Welcome back! It's good to see you again. Please note that I am now publishing all new material at my hub site: In Context Blog

Today marks the first podcast in the Productivity Mastermind podcast series. On Thursday a few of us got together on the phone to talk about managing inputs and the various tools that we use.

Main topics:

1. Organizing your day
2. Managing inputs
3. Tools for productivity

We covered a lot of ground quickly on this call, touching base on quite a few tools and strategies. Some of the highlights:

• Using your calendar and weekly schedule template
• Setting appointments with yourself
• Many, many online apps

 

 Productivity Mastermind Call: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (696)

Listen to the whole thing, it’s about 28 minutes long, and take a look at our notes on the Google site Productivity Mastermind.

The next call will be this Thursday, 16 October, at 4:00 pm Eastern time.
The call-in number is 712-432-1699. The access code is 1005106#.

Jared at Technotheory has too many people that he follows on Twitter. He wrote an interesting piece where he thinks about methods of grouping, hi-lighting, or restricting the updates that he gets to only see the most relevant. See ”Fake Following” to avoid information overload in social networks

Personally I’m not just interested in restricting connections’ updates, but also in highlighting the updates of others. There are a few people who I want to stay in touch with but often don’t notice amidst all the noise (on Twitter, Facebook or Flickr, for instance).

Another feature on FriendFeed’s beta would help with my situation: grouping. Grouping allows you to display the updates from a specific group of connections, and no one else. Unfortunately Facebook and Twitter are where I’m most interested in this capability.

What do you think? Is it possible, is it meaningful, to follow 1,000 posters on Twitter?

From a post at Innovation Weblog

The top 10 catalysts for best ideas are:

1. When you’re inspired
2. Brainstorming with others
3. When you’re immersed in a project
4. When you’re happy
5. Collaborating with a partner
6. Daydreaming
7. Analyzing a problem
8. Driving
9. Commuting to and from work
10. Reading books in your field

In their analysis, Tim Moore and Mitch Ditkoff discovered an intriguing paradox: creative people seem to have a need for solitary retreat and reflection, but also enjoy opportunities to collaborate and brainstorm with others.

Where do you get your best ideas? And how do you capture them?

There is an insightful post at Business and Blogging that I’d like to share with you:

Friday Fun: Business Blogging Epiphany

One that particularly stands out is the shift that occurred when I realized that perhaps even more important than knowing the right answers, is knowing the right questions to ask.

This holds true in business blogging as well. Many professionals who start a blog feel pressured to exhibit their expertise and provide well-reasoned answers to all of their readers needs.

While it is important to provide some answers, it is also important to remember that the best blogs build a sense of community and engagement.

They enable the blogger to learn about his or her readers as much as for the readers to learn about the blogger.

What questions could you ask your readers that will get them engaged in your blog?

What thought provoking topic can you raise?

What opinions can you solicit?

What knowledge could you gain that would help you build a better business and a better blog?

So for you dear readers, what are your questions for me?

• What if I told you that I was thinking of changing things up a little around here?
• What if I stopped posting on the non-productivity and workflow topics that I am interested in and put those articles somewhere else?
• What would you most like to see here? (something that you would share with your friends and colleagues)

Please let me know in the Comments, and together we will make it happen!