I know that the first rule of getting organized is to find a system that works for you and use it. I know this. But I am also a complete sucker for shiny new organization tools. As a child, one of my favorite places to go was the school supplies section of UW’s University Bookstore. I would examine all the Trapper Keepers and backpacks, imagining the system each might create.
Of course, every time I used one of these items, whatever system I had designed would inevitably break down into appalling messiness: while I really, really liked organization systems, I was really, really bad at sticking to them.
This trend followed me into the digital realm, and online - I make systems and then I cut corners, and then everything goes to shit. Over and over again.
Until I found my soulmate.
Hiveminder has three key features that run my life:
Braindump. Hit enter between tasks and just keep typing until you don’t have anything else in your head. Great way to relieve that “omg so much to do I’m screwed” feeling - I may be screwed, but at least it’s all in the system.
Task Review. Takes you through all your tasks one at a time, giving you limited options: mark as done, say you’ll do it today, say you don’t want to see it until Saturday, until Monday, or for a month. Then it congratulates you on making it through the review (”That wasn’t so bad, was it?”) and shows you the tasks that you said you’d do today.
Ability to hide tasks until some date. This “safe procrastination” feature is crucial for me, because otherwise I practice unsafe procrastination (and forget things I’m avoiding).
Now, while Hiveminder and I have a solid relationship, I have strayed occasionally. Never for longer than 3 months. But about once a year I’m drawn in by some other, shiny new organizational toy. But Remember The Milk had too many options to fiddle with and I found myself fiddling instead of actually doing tasks. In Nozbe, processing tasks was too time-intensive, plus they hit me with an upsell. I tried a series of text files syncing across my devices, but I was much less effective when I had to manually move things around. And none of them had any safe procrastination support, so they ultimately failed me.
In the end, I always come back. I wonder if I’ll ever learn? Probably not. As long as there’s a new shiny, I can’t help but check it out. But I do so knowing that Hiveminder is waiting for me with open arms, ready to get my life back in order and let me get back to getting stuff done.
iPhone applications are really starting to piss me off. I’m not talking about the good ones, that are actual client applications for their webservice counterparts (Facebook’s app is a good example) - those are great. I’m talking about the ones that are glorified shortcuts to mobile-formatted websites. (Yes, Bank of America, I am calling you out. What the hell is that about?) A lot of the iPhone apps that big companies have been launching quite frankly suck.
So when I heard about the “Obama ‘08″ application, my expectations were very low. I was expecting a mobile version of the website, maybe a streamlined donation interface, and probably some “go vote! go vote now!” nagging.
But the Obama campaign actually used this app to introduce completely new, phone-specific features. The one that blew me away was that the Obama ‘08 app tells you who you already know in battleground states by scanning the area codes of the numbers in your contacts list. Then it offers one-touch shortcuts to call them or text them.
It also displays upcoming local events based on your GPS (or tower location) information, some of which are immediately actionable (example: sign waiving today, 1 mile from here!), local campaign contacts, and provides quick access to talking points on major issues. Oh, and the UI is shiny and very consistent with the iPhone UX.
In short, they did it right. Get this app on your phone, see where your disproportionately important friends are, then talk to them about Obama (and make sure they’re registered!)
I’m from the internet: from USENET, and from some early web BBs, but mostly I’m from LiveJournal.
For the past 7 years, I’ve written on LJ more-or-less under my real identity, and it has involved carefully adjusting what kind of content is viewable to readers on a per-person basis. That fine-grained control was great for me as a (nerdy, awkward) teenager. I could control how much to let each friend into my inner world. I could seek advice on high school drama only from friends outside the state. Because of this feature, LJ was a social diary: a means of recording my life as well as getting support and staying in touch.
I’ve experimented with other modes of blogging, too. For a few years I maintained a very personal blog with all content public – but it was under an identity that was very difficult to trace back to me. That blog quickly took on the character of postsecret or confess.cc - interesting and honest, but very dramatic. Eventually I abandoned it.
I also used to write for a group blog. All content was public and I publically associated myself with the blog, but most people didn’t know which of the pseudonymous bloggers I was. The content I posted was fairly personal, but I found myself writing more forcefully (angrily?) than I did on LJ or on my anonymous blog. On the group blog, everything felt mischievous and daring, but at the end of the day I didn’t really believe that what I wrote could come back to haunt me.
