The trouble I have with the system is that it’s actually quite complicated – so I was delighted when I stumbled on a simplified version on ZenHabits.net (“Zen To Done”).

It may sound strange to some people, however I still found this system hard to maintain on an ongoing basis – even the simplified minimal version of Zen-to-Done!

Hi-Tech, Low-Tech or Something Else?

One common element of these different flavours of system is the use of lists. The basic idea is to get things out of your head and write them down, and to store supporting material somewhere you can retrieve it easily when needed.

This led me on a journey, trying to find the perfect solution or software that would get me organised in a heartbeat. Of course, no such system or software exists.

I’ve tried Google (Tasks, Calendar and Notes). I’ve tried 37 Signals’ Highrise, Backpack and Basecamp.

I’ve gone down the path of “low tech” – to cut a very long story short, the net result was an abandoned pile of half-completed notebooks and scribble pads.

In between all this, I’ve played with using mobile devices such as Netbooks, Smart Phones and tablet devices, convinced that modern mobile computing plus some web app or other would be the key.

Nothing worked the way I hoped – there was always something that didn’t fit automatically into my usual workflows. I rapidly came to the realisation that I am very good at filtering out things that present pretty much any type of barrier or obstacle. Something has to require zero effort in order for it to get through.

So What DOES Work?

The answer to that question obviously varies from person to person, and in my case the simpler the system the better. Also, it really needs to be a system that requires almost no additional effort on my part. A tall order for sure.

Then it dawned on me; while my organisation in a home office context leaves a lot to be desired, it is a very different story in my day job. So what has happened there that I rarely need to write notes, never need to stop and figure out what needs my attention, and never forget a thing?

The answer is email.

Everything I need to work on, every request, every project, every report topic – comes in via email. Of course I also receive plenty of other emails (jokes, feedback, information, announcements etc.) and my Inbox gets processed a little like this:

1. Each email is examined to see if it is actionable (e.g. a quick one line reply), disposable (it can be read then deleted) or requires follow-up action.

2. Emails are then either deleted, moved to an archive folder or flagged for follow-up and then moved to the archive folder.

The bulk of my working day is then filled by processing the flagged items, working on them as I am able to, and focusing on just the item being worked on to the exclusion of everything else.

Essentially it keeps my projects moving forward without needing me to devote much time to a fancy productivity system.

Can This Work in the Home Office?

In a word, “yes”. For my own purposes I have found that the office routine can be easily adapted to deliver similar benefits at home. The only tool required is an email system, into which all relevant messages and requests arrive. In my case this is GMail.

So the home-based office equivalent goes something like this:

1. Each email in the inbox is checked to see if it is actionable, disposable or requires follow-up action

2. Actionable items are done (e.g. replied to)  and then archived

3. Disposable items are either archived (if it contains anything of value) or deleted (e.g. junk or jokes)

4. Items needing follow-up get labelled as “Follow-Up” and archived.

As with the office system, the main loop then involves processing the labelled items, working on them as I am able to, and focusing on one item at as time.

One small complication (and this does occur very occasionally in the office) is that not all items arrive as email. It might be instigated by a phone call for example.

The simplest solution I have found so far is to send an email to myself!

Conclusion

With the way I work, the nature of my work, and my personal Internet usage patterns, email is an ever-present technology that is already embedded into my routines.

By making a tiny amount of effort to label (flag) items needing follow-up, and keeping the inbox itself empty, I wind up with a single “todo” list that is easily scanned and easily accessed when determining what to work on next.

This process removes the need for paid application/service subscriptions, does not require the purchase of fancy notebooks, applies a minimal “hack” to my existing habits (creating an almost-zero resistance solution) and is ultra-portable.

It’s taken a while, however I have finally found the solution that really does work for me, and it was staring me in the face all along!

Which really is the core message here – find what works for you, don’t get hung up on “tools” and keep things as simple as you can!

