Why is it then whenever I think of something I need to do I write it down rather than do it? Even the smallest, easiest tasks I have to write down before I actually complete them (and by “write” I mean physically write and then also type into RTM or Google Tasks or the like).

Over the last two weeks – 6 days of PTO I might add – I made 17 lists of things to do. That’s a little OCD, no? I’m a little concerned. Now I could put that on my list of resolutions, but I’m staying away from resolutions this year. Maybe if I don’t call something a “resolution” I’ll have a better chance of achieving it.

Money scales well.  Think about it.  The more you work, in general, the more you make.  Sure it may not feel like that in some jobs, and obviously I can’t speak for everyone, but more often than not, working more hours yields more money, either through wage or promotion.  In that light, money doesn’t seem like such a hot commodity.  As I said, it scales well.

Now think about time.  Time is fixed – each person has 24 hours to live each day.  While some people have a lot of money and others have very little, not one person, I promise you, has more than 24 hours in a day.

Yet why do people always talk about money?  Why is money always the primary objective?  I think maybe we need to value our time a little more and our money less.

Jonathan Mead of Illuminated Mind makes a good point.

The number one dream killer is doing what works. We follow a template of what has worked for other people. But just because climbing a corporate ladder works, it doesn’t mean it’s the best idea for you. If you’re smart and you want to be lazy, you’ll follow your own path. You’ll work from your strengths, instead of trying to follow a predetermined pattern of effectiveness.

The Lazy Man’s Guide to Getting Things Done | Zen Habits.

At this point Google pretty much runs both my personal and professional lives, and I will probably adopt any and all new technologies they integrate with my Google Account.

Gmail: Voice and video chat

I’ve been trying to find the perfect task management software for almost three years.  There are so many offerings but the main problem has been lack of universal access except via web browser.

Web-Based vs. Client-Based

Usually we think of web apps as being great because you can access the service anywhere through just a browser.  I agree that this is really important; however, a truly universal application should have native clients on as many platforms as possible, with users “falling back” to the browser if there is no client available.

That’s why I like Evernote and Remember the Milk.  If I’m on a PC, I can use the quick, native Evernote application to post to my online collection, allowing me much more power and flexibility than any web app.  Same for the Mac.

Similar to Evernote is RTM, which with its release of both an iPhone application and a Google Gadget (and Gmail’s new “Add a Gadget” feature) just became significantly more useful to me.  I just paid the $25/year to upgrade to Pro and I’m so happy I did.

Conclusion

Hybrid applications (desktop/device and web-based) are the wave of the future.  That could mean RIA with a common runtime, or it could mean just multiple versions of native code for different platforms.  Either way, it’s won me over.

Maybe some of the things I consider goals are really milestones.

Become a “milestone activist.” Use milestoneing as a matter of routine, but do so with the greatest care, as only partially explained above—that is, become a Milestone Professional as well as a Milestone Activist.

tompeters! management consulting leadership training development project management

Dummy Lipsum is a pretty handy Firefox extension for web developers that generates dummy text for insertion into a form field or to copy onto the clipboard.

Dummy Lipsum

I love reading Seth Godin’s blog.  This is just another reason why.

Wealth is not created by financial manipulation, the trading of equities or the financing of banks. They just enable it. Wealth is created by productivity. Productive communities generate more of value.

Seth’s Blog: The economy, the press and the paradox.