On Using Time Wisely

   Sometimes when I'm working on something, I get lucky and am so lost "in
   the moment" that time appears to stop and I'm hardly aware of what's
   going on around me.  If someone is willing to pay me to do what I enjoy
   doing, then it doesn't really seem like "work" at all.

   Unfortunately, a lot of the time, it's hard to get into "the flow".
   Distractions, politics, egos, unrealistic schedules and uninteresting
   projects are motivation-killers.  So I need a little help to "get things
   done".  Here are some possibly counter-intuitive and even contradictory
   thoughts and techniques on how to use time effectively.

   1. "HOWTO: Be more productive"
     <http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/productivity>
   "First, you have to make the best of each kind of time. And second, you
    have to try to make your time higher-quality."

   2. "The Pmarca Guide to Personal Productivity"
     <http://pmarca-archive.posterous.com/the-pmarca-guide-to-personal-
        productivity>
   "The techniques that follow work together as an integrated set for me,
    but they probably won't for you. Maybe you'll get one or two ideas --
    probably out of the ideas I stole from other people. If so, I have
    succeeded."

   3. "The Lazy Manifesto: Do Less. Then, Do Even Less."
     <http://zenhabits.net/2009/01/the-lazy-manifesto-do-less-then-do-
        even-less/>
   "Lazy is often seen as a bad thing, but I disagree. Lazy is an amazing
    thing. Here's just a few reasons why..."

   4. "How to Procrastinate Like Leonardo da Vinci"
     <http://newsletter.classicalpursuits.com/march-2009/34-procrastination-
        march-2009.html>
   "After he solved its conceptual problems, Leonardo lost interest until
    someone forced his hand. Even then, Leonardo often became a perfection-
    ist about details that no one else could see, and the job just didn't
    get done."
   "If there is one conclusion to be drawn from the life of Leonardo, it is
    that procrastination reveals the things at which we are most gifted -
    the things we truly want to do. Procrastination is a calling away from
    something that we do against our desires toward something that we do
    for pleasure, in that joyful state of self-forgetful inspiration that
    we call genius."

   5. "The Pomodoro Technique"
     <http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/>
   "The Pomodoro Technique(tm) is a way to get the most out of time
    management. Turn time into a valuable ally to accomplish what we want
    to do and chart continuous improvement in the way we do it."

   6. TASCK
     <http://tasck.com/>
   A simple online to-do list manager.

Odds and Ends, Sun 1 November 2009

   1. Mystery Service
   * "Mystery Google"
     <http://www.mysterygoogle.com/>
     Get what the person before you searched for
   * "Kashiwa Mystery Cafe"
     <http://www.cabel.name/2009/09/kashiwa-mystery-cafe.html>
     Get what the person before you ordered

   2. "Reading Kafka Improves Learning, Suggests Psychology Study"
     <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915174455.htm>
   "'The idea is that when you're exposed to a meaning threat -- something
    that fundamentally does not make sense -- your brain is going to
    respond by looking for some other kind of structure within your
    environment'"

   3. "Play Tetris, Get a More Efficient & Thicker Brain"
     <http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/09/02/play-tetris-
        get-a-more-efficient-thicker-brain/>
   "Three months of Tetris playing had two distinct effects on the brains
    of research subjects ... This, says the doctors who undertook the
    study, shows that focusing on a 'challenging visuospatial task' like
    a videogame can actually alter the structure of the brain, not just
    increase brain activity."

   4. "The Mediocre Multitasker"
     <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/weekinreview/30pennebaker.html?_r=1>
   "a study showing that the most persistent multitaskers perform badly in
    a variety of tasks. They don't focus as well as non-multitaskers.
    They're more distractible. They're weaker at shifting from one task to
    another and at organizing information. They are, as a matter of fact,
    worse at multitasking than people who don't ordinarily multitask."

   5. "Think yourself a better picture"
     <http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17930-think-yourself-a-better-
        picture.html>
   "Want to enjoy the benefits of a super-sharp high-definition screen
    without buying a new TV? Simply tell yourself that you are watching HD
    and put up a few posters to transform your experience."

   6. "Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to
       Know Why."
     <http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/magazine/17-09/ff_placebo_effect?
        currentPage=all>
   "The fact that an increasing number of medications are unable to beat
    sugar pills has thrown the industry into crisis. The stakes could
    hardly be higher. In today's economy, the fate of a long-established
    company can hang on the outcome of a handful of tests."

   7. "Kurt Vonnegut explains drama"
     <http://sivers.org/drama>
   "He said, 'People have been hearing fantastic stories since time began.
    The problem is, they think life is supposed to be like the stories.
    Let's look at a few examples.'"

   8. "The 100 Greatest Sci-Fi Movies"
     <http://totalscifionline.com/features/3809-the-100-greatest-sci-fi-
        movies>