Not all of my projects are electronic. In fact, most of the things I do outside of work are not. Most of these things are ones that don’t have a particular due date, so I work on them as the fancy strikes me.
Unfortunately, most of these projects also have paper to go with them, and it is not practical for me to haul all this paper with me wherever I go, just in case I get the urge to do something.
In order to make it easy to pull things I may work on before leaving home, I create [...] Continue Reading…

A couple of weeks ago I read two articles that really struck me. I wrote about them in Aids for Genuine Productivity and Simplifying Productivity, and I formed a resolution to focus on the whys and hows of productivity and simplification; in fact, simplification of productivity can itself be considered a “how”!
As I was considering this, I decided to write a series on the “Whys of Productivity”. Over the next few weeks, I will look at the similar basics to several productivity systems and dig down into the “whys” behind each method.
My hope is that this series will [...] Continue Reading…

I suffer from a nasty case of perfectionism. Learned and strengthened by a number of circumstances growing up, it is a full scale awfulness I fight every day. But I also realize that perfectionism will drive me crazy and suck up major amounts of energy that I simply don’t want to give up.
But perfectionism means putting in much time and effort that is not necessary. After a certain point, the results aren’t worth the effort and time (See Law of Diminishing Returns)
So somehow I have to learn when things are done “good enough”. There was an interesting article over [...] Continue Reading…

We all get junk mail. One purchase from a catalog or online company, and suddenly you’re receiving catalogs from places you’ve never heard of. Or you give money to one organization and suddenly your mailbox is filled with requests from other organizations. And let’s not even start on the credit card offers…
Looking at how much junk mail took up in my recycling box, and figuring out how much gas and paper must be wasted to produce something that didn’t even make it into my house, I decided to see what I could do to limit junk mail.
The Direct Marketer’s [...] Continue Reading…

This is an overview of the Firefox browser extension called “Firefox Environment Backup Extension or FEBE.
What it FEBE?
FEBE is a plugin, or extension to Firefox that allows you to backup all or parts of your environment.
Features of FEBE
FEBE can backup the following:

extensions
themes
bookmarks
preferences
cookies
usernames and passwords
phishing data
browser history
form fill history
permissions
user-defined backups (file you specify outside of the above list

FEBE can also automatically backup selected items at given times, or remind you to backup.
Where to get FEBE
FEBE is available from the developer, or it can be downloaded from the Firefox addins site.
Why use FEBE?
I am all in favor of backing up whatever [...] Continue Reading…

This past weekend had something very odd about it.
I had nothing scheduled.
And while I should have welcomed it as an opportunity to work on projects without deadlines, the truth is I wandered aimlessly around the house, feeling very uncomfortable with my unscheduled time.
This worries me a little bit. I have always thought that the purpose of being ultra-productive was so that you could have free time to do as you wished, unscheduled. Yet here I was, yearning for a list to follow. It was like I couldn’t give myself permission to not do things or work on things that [...] Continue Reading…

Priorities are how you spend time
It’s been said to me that setting your priorities is often frustrating, because things don’t work out as we plan. In fact, in one recent conversation I had it was pointed out that how you actually spend your time is what your priorities actually are; anything else is wishful thinking. In other words, your priorities are where you spend your time.
I decided to look at what my actual priorities are. I would like to say that my priorities are myself, family, work, projects. But this is how my time was spent this past Monday. [...] Continue Reading…

After my last article on simplified camping (Five Ways to Simplify Camping), I received a request for what I keep in my kitchen box.

Here are the contents as of the last time I used it.
Contents of My Camping Kitchen Box

A set of plastic (reusable) cutlery in a tray; I also keep a wooden spoon, a spatula, a manual can opener and a paring knife in this tray, which fits into a gallon zipper bag.
Four small plastic mugs, plates and bowls
A gallon zipper bag containing three dish towels, three dish cloths and an abrasive scouring pad
A travel clothesline with clips
A [...] Continue Reading…