LIFESTREAM AND WORKFLOW

I didn't manage to write a workflow post for week 26. My "deadline" (July 4) for the implementation of my workflow system is getting close and I must admit that I will have a hard time to finish in time. I have a huge backlog of papers and other material that I have to go through.

With that said, my regular blogging could become pretty "lite" during the month of July and August. I already "warned" about this in my annual blog report post. I hope I could find some guest bloggers that could fill in a bit. I will continue with some microblogging like Twitter and FriendFeed. I will also be active on other blogs writing comments. I have a couple of pieces in the pipeline for Open Forum blog.

I recommend you to read Steve Rubel's post, Frequently Asked Questions About This Lifestream. It is interesting how an "A-list" blogger like Steve Rubel is changing his blogging pattern and starts to integrate plenty of bits and pieces into one big lifestream with a reference to Leonardo Da Vinci. He has picked Posterous for his new hybrid of publishing stuff online.

Lately I have been shifting more of my reading/sharing to my iPhone. Some days I probably spend as much time or more time browsing the web from my mobile device than I do my laptop. Now that I have a new iPhone 3GS, I also want to do more with photos and video. Posterous seems like the great hybrid solution since I can share things in different places based on context and easily do so through via email. (SteveRubel.com, June 21, 2009.)

I think that Steve Rubels ideas are well aligned with the "getting things done" method in that you should do the right stuff at the right moment depending on where you are located at the moment. Personally, I am doing almost all my blogging sitting at the computer desk. I have done a little bit of blogging when I am around and about, for example, sitting at a coffee place with a subnotebook. In order for me to start to blog on the go and in different places, I need to have reliable and user friendly tools, like a really "smart" smartphone and a small portable video camera. What's your take on iPhone 3GS, Flip Ultra HD and Kodak Zx1?

Here is an informative illustration from Steve Rubel's post, A Lifestreaming Workflow.



[Editor's note to self: I have to check out Zemanta.]

A new trend that could be coming along nicely is audio microblogging for your worklife. [Via BizSugar.] I will test Chirbit and Ipadio so I could start broadcasting and adding my own audio files on my blog.

LIVE FREE OR DIE

I prefer to do some catblogging instead of talking politics, after the recent incidents in Sweden and America.


Do you see "camouflage" Morris?

But after an exchange with Larry Robiner on Twitter, I had to write a post on today's situation and what could come in the future.

@lyceum yes, "everything is possible" in free America, including the election of George W. Bush to president. TWICE! Why is that so great??
3:33 PM Jun 21st from Seesmic Desktop in reply to lyceum

@LRobiner Here is an example of "American in spirit," my post http://bit.ly/NvNZB
3:19 PM Jun 21st from web in reply to LRobiner

@lyceum what does it mean to be "an American in spirit"?
2:24 PM Jun 21st from Seesmic Desktop

and now a word from George Orwell...

I would have been hesitant to vote for George W. Bush the second time around. The first time I would probably vote for him on his "cowboy merits," and as a protest vote against Al Gore. I wonder what will happen next. Could supporters and the leading members of the "Grand Old Party" get their act together and find a decent candidate next time? I am not sure about that. The problem is what you could end up with Hillary Clinton as a "comeback kid"... I don't think that Obama will manage another period.

Here is an excerpt from Glenn Beck's interview with Barry Goldwater, Jr.:

GOLDWATER: And we have a two-party system and that system basically, historically has worked well.

I think the Republicans have gotten off-track. My father, Senator Goldwater, set the tone for the conservative movement back in 1964, established a philosophy which appealed to a lot of people and still do today — and that's less government, protecting our liberties, personal freedom, personal responsibility, a strong national defense and a free market.

Those are the core principles that Senator Goldwater and also Ronald Reagan adhered to, were spokesmen for and governed by.

But in the '70s, all of a sudden, under Ronald Reagan, they started to embrace religion. And they began getting these personal issues into the political spectrum. And as a result, we're — we are constantly debating wedge issues — like abortion, prayer in the schools and the definition of marriage.

And we've gotten distracted and away from those core principles. And the Republican Party needs to get back to that. (Fox News, June 3, 2009.)

Listen to Yaron Brook's speech at the Republican Party of Virginia 2009 State Convention (Part 2 of 2). You could listen to the first part if you go to the featured video section on this blog.



On a personal level, I am very interested to find the right political climate in my future "neighborhood". Please continue to give me tips on places that you think could match my views and profile. How did you celebrate Flag Day? How will you celebrate Independence Day? Are you attending a tea party? Read Sylvia Bokor's post, Tea Parties and Going John Galt: America's New Direction?, Edward Cline's post, The New Sons of Liberty and Zev Barnett's post, In Defense of Liberty as intellectual ammunition and preparation for the future...

