GTD for Creatives

[Kelly Sue]

So, this is the conversation that John-Paul started with me on Facebook that made me wish I had a forum...

It started with this link:

Getting Creative Things Done: How To Fit Hard Thinking Into a Busy Schedule (http://the99percent.com/tips/6956/Getting-Creative-Things-Done-How-To-Fit-Hard-Thinking-Into-a-Busy-Schedule)

...and this note from John-Paul:


I'm still coming to terms with balancing out my own productivity as I often struggle with the process of stepping away from a project and assessing what can be done to improve the way I'm working. Another thing that occurs for me is that I tend to work with deadline stress that exceeds urgency and this tends to make the process not very enjoyable and the result not very well polished. The article does suggest some ways to work around moments of stress.

I place part of the blame on working within industries that demand a finished deliverable in a short a time frame and a small budget. To speak metaphorically, you often wind up with a dish served luke warm, filled with frozen veggies. After 15 years in my current industry, this workflow is so well ingrained that I am having a great deal of difficulty making the transition to something more free flowing and organic while still coming up with a final result.

Although we all struggle with the criticism of our own inner dialogue, I often use couples in creative industries (ie Matt & yourself, Ashley Wood/TP Louise) as examples to my wife as to where we would like to be in the near future.

I must apologise for rambling so much! Maybe this would be a good conversation to have as a wall thread on your facebook page? Perhaps a number of other people would be interested in a conversation along these lines?

[nickellis]

The article and John-Paul's response are stupidly close to things I'm trying out.

My two differences to the articles method would be:
- taking it a step closer to David Allen-style GTD by using lists/hierarchy of ability rather than blocked out times
- making sure I ditch an all-or-nothing feel

Re: lists vs calendar - I struggle a lot with pre-determining what work I'm going to do when. I have no idea what I'll have the energy/inclination/ability to do at a given time, & if I do pre-determine tasks, it rarely matches up, or the pressure rachets up for no good reason. (That said, certain things are time critical, and deadlines are a good motivator, which is kind of backwards to what I've just said.)

Re: lists, I like the GTD approach of identifying tasks, down to the specific next actions (where possible) then having a list of these ready to go. Then it depends on where I am & therefore what I can do, time I have to do it, energy/willingness, priority. All of which is just a rabbiting of David Allen, but it works for me (when I actually do it).

The only addition I have is that sometimes I find with creative stuff (man that feels wanky to write), there are times where there aren't specific 'next actions'. Sometimes you just need to write, or think, or draw for a bit. Working on how to fit that in.

Re: all-or-nothing, I've picked this up from the awesome (if slightly obnoxious and ridiculous) podcast Back To Work, by Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin [http://5by5.tv/b2w/] where one of Mann's main points is that the idea of being 'hypocritical if you don't follow your own philosophy to the letter' is self defeating - you'll just get caught up in how crap you are at living up to an imagined standard.

Which brings me to admitting that a lot of what I've written here is theoretical, and that I only half-follow GTD, and don't write/draw/whatever as much as I'd like.

But I prefer the idea that (stolen from the podcast) that you actually start writing/drawing/whatever-ing again each day. If you didn't do it yesterday, that doesn't matter as much as doing it today.

And with that in mind, here is a drawing I did yesterday of Spider-Man and Osborn, in the style of Peanuts: http://electric589.tumblr.com/post/6967303164/spidey-osborn-peanuts-style-taken-with

And today I plan to draw Michelle Bachmann, because I've found a photo with her making a Shuster-Superman squint.

N

PS - Erm, that's long, apologies. And I also want to second John-Paul's call of seeing you, Matt (and I'll add Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, our host Bendis and Jonathan Hickman) as models for how I want to work.

[nickellis]

Edited because I can't delete the double-post. Ergh. Sorry guys.

[nickellis]

I hate my phone and network. Sorry.

[Kelly Sue]

Which brings me to admitting that a lot of what I've written here is theoretical, and that I only half-follow GTD, and don't write/draw/whatever as much as I'd like.



