I need a keyword
Is there a word which incorporates all of the following? Work habits and work spaces; time management; mnemonics and other cognitive devices; tools like notebooks and PDAs; personal and shared knowledge management tools (bibliographies, bookmarks and linkfarms).
It seems to me that these things are alike in some way but I can’t find a term which unites them. I certainly know a lot of people who share an interest in them, largely through Ed Vielmetti and his always stimulating Vacuum mailing list.
The most prosaic reason why I want such a term is to use it as a category for this blog. But I think that having a term to describe this set would be useful in discussing the set itself. I want to be able to say, “What kinds of X do you use to help with [a task]? Another X related to that one is [a tool or technique]. The best book I’ve seen about X lately is [title].” Not to mention that “Ed Vielmetti and his friends have the most fascinating conversations about X.”
December 9th, 2004 at 10:51 am
I was tempted to expand the list above by adding writing and communication techniques, like Edward Tufte’s Tips for Successful Presentation (scroll down) or Mike Shea’s handy totable writing tips. But are these part of X or not? Or rather, is it more useful to select a term for X which includes or excludes these?
December 21st, 2004 at 11:59 pm
try googling for “life hacks”.
have you seen 43folders.com? it’s a blog about
x-flavored things.
December 22nd, 2004 at 12:14 am
Prentiss -
You might start by listing some existing books and weblogs that fit the category, and see if someone has already lumped them into one spot. The closest I’ve seen in the pop (Boing Boing) blog world is “life hacks”, the title of a book, the name of a web site, etc.
I’d through the 43 Folders site in category X, and some (but not all) of the personal organizing, personal information managing, keep a clean desk with tidy folders school of life management exemplified by the Getting Things Done crowd.
James Fallows has written a few things about this – the distinctions between the big heaps of laundry school of information management where lots of stuff wanders aimlessly through your infospace & you search for it with powerful tools, vs. the detail oriented filing school where you laser in on precisely where things belong. I’d put him into Category X.
January 7th, 2005 at 11:08 am
I thought the term was “knowledge management?” I think one of these things is not like the other (i.e. work spaces). Other than that, they all fall under KM.
January 7th, 2005 at 10:03 pm
Thanks, Christiane, but I think the set is significantly different from KM. Not only work spaces but work habits and time management fall outside of KM as I understand it. Or am I wrong?
January 8th, 2005 at 5:43 pm
Okay, I’ve decided afetr seeing the term in use at del.icio.us: “life hacks” it is. I’m adding it as a category in this blog.
January 11th, 2005 at 2:14 pm
As an alternative, “cognitive augmentation” sounds more scholarly (and perhaps snobbish). Not sure if it conveys the exact same meaning though. Look up http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&lr=&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&q=+site:www.burningchrome.com+augmentation+burningchrome