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Author Topic: 2010 list of (Rarely Mentioned) Productivity Apps  (Read 5373 times)

Paul Keith

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2010 list of (Rarely Mentioned) Productivity Apps
« on: April 11, 2010, 12:32 PM »
Well...not really but the blog's title of "10 Excellent Applications to Organize Yourself" doesn't apply to DC members.

Most of these are single purpose websites but it is true that they are not mentioned on here enough: http://www.smashinga...ganize-yourself.html

For those who don't want to click on the link just to see the list:

1. ColorHat - http://colorhat.com/ - Didn't try this. Apparently the site's update said they recently released a new version because of bugs

2. Rooten - http://rootein.com/ - I use this but I'll get back to this later.

3. Link doesn't load (OpenProj)

4. Notefly - http://www.notefly.tk/ - Basic Sticky Notes app with an additional feature of sending the note online to e-mail, Facebook and Twitter but apparently the site update says there is some problem with Facebook currently.

5. When is Good - http://www.whenisgood.net/

schedule meetings and get togethers whether it is with friends or your colleagues and coworkers. With this application all attendees to a meeting can upload their available date so that the host can choose the date most suited to everyone.

6. Tungle - http://www.tungle.me/Home/ - registration version of When is Good

7. Osmo - http://clayo.org/osmo/ - old app that is rarely mentioned by productivity lovers

8. Digital Janitor - http://davidevitelar...are/digital-janitor/

Digital Janitor is file+folder sorting desktop application with a great interface. This entry is obviously different than the others in this list but it will surely help you better organize your computer and increase your efficiency on your machine

9. Scribbly - http://www.adobe.com...amp;offeringid=15420 - Adobe Air Notefly

10. Do It Again - http://www.spacetornado.com/DoItAgain/ - I think there's a NANY post for this but I haven't been monitoring DC topics for a while so I could be wrong.

...for those who don't feel like the above apps are anything worthwhile, you might prefer to opt for this topic instead:

I am Saravanan from Dmailer. Please Let me clarify your concerns.

@Hasin Hayder: Dmailer backup software allows you to store your files “online” and hence you can have access to your files from anywhere. You get a free 2GB online account(no time limit) along with the backup software. You will also have an easy to access web interface as part of the online storage through which you can share and restore files.

@Mike626: You are correct. We offer a different service to backup your files(local as well as online storage). “Dmailer backup” software is more focused on data protection of your PC. Thanks to live backup and versioning, Dmailer backup software monitors your computer and backup your files locally (external hard drive) and online whenever a change is made to the files.

Thanks,
Saravanan
Dmailer SA

Stop reading the below text! It's just my own lengthy post and has nothing to do with the links above. :feedback:

How I use Rootein.

First off I'm already using Joe's Goals and it's alot better for repetitive tasks than Rootein just because it's not limited to a single day. (Which is a problem if you often check out your tasks just before midnight)

That said, Rootein's design is more motivating for a person like me and if I'm using Joe's Goals I wouldn't drop Rootein just because of that because both site's design has their purpose even though the bottomline is the same.

Anyways, I use Rootein as a testbed idea for a concept I haven't heard used by other productivity users. Again, I just don't browse enough productivity sites to know if I'm just repeating old stuff. Oh, I was also really unproductive when I was doing this and I still am so I haven't converted this to any productive boost at all.

The idea is somewhat based on David Allen's birdview/wormview/runway view of problems. (Some GTD enthusiasts would call this the look at your problems from x number of feet high and then lower and then higher and then straight! Straight cause the airplane is about to hit you! ...but I forgot the exact numbers and the wikipedia article for GTD doesn't show any of that information.)

Instead of switching perspective on the actual task/problem though, I thought... what if a system switches productivity methods as the person becomes more unproductive.

Not higher or better but worse. That way instead of being squeezed both by your system and your unproductivity, you have more floating room because you're adapting yourself more in dealing with that problem while relieving yourself more and more from the burden of a system that hasn't prevented you from dealing with this problem.

Of course all people do that but I wondered if there was a way to control the drop-off.

