AnywhereMan

Just wanted to give a quick testimonial for a Chrome/Firefox plugin that turns your Gmail inbox into an absolute “getting things done” (GTD) factory. It’s called ActiveInbox and I am proud to say it’s allowed me to finally create a good system of managing tasks, follow-up items, and project-related items within my Gmail inbox.

I use Gmail interfaces for both my personal and business accounts, and I find that (especially with my business account) many of the items that get emailed to me are tasks: Update this, change that, etc. With ActiveInbox, I can assign those emails as task to specific projects, give them a due date, and even leave associated internal notes.

A few weeks ago I had literally thousands of emails in my inboxes, and after a day with ActiveInbox I was at inbox zero with both of them. I consider that a major victory.

Have you used this plugin? If so, share your story and experience in the comments below.

For the rest of you, check out ActiveInbox today.

Cover of Rework

My summary of the book: Focus on the essentials of your business – the pieces that are most important – and stop thinking or worrying about anything else until absolutely necessary. And be flexible.

My review: Excellent book. An easy read and lots of very very practical advice for businesses of any size.

Check it out (affiliate link).

I’ve been reading Seth Godin‘s “Linchpin” at a surprisingly slow pace. It’s not because it’s a bad book, it’s just because each little section in it is just so good and I’d be missing out on so much by reading it too quickly. I’ve got this book earmarked all over the place!

In the book, Godin discusses the idea of the resistance. This includes habits, emotions, and other barriers that keep us from truly becoming more than just a cog in the corporate machine. Today I talk about one of those barriers: fear.

So, what are you afraid of?

A big thank-you to @MichaelHyatt for the book!

If you’ve been following AnywhereMan, you know that I’ve debated this smartphone thing for quite some time. I’ve considered ditching trusty Verizon for AT&T and their lovely iPhone. When Verizon released their Android phones, I considered renewing my contract and going with one of those.

But each time I thought about making a change I just couldn’t justify why I would actually need the extra features that a smartphone offers. I also couldn’t justify the cost. I’m currently on an old Unicel plan that got grandfathered onto Verizon when Verizon purchased Unicel in our region. My wife and I spend a grand total of $60 for two lines, 600 nationwide minutes, unlimited incoming texts, and unlimited incoming calls. If you are familiar with Google Voice, you know that free incoming minutes means you can essentially have unlimited calling.

Well, in the past few weeks a few situations have come up that really helped me make my mind up to go with a Palm Pre Plus on Verizon (it helped that I was able to keep my current voice plan thanks to ordering the phone through Verizon’s website instead of in a store). I discuss the specific features I’ve been looking for in today’s video.

I still like the iPhone. I like the Verizon network but was a bit surprised by some of their misinformed salespeople and their general bias towards Android devices. I still like the Android platform in general. But at the end of the day the Pre Plus had the features, reliability, price, and ease of use that I needed.

I picked up The Power of Less by Leo Babauta at the library a few weeks ago and I think I read it faster than any book I’ve read in recent memory. I completely devoured everything that Leo (author of one of my favorite blogs, ZenHabits) had to share.

The book focuses on simplifying your life, both through cutting out the unnecessary things and focusing on tasks related to your goals. Here are a few of the highlights.

Creating Habits

Babauta explains that we often try to do a major overhaul of our habits in bulk. Instead, he says that you should focus on creating new habits, one at a time. Don’t try to improve everything at once. Focus on one habit that you want to create and stay focused on it until it is, in fact, a habit. Then, move on to the next one.

Some of the habits he suggests working on include creating a daily routine, exercise 5-10 minutes daily, keeping your desk de-cluttered, eating more fruits and vegetables, etc.

Getting Things Done

I’ve tried the actual GTD system in the past and I failed miserably as it fell into the realm of a major overhaul. I remember wondering when I was ever going to have time to devote an entire day to starting it and organizing my life. Babauta’s approach (“Zen to Done“) goes right along with creating habits: focus on one task at a time.

He suggests setting your three most important tasks that you want to accomplish each day and only work on one task at a time until completed. I’ve been doing this and it’s been a great system. At the end of the day, as long as those three tasks are complete, you feel like you’ve accomplished what needed to be done.

Cutting Out The Noise

We live busy, fast, noisy lives. I’ve talked in the past about some of the distractions of technology and other factors. Leo gives some great tips for lessening the interruptions due to things like the internet, email, commitments, etc. For example, he says it’s a good practice to check email only twice a day. In general, a person should be setting limits.

I’ve been trying to get into this habit a bit more, but at his suggestion, this month I’ve been working on my “One Goal,” which as I mentioned is setting the three most important tasks each morning until that’s a habit.

Slow Down and Focus On The Present

This is a big one for me. I spend too much time thinking about what needs to be done. Babauta explains that if we put into practice his other suggestions for simplifying, we’ll be able to live at a slower pace, get more done, and focus on the present, thus giving us more satisfaction in what we are actually doing.

What’s Missing?

While I thoroughly enjoyed The Power of Less and will easily give it five out of five stars on Goodreads, the one topic I wish Babauta would have covered in-depth is the idea of simplifying your stuff. We as consumers are simply way too “stuff”-driven, myself included. I’ve really been realizing how much consumerism contributes to stress, lack of balance, and lack of perspective on what matters in life. Again, I’m as guilty as anyone on this one and I would have loved some tips from Leo on this topic.

Read It!

This book has given me a great roadmap for simplifying both my life and career, and I highly recommend reading it. I may even try to get Leo for an AnywhereMan interview at some point since he officially lives the Anywhere Lifestyle, so if anybody knows him personally, drop me an email.

The awesome folks at XShot recently sent me one of their “XShot 2.0″ hand-held video/photo accessories. It allows you to place a smaller camera or flip-style camcorder on the end and extend it out a few feet in front of you, thus eliminating the need to hold your arm out when trying to do a self portrait. It actually extends further than your arm would allow (unless you’re Manute Bol), thus allowing for a very natural shot.

In today’s video, I take it out for a test session. This thing is going to be great for upcoming AnywhereMan vids, not to mention outings with my wife when we want to snap a pic of the two of us together.

For another review of the XShot, check out Phil Montero’s video on TheAnywhereOffice.com. He gives a nice description of how the XShot functions.

If you’re interested in buying one, just visit the XShot website and you can purchase it directly from them.