Category Archives: productivity

Capture Idea Effortlessly with Funnel App

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The best capture tool is the one you have with you…at all times. These days, this most probably means your smartphone. Welcome to NoteSight Labs iOS Funnel App. This small app, written by software engineer Dharam Kapila, sits as a widget on your lock screen to be called upon by tapping on the funnel icon (see left image below).

Funnel App icon on the right below the time
All capture options: text, photo, voice, scan or more.
Possible destination Apps. You can customize (see text)

Funnel makes capture idea, tasks and other “inputs” (middle image above) on the fly extremely easy and once that capture is done, you a second click away from your destination (right image above), which can also be configured. In my case, I have two main Inboxes for quick capturing: on in my task manager (Apple Reminder or Things 3: both in the Inbox) and one in my document manager (DEVONThink, using the global Inbox).

The App further support Apple Advanced Data Protection for end-to-end encryption when using iCloud and the Pro version cost 19.99$/year for unlimited capture and access to new feature as they rollout. Since purchasing this app, I have seen frequent update justifying its 1.67$/month no issue.

There you have it, everyday on the fly capture with almost no friction.

Being Busy – Being Productive

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Let’s make something clear, being busy is extremely easy and can be achieved with very little effort. You can make up an almost infinite task list of trivial things that at the end of the day will have filled your working hours, maybe even overtime, but did not moved the bar much on the really important things, either at work or at home.

Being busy does not equal being productive and, vice versa, being productive does not mean to always be super busy.

As I wrote previously: productivity is doing the most appropriate task (and thus advancing the most appropriate project) at any given moment in the situation you are in. Being productive required conscious decision-making…and (some) effort.

It might very well be that the best thing to do at a given moment is nothing! Just relax, recharge and take the long walk or jog in fresh air. It might just generate that new cool idea or solve that nagging issue with an innovative solution.

In How to clam your mind, Chris Bailey further described the art of productivity as “knowing when we should care about productivity in the first place”.

Which one of these have you been today: busy or productive? Are you in a situation where you can with confidence select the most appropriate course of action at any given time (mostly)?

The power of the yearly review – a 2022 update

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GTD methodology call of frequent review of projects and associated task lists. In fact, the whole system crumbles if this critical operation is not performed regularly; you need to trust that it contains everything in order to make the right decision at the right time with regard to which task(s) to take on at any given moment and not miss anything. This is the goal of the weekly review.

However to enable you to make these daily decisions that move you toward a larger goal, the latter needs to be established up front and also revised on a regular basis. Enter the yearly review!

While, you may want to review your short-term goal(s) on a more frequent basis, the yearly review is a time to perform a few key tasks, which you might want to incorporate into a yearly maintenance project that contains these as recurring tasks.

Reflect

  • Have my decisions/actions in the past year move me toward the longer-term goals I set for myself? 
  • Did I meet my short-term goals? 
  • Is there in missing actions that should be accomplished in the coming days/weeks to close some gaps? 

If so, it is time to get them all of your head and into your task manager (and do a bit of planning).

Plan

  • What is(are) my goal(s) for the coming year? 
  • Is the state of my system ready to tackle them: do I have all of the projects and next action items ready to launch me toward that (these) goal(s)?

If not, it is time to get them all of your head and into your task manager (and again do a bit of planning).

Do not forget, to put it all on the table, not just your work goals but also family and personal. Talking about productivity makes only sense if you tackle it from a holistic perspective. Otherwise, you are might just a busy person.

Review your long-term goals

Now is also a good time to review what GTD refers to as “the higher altitudes views”: 5, 10, 20 years and lifetime goals. These will strongly influence your early goal(s).

Tidy-up

At this juncture, you should:

  • Archive completed projects (ideally along related e-mails if applicable) and get them out of your ongoing projects materials (either digital or physical). 
  • Review all remaining projects and make sure they still correspond to your need and have next action items ready.
  • Get any last-minute ideas, projects or tasks out of your head. 
  • Ask yourself if your system is still serving your planning and documentation need adequately. This is a good time to make small adjustment (or large adjustment if it cannot keep up with demands) to your system.

With everything out of your mind and into paper or in your digital task manager, you are ready to spend a relaxing, worry free break. Not only will you feel better when you come back to work but new ideas will pop up and generally productivity is increased!

How much time is needed?

I systematically reserved two days before leaving for the Xmas break every year to perform the above tasks. Depending on how things went in the previous year, it could be more than enough to complete everything. Milage will vary, so you should give yourself enough time. The timing of it is totally up to you, for me the break at the end of the calendar year suits me perfectly. It is the motion of going through the four major action items listed above that is the key to an efficient review.

The yearly review is an investment in yourself…and it will pay itself back easily as you start the new year.

This post is a timely refresh of a 2020 one!

*Image from http://www.publicdomainpictures.net