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September 2019
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November 2019

Rabbit Hole Of "Secure" Phones

Mobile-device-security

This article from Recode by Kara Swisher called "Former Trump economic adviser Gary Cohn’s next move: investing in a phone secure enough for the president: In a Recode Decode interview, he explains why he’s working to launch a new secure mobile phone aimed at government and corporate customers" got me wondering where the state of the possible was right now on secure phones.

I am pretty much following the recommendations for how to bring a phone to DEF CON -- like this one.  I use to bring a burner phone, but I've found it less and less practical for me.  DEF CON is in theory about as hostile of a Cyber environment as you can summit yourself, but getting targeted by a dedicated adversary is probably worse.

Some links I looked into:


Notes From Manager Tools M Conference 2019

M-Conference-GraphicHere are my PDF notes from the Manager Tools M Conference held in Dallas, TX from October 9-10, 2019.

I think the notes speak for themselves.  This was an amazingly effective use of my time.

I will be getting a return on investment throughout the rest of my professional career, and then probably even more once I retire.

If you are interested in attending in 2020 then Manager Tools wants to hear from you!

I didn't take enough photos, but here are what I got via Google Photos.


My Travel Folders

Back in the day the David Allen Company would sell physical products like planners, file folder systems, inboxes, etc.  One of the last things I bought from them before they stopped selling physical products was their ORANGE mesh travel folder system.

Mobile File System GTD Nov2019It consists of the following folders:

  • IN - Your mobile inbox just like in your office at home and work.
  • TO OFFICE - Items that need to get back to your office.
  • TO HOME - Items that need to get back to your home.
  • ACTION SUPPORT - Anything that you currently physically need to complete PROJECTS or NEXT ACTIONS.
  • WAITING FOR SUPPORT - Physical items or reminder notes of items you are waiting for someone else to complete.
  • READ/REVIEW - Items you want to read or review while being mobile.

Based on my needs, I have added two additional folders:

  • REFERENCES - Key references I want to have with me while mobile. For instance physical copies of the GTD Mastering Workflow Series Methodology Guides.
  • CALENDARS/CONTRACTS - Print out of key yearly work and family/school calendars.  And then a select list of phone numbers and emails I might need to reference if I don't have my phone.

These could be duplicated today with a good label printer and quality plastic file folders.

You can still get a good amount of GTD material in electronic format like planner templates, methodology guides, workflow map, etc...


Fires In California #ambientinfo

Screenshot 2019-10-12 at 11.57.16

This site (recommended by Daniel Suarez) is a pretty good view of the status of fires burning in the State of California:

I'm going to add this to my list of sites that are being cycled through on my two ambient displays (one at home and one at work).

I am recommending the extension Revolver - Tabs on Chrome as the method to move through tabs every 60 seconds.


Inbox Zero - It Is Doable - Example #1

Inbox-zero.email
I recently attended for work the Manager Tools M Conference from October 9-10, 2019 in Dallas, TX.

I made a deliberate decision to not check my work email from just before the beginning of the conference on Wednesday, Oct. 9 until I got to the airport on the evening of Thursday, Oct. 10. 

My main motivation for this decision was because I wanted to stay as focused as possible on the conference content, and the people at the conference. 

I should also point out that before walking into the conference on Wednesday morning my work email Inbox was empty.

In addition, I would also like to say my only motivation for writing this blog post is to validate that getting your Email Inbox to Zero can happen. 

If you read through the whole post, I didn't get every email with a Next Action or Project done.  All I did in David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) terms is (1) Capture, (2) Clarify, and (3) Organize.

Once at the airport: I VPN'd into work; downloaded all my email on the server to my "Clarify" folder in Outlook; and went into airplane/off-line mode.

During the first two hours on the plane on my way back to San Diego I cleared my Inbox. 

I had 213 emails to process: ten were calendar invites; 24 were quick email replies (less than 2 minutes), 51 turned into Next Actions (three of which started new Projects), 23 were Reference, and the rest were Trash.

After I sync'd up email the next day (Friday morning) I had 28 new messages.  Four of them were calendar invites, and four of them I had to Read (less than 2 minutes) and then Trash as they weren't worth keeping for Reference.  The rest I just Trashed after reading the email title and first line of the message. No new Next Actions or Projects.

So, it is doable.  It takes practice and making it a habit.  Here is a link for more information on GTD coaching and teaching.


Thoughts & Tips For October

Wood-doorHealth Update (Bulged Disk & Bike Injury)

Things are going pretty darn good. Not back to 100% but I'm not sure that is totally possible.  Just did a Sprint Triathlon on Sunday, Sept. 29 (500m swim, 17K bike, & 5K run).  I was slower than I wanted, but I finished, didn't get hurt, and didn't finish last in my age group!

20190929_104027-01Getting Things Done (GTD)

Several things going on related to #gtd:

Technology & Tips

I have had a "free" version of Plex Server running on the home network to serve up digital movies, photos, and music for several years. The free version is a solid product. But recently I upgraded to a version that enables access to our family's collection of media remotely while not on our home network.  Wow! Very nice! Especially when you are on travel.  No more copying down files before going on a trip.  Just get what you want, when you need it, while on travel.

If you get to New Orleans, then I highly recommend you visit the World War II / D-Day Museum:

DSC01417-COLLAGEFuture

I am definitely ready for the 2019 Baseball Playoffs.  It should be a great October.

Quote I'm Thinking About

“I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” - Winston Churchill