Tools for Thought

Cloud-based apps aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but they’re convenient for anyone juggling work between multiple computers. If you have a task, but aren’t sure if you’re going to get it done at home, at work, or on the go, web-based task lists are ideal. They’re inherently cross-platform, making them idea for those who have [...]

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By default, Google’s PageRank algorithm can be frustrating for finding recent information. The simplified explanation of PageRank is this: results are prioritized by the number of incoming links to a page with the searched keyword. Each link is a “vote” for that page’s relevance. Like larger states in the U.S. Electoral College during an election, [...]

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A pink elephant is any claim on attention that’s ignored instead of addressed. Try not thinking of pink elephants, and you’ll find that it’s virtually impossible for a simple reason: you have to think of them in order to process the instruction. The more you ignoring something, the more attention it occupies, or as the [...]

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Distraction. Multitasking. Attention Deficit Disorder. Information overload. These are the watchwords of the internet age. And yes, they’re very real problems. It’s so easy to become distracted, so easy for irrelevant information to trickle into our environments without vigilant gatekeeping, that it’s tempting to take blocking out all input to an extreme, turning workspaces into [...]

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What would learning and other aspects of mental performance look like if they complied with the latest findings in brain research? That’s the question that developmental molecular biologist John Medina explores and answers a dozen ways in Brain Rules. Brain Rules isn’t really a self-help book, each chapter has immediately practical implications and applications for [...]

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If there’s one distinguishing concept between GTD and other productivity systems that use a To Do list, it’s the deliberate split between defining a successful outcome and the very next action step toward accomplishing it. To Do lists tend not to make the distinction, which can mean the difference between the item being perceived as [...]

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Time for some backpedaling. For years I’ve been a proponent of studying in long, uninterrupted blocks — ideally a couple of hours at a time. Since I’ve been experimenting with segmented reading, I’m starting to doubt that longer is better — not the amount of overall time per se, but the length of uninterrupted time. [...]

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An aspect of GTD that some find disappointing is the lack of a hard, fast rule for prioritizing tasks. There’s no “most important task,” no “ABC” code, no 2 x 2 matrix; only the advice to “trust your heart” or “follow your intuition.” It seems ironic, given GTD’s thoroughly systematic approach to collecting, tracking and [...]

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In John Medina’s awesome book, Brain Rules, the chapter on attention caught my attention. Medina, a professor, would ask new students each semester the following: Given a lecture that’s not too dull or too interesting, how long would it take for them to stop paying attention to the instructor and start looking at the clock? [...]

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Shopping lists seem intuitive enough. It’s not common for people to include the items they need to pick up at the grocery store in their To Do list. Keeping a separate shopping list prevents having to sort through related procurement tasks — “Get lettuce” (or just “Lettuce”) — and unrelated tasks like “Replace washer in [...]

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