It is a source of frustration because all too often I have far too many ideas and thoughts spinning around in my head, and wind up with an extreme case of “butterfly mind“, flitting from one thing to another. It’s something I have been working on, will continue to work on, and have been making significant progress in that area.

It is close to my heart because I keep seeing the power of focus, and the power of constantly sharpening focus. The best example I have of that is the continual refinement of what my business is about, and seeing things click into place as things become more and more focused.

If you go back to the initial version of the ExpressWAHPz system (or “ExpressWebz” as it was called back then), there was a fuzzy vagueness about who or what it was for. The idea was to provide an affordable web solution for “small business” or “the little guy” and this lack of a clearly defined target audience was its biggest downfall.

Ever since I stumbled on the world of “Work at Home Mums”, not only has the service gained a purpose, not only has it attracted actual real, money-wielding customers, it started a chain reaction that puts me on the verge of launching a couple of major new initiatives. The best thing is that these things align perfectly with the overall concepts I had right at the very start.

The shocking reality is that without focus it would still be a pipe dream…

At various points today I’ve felt disillusioned, frustrated and at one stage I sat watching my 22 month old son and 14 week old puppy, playing in the sunshine, wondering why I make things harder for myself. I’d fixed up a bit of fencing, was cooling off with a cool drink and it seemed that these simple pleasures were all that was needed, and so the pressure of taking on extra work and developing a low cost web service were unnecessary.

The real source of the frustration is my continued inability to crack on with some contract development work; it’s simply not inspiring or exciting me and in all honesty that side of things is starting to feel more and more like another job.

Despite all this, I’ve updated an ExpressWAHPz user’s header graphic, created a Facebook application that reads content from ExpressWAHPz accounts (a replacement for Static FBML for EWZ users) and also created the admin section where this content can be managed.

So this reminds me of a couple of important things;  the traditional model of web development does not inspire or motivate me, and ExpressWAHPz is truly something I am passionate about and proud of. When I write code for the service, it feels like I am slacking off because it does not feel like work at all.

Yes, this is definitely the path I need to continue pursuing – and the sooner the financials stack up so I can focus on it full time, the better!

So the strategy was to focus on the content management aspect, allowing products to be listed easily, include support for the PayPal mini-cart system, and also make it easy for users to connect their products to third party cart systems, like this one.

This approach offers the best of both worlds, with users benefiting from two solution providers focusing on specific functionality. The e-junkie system linked to above provides some great functionality for a low cost. It’s something that advanced users might consider – e.g. if they want to offer promo codes, or make their products available for affiliate reselling.

At the same time, those with simple pricing can continue to use the mini-cart integration without having lots of options getting in their way when they set up a product item!

On a general note, it’s fair to say that ExpressWAHPz will continue to take this approach with any functionality that sits outside of the core functionality of the system.  There is no point in making the system too complex for the majority of users, when an elegant solution already exists for the power users!

You see, "waiting for the right idea" turns out to be nothing more than an excuse. People have ideas every day of the week, dismiss them, ignore them, write them off as not being good enough and so on. The simple fact is you just need AN idea, in fact almost ANY idea will do as long as you run with it, stick with it and put your heart into it.

In hindsight I could have built a solid business around Quizzard, I could have built on the initial successes of id64.com, and I could have created something great around a number of web applications that I have never quite completed. The only reason I didn't is because I found a reason (an excuse) to stop work and walk away every time.

In fairness, a lot of the code/ideas that went into other web apps I started still live on within the code for ExpressWAHPz, and in many ways ExpressWAHPz is the net result of about 4 or 5 years of development. Even id64.com and Quizzard have contributed to the current efforts through experience gained and lessons learned.

The fact remains however; none of those ideas led to any great degree of success purely because I didn't allow them to,

That's why things have been very different with ExpressWAHPz – even when things have gone wrong, and the obvious option has been to walk away, I've made a conscious decision to plod on regardless.

For example, last year the first version of the system (ExpressWebz as it was called then) simply stopped working – some changes made by the hosting provider caused some issues with a framework I was using. It was tempting to throw in the towel, and a couple of years ago I almost definitely would have.

