Some say we are moving into the Human Age. A time where it matters less if countries and companies can access capital and more if they can attract and retain the talent they need to win.
And as for us, the talent, to be competitive in an ever-changing world, we need to commit to lifelong learning.
I know, I know. You thought you were done with school a long time ago. But have you noticed how fast things change these days? How many new tools there are to choose from? How often your apps and programs get upgraded?
Well, it’s kind of like that. We need to get upgraded from time to time, too. And no one can do that for us, except ourselves.
That's why I love Getting Organized in the Google Era—How to Stay Efficient, Productive (and Sane) in an Information-Saturated World by Douglas Merrill. It’s full of tips and techniques on how to improve my work life and my home life. Written with irreverent humor, it was an easy way for me to upgrade me.
Merrill gives a fresh view of how to stay organized in a world exploding in information. Although he often suggests online tools, he’s no technophile and sometimes recommends a paper-based tool over a technology-based one. You’ll learn new ways to manage your email, calendar, to do lists and so much more. As a dyslexic with a PhD in Cognitive Science (how people learn and solve problems), Merrill has been using and fine tuning organizational techniques for years.
I love his conversational style, personal stories and 21 Principles of Organization: Organize your life to minimize brain strain, get stuff out of your head as quickly as possible, multitasking can actually make you less efficient, etc.
He ends his book with Stuff We Love. A list of tools and apps he loves, likes and dislikes. Oh, sure, there are things you’ve heard of like Gmail (uh, he puts Outlook under “dislike”), but what about Adium for Mac (see Pidgin.im for Windows PCs) so you can access multiple instant messaging services in one place? Ever hear of Phonevite where you can send one voicemail to multiple people (maybe family and friends waiting for good news or even bad)?
There are lots of things I still want to try and here are three I’m using right now:
-- The tilde symbol (~) immediately before a word I’m searching so that Google will look for Web pages containing the word and others like it. For example, if I search for “paris hotels” ~affordable, Google looks for paris hotels affordable, cheap, budget.
-- Fewer folders for my Outlook email and using my search function instead.
-- RememberTheMilk.com, a free online tool to mange my To Do lists.
If you’d like a fun read that improves your home life and your work life, get this book and use it.
May efficiency surround you,
Catherine
