LifeDev had an article “Are You Prepared to Lose Control of the Idea?”. It is written from an entrepreneurial slant, but it applies to any type of creative work you may do. Are you prepared to step back and recognize what it could be, unfettered by your own expectations? (It could also apply to people, but that’s a whole ‘nother article).

Another EEWWWWW moment; this one from Lifehacker: “The Snack Sausage as iPhone/Touchscreen Stylus”. I have to wonder how they came up with this. Ick.

Get Organized Now talks about creating time pockets to get things done at “Creating Time Pockets in Your Life”. This is basically setting aside time in your calendar as a commitment to focus on things. I like the term “pocket”.

Freelance Switch takes on productivity at “5 Ways to Manage Distractions for Increased Productivity”. It’s a well-written presentation of tried-and-true concepts.

Zen Habits has a great article on “4 Simple Principles of Getting to Completion”. I need to practice more of all of these, but particularly the first two: keep it simple and practice ‘good enough’.

Photo by kevindooley

Too many people think organizing is too easy or too hard. Simple Mom had a great article“7 Organizing Myths Debunked”. The three I think most important and most overlooked: “Once you organize your home, it just stays that way,” “A good organizing system will work for anyone,” and “There is a right way and a wrong way to organize.”

Digital photos are starting to get out of hand at my house. With three people taking photos, and them all ending up on my hard drive, things are getting ugly. Small Notebook’s “How to Organize Digital Photos (the easy way)” has some great tips and a great reminder: “The best tool for organizing your digital photos is the delete button.”

Most list of time-wasters at work include the internet. Not so at Unclutterer’s “Three time-wasting traps at work”. These three actually were brand new to me. And very potent reminders.

I keep looking for a way to get my daughter’s toys under control. I have yet to be successful. A succinct guide to the most popular methods is at Unclutterer: “Keeping children’s toys from overwhelming a room”. My daughter simply doesn’t want to let go of the junk. Sigh.

I’ve been working on not pushing against the river in many areas of my life. Zen Habits has a great take on how to manage the noise of life: stillness. It can be a way to push back against the buzz of the world, to take control. From “Stillness is a Powerful Action”.

The 4 Hour Work Week chafed me in many ways. Zen Habits has an article that talks about the antithesis at “9 Unconventional Steps to a Thriving, “Very Small” Business”. I’ve never wanted to work from an exotic beach. This makes being in business for myself much more do-able.

Dr. Pepper’s 10-2-4 rule is applied to focus management at Everyday Simplicity’s “Time Management Tip: Returning Calls, Emails, and Text Messages on Your Schedule, Not Theirs”. Summed up: “Constantly reacting to your phone – voice mail, text, email – can have you bouncing through a day like the small white ball in a pinball machine. ” Set a schedule and forget about the rest.

Photo by Mike Boehmer

Another haiku about Productivity can be found at Skelliewag’s “Productivity in 11 Words”.

A step-by-step process for getting your inbox pared down can be found at Lifehacker’s “Empty Your Inbox with the Trusted Trio “. This is a modification of the Merlin Mann method, but it is very simple and straightforward.

Zen Habits also tackled the email issue in “Email Sanity: How to Clear Your Inbox When You’re Drowning”. This is a step-by-step getting-through-the-backlog method.

I’ve always been good at leaving time to get to places, but Lifehacker talks about other buffers I hadn’t considered in “Why You Need More Buffers In Your Schedule”. This is a good practice: I am always feeling behind as I get to work and have nothing planned out. Building time into events is a good way to get yourself back on track without being overwhelmed.

It comes down to the basics in “Don’t Try This at Home: The Organizing Tip that Won’t Help You” over at SmallNotebook. The quote: “if you need a catalog of your stuff to remember what you have, then you have too much.” It’s not about making lists. It’s about paring down.

Photo by Sam Ilic

Did you know there are “4 Billion Time Management Systems Walking Around”? Organize IT speculates that our personal time management systems are like our fingerprints — “one of a kind”. So if you’re struggling to make yourself fit into something ask yourself if it really is a fit.

Some thought-provoking items at Copyblogger’s “The Alexander Graham Bell Guide to Changing the World”. It isn’t the first person who has an idea. It isn’t the person who acts on it first. It’s the person who takes it the farthest.

