Everyone needs some type of filing system. Even if you are attempting to go paperless, chances are you will still need some type of filing system--even if it is computer based. The five articles below look at different ways to setup and improve your filing system. They deal paper based systems, but some of the principles will apply to paperless systems as well. Taking a little time to improve your setup can be a very good investment. If you can reduce the amount of time you spend hunting for things each day by even just two minutes, it will save you 12 hours per year. If you have an article that you would recommend on filing, please add it in the comments. Filing Organization … [Read more...] about Links for Setting Up a Filing System
Mark Shead's articles
Mark Shead
Facebook for Kids
Johnathan Fields has a nice article about 14 year olds having Facebook accounts. He really looks at a perspective I hadn't thought of. … [Read more...] about Facebook for Kids
Productivity at the Fringes
The physics most of us are familiar with is called Newtonian physics. You can use it to calculate how fast a ball will fall when dropped from the Eiffel tower, where a canon ball will land when shot at a particular angle and all kinds of other useful things. However, if you start dealing with things that are very small or very large, Newtonian physics is no longer accurate. When dealing with very small things like computer processors, individual photos and other partials, you have to use Quantum Theory to produce meaningful results. When dealing with very large things, distances and objects, you have to use Einstein's Theory of Relativity. With Newtonian physics, the GPS in your … [Read more...] about Productivity at the Fringes
Failing Quickly
Failing can be one of the most productive things you can do. Most people try to avoid failure. I'm not saying that this is bad, but in many cases they are just delaying failure to a later point in time. If something you are doing is going to result in failure you should do your best to make sure it happens sooner rather than later. With few exceptions, failing now is going to be less expensive (in time, money, mental stress) than failing one year from now. As an example, think about a relationship. If two people are dating and they discover a particular area where they aren't compatible at all, they can avoid that area. However, this may extend their relationship and just cause it … [Read more...] about Failing Quickly
9 Programs Worth Buying for OS X
Here some of the software I have spent money on and that was well worth worth the cost. Most of these deserve their own post and screencast just to show you how truly useful they are, but for now, here is a high level overview of each program. 1Password - I owned this software for about a year before using it. It was part of a MacHeist packaged deal. I didn't think I would ever want to use a password manager. (Real men keep their passwords in their head right?) Grant mentioned that it was a must have piece of software, so I finally decided to try it out. It really is incredible. I've been blown away by how much time I was wasting dealing with passwords. If you deal with passwords for … [Read more...] about 9 Programs Worth Buying for OS X
Contratulations Martin
Martin won the ergonomic giveaway. He chose the mousepad with the wrist-rest. We shipped it out to him today. Be watching for another contest with a giveaway. … [Read more...] about Contratulations Martin
How big are your blocks?
The ability to be productive is not something that is evenly distributed to each human. Take five random people and give them all the assignment to create a storage shed and a week to work on it. At the end of a week, how much variance would you expect to find? Some individuals wouldn't have started while others would be completely finished. There are several reasons for this. If one of your subjects happens to be a carpenter, it makes sense that he would make more headway than the Wal-mart clerk. So skill and past experience definitely have an impact. However, there is another difference that is even more important that has to do with how different people see a problem and what … [Read more...] about How big are your blocks?
