The zone is a state of mind where you are so focused you shut out everything except for the task at hand. Your creative juices are flowing and you lose all sense of time. When you get into your zone, you seem to be in another world where everything seems to be working in your favor and hurdles, if any, are simple to overcome. The main question is how do you get into the zone? » Read more: How do you get into the zone?
Posts Tagged ‘Productivity’
How do you get into the zone?
May 11th, 2010
Fighting SPAM update
April 30th, 2010It has been about four weeks since I wrote about my personal fight against SPAM. I have been using MailWasher Pro 6.5.3 as my primary tool against SPAM. Of all the tools I’ve used so far, this one has performed better than expected. » Read more: Fighting SPAM update
New Year’s Resolution accountability
January 9th, 2010This year you decided to make a few new year’s resolutions. One of them might have been to be a better time manager or to get organized. My question to you is how are you going to keep on track? Do you have an accountability partner? Someone that will keep you on task! Here’s a suggestion that just might help. » Read more: New Year’s Resolution accountability
More reasons for online storage
December 5th, 2009While preparing for another post related to my online storage article, No more USB access to public computer, a friend’s data file became corrupted. In addition to that incident, a shared computer came down with a virus about the same time. The corruption cause is unknown, but the file contained data that represented many man-hours of work and there was no backup. He had a deadline and asked for my help with reconstruction of the data. » Read more: More reasons for online storage
College degree, Work experience or WorkKeys?
November 14th, 2009Question: Is a person with a college degree qualified for the job? No one denies that a college degree represents a formal education. The student spends time learning theory and maybe practical application of the major their degree is in. But, what about that person who has experienced the practical application of that job for 10+ years? What about a person who has Transferable Skills without a degree but the natural aptitude and a willingness to learn on the job? How does an employer determine which one to hire?
Answer: WorkKeys might be the answer. » Read more: College degree, Work experience or WorkKeys?
5 action items to help you be a project finisher
November 7th, 2009Have you ever started a project and failed to finish it? Many times you think you have great explanations for why you have not completed your projects. The truth is most of these explanations are really excuses. This post is going to discuss some action items you can take to ensure project completion.
» Read more: 5 action items to help you be a project finisher
6 Facebook tasks to reclaim your time
November 6th, 2009Facebook has helped many people get back in touch with old friends and colleagues. It helps us keep up to date on family news. I don’t hate Facebook. I just think some aspects of Facebook has taken over our lives. Not in a good way either. I see people spending way too much time Playing Facebook Apps. They spend way too much time living in their virtual worlds. I think the time is right to reclaim more of our life back. » Read more: 6 Facebook tasks to reclaim your time
7 ways to find more time
November 5th, 2009Many of us are strapped for time. We all start out like everyone else with 24 hours to spend. Some of us, just happen to stretch our schedules to the breaking point by trying to squeeze every ounce of productivity we can into a single day. Here are some suggestions for gaining a little more time each day.
» Read more: 7 ways to find more time
Mind Mapping Software, creating a ToDo list
August 14th, 2009
NovaMind 4 Express ToDo
Mind Mapping to organize your thoughts is a very useful thing. I have been using Mind Mapping for a short time and I’m already getting the hang of it. I did the process by hand a few times and now I’m considering purchasing some software that will not get in the way of my thought process. I’m considering two software packages. The first application is iMindMap Elements . The price for the Elements version is $99 US dollars. This software was developed for Tony Buzan, the guy who developed Mind Mapping in the first place. The second application is called NovaMind 4 Express. The price for the Express version is $49 US dollars. NovaMind has a 30 day trial version that lets you play with it, but saves it with a pronounced watermark across the image. At least you get a chance to evaluate it before you buy it.
I installed both versions on my computer, to be fair in my initial test, I’m creating the MindMap ToDo image as seen here. The NovaMind Express wasn’t too bad. I didn’t time it, but the user interface was pretty intuitive. It didn’t take too long to create it. I did have to fiddle a little with the branches to get them to look better.
iMindMap Elements ToDo
I think I’m in love. At first I was thinking there can’t be that much of a difference to justify the extra $50 that iMindMap charges for their elements software. Well, there is. The user interface is so easy, I can’t even believe it. It consistant. Just mouse over the object you want to branch off until a red dot appears, then click and drag. The branch labeling, reshaping and recoloring are all very easy as well. The user interface is so easy, I almost cried from the elegant simplicity. It doesn’t get in the way of the thought process. I didn’t have to think about what I was doing. Hover, click drag, label, done. Then repeat again, unless I needed to change the branch or text color.
I originally considered purchasing NovaMind Express software because of its cost and the Mind Map it produced was similar in appearance to iMindMap. However, after trying out the two applications for my simple needs, I have decided to purchase the iMindMap Elements. I’m sure it’s the right choice for me.
Note: NovaMind has announced version 5 will be coming in September or October. At the time of this article only version 4 was available. I’ll be happy to review version 5 if they would like to get it to me for evaluation.
Till next time, I see a lot of Mind Mapping in my future.
Mind Mapping
August 12th, 2009What’s Mind Mapping
We’re going to talk a little bit about Mind Mapping. Before we begin, let’s see what the definition is.
Main entry: Mind Map
Definition: a diagram used to represent ideas or information branching from a central key word or idea and used as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing
mind map. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com’s 21st Century Lexicon. Dictionary.com, LLC. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mind map (accessed: August 12, 2009).
How I learned about it
Up until a month ago, I had never heard about Mind Mapping. While watching a video on YouTube, I came across a YouTube suggested video that talked about Mind Mapping. Since, I didn’t know what a Mind Map was, I decided to watch the video. I was busy at the time, so I filed it away for future reference.
| Mind Maps Video by Tony Buzan |
Mind Maps video from HMSTeacher |
What’s it good for
Mind Maps suggested uses
- Note Taking
- Book studying
- Business Planning
- Presentation Planning
- Goal Planning
- Writing
- Increased Creativity
- Project Management
- Improved Memory
- Research
It kind of sounds like a cure all for constipation of the mind. I have decided I will be using it for organizing my thoughts on present and future projects. From what I’ve seen so far it looks pretty promising.
Some articles on the subject:
- Mind Mapping: Visual Thinking by Vic Gee
- Mind Mapping Clarifies and Strengthens Your Business by Gideon King
- Grow your business using Mind Mapping by Gideon King
- Research and mindmapping to kickstart your writing by Dr. Maxine E. Thompson
Till next time, I’ll be reading the software offerings for Mind Mapping
