With inexpensive digital cameras and ever growing storage capacity, it is easy to create and maintain a very large quantity of pictures. My personal photo library starts in 1998 and provides a fairly detailed chronicle of my life for the past 11 years. In many ways, it is the most accurate diary or journal of my life events over that time period. If I want to know when we went on a particular trip, I can look up the date in our photo library. If I want to know who attended a particular event, I can look it up there, as well. I find that occasionally running through all of my pictures helps me remember events that would otherwise be forgotten--particularly in remembering the … [Read more...] about Photo Diary
Mark Shead's articles
Mark Shead
The Deadly Well – Teaching to Learn
When you need to remember something you've learned, one of the best things you can do is explain your new knowledge to someone else. When I was studying music theory, I thought I had a firm grasp on the subject. However, when I went back and taught it to incoming freshmen, I discovered how much better I understood once I had to explain it to others. I still use this technique today. When there is something that I think I understand, I'll try to explain it to my wife to help me remember and to see if I understand things as well as I think I do. My mother teaches grade school and uses this principle all the time. When her sister and her sister's 5 year old grandson were coming to … [Read more...] about The Deadly Well – Teaching to Learn
7 Ways to Wake Up in the Morning
Your method of waking up is the first thing that starts your day. I'm not saying that waking up to an annoying alarm will ruin your day, but it probably isn't going to help anything. Here are a few ideas for waking up: Wake up to a CD. Many stereos have a built in alarm clock that will start the CD at a certain time. (This can also be the basis of a nice college dorm prank.) Wake up to the radio. Most clock radios let you wake up to whatever is being broadcast instead of the normal alarm. Wake up to light. A simple outlet timer hooked to a bright light can be a great way to wake up because the light will help tell your body that the day is starting. (You might want to set a … [Read more...] about 7 Ways to Wake Up in the Morning
Do You Read Enough?
Imagine you are interviewing someone for a job and one of the questions you are going to ask them is "How much time do you spend reading and what do you read?" Now imagine the answer you get back exactly describes your own reading habits. What would your opinion be of the person you are interviewing based solely on that answer? In other words, are you impressed with your own reading habits? Most people aren't. With the Internet, the average person reads a much wider range of content with much less depth than 20 years ago. And while there are some definite advantages to knowing a little about a lot of things, much of the content adds very little value to people's lives. Making … [Read more...] about Do You Read Enough?
Keeping Your Stuff Safe
The other day, I stepped outside and found my neighbor lugging a broken door out of his garage and into the back of his pickup truck. It turns out he had locked himself out of his house. His wife was away and he had no spare keys. To make matters worse, their new puppy was inside the house. He simply kicked the door in, got his keys and then went and purchased an identical door, which I helped him install. Later on that day, I was talking with some other neighbors who are both police officers. They were staring at the mangled door next to the curb and wondering what happened. They commented that the doors and locks on our houses don't really keep our possessions safe. For the … [Read more...] about Keeping Your Stuff Safe
Paperless Infrastructure
Businesses have much to gain by moving to paperless communication with their customers. Just think how much money credit card companies could save if even 5% of their customers switched to paperless communication. The problem is that most companies seem to get the whole idea of "paperless" wrong. Their solution for people who want to be paperless is that they will send you an email notifying you that you have a statement. Then you can log into their website and download the statement as a PDF. This is about equivalent to having a mailman who knocks on your door to tell you there is a letter for you at the post-office. This reflects a type of arrogance (or stupidity) that is typical of … [Read more...] about Paperless Infrastructure
Interview: Successful Habit
What productive habit do you feel is most responsible for your success? (960) I try to only do things that make me happy. I could make more money working in an office than from cooking or writing, but it would bore me and make me frustrated and angry. So while I might not always want to get up at eight AM to slave in a hot kitchen, knowing that I'll enjoy the work and have fun with my friends there means I never resent it. And I apply that same mentality to my writing and my studies and everything else I do. It's only hard work if it's something that you don't want to do in the first place. David Robertson from The Church of Chris Martin (rss) Getting started. It's only … [Read more...] about Interview: Successful Habit
