Category: Resources Tools Tips (Page 2 of 4)

Wiki on a Stick

April 11, 2010 /

I have my notes in regular textfiles, a file per topic, which is easy to maintain. The downside is that it gets blurry where to put a note and it’s not always easy to quickly find what I’m looking for. What I want is something small and simple (no server, no database) yet powerful enough for my notetaking.

This weekend I came across Wiki on a Stick. The name refers to the fact that you can easily carry some wikis on a USB stick. It’s easy, everything is in one single file, and small and so far I like it a lot.

I’m starting with two wikis, one personal and one business, but might add some more later.

Tick Tock Timer

March 28, 2010 /

Tick Tock Timer is a very nice online timer. It runs in your web browser, if you can live with that it’s a really useful timer.

It’s useful whether you use the Pomodoro Technique or not. Set the Tick Tock Timer and then focus on one thing. Read your email, read news, write a blog post or what else you need to do. The timer will tell you when time is out.

ClockSmith Lite, a nice clock with chime

December 26, 2009 /

In my search for a nice and simple software clock with chime I found ClockSmith Lite. It’s available for Windows and Mac. The chime is really nice and can be set to play quarterly, every half hour, hourly, or it can be turned off.

I have set the chime for every half hour in order to use it with The Pomodoro Technique. At the chime I take a five minute break, then work for 25 minutes until the next chime.

The tolling of the hour has an on/off switch. I use that tolling as a reminder of the 18 Minute Plan That Keeps You Focused.

The creators of ClockSmith Lite are Dharma Gaia, I like their description of the name:

Our name reflects humanity’s responsibility to care for the earth and her inhabitants. It is derived from word Dharma; a Sanskrit term encompassing universal law, harmony, and personal duty; and Gaia, the ancient Greek name for the Goddess of the Earth.

EditPad Pro Text Editor

October 17, 2009 /

I have been using EditPad Lite for a longer time because of its ability to handle multiple files with a tabbed interface. EditPad Lite is quite powerful yet lacked some features that I wanted.

I write my blog posts in HTML-format and wanted a better text editor for that. Since I am pleased with the Lite-version as a basic text editor I decided to try EditPad Pro.

EditPad Pro’s Clip Collection is terrific for my needs. In the Clip Collection you can save plain text but also before&after which is perfect for HTML-tags. Select a text, click on the proper clip and the text is surrounded with the HTML-tags. That’s a lot easier than the copy-paste I did in the Lite-version.

Read more:
WriteMonkey text editor
Q10 text editor

Learn from why Mashable rules the social media

October 6, 2009 /

Marko Saric at HowToMakeMyBlog writes about 9 reasons why Mashable rules the social media. It’s a great post since it list and explains nine reasons which gives you a chance to see what might work for you and your blog.

Under reason eight it says:

There is original reporting and there is curation, which is just as hard, saying, “This is what’s out there, this is why it is important.” Both have their places, and it’s not a case of either or.

I like the curation, like to share what I find and try to say why I think it’s important.

Stop Being Productive and Enjoy Yourself

August 27, 2009 /

Leo Babauta has another great post over at Zen Habits, Get Less Done: Stop Being Productive and Enjoy Yourself.

There’s too much emphasis these days on productivity, on hyperefficiency, on squeezing the most production out of every last minute. People have forgotten how to relax. How to be lazy. How to enjoy life.

Productivity is not good in itself, it’s very important to decide what we do. We need to manage our attention and our priorities.

It’s possible we’re trying to get more done because we love doing it — and if that’s the case, that’s wonderful. But even then, working long hours and neglecting the rest of life isn’t always the best idea. Sometimes it’s good to Get Less Done, to relax, to breathe.

We do need to relax and breathe. No one runs their car engine on full throttle all the time, why do it with yourself?

Leo lists some useful tips on how to relax and ends the post like this:

Step by step, learn to relax. Learn that productivity isn’t everything. Creating is great, but you don’t need to fill every second with work. When you do work, get excited, pour yourself into it, work on important, high-impact tasks … and then relax.

Now I’ll do what I do on a regular basis, it’s also in Leo’s list of tips, I’ll go for a walk.

Read more:
Start Managing Your Attention
An 18 Minute Plan That Keeps You Focused
Which Time Horizons Do You Use?
The jar of life – stones, pebbles and sand

This was originally posted at Forty Plus Two, another blog of mine.

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2024

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