All posts in Getting Things Done

Idea Realization is a Challenge

by Ades on June 1, 2009 in Articles, Getting Things Done, Make Money with 21 Comments

Regarding my previous post about making money with Windows 7, yes it’s true that many people are now wanting to seize the opportunity and hoping to make money out of it. But it’s equally true that very few people will actually act on their ideas. Out of all the people who want to create a website about Windows 7, most probably only 5-10% will act on their ideas. And probably even fewer people will actually follow through and finish their projects successfully.

So, most ideas will be left as they are – in the form of ideas only. Some people might act on their ideas and pick a good domain name and register it, but won’t have the will to follow through and setup a website. Some people might setup a website but the outcome (design or the content) might not be as good as it supposed to be in order to be successful. And yet, some people might launch a great website but fail in their SEO and online marketing just to find out that other less great websites had beaten them because of that… etc etc

So, my advice is – if you are confident that you can launch a decent website about Windows 7, do the proper SEO and market it online successfully then you better don’t give up on that idea of yours! Because I am sure you have a pretty good chance of succeeding in it!

How do I know it? For the same reasons that I have mentioned above – that most of the people will not act on their ideas and even if they act many of them will not follow through until the end. As for the ones who complete their projects – “no one is perfect” – I am sure you will find a way to beat them, be it in the quality of the content, design, SEO, marketing etc. There is always a way to beat the competitors.

So the challenge here is:

Acting on your idea.
Following through with it until the end (i.e don’t quit half way).
Do the necessary adjustments to outperform your competitors.

Sounds like a plan? Then let’s get busy with our new project!

GTD – Printable Checklist

by Ades on February 12, 2009 in AJAX, Getting Things Done with 6 Comments

Printable Checklist is simple yet effective website for creating to-do lists that you can print just before you go for shopping. The page is powered with ajax.

Bookmark the URL if you use paper to-do lists a lot in your daily life.

Website: http://printablechecklist.org

Mind Mapping for Effective Content Management

by Ades on July 25, 2008 in General, Getting Things Done with 6 Comments

I came across this slide in slideshare and thought share it with you. It’s quite useful.

view presentation (tags: cms management content mindmap)

By the way, here is a free mind mapping tool (software).

Paying attention to the right stuff, and learning how to sacrifice

by Ades on May 10, 2008 in Articles, Getting Things Done with 11 Comments

Last week in my MBA class (Management Control Systems) I had a case-study about “Balanced Scorecard” and how it was implemented in a particular company in the banking industry. Obviously the company had a lot of challenges and issues during the BSC implementation.

One of the lessons from the case was, for the BSC to be implemented successfully and fully, you need to keep improving it as the implementation phase moves along. One of the reasons cited for BSC implementation failure was because some companies want a perfect BSC – from the start. But that’s not possible, since BSC is a continuous thing, which has to be improved, changed, and adjusted over time.

Relating it to web-projects

This case-study reminded me of few occasions where I noticed how some people want everything to be perfect. They pay attention to the wrong (or shall we say less important) parts of the project. Every project consists of different parts, if it is a web project for example, then it could be divided into design, development, choosing hosting, choosing domain name, marketing, advertising etc.

However in order for the work to begin, you only need design and development (i.e scope of work) first. So don’t waste your time thinking how you will promote the website after its completion. Similarly, if you just want to test the waters whether the project will work or not, then don’t delve too much on the design of the interface. Just get a functional user interface that will do the job fairly and see if your project will stand the test. Because I noticed that some people will spend so much time perfecting the design of the website that they delay the launch of the project, or even worse the project gets not launched at all.

Because in most cases, it’s not the user interface that determines if the project will work or not. It’s the IDEA that determines the fate of your project. If your idea is good, then even if your website is not that “good looking” – it will still work! But not vice versa. You might have the best designed website, but still fail.

Lessons to be learned

So, in conclusion; first prioritize your tasks, identify the parts that are most important for the project to be completed. Once you have identified, work on those important parts first. Don’t waste your time on the tasks that will follow after the project has been completed.

Secondly, try to learn how to sacrifice on the design. Yes great logo is important for the brand, but don’t search for it 6 months until you delay the project. Same goes with the design of the website, some people spend so much time on the design that the real objective of the project gets forgotten. If your site supposed to be an auction site, once it has all the features developed and can do the job fairly well – just launch it! Don’t kill the web designer with small insignificant adjustments that won’t contribute to the overall objective of the project.

Free Web2.0 Online Scheduling Tool

by Ades on January 29, 2008 in Getting Things Done, Online Tools with 8 Comments

schedule once Remember the text based scheduling tool that I blogged here? This tool (look screenshot to the left) is a similar scheduling tool, but it’s more advanced, Web2.0 based tool that comes with all the dragging and real-time response functionalities.

Basically, it allows you to input few day (time) options into a calendar as seen in the screenshot, and send the link to your group members. Your group members can choose which day is ideal for them (and which days are not). In return, they can also suggest their own time preferences and leave comments.

