane that I've used and loved since Christ was a corporal:
POSTED IN:
|
|
EXPLORE 43Folders | THE GOOD STUFF |