An EEWWWWW moment from “Everyday Simplicity: Shred, Cube, or Dice Your Own Cheese If You Don’t Want the Additives”. I just started shredding my own cheese (because it’s more cost effective)…but after reading this I won’t ever buy shredded again…

Dumb Little Man has a great list at “Super Easy Ways To Filter Info and Declutter Your Mind”. Just what it says.

Photo by wolfpix

Over at Art of Great Things, “3 (Unexpected) Laws of Simplicity” is a great read. Simplicity is not a simple thing (how’s that for ironic?) Simplicity means “no more than I need” and the article talks about how it in turns implies purpose. Also interesting is the second point: simplicity is not just about subtraction. And the final point: “When we achieve simplicity, it is not because we have eliminated complexity, but because we have conquered it.“

Sometimes my office space seems a total nightmare. Unclutterer has a great band-aid tactic in “Five uncluttering things you can do in your office right now“. I had to laugh, though, as number 1 is “Grab all those post-it notes off your screen…”, and it’s right next to the picture of the Unclutterer book, which shows post-its all over a computer monitor.

I expected something completely different from the headline “Sometimes Getting Organized is a Big Fat Waste of Time” over at Small Notebook. But the article was a good one: organization isn’t about appearance. It’s about being more productive, and sometimes organizing things can masquerade as productivity.

Daily Blog Tips had an unusual item in “10 Tips to Create To-Do Lists Like a Pro!“. Besides making lists and keeping them visible, they recommend to “list the stuff you are NOT supposed to do“. Also a good reminder: Take breaks between tasks, not inside of tasks (or you will prolong your work).

I love reading. But I find that I am not consistent with it, particularly with non-fiction reading. The Remember The Milk blog had a great idea in “Catching up on reading”: put a “chapter” reminder on your task list and have it repeat until you finish the book.

Photo by quapan

I don’t like a dirty bathroom. Yet I don’t want to spend hours making it clean. Tipnut has a great set of “10 Quick Tips For A Shiny Bathroom” that incorporates some of my favorites: shaving cream to clean shower doors, using toothbrushes to clean, and getting a shower curtain clean. I do need to do a better job of spraying the shower and cleaning the taps every day. That would make Saturdays curse-free.

I never thought of the Amish as gadgety people. After all, aren’t they supposed to avoid modern technology? No, as it turns out. Unclutterer talks about “The Amish, their gadgets, and their ability to get rid of distractions”. The thing that is different is that the Amish are able to give up gadgets if they are detrimental. Can I? Can you? Can we even tell?

I love notebooks. I have tons. And I’m trying to work my way through my stash. Stepcase Lifehack has a great article on “Productivity Pr0n: 5 Unusually Useful Notepads”. It inspired me to look at creating my own Task Notebook (see My Planner/Task Book…with Pictures) using an unused Circa notebook; it made me drool over the white lines and disappearing grids; and I laughed at the shower notebook and the iPod notebook. Check it out.

Life Scoop’s “Top 10 Life-Work Balance Blogs” had some interesting blogs, all dealing with work-life balance.

Dumb Little Man’s article, “How to Get a Stalled Project Moving Again” came right on time after I wrestled myself away from the trivial activities, but then had no idea how to get moving again on the big stuff. It’s a good read, and a great set of reminders.

Photo by Spacemanbobby

Someone asked about a daily routine, and the first response was “When I read that, my first thought was, ‘Yes, I wish I knew that too.’” Small Notebook talks about “My Real-Life, Practical Daily Routine”.

Adult learning can be a drag. Especially when the authors of books appear to get paid by the pound, rather than the content. The Conscious Life has an article about “How to Make Adult Learning as Addictive as Games”. Some great points.

Dumb Little Man has an article on ideas for finding your passion. If you hate trying to figure out what you want to do when you grow up, check out this article. It can help you find the next meaningful thing for you to do.(Article)

Objections to hyper-productivity are laid out over at the Illuminated Mind. If you feel like you are on a hamster wheel and feel guilty when you are not working on your lists, take a look at “Why People Hate Productivity”

Some folk maxims from the Dutch are spelled out in Stepcase Lifehack’s “Reaching Your Goals – Dutch Style”. I like folk sayings, and this article has some great ones.

Photo by AJU_photography

Green Changemakers ran a very concise article on the “14 Benefits Of Simplicity That Lead To A Good Life”. It’s a good read, with valid points.