Sing it, brother.

My methods are wildly imperfect, but as long as I trend toward improvement, I'm okay with that.

[nickellis]

For some weird reason I've got some 'new financial-year resolutions', one of which is to have a crack at full-blown GTD. Will let you know how it goes.

EDITed to add... Do you use any apps? I've looked at some things and have a Remember The Milk account, but it's hard to get it to be not as calendar-y. Interested to see what the new iOS 5 list/task thing will be like, and have wondered about Omnifocus (but can't bring myself to drop the cash...).

[tomgastall]

"Do you use any apps?"

Going to try Things next week. It would be cool if I could sync Things with a calendar and attach asset docs to specific tasks, but I'm not sure if it has those features. It does have tags, though.

Something else I've considered: making a detailed project journal with phases/completion log in for a personal project, then using that as as schedule template (maybe with some padding). Maybe bottom-up, then top-down in terms of an approach.

Tom Gastall

[Sean McArdle]

This is the thread that got me here, for the record. Saw your blog post about your work journal and I'm thinking of emulating it. You're a smart lady.

[Kelly Sue]

This is the thread that got me here, for the record. Saw your blog post about your work journal and I'm thinking of emulating it. You're a smart lady.

I've missed you, propboy!!

[Sean McArdle]

I've missed you, propboy!!

Missed you too, KS. :)

I've been on a productivity quest lately myself, so it's timely that I saw and latched on to your blog post. This whole being my own boss thing is great, but time management is a bear. Lately I've been trying out a variety of tools, with some success. Here's what I use:

Whiteboard: By far my favorite. I don't know what the hell I did without it. I found a huge one on craigslist for cheap and it's the best investment I've made in years. I've got it on the wall in my office and I have it divided up into three vertical spaces: To Do lists, work space, calendar. It generally keeps me focused on the tasks at hand, gives me an instant space to record random ideas quickly, and shows me my general schedule at a glance. I use the iPhone camera to archive the workspace before erasing once I'm done with something. And to archive those images I use....

Evernote: I LOVE EVERNOTE. I've been using it for a couple of months now and I use it for practically everything, and I find new uses for it all the time. I've been able to consolidate all of the random methods I've used over the years to record ideas into a single format. Old sticky notes, journal pages, sketches, iPhone notes, emails, bookmarks, it all goes into Evernote. I also use it exclusively for note taking if I'm using the iPhone, because you can use text, multiple images, or audio. I paid the $45 for the premium membership right away because I blew past the free bandwidth allotment the first day. I need to get on the stick and remember to organize the data I have in there more regularly, but as a general rule it's been a godsend.

Legal pads: I always have a couple hanging around to capture ideas.

Leatherbound Moleskine-style journals: I usually bring these to meetings to jot notes because I can write faster than I can type, and usually end up sketching as part of my note taking.

Hanging files: I've got years of old files moldering in boxes. I've started the process of organizing them into files with some success. But oftentimes I end up using the phone to scan stuff into Evernote. Chances are It'll end up being more useful there, but it's nice to have the physical archive as well.

The next thing I need to focus on is managing my time more effectively, something which as a rule I'm dreadful at. Put a project with a timeline in front of me and I'm fine, that's a skill that theater drums into you early and often. That audience is a'coming whether you're ready or not. I've also realized how dependent I was on the structure inherent in working for an institution. Having a ton of people around you working towards the same goal means that a certain amount of planning is done for you. Also, I find it's easier for me to manage a team of people working for me than it is to manage my own time. So now that i'm mostly working solo, tim management is the monkey on my back, and that's where I'm looking for tools to help. I've been on a GTD/David Allen binge today thanks to you, and found a bunch of great stuff. For inspiration I've been reading a lot of Seth Godin over the past couple of months. But I need some practical tools for the day to day processing of information, and I think GTD is going to help. I too thought about Omni-focus, but good lord that thing has a large price tag.

