Taking a Methodological Approach to Solving Problems

There are two types of jobs: doer or reviewer. The doer creates widgets, manages programs, or provides services. The reviewer are consultants, auditors, and any external entity that reviews the doer’s product or service after the fact. Being a Gen-Y’er, my education consisted mostly of theory and thought. Very little was actually spent on planning […]

Online Personal Finances

Managing your personal finances used to mean that you downloaded MS Money or Quicken onto your PC/Mac and inputted your transactions manually. Then came auto download where the software accesses your financial institution and downloads the transactions. Now, a number of online sites are doing the same for you. If you can get past the […]

Going Green with CFL

I just picked up a pack of Verilux compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. The package claims 10,000 hours of “bright, white daylight.” It uses a sixth of the energy of a regular lightbulb. Additionally, it outputs a cool blue color that simulates natural daylight. In an effort to reduce my monthly energy bill, I’m doing […]

Productivity 1.0

Perhaps the most advanced technology, or at least the one that works best for me, is simply good old fashion paper wrapped in leather: the Moleskine. Nothing works better than just having something around for jotting down ideas and putting together thought. I still read the Wall Street Journal, print edition, even though the online […]

Google Notebook

Google is starting to really integrate its 10 million different products. Lately, I’ve been attracted to Google Notebook, which can quickly be used as a GTD tool. I’ve set up my “notebooks” as: inbox (to process) next actions (to do) someday/maybe reference projects When I stumble across something I’m interested in, I simply dump it […]

I Heart Tivo

Tivo is amazing. The company (TIVO) itself, is worthless. I caved in and opted to get a Tivo Series 2 instead of Comcast’s DRV box. The software interface is amazing and it just works period. The benefits are: Season Pass – It records all episodes during the season and changes the recording time if the […]

Atlas Shrugged

The New York Times published a rather interesting article on Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. The 1200 page book I’ve been reading has been inspirational reading to a number of people including Allen Greenspan. Ayn Rand’s philosophy, objectivism, appeals particularly to me because of its applications to free market economics. Further thoughts pending substantial completion of […]

Twitter

I joined the bandwagon and signed up for a twitter account. It’s a way to update everyone on your whereabouts and what’s happening, except 160 characters at a time. Ideally, it’s updated using SMS messages. While it’s too short to really get any message across, if you “follow” another person’s updates, you develop a sense […]