Smarterware » Harvard Business

Note to Self: Don’t Forget to Use the Phone

Gina Trapani — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:26:21 +0000

My friends who know what a telephone phobe I am will surely guffaw at the sheer hypocrisy of my latest post at Harvard Business Online, an exercise in self-talk wherein I declare that a phone call beats out email in a lot of situations. In my defense, for the last month or so I've been working on a project that involved several super-productive calls per week, so I have been practicing what I preach (a little bit, anyway). Here's the whole piece: Don't Forget To Use the Phone.

The Burnout Antidote: A Creative Sabbatical

Gina Trapani — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:45:52 +0000

In an early episode of the excellent TV series Mad Men, agency partner Roger Sterling walks into creative director Don Draper's office to find Don gazing off into space.

"I'll never get used to the fact that most of the time it looks like you're doing nothing," Sterling quips.

Sterling should take comfort in the fact that our best creative work is done in times of reflection and idleness. Studies have shown that the wandering mind is more likely to have a "Eureka!" moment of clarity and creativity. Taking breaks and zoning out from everyday tasks gives our brains time to do a kind of long-term, big-picture thinking that immediate engagement with bosses and clients and email and meetings does not.

Designer Stefan Sagmeister takes these findings seriously. He works time off into his schedule in a way that will make you green with envy. Every seven years, Sagmeister closes his New York City–based design studio for an entire year of creative rejuvenation. During his sabbatical, Sagmeister "works," but not for clients. (He's serious about that, too. Last year, he turned down an opportunity to design a poster for the Obama campaign while he was on sabbatical.)

Read the rest at HarvardBusiness.org »

August Recap at Harvard Business: Whiteboards, Business Cards, Google and Bookmarks

Gina Trapani — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:11:23 +0000

Been wearing my virtual business suit over at the Work Smarter blog at Harvard Business Online, but been remiss in posting my articles here. Here's a recap of what I covered during August:

Instantly Transcribe a Whiteboard with Your Cameraphone -- using Evernote and Qipit
Forget the Business Card. Just Google Me -- meant this post a bit more tongue-in-cheek than most commenters took it, but still a strong believer in the importance of your name Google-ability
Should Your Organization "Go Google"? -- if the Twitter break-in is any indication, maybe not
How to Synchronize Bookmarks Between Work, Home, Laptop, and Smartphone -- using my absolutely essential Firefox add-on, Xmarks

Off to Comic-Con; Have Some Links

Gina Trapani — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:16:27 +0000

Things have been quiet here this week and will be till Sunday because I'm working at Comic-Con, San Diego's nerdy popular culture explosion at the downtown convention center. If you're in San Diego and going to CC, come say hi to me at The Guild booth #4417, where I'll be helping out selling The Guild DVDs and t-shirts. In the meantime, catch up on stuff I've been posting elsewhere.

At Lifehacker earlier this month I published How to Crack a Wi-Fi Network's WEP Password with BackTrack and then the follow-up, WEP Cracking Redux: Beyond the Command Line. Both these articles got a huge response, but don't worry, I'm not going blackhat: it was all proof-of-concept.

Also at Lifehacker: Gmail Tasks Keeps It (Too) Simple. Very exciting news that Google is moving into to-do lists, but they need to take it up a few notches.
Inspired by the reader response to the Gmail Tasks piece, over at the Pelotonics blog PeloLife, I posted Simplicity vs. Features: Crafting the Perfect Task Manager.
How to Troubleshoot a Flaky Internet Connection [Lifehacker]: This is everything I know about getting back online when you get knocked off.
Must-Have Google Search Tricks [Work Smarter at HarvardBusiness.org]
Save Hours of Typing Time with Text Expansion [Work Smarter at HarvardBusiness.org]
Extreme Ways to Shorten and Reduce Meetings [Work Smarter at HarvardBusiness.org]

Back next week--hope to see you at Comic-Con! If not, keep an eye on what's going on there at io9.

Everywhere But Here: June Posts About the Internet

Gina Trapani — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:00:17 +0000

Rather than put up a new post every time I do something somewhere other than here, I'll save it up and get it all over with in one giant self-promoting shot once a month.

Here's my Mac-heavy byline roundup for June.

Gmail Power Tools [Macworld]
Hands On with Mac OS X Snow Leopard (Developer Preview) [Lifehacker]

Contributed sections to Customize the OS X Workspace and Manage Files in OS X Your Way [Macworld]
Tweak Your Way to a Better Finder [Lifehacker]
Extreme Makeover: The Email Inbox Edition [Work Smarter at HarvardBusiness.org]
Master the Art of Working Remotely [Work Smarter at HarvardBusiness.org]
Coming to a Microsoft Shop Near You: More Macs [Work Smarter at HarvardBusiness.org]
Co-Twittering @Pelotonics with CoTweet [PeloLife]
Springtime for Apple Podcast (MP3 Available) [Copper Robot]
A rant on the uselessness of user manuals [T3 Magazine] -- Doesn't appear to be available online yet, but I had tons of fun writing this and will add the link when it comes online. T3 is a UK mag but I believe there's a US edition available as well at your local newsstand.

That is all. Carry on.

How to Stay on Top of Ye Olde Email Inbox

Gina Trapani — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:31:02 +0000

Inbox Zero is a topic path well-trodden in the productivity blogosphere, but two books and a few blogs about personal productivity later, staying on top of my email is still a daily challenge for me. While I don't get down to zero every day, I do get there once or twice a week--usually when my inbox overflows onto the next page. (In Gmail, that's when I get past 50 conversations.) Over at my Harvard Business blog, I ran down my tried and true techniques for keeping the electronic mail under control. If you're suffering from a severe case of overload or could just use a refresher, check out Extreme Makeover: The Email Inbox Edition.

Configure Your Workspace for Maximum Efficiency

Gina Trapani — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:46:44 +0000

Just launched up a new blog over at HarvardBusiness.org called Work Smarter (RSS). Expect to find less nerd and more business in the posts I publish there compared to this site or Lifehacker. A new one will go up once a week.

My first post published yesterday on how to organize your workspace for maximum productivity. Having moved three times in the past four years, this has become my mental checklist when reassembling my desk.

I'm still finding my legs and meeting the audience over at Work Smarter, but I'm thrilled to be hanging out with the brilliant folks there, at least virtually.

(Please note: Actual Harvard University admissions people would laugh out loud if I'd applied there at any point in my academic career, so thanks to HarvardBusiness.org for letting me have a taste of the Ivy League fantasy.)