Thanks for this kick in the butt, KS, I needed it. Just writing this was a helpful exercise.

[Sean McArdle]

Oh yeah, and I downloaded Day One, for both my MBP and the iPhone. I'd been using a Moleskine to journal, but I think this is going to be far more effective.

[Karen Mahoney]

I think I might hang out on this thread in the hope of picking up some tips by osmosis. Or something. ;)

I have read DA's GTD book and it scared me. I'm so bad at working in any kind of organised way, and yet my deadlines are increasing & the number of different projects at different stages of development do make me panic a little... I keep trying different systems and schedules, but so far I've not hit on something I can really stick with.

(Though that could just be because I'm a Gemini.)

Kaz

[nickellis]

Just a quick note to Karen - GTD *is* terrifying, but that doesn't mean there aren't things from it that are worth trying out.

Not being able to do the whole thing doesn't mean you can't use some of it.

I've never made it to a full GTD implementation, but I use the filing system (physically - need to worm on an electronic counterpart) and 'ubiquitous capture' (I carry a notepad and pen with me at all times so if I have an idea I can jot it down).

More soon on this, as I've seen some cool stuff recently.

N

[Karen Mahoney]

Nick, thanks for this. I have actually been trying to do something similar - only the last few days, but I found some cool stuff online about people who use GTD filing systems with Moleskine (and other) physical notebooks. I do love my Moleskines, so maybe this could be a step in the right direction.

I look forward to seeing if you post more!

Cheers,
Kaz

[Sean McArdle]

(physically - need to worm on an electronic counterpart)

I can't recommend Evernote enough. I had it forever and didn't use it, and then a friend explained to me how he was using it and something clicked. It's the perfect receptacle for everything, it's exactly the tool that GTD seems to describe. I can get all of the crap out of my head, dump it in there, and find it again when I need it. I love it to the point where I probably sound like a company shill, but the fact is I just love it that much sand find it that useful.

[Karen Mahoney]

I can't recommend Evernote enough.

Sorry to jump in on your reply to Nick but this sounds like something I should be trying, too... Thanks for the rec.

[Kelly Sue]

I've tried using Evernote a couple of times. I think I get it more in philosophy than I do in actual... mechanics. Like, I think I'm using the interface incorrectly? I find it to be incredibly cumbersome to actually input anything. I want to just highlight and click, the way I can with Omnifocus.

[Karen Mahoney]

Kelly Sue, you use Macs don't you? Probably Omnifocus is something for Macs, but I should really just go Google that... ;)

I am really stuggling to find a good working practice for myself. I have multiple deadlines with multiple publishers for my novels - along with a few other projects. I'm sure I don't have too much to do, it's just a matter of finding the right method for organising myself. Um... I hope!

[TheTravis!]

I think I might hang out on this thread in the hope of picking up some tips by osmosis. Or something. ;)

I have read DA's GTD book and it scared me. I'm so bad at working in any kind of organised way, and yet my deadlines are increasing & the number of different projects at different stages of development do make me panic a little... I keep trying different systems and schedules, but so far I've not hit on something I can really stick with.

(Though that could just be because I'm a Gemini.)
Kaz

I read the bolded as "Though that could just be because I'm a Gremlin."

I need to get more sleep.

[Kelly Sue]

Kelly Sue, you use Macs don't you? Probably Omnifocus is something for Macs, but I should really just go Google that... ;)

I am really stuggling to find a good working practice for myself. I have multiple deadlines with multiple publishers for my novels - along with a few other projects. I'm sure I don't have too much to do, it's just a matter of finding the right method for organising myself. Um... I hope!

I do use Macs. I used to use a program called THINKING ROCK, which I'm almost 100% certain is also available for PCs. It's been a long time, but it essentially did what OMNIFOCUS does, in a different format.

[Karen Mahoney]

I do use Macs. I used to use a program called THINKING ROCK, which I'm almost 100% certain is also available for PCs. It's been a long time, but it essentially did what OMNIFOCUS does, in a different format.

