Getting Things Done & Subjective Freedom
I read David Allen’s book “Getting Things Done” several years ago and I’ve been using a simplified version of his system ever since. It feels efficient and I think it’s probably necessary to have a system like it to be highly productive. The book doesn’t discuss the psychological implications of productivity optimization, however. At one […]
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Setting Up Deal Radars
The internet is an amazing place to find great deals. In the last few months, I got a $20 Amazon gift certificate, about $20 of Amazon mp3/video downloads, and enough airline miles for 3 round-trip domestic flights – all for free. I also got a really nice bike for $20 that I easily sold for […]
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Practical Keychain Gear
Keychain Lot’s of functionality in a small pocket. One day while I was in Osaka I noticed a compass marker embedded in the floor of a subway station. I thought it was a good idea because whenever you emerge from a particular subway exit for the first time, you never know your orientation. I thought […]
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My $13/month phone plan
AT&T GoPhone I use this $20 phone for text messaging and emails and an iPod touch for voice. One of the interesting things I learned in Japan was that text messaging is often more convenient than voice calling despite its much lower information content. In Japan, people almost never talk on the phone in the […]
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Hand-held Productivity with the iPod Touch
I originally bought an iPod touch to use as an electronic dictionary for Japanese. I’ve been quite satisfied with Kotoba, a free Japanese-English dictionary application. Ever since I moved to Japan, I’ve been keeping my iPod touch in my pocket at all times to help with all the Japanese around me. Due to the fact […]
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Minimalist Laundry Strategies
When I decided to become more minimalist, I got rid of a lot of my wardrobe. In accordance with Pareto’s principle, I was wearing 20% of my clothes 80% of the time, so I decided that the extra 80% wasn’t necessary, so I left it all in a box on the street corner for the […]
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Scheduling without Stress
Planning could be called a necessary evil. If you don’t plan at all, your life will fall apart; if you plan too much, you’ll start attaching to life quality maximization. Ideally, one could do all the necessary planning to keep their life on track in such a short amount of time that attachment is kept […]
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Keeping Your Data Safe and Mobile
CERN Computing Center Data in the internet era. Photo courtesy of Skimaniac For most of the history of personal computing, people have been storing their personal data locally on their computer’s hard drive. Documents, email, music, video, photos, and ebooks all resided on a single hard drive in a computer at a fixed location. There are two […]
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Biking to the Grocery Store
Biking in the City Have you ever tried biking around town? Photo courtesy of wvs Today when I was checking out at the grocery store I told the bagger that I didn’t need any bags. He seemed surprised and said “I’ve been working here three months and nobody has ever said that before.” Apparently not […]
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Weekly Budget of Time
Hourglass How much time do we really have each week? Photo courtesy of bogenfreund Everyone complains about not having enough time, but usually the problem is that we are utilizing our time ineffectively. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that you should spend all your time working. In fact, I think being […]
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