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Productivity Coaching, Time Management Consulting and Leadership Coaching for business and nonprofits - get your most important work done. Collaborating with leaders and their teams to become more strategic, focused and productive. Leadership and Board Coaching, Strategic Planning Facilitation, Productivity Coaching and Time Management Consulting, Professional Speaker.
Productivity Coach, Productivity Consultant, Leadership Coach, Time Management Coach, Business Consulting, personal productivity, time management, nonprofit, board coach, collaboration, strategic planning, facilitation, change management, leading productive teams, project planning, board development, volunteer engagement, association management, workplace productivity, executive director.
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focus Tag

13 Oct

Posted at 11:44h in Focus and Prioritize, Productivity, Stress Management, Task List

If your computer looks like your brain feels – 37 tabs open, all competing for attention – this one’s for you.

You start with good intentions: one quick check, one more thing to look up. Suddenly, you’ve got open tabs for work projects, travel plans, news, shopping, and maybe that recipe you’ll definitely make someday.

Each tab represents something unfinished—an open loop your brain keeps tracking. No wonder you feel distracted and overwhelmed.

Our Brains Weren’t Built for This Many Tabs

Neuroscience shows that our best thinking happens in the prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain responsible for decision-making, planning, and prioritizing. But it can only hold so much at once.

When too much comes at us—too many tabs, tasks, or worries—we overload. The thinking brain gives way to the emotional brain, triggering fight, flight, or freeze. Focus evaporates, anxiety rises, and even simple things feel hard.

When your computer crashes, you lose all those open tabs. When you crash, you lose all those thoughts and ideas. That’s why you need a system for offloading them—your task list. There’s hope (and help).

Pro Tips

  • For ideas:
    Capture them somewhere reliable—your task list, a Google Sheet shortcut, an email to yourself, or even a sticky note you’ll transfer later. Avoid random Notes apps if you never revisit them. Ideas are only useful if you’ll find them again.
  • For browser tabs:
    Add the action (and hyperlink) to your task list. Then close the tab confidently. You’ll know where to find it when you’re ready.

“Too Many Tabs” Looks Different for Everyone

Some tabs are digital. Others are mental or emotional. They sound like:

  • “I should reach out to that client.”

  • “I need to start that presentation.”

  • “I still haven’t scheduled that appointment.”

  • “I need to figure out what’s next for my business.”

Each open loop takes up mental bandwidth. The more tabs you keep open, the slower everything runs, and the more stuck you’ll be when you or your computer crashes.

Closing the Tabs

You don’t need to close every tab—just enough to free up cognitive space.

  1. Externalize what’s internal.
    Write down everything on your mind. Once it’s captured, your brain can relax. (Learn more in Chapter 9 of Productivity for How You’re Wired or search “task list” on my blog.)

  2. Decide what deserves to stay open.
    Keep what matters today; close the rest. Add hyperlinks to your task list for anything important.

  3. Match your “tab load” to your structure preference.
    If you need everything visible, organize your open tasks in one clear list. If clutter overwhelms you, pare it down to just what you need now.

  4. Give yourself permission to reboot.
    Step away, stretch, breathe, or declare “tab amnesty.” Close everything. With today’s search engines and ChatGPT, you can find it again if it’s important.

The Point Isn’t Perfection—It’s Clarity

Closing tabs isn’t about being perfectly organized. It’s about making space to think clearly and do your best work.

When you have too many tabs open—on your computer or in your mind—you’re not lazy or unmotivated. You’re simply overloaded.

Take a breath. Save what matters. Close what doesn’t. Give your brain the gift of focus.

What About You?

What’s one “tab” you can close – digitally or mentally – today to make room for focus and peace?

Feeling Overloaded? If you’ve got too many tabs open—on your screen or in your head—you’re not alone. I help leaders and professionals create clarity, structure, and focus by aligning how they work with how they’re wired.

Want to dive deeper into strategies for working smarter, not harder? Check out my book Productivity for How You’re Wired —available now on Amazon in print, eBook, and audio.

Or, if you’re ready for personalized support, let’s talk. Together we’ll design systems that actually stick and create a sustainable rhythm that works for you. Let’s connect – schedule your discovery call today.

 

28 Aug

Posted at 10:31h in Productivity, Stress Management

I’m noticing more than ever how hard we are on ourselves. My clients, my colleagues, even myself—we all tend to expect more of ourselves than is appropriate, healthy, or even humanly possible. When we fall short, instead of extending grace, we turn inward with harsh judgment. We criticize. We attack. And in doing so, we undermine our ability to be effective.

Dr. Kristin Neff, a pioneering researcher in self-compassion, alongside Dr. Chris Germer of the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion, has shown us a different way. Their model identifies three key elements of self-compassion: self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. These concepts have deeply influenced me, yet when I share them, people often resist. It’s as if self-compassion is something that should apply to everyone else—but not to them.

