All entries for Monday 07 November 2005

Getting Things Done (GTD)

I used to be a big fat lazy procrastinator, and in some cases I still am. However, after getting really frustrated with my own infliction, I decided to do something about it. I had heard mumblings of this things called Getting Things Done (GTD). Originally it was a book by David Allen which decribes a series of methodologies, processes and simple tips that can help you become a more productive person. It has now become a bit of a cult, especially on the web where you can find all sorts of stuff on GTD.

It really has become the basis of a bit of a new philosophy for me and has really helped me get my arse in gear and just Get Things Done. The book itself is tough reading, it is well written, but the material is heavy because it does challenge a lot of your previously ingrained bad habits. It is well worth sticking with though because even if you don't go away and do everything in the book (I certainly havn't), it can really help change the way you think about all those little things you think you never quite have time to do.

A slgihty bit of irony in this (and proving that I still have a long way to go) is that it took me around a month just to pick the book up after borrowing it from John and even longer to getting around to writing a review. I've been prompted into action by the fact that my friend Richard bought me a copy this weekend and I have finally given John his copy back.

: 07 Nov 2005 23:14 |  Tags: Book Gtd Review |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Aardvark'd: 12 weeks with geeks

Writing about web page http://www.projectaardvark.com/movie/

I think I've written something before about Joel Spolsky (I'm a fan), but I'm not sure if I mentioned his summer project; Project Aardvark. Basically he got together 4 interns and a film maker and got them to create a product (FogCreek CoPilot) from start to finish in about 12 weeks. They blogged about the process and also filmed it for a documentary. Well, the movie is more or less finished and should be out in a few weeks. If anyone is interested in what it's like to work in a dotcom start-up in 2005, this is the movie for you.

: 07 Nov 2005 22:59 |  Tags: Aardvark Java |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Hobbies…

It's been really nice this last few months to actually relax a bit at home. So much of the last year has been spent doing DIY on the house that I've barely had time to relax at weekends and in the evenings.

My recent Spanish experiment took a bit of a setback with me quiting my actual Spanish lessons…but I have done some Spanish pretty much every day in the last week or two so I am keeping that up.

Of course my original distraction from back in the new year was Maggie and still is, bless her. Mornings (walks), lunctimes (visits) and evenings (walks) all mean spending time with the little monster and we are all that much happier for having to do so! :)

My birthday yesterday has seen a new hobby arrive. Guitar. I've wanted to be able to play guitar since I was but a teenager (a scarey number of years ago now) and now that Steph has bought me my first acoustic guitar, I have at long last started. Having only played a bit yesterday and a bit tonight, I'm certainly still an absolute beginner and 3 fingers on my left hand hurt like hell from pushing down strings…but I think I'm going to love it.

If anyone out there has any little hints for a first time guitar player then please let me know. But with a bit of luck my "Guitar for dummies" book should sort me out.

: 07 Nov 2005 22:55 |  Tags: Guitar Hobbies Spanish |  Comments (6) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Dojo rich text editing

Writing about web page http://dojotoolkit.org/docs/rich_text.html

Our entry editor for BlogBuilder is fairly basic in that it does not provide any WYSIWYG functionality. We do however try and make life easier for people by letting them use either HTML or the super-simple Textile markup.

However, would a WYSIWYG editor be better? I would not want to sacrifice and compatibility or speed and take on a full blown Java editor like the one used in SiteBuilder, but I wonder if people would like Dojo

: 07 Nov 2005 22:44 |  Tags: BlogBuilder Blogging Dojo |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem