Clear your physical space. Fill it with:
Peace and tranquility
Something new you really love
Nothing
Clear your calendar. Fill it with: (more…)
Do you have a project to do, but don’t know where to start? Most of us don’t have access to complex project management software, nor do we want to make the time investment to learn to use it. I’ve developed a simple project planning process that yields many of the same results without the learning curve.
1. Get a stack of Post-its
2. Write down each task associated with the project. Don’t worry about writing them in any order, just write as fast as the ideas come to you. Be sure to use a new post it for each individual task.
3. Put the post-its in order. Consider – what has to come before another step, what would be the most logical way to do the work, if there is any significant wait time, and what would be best for you? During this process you may think of extra steps. Create a post-it for those steps and insert them into the process.
4. Assign a length of time it will take to complete that step to each post-it – it could be 15 minutes, an hour or a week.
search bar
Sometimes just the smallest thing makes a difference. We spend a lot of time on computers and if we could do what we needed to do faster than there would be more time to do the things we want to do. Here are my Top Ten Google Search Tricks that help me save time.
| Tip | Issue | Type in | Results | |
| 1. | Spell | Don’t know how to spell a word? Type in the word spell and your closest guess. As long as your guess is reasonably close, Google returns the correct spelling | Spell infintesimal | Infinitesimal |
| 2. | Google Images | When looking for a product, type in product description and select “images” for your search tool (grey options across the top – 3rd one) | Desk top file and select “search images” | Pages of desk top files pictures that you can shop from |
| 3. | Define | Need a definition? You don’t need to go to a dictionary website. Type in “define” and the word. | Define Complementary | Full dictionary definition |
| 4. | Minus Sign | If you want to find something but leave out certain results use the minus sign | Caterpillar – tractor | Insect options not machinery company options |
| 5. | Date Range | To identify a range of years use two periods. I use it often to get the most current technology results | iPhone updates 2018..2019 | Only listings posted during that range of dates |
| 6. | Timer | Let your computer alert you after a certain amount of time? Type in “timer” and the length of time. | Timer 10 minutes | A countdown timer that dings when you are out of time |
| 7. | Math | Don’t have a calculator handy? Google does equations. Type in the equation and you’ll get the answer | 365 * 24 | 8760 |
| 8. | Weather | What’s the temperature outside | weather and zip code | 10 day forecast |
| 9. | Answers questions | Google is just like your smart phone’s assistant (Siri) | When is daylight savings 2014 | Starts March 9, Ends Nov 2 |
| 10. | Exact Words | When searching for exact words use quotes to delineate the exact words you are looking for | “Michael C. Jones” | Only searches that have the words Michael C. Jones, in that order. |
Ton of Shoulds
What I’m about to say is sacrilege. It goes against every bit of advice today’s productivity experts lend. I’ve been thinking about it a lot and am just going to put it out there… Don’t write down every possible to-do or task you have to do. I know, “if you don’t write it down then it is taking space in your head.”
The way I see it is that if you write everything down your endless lists become useless. You have so much to do and so many possibilities. To improve your quality of life I suggest you write down the to-dos that are important and just let the other stuff go. Each time you think of something that could be done I want you to run it through the “Is this important” filter.
Deciding what’s important isn’t as easy as it sounds, but it’s not that hard either. It just takes a bit of thought.
Done with Evernote
Delegation is sharing some of your responsibilities with the people that work with you. The leader who is not delegating is trying to do it all, and we know how well that works out… There is only one of you and your job isn’t to do everything, it’s to drive the important work.
Just as setting priorities for ourselves is critical to goal achievement, helping our team learn to set priorities is critical too (this works at work, at home and in volunteer settings.)
Delegating priority tasks is great, but without follow up and accountability it almost seems that delegating is more trouble than it’s worth. However, when done well it’s a game changer. All of a sudden you are free to drive forward.
A good delegation system has the following components:
My accountability partner of choice for delegating is Evernote. Evernote has some great features that makes it an ideal follow-up tool:
With the summer coming to a close it’s good to remember that vacations are exciting – but getting back to routine reduces stress. Part of being organized and productive is having routines. They enable us to enjoy the doing more – to be more creative and effective – with less effort. When routines becomes “routine” life is just easier.
Are there things you do regularly in life that would be easier if you made them part of your routine? I know there are in my life. When I have a routine I don’t spend time worrying when I’m going to do something, or if I’ve missed opportunities or deadlines. The task is on autopilot. It takes care of itself until it’s time to do it again.
What can you autopilot? Here are some ideas: