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The holy grail of improved personal workflow

Posted on February 5, 2007
Filed Under Productivity |

When did work and home become the same thing? As a small business owner, how do I manage a network of data that must accommodate and integrate soccer schedules, summer camp and carpooling with client conference calls and the new fall vendor catalog? The day never really ends. We play email catch-up when the kids are asleep. Where are the models for remaining balanced and centered while still being responsible, buttoned-down, pro-active, competitive and up-to-date?

Thanks to the Internet and email and the infrastructures-of-immediacy we all inhabit, we’re now touching data in ways that were inconceivable just five years ago. New applications, capture mechanisms, audio and video files, IP telephony, mp3s, camera phones, iPods and way too much email strains my ability to keep things coherent and in context.

Data organization and personal productivity tools have changed little since we started using them. We talk professionally about the importance of networks, knowledge management, back-up, portals and productivity tools but ignore these same constructs in our private lives. What should the Infrastructure of Me™ look like? Is there a better way to stay connected, protect your data and manage your details?

Is my search for the holy grail of improved workflow like my search for better closet organization and perfect abs?

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