So, I'm looking through some of the tutorials on Thinking Rock and it could be just what I need. I almost jumped out of my seat when I saw you can also download emails from Gmail via the interface...

Seriously, thanks for this. :)

Kaz

[Karen Mahoney]

I read the bolded as "Though that could just be because I'm a Gremlin."

I need to get more sleep.

Haha!! Well... I could be one of those, too. I am often eating after midnight, so it would explain a lot!

Kaz (someone else who clearly needs more sleep)

[Kelly Sue]

So, I'm looking through some of the tutorials on Thinking Rock and it could be just what I need. I almost jumped out of my seat when I saw you can also download emails from Gmail via the interface...

Seriously, thanks for this. :)

Kaz

Oh good! Fingers: crossed.

[Sean McArdle]

I've tried using Evernote a couple of times. I think I get it more in philosophy than I do in actual... mechanics. Like, I think I'm using the interface incorrectly? I find it to be incredibly cumbersome to actually input anything. I want to just highlight and click, the way I can with Omnifocus.

It may have been long enough since you've used it that they've implemented a lot of new features. They have a plug in for every major browser so you can clip an entire page or just a selection, by clicking a button in the nav bar or by right clicking (or two finger clicking, mac-style). There's a plugin icon in the top navigation bar, and there's the stand alone program. I find the app really easy to use, and it almost makes me want an iPad just for Evernote. In other words, my ability to highlight and click is exactly why I ended up adopting it.

Personal Brain is another one that I've played with, that oddly enough has just joined up with David Allen. They have a resource page where he demonstrates how he uses PB to implement GTD.

http://www.thebrain.com/products/personalbrain/get-more-done/gtd/

[Kelly Sue]

Man, I wish I could LIKE or promote a post, McArdle. This is fantastic.

Have you checked out Merlin Mann's 43 Folders site? I don't know who Seth Godin is, but I'm going to find out...

[Kelly Sue]

it may have been long enough since you've used it that they've implemented a lot of new features. They have a plug in for every major browser so you can clip an entire page or just a selection, by clicking a button in the nav bar or by right clicking (or two finger clicking, mac-style). There's a plugin icon in the top navigation bar, and there's the stand alone program. I find the app really easy to use, and it almost makes me want an ipad just for evernote. In other words, my ability to highlight and click is exactly why i ended up adopting it.

Personal brain is another one that i've played with, that oddly enough has just joined up with david allen. They have a resource page where he demonstrates how he uses pb to implement gtd.

http://www.thebrain.com/products/personalbrain/get-more-done/gtd/

what happened to the rest of your post?!

[Sean McArdle]

Did I lose part of it? I went back and edited the Quote tag, I didn't think I deleted anything....

While I'm singing the praises of Evernote, I just now saw that they bought Skitch, which till now was $20 in the App store and now is free:

http://blog.evernote.com/2011/08/18/evernote-acquires-skitch-evernote_etc/

Also, I find the Evernote blog really helpful. They have case studies where they profile how different people implement the program, from business owners to writers to whatever. I find a lot more insight in these studies than anything else they have to say about it. It was a friend's blog post where he explained how he used it that convinced me to give it a try.

I LOVE me some Seth Godin: http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/

[Kelly Sue]

Did I lose part of it? I went back and edited the Quote tag, I didn't think I deleted anything....

While I'm singing the praises of Evernote, I just now saw that they bought Skitch, which till now was $20 in the App store and now is free:

http://blog.evernote.com/2011/08/18/evernote-acquires-skitch-evernote_etc/

Also, I find the Evernote blog really helpful. They have case studies where they profile how different people implement the program, from business owners to writers to whatever. I find a lot more insight in these studies than anything else they have to say about it. It was a friend's blog post where he explained how he used it that convinced me to give it a try.

I LOVE me some Seth Godin: http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/

Yeah, I no longer see the list of tools you use at all. Just your reply about Evernote.

