Tag: writing

Using a Productivity Journal

I listened to the following podcast a couple of times today, and it features Mike Vardy and Shawn Blanc:

The Fizzle Show, episode 99: 2 Experts Share Exactly How to Use a Productivity Journal (& Increase Productivity by 23%)

At the end of each workday, Mike writes a freeform journal entry in Day One. His intent is to describe what did or didn’t work, then describe whatever is next. Minimal friction.

This time investment gives him a head start for weekly reviews. I dig!

Initially, I set five reminders1 in Day One for iOS. Then, I moved three work-specific reminders to Day One on my Mac, and kept two other on my iPhone.

To simplify, I’ll try writing daily in the evening — tagged “Daily Review” — with the help of a scheduled todo in Apple’s Reminders app.2

My goals for developing this new habit are to help me:

  • Summarize what I’ve done for the week more quickly (versus reviewing my Logbook in Things and my calendars).
  • Make weekly/monthly/yearly reviews less daunting.
  1. Three reminders for work (beginning, middle, and end of each day), then two personal. That’s too much, even at five minutes a pop. ↩
  2. This should be a calendar entry. Since I could punt it for a few minutes/hours (when needed), I’d rather not see it on my calendar. I’ll experiment! 🙂 ↩

Write a post on your TV

I can comfortably write in Simplenote, WordPress, or Day One apps on our TV. If I don’t want my laptop on my lap, or my iPhone in my hands, this is another option.

I starting writing instructions, but realized Apple has solid support documents. 🙂

  • About AirPlay Mirroring in OS X — AirPlay Mirroring lets you send what’s on your Mac screen to an HDTV wirelessly with Apple TV.
  • iOS: Use AirPlay Mirroring — You can use AirPlay Mirroring to mirror exactly what’s on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your HDTV via Apple TV.

April Blogging Challenge

Fellow Automattic colleague, Justin Shreve, challenges us to publish a post on our blog daily for the month of April. On one of our internal sites, I said I’d participate to hold myself accountable.

A few things:

  • I published notes from several speakers at Write The Docs EU the last two days, and ran out of steam near on the second day.
  • I write my ideas in Simplenote with each item tagged “blog”.

While it’s minutes after midnight in Budapest, I’m going by the Pacific Daylight Time since I live in the Los Angeles area. I’m two for two this month. Yay!

Interested? Possibly intrigued? Read his post for more details, join us, and leave a comment. Ignore the date and give it a try for the rest of the month.

You can publish from any site, but we’d also love for you to setup a free blog at WordPress.com. I’m proud of our work, and we’re always happy to help. 🙂

Tip: Need ideas? Check out the free eBook 365 Writing Prompts by The Daily Post at WordPress.com.

Enjoy!

Revisiting my private journal with TiddlyWiki

In 2007, between the months of April and December, I kept a private journal on my computer. I don’t know why I stopped.

I want to start writing in my journal again, so I’ll try again with a fresh TiddlyWiki. For a customized look, I installed the K2Blog theme from TiddlyThemes.

Sadly, TiddlyWiki doesn’t seem to be popular, so I don’t know of a site with newer themes. Don’t ask.

Do any of you keep a private journal? Online or offline? What program or service?