Category Archives: Productivity

Simple Motivational Wallpaper for 2012

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Last year I created three simple motivational wallpapers for myself and decided to share them with you. As it proved to be one of my more popular post last year I wanted to do it again.

The three images below each occupy one of my Mac OS X Spaces. They inspire me to continue learning—something new every day, to act on what I learn so that knowledge becomes wisdom, and then to share that wisdom with you so that we all can benefit.

Learn

Learn - CCComicrazy - 1920
Right click link and select “save link as…” to download.

Act

Act - CCComicrazy - 1920
Right click link and select “save link as…” to download.

Share

Share - CCComicrazy - 1920
Right click link and select “save link as…” to download.

All images are were made with widescreen displays (resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixles) in mind and were designed in Pixelmator using the Comicrazy front.

You can download the full set, including alternative resolutions and/or in good ol’ Helvetica from my Learn, Act, Share flickr set.

Some of you might recognize these quotes from their original source. Regardless of whether you do or not, these wallpapers can help motivate you to make the most out of 2012.

Did you find these wallpapers helpful? What image(s) are you using to motivate you in 2012? Sound off in the comments below.

All images are from my flickr, unless otherwise noted.

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Advice for the New Year from Thomas Jefferson

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Portrait of Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peal...

Image via Wikipedia

In September of 1785 Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to his nephew, Peter Carr. Jefferson imparted sage guidance to the young Carr in the correspondence which can be of benefit to any who read it.

Below are seven of my favorite axioms from the Founding Father’s letter.

  • “Encourage all your virtuous dispositions, and exercise them whenever an opportunity arises; being assured that they will gain strength by exercise, as a limb of the body does, and that exercise will make them habitual.”

  • “There is no habit you will value so much as that of walking without fatigue.”

  • “Rise at a fixed and an early hour, and go to bed at a fixed and early hour also…Sitting up late at night is injurious to the health, and not useful to the mind.”

  • “A strong body makes the mind strong.”

  • “Husband well your time, cherish your instructions, strive to make every body your friend…”

  • “He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time”

  • “If you ever find yourself environed with difficulties and perplexing circumstances, out of which you are at a loss how to extricate yourself, do what is right, and be assured that that will extricate you the best out of the worst situations.”

Jefferson’s counsel to his kinsman rings as true today as it did over two hundred years ago. I find them especially applicable now at the beginning of a new year when so many of us take the time to analyze our lives and strive for improvement.

Which of Jefferson’s tips would benefit you the most? Sound off in the comments below.

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Managing Time Effectively Mindmap

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My 7 Habits Weekly Planner continues to be one of the most popular posts on slightly insightful, despite have been posted over a year ago.

As a follow up, I wanted to do something relating to Covey’s time management matrix as found in First Thing’s First.

In my research I stumbled across an excellent mindmap of the subject by Chance Brown. Conceptually, it’s spot on, but I wanted a cleaner version for myself.

Here’s what I came up with.

Managing Your Time Effectively (MindMap)
Click on image to view and/or download the full size version.

The quadrant is a fantastic tool for evaluating your daily activities and determining whether you’re making the best use of your time.

If you want to know more, ask Santa to slip a copy of First Thing’s First into your stocking

… but only if you’ve been nice this year.

In closing, I leave you with a question from Dr. Covey, himself.

“What one thing could you do in your personal and professional life that, if you did on a regular basis, would make a tremendous positive difference in your life?”

I’d love to read your answer’s in the comments below.

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This Is Why I Blog

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An old friend and I recently chatted about blogging and writing in general. As part of the conversation I put into words, quite possibly for the first time, why I blog.

What it all comes down to is this: I write the kind of posts that I would want to read. So, even if my blog has an audience of one (which I’m sure it often does) it serves as a creative outlet for me.

Yesterday, I read an interview Seth Godin gave in issue #10 of Productive Magazine which totally validated my reason for blogging. The interviewer asked Seth how he manages to post so frequently and he responded with the following.