Why is that? Is it our fast-paced, high-demand culture? The belief that constant self-criticism is the only way to succeed? Or is it simply easier to overwork than to pause and take care of ourselves? Whatever the reason, the truth is this: being hard on yourself doesn’t make you more productive—it makes you less.

The Three Tenets of Self-Compassion

When I only have a minute with clients, I break Dr. Neff’s framework down like this:

  1. Self-Kindness
    Treat yourself the way you’d treat your best friend. When you’re stuck in self-criticism, ask: What would I say to my best friend in this situation? Chances are, you’d respond with encouragement—not with the harsh words you use on yourself.
  2. Common Humanity
    Struggle is part of the human condition. Everyone wrestles with some form of self-doubt. Recognizing this can help us see our challenges as normal, not evidence of inadequacy. When we know we’re not alone, it’s easier to be generous with ourselves.
  3. Mindfulness
    Mindfulness means noticing what we’re feeling without ignoring it—or drowning in it. Saying, This is hard. I feel disappointed. I feel anxious, creates space to respond with clarity instead of reacting with judgment.

Why Self-Criticism Derails Productivity

Neff makes a powerful point: “Today most of our threat is to our self-concept. When we fail and feel inadequate, we are fighting ourselves. We are the attacker and the attacked.”

When we’re hard on ourselves, we don’t just bruise our feelings—we hijack our brains. Instead of staying in problem-solving mode, we flip into fight, flight, or freeze. Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline flood our system, and suddenly the “danger” isn’t out there—it’s inside us.

And when you feel under attack, your emotional brain overrides your thinking brain, making it physiologically impossible to focus on your work.

The Science of Self-Compassion

Research shows that people who practice self-compassion aren’t weak or indulgent. In fact, they’re more resilient, motivated, and accountable.

  • They feel less anxiety, stress, and burnout.
  • They report more optimism, gratitude, and life satisfaction.
  • They keep high standards, but bounce back quickly when they fall short.
  • They take responsibility for mistakes and make amends without spiraling into shame.

In short: self-criticism sabotages, while self-compassion empowers. Giving ourselves grace—not beating ourselves up—is what helps us be our best selves.

Practicing Self-Compassion in Real Life

So what does this look like in practice? It’s not about lowering the bar. It’s about changing how you treat yourself when things get tough.

Next time that inner critic pipes up, pause and ask yourself:

  • What do I need right now?
  • What would I say to a good friend in this situation?
  • What if this challenge is just part of being human—not proof that I’m failing?

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is step back and pause. Sometimes it’s giving yourself permission to do less. And sometimes it’s simply saying: This is hard—and that’s okay.

The Path to Flow

At the end of the day, productivity isn’t about pushing harder—it’s about creating the conditions where you can do your best work. And self-compassion is a condition.

When you stop beating yourself up and start having your own back, you clear the way for focus, creativity, and growth.

Because the truth is, you’ll never criticize yourself into greatness. But you can support yourself there.

Want to dive deeper into strategies for working smarter, not harder? Check out my book Productivity for How You’re Wired —available now on Amazon in print, eBook, and audio.

Feeling overwhelmed by too much to do and not enough time to do it? You’re not alone—and you don’t have to stay stuck in that cycle. Through one-on-one coaching, I help professionals and leaders like you cut through the noise, ditch the never-ending to-do lists, and align your productivity with how you’re wired—so you can finally create systems that actually stick.

 

05 Aug

Posted at 14:01h in Envision Possibilities, Procrastination, Productivity, Stress Management, Tips for Easier Living

It’s August. It’s hot. Everyone’s either on vacation or thinking about it. You might be wishing you had more time to rest, slow down, and escape the heat—but somehow, the work still needs to get done.

That’s why how you spend your work time really matters. You don’t need more hours—you need more impact from the hours you already have.

Here’s something I often share: “One unit of focused time is equal to four units of broken focus.” — American Academy of Family Physicians

In other words, ten focused minutes can be as productive as forty minutes of distracted, fragmented effort. The math is simple—and persuasive. Especially in a season when we’re all craving more time off the clock.

Start with Clarity: What Matters Most?

Before we dive into distractions, let’s talk about focus. You can’t focus effectively if you don’t know what you’re focusing on. Each morning, take a moment to clarify your most important priorities for the day. I like to jot mine down on a simple sticky note—just a few key tasks that, if completed, will let me feel good about calling it a day.

This doesn’t mean creating a massive to-do list. In fact, it means the opposite.

As Lin Yutang wisely said: “Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials.”

Letting go of the nonessentials is an act of leadership. You protect your time by honoring what matters most—and letting the rest wait.