Advantage of this tool over other tools is that, it allows you to set meetings internationally, across all time zones and daylight saving changes. Did I mention it was free? (but for how long?) http://www.scheduleonce.com

2008 Mini Calendar that fits one (no half) page (PDF)

by Ades on November 29, 2007 in Getting Things Done, Usability with 2 Comments

David Seah has created a mini calendar for 2008 that can fit one A4 paper. Actually, it will fit in less than half pf the page.

You can use it as a mini organizer to schedule the important events, as shown to the left. Since it’s just one paper you can always carry it with you, inside your book, folder, pocket…etc.

I will surely be using this calendar for my MBA class, to capture important dates, such as: assignment deadlines, exam dates, holidays, presentation dates etc.

You can download the PDF file at http://davidseah.com/page/compact-calendar

Using Google Calendar as a to-do list application

by Ades on November 16, 2007 in Articles, Blogging Tips, Getting Things Done, Google, Tutorials with 7 Comments

Do you use Google Calendar? If yes, do you use it as a “visually enhanced to-do list” application? I do, and in this post I will share with you guys how do I do it. I am sure some of you must be already doing it.

Create a new calendar

First thing is to create your own new calendar, in fact create two calendards. One – for things to be done (to-do). And another – for things that are already done (completed). After you have created and named them properly, give them distinctive colors. So that, when you look at your calendar, you know what is done and what needs to be done.

Here is how my calendar looks when viewed by month (see below). Red colored items are things that I need to do, when the time comes. And light brown colored items are things, that I have already completed.

This is how it looks when viewed by Agenda (see below). Notice that there is one red item among the light brown items. That is the Top5 sites that I was supposed to update. I am planning to get it brown these coming few days ;)

After you are done creating your calendars, you are ready to post some to-dos. So, go ahead and post them. While creating your to-do items, do not forget to assign them your “to-do calendar”. Otherwise tasks won’t look colored and you won’t know if it is a “to-do” item or “completed” item.

Setting Reminders

Another important thing while creating your to-do items is, to set reminders. Usually for weekly tasks or tasks that repeat often I just set one reminder. But for the things that happen once a year, or once in 6 months etc, I will set two reminders. One is, one week before the task, and another, one day before the task.

This way, it gives me enough time (one week) to get prepared for the task. So that on the second reminder, I will be ready to do the task without delay.

When it comes to advertising, one week notice also allows me to send emails to my advertisers notifying them of their advertisement expiry. It’s a good thing to send early notices, because not everybody may check, reply or decide last minute whether to renew the ads or not. So, one week notice will give them ample time to think about the renewal (e.g checking stats, click-throughs, ROI..etc)

Note: There are two types of reminders; email and pop-up. Please choose the option that suits your needs best. Personally, I use the email option.

Task is done!

Finally, when the task is done, don’t forget to assign your “done calendar” to the completed task (see below).

That’s it! I hope you found this article useful. So, will you be using Google Calendar as your to-do list?

Why gCalendar?

Some of you might ask why use Google Calendar when there are many other softwares and web applications specifically developed for to-do lists. I use Google Calendar because it has some advantages that other softwares or to-do programs do not have. Some of the advantages of gCalendar are:

I can access my to-do lists from anywhere on the net
I can visualize my to-do lists right on my calendar, and not just as a list with some dates
I can get reminders right into my email
It’s secure and private when necessary

… an many more.

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“Less than 5 minutes” email rule

by Ades on October 25, 2007 in Email, Getting Things Done, Gmail with 5 Comments

During weekdays, especially tuesdays and wednesdays I will get lots of emails. While I try to answer them all, some of them will be left un-answered for days… I try to get most of the emails replied the same day, I do this by applying my own “less than 5 minutes” rule. And most of the emails (about 80%) fall into this rule.

How does it work?

First I go through all emails, and if I think I can reply particular email in less than 5 minutes, I will go ahead and reply. But if I think the email needs my attention for more than 5 minutes, then I will select “unread” option from Gmail, so that I can reply the person when I have more free time.

What are these “less than 5 minutes” emails?

They are emails like… “I have this site, would you like to exchange links?”, the answer would be simple “okay or not interested (in polite way, of course)”. Or “How much a custom web design for a typical corporate website cost?”, the answer would be “about $800 – $1200, for a static corporate website. please send your requirements so that I can give you a detailed quote”….etc

Objective of this rule

The idea here is to reply as soon as possible to your customers, so that they won’t wait too long to get an answer for their simple questions. People who asked simple questions would expect to get faster response, while people who have sent longer emails that needs to be studied won’t mind to wait for few days or even weeks (depending on the requirement).

So far the rule has been working quite fine. Do you apply this kind of rule to your email checking? Or if you are the sender and if you asked someone simple question through email, and you didn’t get back from him/her for few days… how would you feel? what would be your thoughts about the person? would it make him/her look less reliable?

GTD: Text-based Event Scheduling

by Ades on August 24, 2007 in Getting Things Done with 1 Comment

Text based event scheduling is the simplest and easiest way of scheduling an event among a group of people. All you need is an email. Here is how a text-based event scheduler looks like.

