Brainstorming is something most of us were taught very early on in school. Take an idea and write down everything thing comes to mind when you think on that idea. Pretty simple concept, really. But it’s been my experience that, when brainstorming (or engaging in just about any other form of focused concentration, really), we tend to do so in less-than-optimal circumstances.

For example, say I’m trying to come up with all of the different functions a piece of software should perform. Let us further assume that this piece of software will be for my employer who happens to sell custom-built computer keyboards. The application must allow the user to choose all customizable attributes for the keyboard (shape, color, locale, etc.), as well as give the user an accurate price for the product they’re designing. Now, it’s time to sit down and figure out just what this thing is supposed to do. What can I do to help ensure my brainstorming session is successful?

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When first starting out with GTD – reading the blogs and articles, investigating possible tools, etc. – one is bound to come across the Moleskine brand name. To this day, I don’t really understand why it’s such a big hit with the GTD community, but that’s clearly the case. You can read just about any [...]

(If you’re interested in Stikkit, you might also enjoy this handy little program I wrote to import your Gmail contacts into Stikkit, or maybe adding Stikkits directly from your desktop with WinStikker!) As most of my regular readers probably already know, I’m terribly impressed with Stikkit. Sure, it’s a little rough around the edges, but [...]

This post is part of a series I’ve dubbed the GTD Master Series – a collection of short interviews with well-known GTD bloggers who many consider to be masters of their craft. Enjoy! That’s right kids, it’s time for another dollop of wisdom from a GTD powerhouse. This time around, we’ll be learning from Matt [...]

Well, it’s been a rocking week for my little blog over the last week or so. Here’s a quick rundown: I’m happy to announce that I’ve joined the Getting Things Done Feedburner Network. The roster has grown to 18 blogs as I write this, giving the GTD kids a single point of entry for some [...]

As some of you might have read in the recent interview I did at Black Belt Productivity (thanks guys!), I’ve moved from an all-paper GTD system to a hybrid setup. The primary difference is the employment of Tracks to track my projects, actions and a sort of basic, digital tickler. This wasn’t a whimsical decision, [...]

Came across a great post over at Ian’s Messy Desk about the importance (and achievement) of a clean workspace. I especially like #2: Get rid of sticky notes and scraps of paper. Get a single notebook and use it to record notes, phone numbers, web addresses, ideas, to-dos, etc. I can’t tell you how many [...]

This post is part of a series I’ve dubbed the GTD Master Series – a collection of short interviews with well-known GTD bloggers who many consider to be masters of their craft. Enjoy! Today on GTD Masters, we’ll be chatting with Jason Echols, the second half of the productivity duo over at Black Belt Productivity. [...]

This post is part of a series I’ve dubbed the GTD Master Series – a collection of short interviews with well-known GTD bloggers who many consider to be masters of their craft. Enjoy! I first started shooting the breeze with Michael, half of the two-man productivity assault team at BlackBeltProductivity.net, after posting something about del.icio.us [...]

Ever since I came up with the idea for the GTD Masters Series, I’d secretly hoped to get the chance to interview the great Merlin Mann of 43Folders.com. And as I was pretty certain he wouldn’t just volunteer his time, I thought I’d ask him – so I emailed him a couple days ago to [...]