Org-mode – the extensible emacs add-on for outlining and project management

By Jonathan Camp

Org-Mode: Your Life in Plain Text

Org-mode is for keeping notes, maintaining ToDo lists, doing project planning, and authoring with a fast and effective plain-text system, and it’s FREE.

Org-mode is an add-on for the popular free EMACS editor (programmers editor) and adds a full outline and todo list. All the files are stored in standard txt (ASCII) format so can be edited by any software if required. If you have a dropbox account you can store your outlines on your dropbox account and edit them using any editor or use the EMACS add-on to see the proper outlining.

The author suggests that this wonderful outline tool can be used for GTD, planning, notebooks and web/pdf authoring. There is also extensive documentation. There are some good tutorials covering introduction and power users guides with a useful screencast overview (25 minutes).

The beauty of this product is that it is very extensible and can be adapted by power users to do just about anything that requires outlining and maintaining lists. The files can be published to HTML and XHTML plus other formats such as LaTeX and Gantt Charts for project management integration. There’s a very interesting tech talk from GOOGLE that discusses Org-mode (46 minutes) and well worth listening to.

Leo Laporte’s Podcast network has recently published a podcast that discusses and talks to the author (Carsten Dominik) about org-mode – well worth a listen (as are all the FLOSS podcasts)

GTD articles and information

By Jonathan Camp

GTD Websites and software

David Seah – http://davidseah.com/
Brilliant task planning templates for Getting things done (GTD)

D*I*Y Planner Kits – http://www.diyplanner.com/templates/official
The D*I*Y Planner is a system of do-it-yourself, printable forms in several different sizes and layouts, including Classic (5.5×8.5″), A5, and Hipster PDA (3×5″ index cards). There are over a hundred different templates currently available, covering time management, project planning, creative uses, David Allen’s Getting Things Done, and miscellaneous checklist and note-taking uses.

RememberTheMilk – http://www.rememberthemilk.com

David Allen – http://www.davidco.com/what_is_gtd.php

43Folders – http://www.43folders.com/

WikiPedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done

d-cubed d3 – http://www.dcubed.ca/Welcome_to_d-cubed.html
A system that captures the essence of the “Getting Things Done” approach using the innovative TiddlyWiki browser notebook

MonkeyGTD – http://monkeygtd.tiddlyspot.com/#MonkeyGTD
MonkeyGTD is a Getting Things Done ™ system powered by TiddlyWiki and MPTW. Can also be hosted on TiddlySpot website (use either locally on online)

GTD TiddlyWiki – http://nathanbowers.com/gtdtw/
GTD Tiddly Wiki is a GettingThingsDone adaptation by Nathan Bowers of JeremyRuston’s Open Source TiddlyWiki. The purpose of GTD Tiddly Wiki is to give users a single repository for their GTD lists and support materials so they can create/edit lists, and then print directly to 3×5 cards for use with the HipsterPDA.

ToDoList – http://www.abstractspoon.com/tdl_resources.html
A great free todo list and project management tool. ToDoList is a rare form of task management tool, one that allows you to repeatedly sub-divide your tasks into more manageable pieces whilst still presenting a clean and intuitive user experience. Uses a great outline metaphor for project management and task management. The software has been in production for over 6 years and is very reliable. It is ideal for IT related projects that consist of tasks and sub-tasks, etc.

Evernote – http://www.evernote.com/
Use Evernote to save your ideas, things you see, and things you like. Then find them all on any computer or device you use. For free.

GTD using Outlook – http://home.comcast.net/~whkratz/id3.htm
This method is based on treating a Project as if it were an Outlook Contact item.  As a result, you can link all of your associated tasks, contacts, notes, journal entries, documents and any other “objects” to your project, and view them from an Activities Tab, just as you would with a “person” contact.

My Life Organised - http://www.mylifeorganized.net/
- Create tasks and subtasks
- Combine tasks into projects
- Set dependencies
- Assign contexts and flags
- Collaborate
- Track progress
- Sync to Outlook
- Run from a flash drive
- Complete the correct actions!
- Adapts to your to-do system

PocketMod – http://www.pocketmod.com/v2/
Great FUN way of printing out miniature todo lists for yourself with this template and wizard system.

Decent Blogs on GTD

http://www.virgoguidetomarketing.com/
http://www.marketingmixblog.com/posts_by_colleen/

TIPS

AwayFind – Abolish email interruptions – http://www.awayfind.com/
Article on LifeHacker – http://lifehacker.com/5084883/awayfind-gets-urgent-email-through-when-youre-offline

REFERENCES

Mashable articles – http://mashable.com/2009/01/29/getting-things-done/
GTD Wiki – http://gtd.jeffsandquist.com/gtd/Default.aspx?Page=GTDTools&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

time tracking tools review

By Jonathan Camp

6 Cool Tools to Track Your Time

Time tracking tools to track your time.

If you’re a freelancer, chances are you need to track your time in order to bill your clients. And that can be a major hassle.
You might also be a mobile freelancer, like me, who uses multiple computers and wants to be able to work from anywhere. In that case, a web-based time tracker might be the way to go. You want something easy to use, cheap, with a nice interface. Preferably even fun to use.

(tags: tools tool tracking timemanagement track timetracking)

MindMeister – a brilliant free online mindmapping application

By Jonathan Camp

I’ve just started using MindMeister; a free online mindmapping solution. Mindmeister lets you create up to 6 mindmaps absolutely free. You can share the mindmaps or keep them totally private.

You can share any of the maps by making them either ‘public’ (everyone can see them) or you can ‘invite’ people to collaborate with you and edit the maps. This makes this online application very powerful. The application also allows you to add task information (priorities, resources, dates) and icons to branches on your mindmap. You can also add url links, formatted text and attachments.

Overall mindmeister is a very useful GTD (getting things done) tool and great at collaborating/brainstorming with friends. Multiple people can edit the map at the same time; the application shows all changes to the map over time with a very easy to use slider date control.

I have created several maps; some I share with friends and some are public. “Top things that are interesting” is a map I created recently; I use it as a repository for articles I find on the web where the title says something like: “Top 10 things xxxxx”. This map is easy to share, you can see it here.

The applications sharing abilities allow you add a password so that people have to enter a password to view the map. You can also ‘embed’ the map into your web page or blog – again that code to do this is included under properties for the map.

D*I*Y Planner

By Jonathan Camp

Brilliant aid for anyone interested in organising their days activities. This site contains great free planners in most sizes. It’s an invaluable resource for those who don’t want to have to recreate templates, etc.

“We are a community of people who see the value of paper as a medium for planning, productivity, creative expression, and exploring ideas. We encourage visitors to share advice and inspiration, and we love to see submissions for templates, kit images and story articles. We are also the official home of the D*I*Y Planner kits. Please enjoy your stay, and make yourself at home!”