9 Alternatives to Mindless Television
Even if you can find something you want to watch, television is generally a waste of time. Approximately 20 minutes out of every hour is commercials, so when you watch 3 hours of television, you actually are watching 2 hours of your show and 1 hour of commercials. Here are a few ideas to make watching television more productive. (It sounds funny reading that.) Don't Channel Surf If there is a show you want to watch, then watch that show. Jumping from channel to channel can eat up huge amounts of time without actually watching anything. Think in terms of having a complete experience: a start, a middle, and an end. If you simply jump from channel to channel you aren't really having … [Read more...] about 9 Alternatives to Mindless Television
Taking a Break
A common mistake I see performance oriented people make is not taking break when they need it. Taking a break is like changing the oil on your car. It is a basic need and your performance will suffer if you decide to just "press on through." Let's say you normally operate at 70% to 90% of your potential, but when you get burned out, your capability drops to 20% to 30%. Simply trying to spend more time at your reduced effectiveness just doesn't make sense. You will be far better off to take some time off and come back at your normal 70% to 90%. You need breaks on different levels. You need daily breaks like taking time off for lunch, weekly breaks like taking time off on the … [Read more...] about Taking a Break
Interview: Technology Investments
We interviewed a number of bloggers and asked: How do you decide if a new technology is worth investing in or whether it is a waste of time? (692) Here are their answers. I was impressed with how many people have a framework or set of questions they use to decide if something is really valuable to them or not. If I'm not sure, I wait. I'm not an early adopter and I'm pretty frugal with my money, too. A product has to prove itself before I'll buy it. Trent Hamm from The Simple Dollar (rss) If a product doesn't have a collection of Amazon reviews, I figure it is probably too soon to know how well it works. I like to evaluate technology before I invest in it. For example, if … [Read more...] about Interview: Technology Investments
Liferea
I've discovered a great feed reader for linux called Liferea (short for LInux FEed REAder). One of the best things about it, is not only does it show the articles from the feed you are subscribed to, it also shows the comments. Does anyone know of a web based reader that does this? … [Read more...] about Liferea
Need Your Input
I'd like to get some input as to what type of articles you'd like to see on Productivity501. If I'm missing something please add your suggestion in the comments. You can vote for up to 3 poll options. Thanks for your help! [poll id="3"] … [Read more...] about Need Your Input
Doing Something New
Scientists raised two groups of mice and then measured their intelligence. The first group was kept in traditional mouse surroundings. They had a cage, food, water wood chips and nothing else. The other group was given a much more exciting environment. They had balls, running wheels, colored blocks, mazes, tunnels, doors, hanging ropes, pictures, etc. The mice that were exposed to more variety developed a much higher IQ, than the ones that had a boring environment. Does this mean that we should all add slides, fire poles, and ball pits to our houses? Maybe. But a less extreme and possibly more effective option is to simply make sure you do new things on a regular basis. Doing … [Read more...] about Doing Something New
How to Study
We have previously looked at how to memorize verbatim text. If you haven't read that post, be sure to check it out. It gives a good overview of how your brain works. By understanding what is happening inside your head when a fact is converted to a memory and a memory is then converted into a strong memory, you can set yourself up for success in memorization. The previous article deals with verbatim memorization--where you want to be able to repeat something back word for word. This is useful for memorizing lines in a play, a famous speech, Scripture, or other things where you want to be able to recall them word for word. However, most of what we need to learn doesn't require verbatim … [Read more...] about How to Study
Favorite Pen
For Christmas, my assistant bought me what has become my favorite pen. It is a Pilot G2 pen with a metal barrel. It has just the right amount of weight and retains everything I like about the plastic G2 but with much better materials. I made one change to it, by swapping out the black ink with a blue cartridge from a normal plastic G2 pen. … [Read more...] about Favorite Pen
Simple Stuff Reduction Tips
The more stuff you have, the more time you have to dedicate to managing and hunting for things. Here are several simple ways you can reduce the amount of stuff in your life to help make it easier to find things that are important. Keyring Cleanup - Get rid of any extra keys. If you are like most people, you probably have several keys that you can't even remember what they go to. Sometimes it helps to keep a separate keychain at home for those odd little keys that you don't want to lose, but don't need to carry with you. Card Shuffle - Go through your credit cards, ID cards, supermarket cards and get rid of the ones you won't use. I keep about 4 cards with me and the rest stay … [Read more...] about Simple Stuff Reduction Tips
