Time Management can problematic when you have a combination of things on your to-do-list. Those things you love to do, need to do but don’t love doing and those things that you would rather put off or even procrastinate at.
The Action Machine is a piece of down loadable software that you can program in your tasks – and then lovely large visual timers to each task or project you assign. The beauty of this program for those things you tend to procrastinate around – you can set a short timer – and make a commitment to do at least that amount of time. 10 Minutes is usually enough to get me started on something I have been putting off.
The second cool thing about this piece of software – is if you have any illusion about how much time things take you to accomplish…. you can set up the timers – and really find out – just how much time you have been spending on things. How much time does it really take to get thru all of those emails? What would happen if you allowed yourself 30minutes? Would you move on to other things.
I like this program idea. It’s a great way to create some structure around time.
You can do the same thing with paper, and yet…there is something alluring about using the visual aids of timers. There is also the small piece about “giving yourself permission” to call a day – a day. When there is always more to do – this is one way to use a tool to help you limit the size of your plate for the day.
Wiggio.com is a free, online toolkit that makes it easy to work in groups
On Wiggio, you can share and edit files, manage a group calendar, poll your group, post links, set up conference calls, chat online and send mass text, voice and email messages to your group members. Each group member can define how they want to keep informed of group activity. For a complete overview of what your group can do on Wiggio, click on the following video:
Personal Brain is magnificent for linking thoughts, ideas, concepts, relationships. Once you start creating your maps it is a snap to connect what they call “child” thoughts to a topic and include attachments such as mind maps, documents, spreadsheets, hyperlinks.
The joy of using personal brain comes in when you are needing to do rapid jumping from thought concept to thought concept. I use it for mapping new information and resources related to research I am doing, my own learning objectives, training, as well as my personal interests. I include links to documents on my hard drive – as well as embed things like mind maps right into my Personal Brain file. It is speedy and quick and the only 1 draw back for me is that it does not print out well – and yet, for it’s performance on-screen – I haven’t found anything as fun to use – or as quick.
For me – besides the fun – I can “link” concepts from varied different sources together and quickly move from one to another. This isn’t as easy to do in systems like MindManager and the like – because for the most part in those programs you want to attempt to keep each map relatively small – and you are better off just to use multiple maps. With Personal Brain – Your file can be as large as you want it – and you don’t experience “information overload” like you can in other mapping programs.
This is not for everyone, but for those who are collecting large amounts of knowledge or information who want to access it quickly – Personal Brain can be a great resource.
I use other mapping software programs – and all have their own benefits. Busan’s imap system – has the most organic feel – and most closely relates to the manual way of doing a mind map – The ability to manipulate, draw, use colours quickly – is so much like using coloured markers – it makes the whole process alot of fun.
If you haven’t tried a mind mapping software before – and if you want to give imap a try – The Buzan folks have a free 7day trial and if you are reading this post before 31Aug08 – they also have a limited time offer you may want to have a look at.
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