Tools to Help You Minimize Distractions on your Mac

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So you can get things done.

The biggest source of distractions for me these days is my computer itself. There are just so many other things to do with it (blogging, researching stuff on the ‘Net, e-mailing, playing with images, etc.) than the things I should be doing (working on my Excel book, writing articles for Informit.com, taking care of accounting matters, etc).

Evidently, I’m not the only person with this problem. It was covered on MacBreak Weekly, one of the podcasts I’ve been listening to these days. A summary of some of the tools discussed on the program is covered on 43 Folders: “MacBreak: Minimize distractions on your Mac.”

My favorite: Spirited Away to hide inactive windows.

If you’ve got the distraction problem as bad as I do, good luck getting over it.

Sunrise & Sunset in iCal

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Must-have data — at least for me.

It may sound strange to folks who live in the world of alarm clocks and wrist watches, but my life’s calendar is managed by the sun. I wake early — before sunrise this time of year — and I sometimes can’t do things until after the sun has come up. As a pilot, I also need to know when the sun will rise and set so I can schedule sunrise and sunset flights, night flights, and photo flights, all of which depend on the sun for timing.

Each year, I export the daily sunrise and sunset information from Time Palette, a shareware application that provides various almanac information, into a FileMaker Pro database I created, which turns the exported data into real dates and times. I then export the Sunrise and Sunset info as separate FileMaker Pro files. I import those into iCal Filter, which enables me to export them back out as iCal .ics files. I open those file to import the information into iCal, thus displaying sunrise and sunset times on my iCal calendar.

Although it seems like a lot of work, I only do it once a year and then I’m set for the entire year.

If you’re interested in the .ics files for your location, I could probably be charmed into whipping up the files for you in exchange for one of the items on my Amazon.com wish list. (I really like surprises.) I might even throw in the moonrise/moonset times; I’m working on adding them, too.

My New Year's Resolutions

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The obligatory New Year’s Resolutions post.

Every year I make a New Year’s Resolution and every year I fail miserably at keeping it. Makes me wonder why I bother. I know a lot of other people don’t.

This year I have two New Year’s Resolutions:

  • Lose Weight/Get Fit. Yeah, that one. It’s the same one I’ve made for the past three years in a row. This year, however, I have a local gym membership and actually plan to use it. With a 90-minute workout 3 times a week and a more sensible diet, I can’t fail. (But we’ll see, won’t we?)
  • Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free ProductivityGet More Organized. I am organized, but not nearly enough to keep my mind from getting stressed out when a bunch of things need doing. Mike bought me a copy of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen. (From my Amazon.com wish list.) I started reading it last night and have already learned a lot of tips for handling the outrageous number of tasks that face me every day. I’m hoping it will help me become more organized so I can live life with a cleaner desk and a clearer idea of the tasks I need to complete daily.

So what I have here are the usual self-improvement resolutions. Yours might be the same. Or they might not. Care to share them with us? The Comments link is below.

Rewarding Reader Participation

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Because reading blogs should not be a spectator sport.

Sometimes I feel as if I’m blogging to myself. I know I’m not — the stats show more than 3,000 page views a week here, which isn’t too shabby. But the people who stop by seem to read (or browse) and hurry on their way without offering any feedback on what they’ve read.

Now everyone has an opinion and I like to think that everyone has additional insight they can share on many topics. That’s what the Comments links are for. So, in an effort to encourage comments from readers, I’ve decided to experiment with a little giveaway.

At January month-end, I’ll give away one of my books to a randomly selected commenter who posted a comment on one of my January 2007 posts. The book is reader’s choice from currently available titles. If this little reward program is successful at getting site visitors to participate with useful, insightful comments, I’ll continue the program for each month with similar rewards.

Keep in mind that this applies to comments posted using the Comments link for a particular post on this site. (Feedback submitted via contact form is not eligible.) The comment must pass muster with our spam prevention software, so if you comment and your comment doesn’t appear within 48 hours, it’s likely that its content was considered spam.

What do you think about this? Don’t keep it to yourself. Use the Comments link.

How to Use E-Mail More Safely and Effectively

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“Hacking Email: 99 Email Security and Productivity Tips”

I just stumbled across this article on the Web today. It’s got some really great tips and advice for using e-mail.

From Hacking Email: 99 Email Security and Productivity Tips on ITSecurity.com:

The 99 tips in this article make up the best in email practices. From how to ethically use the “BCC:” to what attachments will make your mobile emailing compatible with everyone else’s, this list covers everything you need to know about emailing.

Highly recommended reading if you use e-mail in your day-to-day communications — and who doesn’t these days?