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 PostsQuicksilver: The Comma TrickMerlin Mann | Jun 13 2005
Now consider a few possibilities of “The Comma Trick” read more »13 Comments
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Oh, yeah..._the name_Merlin Mann | Sep 5 2004A couple people had asked. read more »POSTED IN:
Guy Kawasaki & the art of the 5-sentence emailMerlin Mann | Jul 12 2007Ten Things to Learn This School Year I'm intrigued by this bit of advice from Guy Kawasaki on the stuff you don't learn in school (but should):
While exaggerated for effect, this strikes me as sound advice. And, in the context of a discussion about education, I'm reminded of the "hamburger essays" we used to have to write in school. Yeah, sure, there aren't many times in life where you have to sit down and write an actual 5-paragraph essay, but they sure did encourage you to think about structure, rhetoric, and arc. As ever, that bit of constraint gives you the focus needed to improve the quality of your presentation. Man, in retrospect, I've sent a lot of emails that could and should have been whittled down to five sentences (if that). Emailarrhea. POSTED IN:
The Economy of the HeartJoel Johnson | Jan 28 2008I’m not a Christian anymore. Perhaps I got a raw deal when God was passing out churches—mine was shaken apart in my late teens by a pastor who got busted for sneaking a few hundred thousand out of the offering plate to buy Nazi war memorabilia, not to mention banging a few dozen women who came to him for marriage counseling—but I’ve made my peace with the Prince of it. One particularly Christian principle has apparently stuck with me over the years. It wasn’t until recently that I rediscovered it. (Not animal sacrifice, which I never abandoned.) And whether Jesus of Nazareth existed as a real meat person or was the product of a coterie of desert sci-fi novelists, one thing he taught has been helping me a lot lately. It’s awfully nice to forgive. read more »POSTED IN:
5 apps to rescue the distractedMerlin Mann | Feb 23 2006Has your Mac turned into a shooting gallery full of distractions? Do your eyes spin like pinballs every time you sit down to work? Try a few of these apps to help discourage attention-grabbers and force your sickeningly versatile computer (and yourself) into doing just one thing at a time. read more »POSTED IN:
Task Times, The Planning Fallacy, and a Magical 20%Merlin Mann | Aug 13 2008Overcoming Bias: Planning Fallacy Via The Guardian, via Chairman Gruber, comes this post from the new-to-me blog, Overcoming Bias. It discusses the research behind a common cognitive bias known as The Planning Fallacy, which is a repeatable, documented error in thinking that apparently explains why we all tend to "underestimate task-completion times." It's summed up nicely by Gödel, Escher, Bach author Douglas Hofstadter's Law regarding the time it takes to do anything:
Sounds familiar. From the Overcoming Bias post:
Cf: The Optimism Bias. read more »POSTED IN:
Vox Pop: Have you tried outsourcing your life?Merlin Mann | Jun 25 2007A lot of my friends have been reading The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss, and, to varying degrees, several of them have started trying on some of his more audacious ideas, such as checking email once a week, finding an "income muse," going on an extreme information diet -- a few people I know are considering outsourcing pieces of their personal and professional lives. For reasons I can't fully explain -- and will, for now, just write down to Tim's engaging style -- I also found this outsourcing idea weirdly fascinating. You identify the tedious tasks in your life that don't represent the best use of your time, and assign them to an overseas worker who can complete them for a few bucks an hour. This apparently can be virtually any kind of mundane task, from booking a dinner reservation to doing research on a company to -- heck, why not? -- answering your email. So, while I know lots of people share my theoretical interest in this, I wonder how many of you have tried it, and how many of you are using outsourced help on a regular basis. What's your experience been? Does this work? What sorts of task are most amenable to long-distance assignment? read more »POSTED IN:
Three OS X TimersMerlin Mann | Nov 15 2005I know I'm not the only timer nerd here -- check out three Mac-friendly ways to time your activities and make sure you stay on track. read more »POSTED IN:
James Fallows on GTD appsMerlin Mann | May 2 2008Bright 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:
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. POSTED IN:
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