Live Large on a Small Budget
Wise Bread is launching their book today called 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget. They sent me a review copy and the book is really amazing. It covers nearly every topic imaginable and is full of all kinds of ideas that I've never thought of. (Wise Bread is also having special giveaway today to help promote the book.) … [Read more...] about Live Large on a Small Budget
Interview: Learning New Technology
We interviewed a number of bloggers and asked: How do you learn a new piece of technology? (968) Here are their answers. I play with it! If my mind doesn't start flooding with lots of ways it will save me a ton of time, I abandon it. If it's not intuitive to learn, forget it. In today's world there is no excuse for any technology to be difficult to learn. Ariane Benefit from Neat & Simple Living (rss) Giving yourself plenty of time to just "play" is important. You shouldn't buy a complicated new digital camera 30 minutes before you want to use it to capture a once in a lifetime event. I unpack, fire it up and start using it. I toss the manual in the corner and … [Read more...] about Interview: Learning New Technology
Great Games
Over the Christmas holiday's someone suggested we play a game we use to play in college (Sardines). My first reaction was "we are too old for that and "it will be boring". I realized that I was displaying the first symptoms of old age. We went ahead and played the game and had a great time. So as a reminder to myself of the importance of having fun, we've compiled this list of fun group games. If you have any suggestions, please add them in the comments. 1. Sardines This is kind of like hide and go seek in reverse. One person hides and everyone goes looking for them. When the hider is found, the searcher hides with them. As more and more searchers hide with the hider, it … [Read more...] about Great Games
Paperless Signing and Faxing
When it comes to dealing with faxes my two biggest timesavers are using a scanned signature and the ability to sign documents from Acrobat. These two things make a huge difference in my ability to work from anywhere I have an internet connection. … [Read more...] about Paperless Signing and Faxing
Recommended Book
I just finished a fascinating book about how the longitude problem was solved. It is amazing how much effort went into solving the problem. I highly recommend the book. … [Read more...] about Recommended Book
4 Reasons You Should Use a Credit Card
When you pay off the balance each month, most credit cards don't charge you anything. This can be one of the best ways to manage your finances. Below are four reasons you should consider using a credit card. 1. Avoiding Fraud Debit cards and checks are some of the worst ways to pay for anything. Sticking with credit cards or cash can save you a lot of money. Pretty much anything you do involves risk. When you carry around $50 in your pocket, there is a risk that you might lose it or get robbed. When you give a credit card to a waitress, there is a risk that she might steal the number. When you write a check at the grocery store, there is a risk that someone might take your … [Read more...] about 4 Reasons You Should Use a Credit Card
New Fujitsu Scanner
If you've been following my paperless office experiment, you might be interested in Fujitsu's new ScanSnap model. The S1500M for Mac and S1500 for Windows looks to replace the 500 line. Most of the specs are similar, but the 1500s have some more advanced paper handling and sensing to prevent double feeds. … [Read more...] about New Fujitsu Scanner
Nature Sounds
I have found ambient nature sounds work very well to block out distractions. Productivity501 has made four CDs with an hour of natural sounds to help you concentrate. Ocean, Rain, Brook, and Rain on a Lake. … [Read more...] about Nature Sounds
Memorization
This method and tool are the best way I've found to memorize verbatim text. Give it a try and let me know how well it works for you. … [Read more...] about Memorization
Personal Productivity from Management Theory – Ouchi
This is the fourth of a four part series examining management theories and how they can help us understand our own personal productivity. William Ouchi was born in 1943 and raised in Honolulu. He earned his Ph.D from the University of Chicago and is currently on faculty at the University of California. Ouchi studied the different work cultures of America and Japan. In America, he found the "Cowboy" culture, where people are rewarded for their individual efforts and employees are acting out of what is good for themselves in the short term. Americans tend to value people who are mavericks and accomplish stuff even if they work against the "system" to do so. In America, it is common … [Read more...] about Personal Productivity from Management Theory – Ouchi
If you like Productivity501, you might enjoy becoming a fan of my public profile on Facebook, where I put links to other articles and tools that usually doesn't get published here. … [Read more...] about Facebook
