Timing myself I've recently been spending a lot of time timing myself, using tools such as OfficeTime and Timing. As internal auditor it is very important to keep detailed logs of our time usage. We want to make sure that we spent adequate time on the right activities and as limited time as possible on … Continue reading Task list contamination
Cutting out the middle man: moving RSS stuff capture from Google Reader to … nothing?
Google has announced it is retiring Google Reader on July 1st. An outcry has been heard across the internet. First they take over an ecosystem, then they destroy it ... the Borg could not have done a better job. Assimilation, then destruction. I was among those who cried out over the loss of a good … Continue reading Cutting out the middle man: moving RSS stuff capture from Google Reader to … nothing?
Apple’s maturity – Ubiquitous and imperceptible interoperability
I am assuming (most) analysts are not stupid A lot has been said about the markets' reaction to Apple's financial statements for the past quarter. It's quite interesting and even a bit baffling if you take in account that this is one of the most successful companies ever, if not the most successful. And yet, … Continue reading Apple’s maturity – Ubiquitous and imperceptible interoperability
My OmniFocus work perspectives
The investment pays off OmniFocus is my particular GTD tool. While it has a significant and steep learning curve, I like what the tool can do for you once you get it configured right. Granted, it does take a while to figure out how it best functions for you. On the other hand, there is … Continue reading My OmniFocus work perspectives
About muscle memory and luck
Admiration and jealousy We admire people who appear to be able to perform certain feats as if with no considerable effort. And where there is admiration, there is often jealousy. We tend to get jealous of people whose life is apparently without effort. We look at these people, and we compare their baseline competenties to … Continue reading About muscle memory and luck
How our failure to fail impedes our success
Sven is onto something I just read this post by Sven Fechner. Sven, for those who do not know of him, is one of the most prolific and relevant bloggers on personal productivity. He also has a day job working for a large multinational. I admire this guy, because he achieves what most of us … Continue reading How our failure to fail impedes our success
An assessment of my morning information gathering and capture mechanisms
Information is all around us I've likened it to wifi or mobile network radiation. It's there, but you are not really aware of it most of the time. Most of it will be completely irrelevant to your activities of that given day, or even your life. Some of it will be indispensable. But how to … Continue reading An assessment of my morning information gathering and capture mechanisms
Using programme and project management systems in development aid
Please note this post talks about an aspect closely related to the work I do on a daily basis. The ideas below are my personal opinion on a specific opportunity in the context of development aid in general, and do not specifically relate to any organisation I am associated with or working for. These ideas … Continue reading Using programme and project management systems in development aid
Adequate risk management requires responsibility and response-ability
The other side of the coin A couple of days ago, I wrote an article on risk acceptance and how it actually requires a lot of work in terms of contingency planning. Of course, there is another side to that coin. The curse of middle management What is the scope of your responsibility? How able … Continue reading Adequate risk management requires responsibility and response-ability
Risk acceptance requires hard work
Rereading the title of this post, my first reaction is that this is stating the blindingly obvious. The problem is, in reality this is far from that obvious. More than once I've been confronted with situations in which risk acceptance by a manager turned out to become risk ignorance. And risk ignorance is just another … Continue reading Risk acceptance requires hard work
Exploring The Black Box 