The Cranking Widgets Blog

No Mouse Required: How to Create and Send an Email in Outlook Using Only Your Keyboard

I spend a whole lot of time in front of a computer. It was (and still is) my hobby, and subsequently became my profession. And being a GTDer, I’m constantly looking for ways to streamline my computing processes. After about 7 years of full-time computer use, I’ve discovered one of the greatest [...]

Practical GTD: Changing Your System Sometimes Means Undermining Productivity

Written by Brett Kelly

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Came across this thread on the DavidCo discussion forum regarding the making of minor tweaks to your implementation, and it got me thinking a bit about how changes like these can actually hamper my productivity more than help it (in the short term, at least).
As I’ve said before, I’m an analog GTDer, by and large. [...]

Announcing the Cranking Widgets Logo Contest – Win a Free Moleskine!

Written by Brett Kelly

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In an effort to keep things fresh around here, I’ve decided the vanilla (yet pretty heavily hacked) Wordpress theme I’m using could use some dressing up. And, not being any sort of graphic designer, I thought I’d call upon the community to help me out with a new logo! The rules are pretty [...]

Digital GTD: Ajax-Enabled Mind-Mapping with Bubbl.us

Written by Brett Kelly

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Mind-mapping is one skill I’m still developing as a relatively new GTDer. I’ve tried a couple different apps, as well as plain old pen and paper. The latter works best for me (though, I’d be lying if I called any of my previous mind-mapping attempts wildly successful). But, if I were a [...]

6 Ways to Limit Interruptions at Work (That You Can Use Right Now)

Written by Brett Kelly

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Given the type of work that I do, I spend a great deal of time not talking to anybody and just thinking and typing. I do my best work when I can guarantee (which I usually can’t) several solid hours of total solitude. Nobody walking up to my desk asking me questions, no [...]

Context-Switching Hooks: Tape it to Your…

Written by Brett Kelly

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One of the biggest problems I’ve had with GTD to date has been with reminders geared toward switching contexts. Like, if I know I need to bring something home from the office when I leave, or when I need to stop by location X when on my lunch hour. Things like this generally [...]

Heightened Creativity through… Jazz?

Written by Brett Kelly

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Glen over at LifeDev posted this article dealing with Jazz bringing you up a couple notches as far as the old thinker goes.� Personally, I enjoy a moderate amount of Jazz, but I find I do my best work when listening to really aggressive genres (hardcore, metal, etc.).� I’m not sure the neurologists of the [...]

Quick Pro Tip: Easy Online Photo Editing With Snipshot

Written by Brett Kelly

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One tool that I’ve found immensely useful in creating the content for this here blog is Snipshot.com, an online photo editor. It’s what the rest of us use (or should) when Photoshop is just a bit too much.
If all you need is a quick resize, crop, rotate – snipshot wins. Save your images [...]

Feel Like You’re Not Getting Anything Done? Small Victories Can Help…

Written by Brett Kelly

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I don’t know about you, but many of the items on my project list are pretty monstrous. The kind of thing I look at during my weekly review and feel just a little ill. This is especially true of my projects at work, many of which will take several weeks to complete. [...]

Web-based GTD with a Side of Ajax: SimpleGTD

Written by Brett Kelly

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Looking for a web-based GTD tool that offers a simple, easy to use interface without any fluff? Check out SimpleGTD for just that.
Stumbled across this site while perusing del.icio.us this afternoon, and gave it a quick look. Thanks to the ready-made demo user, I was able to play with it right away without [...]