Since it’s spring time, I thought I’d share with you a list of tools I plan to use to  organize my work life.

MindMaps

I’ve found that creating mindmaps are an effective way to organize my thoughts. Typically I’ve used them to visualize topics and ideas, but this morning Adam told me about using them to build a file structure for your computer files. I am going to take an hour and try it.

Here are three mindmap programs that I’ve been testing out:

Xmind.net- a friend of mine named Adam Barnett shared this site with me. It’s a desktop program, allows for file linking, and it’s free.

MindMeister.com- I am also testing this one with the team at Harvesthand.com

Freemind- I used it to map agriculture research projects in Nova Scotia. I love that it’s open source, but it’s one user and it doesn’t support images well.

Task Management

Right now I am using Asana.com

Pros: I love the fact that it is web-based and uses keyboard shortcuts for everything.

Cons: It’s is slower to load on mobile and it doesn’t look as nice as do.com

I’ve also been testing do.com- I prefer the Do.com mobile app over Asana’s

Notes and Bookmarking Apps

I use Springpad.com- to keep my recipes, notes, business articles I like.

Feed Your Mind

Google Reader is being discontinued so I switched to Feedly I love it.

Social Media

BufferApp- use it to stagger my social media posts so that I don’t overwhelm my twitter followers.

Hootesuite- to manage multiple social media profiles and look at my lists.

What do you use?

Most recently I met Sara Nelson,  a wicked creative entrepreneur who is heading up a new start-up right now. Ask her about it @saracommong

Anyway she shared with me the Random Show with Tim Ferris, Author of 4-Hour Workweek, and Kevin Rose, Founder of Digg, and I love it. It’s about entrepreneurship and other awesomeness. Here’s the most recent episode:

Ken Robinson’s TedTalk on Changing education paradigms

Trunk Club: An online store for men who don’t like to shop. Incredible user-interface, press “Get Started” to see what I mean: http://www.trunkclub.com

Discovered Trunk Club through Inc Magazine’s: “Men’s Fashion: 5 Start-Ups to Watch” Man I love Inc.com

FarmWorks is having an awesome FREE event in Halifax at Ratinaud French Cuisine. You are now invited, it’s going to be tasty!
Tue, February 19, 7:00pm – 9:30pm

One of my favorite talks by Malcolm Gladwell. He discusses why we developed so many choices for items in the grocery store.

Barry Schwartz: The paradox of choice 

Do we have too much choice? Are we paralyzed by it? Does too much choice make us unhappy? Does lowering our expectations increase our happiness? What do you think?

Featured Photo by Andrei Z: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andreiz/1190592277/sizes/o/

I spent two days with the team at Just Us! discussing the ethics of coffee supply chain and then the local food supply chain. It was a very productive discussion and I am incredibly excited to see what decisions the Just Us! Sustainability Committee will make next. Here’s a video that I think sums up our food system and our food challenges very well.

Go to http://feedingninebillion.com/ to vote!

Eaarth by Bill Mckibben

Everyone in the world should read this book. It carefully puts into perspective the most terrifying facts about climate change. Mckibben sums up where are now, on the new planet “Eaarth,” and where we need to go. Essentially we have done irreversible damage to our planet and now it is imperative that we take action. We must create durable, sturdy, and sustainable solutions for our future.

(Affiliate Link)
Brain Pickings 

Anton Chekhov on the 8 Qualities of Cultured People. It’s a fun read, have a go at it!

5 Good Strategic Planning Questions

Strategies are meaningless without the right questions to build them. On Friday, I spent the day with the Acadia Centre for Social and Business Entrepreneurship (ACSBE) Board Members. We went through a strategic exercise/series of questions that I believe lead the team and executive director to a very positive and forward looking place. I highly reccoment these questions:

http://blogs.hbr.org/martin/2010/05/the-five-questions-of-strategy.html

Photo Source

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Chekhov

Here’s Robyn O’Brien, author of the Unhealthy Truth (affiliate link), exploring the changes in our food system in the last 80 or so years and why they are making us sick. Everyone in the world should watch this talk!

Jason Clay, WWF, talks about “How big brands can help save biodiversity.” He discusses the entire food chain and sustainability. He says that every product category is different when it comes to sustainability. He says, sustainability has got to be a pre-competitive issue. Something we all care about…and we need collusion. We need groups that have never worked together, to now work together. We need Cargill to work with Bengle, we need Coke to Pepsi. Etc.  It’s an incredibly interesting approach to the sustainability of food and well worth 20 minutes of your time.

Photo from Alex Bogusky’s  interiew of Robyn O’Brien. http://youtu.be/K7q4jcBN1WI

After initially investing in Square, Starbucks launched its Square-Wallet mobile payments systems in 7000 locations across the US. Square Wallet allows customers to pay for their beverages from their mobile phone while standing in line, this speeds up the service time for customers and significantly cuts costs at retail quick-service food stores.

“The apps can also help sales by making store lines move 10 percent to 20 percent faster during peak hours, says Richard Crone, who leads payments consultancy Crone Consulting. Each 1 percent increase in a store’s capacity during rush hour translates into a revenue boost of up to 1 percent, he says. Mobile payments now account for about 2 percent of Starbucks’s sales, Crone estimates. That’s $266 million if the company meets analysts’ $13.3 billion fiscal 2012 sales projections.” (Business Week, 2012)

With Starbuck’s driving it, Square Wallet will be the most disruptive innovation in quick-service food counter sales since the adoption of Point-of-Sales (POS) systems.

Coming to Canada in 2013!

References

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-08-23/starbucks-schools-other-retailers-on-mobile-payments

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomiogeron/2012/11/08/square-wallet-now-live-in-7000-starbucks-nationwide/

Invitation Design

Directions Sign

Panel Presentations Poster

Derek Sivers: “How to Start a Movement.”

Gary Vaynerchuk, founder of Wine Library, Building Personal Brand Within the Social Media

One of my favorite videos. PP: Patience and Passion. Way too many people doing things that they hate….there’s no reason in 2008 for people to be doing what they hate…it’s 2012.

Simon Sinek is awesome, author of the best selling book “Start with Why.” (affiliate link) 

Favorite video quote: Do business with people who believe what you believe!

Steve Jobs: How to Live Before You Die

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement. She’s a great story teller, enough said.

Reference

Ghandi Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/s4ur4bh/3244105606/sizes/m/in/photostream/

 1. Process and Schedule More

I plan my week out every Sunday night at 5pm. I recommend going for a walk and bringing a notepad-prioritise what you have to do during the week. In general, I recommend that you schedule more time to process and schedule. When possible, group errands and similar tasks. Doing this has changed my work life.

I use Asana.com for task management

2. Not scheduling meetings on Mondays

I’ve found that making Monday my  ”getting work done day ” and my “busi-work day” to be very effective. Most of my work involves a ton of meetings so it is imperative that I schedule time to just work on my own. Also, I find people don’t tend to meet well on Monday’s as they are thinking about the rest of their week, are irritated that their weekend is over, or just need time to get back into the swing of things.

3. No email or social media before breakfast

In the last couple months, I’ve worked on not doing this at all. I find that I end up being much more focused on getting ready in the morning and that my mind is much more peaceful as I eat breakfast. When I get to work I am way more focused as a result.

Favorite Work and Productivity Resources

My favorite book about working in an organization ever. Every company in the world should read this book:

Rework by the Co-Founders of 37Signals (affiliate link)

I challenge you to take this challenge:
 http://www.chrisbrogan.com/getmoredone

Another Great Book: Invaluable- The Secret to Becoming Irreplaceable by Dave Crenshaw (affiliate link)