Watching Godin's Ted Talk about sliced bread as I clean my office right now.

And found the Evernote button for my browser--hoping this will make all the difference for me.

Thanks, man.

[Sean McArdle]

You mean this? It was an earlier post in the thread. Godin is doing this thing with Amazon called the Domino Project, where authors are releasing books exclusively digitally as Kindle editions. I picked up one of his and it was a great kick in the pants motivator.


Missed you too, KS. :)

I've been on a productivity quest lately myself, so it's timely that I saw and latched on to your blog post. This whole being my own boss thing is great, but time management is a bear. Lately I've been trying out a variety of tools, with some success. Here's what I use:

Whiteboard: By far my favorite. I don't know what the hell I did without it. I found a huge one on craigslist for cheap and it's the best investment I've made in years. I've got it on the wall in my office and I have it divided up into three vertical spaces: To Do lists, work space, calendar. It generally keeps me focused on the tasks at hand, gives me an instant space to record random ideas quickly, and shows me my general schedule at a glance. I use the iPhone camera to archive the workspace before erasing once I'm done with something. And to archive those images I use....

Evernote: I LOVE EVERNOTE. I've been using it for a couple of months now and I use it for practically everything, and I find new uses for it all the time. I've been able to consolidate all of the random methods I've used over the years to record ideas into a single format. Old sticky notes, journal pages, sketches, iPhone notes, emails, bookmarks, it all goes into Evernote. I also use it exclusively for note taking if I'm using the iPhone, because you can use text, multiple images, or audio. I paid the $45 for the premium membership right away because I blew past the free bandwidth allotment the first day. I need to get on the stick and remember to organize the data I have in there more regularly, but as a general rule it's been a godsend.

Legal pads: I always have a couple hanging around to capture ideas.

Leatherbound Moleskine-style journals: I usually bring these to meetings to jot notes because I can write faster than I can type, and usually end up sketching as part of my note taking.

Hanging files: I've got years of old files moldering in boxes. I've started the process of organizing them into files with some success. But oftentimes I end up using the phone to scan stuff into Evernote. Chances are It'll end up being more useful there, but it's nice to have the physical archive as well.

The next thing I need to focus on is managing my time more effectively, something which as a rule I'm dreadful at. Put a project with a timeline in front of me and I'm fine, that's a skill that theater drums into you early and often. That audience is a'coming whether you're ready or not. I've also realized how dependent I was on the structure inherent in working for an institution. Having a ton of people around you working towards the same goal means that a certain amount of planning is done for you. Also, I find it's easier for me to manage a team of people working for me than it is to manage my own time. So now that i'm mostly working solo, tim management is the monkey on my back, and that's where I'm looking for tools to help. I've been on a GTD/David Allen binge today thanks to you, and found a bunch of great stuff. For inspiration I've been reading a lot of Seth Godin over the past couple of months. But I need some practical tools for the day to day processing of information, and I think GTD is going to help. I too thought about Omni-focus, but good lord that thing has a large price tag.

Thanks for this kick in the butt, KS, I needed it. Just writing this was a helpful exercise.

[Kelly Sue]

Wow... I... I cannot explain what just happened in my brain w/r/t this thread. I think I must've missed your post the first time, then saw it and replied to it thinking it was at the bottom of the last page, when it was at the bottom of the first.

I dunno.

Anyway.

I got Steven Pressfield's latest as part of that same project, I think. Do you know his stuff? The War of Art is a favorite of mine.

[Sean McArdle]

I didn't remember mentioning Godin, so for a few minutes there I was convinced we'd achieved some sort of psychic link through the internets where you were gleaning thoughts directly from my head. So I'm right there with you.

I discovered 43 Folders a while back thanks to you mentioning it at some point, though his site doesn't look terribly active at the moment. Just looked up War of Art and it's officially On The List. Thanks to Google+ I'm tuned back into Scott McCloud, who I always find inspiring. I'm on Godin's mailing list and wake up every day to some snippet of wisdom that gets my brain started.

