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20 January 2010
Posted in
productivity
photo by Will Lion
Every day we are bombarded with huge load of information, some of which is important, some is urgent and some is just time wasting. The complexity of our world is constantly increasing, but the adaptation of our brain is lagging behind. Video, Audio, Books, eBooks, Documents, Documentaries, Presentations, Audio Books, Seminars, Webinars… So much information and not enough time to go through everything.
The problem is not with information overload. The Problem is in lack of content filters.
I work and study in the field of psychology. I have to know what happens in the world, what happens locally and what happens inside people's minds. I have to know a lot about great many things.
People often ask me - how do you keep up with all the information out there? The answer is - I don't. I constantly update and adjust my content filters so that I can process relevant, useful and applicable information. I will share some of the tools and techniques that I use to filter and work with information.
• Apple MacBook Pro 13
• iPhone 3GS
• Plain paper notepad
• 4 Color Pen with pencil built in - 5 in one
• Various online services and software detailed below
There are a lot of interesting videos out there. However, there is just not enough time to sit at the computer all day and watch videos. I mention a computer and not TV. I do not have cable in my house for the past 7 years. Back when I was in high school, one of my teachers mentioned that he does not watch TV at all. The first time I heard it, I thought that there was something wrong with him. When I asked him why he did not watch TV, he explained he has more time for the important things like family, reading, exercising and a lot of other things that television took away from people. Today, I can say that he was 100% right. As someone who specializes in the field of psychology and knowing some inside information about how television works, it is better to stay away from it.
Video material can be placed into these categories: movies, documentaries, lectures, seminars, entertainment and other.
1) If the movie is highly rated and recommended, I dedicate my full attention to it by either going to a movie theater or watching it at home on a large screen. There are not that many movies out there which are worth doing this.
2) Casual good movie can be watched on my laptop when I travel.
My resources:
- www.imdb.com - The biggest, best, most award-winning movie site on the planet.
- www.jinni.com - Get personal recommendations, watch wherever you choose.
- www.joblo.com - The number one source of movie trailers and teasers on the Internet.
Jinni is also a website that I use as my notepad for movies that I would like to watch someday.
Documentaries - unless the movie has a great video quality and beautiful scenery, I watch it on my iPhone. Most documentaries are about information rather than viewing experience. In order to save time I convert documentaries to MP4 format compatible with iPhone 3GS. I watch them when I commute. If needed, I take notes on iPhone itself or in my notepad.
The program I use for video conversion on mac is Wondershare iPhone Video Converter available for both Mac and Windows. It is simple and does the conversation with just a few mouse clicks. I also use iTunes to organize my media. Syncing is great.
Lectures and seminars - There are many great lectures and seminars, but there is one common thing about them - usually there is not much to look at. Most lectures, seminars and even TV shows can be converted to audio only.
Steps to follow:
- Collect your videos into one folder (this can be done over time).
- When ready, use video to audio converter to batch convert them all.
- Sync with your media player.
Sometimes lectures can get boring but still contain useful information, the iPhone has a handy feature - “2x” double the speed of the audio file. Resume playback is another feature I love on my iPhone.
Online videos - YouTube is an amazing resource for educational material if used properly. One can either waste time on YouTube or become smarter. YouTube is not the only website with educational and useful information, there are many other websites.
Tools for downloading videos:
- Easy YouTube Video Downloader extension for Firefox
- KickYouTube - simplest solutions for downloading YouTube videos.
- 3outube - most easy way to download Youtube video
- For any other website with videos I use DownloadHelper Firefox extension - the easy way to Web videos. One click and the video goes into iTunes library.
1) When I work on my laptop - soft ambient or chillout music with no words to make my work more pleasant.
2) Gym - working out with music is a must in my routine. A good set of trance music makes a great workout. I subscriber to Above and Beyond Trance podcast on iTunes. Other than that, I do not have time to listen to music. Unless of course I am at a concert :)
Audio Books - audio books, seminars, presentations and lectures are a big part of my life. I have been listening to Audio Books since high school. I listen to educational material when I walk, cook, clean my house or wait in line. When I move, I listen. When I stand, I read. It is incredible how much time people waste commuting and waiting in lines. All of this time can be converted into learning and development. Brian Tracy once said - “Your car can be a University on Wheels”. Go to www.apple.com/itunes/ and look at how many good audio books, podcast and free iTunes University courses are available.
iTunes is an irreplaceable software in my system as it allows me to organize and synchronize my media. One of the my favorite features of iTunes is the “Auto Delete” option which allows you to automatically delete the podcasts that you listened to.
Books - When I am at home, I read paperback books. I like them and still have a few of them that I want to go thought. Why do I say few ? Because most of the books that I want to read are available in digital format and I prefer to keep my place clean - less is more. At the moment I use stanza for iPhone. This is a great program which converts pdf files into epub ebook format and allows you to read all kinds of files on your iPhone. I waiting for a few more ebook readers to come out to see which one will be the best one. If the book is not available at your local library, get it in a digital format. As I am writing this post, Apple is one week away from presenting their new tablet/ebook reader.
One of my favorite services is ReadItLater - Save Web Pages to Read Later. Eliminate bookmarks clutter in your browser. There are so many web pages out there that I want to look though but do not have time to do so. This tool allows me to add a website to my ToRead list with just one click of a mouse. Later I can easily synchronize my iPhone with ReadItLater and read offline while I commute. Wikipedia is one of the most frequent websites that I read as it allows me to be informed about many topics.
1) Evernote - save your ideas, things you see, and things you like. I sue it to keep lists, account information such as flight reservation and confirmation numbers. I also use it as a capture tool on my iPhone. It is great to be able to have all my notes synced on my macbook and iPhone wherever I Go.
2) MindNode Pro is an elegant and simple-to-use mindmapping applications for the Macintosh that helps me visually structure ideas, organize, study and solve problems.
3) ReQall - is the best tool to integrate your memory with your life, helping you get more from life while improving your real memory. I use it to jott down my ideas, create daily to-do list and setup reminders. Works well and integrated with Evernote and Google Calendar.
In case you are wondering, I do not use an RSS reader as I have learned that RSS Readers greatly decrease your productivity. The number of unread items in your RSS reader and the feeling that you must read all these posts is not good for productivity.
Gmail - I am a long time Gmail user and out of all the email services that I tried, Gmail is simply the best one. I will not do a detailed description about it because there is just too much good stuff to say about it.
Google Calendar - syncs with my iPhone and iCal. All that I need is there.
Google Voice - gives you one number for all your phones, voicemail as easy as email, free US long distance, low rates on international calls. Much have been written about Google Voice on Lifehacker.com. I use Google Voice as my all in one number. I use it on my laptop and on my phone. It allows me to keep track of my phone calls, contacts and sms messages.
JotNot! - Digitizing the world's documents is the easiest way to convert your pictures of documents (whiteboards, presentations, blackboards, etc.
IFitness and RunKeeper for keeping track of my fitness.
I have mentioned most of the tools that help me to survive in the increasingly complex information world. The only constant is change and perhaps with time some of my strategies will change.