When he's not kicking coffee to the curb or getting up as soon as his alarm goes off, prolific productivity writer and entrepreneur Steve Pavlina is working. Here's how:
LH: What desktop software do you use every day?
Steve: Daily:
Action Outline (PIM)
PocoMail (email)
NetCaptor (web browser)
WinAmp (music)
Feed Demon (feed reader)
MS-Excel (spreadsheet)
Windows Messenger (online chat)
Not quite daily:
HomeSite (HTML editor)
Cute FTP Pro (FTP)
The Journal (journaling)
MS-Word (text editor)
Quicken (accounting)
iTunes (for my iPod)
LH: What web sites do you use every day?
Steve: Daily:
stevepavlina.com (mostly for my blog interface)
Google
di.fm
Technorati
Various back-end web interfaces to check stats, sales, revenue, etc.
LH: What PDA/personal organizer/system do you use to keep organized?
Steve: I use a combination PC-paper system. I don't use a PDA at all.
On my PC I use Action Outline to organize my goals, projects, and tasks and to maintain dozens of different lists and bits of text such as ideas for articles and podcasts, long-range plans, speeches I'm writing, etc. It organizes everything into a hierarchical structure, and I can bring it up instantly with a hot key.
I also maintain a paper weekly calendar and a paper work journal. I use the calendar to record appointments and meetings, but I don't have many activities with fixed dates and times, so the calendar isn't too full. My work journal is a spiral notebook in which I make daily to-do lists. I use the journal to work through problems, do brainstorming, draw mind maps, make short-term plans, and take notes on phone conversations. At the end of each week, I process relevant journal items and notes back into my PC system. So think of the journal as my weekly "active RAM" and the PC system as my hard drive. This journal also serves as a log book which allows me to look back on previous weeks, months, and years to see what I did each day. So I can tell you exactly what I did six months ago today by looking it up in my journal. When I work on a significant long-term project, I usually maintain a separate journal just for that project, so then I can easily archive it for future reference. I've been using work journals since 1993 and find them very useful. I never use sticky notes. Usually my work journal is the only paper item on my desktop.
I use a four-drawer filing cabinet for my paper reference files... nothing too fancy there. I also have many bookshelves in my office to store my personal development library for handy reference.
Finally, on my PC I maintain Excel spreadsheets to track my progress in various areas. For example, I maintain a spreadsheet to record my gym workouts each week. I record metrics like how fast I can run a mile and how much weight I can lift in various exercises. This way I can see if I'm improving in line with my goals and adjust my workouts accordingly. I currently exercise 60-90 minutes a day, seven days a week, so this is a big part of my life.