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I am a small business Conversation Consultant and public speaker that uses the power of the internet to leverage your success. Productivity in Context is a web magazine focused on Productivity and tools for organizing. Make this your headquarters for improving your life and work through increased mindfulness, education, and workflow practices.

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Please contact me via e-mail: stephen @ hdbizblog dot com

My friend Skellie has a post this week about “Origami Productivity” that you should see:

I love paper in all its forms and always have. In fact, if given the choice between a notebook and a web app to fulfill the same function, I’ll choose a notebook every time. I tried Google Calendar and didn’t like it. Instead, I have a plain old calendar that hangs above my desk. I’ve got a pen stuck to the wall with bluetac next to it, so it takes about two seconds to update. I tried Remember The Milk, but I found it to involve a lot of unnecessary complication when compared to writing items down on a slip of paper. But it’s portable, they say. Well, so is paper. It even works outside wi-fi hotspots.Photo by /kallu

I agree, and if you have been reading here at all, you will know that I am a paper-planner devotee. I love the tactile and emotional response of a nice notebook, and I spent a lot of time developing a calendar system for maximum efficiency. It is so very easy for me to track my to-dos and next actions on paper, I have tried a couple of PC- and web-based systems and, well, Skellie says it best:

You want to create a to-do list? Option 1: take one small slip of paper and one writing implement. Write out to-do list and put in pocket or bag. Option 2: Navigate to RTM. Create or log into your account. Learn interface. Digitally enter and categorize tasks. To view your to-do list in future, make sure you’re near a working computer (and have a nice day).

And that is the trick, isn’t it? You can not always be near a computer, nor always have access to the internet. You can, however, always have a pen and paper with you. And most organizers are faily compact and do not require any electricity.

I know from the recent survey that you all prefer Paper-based productivity practices over Electronic versions by two-to-one. So here is another paper-planner tip:

Make sure that your organizer has an index or table of contents. Update this page every week as part of your Weekly Review. You can even write it on a 3″ x 5″ notecard and keep it in the front of your notebook with a paper-clip, especially if you update a lot.

I use my Index constantly, as I do not try to remember anything anymore. I have found that this method allows for much more creativity and time for reading and writing. Let’s face it, those activities are a lot more fun than searching your office for those files you stuck “someplace safe”.

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/5mzsmb. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen

My wife and I visited Boston this past weekend, she was working a Bridal Show at the Bayside Expo Center on Saturday and Sunday. Since I am not in that biz any longer, I took a ride on the subway Saturday afternoon to pay a visit to one of my favorite places: Levenger.

I just love this store. I have been a fan of the Circa method of notebook binding for several years now, and I was very excited to visit the store in person and make a sample notebook. That’s right, if you go into the store, you can make a sample notebook with different page types, divider tabs, etc. As they say in Boston, “Wicked cool!”

There is a station set up for this right in the store:

Click the pic to see it larger

I made a letter-sized notebook with 5 divider tabs for my new Project notebook. I am currently using a 5.5 x 8.5 sized Circa-bound notebook for Project notes and planning, but the pages are just too small. I need more room for notes and drawings and stuff.

The new notebook has three kinds of pre-printed sheets: Cornell-style lined, Cornell-style quad-ruled, and storyboard. I thought the storyboard pages looked interesting, with 3 good-sized boxes and some lines for text to the side. It may turn out to be a real creativity-booster.

Click the pic to see it larger

Bill and Bob were staffing the store on Saturday, and they were very helpful in pointing out some of the new products and assisting me with finding the right tools for the things that I wanted to do.

Thank you very much, gentlemen!

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/4oy6ve. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen

Via Moleskinerie, a video featuring a Moleskine notebook, a Pilot G2 pen, and a cool new messenger bag.

What did you think I was talking about?

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/5lg2uw. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen

Lodewijk at How to Be an Original has the authoritative review of pen-and-paper planner systems.

Check it out:

Requirements for a paper based planner

Before starting to look at the different options, I made a small list of requirements for my new planner.

• Must fit in my pocket anytime
  So it must have a small size (about A6-size) and it must be thin.
• Week in one overview
  I don’t have a lot of appointments, so I don’t need a lot of space for them. Preferably there’s also no timescale to the day, let me decide myself upon my working schedules please.
• Ample space for notes
  I do have a lot of thoughts and things to do, so I need a lot of space for them.
• Simple and no clutter
  I don’t need inspirational quotes, pictures and other clutter. I need a simple system as one of the ZTD habits prescribes.
• Not expensive
  I prefer not to spend a lot of money on it. The PDA was expensive, but it had navigation on it too

So the best solution is small, simple and cheap.

Read the whole thing!

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/5n8z9b. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen