aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Hacking my life

Speaking of the web as mind, my own is too often filled with cob webs and clutter and would benefit from some optimization. At 53, I’ve developed my tech habits over decades and they’re rusty. It’s time to change but there’s so much to change to that it’s hard to keep up.

Oh to be young again!

To wit, I’ve been tweaking my inputs and workflows over the last few months. I have successfully adopted the InBox Zero methodology of email processing and it’s changed my life. I’m a free man; I feel the love!

I started by watching this presentation Merlin Mann did at Google:

I’ve also set up an I Want Sandy account, but have yet to get my Jott accont synched with it and all of the speed dials and email shortcuts set to effectively use it. And, finally, I’ve set up one GrandCentral phone number so far. (If you need an invite drop me a line; I’ve got a few left.)

The way I’m using it is to give friends a single number that will ring my cell, Doug’s cell and our home. It might be handy to get a second for work to allow the Dean and other VIPs to have single number access to me wherever I am but I’ve yet to set that up. And I’m not sure those folks want yet another number for me, even if it is a master number that can reach me anywhere.

The key to adoption for me in all of this is to enlist students and friends to use these services. Then they can show me how to better use them myself!