The Cranking Widgets Blog

How to Deal with Babies (that Aren’t Yours)

Immediate after the birth of both of our two children, my wife and I would have family and friends pop by to take a gander and the new addition. The room would be billowing with “awwww”s and such, as you’d expect. But for 90% of the people visiting, the question “would you like [...]

How to Make Sure Nobody Gets Your PIN

Written by Brett Kelly

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A couple days ago, I was buying some groceries at a nearby supermarket. As I gently slid my bank card through the terminal at the register, I was prompted to enter my PIN. It’s something I do so often that I rarely consider the potential security risks. What if somebody were to [...]

Transform Your Cell Phone into a Productivity Juggernaut

Written by Brett Kelly

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All of us productivity nerds have our tools of choice. Some instinctively reach for a stack of index cards, others for a PDA or Pocket PC. I’m here to tell you that your regular, everyday cell phone can probably be just as effective as any other swiss army knife out there.
It’s all about [...]

14 Numbers Your Cell Phone Can’t Live Without

Written by Brett Kelly

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Not so long ago, cell phones were reserved for society’s wealthy and privileged. Yes, carrying around that small suitcase only for the pleasure of spending $.50/minute to call your stock broker or nail salon – that’s what separated the haves from the have-nots.
Thankfully, those days have ended. Everybody and their freakin’ mother has [...]

Merlin Mann Drops some Knowledge at The Google

Written by Brett Kelly

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Everybody’s favorite productivity guru/wordsmith gave a Tech Talk at the Googleplex on getting your inbox to zero. If you’re a 43f reader, this will likely be a rehashing of some older material, but still worth the time. If you’ve never heard of this man(n), you’re in for a treat.
Have a great weekend, everybody!

Positively Gigantic GMail Resource Collection

Written by Brett Kelly

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Let’s face it – GMail is pretty much the coolest webmail application in existence. It’s simple design and slick interface (not to mention it’s unparalleled search capabilities) make it a pure joy with which to work.
Having said that, there’s something to be said for standing on the shoulders of giants, so to speak. [...]

How to Easily Track How Much Your Gift Cards are Worth

Written by Brett Kelly

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A few months before my son was born (about 2 years ago), my wife had her first baby shower. She received a plethora of gifts from family and friends – baby clothes, diapers, you name it. I went and picked her up and brought all of the crap home so we could sift [...]

Don’t Take a Break Unless You Need One

Written by Brett Kelly

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One area where I find myself disagreeing with many of the community gurus is the area of breaks and the taking of breaks. Many will say that one should work n minutes per hour and take a 60-n minute break, like clockwork. I disagree. Attempting to shoehorn humans into a robotic schedule [...]

The Productivity Trifecta, Part 1: The Word ‘No’

Written by Brett Kelly

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…your �Delete� key. It is in a three way tie with for the best productivity tool ever with the Trash Can and the word �No�. – Org-Fu �berpost – Productivity Whitepaper by Patrick Rhone. This statement is the inspiration for this series of posts called The Productivity Trifecta.
Of all the things you can [...]

Why Most People Don’t Care about GTD

Written by Brett Kelly

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One of the first things I notice about many new GTD converts (says the guy who has been doing it for all of 8 months now) is how ready they are to try to recruit their friends and family (myself included). I would venture to say that Getting Things Done is lent out more [...]