Life Hacks | 5 productivity hacks to help live your life better

Once upon a time, I was infatuated with Timothy Ferriss, best-selling author of The 4-Hour Workweek, entrepreneur, public speaker and angel investor who advises companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Evernote.

I maintain he is good at what he does. What I can’t stand, though, is his shameless self-promotion.

That said, there are lessons to be learnt from this 36-year old sensation on productivity. Having gone through all of his books and public talks, I picked up a few hacks, some of which originate from him, and others embellished with my experiences inspired by his quest.

Anything free or subsidized means a business model at work to monetize the offering. That may include personal information up for sale or intrusive ads—both of which I dislike. If you think of yourself as a bounty hunter looking for freebies, try love and fresh air. If love dished out by free content doesn’t get you, stale air from free tools will.

What do I mean? Quality content creators and developers put in a huge amount of time and energy to create value. For perspective, consider the Farnam Street Blog (www.farnamstreetblog.com) and Brain Pickings (www.brainpickings.org). Run by individuals, I think them to be among the finest online content curators. Their earnings depend on commissions from purchases their recommendations generate on Amazon.com. And tips from happy readers. If they weren’t compensated, everybody would be the poorer for it.

Extrapolate the analogy into media organizations. If I decline to pay for their efforts, some entity will pay to reach me. The terms, though, may not be in my interests and the sub-par content not worth my time.

As a thumb rule, your notes ought not to be longer than 1,500 characters, spaces included.

To put that into perspective, a tweet has 140 characters. You have 10.71 tweets to make your case, argue your point and demand attention. Scrimp on characters with language like “How r u? Can v mt nxt wk?,” and rest assured, your second name will be Dimwit. Or Twit if you will. I learnt that while pitching for an international gig.

Why? All evidence indicates that if a recipient has to scroll down to read an email, the chances of it grabbing attention diminishes. This is important because more people are reading on smartphones and tablets where screen real estate is at a premium. If on paper, don’t do more than a single page with point size at 12.

To know how readable your notes are, cut and paste whatever it is into www.hemingwayapp.com. It grades you on a scale of 1-10 with pointers on how to do better. The lower your score, the better your message is. The online version is free. The developers are considering charging $5 a month for a desktop version of the app. I’m among those who will pay up.

Both the pointers above have used less than 1,500 characters.

To do that, start with David Allen’s best-selling Getting Things Done (GTD). Read it as many times as you can. When it’s part of your system, buy OmniFocus (www.omnifocus.com). Designed to collect and capture thoughts, break them down into actionable items and document what context it can be executed in, OmniFocus compels you to stay task-oriented.

The feature I like best is the one that provides me a forecast of everything I’ve got to get done. If I miss a deadline, it shows up as an unaccomplished task. Early users to GTD can find this tool intimidating. That is because task orientation demands discipline. As unfinished tasks keep mounting, it serves as a reminder of your inadequacies. Persist with it. Over time, you’ll discover things get done better, faster, and deploying the word NO becomes easier.

Two downsides: First, the software itself takes some time getting used to. Second, it is expensive. The iPad edition I work on costs $80. I have the MacBook edition as well. Between these, I thought the iPhone version unnecessary.

When I say everything, I mean everything. Why? Because given the amount of information I have to deal with, I need an electronic brain into which I can outsource my memory. Evernote (www.evernote.com) does just that. A subscription costs me $5 a month—they add 1GB of storage every month, and it works across all platforms.

How do I use it? At the end of every day, I take time off to document all that transpired.

When I see something significant—perhaps an important document, an article in print I want to read later, an interesting tweet I think may come in handy later, store my passwords, or moments I think lovely—I capture it using the plug-ins or the camera on my smartphone and mail to Evernote. Think of it as a digital cabinet you can use to store everything.

When I need access, I punch in relevant keywords and Evernote plucks what I need. What makes it powerful is the optical character recognition (OCR) function built into it. That means even scanned or photographed text is searchable.

Three years after using this piece of software, each time I parse through my notes, I’m stunned at all that transpired. As much as it is a filing cabinet, I think of it as a tool that helps put things into perspective as well.

While on Evernote, here are three indispensable plug-ins.

Hello: Each time somebody hands me a business card, I take a picture and mail it to Evernote. The OCR scans it, adds the information it contains to my phonebook across all my devices, marks the time, date and place I met the person based on the GPS coordinates, and pulls out everything else I need to know about the person from social media like Linkedin.

Clearly: A brilliant plug-in that strips a website of all pop ups, ads and allows you focus on what you’re reading. A click on the plug-in, and it goes into the Evernote folder you think appropriate.

Penultimate: Penultimate is a handwriting recognition software that integrates into Evernote. When in a meeting I need to doodle, draw charts or scribble, this software converts my iPad (or any tablet) into an electronic notebook. It allows me as many varieties of stationery, choice of ink and pens I may need.

May I strongly recommend investing in a good stylus? I made the mistake of buying a generic one for ₹ 500-odd. The traction and feel isn’t anywhere as close to what a Targus, Belkin, Griffin or Wacom Bamboo offers. I haven’t tested them out enough to offer an informed comment, but I intend to migrate to one of these after having tested what works best for me.

When in meetings, don’t let note-taking distract you. Instead, use the Livescribe pen and the notebook that comes with it.

At the pen’s head is an audio recorder that allows you to record the proceedings. At its tip is a regular nib and a camera. That allows you to listen closely and stay at jotting pertinent points.

When it is time to review, open the pen and tap on the part of the conversation you want played back. The clunky software that accompanies it allows you to transfer hand-written notes as PDF files with the audio embedded in it. What I really appreciate is that it allows me to integrate into Evernote.

I was among the earlier buyers and got an 8GB version of this device for roughly ₹ 15,000. It has since been discontinued. But the newer variants with Wi-Fi capabilities are available, starting with the 2GB version.

Charles Assisi is a senior journalist at work on his first entrepreneurial venture that will debut later this year. In the past he has worked in leadership positions at Forbes India and The Times of India. He maintains a personal website at www.audaciter.net