Blogs and Discussions Best Picks for October

With “great depression,” “lay offs” and “poverty” being on the lips of nearly everyone these days, perhaps only the most optimistic would talk about thriving in turmoil. Thank goodness then for this edition’s featured blogs and the authors who have made a stand against the gloom, directing us toward the faint silver lining that is closer than we think.

Popular finance blogs spoke on maintaining good money habits and a level head during the panic. The Personal MBA Blog and Stepcase Lifehack’s authors cautioned against getting fixated on the doom in the news, asserting that the best investment was in oneself, through improving one’s knowledge, skills, abilities and personal well-being. Matthew Cornell advocated having a “healthy sense of detachment” toward the current crisis, while keeping an optimistic perspective and looking out for opportunities.

Perhaps the best advice came from Bill Taylor, of the Harvard Business Review, who wrote a piece on Warren Buffet’s recent television interview. “So don’t use the financial crisis as an excuse to stop taking chances or downsize your ambitions… Do use the crisis as an opportunity to take stock of what really matters – and to stop looking over your shoulder.”

A number of blogs made it a point to post a piece on poverty to create awareness about the plight of the more unfortunate, following the theme of this year’s Blog Action Day. Bloggers gave their opinions on financial poverty and even emotional and time poverty, all of which affect us in some form or another.

Our Top Five Career Effectiveness Picks

All Thing Workplace

Too Busy Doing Business To Do Business?

Harvard Business Review Blogs

Wisdom Of Warren Buffett: On Innovators, Imitators, And Idiots

Management Issues

Blame Darwin For Office Politics

Matt’s Idea Blog

How To Stay Balanced And Productive During Uncertainty And Crisis

The Personal MBA

The Safest Investment

Our Top Five Personal Effectiveness Picks

Slow Down Fast Blog

6 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Busting Out Of The Rat Race

From Where I Sit

The Wealth Wall Street Can’t Touch

Wise Bread

Surviving A Financial Panic – Lessons From The Past

Seth Godin’s Blog

Is Effort A Myth?

ZenHabits

Productivity 2.0: How The New Rules Of Work Are Changing The Game

Our Top Five Personal Productivity Picks

Genuine Curiousity

What’s Your Type?

Life Optimizer

Fighting Life Poverty With Self Development

Stepcase Lifehack

7 Actions That Can Help Your Wallet In A Troubled Economy
Why All The Best Marketers Know Each Other

Pick The Brain

How To Use Economic Downturn To Your Advantage

Our Top Five Online Discussions Picks

Getting Things Done (Yahoo Groups)

Difficulty With Relying 100% On A Task List
Personality types and learning styles have an impact on the way you manage your to-do lists, say the members in the Getting Things Done Yahoo! Group. Some members who are visual thinkers cite difficulties in relying on comprehensive to-do lists that are stored away from sight. This resonated with many users, who suggested various tools to maintain a constant visual reference, like those that can synchronise with applications they frequently use (an example is “Remember The Milk for GMail”). They also pointed out using 3×5 inch cards that could be easily spread out for display and stored when not used. Whether one chooses a digital approach or a paper-based one, members agreed that understanding and embracing one’s learning style was important to implementing a productivity system. This insight helped them stay on top of work as well as be more creative.

The Now Habit (Yahoo Groups)

Shorten Your To-Do List, Get More Done!
“The Now Habit” from Yahoo Groups had the privilege of Dr. Neil Fiore, author of the book that inspired the forums, coming by to give his opinions on their questions. On the subject of “shortening your to-do list,” Dr. Fiore stated that the key to productivity is to focus on “when to start,” not “get twenty things done.” Focusing on “when to start” gives the mind a positive relationship to work, while focusing on endless to-do lists create a rebellious reaction to work, resulting in habits that are counterproductive to efficiency.

Mark Forster’s Forums

How Do You Keep Focusing On Ongoing/Large Projects?
Mark Forster’s forums on his website and the Yahoo! Groups had many excellent topics, including how to tackle large projects and how to overcome a lack of motivation. Mark Forster gave his insight on these issues: the “Do It Tomorrow” (DIT) system gives the user complete freedom on how to tackle a large project, whether it comes down to finishing it at one sitting, working on it for a set period of time, or spending “timed bursts” of five minutes to get going. These fundamental methods to DIT (including working out daily closed lists) also help a person stay on top of work and hence stay motivated.

Steve Pavlina

Your Most Useful Life Advice To Us
What is the most important advice you have ever gotten? In this insightful discussion, members shared timeless advice for living. These included developing oneself mentally, spiritually and physically; never giving up your dreams or compromising your values; overcoming fear and realising one’s potential by living free from fear; living in the moment, and relishing it; filling one’s focus and thoughts with positivity; and choosing love. In essence, these truths make up the entire edifice of personal development and improvement.

Work. Life. Creativity. (Forums)

How Often Do You Do A Brain Dump?
The key to successfully implementing David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) is regularly doing what Allen calls a “Mind Sweep” or “Core Dump” – or in this case, a “Brain Dump” – which involves getting everything out of one’s mind and recording it digitally or on paper. While Allen advises doing this as often as needed (or at least weekly), members in the forum have found it useful to make a habit of doing it daily.

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