Organize IT

Right, so I’ve gone and done it. I’ve sucked up (most of) my reservations and got myself a Facebook account (check out my profile and become a friend). Those reservations have not exactly been proved unfounded because after only 24 hours of being signed up, I’ve wasted more time than I want to on tweaking my profile, searching for people and deleting vast amounts of email notifications.

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Email. It’s great isn’t it? All those spammy messages to process, all the time spent on trying to get your inbox to that mythical empty status. Yeah, email is great… Because it is such an easy and quick medium, people can also get very sloppy with it. Much like showing manners when eating a meal, there is a certain etiquette a person should adopt when sending emails. If we work together to improve our email manners we can all benefit from the time we save. Dream on!

Inspirational quotes for 22nd March 2008.

Grace Lichtenstein: “Your opponent, in the end, is never really the player on the other side of the net, or the swimmer in the next lane, or the team on the other side of the field, or even the bar you must high-jump. Your opponent is yourself, your negative internal voices, your level of determination.“

Carl Jung: “Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness and the word happiness would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.“

Jack London: “I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dryrot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.“

Organize IT recap for 21st March 2008

• On Wednesday I asked whether personal development can (and should) be taught in schools. I’ve received some very interesting comments, so I just want to draw attention back to it and keep the discussion going. In the near future I will take a look at what elements would be appropriate for teaching. Who knows, maybe we can create a full course.
• While the internet is an invaluable tool, it can also be one big time waster. If you feel you aren’t being efficient with your browsing then this guide covering five tools for tracking your time will be of interest to you.
• The principles behind GTD can be used in many walks of live but what about games? Or specifically MMORPGs like World Of Warcraft and Guild Wars. If you are interested, here is an imaginative guide to using GTD in those such games. Expect my guide to using GTD with The Sims soon.
• Over at Unclutterer, Leo of Zen Habits has written a guest post detailing how to create a minimalist workspace. He has a picture showing his current setup and while a part of me loves of the clutter free layout, it also seems a little sterile and uninspiring. Does anyone else feel the same way? At what point does simplification and minimalism actually become as problematic as a cluttered mess?

Should personal development be taught in schools? To me on a basic level, it seems like a smart move. It could arguably give children valuable life tools like habit building, productivity and how to gain a better understanding of their expectations in life. In this day and age, with increasing complexity and pressures, it’s surely more valuable than ever for children to have such knowledge. However, in my case at least, I’d finished school long ago and had even gone through university before I started to give a crap about my self improvement. I suspect a lot of kids would have the same outlook. Can children be taught to think about their personal development, or does it take life experience and age before it starts to actually mean something? I look forward to reading your thoughts!