Dec 4, 2015
In case you have forgotten, there are very specific rules on when you review each section of the MYN and 1MTD task list. Very simply they are: “Once an Hour, once a Day, once a Week.”
Pretty simple!
Michael
Dec 1, 2015
[UPDATE: This article has been updated here. The article below refers to an older version of OneNote]
I have long said that the MYN (and 1MTD) systems are not the best place to manage certain kinds of task lists. One type is high-volume operational tasks. For example, let’s say you process 50 invoices a day, I would not want you to enter 50 tasks into your MYN or 1MTD list each day, one for each invoice. There are better systems for that.
Well, here’s another type of list that I think is better done outside of MYN and 1MTD: shopping lists.
I know that sounds strange, why not just put those items in your mobile MYN/1MTD list? You can, but there are better solutions. One I have been using for a while is OneNote on my iPhone (I think this works the same on Android), and I really like the way it works for stores that I do repeat shopping at (grocery stores, drug stores, etc). Continue reading
Nov 26, 2015
The Toodledo folks announced yesterday that part 5 of their redesign is completed. There is more to come but this is an important milestone because apparently most of the obvious and large user interface changes are complete with this phase. You can read about the latest changes made here.
All the changes that have accumulated over the last few months seem really good to me. They make the software controls more nimble and less “noisy” on the screen, but still just as functional. I think the overall appearance is better too.
Major Benefit: Website “Fits” on Smartphones
Without going into all the major changes, let me mention what I think is one of the most important benefits of the changes: if you run Toodledo in a smartphone web browser (Safari on iPhone, Chrome on Android, and so on), and your screen size is reasonably large, you can see enough of your tasks and major controls to use Toodledo quite nicely. Continue reading
Nov 11, 2015 [this is a complete update to a older Dec 4 2014 post]
As you know, I have two primary recommendations in MYN and 1MTD for keeping e-mail under control:
Unfortunately, none of the native mail apps on either iOS and Android have the ability to assign categories or convert emails to tasks. Nor does Microsoft’s Outlook smartphone app, which is surprising.
But there’s an app that can do both of these on the iPhone or Android: and it’s called TouchDown, and it’s marketed by Symantec. It’s only for users with an Exchange Server (e.g. for those in a corporate environment or for individuals using Office 365 with Exchange).
I’ve been recommending TouchDown for years on Android, but up until recently I thought its iPhone version was too immature—however, as of the past year or so it’s e-mail module is ready to recommend. It also comes with good Calendar and Contacts modules that sync with Exchange.
[9/27/2017 Update: the Touchdown App is no longer being sold by Symantec]
These are very unique apps
There are very few e-mail apps on iPhone and Android that can both assign or view Outlook categories on smartphone mail and convert e-mails to tasks—even Microsoft’s apps can’t do this. (I am told that on Android another app called Nine can do this too, but I have not tested it. And I was just told in comments that Mail+ for iPhone by “iKonic apps” can do this too, again, not tested by us yet). So these TouchDown apps are very good for MYN and 1MTD users. I covered the Android TouchDown app well here, so in the rest of this article I want to focus mostly on the iPhone/iOS app. Continue reading
Nov 1, 2015
There are lots of reports in the technology press about lots of problems with the new Surface Book. Here is one such article:
http://www.zdnet.com/article/surface-book-suffers-from-launch-day-bugs/
That article was from 5 days ago and most of those bugs are still present (I know, I have one).
I suppose this is inevitable with such a new product and OS. Heck, even Apple has lots of these: when I upgraded to iOS 9 on my iPhone 6 last month it led to tons of bugs on my iPhone that took weeks to finally fix with the release of iOS 9.1.
The Surface Book issues almost all seem like software issues, so auto-updates should take care of them. But you may want to wait a while before getting one if you were thinking about it.
Michael
Nov 1, 2015
You probably know that the main difference between the two task systems I teach: the MYN system and the One Minute To-Do List system (1MTD), is that MYN uses start dates on all tasks. This use of start dates in MYN leads to a ton of advantages such as keeping your visible list shorter, setting follow-up tasks, and using Defer-to-Review to keep your low priority (Over-the-Horizon) list well under control. It makes MYN a much more powerful system and one capable of handling a lot more tasks.
But again and again as I teach MYN in person, I see an initial “misunderstanding” crop up about how to set start dates, and I want to cover the solution to that misunderstanding here in case it affects you. Here is how this problem usually shows up. Continue reading
November 1, 2015
As I reported about a month ago, the Toodledo web application is undergoing major User Interface (UI) changes, all of them good in my opinion. They are rolling those changes out in stages, and the latest changes were released a few days ago and described here:
http://www.toodledo.com/forums/1/21861/0/tasks-redesign-part-4.html
The Toodledo team still has more UI changes that they plan to make in the weeks ahead. Once the UI changes have settled down, I am going to update the Toodledo MYN and 1MTD video classes to reflect them. But there is no sense in me doing that until all those changes settle down, so be patient.
Michael
October 21, 2015 [updated Oct 22, 2015]
Microsoft’s new PC hardware is extremely important to productivity users because they highlight the new Windows 10 productivity features, and many of you may be ready for a laptop or tablet upgrade.
So I am very interested in the reviews about this hardware—should productivity users invest in them? I read hardware reviews with a lot of care, mostly because they are too often slanted by the whims of the reviewers. So I try to find writers I trust when I recommend a review to my readers. Here are a number of writers I trust and their reviews of the Surface Book and the Surface Pro 4. I am emphasizing the Surface Book reviews since it is such a new design. Continue reading
Oct 15, 2015
Some users are struggling to get their Outlook 2016 upgrade. First, I see no reason to rush; but still, some users are excited. Here is an article that explains why some are able to upgrade, but others not, and what to do about it.
Michael
Oct 9 2015
I much prefer that my business contacts e-mail me rather than leave a voicemail. That way I can scan their messages more quickly. In fact, if I call someone and get their voicemail, I rarely leave one; I usually jump into e-mail and send them a message.
I am not alone. According to this article, some companies are even turning off voicemail. The article goes on to list reasons not to use it.
Now, all that said, I do approve of Unified voicemail, where the voicemail at least goes into your e-mail Inbox as a recorded attachment. That way once I listen and get a gist of the request, I can convert it to a task in my 1MTD or MYN system and prioritize my action on it, and easily re-listen later when I need to take action.
And I feel there are times it is just quicker to use a voicemail to describe some complex issues, and to express my tone of voice better.
What do you think? Let me know in comments.
Michael