In each of these three blog experiences, my blogging behavior was shaped by the amount of anonymity (and the amount of control over privacy) I had. On this blog, though, it was all new territory. And once again, the amount of anonymity I had shaped my blogging behavior.
Unfortunately, my skittishness about having ZERO anonymity resulted in, well, zero posts for 5 months. I don’t know what I can do about that skittishness besides power through, though, so powering through I am. I think a post a day ought to do it.
Every time i think of this blog, I feel a little guilty. I had such big plans for it - it was not going to be my first blog, not by a long shot, but it was going to be the first time that I was really publishing content under my own name. I was going to get my ideas out there into the void. I was going to “join the conversation” as myself. I was going to push those more unfortunate google results for my name down to the second page.
So I registered this domain, threw some Wordpress on it, did some posting… and then stopped.
The thing is, I didn’t stop because I ran out of things to write about. Quite the opposite - since I created this venue for myself, I’ve had so many ideas about posts to write and discussions to start that I’ve gotten overwhelmed. I maintain a text file with one-line summaries of posts I mean to write “when I have more time”, and it’s impossibly long. Ironically, I think I stiffled myself with my own idea-capture system. I wonder how many others have fallen into this trap?
So I’m starting over - no more text file. Furthermore, I am publically commiting to post at least one entry per day for the rest of 2008. A big goal, but nothing unachievable. Not all the posts will be treatises on internet social power, nerd emotional communication protocols, or the like - though I do hope to cover these topics in some depth and get discussion going. There will probably be some link-blogging and cause-promoting. But I’m going to get my momentum going again.
Watch this space.
This post is brought to you in part by Elisa Camahort Page of BlogHer, whose talk at GHC08 lit a fire under my ass to get back to blogging.
First, I’d like to thank Rachel for inviting me here - I did not expect such a warm welcome when I asked if I could use her blog to get a press pass for the 2008 NYC Finovate. Rachel and I have a shared passion in money-grubbing, and I suppose I’m here to manifest that side of her so she doesn’t have to.
I am a big fan of personal finance blogs (a typical example) and Web 2.0 finance applications (my favorite). I’m not sure what “other interests” I have, but I guess we’ll find out, won’t we? Still, I promise to try not to pull the focus of this blog too far from what we all know and love.
On that note, here is something awesome. I’ve had this song on repeat for the past 6 hours.
insert comment here about necessity of fair use, creative commons, etc. in artistic production, blah blah.
Just last week I talked about the specific kind of nerdy community vibe that formed at ROFLCon. Today, Weezer - a pop band with a nerdy ex-Harvard frontman, whom we nerdy current Harvardians feel obligated to pay attention to - released the video for their single “Pork and Beans” on YouTube.
The song’s about staying true to yourself even though you’re not cool at school. This is pretty much the quintessential challenge of young nerds everywhere… but guys, check out their video:
And yes, they’ve co-opted a bunch of heroes of internet culture to sell their upcoming CD. And they’re definitely not the first commercial entity to try to harness internet culture to make some bucks.
But when I watch this video, I feel like I personally just got a big shoutout from some other nerds who happen to have made it big. From the comments I’ve been reading around the internet, that’s what the dominant reaction has been. It feels like a big in-joke we’re all pulling on mainstream pop culture: like “hey, look who’s setting the trends now, assholes!”
So good job Weezer. re: your co-option of internet culture, I can honestly say: ur doin it rite.
Starting Very Soon Now, my distinguished colleague Alex Wong will be guest blogging on rachelpopkin.com.
Q: But Rachel, isn’t it a little weird for you to be appointing guest bloggers on your personal blog?
A: Ok, yes, a little. However:
The internet is a big place, and I can always use help choosing interesting bits of it to showcase here.
This means more content! So when I’m AFK for several weeks at a time (which does occasionally happen, due to travel or laziness), you will still have things to click on instead of doing your real work.
Alex’s interests are somewhat different than mine -> variety! Yes!
Alex is pretty cool.
So give him a warm welcome (read: please comment on his posts when he starts posting).
No, seriously. Animation created by painting on a giant outdoor wall, taking a picture, repainting, taking a picture… and repeating that sequence for, well, it’s got to be several thousand times.
Watch it through to the end - you have to see the parts where the animations start interacting with 3D objects!