Ergonomic Giveaway – Still Time
Just a reminder that there is still time to enter our ergonomic giveaway of some cool Fellowes products. To enter just leave a comment on the post where we interviewed Kevin Butler. We will pick a winner later this week. … [Read more...] about Ergonomic Giveaway – Still Time
$10,000 Stack of Paper
In my computer bag, I have small stack of papers that is worth a bit over $10,000. This is a story about the importance of keeping good records. Before my wife and I went to Mexico, we decided we needed a new car. Our Buick had well over 200,000 miles on it. The high mileage wasn't a problem, but the area where we were going couldn't easily get Buick parts. It was a similar situation with our 20 year old BMW. After some checking, we found that Volkswagens were pretty common and there was even a dealership in the area where we were planning to live. We test drove about 15 vehicles before we found one we liked. It was an off-lease 2003 Passat with a bit over 50,000 miles on it. … [Read more...] about $10,000 Stack of Paper
Email like gambling
There is an interesting article about how checking your email can be addictive just like gambling. … [Read more...] about Email like gambling
Interview with Kevin Butler & Giveaway
Fellowes, a company known for paper shredders, is promoting some of their ergonomic non-shredding products. Their approach was interesting. I was contacted and asked if 1. I'd like to try out some of their items, 2. if I'd like some free stuff to give away, and 3. if I'd be interested in interviewing their certified ergonomic consultant. I was particularly intrigued with the chance to ask a professional ergonomist some questions. This post contains Keven Butler's answers. Kevin is a Board Certified Professional Ergonomist and works as a consultant for Fellowes, Inc. Make sure read through to the bottom for our first ergonomic giveaway courtesy of Fellowes. 1. What is the most … [Read more...] about Interview with Kevin Butler & Giveaway
Gift Cards and Bankruptcy
I've seen people talk about using gift cards as a way to save for large purchases. Where I live this doesn't make sense because of the fees that chip away at the value, but some states like California don't have that limitation. Regardless of where you live, gift cards become pretty much worthless if the company goes bankrupt as people who hold gift cards from Sharper Image and The Bombay Company are learning. If you want to save money, the best place to keep it is in a bank. … [Read more...] about Gift Cards and Bankruptcy
Questions? Call the NYC Library
917-275-6975. That is the number of their reference desk where people are available to answer your questions. If they can't find the answer in five minutes they will direct you to other resources that might be able to help. You can also contact them over chat or email from this page. I'd suggest adding the number to your cell phone so it is handy when the need arises. … [Read more...] about Questions? Call the NYC Library
Webinars? Input Please
I am toying with the ideas of doing a series of webinars on some of the topics we talk about here at Productivity501. The idea would be to bring in some experts for 30 to 45 minute live discussions on particular topics. What do you think? Is this something that would interest you and if so what topics would you like to see covered? (Also if you can recommend a particular webinar product, I'd love to hear what you have found works well for you.) … [Read more...] about Webinars? Input Please
Interesting Reading on Calling/Visiting Cards
Calling cards are basically personal business cards. Brett and Kate have written a nice introduction to calling cards. Time magazine also wrote a short piece talking about how they are coming back. Evidently the Marines art still using calling/visiting cards today. … [Read more...] about Interesting Reading on Calling/Visiting Cards
Chimps and Children
Psychologists have been doing some experiments with chimps and young children looking for differences in the way they solve problems. In one of the experiments, they gave chimps a clear box containing food. The scientists showed the chimp how to open the box, but included several steps that were obviously unnecessary. When the chimps were left alone with the box, they retrieved the food imitating the method they had been shown. However, the chimps eliminated the unnecessary steps. The scientists then tried the same experiment with 3 and 4 year olds. Unlike the chimps, children imitated the entire sequence of actions they had been shown, including the unnecessary steps. This is an … [Read more...] about Chimps and Children
Perfect Tools
One of the biggest hindrances to personal productivity is the search for perfect tools. Let's consider an analogy. John is a carpenter and he wants to be the most productive carpenter he can possibly be. To reach this goal, he decides he needs the best tools possible, so he sets out to find the perfect hammer. John visits many stores and tries out different hammers. They all work fine, but he notices subtle differences. He finally settles on a wonderful hammer that he uses for a week, but then he discovers that it gives him a blister, so he sets out to find a better hammer. John may or may not ever find the perfect hammer. However, the productivity gain between a "good" … [Read more...] about Perfect Tools
Sneaker Net Should be Extinct
If you are still shuffling files back and forth on floppies, USB drives or CDs it is well worth your time to investigate other options. The investment in figuring out how to share files over the network in your home or office will save you a tremendous amount of time in the future. Here are two useful articles on setting up sharing. One for OS X and one for Windows. … [Read more...] about Sneaker Net Should be Extinct
