Seems everyone and their dog is trying to come up with ways to maximise their productivity. I can sympathise completely. I’ve been searching for the past year for software, (open source generally) that might fit the bill. The route to go I guess would be using a Personal Information Manager, or PIM.

I’ve downloaded and installed my fair share of this type of software. I’ve got Info Angel 1.6 before they sold out like Moveable Type and went from Freeware to commercial. I’ve got a copy of Virtuoso, and Essential PIM.

I keep waiting for new on Chandler but that project seems to be as slow as an old person on the tube.

Owen has been giving this some thought I see and has come up with another solution using ShirusuPad . I’ve tried this, and the text is too small in the post-its. Generally speaking it’s a nice little package but it’s not organised enough for me.

I even read the post on using WordPress as a PIM, which I wasn’t really happy with. Tasks by Alex King might be something I might give a try sometime in the near future.

I’ve tried writing on paper, but I never actually go back and have a look at the bloody things often enough. Question: Does anyone have any alternatives I’ve not mentioned here?

The main problem for me is that I know exactly what I need to do in most cases, it’s just that I’ve not got a decent enough structure to deal with everything.

Earlier this week an idea hit me, why not allocate a specific amount of time on any one task. Once the time is up move on to the next topic, regardless of whether or not it’s finished. You can come back to it later tomorrow, or if you’ve got enough time left after the end of the scheduled things to do that night/day. 1hour, no more no less.

So far it seems to be working a charm. I get a lot more done cross-platform. i.e on all the various projects I’ve got going, over a longer period of time every little bit helps.