radiant.matrix

If you, like me, are actively trying to be more productive, no doubt you’ve acquired or created specialized tools to assist you. How well do you know how to use those tools?

By way of example, I use a Palm-based PDA with Shadow Plan for task tracking. Learning to use it adequately was a tremendous boost to my organization. But the real productivity increase came months later, after I’d mastered using it within the context of my trusted system.

I know several others who’ve achieved massive gains by mastering Excel and Word: important parts, not only of their trusted system, but of their daily workflow.

A big part of the GTD approach is creating a “trusted system”. For me, a huge step toward trusting my system comes from knowing that I’ll reliably be reminded when I need to accomplish something.

My Palm-based PDA works great for that under most circumstances, but I just can’t bring myself to lug that thing out to social events and the like. Some people like to use the Hipster PDA as a portable “inbox-and-reminder” system, but I find it a bit cumbersome to remember to tote index cards when I’m leaving my Palm behind.

Solution? I always carry my mobile phone, so Jott has been indispensable. Simply make a call to Jott, say “Me” when prompted, and speak your reminder or note. If I need to be reminded, Jott will send me an SMS message at the appropriate time. Otherwise, it merely sends me an e-mail, so I can process the note when I work through that inbox.

Other, similar services abound, but the principle remains the same: let your trusted system be your source of reminders, so you need not stress about it!

It’s easy to get distracted while working. Those of us who follow GTD or other productivity systems are likely to be even more frustrated than normal when we look back at our day (or week) and realize how much time we’ve lost to distractions.

There are many excellent resources available on avoiding distraction, but even the most disciplined worker, using the very best distraction-avoidance techniques, can get distracted from time to time. Distractions tend to build on themselves, too — once you’ve become distracted, it can be very difficult to re-focus on the task you need to be working on.

Here are some things I do to re-focus:

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Even the most productive people waste time. It is, in fact, important to do so. Taking mental breaks from your tasks rejuvenates the mind and allows for greater focus during productive time.

However, most people (myself included!) waste more time than they’d like. Sometimes time wasters take the form of distractions like e-mail, instant messaging, or the lure of the feed reader. Other times, it’s co-workers that stop by to chat, “urgent” work that shows up, and the like.

There are numerous resources available for learning how to reduce the impact any given time-waster might have on your productivity — but how do you know which time-wasters to target? After all, people are really bad at estimating risk, and time-wasters are indeed a risk to your productivity.

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