Windows on a Mac
If you use a Mac, but need to run windows programs you have two options. Bootcamp (requires a reboot to change OS) and something like Fusion or Parallels (runs Windows in a box on top of OS X). I've been using Fusion and am very happy with it, but I've found that XP performs much much better than Vista in this environment. If you want to run Windows on top of OS X, I'd stick with XP for now. … [Read more...] about Windows on a Mac
Best Productivity Blog
What is your second favorite personal productivity site? I'm assuming the Productivity501 makes the top of your list. :) Seriously though, what site gives you the most useful practical information on getting more done? Leave the URL in the comments and a brief note about how the site helps you. … [Read more...] about Best Productivity Blog
Skype for Tech Support Calls
When I call a tech support line, I usually use Skype. This keeps my other lines free and gives me the greatest freedom to stay on hold if necessary. I don't have to worry about my cell phone battery going dead or tearing through hundreds of cell phone minutes that could be put to better use elsewhere. With a reasonably comfortable headset, I can continue to do other work while waiting to speak with a support representative. … [Read more...] about Skype for Tech Support Calls
Cluttered Work Environment
When our working environment is cluttered, our minds are cluttered. --Len Merson I generally consider this statement true, but wondered what you think. Do you require a clean workspace in order to have clear thought processes? … [Read more...] about Cluttered Work Environment
Business Liability Webinar
If you have or are considering starting a business, you'll want to checkout Legal Andrew's webinar tomorrow. He is going to talk about using business structures to protect your personal assets. The cost is $9 for the hour long webinar. With the included Q&A, the webinar is a tremendous value for business owners. … [Read more...] about Business Liability Webinar
Define and Conquer
There was an interesting experiment done by the American Pulpwood Association when they were looking to increase the productivity of loggers. Half of the loggers were given a specific, high goal to achieve. The other half were encouraged to do their best. The people who were assigned goals started bragging to one another as well as to family members as to their effectiveness as loggers. Productivity soared relative to those crews who were urged to do their best. Goal-setting instilled purpose, challenge, and meaning into what had been perceived previously as a tedious and physically tiresome task. A by-product of the goal intervention was that, within the week, employee attendance … [Read more...] about Define and Conquer
Destroying Magazines
I find that magazines are much more useful once you recognize that it is ok to tear pages out of them. Rip out the articles that you think look interesting and take them with you to read while waiting. Once you finish reading an article you can throw it away. An article that you read and toss is worth far more than one sitting on a shelf that you never have time to read. … [Read more...] about Destroying Magazines
Deep Decluttering
One of the most effective methods of decluttering is to move everything out and then just put back what you need. The next time you need to clean your office, the kitchen cabinets, or a closet, consider moving everything out as your first step. Get a three large boxes. One for stuff that goes back, one for stuff that gets thrown away and one for stuff that should go elsewhere. Most people find it is easier to organize when the items have already been removed. It helps keep you from leaving something that belongs elsewhere. … [Read more...] about Deep Decluttering
Relaxing on Purpose
Over the last holiday, I spent some time thinking about how we relax. Personally, I find that there are two ways achieve "down time". The first way is when I intentionally plan to take some time relaxing. This occurs when my wife and I decide to watch a movie, go on a walk, take some vacation and visit family, or go to the lake. The second way is when I have a list of things that I need to work on, but I really want to take a break. In this situation, I intend to do work, but instead I find myself fiddling with some gadget, browsing the web, etc. The first way of getting down time is relaxing, fun and refreshing. The second is frustrating and makes me feel worn out and like I need to … [Read more...] about Relaxing on Purpose
Investing in Excercise
There has been a long running belief that your body never produces new brain cells. This has been disproved. The brain does create new brain cells. There was a study done recently with mice to see how exercise impacted memory. The research was conducted by Fred Gage of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif. Gage and his colleagues allowed a group of old mice and a group of young mice to exercise on a running wheel as much as they wanted. The mice ran about 2 miles every day. The researchers also kept a third group of older mice that didn't exercise. After a month of the regular exercise, the team subjected the mice to a memory test. The researchers taught the … [Read more...] about Investing in Excercise
Don’t try to Catch a Pizza Thief using Email
Like most technological advances, email can help productivity, but it can also hurt it. It takes intentional effort to reap the benefits of advances without suffering from their negative side effects. Easy communication is good when you have something that needs to be communicated. Easy communication is bad when it means you are saying things that just waste everyone's time. I ran across an article titled "Efficiency Experts" that talked about how Joe Phelps (CEO of the Phelps Group Inc.) explained proper use of email to his staff using a recent example of an employee who had used email to try to track down who stole his piece of pizza. With technology revolutionizing … [Read more...] about Don’t try to Catch a Pizza Thief using Email