PDF Creation Test
Robert Dyson tested out Adobe's new and old PDF creation tool and posted some comparison PDFs. He found some problems with formatting using the CreatePDF tool. … [Read more...] about PDF Creation Test
Personal Productivity from Management Theory – McGregor
This is the third in a four part series examining the relationship between management theories and personal productivity. Douglas McGregor lived from 1906 to 1964 and was a professor at MIT. Four years before his death, he published his theory on management, which is known as theory X and theory Y. Theory X is that employees are lazy and don't want to work. Under this theory, managers must create very structured environments in order for work to get done. They don't trust the employees and often see themselves in competition with them. This leads to managers who run their business as a dictatorship. Theory Y is a different way for managers to look at their employees. It is … [Read more...] about Personal Productivity from Management Theory – McGregor
Personal Productivity from Management Theory – Maslow
This is the second of a four part series examining how management theory can be applied to help improve one's personal productivity. Abraham Maslow lived from 1908 to 1970. He started studying Law in New York, but soon transferred to University of Wisconsin where he switched to psychology and earned a Ph.D by 1934. Maslow developed a theory known as the hierarchy of human needs. This hierarchy is usually represented as a pyramid. On the bottom are needs such as food and shelter--the basic needs of the human body. At the top of the pyramid are the categories of esteem with self actualization (reaching your potential) at the top. Here is a representation of the … [Read more...] about Personal Productivity from Management Theory – Maslow
Digital Letterhead
PDF For Laywers has a nice discussion about the benefits of using a digitized letter head. Basically he recommends creating a letter head that is part of your word processor template so you can print your letter and letter head together (to paper or to a PDF). Some good thoughts and worth a read for people experimenting with paperless offices. … [Read more...] about Digital Letterhead
Getting the Most Out of Magazines
I subscribe to a number of magazines and newspapers. Here are some of the strategies I use to get the most out of them while keeping the time commitment to a reasonable level. Skim - I'm not looking to fully read every article. Much of the time, the first few paragraphs and a quick glance over any charts will tell me what I need to know. TOC - The table of contents is another useful item for skimming. I usually prefer to skim the actual articles as well, but the TOC gives you a good feel for what might be interesting. Cut - I have a handy little paper cutter that slides down the page right next to the bound edge. I cut out any articles that look like they might be worth more … [Read more...] about Getting the Most Out of Magazines
Safety Tips
Safety is something we don't usually think about ahead of time, and hindsight isn't usually very effective in this area. Here are eight things you should consider when thinking about basic safety practices. Fire Extinguisher - Fire extinguishers are specially designed to put out the types of fires you might have in your house without causing the fire to spread. Throwing water on an electrical or grease fire may make things worse. Keeping an extinguisher handy helps ensure that you'll have something effective to use if it is needed. First Aid Kit - This is particularly important to have in your car. Our first aid kit contains a variety of bandages, disinfectants and pain … [Read more...] about Safety Tips
Personal Productivity from Management Theory
This is the introduction to a four-part series that will explore three management theories and how they relate to personal productivity. This may seem odd, but if management is the art of accomplishing work through other people, then personal productivity can be seen as being effective at managing yourself. By examining the methods of motivating others, we can become more skilled in motivating ourselves. Here are the three theorists we are going to look at: Abraham Maslow - Hierarchy of Human Needs Douglas McGregor - Theory X and Theory Y William Ouchi - Theory Z (Cultural Management) Most people will be familiar with Maslow's theories. McGregor is less well known. Most of … [Read more...] about Personal Productivity from Management Theory
Take the Time to Play
I have a theory. Since I will probably never have the resources to try to prove it, the next best thing is to share it with readers and see what type of feedback I get. My theory is this: There is a direct relationship between your maximum creative output and the amount and quality of time you spend doing non-work activities. The idea is that you will never reach your full potential for efficiency and productivity without significant investments in non-work, fun activities. If all your time is spent working, you will accomplish less than if you leave some time to relax and pursue recreational activities. I think this only holds true for creative-type work. If you are simply … [Read more...] about Take the Time to Play