It's funny, I always have to look outside my field for inspiration, because everyone in theater is either burnt out or too busy to think straight. We tend to be a Live In The Now kind of tribe as you well know. Part of my getting the hell out of NYC was so that I could get some perspective and hear my own thoughts again. For as much crap as I gave you when you left the city in hindsight you were so smart to get out and I applaud you for the move. Now that I'm out I feel like I can breathe again, and gain some focus and control rather than freaking out about where rent is coming from next month, or taking 400% more work than I should be in order to get ahead. I liked the blog post today about goal setting, btw. I do it in fits and starts but I like the way you two handle it, very smart.

[nickellis]

This thread is making me so happy it's stupid. :)

Sean, Merlin Mann hasn't been doing much on 43 Folders of late, but he's started a podcast http://5by5.tv/b2w/ that I highly recommend.

[Kelly Sue]

This thread is making me so happy it's stupid. :)

Sean, Merlin Mann hasn't been doing much on 43 Folders of late, but he's started a podcast http://5by5.tv/b2w/ that I highly recommend.

Downloading the first episode right now...

[Kelly Sue]

I think I'm about to use Antony Johnston's Scrivener methodology start-to-finish for the first time today. Will let you know how it goes.

[nickellis]

Oh wow, I'd looked at that and it looked hardcore (although I suspect that's just mostly down to the difference between reading a process and actually doing it).

Hope it goes well!

N

[Karen Mahoney]

I think I'm about to use Antony Johnston's Scrivener methodology start-to-finish for the first time today. Will let you know how it goes.

I have no idea what that is, so am now going to google it. :)

[Karen Mahoney]

I can't remember if anyone has already posted a link to this, so apologies if I'm doubling up, but this free ebook is pretty cool:

http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/2007/12/03/time-management-for-creative-people-free-e-book/

The author, Mark McGuinness, has some great blog posts about the subject too (at the link above).

Kaz

[Karen Mahoney]

I'm going to try these two things (by Cal Newport) for 2012:

Productivity-Free Day (http://calnewport.com/blog/2007/10/19/declare-a-productivity-free-day/)

and

Administrative Day (http://calnewport.com/blog/2007/10/31/how-to-use-an-administrative-day-to-significantly-increase-your-weekly-productivity/)

They're very old posts, but I've had them bookmarked and printed out for ages. Way too long! I am seriously going to give both of these a shot in the first few months of the year, see how I get on.

Kaz

[killingyouguy]

Discovering this thread has been both highly motivating and fuel for procrastination. That's probably my biggest problem with productivity stuff is that I get super-into it for a while, but then it's so much to think about it just all falls away. It's like creativity yo-yo dieting.

[nickellis]

I'm sure it's been posted in this forum before, but I love Henry Miller's rules for writing, especially this one:

“When you can’t create you can work.” Henry Miller's 11 commandments of writing and his daily creative routine http://t.co/Kv0KPGCM

Via @brainpicker on Twitter, who you should definitely follow.

N

PS - friend of mine from work just had a baby, they named him Henry, their last name is Miller. :)

[tomgastall]

Trying out the web version of Wunderlist, so I can use it on multiple machines. It's a free organization app:

http://www.wunderlist.com

-Tom

[TRACERfire]

Oh man... when it comes to contributing to this thread I've certainly dropped the ball!
For this I really must apologise.

In the year (plus) that Kelly Sue started this thread I certainly have managed to keep busy.
Tis a shame that 'busy' and 'productive' aren't mutually inclusive terminologies. ;)

The past several months have been a blur of university studies, some irritating health problems mixed with the woes (and some highs) of being a freelancer in a repressed economy.
This has been topped with the added shock that we're expecting our first child in early December.
As a result, my online presence has been severely curtailed. I do like the flow and general tone of these messageboards though and hope to spend a bit more time contributing.

As far as getting things done, I've developed quite an addiction to Evernote.
The auto-sync allows me to continually concentrate of "content creation" rather than "content management".
I'm still using the free account which, so far, has been more than sufficient.

