Life Hacks

• Note Taking
• Google SMS

Task Management

I use todo.txt, and I sync the data files between my home server and my laptop. It consists of a single to do list, and each item can be mapped to projects and contexts (as prescribed by Getting Things Done).

I don't use that many contexts. Things like "@computer" aren't useful for me, because I'm almost always near my computer. My main contexts are:

• @call
• @email
• @write
• @errand

I use aliases for each of these contexts, so that when I'm near my phone, I can quickly type tocall to see a list of people I need to call across all my projects.

When I'm not near my computer, I keep lists on good old paper, which I eventually transfer to my computer. I like index cards, but not for managing tasks, as the stack would quickly become unmanageable.

Time Management

Spend the first hour of your workday email-free. Finish a high-priority task first thing in the morning, then check your email.

Schedule a post-work appointment to prevent post-work lingering.

I have rudimentary calendaring software -- no meeting maker or anything of the like. When I propose a meeting (both business and personal), I'll enter it in my calendar delimited by parentheses so I don't accidentally overbook.

New People

When I meet someone new in a biz context, I add them to my Forge:CiviCRM database. If I'm curious enough, I'll find their blog and add them to my aggregator under "Recently Met."

Blog Reading

Organized by:

• Frequently (check at least once a day)
• Daily
• Weekly
• Monthly

• Wikis
• Software Development (Subversion commit feeds)
• Recently Met
• Old Blogs (inactive blogs with bookmarked entries)

See my Blogline feeds.

I got the idea for this organization from Bill De Hora's post. It's worked very well for me; my blog reading is much more efficient. It's important to prune regularly.

Email

Thunderbird. Extensions:

• mailredirect
• Enigmail
• dispMUA
• Quicktext
• Google Contacts Sync

Getting Things Done:

• http://www.katywhitton.com/flipping/index.asp?view=display&ID=579
• http://entropicprincipal.blogspot.com/2005/09/using-thunderbird-to-get-things-done.html
• http://www.metagrrrl.com/metagrrrl/2005/10/getting_things__1.html
• http://www.summersault.com/community/weblog/2006/07/20/five-power-tips-for-thunderbird.html

Firefox

Extensions:

• Colorful Tabs
• Web Developer
• del.icio.us

Synchronizing Data

Still exploring good syncing solutions.

• Sync and Back Up Your Data with Conduit for Linux
• GCALDaemon (can act as an LDAP server for Thunderbird using Google Contacts as a data source)

Filing

One file per hanging folder.

Two-thirds rule. This applies to all containers, not just file cabinets. For example, your refrigerator (for those inclined to fill those up).

Use a label maker. It really does make a difference.

Cell Phone

I just purchased a Motorola KRZR K1m. Thinking about hacking it:

• KRZR K1m mods
• Bell KRZR mods
• KRZR Alltel
• Mark Ventures Verizon Mobile Help Pages
• Motorola V3c Tutorial

Synchronization:

• iSync phone plugins
• Spanning Sync -- synchronize Google Calendar with iCal.

Snail Mail

Catalog Choice lets you easily unsubscribe to unwanted catalogs.

Managing Paper

I own a Fujitsu Scan Snap, which works with Linux. I'm also going to try Scan Cafe for preserving my film photographs.

"How to digitally encode home movies."

Other

battery charger