However, one of the biggest problems I have with the service is the data entry side. Although it’s pretty easy to add new data, frequently entering new data points can add a little friction to the whole process.

Thankfully the folks at Beeminder released an API a few weeks, so I’ve been playing around with ways of integrating it with my work flow. One thing I’ve wanted to do for a long time is blog more frequently, so a WordPress plugin to notify Beeminder when I post seemed like a good idea.

So here it is.

Specifically, I wanted to be able to answer questions like:

• What am I really spending my time doing?
• Where am I wasting the most time?
• What parts can I remove or automate to make me more efficient?

Once I started thinking about what I’d like to know, my brain started throwing out way more questions:

• Am I more effective in the morning, afternoon or night?
• Does spending longer on the computer help me get more done?
• How often should I take a break? For how long?
• What websites waste my time the most? More importantly, does spending my time on these sites make me feel happy or miserable?
• How much does exercise do I do? What has the most effect on my weight? What about on my mood?
• What habits should I create to make me happier?

That’s a lot of questions, but in essence what I really wanted to know was:

What can I do to be happier?

Perhaps that question is a little too big to be answered by a bunch of numbers and charts,

I tried to take an approach that took work and play into account, rather than just trying to wring another few minutes out of my day in the name of “productivity”.

At the moment there are just under 30 blogs on the list, but I hope to grow that over time.

If you have a blog you’d like added to the list, just leave a comment and I’ll update things.

• Emacs Extensions – A list of useful extensions for Emacs. Grouped into categories for writers, programmers and general usage.
• Pomodoro Apps – A visual guide of pomodoro apps. Not much going on at the moment, but there’s a hefty list of apps to add at the moment.

The resources section has also been given a minor facelift, and each printable now has its own page with a brief description and much larger preview image.

One thing I’ve learnt is that quantifying creative goals by time does not work well for me. I originally set up the goal because I wanted to write more, but it didn’t really have the desired effect. I’d find myself rewriting things just to meet the time quota, which wasn’t really productive.

I usually only write when I’m in the mood, and it can be a couple of days before inspiration hits. Forcing myself to write for 30 minutes every day seemed like a good idea at the time, but in the end just led to me scrambling for ideas and producing very little of value.

Still, Beeminder itself works really well. It’s encouraged me to keep my email under control, and I’ve spent way more time working on personal projects than I used to. I’m still trying to come up with a good system for tracking personal & work goals, but I’ll probably go with a points-based approach.

Whenever there is a large lottery jackpot, the same crop of articles always appear, such as:

• What you could buy with $X million
• How to pick your numbers
• 10 things more likely to happen than winning

I’m going to focus on the last one, because the statistics are usually wrong (or rather, used incorrectly).

The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are 1 in 179 million. That means that there are 179 million different number combinations that can occur. If you buy one ticket, there us a 1 in 179 million chance your numbers will come up. Buy two tickets (with different numbers), and the odds are halved. Nothing too complicated.

Normally there’s something about how much more likely it is that you’ll be struck by lightning than win the jackpot. The odds of being hit by a lightning strike in the US are 1 in 10,000². This makes it sound much more likely, but these odds are spread over an average lifetime (80 years) rather than a single event (a lottery drawing).

A slightly more realistic set of odds would be: if you buy a lottery ticket, what are the chances of you being struck by lightning before the draw compared to winning the jackpot?

Assuming you buy a ticket as soon as the previous draw ends, you have nearly a 1 in 71 million chance of being hit by lightning. Of course, this doesn’t take into account the current season or state you live in (people in Florida are twice as likely to be killed or injured than people in Michigan⁴).

So, in order to be more likely to win the jackpot than being zapped by Zeus, just buy two tickets.

How can task lists be improved without adding too much administrative bloat?

Here are a few things you can add to your task list to make them (and you) more effective. You don’t have to add all of them, just use what works and toss out what doesn’t.

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

It’s a good question, and recently got me thinking about perfectionism.