The web clipper function is particularly useful when performing research that requires me to keep close track of references for citation.

I also Google Drive and DropBox to hold reference and research material, generally in PDF format.




A few things I've learned recently:
The iPad is a great tool, particularly for reading and research. Comixology is quite good too.
Choose carefully when presented with an opportunity to collaborate or work with someone. My father taught me that if someone offers you a lift in their car, a the minimum offer them 5 or 10 dollars for gas money. Tragically, not everyone had the same father ;)
Show your work to people!
An author by the name of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (http://www.amazon.com/Mihaly-Csikszentmihalyi/e/B000AQ1KVM/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1) has recently caught my interest. His book, one of many, "Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention" is a revelation of insight into how one's perception of "being creative" is much more than simply coming up with "good ideas". I'm still only part way through the book; but I'm in true and absolute love with this quote from an early passage:



"Creativity results from the interaction of a system composed of three elements: a culture that contains symbolic rules, a person who brings novelty in the symbolic domain, and a field of experts who recognise and validate the innovation. All three are necessary for a creative idea, product, or discovery to take place"
I originally come from an engineering design and technical drawing background. What endears me about Mihaly's writings is that he makes little distinction between creativity in the arts and creativity in the sciences.
I've been stuck somewhere in the middle and have struggled at coming to terms with this for many years. To me, the process of engineering design is as much about the division of labour, communication with colleagues and developed workflows as the process of creating a comic book. For example, the relation between a property developer (the client), an architect, the engineering services team and the building contractor isn't too disimilar to that of an editor, writer, artist, inker, letterer and remainder of the production team.

Hopefully I've dropped enough linguistic bombs to ignite further conversation about workflows and getting things done.
I'll be sure to check back regularly as it would be nice to get to know everyone around here a little more.

Thanks for listening and also for the kind words earlier in the thread. It's really appreciated.

Cheers.
-John-Paul McCarthy

[nickellis]

Welcome back! And to answer one of your last questions first - yes, well done on the bomb dropping!




As far as getting things done, I've developed quite an addiction to Evernote.
The auto-sync allows me to continually concentrate of "content creation" rather than "content management".
I'm still using the free account which, so far, has been more than sufficient.

The web clipper function is particularly useful when performing research that requires me to keep close track of references for citation.

I also Google Drive and DropBox to hold reference and research material, generally in PDF format.


I have never gotten Evernote to work well for me, but I definitely need a better research file system, so maybe it's worth another look.

(Currently I email myself links to a Gmail account I wasn't using - not really the greatest. I also want to investigate Zotero, an academic research/citing application, but there aren't any good iPhone/iPad apps for it, and that's where I do most of my internetting.)

Have recently fallen in love with Dropbox. So good.



A few things I've learned recently:
The iPad is a great tool, particularly for reading and research. Comixology is quite good too.


I concur. Also, with a keyboard (I use the Mac wireless keyboard and the Origami iPad stand) it's great for writing.



Choose carefully when presented with an opportunity to collaborate or work with someone. My father taught me that if someone offers you a lift in their car, a the minimum offer them 5 or 10 dollars for gas money. Tragically, not everyone had the same father ;)

Ugh. Yes. Need to remember this.



Show your work to people!

Especially people who aren't obliged to be nice about it.



An author by the name of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (http://www.amazon.com/Mihaly-Csikszentmihalyi/e/B000AQ1KVM/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1) has recently caught my interest. His book, one of many, "Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention" is a revelation of insight into how one's perception of "being creative" is much more than simply coming up with "good ideas". I'm still only part way through the book; but I'm in true and absolute love with this quote from an early passage:

I originally come from an engineering design and technical drawing background. What endears me about Mihaly's writings is that he makes little distinction between creativity in the arts and creativity in the sciences.
I've been stuck somewhere in the middle and have struggled at coming to terms with this for many years. To me, the process of engineering design is as much about the division of labour, communication with colleagues and developed workflows as the process of creating a comic book. For example, the relation between a property developer (the client), an architect, the engineering services team and the building contractor isn't too disimilar to that of an editor, writer, artist, inker, letterer and remainder of the production team.