You can create it and email it to people (e.g Janne, Ville, Kalle and Sanna), in return they will fill up their parts and email you back. Finally you combine all parts into one and see which date is the most suitable one for all. From the screenshot you can see that the dates highlighted with blue are the suitable days for the event. Everyone is available on these days.

Note the clever uses of different symbols: “+” means “yeah, I’m okay”; “-” means “no way”; “?” means “I don’t know yet; it depends on other people’s plans or something”. Using “e” here means many things, but mostly it means “I already have some other plans, but I can cancel them, if this is the only day that suits everyone else. more

The only difficulty you might face when you are setting up text-based event scheduler is, formatting. Fortunately, there are online tools which can help you to format. One of them is http://emailops.com.

Emailops can help you to automate the formatting of the scheduler. You can choose the start date and end date, also you can add the participants. When you are done you can send the scheduler (nicely formatted) to your email.

Is your blog’s “to-do list” getting the jobs done?

by Ades on July 20, 2007 in Getting Things Done with 6 Comments

This is a guest post from Kumiko Suzuki of http://www.cashquests.com, exclusively for AdesBlog.

If you’re like me, you’ve never been a big fan of bloggers who claim that they keep a â€œTo-Do Listâ€ for their blog. Seriously, how hard is it to run a blog? Iâ€™ve always imagined that these lists consisted of nothing more than:

Write post
Respond to comments
Read other blogs for inspiration
Go to step 1

Perhaps some of the lists are like this but Iâ€™ve recently discovered that while I donâ€™t write it down, I definitely do have a â€œmentalâ€ list of tasks that I complete on a daily basis. These tasks donâ€™t necessarily relate to the content produced on Cash Quests but definitely help the site remain visible and successful:

Reply to your urgent e-mail. Sometimes potential advertisers request advertising on a whim and you need to make sure that you close the deal before theyâ€™ve cooled off.
Check your trackbacks and Technorati links. You need to know who has been linking to you so that you can judge which content is the most successful and which content creates the best responses. It also helps you measure opinions towards your site. If you donâ€™t do it daily, you may find yourself with a large list of sites to check by the end of the week!
Manage your comments. If youâ€™ve got them, read them and reply to ones that you wish to reply to. Donâ€™t forget spam deletion! Any site that has spam sitting on it for more than 24 hours just looks unprofessional.
Study your siteâ€™s traffic levels. If your traffic takes a large dip one day there may have been a server problem that needs immediate investigating. Similarly, a large spike may indicate that your site has gone viral and thatâ€™s something that you want to know!
Reply to non-urgent e-mail. It may not be urgent, but it still deserves a reply.

While I have no doubt that youâ€™re already following these steps, the more successful you are in prioritizing and managing your time away from the blog is a great indication of how successful you will be with the blog! Happy blogging!

GTD: 33 Rules to Boost your Productivity

by Ades on May 4, 2007 in Getting Things Done with No comments

Steve Pavlina has come up with very useful and entertaining GTD (Getting Things Done) rules. There are 3 sets of 33 rules each.

33 Rules to Boost your Productivity – Volume 1

Nuke it! The most efficient way to get through a task is to delete it. If it doesn’t need to be done, get it off your to do list.
Daily goals. Without a clear focus, it’s too easy to succumb to distractions. Set targets for each day in advance. Decide what you’ll do; then do it.
Worst first. To defeat procrastination learn to tackle your most unpleasant task first thing in the morning instead of delaying it until later in the day. This small victory will set the tone for a very productive day.
Peak times. Identify your peak cycles of productivity, and schedule your most important tasks for those times. Work on minor tasks during your non-peak times. Read the rest of 33 Rules.

33 Rules to Boost Your Productivity – Volume 2

Super Slow. Commit yourself to working on a particularly hideous project for just one session a week, 15-30 minutes total. Declutter one small shelf. Purge 10 clothing items you don’t need. Write a few paragraphs. Then stop.
Dailies. Schedule a specific time each day for working on a particular task or habit. One hour a day could leave you with a finished book, or a profitable Internet business a year later.
Add-ons. Tack a task you want to habitualize onto one of your existing habits. Water the plants after you eat lunch. Send thank-you notes after you check email.
Plug-ins. Inject one task into the middle of another. Read while eating lunch. Return phone calls while commuting. Listen to podcasts while grocery shopping. Read the rest of 33 Rules.

33 Rules to Boost Your Productivity – Volume 3

Halliburton. Cut corners to save time and money when the outcome is mainly for show anyway. If it looks good, it is good. It’s easier to manufacture excuses than results.
Nuke.XML. Split your RSS feeds into two lists: those that help boost your productivity vs. those that taketh it away. Force yourself to unsubscribe from all the feeds in the second list. You won’t miss them. Just be sure this blog makes the first list.
Evil eye. Practice your best evil eye in a mirror, and use it liberally on anyone who enters your space to interrupt you. Read the rest of 33 Rules.

GTD – Monthly Planner Generator, excel file

by Ades on March 5, 2007 in Getting Things Done with 2 Comments

Excel Monthly Planner Generator

This is a Microsoft Excel file with built in macros that can generate a monthly planner for any month and year. Outputs in A4 format, two facing sheets.