In the last few months, we here at Obvious have been increasingly focused on Twitter. As a result, our original product, Odeo, has not gotten the attention it deserves.It does not cost us much to run�in fact, AdSense covers the hosting�but on the web you need to constantly improve, or fade away. We’ve put too much into Odeo to want to see it fade away. And it still has tons of potential. But we’re not improving it fast enough.
It seems likely Odeo is worth more to someone else than it is to us at this point, so we’re looking for a new home for it. We’ve been having some conversations with potential buyers, and this is our attempt to put the word out more widely in the most expeditious way (and without involving investment bankers and the like). If we don’t get any attractive offers, we’ll continue to run it.
To clarify, what we’re talking about is selling odeo.com and studio.odeo.com, including all code, the domain, brand, database of three million MP3s, etc. Not a company, but a site and platform that could be ramped up to something much bigger.
Odeo is (from the website): “3,001,268 mp3s from all over the web, which have been played from Odeo 12,775,375 times.
You can download or play them straight from here for free. (You can also put them on your web site.)
And like 252,684 other people, you can create an account, so you can subscribe to things and save the stuff you like.”
And it is not just music. In fact the tags for productivity and technology led me to be able to install the nifty widget you see to the right, with Merlin Mann’s interview of David Allen, the author of Getting Things Done.
In fact, with 3 million MP3s from “all over the web” , Odeo has the potential to be a vast resource that Web Entrepreneurs can leverage for their own sites, or a time-eating nightmare if you aren’t careful about the surfing.
48 Folders for a Tickler File: Numbered 1-31 for the current month, and 1-5 for the first week of the next month, and then January thru December. In the same file are all of my Reference folders for every topic imaginable.
Here is my GTD Tickler File methodology:
At my Home Office, where I do have things that are date-specific but will not physically fit into my calendar (which I refuse to stuff with notes and errata). this is a full-on 48 folder system (12 months + 31 days this month + 5 days next month). My wife generally gets the mail, takes what she needs, and puts the rest in the In-box. When I get home from work (later than she does), I zip through the In-box: Tickle the bills for the date of the next Weekly Review, toss the junk, Do what may need to get addressed immediately, and Defer the rest to an appropriate time (usually WR day again).
Then, each morning, while the coffee is brewing, I check the contents of “today’s” folder, sync with my paper calendar, and get on with my routine.
Three-Ring Binder for a Tickler File: I keep this at work for tracking future events, where I have much less to Tickle (and a CRM that I must use), I just have a 3-ring binder with tabs labeled for each month and 1-31 in the appropriate month’s section. There is one sheet of blank, 3-hole punched paper for each day, and I just write down (or punch and insert) whatever might need to be tickled. Most if my work activities go into the CRM and I get an automatic reminder when they are due.
Three-Ring Binder for Daily Activities: In my capacity as a Sales Consultant I track my customers, appointments, and current sales activity.
Zipper Case: I picked up a nice leather planner that zips closed for $10 at Target. I got tired of printing my Outlook pages and punching them for the planner, so I went out and bought a pre-printed planner that fits inside the planner cover. I pulled the rivets that held the ring-binder in the cover and removed the rings. It is now a mini-briefcase that I use to carry my essentials. I keep a Pilot .5 G2 in the pen loop, and a PaperMate .5 Mega Lead mechanical pencil loose inside. I tuck a few blank 3×5 cards into the front pocket, along with some business cards. In addition to a pad of 3×3 Post-Its I keep my calendar and a small notebook in the case.
Yearly Calendar: A 5.5″ x 8.5″ calendar with a leather cover and stitched spine. I took a razor and cut out the pages from the front that I did not need. Then I glued in a couple of pages that had personal reference information, and a divider tab that I cut down from a manila folder. Because I had removed about 10 sheets there was room for me to clip a handful of 3×5 cards to the tab without making the cover bulge out.I only write appointments, my work schedule, and time-specific Next Actions in the calendar. These are all color-coded: green ink for appointments, black ink for the schedule, and red ink for Next Actions. On the top margin of the right-hand page I write an inspirational quote from Jeff Gitomer’s Red Book of Selling.At the back of the book, I cut out the Area Code pages and glued in some more of my own material, including the Bootstrapper’s Manifesto for more inspiration. After this were about 30 pages for Notes, so I added a blank sheet for an Index and a self-adhesive tab to mark the Notes section. This is where I put some more Sales Techniques, a list of the 7 Habits, and the GTD workflow process, GTD Natural Planning and so on. As I come across other information that I ‘d like to keep handy, I will write it in.In order to add some more storage space, I made my own accordion pocket and glued it to the inside of the back cover. In here I keep (more) blank 3×5 cards, a short stack of 3×3 Post-its, a spare PocketMod, and my business cards.
Capture Notebook: I picked up a 3-pack of 3×5 notebooks (much cheaper than Moleskines) that I use for capturing information. I added 4 self-adhesive tabs to break the book into sections:
Section 1 is for Next Actions.
Section 2 is for books that I may want to purchase.
Section 3 is for websites to review, software to check out, or any other computer-related information.
Section 4 is for copying down interesting quotes, pictures, or other media that I find interesting.
Section 5 is for Someday/Maybe stuff, and Project notes or Brainstorming ideas.
There is a pocket at the back (like a Moleskine), where I keep blank 3×5 cards, filled out Project cards, and some of my business cards.
And this is what it looks like, all packed up and ready to go:
(CNN) — Management consultant David Allen is a best-selling author, runs a multimillion dollar company and travels the country teaching executives to be more productive.
Allen, 61, is best known for his book “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.” The book, published in 2001, was the 46th most popular book on Amazon.com on Thursday.
He may seem like an unlikely Internet hero, but legions of bloggers have embraced his timesaving methods. A quick Google search for David Allen and “Getting Things Done” turned up more than 1.3 million hits.
Allen said “Getting Things Done,” or GTD, is “just advanced common sense,” but he said it took him about 20 years to figure it out.
Ok, so to bring it all together. Covey helps you to understand the major areas of your life you wish to do things in, and helps you to think about what you want to accomplish in them in the long run. He explains the concept of important, unimportant, urgent, not-urgent tasks, and which areas to work in.
He helps you to see that you should only be concerned ultimately with your circle of influence (which includes yourself and your emotional responses to things that are outside your influence), and helps you to see that you need to keep the important things (first things) first. David Allen helps you to take those things that you are trying to get done, organize them in such a way that you have actual actions to work on, and know when and where to work on them, or what to do with them if you don’t know where they should go.
He helps you to get them the heck out of your mind, so they stop bugging you all the time while you’re trying to do your work. He is your day-to-day trust it like a rock, system. And finally, M.Scott Peck highlights the fact that you aren’t an idiot, if you spend time on the item at hand that’s difficult, you can and will get it done.
As well, you should realize if you are putting your problems onto someone/something else. Stay true to the reality of the world. The world includes pain.. you can’t ignore the pain, or the tasks that are painful hoping they’ll go away on their own. If they stay neglected, you’ll have long-term pain (urgent and important tasks burning holes in your desk).
So, best get it done in the short term, and delay your gratification until you’ve got that short term pain out of your way. This way your mind will be free to relax and enjoy that well-deserved pleasure.
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February 22nd, 2007 by Stephen
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