Friends
You can add Productivity501 as a friend on: StumbleUpon, Digg, YouTube, and Vimeo … [Read more...] about Friends
Sleeping Brains
Scientists implanted rats with special sensors and then trained them to run a particular course in order to find cheese. They found that they could tell where each rat was in the course by monitoring which cells were firing in the rats' brains. When the rats were sleeping, the scientists noticed something strange. The cells continued to fire in the same order. It was as if the rats were practicing running the course in their sleep. In another experiment, people were given a mechanical task to learn and repeat quickly. Scientists measured the areas of their brain that were active when performing the task right after learning it. Then they let some of the test group sleep and kept … [Read more...] about Sleeping Brains
Fat People to Pay $25 Per Month
Back in May I mentioned American Airline's new charge for checked luggage and asked if people would mind paying for their flight based on their weight. In the comments many people thought this was discrimination against people with a "disability". Well Alabama is now going to charge fat people $25 per month for insurance unless they are working at shedding the extra pounds. They have a pretty generous definition of who is fat enough to pay the fee--your BMI has to be over 35 (30 is usually considered obese). If you are 5'6" that means you are probably over 220 pounds. They already charge $24 per month to smokers. What would you think if your insurance gave you $25 for being at a healthy … [Read more...] about Fat People to Pay $25 Per Month
GTD in Outlook
Samkale has some great tips for people wanting to follow a GTD type system using Outlook. The post includes some solid ideas for organizing and categorizing information and then shows several scripting examples for making things work faster. … [Read more...] about GTD in Outlook
Math Impaired
I've been following the news about the sub-prime markets and foreclosures in the US. In a nutshell, here is what has happened. Companies that lend money for house loans had been doing very well, but their customer base was shrinking--there are only so many homes you can sell to one person.To compensate they started trying to sell to people who wouldn't normally qualify for a home loan. For example, some companies would get a list of people who had recently had their cars repossessed and use that as a list of potential clients. (I've written a more detailed explanation of the subprime mess in a previous post.) This is kind of what Citibank did in the 90s by offering credit cards to … [Read more...] about Math Impaired
Loneliness is Unhealthy
If I was looking for an area to research, loneliness would not make the top of my list. But that is exactly what Steven Cole from the University of California, Los Angeles is studying. One of the more interesting discoveries has to do with a correlation between loneliness and detrimental gene activities. It appears that loneliness can actually change how your genes act and make your body less likely to produce antibodies and fight off viruses. I have heard that from a life expectancy standpoint, not getting married is statistically equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes each day for males. Perhaps this is related to the same results Dr. Cole found. Health issues aside, … [Read more...] about Loneliness is Unhealthy
International Travel and Credit Cards
If you are traveling out of the country, be sure to call your credit card company and have them place a note on your account regarding your trip. If their computers suddently see a bunch of activity internationally it is likely to trigger the fraud alerts. Letting them know ahead of time won't guarantee that it won't get cut off, but it can help. In my experience American Express is less likely be cut off than Visa or Mastercard. … [Read more...] about International Travel and Credit Cards
Socialization and Creativity
In the June/July issue of Scientific American Mind, Robert Epstein was quoted as saying: When children are very young, they all express creativity, but by the end of the first grade, very few do so. This is because of socialization. He talks about how much of what children learn in school stifles creativity. In addition to the formal training, the interactions with other children can encourage them to be "normal" which can also reduce their tendency to be creative. If Johnny likes to hum and make up tunes, but Robby gets the other kids to make fun of him for that, Johnny may stop expressing himself in that way. Being aware of how creativity can be repressed is useful in raising … [Read more...] about Socialization and Creativity
Laptop for taking Notes
Unclutter posted an article about using a laptop to take notes at college. I tend to disagree. It is hard to beat a pen and paper for taking notes. One thing that is commonly overlooked is how different tools exercise your mind. When you work on the computer it uses substantially different parts of your brain than when you write with pen and paper. (I don't know what happens if you use a typewriter.) Since so much research and writing papers is done on the computer, taking notes by hand allow you to interact with the content in as many different parts of the brain as possible. What do you think? Is a laptop an effective way to take notes in a classroom? … [Read more...] about Laptop for taking Notes
EVDO Card for Productivity
