Social media rockstar Chris Brogan suggested that we spend more time today reading and commenting online.  I sometimes feel like I don’t link enough to other sites I enjoy, so I’m going to combine those two ideas and let you know about some great posts I’ve come across and commented on lately.  They range from productivity to self-growth, and from social media to springtime…

AllTop – check out the Lifehacks Section

Before I get further here, I just want to mention that one really helpful way to get involved in the conversation is to visit the sites recommended on AllTop.  I’m really excited and thankful (,and somewhat surprised) that Guy Kawasaki and their team added Technotheory to this list.  I know it’s helped me to discover some great sites, and I hope you’ll check them out…especially if you’re not using RSS.  Read much more about AllTop here and here.

The Growing Life – On Eating New Contexts for Breakfast and The Price of Radical Growth

Clay Collins writes here about the challenges between what our society praises (tenure, seniority, permanence) and true personal growth (often the result of radical change).  We all need to reminded of this sometimes, and Clay’s wit & wisdom serves as a wake-up call.  My comment didn’t add much to the discussion, but I wanted to recommend his work here just the same.

Cranking Widgets – how to use GTD with 37signals Backpack

Brett Kelly explains how he uses Backpack to apply David Allen’s Getting Things Done principles. I was particularly interested in how he used IWantSandy as a reminder tool but no longer uses RememberTheMilk for his tasks.  His article was a great how-to for those interested.

A Cat and Twenty -  a story: The Edge

Kate D is one of the few people I read to remember my friends in the real world, and she wrote here about the passage of time and childhood memories.  It brought to mind Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine and the nostalgia of springtime growing up.  Sometimes it’s best to look back and attempt to revisit, whether or not times were truly idyllic back then.

Chris Brogan – his recommended Starting Points for Online Presence

Chris Brogan outlines many of the sites where one should create accounts in the process of building an online presence. I made a comment there to recommend creating a Gravatar:

A lot of the sites where I comment will display my picture if I have signed up for a Gravatar–-which is essentially just a picture that’s associated with my email address in a comment. I think this avatar helps to both further my brand and allows me to stand out more in the comments sections. For the 60 seconds it takes, I’ve found it to be of great value!”

Though I hope my tip added some value, the post deserves a read to those who are now experimenting with social media.

Productive Flourishing – a review of whether RescueTime Rescues Your Time?

Charles Gilkey offered a great review of RescueTime.  I particularly enjoyed his thorough analysis of whether having more information about our computer activities actually makes us more productive.  I noted about how I’m a user of a similar tool, TimeSnapper, and have found it to be helpful for time entry and occasional reporting.  I would recommend both of these tools to clients but am weary of creating one more place to check your stats…

Problogger – on his Blog Posting Workflow video

Darren Rowse explained his blog writing process–the salient point for me was at around 4:30 into the video when he explained how he delays publishing his posts partly because they become mature when he revisits them hours or days later. Throughout the video he talks about how he doesn’t write most posts in one sitting–I couldn’t agree more with how that affects the quality of our creativity and writing–the more days we allow for a thought, the better it often becomes.

Any great articles you’ve come across lately?  Go out and comment there!  (and let us know about it here :-) )

Filed under: Productivity, Social Media

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