Kourosh Dini's Blog, page 10

David Sparks’ Productivity Field Guide Released

My pal, David Sparks, has done it again and released his latest Productivity Field Guide (Standard Edition|Plus Edition) (limited time 10% launch discount PFGLAUNCH).

I do love his intro:

“Productivity has become a dirty word… The real solution isn’t about doing more; it’s about doing less while focusing on what truly matters.”

David runs his business as a solo-preneur, meaning that he has needed to keep himself accountable while he both comes up with ideas and implements them. Throughout, he co...

Podcast appearance – The Omni Show!

The Omni Group, makers of my beloved OmniFocus, OmniGraffle, and OmniOutliner, had me join their Omni Show podcast where I got to discuss my use of OmniFocus.

Have a listen here.

It’s the second time I’ve been on the show, and I’ve really enjoyed my conversations with Andrew Mason, the host. Check out my first appearance here.

Woot!

 

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Resolving the New Year’s Resolution

So we’ve reached another year and you may be wondering about your New Year’s resolution. What does it mean to resolve ourselves to something? What if we later decide it’s a bad idea?

How can we possibly decide to put ourselves on the hook for something? Particularly for a wandering mind, a mind that seems so deeply embedded in the Now, how can we make a promise?

How can we be kind to our Future Self when burdening them with some decisions of Past Self has rarely gone well?

How can we honor our P...

How Do You Know if You Are Using a “Force-Based” System of Working?

Evidence of a “Force-Based” System of Working

Many of us engage in force-based systems of work and don’t even realize it.

In another video, I described an example: we have a report due at the end of the week, but then somehow, inadvertently we find ourselves doing just about anything else until the deadline approaches, at which point we kick into high gear. What’s going on?

While it seems that we could have started at any time, the entire system was not built for that.

Instead, it is one based ...

Forcing Work – When the Report is Due on Friday

Many of us can inadvertently fall prey to force-based systems of work.

How easy is it to fall into such systems?

Monday

I’ve got that report to write. It’s due on Friday.

Both irritated and grateful for a deadline, you know that having one will kick you into gear if need be.

It’s Monday. I’m fine… for now. I don’t need to do this *right now*. It’s important but not urgent.

Maybe you *do* have other important things to do – the car broke down, the cat marked the rug, time with the kids, …

So you...

OmniFocus 4 and the Horizon

Many of you have come to this site through my writings on OmniFocus (Here, Here, here and here). It’s been years since I’ve written much about it.

OmniFocus 4 has just been released by the Omni Group, and I’m super excited for it. As far as task management goes, it is still a powerhouse, and I continue to use it throughout the day.

I’ll occasionally look at other tools and be impressed by one characteristic, some graphical element, or otherwise.But inevitably, I’ll hit some snag and say, “wait,...

From Force to Freedom – The Visit Introduced

A Force-Based Method of Work

There are several different ways of approaching work, but one in particular, I would call a Force-Based Method.

There are several different ways of approaching work, but one in particular, I would call a Force-Based Method.

You can probably tell if you’re using it by how you tend to feel when it comes to work.

Maybe you feel exhausted, overwhelmed with too much to do and have no idea where to startMaybe you have a hard time engaging things, sometimes even things yo...

“Technological Empathy” – An Interview with the Mac Power Users Podcast

Last week, I had the pleasure of chatting with David Sparks and Stephen Hackett on their Mac Power Users podcast.

As always, I had a lot of fun waxing eloquently, not so eloquently, and everywhere in between on matters of technology, with a momentary ode to boardgames and music.

Click here to listen to the MPU podcast episode: “Technological Empathy”

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Finding Ease in Mastery

When we try to get good at something, there’s often the sense of needing to challenge ourselves, of pushing. There’s often this kind of scrunched up face kind of image that we get with it. But I think what we lose in that, uh, looking for that, is that mastery involves ease. That when you’re so good at something, when you’re so masterful at the thing, It should be as easy as breathing.

You see that when you watch somebody who’s dancing or singing or whatever it is, and it looks like effortless....

The Authority Within

I might … just might… do the dishes now…

Oh my goodness, I’m getting up. I’m walking over to the dishes. I’m doing it!

But suddenly a voice calls from the other room,

“Hey, you haven’t done the dishes in a while. When are you going to do them already?”

Ugh, I don’t feel like it anymore.

What just happened?

Our hero, already struggling with a want of motivation, whim, or the muse, finally had the winds tickling the sails. But when someone else told them to do very same thing they were about to do...