If a project is finished but nobody sees it, does it exist?

Whilst not a revolutionary idea, it’s important to remember this when striving for perfection. It’s easy to get in the habit of putting things off because they’re not quite ready, but really, what’s the danger of someone seeing something “too early”? Sometimes the roughness around the edges is what gives something charm and appeal.

Sharing things with the world is scary. Some people will be negative. But remember, nothing on Earth is without its detractors. Be brave and share what you have. It’s the best way to grow.

I’ll be the first to admin that lucid dreaming can sound a bit hokey, and it took me a while to get used to the idea. It sounds weird, but given some thought it actually makes a lot of sense.

Take sight for example. When you “see” something, your eye receives information from the outside world. It then sends signals to your brain, which interprets these signals into images. When you dream, your brain is just making up these signals for itself, so the whole experience can feel just like waking life.

Lucid dreams often have varying levels of realism. Sometimes things might be hazy and dream like, but you’ll have control over what happens. In others, you’ll be able to imagine things into your dream and everything will feel as real as when you’re awake.

So how do we have a lucid dream?

Remember your dreams

This is important. After all, if you don’t remember your dreams, what’s the point in trrying to influence them? I’ve found the best way to do this is to keep a “dream diary”, where you write down your dreams when you wake up.

By writing them down, you strengthen your ability to remember. The more you do this, the better you get.

Remember you’re asleep

One problem with lucid dreaming is that it’s not always obvious that you’re still asleep. It should seem obvious that you’re dreaming when everything crazy is happening, but it often takes something more subtle to trigger the “awakening”.

There are a few giveaways that you’re dreaming:

1. You can pinch your nose and still breath through it
2. Electronics and machinery act haywire. This could be phones ringing but not responding to being picked up, screens showing a jumbled mess or watches showing completely different times when you look at them twice. Light switches often have unexpected results, and cars may drive much slower than expected.

A good way of knowing you’re lucid is performing a “reality check” by checking if any of the above occur. Ive found the most effective check is pinching my nose, and it only takes a few seconds to try (although you might get a few funny looks).

Sometimes you’ll have a “false awakening”, where you’ll think you’ve woken up but you’re actually still dreaming. These are a great time for reality checks.

Staying Lucid

The final piece of the puzzle is staying lucid. The first few times, you’ll probably get excited and wake up (or have a false awakening). Don’t get too disheartened. Here are some ways to stay lucid:

• Spin around on the spot.
• Focus on your hands or other part of your body.
• Tell yourself to stay lucid (I’ve had very little success with this methind, but I’m told it works.)

Once you’re lucid and it’s stable, enjoy yourself! Anything is possible in the dream world, so go crazy. Learn to fly, or pass through solid objects. Run faster than cars, or jump over buildings.

I’ve found the best way of having lucid dreams is the WBTB method (Wake, Back to Bed). If I’ve woken up in the early morning (usually between 4am and 5am) it’s much easier to go lucid than when going straight to bed. You can always set an alarm clock, although this might not go down so well with your sleep neighbours

If you can get over the weird factor, lucid dreaming is definitely something worth experimenting with.

Recently I found myself in a bit of a slump. Nothing seemed to be going right, and I felt flat and uninspired. I’d have plenty of ideas, but would end up spending time surfing the net or playing games, rather than doing something about them.

The cure turned out to be something rather simple. Create more.

When we create something new, we open up so many more opportunities than when we consume.

Creating something connects us. It opens up new avenues and feedback. Even if you create something that turns out to be a complete dud, you’re guaranteed to learn something from the experience.

Sometimes it can be difficult to get started. It’s so much easier to just browse another website under the excuse of “learning”, but you can learn so much more by creating something instead.

This isn’t to say that there isn’t a place for these things. Athletes can benefit from watching videos to improve their form. However, they will gain much more from a training session.

If you’re feeling in a slump, try creating something. It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, but do it anyway. Make something, put it out in the world and learn from it.

Always be creating.