In the end I used this as an opportunity to rewrite the service manager code from scratch, remove all dependencies on third party frameworks and restrict use of 3rd party code to just a handful of proven libraries (in particular the HTML editor and file manager components).

At the same time I encountered the world of the "Work at Home Parent" for the first time – largely due to my wife making jewellery and her friends doing similar craft-type stuff. It struck me that I had found my "target market". ExpressWebz had been vague, aimed at "small business" and offering a simple way to put a web site online for a monthly fee. Most traditional small businesses didn't seem to understand the pricing model, and wanted to stick to the more traditional model of me doing lots of work to build a web-site and charging them a few thousand on a one-off basis.

I'll admit, I had started to have a few doubts about my pricing model, however I still had enough faith in my own ideas. I truly believe it is possibe to build a solid business on the basis of low recurring monthly fees. It is a model that means I don't have enough income, initially, to simply quit my day job, and yet at the same time it allows a mode of working that can easily fit around the day job.

So, I had stumbled on the world of the WAHP, many of whom would love to create a business web site if only they could afford it. The opportunity was there, it just needed me to make the connection in my mind, realise that this was an opportunity, and then pursue it!

ExpressWebz was renamed to ExpressWAHPz to make it clear who this service was aimed at (WAHPs) and this decision alone provided an unprecedented degree of focus to development of the service. It became clear what functionality was needed, what could be ditched/postponed and what sort of pricing could be applied to the service. It was a significant milestone in the development of the business.

So if you're sat there waiting for "the idea" then I urge you to stop right now, examine the contents of your existing idea bank, pick one single idea and go for it! Once you allow your mind to start focusing on something, you'll be surprised at how opportunity seems to flow from that – your next challenge will be to recognise that opportunity when it comes along and to seize it.

That’s the theory, and so far it’s working great. It’s amazing how much you can achieve if you allow yourself a complete day, without taking huge chunks of time out for commuting. Last week I put in 20 hours of billable contract work in just 2 days – I worked no harder than I would have anyway, and the “extra” hours came mostly from what would have been empty, wasted commuting hours.

The knock-on effect was immense; I finally finished the ExpressWAHPz web site, laid out the plan prices and features more clearly, added a couple of features to the service and finally deleted the old ExpressWebz code (having moved the last two sites running on that code across to the new service).

I’ve also found that I am a lot more relaxed and focused with things – to be honest it was getting a bit too much juggling a full time job, contract work AND web development. Something had to give, and the logical thing to “give” was the day job; it’s the one thing that doesn’t fit the long term plans. I’ve even been able to go for an evening walk with my wife and son without stressing that I should be at the computer!

So where to from here? Well, all being well, I will continue to put plenty of contract work through the business, build on the solid foundations that ExpressWAHPz now gives me, and gradually (or maybe not-so-gradually) decrease the number of hours needed in the day job to pay the bills etc.

That’s the plan, so far so good, and if the experience so far is anything to go by it’s just a case of keeping the faith and sticking to it…

The notion that it is Facebook’s responsibility, and that Facebook should fund a liaison officer / law enforcement expert is bullshit, and would set a dangerous precedent for software / site developers everywhere.

Let Facebook stick to developing software and content, and give the police enough funds to set up and operate an effective online unit.

http://expressurl.net/ws/338

Like it or lump it, the Internet is a playground where people are still relatively free. Piracy of content has always gone on – tape recorders were never banned, so why should file sharing?

I can tell you right now IF you put out content that is worth paying for, then people WILL pay for it. Personally I’m much happier being able to download a book, movie or audio for free, and if it’s a sack of crap I delete it and move on. If it’s something that’s of value to me, I go buy a copy.

Not everyone will do this, but that’s always been the case – deal with it, get over it, and allow the deliciously anarchic nature of the Net to continue to exist. If you control the net too tightly, someone will simply build a new one.