For those not willing to go on their own, there is yet another planning method over at D*I*Y Planner called “The Middle Way Method” (see “Introduction to the Middle Way Method”). It looks like a combination of Covey and GTD and seems very structured. If this is your thing, check it out.

Feng Shui is one of those things I just have never grasped, but I can understand the basics presented over at Stepcase Lifehack in “Create a Stress-Free Home: An Introduction to Feng Shui”. “Our environment is a reflection of our lives, either good or bad, because we are connected with them.” So it makes sense to clear the clutter.

Frugal Village has a list of folk sayings with explanations. My parents were very frugal, and I have heard all of these sayings before. Even if you are not looking at becoming frugal, these words of wisdom have something to say. “Remember words of wisdom”

Simple Mom has an article on “6 Tips for Getting Organized this Year”. The one that jumped out at me is “Don’t wait for perfection”. Waiting until you have money to buy supplies is just another way of procrastinating.

Photo by romana klee

I have three alarm clocks: a sunrise simulator, my iPod Touch, and an alarm clock in the bathroom. Some mornings it takes all three to get me out of bed. Dumb Little Man had an article on alarm clocks at “Wake Up! Five Ridiculous Alarm Clocks”. Scary. Apparently I’m not the only one who has trouble getting up. I didn’t see my favorite one, though — the one that hops off the table and rolls around shrieking so that you have to get out of bed and chase it.

Only one of the tips at Dumb Little Man’s “Ten Essential Time Management Tips” was new to me: the idea of paying myself first. I had heard it, of course, in reference to finances, but time management? It makes sense — put time toward your long term goals, or you will find your time eaten up by things not so important.

Lifehacker had a very to-the-point article in “You Don’t Need to Regularly Reinstall Windows; Here’s Why – Crapware”. I’m very careful what I install on our computers here at home, and I’ve only had to reinstall an operating system once in the last five years. That’s on three computers too. The truth is that junk slows everything down. The article has a great way to combat junk.

The TimesUnion had an article on “5 ways to simplify your life in one week”. The thing that caught my eye about it was the last point: “leave your bag at home.” My briefcase is always filled with stuff to do, and it just stresses me out. Don’t ask my why I haul it around. I just do. And the days that I (gasp) dare to leave the bag at home, things seem just a bit calmer.

HELLO, my name is BLOG! had an article on “13 (more) Things That Don’t Really Exist, No Matter How Many Lies You’ve Been Conditioned to Believe”. Very good points. Must See is a marketing trick. Off The Record reminded me of the results in “Thank You For Smoking.”. Balancing is for ballerinas — go for alignment. But the big one: “Time Doesn’t Exist.” “if people sat down and actually mapped out their energy investments, they’d be astonished at how out of whack their priorities were.” It’s a good thought-provoking read.

I take a very thought-out approach to raising my daughter: few activities, lots of free time, encouraging imaginative play. It was good to see that my instincts were right in line with what kids have said they want. Not that I’m perfect. There are days when I am too absorbed to tuck her in. And the lunch notes stopped when I stopped using paper napkins. It’s time to get back to those things. Check the article out: The Top 10 Things Children Really Want Their Parents To Do With Them – Stepcase Lifehack

Photo by lxsocon

The graphic on 43 Folder’s “Enough” pulled me up short. It’s a sign that says this: If you are checking email every 5 minutes, you’re checking for email 24,000 times per year. YIKES! I don’t like checking for email that much! It’s made me reconsider email. I’m trying to get to where I check it once per day. How often do you check email?

A cute little article over at Finnegan Begin Again, “Wise Women Friday: Edna Ferber” talks about letting things pile up, and the consequences of doing so. “To the organized go the mini quiches and sparkling conversations. To the distracted go the Milkbones.”

The Positivity Blog’s“6 Questions That Can Help You to Make 2010 a Simpler and Lighter Year” were so impressive that I wrote them out and pasted them to the cover of my task list book. Check them out.

I think I’m allergic to greeting card stores. I make most of my greeting cards at home using AmericanGreetings.com, but I often would like to go a step further and put my own stuff onto a card. The Conscious Life has a great list of “Inspirational Quotes about Life that Make Great Greetings for Cards”.

The Conscious Life wrote about “25 Simple and Healthy Habits that Can Change Your Life”. Some are repeats, but a few are ones I haven’t seen on such lists, like flossing and buying yourself a new experience every month.

Photo by Kyknoord