Well, it has been a while since i have been active on this blog, and it is for good reasons. As most of you know, about a year ago, I started a web design firm called Collective Core. In the past few months, things have really started to take off. I currently have 3 active client projects that are taking up all of my free. Between running a business, working on client projects, networking, and having someone of a social life, I have not been able to keep my blogs up to date. Which I hate, because I really do enjoy blogging. Don't worry though, I am not turning away from the blogs!

I have started to implement a new time management/task managing system in my life. Hopefully after I get use to this new method of managing my time, it will allow me to stay on top of and in control of all the craziness in my life. This new system involves a few software based and web based tools, and a whole lot of self control.

- Things (Mac To-Do Application) - Things is amazing, I have been using it on and off for a few months now and only recently did I really start to dive into the deep end with it. I now manage all of my to-do's exclusively in Things. Everything from bill due dates, to bill paying time blocks, to client projects, my dog's monthly flea medicine, ... When used in conjunction with the iPhone/iPad application, you can't go wrong with Things. You can find out more about it here: http://culturedcode.com/things/

- BusyCal (Mac Calendar Application) - BusyCal is known across the web as iCal on steroids, and that is exactly what it is. It looks a feels just like iCal, but offers a higher level of customization and options regarding calendar events and reminders, plus it offers up little weather widgets directly on your calendar, which is kind of handy. You can also share your calendar over LAN, Online (Google Calendar Sync), via the iPhone, ... You can find out more about it here: http://busymac.com/

-Delicious (Web Based Application) - One of my self battles is distractions, I tend to get distracted very easily especially with blog articles and news store. What I have started doing, is when I come across an article or news store I want to read or comments on, I will save it to Delicious and return to it when I have downtime, which is normally before bed on my iPhone. This alone has increased my productivity because I don't get side tracked during the day when I should be working. You can find out more and view my Delicious feed here: http://delicious.com/ATLChris

- Isolator (Mac Application) - Isolator is one of those super simple applications that changed the way I worked the moment I started using it. What it does, is simply turn the lights down on everything on your screen except the current application. This this great for when I am coding, and I don't want to see my twitter feed in the background, or my RSS feed. It simple blacks out every thing on screen with the exception of the current active windows. You can even choose to black out the dock if you want. Learn more about it here: http://willmore.eu/software/isolator/

So, I leave you with this question, How do you manage your time/to-do's/tasks?