Special Guest, Cal Newport

In this episode, we welcomed Study Hacks author and blogger, Cal Newport (www.calnewport.com). We talked about motivation, practice, difficulty, and acquiring rare and valuable skills. A must listen!

Download the podcast here.

Fixed Schedule Productivity

Tara shared her mashup of new processes that she's taken from Cal Newport's popular blog, Study Hacks. You'll learn about Fixed Schedule Productivity and how a new set of GTD contexts has changed how she gets things done. Join the conversation and learn some new methods! Download the podcast here.

Blog posts and other links mentioned during the call:
Tara's mind map of the entire "mashup" of methods: http://www.biggerplate.com/mindmaps/LzM3CjVJ/fixed-schedule-productivity
Susan Falcone writes about her experiments in Self Compassion here: http://www.poweringpossible.com/blog/the-surprising-results-of-my-year-long-practice-in-self-compassion/
Fixed Schedule Productivity: http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/02/15/fixed-schedule-productivity-how-i-accomplish-a-large-amount-of-work-in-a-small-number-of-work-hours/
The Productivity Purge: http://calnewport.com/blog/2007/10/10/the-einstein-principle-accomplish-more-by-doing-less/
Completion Centric Planning by Cal Newport: http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2007/10/18/the-art-of-the-finish-how-to-go-from-busy-to-accomplished/
Tara's blog post about burnout and putting together her new system: http://tararobinson.com/blog/2012/01/getting-off-the-rats-wheel.html

GTD & Kids

Got kids? Know someone who teaches school or interacts with young folks? Listen into our conversation about how to help kids learn GTD for school and life. From the very small to college age, everybody can learn methods to help them get important things, like growing up, done. Download the podcast here

New Year, New Toys

Happy New Year! As 2012 is getting underway, you may be playing with new toys that came your way over the holiday season. How do you make the most of that new iPad? Got a new smart phone? A Kindle? Some other gadget or goodie? In this call, we share the joy and talk about how to integrate new gadgets and tools into your GTD practice.

Download the podcast here.

Here are some of the tools and resources shared on the call
FitBit: http://fitbit.com
Origami Workstation: http://www.amazon.com/Incase-Origami-Workstation-iPad-Black/dp/B004X355Y6
Gretchen's blog http://search4balance.com/wordpress/
Dan Stratton's styluses http://www.dwstratton.com/estore/#ecwid:category=1865005&mode=category&offset=0&sort=normal
Tricking-out Your OmniFocus Perspectives :: http://vimeo.com/19764661
David Sparks video series: http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnifocus/videos/ (see advanced tab for perspectives)
McSparky on Omnifocus Perspectives: http://www.macsparky.com/blog/2010/7/13/using-omnifocus-perspectives.html
DayOne: http://dayoneapp.com/
WritePad Pro http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/writepad-pro/id318521158?mt=8

End of the Year Celebration and Review

As the year comes to a close, it’s time to gather and celebrate what we accomplished in 2011! We recap what we learned and our ah-hahs as well as talk about what to take forward in the New Year.

Download the podcast here.

GTD and Corporate Life

Locked down, firewalled, hemmed in my “their” software? Yep, corporate life can really hamper your ability to create one system and practice GTD smoothly across all your areas of focus. In this session, we talk about how to make your practice flow across the barriers that come between you and blackbelt productivity.
Download the podcast here.

Holiday Planning

It’s almost that time of year! The holiday crunch is on the way. Gift buying, travel, end of year projects, and parties. In this session, the Virtual Study Group explores allwhat it takes to get you through the holidays with joy to spare.
Download the podcast here.