TL;DR: “Type as quickly as you can and always carry a pencil.” — Clive Thompson. When the late Iain Banks talked about the inevitable “where do you get your ideas?” question that authors are dogged by, he said, “we have exactly the same amount of ideas as everybody else – authors are just better at…… Continue reading Pencils for notes, keyboards for ideas
Tag: workflow
A useful IFTTT recipe for blogging
A really useful piece of advice from Adam Tinworth about blogging is this: bring the inspiration or desire to blog as close as possible to actually blogging. This sounds obvious, but over time all sorts of tools and steps in the process can get added. Consequently, I have an Evernote notebook full of links to…… Continue reading A useful IFTTT recipe for blogging
Work is the signal
I like this Tweet: “Work Is the Signal, Email Is the Noise”–@Wired — Erick Schonfeld (@erickschonfeld) January 22, 2014 Reminds me of Caroline Webb’s saying that “email is procrastination in disguise”. Sure, email is a vital tool. Yes, it is a powerful communication platform and sometime the most important thing to do is send an email.…… Continue reading Work is the signal
Outliner thinking
In this MIT Technology Review article about different writing and blog authoring tools – As We May Type – Paul Ford describes a tribe I wasn’t aware existed, but once described I knew immediately I was a part of – “outliner people”. Outliners were one of the first writing tools available on computers and they continue to…… Continue reading Outliner thinking
Thinking about Diigo (and some useful tips)
If there is one online tool that I would recommend anyone who thinks for a living, it’s Diigo. The new version of Diigo, launched a month or so ago is absolutely amazing. It’s worth noting the ways you can find value in it I think of these into levels. So I thought I’d write some thoughts…… Continue reading Thinking about Diigo (and some useful tips)
Tools and distraction
Despite having at least four other devices with Kindle apps on them at any given moment at home or work, my reading weapon of choice is the Kindle Paperwhite. I rip through books on it, lose myself in them fast and deeply. Two reasons: first, there is less pull from the web and apps; second,…… Continue reading Tools and distraction
Working fast and slow
Maria Popova blogged about a book called Reading Like a Writer – by the aptly named Francine Prose – that looks at the importance of reading for writers. This quote made me stop and think hard: With so much reading ahead of you, the temptation might be to speed up. But in fact it’s essential to…… Continue reading Working fast and slow
Think of today as a prototype
Tim Brown of IDEO suggests we apply design thinking to our lives. Like any good design team, we can have a sense of purpose without deluding ourselves that we can predict every outcome in advance, for this is the space of creativity. We can blur the distinction between the final product and the creative process…… Continue reading Think of today as a prototype
Address powerful goodness
Benjamin Franklin’s day looked like this: Franklin’s structuring of his day like this reminds me of the “daily scaffold” Curtis James talks about in relation to his People Who Do productivity work. Mine looks a lot messier and more fragmented, including the sleep. I especially like the “address Powerful Goodness” part of the morning. Was that some sort…… Continue reading Address powerful goodness
Tricking yourself out of information overload
According to Oliver Burkeman, informational overload is “suffused with irrationality”: There are millions of information sources we could, in theory, keep up with, but only a few that we tell ourselves we must – and the distinction’s pretty arbitrary. I try to answer all personal emails, but I don’t worry about answering all personal Twitter…… Continue reading Tricking yourself out of information overload
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