WORKFLOW WEEK 25

This weekend I started to read the e-book, Todoodlist by Nick Cernis. I think that this book could have a great impact on my work-life. Talking about list, here is a sample of individuals who are interested in "getting things done"... I did a #GTD search on Twitter and scanned Alltop's GTD page.

• VMaryAbraham of Above and Beyond KM.
• jlindenthal of Lindy's Journal.
• TanyaatDBT of Dezigns by T.
• LaneInc of Ron Lane.
• contactabe - Abe Awasthi.
• TesTeq of BIZNES BEZ STRESU (in Polish).
• gtdtimes - GTD Times.
• webmaid of Rheinhessenarchiv :: Genealog (in German).
• SebastianJ - SebastianJohnsson.com.
• joshrace of GTDPeers.com.

• masontech of Did I Get Things Done.
• hdbbstephen of Business Development In Context.
• RockYourDay - Rock Your Day.
• thinksimplenow - Think Simple Now.
• UncluttererTips - Unclutterer.
• ericmack of Notes on Productivity.
• ianmckenzie of Ian’s Messy Desk.
• JasonWomack of Your best just got better.
• blackbeltprod of Black Belt Productivity.
• Lifehacker - Lifehacker GTD.

I have to add nickcernis of Put Things Off. OK, time to read further in Todoodlist...

[Editor's note: Please come with additional names to the list...]

HELP IRAN ELECTION DOT COM

I am planning to add a green overlay to my Twitter avatar. For more information, go to www.HelpIranElection.com.


Do Not Read This

John Cox is in the news:




Meanwhile, in Berlin...


Mir Hossein Mousavi

Related: My post, FROM ZORO TO SHIITE IN IRAN.

BIZSUGAR TOP STORIES

I have added bizSugar widget to the Resources category. Read the press release of May 22: Small Business Trends Acquires Social Media Site BizSugar.com.

I will do some changes with the template in the near future, e.g., remove some of the ads. I open for tips and suggestions on good affiliate links with products and services that are related to the content of this blog.

DISQUS AND SHARE THIS BLOG POST

I have added the ShareThis feature to the blog, so you could now share my blog posts on different social media networking and bookmarking tools. I have to check out the sharebox and contact manager in the near future.

I am thinking of adding Disqus to my new Ego Sole Trader site sometime in the future. I like how Travis Campbell of MarketingProfessor.com has added a Disqus interface to his site.

WORKFLOW WEEK 24

This weekend I have listened to David Stiernholm's audio book, "Never eat the mango in one piece" ("Ät aldrig mangon hel" in Swedish"). I have learned four thumb rules:

1. Have one, and only one (1) place for your stuff.
2. Get an overview of the situation.
3. Take "fragments", piece by piece, instead of trying to "eat the mango in one piece." What's the next step?
4. Develop your system, build it for the next level, fine-tune it.

I am still struggling with the first rule. I have to set up the right buckets for my work-life. I have had a reference file system for some time, but I have to go through it and see what I need at the moment, what I could throw away, and what I should add to the box. I recently bought a tickler file system from Stiernholm Consulting. I will start using it during this month and have it fully implemented in the beginning of July as I wrote in an earlier post. I have to go through the in-basket and then start to use it in a proper way. I still have to go through my email inbox. I will get help by the GTD applications, GTDInbox and Gtdagenda. I will take time during midsummer to get everything in place.

After I have got all the pieces in place, it will be much easier to have a clear "helicopter view" and a total picture of my whole work-life. This will include all my different projects, keep the calendar up-to-date and start to get better in keeping tabs on what I have delegated to others and what's on my "waiting list"...

The real hard part is start to get used to break things up in smaller pieces. One helpful tool is to always have the "control of the situation" card handy. You could describe it as a designated "record / index card" / portable to-do-list.

Maybe you are asking: How should you get started?

David Stiernholm gave the following tips during his intensive course in personal productivity:

• Decide where you should store your to do tasks. [Editor's comment: "Checkmarked" First put things on the to-do cards and in the Livescribe "dot paper" note book / journal during my weekly reviews and meetings, and then transfer them to the Gtagenda program.]

• Get a physical in-basket for your writing desk. [Editor's comment: "Checkmarked" I have one, "check". But I have to go through it and use it in a proper way...]

• Create one (and only one) unambiguous reference system. [Editor's comment: "Checkmarked" I have one. Time to go through and update it.]

• Get a tickler file system. [Editor's comment: "Checkmarked" I have got one. Time to set it up.]

• Do a complete overview of your projects. [Editor's comment: I am thinking of using GoalEnforcer as a combined project mindmap / brainstorming tool.]

• Put all your stuff in the in-basket and start processing... [Editor's comment: Let's go!]

