The vertical map, otherwise known as the horizons of focus, is a key element of GTD yet it is very often neglected, probably because the GTD book does not go into any great detail about it. As such, much of it is open to interpretation and you will find people using it in different ways. Below I’ve tried to condense some of these interpretations with my own personal thoughts on the matter to hopefully give you all a more clear idea of how it can be used. It is quite possible that a lot of you may have alternative approaches to what I have described, so I would be interested in reading your comments on this.

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I came across H²ouse last night, a site developed by the California Urban Water Conservation Council, which I thought I would share. It has some very interesting ideas, tips and advice on cutting down on your water usage by maintaining or replacing various elements of your home. Check out the tour page for a room-by-room guide to what you can actually do. The site is so in-depth that it even covers future trends and legal regulations. Saving water doesn’t get as much attention as electricity but it is becoming increasingly relevant as you may have noticed in the news. Below I’ve summarized their top five actions for water savings.

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Picked up this clever idea from LifeDev last week, and seeing as I am currently posting a lot about clever little hacks I’m coming across, this is definitely worth a mention. Basically it’s a cheap way of keeping your desk clear using a piece of pegboard and attaching all your wires and routers to it. While I have some reservations about where all the heat is going to dissipate to (or as one person commented on the related Digg article, “I don’t know how I feel about having my wireless router that close to my balls…”), I think its definately worth checking out if you fancy a little Sunday DIY job. Now all I need is a decent table… For full instructions including lots more images, visit the designer’s site.

I can’t remember where I originally picked up this idea but I always considered it to be a very useful de-cluttering tip so I thought I would share it with you all (I’ve already posted about the reward card key ring so maybe this can be the start of a series covering mini lifehacking tips). If you are anything like me you are always losing socks having your socks lost by whoever washes your clothes that day, and then struggling to match them up. One option is to have an incredibly strict laundry routine to keep all your socks together and accounted for, but that is tedious and time consuming. Instead, what I suggest is that you buy plain black socks (or another neutral color) in bulk. That way you can mix them up or lose a few and it’s never an issue because they are all the same. And let’s face it, the color and style of your socks is hardly a priority in the fashion stakes.

Don’t you just love coming across a really neat but simple idea? I was just browsing on LifeClever and came across a great idea for organizing all your reward cards (and no doubt a few other types of card as well) which I just had to share. Though I personally have never bothered with reward cards and like to keep what I have in my wallet to a bare minimum, my partner could seriously do with something like this. I spend enough time following her around clothes shops without waiting at the tills for her to dig out her reward card (just joking honey!).

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