I can’t escape the fact that having a real centralized project list for the things I’m doing is helping. I want to believe that I have tons of excess capacity in my brain. I want to think that I remember everything I’ve got on the go. But I don’t. And maybe you don’t, either. I’ve recently started using the Mac program iGTD as a central repository. It does a great job of sorting out contexts and projects such that I can sort things by project or context and get whatever done that... More »
54 Shares Here’s a simple question: how do YOU work through your tasks and to-dos? Where do you keep your running list of “MUST DO” items? What’s your process for tackling the big things versus the little things? Come on, Lifehack readers! Show us how you get it done.
15 Shares I’m a big fan of using LinkedIN to establish new networking relationships for business. I don’t stick to the rule of knowing the other people deeply and personally before reaching out. Sometimes, I send invites to people who are in my field, that I know from around the news, but who aren’t personal friends or contacts. Yet. So suffice to say, I spend a lot of time on LinkedIN. I’ve noticed that not all profiles are created equal. Some lack easy ways to connect to the person. Others are really incomplete. Here’s... More »
61 Shares What if you had a completely turnkey solution for managing multi-threaded interactions with teams? What if this application handled scheduling, status updates, RSS feeds from collaborative blogs, group messaging, 1-to-1 messaging, photo and screen capture sharing, and more? What if it permitted secure group communication for people inside and outside of your company? And what if you didn’t have to convince your IT department to install it? Sounds powerful, right? Sounds useful. Facebook Does All This Facebook started out as a college application where students could find each other, build digital renditions... More »
Chris Brogan: I’m on a kick. I just finished reading Marcus Buckingham’s, NOW, DISCOVER YOUR STRENGTHS, and found that I agreed with their premise that working on your strengths is much more productive than throwing time and effort at changing your weaknesses. One example given was a school report card. If you have one A, two B’s, one C, and two D’s, parents tend to obsess over the negative grades. (Did you, just now when I mentioned it, think about the D’s differently?). Instead, what would happen if you worked on amping... More »
12 Shares I’m on my way to Stockholm, Sweden to organize PodCamp Europe, and I’m a little anxious as I’ve never traveled outside of North America before. Within my country, I’ve put on thousands and thousands of miles over the last several months, and I’ve come to realize there’s a few things I want to take with me every time I head out for a trip. Here’s my plan: I’ll tell you five things, and you add your must-haves in the comments section. Deal? Power Strip- As a geek/business traveler, I’m often surprised that... More »
If you haven’t figured this all out, the reason the world is going all social networking happy is because this is your means to connect to people directly and get away from the rigid structure of corporate ladders and protocol and hierarchy. It’s a way to extend your audience of friends, colleagues, business partners, and teammates. The whole point of this is to build your new world map from the digits and bits and free hugs left floating out there on the Internet in search of you. Did you know that? People... More »
70 Shares Wikis are very useful for organizing information between groups of people. If you want a really good, quick, “get up to speed” tutorial on wikis, watch this movie by Common Craft. The thing is, once you’re sold on this, you’ve gotta determine when and why to use a wiki in your workplace? What value can they bring? How will you engage your team? Here are some thoughts: Operations Guides- As fast as you can put down information on what to do in a certain situation at work, it changes. Right? “If the... More »
I spent a little time on my blog the other day griping about LinkedIN. I wanted them to add photos (still do), so it’d be even easier to connect with other people. So many times, we go to a conference or professional event, come home with a stack of business cards, and realize that we don’t really remember which face went with which name, and sometimes worse, which conversation to which name. But while I wait for Reid Hoffman and team to implement my every wish (I want a pony!), here’s what... More »
This is the first in a series I’ll be posting. The goal: equip you to be a superhero. You probably don’t think of it this way, but voicemail is a production. It’s a little radio show. It’s meant to convey information, and you must keep the audience (of one) in mind. Here are some thoughts on hacking voicemail into something useful that will improve the effectiveness of your messages. Jot it Down First- It sounds stupid to write notes for a voicemail, but how many times have you heard a whole lot... More »
If you’ve been shunning Web 2.0 social apps for an entire year, I forgive you for not knowing about Twitter. Otherwise, where have you been? Twitter is a multi-mode message delivery system used most often to answer the question “What are you doing?” Only, the cool kids know that the answer to that question is far less useful than “What has your attention?” But I’ve come up with something that might placate a few nay-sayers. First, if you don’t “get” Twitter, I don’t want to convince you otherwise. The trick is not... More »
11 Shares At Video on the Net in San Jose this past March, I was standing beside Brian Conley, the man behind the popular internet TV show, Alive in Baghdad. Brian’s a slender man, with glasses, and comes off as quiet until you know him. Just before going onstage, he turns to me and says, “Do you think they’ll get mad at me if I kick over the podium?” Presenting can be scary to many people, and for others, it comes quiet naturally, but even the best presenters have to break free from their... More »
375 Shares Ready? Here you go: Don’t. Read. Your. Dumb. Slides. Long version: I’m at a pitchfest of an event, and people have come up one after another doing this basic performance over and over again: “Hello, my name is _____. I’m the CEO and founder of ShinyNewSite.tv. At ShinyNewSite.tv, we believe in maximizing your efficiency through enhancing your brand and building your… Our mission is…” What? Hello? Where am I? Oh wait. I think I read a slide that was essentially 300 words on your mission statement, using something like all 300 to... More »
My friend, Noah Kagan, passed on an article written on his site by Jonathan Hudson about a topic I’m not all that talented in conveying: how to strike up a conversation with someone you don’t yet know. It’s not a bunch of bullets and tips and how-tos. Instead, Jonathan writes from his own perspective about how he relates to people. In his case, Jonathan doesn’t prefer canned opening lines: he leads with “vibes” instead. See what he means in the article below. Starting a Conversation With a Stranger – [OK Dork]
47 Shares I had this idea that I bet Leon and the others can riff on. Basically: there are plenty of tools out there for lots of aspects of life. Let’s make sure we propose the proper tool (or our take on a good tool) for the right job. From managing our tasks and priorities to determining how best to engage our communities, let’s all start looking around for the right tools. My first swing at this: Social Media. Blogs are a Platform Use blogs to communicate with a community about what interests you.... More »