In order to apply continuous improvement (Kaizen) of the system, I will do as I wrote in my post, START OF WEEKLY WORKFLOW REVIEW:

# Review of the weekly review end of the 2009. What has worked and what should be changed, added, etc.

# Annual review of the workflow structure and method as a part of my annual blog report in beginning of May 2010.

So, how was your week? Any productivity tips you want to share?

SUMMER ENTREPRENEURS

I will be one of the speakers at a kick-off event in Skövde on June 17. [Editor's note: Here is a PDF of the program.] I will try to give some inspirational fuel to more than 100 individuals from the generation Y (in this case, between 15 - 20 years old). They will start their own business during this summer. I will talk about social media and personal branding. I will do a quiz during my talk and give away a copy of Dan Schawbel's book, Me 2.0 - Build A Powerful Brand To Achieve Career Success. [Editor's note: I will translate and post my presentation on my blog later on. Do you have tips on tools for doing this?]

The other speakers are:

• Fredrik Olsson of Miami Guerrilla Agency.
• Pia Hansson of C&D Snickeri.
• Anneli Egestam of Egestam Marketing.

Read about the "summer entrepreneur" concept.

MIDMARKET INNOVATORS WEBINAR

I will will attend the webinar, "Managing For Growth and Change in a Tough Economy" tomorrow, June 10 at Noon Eastern time (18:00 Central European Time). I will write tweets during the event by using the hashtag #MidMkt. Read Anita Campbell's post, Upcoming Webinar: Managing For Growth Despite the Economy, for more information.

WORKFLOW WEEK 23

Here are some "getting things done" related stuff that I have done during week 23:

• Finished Timothy Ferris' book, The 4-Hour work Week: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich.
• Listened to Jean Moroney's teleclass, Jump Start Your Thinking.
• Listened to Meg Edwards' podcast, Creating a Projects List.
• Listened to Wayne Hurlbert's interview with author Mark Levy (Accidental Genius: Revolutionize Your Thinking Through Private Writing).

AMERICAT SENSE OF LIFE

I am pretty tired of politics, after following today's European Parliament elections...


Sign: "Vallokal" ("Election building" in Swedish.)
[Editor's comment: Do you see the shadow of the photographer?! ;)]

I didn't know if I should bother to cast my vote, but I ended up voting for Libertas.



From Michael Seaver's article, One party for all of Europe? Libertas debuts in EU Parliament election:

Libertas has suggested streamlining the vast number of regulations and laws that are passed in the European Parliament. It is proposing a "two-for-one" rule, so that for every law that politicians want to introduce, they have to produce two existing, unnecessary regulations for deletion. These new laws would be introduced for a fixed term, and any not reviewed during that term would automatically be deleted. (June 3, 2009, CSmonitor.com)

Before the election I went to EU Profiler site and went through a sample of questions in order to "discover my position in the political landscape." As often with these kind of tests, you could end up with the "wrong" party. I got the result that I should vote for the Swedish "pirates" on a local level and "Free Citizens' Party" if I have lived in Czech Republic.

A positive thing with America is that you don't have to pay too much attention to politics. I must state for the record that I think America is still the freest country in the world, overall, and I want to live a daily life with a surrounding of a positive sense-of-life.



Morris the cat is wondering if you have watched Peter-No-Tail in Americat.

The movie is mainly about what happens to someone from another country who is not used to the life in a big city. Nevertheless, Peter-No-Tail is still a kind-hearted cat to everyone even if the other cats are not nice to him. Everything seems possible in America, even the prospect of finally having a proper tail and a sweetheart to call one's own. (Answers.com / Wikipedia, 2008.)

Now comes the quest to find the "optimal" place in the United States of America. Where do you think that I would fit the best? I have lived in New England (Manchester, New Hampshire) and in the Midwest (Troy, Ohio). I will start to get updates from these places, but I am also interested to explore new areas. I am open to relocate to different places during time. I want to learn more about the following "stuff" for different places:

• Job market
• Small business climate
• Tax situation and economy
• Local politics
• Culture and history
• Good life activities
• Transportation conditions and infrastructure
• Weather climate

I look forward to hear from you!

IMMIGRANT VISA PROGRAM

On June 1, I received material regarding the Diversity Immigrant Visa program for the year 2010 (fiscal year: October 1, 2009 - September 30, 2010). Here are my first notes on my to-do list card.



Related: My post, EMIGRATING TO NEW SWEDEN OF USA.

GOALENFORCER AND EVERNOTE

Have you used GoalEnforcer or Evernote? I think that these tools could be a good complement to my "control of the situation" / to-do list cards (PDF) from Stiernholm Consulting.

UPDATE 06/04/09:

Here is a photo of the "control of the situation" / to-do list cards. It was hard with the indoor lighting so the picture is not so sharp. I will tell you more about the text on the card in my next post.



If you are interested to learn more about Evernote, listen to Amber MacArthur's & Leo Laporte's interview with Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote.