WHAKATE

Blogs and Online Discussions Best Picks for August/September ´08

Olympic athletes have long been a source of inspiration and fascination for many. With a sensational Summer Olympics producing heroes like Michael Phelps, writers took a close look at peak human performance and talked about how positive thinking, understanding one’s purpose and effective coaching are key for achieving personal success.Dave Crenshaw’s book “Debunking the Myth of Multitasking” was picked out by a number of bloggers who gave their opinion on multitasking and Crenshaw’s new system of “switch-tasking.” Bloggers reinforced the importance of focus and developing a state of flow in their daily tasks.

A number of influential bloggers wrote about the state of personal development today. Many of them reminded their readers of the dangers of failing to commit and act on what they have spent time reading. In a rare exposé, Leo Baubauta from zenhabits.net revealed a list of the “dirty little secrets” of personal development bloggers, which was a sobering note to readers.

This month, discussions covered interesting topics such as digitising personal reference data, starting productivity systems afresh in a new job, and using Parkinson’s Law.

Our Top Five Career Effectiveness Picks

All Things Workplace

What Should I Be Doing With My Life?

Management Issues

Positive Thinking: Does It Really Get Results?

Matt’s Idea Blog

A Conversation With Ron Hale Evans, Author Of “Mind Performance Hacks”

Slow Leadership

The Misnomer Called ‘Work-Life Balance’

Sparkplugging

Olympic Wisdom: 5 Tips To Get The Most Out Of Coaching

Our Top Five Personal Effectiveness Picks

Dumb Little Man

Why Personal Development Is Not As Effective As It Should Be

Goodlife Zen

Steve Pavlina: Why Personal Growth Is So Important

Success Soul

Charlie Chaplin’s Guide To Picking Yourself Up When Life Knocks You Down

Tools For Thought

Seven Problems With A Someday/Maybe List — And Ways To Correct Them

ZenHabits

The Dirty Little Secrets Of Productivity Bloggers

Our Top Five Personal Productivity Picks

BNET

A Few Productivity Tips From Lifehacker’s Gina Trapani

Lifehacker

Debunking The Myth Of Multitasking

Pick The Brain

21 Habits Of Happy People

Productivity Today

Problems In Common Time Management Systems And How To Avoid Them

Stepcase Lifehack

What Are The Self-Help Pitfalls?
Ten Lessons From China’s Olympics Preparations

Our Top Five Online Discussions Picks

Analogorg (Yahoo! Groups)

“Clean-Slating”
The discussion thread was started with a question on what members would change about their current office productivity and organising systems if they had a chance to completely revamp it. Members answered with advice such as getting comprehensive organising stationery. One member took the chance to endorse Mark Forster’s “Do It Tomorrow,” along with an article on Getting Things Done by MarkTAW.com. In the spirit of the group, members remembered the “K.I.S.S” (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle.

Work. Life. Creativity. Forums

Parkinson’s Law
Forum members discussed Parkinson’s Law and the Pareto Principle and how it affected their work style. Members generally found that Parkinson’s Law helped them finish their tasks early, which ensured ample time to polish their work, as well as leave sufficient room for error.
Travel Light
In this discussion, members traded tips on how they go about packing efficiently. Contributors shared links to several articles, including a tip from Rick Steve on how to halve one’s packing load.
How To Travel The World With 10 Pounds Or Less; How To Negotiate Convertibles And Luxury Treehouses
How Does A Geek Plan For 3 Weeks In 4 Countries With A Small Bag & A Laptop?
Rick Steve’s “Packing Light And Right” Tips

Work. Life. Creativity. Forums

Time Management In A Distraction-Driven Environment
The discussion starts with one of the members citing problems in his workplace, where there is a proliferation of distraction and poor follow up, particularly from the bosses. Members suggested that in cases like these, one should approach one’s boss to let them know the effects of a distracted office environment, which ultimately leads to inefficiency and lowered profits.

David Allen’s Forums

My Never Ending Struggle With Contexts
A common struggle for people new to GTD is using contexts. In this case, one member spoke about how categorising her tasks in an “@Office” context category (for tasks that can only be done at the office) failed to provide any form of stress-relieving productivity, because of an overwhelming number of tasks she had to accomplish in that category. Contributors to the thread suggested deferring and delegating, as well as breaking down the contexts into functional “sub-contexts.” Another contributor suggested merging key concepts from Mark Forster’s book “Do It Tomorrow” in terms of closed lists (lists that restrict the amount of work to be done, effectively reducing interruptions).

Author: Adrian Koh

Whakate welcomes your views, please rate the article “The Olympics, Multi-Tasking/ Switch-Tasking and Better Personal Development” or leave a comment.

Life Design Wiki: New Habits; Life Hack; Tasks and Actions