Work smarter, not harder
This article was originally published on February 24, 2017. Electronic to-do lists rock. Paper to-do lists as your main productivity platform are old-school and inefficient for recording thoughts and tasks leaving you to tackle what’s in front of you. While some people are looking for many bells and whistles with their productivity/to-do platform (if that Continue Reading
Editing is just as important as getting the words on the page for the first time. Here’s what I have figured out over time.
Editing is a process. Spending as much time reviewing and editing as writing and rewriting is key to putting out good work. I can’t help you make your thoughts out any better, but I can pass some tips to help ensure you haven’t missed a comma or have accidentally a word when you self-edit. Writing Continue Reading
You know what the “E” in email stands for, right? “Evidence.” Just because someone has their online social media profiles and Tweets on “Private” so that their boss, LinkedIn contacts, and Aunt Becky can’t see embarrassing selfies and pictures of them at parties with cans of Bud Lite in their hand doesn’t mean that info is Continue Reading
What is a weekly review? A weekly review is so much more than simply “clarification” of your inbox items during a particular time of the week. It’s a chance for you to formulate short-term goals this week and plan your time to execute your long-term game-plan. Performing a weekly review is imperative to keeping productive Continue Reading
If you know me you also know I love my coffee. I love coffee so much that I’m even willing to drink shitty coffee from yesterday that nobody else wanted. And it’s cold. But why drink acrid coffee when you can drink a cup that tastes really good? For the past couple years I have Continue Reading
Whenever I talk to people about tracking their time (I’m a riveting conversationalist) I overwhelmingly hear two common obstacles.
Do not make yourself crazy trying to get necessarily everything done on your agenda. It’s okay to put off tasks for later. Things come up. Life will not stop while you send emails and go to meetings.
Have you ever heard the advice: “If it takes less than two minutes, do it now.”? If we all followed this advice, how could we ever decide when to stop doing? I’ll teach you when to stop doing when to start adding items to your to-do list and then move on to whatever else you Continue Reading
Become more selective of which tasks you tackle and engage in deliberate practice. Do this by working intensely for short periods, seeking flow in your work. At the end of your work session, assess areas of improvement. Refine your technique for the next hyper-productive session.
Want to run marathons? What about starting a new vegan diet? Everyone wants to build habits that last, but the key is to have a plan that works for you, not against you.
Maybe hold off for now.
If you want to be productive, you must be using some kind of productivity tool that backs up all of your tasks and allows you to keep your mind free to tackle whats in front of you. I’ve reviewed some of the top options to help you decide which to use.
By spending your first several hours or even minutes of your day responding to emails you are shooting yourself in the foot. Mornings, for both larks and night owls, tend to be some of the most precious and productive hours of the day.