New Laptop (sort of)

Over the past few months I have been finding ways of getting more organized and becoming more efficient in my work. Turns out that Moleskine/GTD hack is working very well for me, and my unplugging has also proved as beneficial as I had hoped. A new purchase has allowed me to take another step in the right direction, and completely replace my laptop – sort of.

A couple weeks ago I finally purchased a much needed cellphone -the BlackBerry Pearl. The Pearl is small, cool looking, and most importantly it seamlessly integrates with my email and makes communicating through it very easy. One of the hindrances to really leaving the laptop at the office while out was that much of my communication with our Ministry Assistant, and others is through email. The BlackBerry solves this problem nicely. So I am spending less time on the computer, while remaining connected only where it’s necessary. This has allowed me to replace my old laptop with a new one. See it below.

I do much of my work off line these days, and keep my computer work limited to the necessary stuff. I write most everything long hand with pencil in a Moleskine journal. Writing longhand in a journal helps the creative process for me, and allows for idea generating, diagramming, brain mapping and outlining in more organic ways that work well for this pastor. Computer work is mostly research, and pulling together final drafts (of a sermon for example). An added benefit is that I experience less mental drift when working off line. It’s easy to open too many windows, process too much unnecessary information, and become distracted by things not related to my current task when I’m plugged in. Honestly, because of these changes I am accomplishing much more than I have in the past.