Archive for the 'productivity' category

Focus!!!

Julie| June 16, 2010 10:57 pm

singletasking

Got this lovely idea from Ernie who got it from Caterina who got it from a friend.

Also, Kevin told me if you Google for singletasking you get this Zen Habits blog entry that points you to a wonderful little tool called NowDoThis. If you are the type to get distracted by your web browser, you can load this tool in your Firefox sidebar.

Writing

Julie| June 14, 2010 3:37 pm

This weekend we saw several friends we hadn’t seen in a long time. It was so nice to catch up with them. The get-together was held at one couple’s new home, so this was a housewarming as well. When my friend gave me the tour, she showed me her writing corner, a cozy nook she set up in the corner of the living room to do her writing. She preferred it to the study because she felt more comfortable writing here.

The concept intrigued me and Kevin. Both of us have a lot of writing ahead of us in our academic and professional lives, so this topic is ripe for discussion. On the drive home, we immediately started talking about our optimal conditions for writing. So far here’s what we’ve talked about:

  • Neither of us has an ideal place to write at home. We usually use our laptops at the dining table, which isn’t ergonomic at all. The last time I spent an entire weekend writing, I had a horrible backache for 2 days.
  • Both of us get interrupted constantly at work, mostly by emails. If we cut down the number of times we checked email, we would find more solid chunks of time to write.

What is your ideal writing environment?