Global Perspective
As we interact more and more with people from other countries, it is becoming increasingly important to have global perspective. This isn't something US citizens are particularly good at. If you watch the news, you are more likely to see a story on Britney Spears' dog groomer than information about educational issues in Africa. Part of this is because the US is large and only connected to two other countries. Most of it is because Americans don't particularly care what is going on elsewhere. Here are some simple things you can do that will help you see the world from perspectives other than your own. Put $250 into Kiva - Kiva is a service that lets you loan money to people in … [Read more...] about Global Perspective
Check List for Email
I am amazed at how many people are using email that is broken. Yes they get their messages, but they have to jump through all kinds of hoops to make things work right. Worse, many people have setups that are actively exposing their passwords to anyone who cares to look. Here is a checklist of essential items for an email provider. How does your solution rate? Webmail and Mail Client Synchronized Ability to Send from any Connection No Plain Text Passwords Secure Connection Backups Adequate Storage Size Anti-Spam Anti-Virus Aliases Mobile Connections Strict Terms of Service Now lets look at each of these items in a little more detail, because some of them aren't … [Read more...] about Check List for Email
Setting Goals
I attended a very small school where most coursework was done at your own pace. To make sure you could graduate on time, the yearly work was broken down into 4 quarters of 9 weeks each. The quarters were broken down into weeks and what you needed to accomplish each week was divided into each day. Each student had a "goal card" in front of their work area showing their planned progress for the next day. There was also another chart that showed their quarterly and yearly progress. As I sat at my desk, directly in front of me was all the information about my goals. I could see a chart of my progress for the year, for the week, and for the day. There was no escaping the focus on … [Read more...] about Setting Goals
Iron Chef – A Productivity Fable
Tortoise and Hare were both known for their culinary expertise and were invited to a face-off in the Iron Chef. Soon after the competition began, it was clear that the Hare was significantly ahead of the Tortoise. The audience was amazed at the speed with which Hare mixed ingredients, poured them into another container and tossed the mixing bowl aside to move on to the next step in preparation. Tortoise, on the other hand, seemed to be well behind. It wasn't that he was going slower than Hare, but the audience agonizingly watched as he carefully cleaned each bowl, pan and utensil and put them back in their place after use. Tortoise was making progress, but was well behind the Hare in … [Read more...] about Iron Chef – A Productivity Fable
Perception of Authority
Back in the 60s, there were some experiments done to see how likely people were to obey an authority figure, even if they were doing something they felt was wrong. The results were scary. Most people would continue to administer lethal electric shocks to another human if someone in a lab coat told them they had to. In the book Influence: Science and Practice (5th Edition) the author talks about the different ways we perceive someone as being an authority. This perception causes you to obey them more than would be expected. The book lists three things that cause people to identify someone as an authority: Impressive Title Their Clothes Driving an Expensive Car On one … [Read more...] about Perception of Authority
Mind Your Own Business
Begin Unrelated Story: I was talking with an employee who works for Mind Your Own Business--a company that makes small business accounting software. She was relating a time she had been pulled over by a policeman who asked her the standard questions, "where are you going?", "where do you work?". When asked where she worked, she replied "Mind Your Own Business". The cop was kind of surprised and started to explain that it would probably be better to cooperate. She had to pull out her business card to prove that she, indeed, worked at Mind Your Own Business. End Unrelated Story Okay, back on track. When you do work, you are providing value to someone. Actually, you are providing … [Read more...] about Mind Your Own Business
Hawthorne Effect
The Hawthorne effect refers to some studies that were done on how training impacts employees' productivity at work (edit: this statement is a little misleading, please see the note at the bottom of the article). The studies found that sending someone to training produces employees that work harder. The funny part about it is that you still get the productivity increase even if the training doesn't teach them how to be better at their jobs. Sending someone to training helps them feel like they are important, like the company is investing in them and they are valuable. Because of this, they work harder. Obviously, if you send them to training that helps them do their jobs better, you … [Read more...] about Hawthorne Effect
Interview: Effective Gadgets
