I am always on the look out for great little ways to organize daily life in an attempt to improve upon my general level of productivity. Here’s the problem: I find this to be a daunting task in itself. I’m impatient when it comes to organization. I need something that is straightforward and returns a result quickly, if not instantly.

I remember when I was in elementary school and was given an “agenda” to track homework and school schedules in. Sure enough I would diligently fill it out for about a month or so; come winter break, it would be merely a collection of doodles and blank pages. When monotony rears its head in regard to an organization process, if possible, I  typically abandon the said process.

Recently, I have tried using project management software (dotProject & Clocking IT ) to manage day to day tasks for both work and home. When it comes to long development projects where scheduling and milestones are key, these are two excellent options. Using them to manage to do lists and smaller projects often tips the productivity vs. usability scale out of balance. Where the monotony of using the tool outweighs any productivity success. The more clicks and button pushes it takes me to add a task or project, the harder it is going to be for me to adopt into my daily organization process. Managing more than one worker, long time lines and ever changing requirements all but tip the scale the opposite direction. A few more clicks and a little longer session could be seen as a small price to pay for the fine grain detail and oversight the organization tool will record.

Enter: Emergent Task Planner

When it comes to everyday time and task management,  project management software just won’t cut it. In addition, I  don’t require a tool that can be accessible anywhere at anytime. I just need something that is easy to use and  lets me plan out my day with as little pain as possible. The Emergent Task Planner (ETP) by David Seah does just that. Simplicity at its finest. Print it out and fill the sucker in with your favorite writing utensil. Gaaassspp! But you’re a web developer…shouldn’t you store your to dos in the vast storage arrays of the internet? I do and I don’t. When it comes to simple things  I find that writing them down helps me remember them far easier than typing, clicking and tagging inside a web application ever will. With the advent of technology rooted task management utilities, the shear bliss that comes when you get to briskly cross off an item is all but lost. Most of my “analog” based task lists were overly simplistic and congregated in large numbers making reference a little chaotic. The Emergent Task Planner solves this issue by providing usable structure to ensure your efficiently jotted notes are easy to reference and take action upon.  Below is a list of my favorite components which make up the ETP:

1. Schedule Blocks
   Great way to visually see how you planned your tasks for the day.
2. Task “Timer”
   I don’t use this too much, but for longer tasks it can be useful to track the time you spent working on it, in a given day. This can also provide insight into how you should schedule the task the following day.
3. Plenty of Note Space
   Below the scheduled tasks you’ll find a good amount of room for jotting down daily “scope creep”. I find this especially useful. I’ll get an email or an IM detailing another task or an addition to a current task, and I can quickly jot it down for future scheduling.

Resources

If  you would like to give the Emergent Task Planner a test drive you can find all the information you need below. Check out the other great downloads David Seah has available on his site. If ETP doesn’t fit your style, he has other productivity downloads which may provide a better match.

Emergent Task Planner:
http://davidseah.com/blog/comments/emergent-task-planner-free-version-updates/

Twitter – David Seah: @daveseah

Have a great productivity tip or process? You can leave a comment using the form below. I’d love to hear your recommendations and tips.

When I look at the current state of men’s magazines, the assortment is the same through and through. Covers with large breasted women and a myriad of articles detailing the best ways to sculpt rock hard abs, how to become a chick magnet, etc. It is all a bunch of bullshit jargon cooked up by editors looking to sell magazines to an “emasculated” generation of men. When you look at generations of men from the past and today, it is hard not to see this huge difference in values and virtues. It is not to say one generation is better than the other, but I think some of the great traits and values of older generations were lost in translation. Technology may be a bit of a culprit here. With the advent of the Internet and rapid improvements in technology, messaging and marketing can be disseminated faster than ever and video games and other tech toys can pull boys away from doing other things: like going out for a hike or a round of golf with their fathers. The elements making up these generational differences are not always negative, and it is safe to say generations can learn from one another. The Art of Manliness is a great place for this generational exchange to take place.

One thing that the Art of Manliness does well is topic diversification. The blog discusses everything from dress shirts to Ben Franklin’s 13 Virtues. I found some of the posts about historic male figures to be very interesting. Hate the thought about shelling out $15+ a month on quintuple blade razor cartridges? Check out their post on How to Shave Like Your Grandpa. I think I have spent $10 total this year on razor blades as a result of reading this article. There will be topics and posts you’ll enjoy and others you could care less about. I think this is a typical trait of any blog and is also present at AoM.

The Art of Manliness has its own community site where you can connect with other AoM followers and perhaps discuss and learn more about some of your favorite topics the blog covers. I have to say, this is one of the better community sites I have seen on the Internet lately. It is small (4000+ members) in comparison to other community sites, but the smaller membership makes it feel like your voice can be heard a little more. The member interaction is quite amazing. The easiest way to describe it is as gentlemanly, a far cry from the vulgar-laden comment sections of Digg and YouTube. A great break from the norm indeed.

The Beef

Nothing in life is perfect, so I have dedicated this section to discussing some of the areas of improvement I see in the “webstuffs” I will be plugging. The Art of Manliness fairs well in this section with only a few menial beefs on my end.

1. Advertising

I understand a blog needs to monetize in some way in order to keep the server running, the authors paid etc, etc. But every now and then  AoM features a video ad which is set to play on page load. These kinds of things annoy the crap out of me. If I want to view the video ad, I’ll click play. Hell, I often click on an ad or two, just to show a bit of appreciation for a great site of content. My main worry is that an ad like that could deter a first time visitor.

2. Bottom Toolbar

I’ve never really liked the bottom third-party toolbar. I understand the purpose, but I would rather see these types of tools built into the page. They seem to be so disconnected from the site that I just ignore them all together.

Resources

Take a look at The Art of Manliness. I think you’ll be inspired by the frequently updated quality content. It is a far cry from the repetitive crappy content you’ll find in men’s magazines today; it doesn’t cost a dime or require you to begin dressing like Grandpa. See how it can fit into your life, I think you may be surprised.

Main Website: www.artofmanliness.com
AoM Community: community.artofmanliness.com
Twitter: @artofmanliness