Post frequency has been low at MDV recently because I’ve been getting a lot done, and no I don’t need a book to teach me how to be productive with my time. I use my own system. The biggest helper in this whole process has been Basecamp, an online project and task management service.

I’m using the free account and it does a fine job for what I need it to do. With the free account you are allowed one project and that’s really all a single person needs. It’s pretty easy to manage my life under one overall project. I use messages to keep track of ideas or thoughts. Right now I have 7 to-do lists where I put down tasks that I need to accomplish. I have one to-do list for each of my 5 blogs, one for the next blog, and one I titled personal. The personal to-do list currently is used for everything not associated to one of my web sites. I’ll probably eventually break that down into a few other lists, but it seems to be working right now. I’m also using a writeboard to collaborate with my brother on a new web site idea. You don’t need a Basecamp account to use writeboards though, simply sign up at Writeboard and you can share ideas with multiple people.

I’ve only been using this system for a week or two, but my productivity has increased dramatically. I’m 10 times more organized with my thoughts, ideas, and tasks. There’s something about seeing a list of tasks that drives me to get things done. Checking something off feels great too. It really helps the whole idea of accomplishing something.

Some of the things I took care of over the weekend were a shopping spree for new clothes and cleaning out my closet. Before the weekend I didn’t have any free hangers, but after cleaning out a bunch of old clothes and putting in the new ones I have 30 free hangers. I also caught up on some odds and ends like mounting my XM radio again, listing things on eBay and Half.com, and cleaning some other things up.

What are your secrets to being productive after you get home from work or on weekends?