Interesting, will have to take a look!

Ok, more soon, welcome back again, and happy to see more posts in this thread.

N

[TRACERfire]

I have never gotten Evernote to work well for me, but I definitely need a better research file system, so maybe it's worth another look.
N

There is a clunkiness to Evernote that took me a bit of time to overcome. But when it comes to jotting things down in a hurry, and in multiple locations, it's been the perfect tool for me. Just this afternoon I took down a great deal of notes via web browser during a lecture and came home to them sitting safely inside the desktop install for additional research / follow up this evening.

A problem I've generally had with open source or near-free web tools is that I'm never fully comfortable that they're going to be around forever.
Having that bounce around the periphery of my head always makes me hesitant to embrace some of these tools. With the example of Evernote I was lucky enough to find something that I adapted to quite easily.




I also want to investigate Zotero, an academic research/citing application, but there aren't any good iPhone/iPad apps for it, and that's where I do most of my internetting.)
N

hm... I'll have to look deeper into Zotero as it states that it has citation capabilities for references.
If it does APA style consistently and accurately then I think we've found a winner.

Thanks for the welcome back Nick.


Oh... if you're looking for an additional method of backing up and sharing design and media files (ie PS, AI and files from music production packages such as Ableton Live) then there is a great little utility called Gobbler. You are allowed 5GB for signing up and additional "cloud-like" storage can be purchased as you expand. What I really like about it is that the utility keeps track of the content on you hard drives (local and networked) and suggests files for you to backup as you create then. Quite a smooth and transparent way of backing up, or sharing via URL to friend/colleagues)

https://www.gobbler.com/



edited to add:

Looks like Zotero does support the APA (American Psychological Association) style for citations
http://www.zotero.org/styles

I'll have a look at it over the next couple of days as the university here only accepts APA style for references in papers and reports.
Cheers for the tip!

[TRACERfire]

Browsing through my notes I found a reference to a website by the name of www.bibme.org (http://www.bibme.org)
Yet another tool for assembling references and bibliographies.

The 'about us' page seems to describe the functionality of the site best:


BibMe is a free automatic citation creator that supports MLA, APA, Chicago, and Turabian formatting. BibMe leverages external databases to quickly fill citation information for you. BibMe will then format the citation information and compile a bibliography according to the guidelines of the style manuals. If you prefer, you can enter your citation information manually. BibMe also features a citation guide that provides students with the style manuals' guidelines for citing references.

[nickellis]

Zotero (from all accounts - I haven't used it yet) is brilliant for academic bibliographies. I'd be more interested in general reference and note making, and I really just want something that works well on the phone - so I'm going to try out Evernote again.

Thanks for all the other tips!

N

[TRACERfire]

@Nick

You're very welcome mate.

I've only just noticed that Evernote appears to be completely broken when accessed via Safari on the iPad.
I would definitely recommend using the App for it (both for iPad and on the OSX Desktop).

I've tried Evernote on a Android-based phone and it worked great.
Assuming it would work on a iPhone just as well (if that's your particular poison).

[TRACERfire]

Not quite "Getting Things Done" but here are a few books that I often flip through for inspiration.
Several sections of the Betty Edwards book are great to read as she makes a full-burst attack on the mid-century conventions of creativity.
Looking back to a book written in the mid-80s also provides me with some perspective as to where we are today in the world of design and what the public/web/blogosphere view and a good choice design-wise.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/335378_10150999408475059_909053037_o.jpg

[Karen Mahoney]

Really liked this short article and thought it was worth sharing:

The Rhythms of Work vs The Rhythms of Creative Labor (http://99u.com/articles/7126/The-Rhythms-of-Work-vs-The-Rhythms-of-Creative-Labor)