LiveLab 02 – Defining an Email Health Calculator

How would you define the state of your email inbox? What would it be like to have an indicator of its current condition? With it, you could decide how to intervene.

Today, most of us use a crude metric – the total number of unread messages. But is that good enough?

Here at 2Time Labs, I have always thought there should be a more refined method. But I only started to develop one by including a few lines in an overall productivity diagnostic tool.

That initial attempt was turned into a first draft, which was the trigger for me to make a call to Dr. Michael Einstein, an email expert.

Eventually, we recorded a set of conversations which were edited down to three episodes (57-59) of the 2Time Labs podcast.

These were quite challenging, involving and number or formulae, plus a slew of assumptions about email management.

Here is the first episode in the series. In each episode, I documented the progress we were making on the index in the show notes. Of course, you can just skip to the end-result but how much fun would that be?

I encourage you to leave your feedback on the episode’s page itself.

 

LiveLab 01 – Comparing Auto-Schedulers

In this first show in the new series, I invite Dr. Melanie Wilson back on the podcast to help me create a comparison between six modern auto-schedulers and to build a tool that helps people choose between currently them.

We spent several hours together and ended up speaking for several hours, edited then split into two episodes (55 and 56).

Her book – A Year of Living Productively –  was released just before the show aired.

I also took the opportunity to launch a Patreon page for anyone wishing to support 2Time Labs with a financial contribution. The reason why you may want to consider getting involved at this level can be found here.

Here’s the episode.

 

Explaining the New Podcast Format

As I explained a few months ago, I’m coming up with a new kind of podcast.

It’s so different, in fact, that I produced an episode just on this topic… by itself. In half an hour, I explain what I’m trying to do in this new series.

It consists of deep dive, multi-episode shows rather than light-weight quickies which just repeat a bunch of stuff you already know. There’s much to think over in these shows.

Here is the link to Episode #54 – Introducing a New Format – a LiveLab!

A New Kind of Podcast

I am working on something interesting that may be of interest to anyone with a deep interest in the nuances of time-based productivity.

It’s a podcast based on recordings of conversations with experts visiting 2Time Labs.

The idea is simple. Periodically, innovators, authors, and thought leaders contact me with questions that simply don’t have simplistic answers. Looking for an outside perspective, they bring problems they are trying to solve on their own to 2Time Labs with a view to forging a breakthrough.

Sometimes we are successful, producing a result that surprises us both – a case of serendipity. However, sometimes we also beat our heads against a wall…nice conversation, no result.

During a recent conversation of this nature, it struck me that listeners to my podcast may enjoy hearing some of the discussion we have. It might provide an interesting peek into the inside workings of people in this field who are innovating at the cutting edge. Even when we fail, the conversations are rich.

So far, I have conducted three such recordings and the results are fantastic.

Luckily, I picked some really smart people to start with who have deep knowledge. The conversations, which have been directed towards a single goal in each case, pulls from broad knowledge and experience in the area of time-based productivity.

It’s a far cry from the usual podcast in this genre – an interview with an author who wants to sell some stuff like books or training. As a frequent listener, I have found this format to be a bit stale as the conversation veers into predictable territory – softball questions intended to sell the product. Rarely does anything new happen, or does either person say anything that is brand new.

These new podcasts are intended to produce something new and unpredictable each time… edited down to the most interesting moments.

Hopefully, these will be launched sometime in the March December time-frame. Stay tuned.

Michael Einstein Interview

MichaelEinsteinHow do you prepare for a future in which there are not only more time demands, but fresh new channels of delivery? In this podcast from 2Time Labs, I interview Dr. Michael Einstein and develop into this question, based on his research.

Click here to listen in and don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.

Podcast – an Interview with Val and Jayne – Time Management Experts from Pink Shoe Power

Val-Jayne-Red180x150In this interview with Val McDougall and Jayne Jennings of  Save-Time.org and Pink Shoe Power, we explored the degree to which the work we do overlaps. We all strongly believe that one size doesn’t fit all and that we need to provide a way for learners to improve their skills, even as they find their own way.

[podcast]http://www.2time-sys.com/Storage%20Audio/Val%20and%20Jayne%20Podcast%2030_May_2013_18_02_06.mp3[/podcast]

You can also download the podcast from this link.

I hope you enjoy the broadcast, which lasts a little under an hour.

 

 

Vid – Why Most People Fail

Here is a brief video I did that explains why most people fail in their efforts to implement new time management systems.

I posted an article with some similar ideas over at the Stepcase Lifehack website, and I received a comment from a user who called the idea of upgrading rather than replacing a “gentler approach.”

Wow.

GTDer Audio and Videos

If reading isn’t your thing, then my e-book for GTD®ers need not be the point at which you give up and go no further.

Once you download the book, you can also gain access to the full audio version plus a six-part video series hosted here on Vimeo: http://www.vimeo.com/groups/6mistakes

Not to be a tease, but you do need to download the e-book to get the password (at the moment). As you might expect, it’s free.

 

Mission Control Productivity, FranklinCovey, GTD and Getting Things Done are registered trademarks of the David Allen Company (davidco.com.)  2Time is not affiliated with or endorsed by the David Allen Company, Mission Control Productivity or FranklinCovey.

Audio Podcasts

Just in case you didn’t notice, or are reading the RSS feed, I just wanted to let you know that I have added an Audio tab that leads to a page with podcasts all related to 2Time,

The podcasts include an introduction to 2Time as well as a recent interview done with a friend of mine, Peter Gales, who has a website that focuses on the “The Practice of Your Life.”

We discovered that our thinking happens to be very similar — which came as a surpris, because we only knew each other socially until recently. He is helping people to find ways of getting more out of their lives by seeing them as opportunities to practice.

Here is the link to the podcast that can be heard here or downloaded with a right click, and then choosing “Save Link As.”:

[audio:PeterGales.mp3| leftbg=0xFFCC00|rightbg=0xFFCC00|lefticon=ox000000|righticon=0x000000]