Seth Godin from Productive Magazine

Well, I think the most important thing to understand about blogging is that if you are blogging for other people you are going to be disappointed. Even if no one would read it I would still blog. And the people I know who blog passionately, all of them say exactly the same thing. So that is the way you have to look at it, you can’t say: “I’m not getting enough comments I’m not going to blog. I’m not getting enough money, I’m not going to blog”. You have to say: “this is a great chance for me to clear my thoughts and put them into the world, what an opportunity”.
— Seth Godin

Wow, talk about validation! Seth Godin proves once again that he gets it.

Why do you blog? Sound off in the comments below.

Photo of Seth Godin via Productive Magazine

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Rock Your Performance Review with a Brag File

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It’s time for my mid-year performance review again. This means I get to give an accounting of my KPIs (business speak for goals) for the first half of fiscal year and gauge my progress towards my big fat bonus and raise.

What used to be an agonizing event for me has instead become a welcome opportunity to show exactly how valuable I am and how much I’m contributing to my team, my department, and my company.

The biggest contributing factor of this shift in my experience has been the creation and curation of my personal brag file.

Brag File in WriteRoom

The brag file is a plain text file which I use to store everything, no matter how great or small, that I do outside of my major projects. In my experience, my boss is usually well aware of the large projects I’m working on throughout the year as they are typically well documented and communicated.

However, there are always many important tasks (i.e.: interruptions) which crop up and need to be addressed. By tracking these as they occur I don’t need to try and remember how I spent all of my time.

By storing the brag file as plain text makes it portable and cross platform. This means I can edit the file in any application that accepts a “.txt” file extension regardless of whether it’s my Windows machine at work or on my Mac or iPad at home.

Having all my accomplishments listed in a text file lets me easily attach it to my electronic review form or print it up for talking points when I meet with my boss.

Bonus Tip:

Keep your brag file on DropBox. You can get a free account with 2 GB of online, synchronized storage. DropBox files are accessible via their site or one of the many supporting 3rd party apps on your Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad, etc. to read and write files stored there.

Using the brag file has revolutionized my performance reviews. While not everyone may look forward to them, this one small thing has really helped me make the most of my performance review and it can do the same for you.

What are your tips for rocking the performance review? Sound off in the comments below.

Simple Motivational Wallpapers for 2011

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If you’re searching for a new desktop wallpaper to help motivate you in 2011 then look no further. Whether your goal is to master the 7 Habits, Get Things Done, or just to manage your time a little better, these three images should help to inspire and motivate you in your New Year’s resolutions.

All three images currently occupy a separate one of my Mac OS X Spaces (via Hyperspaces). They’re a great reminder that there is no substitute for action, quality, and/or timeliness.

Do It

Do It
Right click link and select “save link as…” to download.
Photo via my flickr

Do It Right

Do It Right
Right click link and select “save link as…” to download.
Photo via my flickr

Do It Right Now

Do It Right Now
Right click link and select “save link as…” to download.
Photo via my flickr

All images are suitable for widescreen displays (resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixles) and were designed in Pixelmator—a super-slick image editor for Mac OS X.

It’s 2011. If you still don’t know how to change your desktop wallpaper you’ve got issues. But, in the interest of being charitable, here are instructions for Mac OS X, Ubuntu, and Windows (help links via WordPress Blog).

Some of you might recognize these quotes from their original source. This sage advice has always been helpful to me.

Did you find these wallpapers helpful? What image(s) are you using to motivate you in 2011? Sound off in the comments below.

7 Habits Weekly Planner

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A while back, I was going through my copy of 7 Habits and noticed that the book mentioned that a copy of the Franklin Covey Weekly Habits Planner was available at their site.

However, when I went to download it, no such copy was available online. So, I decided to create my own.

7 Habits Weekly Planner

This template provides a weekly dashboard for assisting you to not only get stuff done, but to help you do the right stuff. It should prove useful to anyone working to improve their productivity using Covey’s acclaimed 7 Habits system.

I posted the template as a PDF and also included the original iWork Numbers file online at D*I*Y Planner.

The 7 Habits program is one of the best time management systems I’ve ever come across. I don’t follow it as much as I should, but the principles are sound and it’s a solid framework.

Please let me know what you think of the template, I hope you find it useful. What are you currently using to get stuff done? Sound off in the comments below.