New Articles

Finding Work-Life Balance
Online Publications Best Picks for August ´08: This month, personal development tackles issues of work-life balance and learning from personal failures – a timely message for the knowledge worker of the 21st century.

What Is Wrong with GTD?
GTD (“Getting things done”) may have a cult following, but as times and communication technologies are changing fast, many users have modified the system to meet their own needs. Read about how you can improve the system.

How to Become More Time Conscious
Most people are far less productive than they think they are, because they are under- or over- estimating the time it takes to complete a task.

Social Networking as a Career Safety Net
Recommended reading in the New York Times about how social networking sites like Linkedin, Facebook or MySpace can or cannot be useful in a job search.

Novice Experiences with Productivity
A new Whakate reader discusses her struggle with time management and productivity and shares some of her favorite websites for finding help with these issues.

New Library Downloads

Find Out Where Your Time is Going

From the article “Working with a Time Log”
While time management advice typically promotes the idea that higher productivity is a result of better planning and organisation, there is now increasing evidence to support that it’s the way we perceive time that is critical. Most people are surprisingly unproductive because they either under- or over-estimate the time it takes them to complete each task. The picture is complicated further due to simultaneous demands on their time. As the brain tries to deal with everything at once, paralysis sets in. One solution to this problem is to log and analyse the use of your time to get a better understanding of how long you need for each task.

» Get the PDF “Working with a Time Log” including full references and the Emergent Task Timer from David Seah (Club members only)

Join a Growing Community of Life Designers
As a Club member, you gain access to a growing range of downloadable content from our online library and enjoy other privileges as well. Click here to learn more.

What is Whakate?

Take Action and Design Your Life
At Whakate, we believe that you can design and optimise your life by identifying what you value the most and focusing the use of your time. » More about Whakate and why life design matters.


The Whakate Journal aims to become the definitive, unbiased source of everything worth knowing about a life lived by design.

Visit The Content-rich Channels in Our Journal
  • Lead Articles The latest in news and opinions. Our articles are timely, impartial and always thought-provoking, shaping debates about all aspects of life design.
  • eMonitor Here, we regularly wrap up what’s been recently covered in online publications, blogs and discussion groups, and look at the best contributions and news regarding personal productivity and effectiveness.
  • Reader to Reader The place where our readers get the chance to dive into discussions on articles submitted by Whakate Club members.

Don´t leave it all to chance: Join Whakate to learn more about what matters the most in personal development, productivity and effectiveness.

Join a Growing Community of Life Designers
As a Club member, you gain access to a growing range of downloadable content from our online library and enjoy other privileges as well. Click here to learn more.



Get involved and contribute! As a Club member, you may suggest new topics or submit your own articles for publication. Learn more about the Club here.