Difference between revisions of "Life Hacks"

From Eugene Eric Kim
(Updated goals and Work Big sections)
(Removed Google SMS reference. Added Mobile Lifestyle page.)
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* [http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/mobile/sms/index.html Google SMS]
* [[Channel Management]]
* [[Channel Management]]
* [[Mobile Lifestyle]]


== Goal Tracking ==
== Goal Tracking ==

Revision as of 23:03, 16 February 2013

Goal Tracking

Inspired by Gretchen Rubin, who was inspired by Benjamin Franklin, I've been using a Google Spreadsheet as a dashboard for tracking personal goals and resolutions. It's similar to stuff I've used for work projects, only applied to my life.

The most success I've had was with a personal goal tracking dashboard for Groupaya. Each week, I give myself a point for:

  • Playing basketball (or simply shooting around)
  • Taking a long walk (1+ hours), going for a run, or generally working out
  • Taking a [ play day]. I include holidays here.
  • Turning off my work email before dinner on weeknights
  • Not checking my work email on Saturday or Sunday during the day

I track weekly points, yearly averages, and a rolling four-week average.

Work Big

I have a dual monitor setup: Samsung SyncMaster 204BW (20" widescreen) and a Dell 24" monitor. In 2011, I converted my desk into a standing desk using a couple of IKEA platforms. When I get tired, I switch to my laptop and sit down somewhere comfortable.

Whiteboards are expensive. I ended up buying a barely used, magnetic whiteboard, which I love.

Task Management

I use a combination of Chandler and Gmail with multiple inboxes and superstars.

I used to use todo.txt, which I still really like. I hope to write a todo.txt clone using Chandler as the backend.

The Big Picture looks really nice. Integrated task management and calendar with sharing, plus a clever visual interface. Probably doesn't have Chandler's import/export capabilities, though.

I'm starting to move away from Chandler. I am highly conflicted by this, because Chandler is still a great tool, it does things others still do not, and I'm on the board of OSAF. However, development has stalled, and there's no ecosystem right now. Specific issues:

  • Poor collaboration support. Sharing is hard with anyone other than other Chandler users, and it's hard for them too.
  • Poor mobile support. There's an Android client but it's add only, which is useless.

I looked at a lot of other tools, and I'm starting to settle on Remember The Milk and Google Calendar. Remember The Milk as a tool is okay, but they have done an amazing job on building an ecosystem. There's a great Android client, there's integration with a lot of tools that I use, etc.

I used to use todo.txt. I would sync the data files between my home server and my laptop. It consisted of a single to do list, and each item could 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.

Time Tracking

Using Hamster on Linux. Experimenting with Lumina on the Mac; would need to write some scripts to merge the information. Or, I could use SlimTimer.

RescueTime for Mac/Windows is intriguing. May be worth it, even though there's no Linux support. Should also