The Smooth DJ

Google's Douglas Merrill is an inspiration. At 37, he's Chief Information Officer and VP of Engineering of the the biggest business-technology phenomenon in my lifetime, perhaps in history. Every week, he chairs 60 meetings, travels extensively, and manages about a thousand people. He accomplishes this despite his forgetfulness, partial deafness, and dyslexia.

And I thought I had it tough.

The above Men's Health article outlines Merrill's handful of tools he relies on to be productive. Not surprisingly, he takes advantage of Google apps like Documents/Spreadsheets, Calendar, and iGoogle, among others. He stores everything online for easy access. His tools make his work searchable so he doesn't have to remember folders or filenames. In short, by keeping his work in "the cloud" of web computing, he keeps his mind clear and gets his work done.

I find this method of organization and storage incredibly alluring. I, too, think of myself as forgetful (and sometimes suspect myself of having ADD). But if someone like Merrill can keep everything straight (and he has a lot more to keep straight), I should be able to as well.

So what's stopping me? For one, I'm not sure if I'm ready to commit to cloud computing. Clearly, relying on Google's tools works for Merrill, but I don't have that much faith. Keeping my own backups, however, should mitigate this fear.

My real roadblock here is my own lack of discipline, something I can't blame on Google. This is a character defect, not a technology defect. But I'm going to work on it.

I'm going to ease into being more disciplined by starting at work. I'll start by applying this methodology to my work files, storing them on the local network and keeping a knowledge base of info that doesn't neatly fit anywhere in particular. If I notice improvements at work using these tools, I'll think about applying them to my personal stuff.

Does anyone out there work in the cloud, like Merrill does? What good and bad things have you noticed about it? Has it helped you get more organized and accomplish more? What tools and techniques do you use to stay productive?

Here's Merrill's blog (on Blogger, of course). Seems like a really cool guy.

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Guest blogger James Biskey is an electronics engineer in LA who enjoys writing music, going to concerts, and supporting socially responsible businesses and nonprofits. His room is currently a mess. His email is jamesbiskey@gmail.com.
Photo credit menshealth.com.