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Welcome to the Cranking Widgets Blog. We exist to help you get more done by showing you ways to be more effective and let go of the stuff that doesn't make you awesome. Be sure to subscribe to our feed and follow us on Twitter here.

Well, as you’ve probably noticed, posting around here has slowed practically to a crawl. There are several reasons for this, many of them good ones, many of them attributable directly to the laziness of yours truly. I’m not happy about it, but this little blog has been the victim of what a database administrator would call a “process deadlock” – when having to choose between various responsibilities and obligations that I have, the old CW has been passed over on several occasions. For that, I apologize.

But, this here cloud has a silver lining. I’m happy to announce the addition of a contributing author here on Cranking Widgets. My good buddy Andy is a serious GTD practitioner, not to mention a hell of a smart and savvy guy in general. He brings many areas of expertise to the table (most of which I, frankly, lack the brain cells to handle), so I think he’ll be a refreshing change from my usual dry-witted drivel. I’m excited that he’s going to be helping me out, and I’d appreciate it if you would all treat him as kindly as you’ve treated me these past years.

Having said all that, keep your eyes out for new content and other goodies as Andy and I start getting this blog back to being the productivity powerhouse that it once was – or something like that :)

Thanks a ton, everybody, for understanding and for sticking with me as I slack. You all are awesome and I’m privileged and humbled to have you as an audience for my little backyard puppet show.

Here’s to the future!

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photo by shareski Of all of the the things you’d typically find in a man’s pocket (or a woman’s purse, I suppose), the wallet is probably the most pervasively adopted piece of hardware in Western civilization. Every Tom, Dick and Harry walking around almost certainly has a wallet in his back pocket. And the wallets [...]

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This post was written by business coach Dave Crenshaw, author of the great new book The Myth of Multitasking I’d like to share a valuable principle with you. It’s something I’ve taught to many business owners and executives I’ve worked with. This principle may go against the grain of some of your beliefs about time [...]

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One of my favorite things to do with my kids while my wife is at work is to take walks around the neighborhood. We usually have a destination, but if the weather is especially nice and we’re having a good time, I won’t exactly rush home. Recently, we were on just such a walk on [...]

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Update: Brett continues to receive a ridiculously positive response to this article. He has since authored the first book on Evernote called Evernote Essentials. You should check it out here. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been really pimping Evernote to friends (both in real life and online, particularly on twitter). I’m usually pretty shocked [...]

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photo by lobstar Watching a small child slowly grow into an actual, real-live person is an interesting thing. They watch you so intently when you speak, drinking it all in. This gives way to imitation as they take on your specific habits and behaviors (which they’ll then mold to fit their own personalities and such). [...]

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I won’t bore with another diatribe about how amazing the iPhone is – the product speaks for itself. I will, however, address one of the more common complaints about the device: the keyboard. For the most part, naysayers seem to prefer the tactile response of a hardware, Blackberry-style keyboard. I can absolutely sympathize with this, [...]

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As many of you know, my wife and I have two wonderful kids. Our oldest will be 3 years old next month which is crazy. And as most parents of toddlers will tell you, they can be a bit of a challenge (to say the least). They can be defiant and stubborn, and the word [...]

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???????? ????? ???????? My very good buddies Glen (of LifeDev) and Leo (of Zen Habits) launched their brand new ebook store today, called Web Warrior Tools. Much like their awesome blogs, the main idea behind the books they sell is improving your life. And don’t let the name fool you – these precious volumes are [...]

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There are times in life when you decide “enough is enough“. This past week was one of those times. I get a fair amount of email. Not as much as some, but it’s a pretty steady stream. Sometimes, those messages are from well-wishing friends who thought I might enjoy an inspirational message from an unknown [...]

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