Why Keep a Journal

Are you thinking of starting a journal, but aren't sure if you would benefit from the time spent? People keep journals and diaries for many reasons. Yes, you need to set aside some time for making entries, but overall, most find that it's time well spent.

You may decide to use an elegant blank book, or a cheap spiral notebook, or dedicated journaling software, or simply a text file on your computer. The process and benefits are basically the same in any format.

Productivity Tips: 5 Tips for Reading Concentration

As we rush through our piles and folders of reading, we can be left wondering what we just read. Maybe you're reading while distracted or just have so much on your mind that the content slips away soon after reading. Reading with purpose can help us understand and retain what we read.

Here are 5 tips for concentrating on your reading for better comprehension and retention:

Using Personal Knowbase for Citations

A previous post talked about using Personal Knowbase for Bibliographies. In addition to using the software for listing and annotating bibliographies, you can link your working notes with source articles to create citations.

The general idea is to include information about your sources in the same PK data file as your "working articles" which contain the notes and writing work for your current project. You would have a single PK article for each source and assign it keywords for the topics relevant to that source. Please see the previous post for more ideas on using PK as reference management software.

Using Personal Knowbase for Bibliographies

Many researchers, writers, and academics use Personal Knowbase to keep track of sources and references. The software is great for notes management, and you can link your working notes with citations. While PK does not have a built-in facility for creating bibliographies, you can use its keywords feature to associate topics with notes and sources.

Here are some ideas for using Personal Knowbase to manage bibliographies. These ideas assume a basic understanding of the PK terminology and interface, but even without experience with the software, they should provide you with a notion of what's possible.

Productivity Tips: 5 Writer's Block Tips

Writer's block. Usually, it's just a temporary inability to write. The key to getting out of a slump is understanding why you're in the slump. Determine the underlying cause.

You may feel out of ideas. Maybe you're having trouble getting started. Or not interested enough in your current project. Or you're distracted by external issues. Or you're stuck on your project, unsure what the next step is. Once you understand the cause, usually addressing that cause directly can push you forward.

Here are five tips to help you get writing again:

Sharing Knowledge Using PK Reader

Personal Knowbase data files are great for sharing documentation and "lessons learned" within your business or organization. You can create a shared knowledge repository as a Personal Knowbase file (KNO file). Then distribute it across a network or on a CD together with the PK Reader viewer software.

Creating an Idea Dump with Personal Knowbase

Whether you're an entrepreneur, a writer, an artist, an inventor, a programmer, or anyone doing creative work, your ideas are your first step toward developing your projects. Your ideas are a valuable resource and critical to your productivity. Treat them as they deserve — with loving care.

Using Personal Knowbase notes management software as a central repository for your ideas keeps them together, makes it easy to find related ideas, and provides a structure for browsing your undeveloped ideas. Collect and organize all of your inspirations into PK articles and index them with keywords so that you can retrieve related ideas later.

Productivity Tips: 5 More Tips for Your Email Inbox

In a previous post, we covered quick tips for handling incoming email. There's more that you can do to keep your email inbox under control. Here are five more tips for organizing your folders, filtering your messages, and prioritizing:

Productivity Tips: 5 Tips for Building Your Writing Skills

Previously, we posted with 5 Writing Tips for Everyone. Here are 5 more tips for building your writing skills. Exercise your writing muscles.

Productivity Tip: Bridging Between Sessions

Often the hardest part of making progress on a project is... getting started. Or re-started after a break. When you sit down to start a writing session, you're facing a blank page. When you set up your easel to paint, you face a blank canvas. When you start a planning effort, it's a blank calendar. When you're cleaning the garage, it's the opposite: complete overwhelm.

Whatever type of project you're working on, getting yourself going on each session can be a challenge.