Zerebria

The problem

GTD fan as I am, I usually put a strong brain effort at the planning stage of a project, so I can later enter ‘executive mode’, following my self-instructions in a Robocop-like manner. Working like that guarantees (more…)

The best way to organize documents is alphabetically. But when the stuff to classify is more voluminous or heterogeneous, the task usually becomes harder. One thing that I had some struggle with was stationery. (more…)

I feel terrible. My throat is spiked with thorns, I have this intermittent pain in my articulations, I’m cold, I’m hot. A few minutes ago, I went into the shower before removing my soaked sheets, after a night of what only very generously could be named as “sleep”. I remember a moment after the shower, when I (more…)

Say you love David Allen… (O.K., say what you want). Long and steep is the road from messy to productive, but gratifications are spread like sweet fruits all along the way. It is not about upgrading; it about growing. Once you get  it, Allen’s Getting Things Done system is a very tight tool to use; as he himself states in “Making it all work”, with a delicious lack of false humility, (more…)

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I’ll admit it: everything I do, I do it for my fiction. I honor writing as the art with the biggest powers, when considering its effects, and the degree of intimacy, elevation and sometimes “possession” it grants (writing, in its finest hour, becomes invisible, the words stop being “black boxes” with a meaning inside and become something similar to music). (more…)

I love books, so I always try to improve my reading system by making it as organic as possible; I intend to get a system that sort of “defends itself” from the aggressions of modern life, hurry and other everyday monsters. I’ll talk another day about the working and behavior of my reading pile, which is still evolving. Here I want to explain the tiny ecosystem of my “now reading” area and how it works. (more…)

In full obedience to David Allen’s teachings (there might be taller or stronger firemen, but he is the one who took me out of the flames), I periodically review my medium and long term goals. I have them written down in a list with a deliberately conventional, impersonal format, using infinitive verbs: “work as…”, “live at…”, “become…” (more…)

Yeah, right: metaphors, images, similes… I am talking about poetry here, about making your personal computer really personal. The using of original names for your computer folders and control lists can do a lot to stimulate your creativity and improve your focus. (more…)

In addition to my previous post, here come a few more tips, taken from my back-to-basics experience using (suffering?) a vintage Compaq Presario 1200. (more…)

This text is a sort of “spin-off” from my previous post “Productivity the Spartan way”, which was about my experience using a vintage computer (God bless it). Now, having spent some time back in my century, I’d like to share with you some of the enhancements I brought with me and a few general (more…)