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.
Our Most Popular Posts43f Program Note: The Week Our Gears ShiftMerlin Mann | Sep 8 2008Reserve Reading: kung fu grippe - "Better" In light of some new directions I'm taking with my work, 43 Folders is changing focus and approach from being the "blog about productivity" that many readers may view it as today. So, this week, I'll be presenting a few articles that touch on where I'm heading with this stuff, and why. read more »POSTED IN:
The Missing iPhone To-Do App: Not MissedMatt Wood | Dec 19 2007I thought for sure the one thing that would nag me about the iPhone when I finally got one was its lack of a to-do list app. To my surprise though (and maybe it makes sense, as I'll explain), now that I have an iPhone I haven't felt the need for a to-do app at all. It's an egregious omission for most people to be sure, but for me it's turned out to be a non-issue. To understand why, I need to provide some context. read more »22 Comments
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Fractal Implementation, or, On the Dangers of David Allen's FingerMerlin Mann | May 31 2005Again, this time with the chorus: it's about the work, not the meta-work. read more »POSTED IN:
Real Advice HurtsMerlin Mann | Dec 3 2008In the wonderful Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott talks about the incredible, ripping pain she felt after having her tonsils removed. All she wanted to do was chug pain killers and let the stupid thing heal, but, Anne's doctor gave her some advice that she found as unbelievable as it was painful: he told her to chew some gum. Turns out that, as with a lot of injuries, the entirely sensible impulse to protect and baby a wounded area was the opposite of what Anne actually needed in order to fix the problem. So, by enduring the excruciating pain of chewing gum for just a few minutes, the muscles in her throat suddenly unclenched, and Anne's pain went away forever. The advice Anne wanted wasn't the advice she needed. And, like we all eventually learn, the best advice you'll get in life hurts like hell at the time. Because it has to. And, maybe that's part of what what bugs me about all the "tips." read more »POSTED IN:
Getting more out of iCalMerlin Mann | Jun 29 2006Okay, I admit it. I've grumbled about iCal on and off since it came out. It's one of those things in life that makes you nuts with how it almost works. The alarm choices are amazing but there's no way to have them added automatically. The shared calendars are great, but only one person can make changes. The snoozing sucks, notifications magically disappear, and some days, the "moist Jolly Rancher" design motif makes me want to barf pink. Hrmph. But (and it's a big but)... The truth is, iCal works great with kGTD (mostly of course), and once you make your peace with the perplexing stasis of its feature set, there are some not-bad hooks and affordances hiding in its pastel, roundy corners. Here's a few I like. read more »POSTED IN:
Email Insanity & the 0.001 ChallengeMerlin Mann | Apr 24 2008Via a Toot by Jeff Atwood comes this thoughtful post by Tantek Çelik on how email is no longer working for him. His first reason is a biggie:
This is one reason I'm getting attracted to using Get Satisfaction as a way to expose help issues to a large group of helpers and helpees (BTW, we're just getting started on GS -- FAQs and more will be coming soon). I'm also realizing that this is why I (and Jonathan Coulton and probably you) struggle with holding up dozens of one-on-one conversations -- it locks up your attention and its fruits in thousands of inaccessible alcoves. And truly, that does not and will not scale. But, y'know, as I read Tantek's post, alongside his "Communication Protocols" notes, I found myself returning to a pet theory that I've been too embarrassed to lay out in a real post. But what the heck, I'll capture some notes and you can tell me what you think: I suspect that email encourages people to act insane. read more »POSTED IN:
NaNoWriMo: A Pep Talk and a WarningMerlin Mann | Nov 2 2009I honor any project to write something — especially to write a long piece of fiction. It's something I've always wanted to do but, like most people, I have always been too scared to attempt it. So, kudos. But, here's the thing: it's hard to start writing, and it's almost as hard to keep writing. Believe me, I know. And, there will be times every day when you get discouraged or you want to throw in the towel because you feel lost or depressed or useless or just plain tired. Empty. That's the word. Empty. All I want to say is, keep at it. You can do this. read more »POSTED IN:
EnoughMerlin Mann | Dec 14 2009Seth’s Blog: What Matters Now: get the free ebook A few months ago, Seth Godin asked about 70 people to talk about a word or phrase related to their own idea of What Matters Now. He collected them all into one big ol’ file, and now you can download a PDF of all those contributions, including pieces by folks like Elizabeth Gilbert, Kevin Kelly, Steven Pressfield, and, improbably enough, yours truly. My essay’s called, Enough. read more »POSTED IN:
Making Time to Make: The Job You Think You HaveMerlin Mann | Aug 5 2008This article is Part 2 of a 3-part series about attention management for people who do creative work called, Making Time to Make.
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Mental dialogues, yak-shaving & the triumph of the 'mini-review'Merlin Mann | Sep 29 2004From time to time in the middle of an interruption-driven week, I’ll find myself in the weeds and struggling to think where I should park an item. My brain speaks informally with itself:
I’ve finally learned to diagnose these odd dialogues as a symptom of a simple problem: I’m mired in seemingly important details, I’ve fallen out of touch with my “stuff," and, damn it, I need to do a quick mini-review. read more »POSTED IN:
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