In this next interview, we asked people: What gadgets do you use on a regular basis and how do they help you work more effectively? (940) There was variety in the answers, but I thought it was interesting how many people feel a timer is one of their most important gadgets for getting more done. 1) Timer to keep me focused and learn how much time things really take. 2) Digital Voice Recorder to record all the inspirations I get while driving. 3) Notebooks and pens EVERYWHERE so if I get distracted from what I'm doing I can write down the distracting thoughts and get back to focusing. 4) DVR / TIVO - I never watch live TV and I record all the educational shows related to my work … [Read more...] about Interview: Effective Gadgets
Nine Ways to Devastate Productivity
We talk a lot here about how to increase your productivity, get more done, and be more effective. But what if that isn't your goal? What if you really just want to completely obliterate the productivity of your co-worker? In this unusual post, we are going to look at nine ways to wreak havoc on someone's ability to get work done. Of course, none of the readers of this blog are that evil. Anyway, for the vast majority of our readers, I figured this list would provide some useful thoughts on how to spot people who are wasting your time. And who knows. It might be useful someday if you decide to let your Dark Side take over for a while. Here are the nine tips (if you can call them … [Read more...] about Nine Ways to Devastate Productivity
Why You Need to Fail to Succeed
That's a rather provocative title, I suppose. Surely if you can avoid failure that is better, right? Not necessarily. There are two ways to avoid failure. Working so hard and doing such a good job that you succeed. Only taking on projects that are so far below your capabilities that failure is never a realistic possibility. If you want to succeed--really succeed, you have to be willing to take on things that have a high chance of failing. If you only attempt things that you know you can do, you aren't challenging yourself properly. If you never have any failures, it is a pretty good indication that you aren't taking on things that are true challenges for you. You are … [Read more...] about Why You Need to Fail to Succeed
Wrong Side of the Tracks
The town where I live has a railroad track running through middle. In general, the nicer houses are on the West side of the town and the older, more run down houses are on the East side. Our evening entertainment usually consists of going for walks down the brick-paved streets. The town is small, so you can cover a significant portion in a few 3 mile walks. One thing we've noticed is that the average number of dogs per house on the less affluent side of the tracks is much higher than on the wealthy side of the tracks. On the East side, it is common to see 3 or 4 dogs staked out together in a small yard. On the West side of the tracks, people still have dogs, but it is rare to see … [Read more...] about Wrong Side of the Tracks
iPod Shuffle Facebook Giveaway
Just a reminder that we are giving away an iPod Shuffle to one follower on our Facebook Fan page. Simply visit the page, click the "Become a Fan" button and watch for an announcement with the lucky winners name. Anyone can enter, but we will only ship within the US. Contest will run for two weeks from March 29th. Winners will need to respond to a wall post on the Productivity501 Fan Page using their Facebook account. If the winner doesn't respond in time, we will run the giveaway again. … [Read more...] about iPod Shuffle Facebook Giveaway
The Downside of Macs
In general, I am happy with using a Mac. The operating system is very well designed and gives me everything I want from Linux without the complexity. The hardware is well designed and thought out and is (for the most part) a pleasure to use. However, there is one area that Apple is sorely lacking in and since I often mention how I like using a Mac, I felt I should take the time to mention what I hate about Apple--the repair process. When I buy a laptop, I expect to use it very heavily for 3 to 4 years. I expect it to be powered on about 75% of that time. Given the mechanical nature of laptops and the complexity that goes into their construction, I expect to have some type of … [Read more...] about The Downside of Macs
Workstation
One of the best twitter messages I've seen: RT @alicam RT @deauxmain: A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station... … [Read more...] about Workstation
The Power of Paper
Everyone has their favorite and least favorite tools. For example, I love my computer, but tend to despise fax machines. Today, I had a bunch of work to do that would have been much easier with a fax machine. I managed to do everything I needed using a scanner and email, but I was finally forced to admit that there is still room for a fax machine in my tool set. I still don't really like fax machines, but sometimes it is the perfect tool for the job. Today, I felt like I was using a screwdriver to drive nails--sure, the nail will go in eventually, but a hammer is really what you need. It would be silly to decide that I don't like hammers, so I'm going to use a screwdriver, but I've … [Read more...] about The Power of Paper