I felt it couldn't work with specific tasks because then you have to worry about the portability of your lists.

However, what if the things you're keeping are both minimal but also unnecessary? That way you can have the benefits of a productivity system while also procrastinating.

Now this goes against all productivity ideas that a system should help you be productive rather than be unproductive but if I'm unproductive, I usually find myself not being able to do something productive.

An example for this would be a work-loaded guy who goes to the gym. If the work stacks up enough, no matter what he does, he can't go to the gym. He'd either have to settle for the inferior quality of lifting weights at home or work on his ever increasing load. I thought for someone unproductive, they often resort to the former that's why they procrastinate.

How this relates to Rootein's site design is that when you go to the home tab of Rootein, it shows how many days you haven't checked off a task.

JG does this too but Rootein shows it in red plus the days and separates the green if you're on track and it does this automatically.

Now for regular tasks this obviously wouldn't make much difference because you're just going to see that you haven't been working on them. Even for recurring tasks, you only get the idea that you're slacking off and unless what you need is a reminder rather than a productive pick me up, it doesn't make a difference.

By combining this with Life Category-like concepts though, it becomes a barometer for what aspect you're most being unproductive in.

These aren't life categories but like I said in that topic, it's similar but I just prefer what I made up for myself.

Instead the 6 tasks I have in Rootein are Challenge, Release, Pessimize, Sinkage, Optimize and Recovery.

All are kinda obvious but here's my justification for them anyways:

Challenge I check if I feel I did something challenging regardless of how major and minor it is. A good example is doing something that makes me anxious but getting over it and doing it anyway. Not necessarily finishing it but facing it.

Release is anything that I finish whether it be a minor thing like a blog post or jumping rope or of course a major task.

Pessimize is anything I was worried about and then followed through. Again, it doesn't mean I finish it as long as I did something about it.

Sinkage is anything I realize whether it be from reading a post in the internet or just self-contemplation. Even the realization that I am being unproductive or procrastinating and succumbing to the fact that what I'm fighting against isn't making that huge of a difference.

Optimize is any improvement in life that I feel. Even from merely letting go of my worry and just double procrastinating by eating ice cream instead of letting my stress bog me down.

Recovery is rest but not merely sleeping but feeling recovered and relaxed even though I haven't worked on any of the things I need to do as long as I'm not feeling stressed or pressured by it.

Obviously as recurring open-ended tasks you can not only check this even when you're not being productive because it's so open-ended but if you are productive you may not even need this as a motivational tool and it will just be an extra unnecessary hassle to your productivity system unless this is your reminder.

Just speaking for myself though, when I'm unproductive, I can check some of these things occassionally but I can't even manage a simple to-do list program. Just too stressful.

By occassionally I don't even mean 4 or 5 days, I mean a long long time.

For example it's been 32 days since I've checked the Optimize task and 43 days since I've checked the Recovery task.

However because of knowing that, I now know what aspect I've been least focusing on that I may need focusing on: The Recovery criteria.

Now if I normally became unproductive, I often break down and don't know what task to do or what mentality to apply.

It doesn't matter if I have next actions, check lists, markers, warning notes... I'll just be flipping them back and forth or almost being paralyzed and praying I can at least stay in one task and hope no one bothers me.

With this system though, even if I'm still unproductive, I realize not only did I not realize that I was omitting rest or sleep most of all but I found out that it's the hardest thing I can't manage when I'm being unproductive.

I thought before that maybe I'm just not working enough on this one task or I'm not listening to my productivity system enough or I'm just not making those systems work but the hardest task turns out that I can't relax.

Even when I see that it is the most number of days I have let pass by, I just can't let go as easily of my worries and just rest. When I try to sleep I'm wide awake or my mind will then start rolling and then I'm back up and either playing videogames or some other unproductivity tasks or working on what I need to do...but then I'd get nowhere because fatigue will step in and I'll just get so tired I don't realize how I'm walking to the bed already and when I doze off, I often over-sleep the whole day but when I wake up I don't feel rested and I get stuck in that rut and become worse off. I'm unemployed btw so that's not an exaggeration.