I am posting this note from the road. My wife is driving and I'm busy answering emails and arranging work with collegues from my laptop. The thing that makes this possible is a Sprint EVDO card. From a productivity standpoint, it is well worth the $60 per month. It more than pays for itself if I'm able to squeeze in an extra 30 minutes of work each month. … [Read more...] about EVDO Card for Productivity
Skype Now Sends Caller ID
Several months ago I tried using Skype and it wouldn't allow you to display your Skype-In number as the caller id to people you were calling. This was frustrating and I even sent a letter to the CEO of Skype about it. However, as Hayden Tompkins pointed out, this now works--I just hadn't checked it since it was fixed. You may have to manually enable it, but logging into your account and going into the Caller ID preferences. This is a great improvement because many people will just ignore calls that say UNKNOWN or from strange looking numbers. … [Read more...] about Skype Now Sends Caller ID
Skype Shortcoming
The biggest problem with using Skype occurs when you call out. Instead of seeing your number for Caller ID, the person you are calling will see 0123456789 or a random telephone number. Has anyone found a way to work around this and get it to display your dial back number? … [Read more...] about Skype Shortcoming
Cell Phones and Sleep
Some experiments seems to suggest that using a cell phone before going to bed can make it more difficult to fall asleep. It seems that the radio waves can mess with the mind and excite it. The effect is fairly subtle and is about equivalent to drinking half a cup of coffee, but still something to consider if you are having trouble going to sleep. … [Read more...] about Cell Phones and Sleep
Working Effectively with a New Assistant
Most successful and efficient people will eventually come to a point where they at least consider hiring an assistant. It seems like a very logical step. If some of your work can be handed off to someone else, then you can concentrate on the things that can only be done by you which will increase your personal productivity. Unfortunately many people hire assistants and end up in this type of situation: Lets say you are a mad scientist out to destroy the world. You can spend more time thinking up doomsday scenarios if you had an assistant to study gauges and push the buttons that simply must be studied and pushed to keep your diabolical lab running smoothly. So after a careful search … [Read more...] about Working Effectively with a New Assistant
Trademark Webinar
Legal Andrew is doing a webinar that covers trademark issues. If you have a company this would probably be well worth your time to check out. If you are a reader of Productivity501 the webinar is free. (Ok so it is actually free for everyone.) … [Read more...] about Trademark Webinar
Add Cucumbers to your Diet
If you are wanting to reduce your daily calories, consider eating a few cucumbers for their high mass, low calorie benefits. An entire pound of cucumbers will only give you 50 calories, so they are a simple way to get full without adding calories to your diet. … [Read more...] about Add Cucumbers to your Diet
The Zone
There are two things that will impact how much you get done. First, there is the amount of time you spend. Obviously, you can get more done in 20 minutes than in 2. The second is how focused you are. This factor is referred to as, being in "the zone". When it comes to your personal productivity, the second factor is usually more important than the first. How many times have you spent 30 minutes working on a task that you didn't really want to do and made very little progress, but when you truly decide you want to complete that task it only takes 15 minutes? This a common occurrence for most people. Often the biggest differentiator between highly productive and less productive people … [Read more...] about The Zone
The Rat Experiment
There was an experiment where researchers were given a set of rats and told to rate their ability to learn mazes. They were told that certain rats were "smart rats" and had an abnormally high IQ. When the researchers tested the rats, their studies showed that the "smart rats" performed significantly better than the ordinary rats. The experiment, however, wasn't focused on the rats, it was testing the researchers. All of the rats were the same, but telling the researchers that some of the rats were smart caused them to rate the rats better, even though there was no difference. People will view what you do through their own set of prejudices. To a certain extent, your ability to … [Read more...] about The Rat Experiment
What Magazines Do You Read
I'd like to hear from readers about what magazines and publications you regularly read. Please leave a comment with a list of the publications you feel are worth your time. I am currently subscribed to: Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Science Illustrated, Mind, and Kiplinger Letter. … [Read more...] about What Magazines Do You Read
Trained Smelling Bees
Scientists are training bees to smell certain diseases. The bees are then used to recognize whether or not someone has a particular disease by smelling their breath. This is a far cry from the little hand held scanner StarTrek predicted we'd have, but it demonstrates a valuable lesson. Don't get so caught up in looking for high tech solutions that you overlook simple, but very effective low tech opportunities. … [Read more...] about Trained Smelling Bees
A few useful links
Unclutterer has some photos of a wall mounted laptop desk from Ikea. It looks like it would be useful in homes where you are short on space. GetRichSlowly examines some of the changes people are making due to high gas prices and considers getting a scooter. LIfeClever looks at some tools to help you focus on a single window in OS X. … [Read more...] about A few useful links