blog to discovery

I’ve been writing this blog for over two years and I noticed recently  that the topics I’m writing about have changed slightly and I’m interested in your thoughts about the future direction. Please feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments, but I’ve also created a poll below and in the sidebar to make it easy; you can select up to 5 responses.

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I started this blog after using Live Journal for a year and realising I wanted to practice my writing in a way I didn’t think I could on LiveJournal. The current strap line Revelations along the way to a simpler, happier and more successful life shows my intentions when I started this blog and the majority of posts were related to productivity.

Over a year ago I asked for some advice on selecting a hosting company for my blog, but despite a couple of suggestions I have still not transferred my site. I have since been advised to use a UK hosting company so that we are both under the same legal criteria and unfortunately the earlier suggestions were both US companies.

I have done some research and have found several companies that appear to meet my requirements, but I’ve realised I don’t know how to tell a good hosting company. Of course, I want to spend as little as possible, particularly as my blog doesn’t make any money (yet), but I’m happy to pay more for a reliable and helpful company.  I have read that you sometimes need to be careful of the very cheap provider; so how do I tell? I have found several UK review sites, but I’m not sure I can trust any of them as they seem to be mostly about promoting affiliate links.

So in 3 months I should be a mother, and to date we have not done any preparation. It is starting to dawn on me that we need to do something soon, but I’m not sure what. This will be our first child and neither of us have spent much time with babies so we are fairly clueless.

Of course I’ve got some books, but I know that you can’t always take book advice literally. So what I’m looking for is any advice to help us with the new arrival such as

• what would you recommend we need
• what would you recommend we don’t need
• do you have any tips on how to survive the first few weeks
• are there useful things I can make
• any books you think I should read
• any good website I should visit
• any organisation tips for all the baby gear

For the whole of this week I am on a Prince2 project management training course, so over the last few weeks I’ve dutifully been doing the pre course reading. I’ve just finished the first day of the course.

One of the ideas that takes my fancy is the Project Manager’s Daily Log, however I’m struggling to think how I would implement it. Its purpose is described as

“to record required actions or significant events not caught by other PRINCE2 documents. It acts as the Project Manager’s or a Team Manager’s diary.”

My understanding so far is that it is a method of capturing information related to the project, such as conversations with team members, customers etc. However, it also seems to be a reminder of things that need to be done in the future such as reviewing the status of actions that are meant to be completed. In this second aspect it seems to be almost like a tickler file by acting as a trigger to do something.

Things are challenging at work at the moment and it is making me question further whether my organisation system is fit for my job.  Since the beginning of April I have gone from working on two closely related projects for the same manager to four different projects for different managers.  This is proving difficult, especially as they are all urgent now.

My current system prioritises tasks based on deadline and priority level on a last in first out basis, however this does not take into account that I have to ensure I share my effort across the different projects.  I also have different allowances for the amount of time I should spend on each project, so it is not as simple as just working on one task for each project in turn.

So, do any of you work on more than one project at a time in this way?  What has worked for you?  What tips would you suggest I try?

One of the reasons I am busy at work is because I am going abroad soon. I am going to visit my sister in Japan and I’ve had the leave booked since November, so I am very excited, plus it will be a good break away from work. This is part of the reason why I’m writing some shorter posts at the moment as I build up a stash to cover my absence.

The last long haul flight I went on was for my honeymoon to Canada two years ago, but that was only a seven hour flight compared to twelve hours this time.So do you have any tips for a 12 hour flight in economy? And what would you recommend seeing or doing in Japan?

Popularity: 7% [?]

Contexts are a key part of Getting Things Done, in fact they are the first step in deciding what action to work on next. The basic idea is to list tasks by what you need or where you need to be to complete them e.g. computer, telephone, shop.

When I developed my current organiser I did not include contexts because I spent most of my time in the office. I recognised in May last year that utilising the contexts could be very helpful. As things are very busy at work again and I’m away from the office for about the half the time I think now is the time to consider contexts further; particularly as I now have a Blackberry and a laptop that both open up lots of possibilities of getting actions done as I travel.

I’ve started having a problem with my keyboard as the letters are wearing off some of the keys. I understand that old keyboards had the letters printed all the way through, but I admit this is a cheap modern keyboard, it was only bought last November, but I did participate in NaNoWriMo. It wasn’t a problem at first because I can touch type, however now that so many letters have worn away it is sometimes difficult to find the right keys, especially if I’m typing in just a few letters like a password.

I am not keen to replace the whole keyboard because it still works, but I don’t have any practical ideas on how to label the keys and I’m hoping some of you will be able to make suggestions.

Popularity: 75% [?]