Eliminate Distractions: Your Phone Isn’t Helping

One of the biggest threats to focused work? The small device that’s always within reach. Our phones—helpful, powerful, and endlessly distracting—can derail even the best-laid plans for a focused work session.

Want to tap into the power of those “ten focused minutes”? Start by putting your phone in another room. Seriously. Airplane mode is great. Do Not Disturb works too. But if it’s physically out of sight, you’re less likely to reach for it out of habit.

Consider turning off all but the most essential notifications. For me, that’s calls and text messages—nothing else. During focused work sessions, even a single ping can break your concentration and cost you more than just a few seconds. Research suggests it can take 20+ minutes to fully recover from an interruption. Multiply that over a few distractions, and you’ve just lost your entire work block.

Plan for the Ramp-Up: Flow Takes Time

Here’s something we don’t talk about enough: it takes time to settle in and focus. So don’t expect to sit down and immediately start cranking out brilliant work. That’s not how human brains operate.

Instead, plan for ramp-up time before you dive into focused work. Do a quick check of your email or messages, respond to anything urgent, and then intentionally clear the decks. Grab water. Take a bio break. Cue up music that helps you concentrate. Close the extra browser tabs. Then give yourself permission to go deep.

This preparation isn’t procrastination—it’s setting the stage for high-quality work. It’s part of what turns ten minutes into something powerful.

Work Smarter, Rest Better

In this summer heat, when our energy can feel low and our motivation stretched thin, we don’t need more hours—we need more impact from the hours we do have. That starts with focus, clarity, and protecting our attention like the limited resource it is.

So before you burn out trying to push through an endless list, stop.

  • Write down your essentials.
  • Silence the noise.
  • Create the conditions for deep work.
  • And remember: ten focused minutes might be all you need to make real progress today.

Want more practical strategies like this? Chapter 11: Time Matters in my book Productivity for How You’re Wired dives deeper into how to plan your day, manage your time, and get the right things done without the overwhelm. It’s available now on Amazon—in print, eBook, and audio.

Feeling overwhelmed by too much to do and not enough time to do it? You’re not alone—and you don’t have to stay stuck in that cycle. Through one-on-one coaching, I help professionals and leaders like you cut through the noise, ditch the never-ending to-do lists, and align your productivity with how you’re wired—so you can finally create systems that actually stick.

 

04 Feb

Posted at 11:19h in Focus and Prioritize, Meeting Best Practices, Productivity

If there’s one improvement I could wish for my clients, it would be to spend less time in meetings and more time on high-value work. While I believe meetings are crucial, the real value lies in the ability to act on decisions and initiatives post-meeting. Without this follow-through, meetings become a poor investment of valuable business time.

Assess Your High-Value Work

Not all work is equally important. It is crucial to prioritize tasks that have the most significant impact on reaching your business goals. That’s where your time should be focused. If your days are filled with emails, chats, and long meetings, the essential work driving your success isn’t being accomplished.

Applying the 80/20 Rule for Success

Pareto’s principle, the 80/20 rule, illustrates this concept. If 80% of your results come from 20% of your time and effort, then you should allocate more time to high-value work that directly contributes to long-term business growth. This involves reducing time spent on less impactful activities like emails, drafts, and meetings.

Why 50 Minutes

For a meeting to be effective, there must be time to implement decisions made during the meeting. Clients often rush from one meeting to the next, leaving little time for action, or even to identify actions. This results in pages of meeting notes that are rarely acted upon, rendering much of the meeting’s work useless.

Additionally, the first few minutes of meetings are often wasted waiting for latecomers. If they hang up or end at the top of the hour, they can’t be somewhere at the same top of the hour if they have to go to a different room or office, or even if they one to take one minute to run to the restroom.  When people they are late, they are wasting everyone else’s time. Many times we wait a couple of minutes for everyone to show up, and even if we start on time, then we end up repeating ourselves.

Adopting a 50-minute meeting strategy results in the following improvements:

  • Time to record meeting actions on to-do lists/task management tool.
  • Brief breaks between meetings to refresh and refocus.
  • Prompt arrival at the next scheduled meeting, respecting everyone’s time.

To optimize productivity, I recommend companies implement a 50-minute meeting policy, ensuring meetings are focused, and efficient, and result in actionable outcomes.

If you enjoy my blog, you’ll love the insights in my book, Productivity for How You’re Wired, available on Audible, in print and as an ebook on Amazon.

22 Oct

Posted at 10:08h in Change, Focus and Prioritize, Productivity, Time Management

4 D's: Delegate, Delay, Delete, Do

Have you heard of the 4 D’s?  It’s a principle that has been circulating in my professional circles for years but has gained even more relevance in today’s workplace. Given the workload my clients face, there must be solutions beyond simply working harder and longer. Lately, I’ve been emphasizing the importance of the 4 D’s as a filtering tool to help prioritize tasks on their to-do lists.

Here’s what you need to know to help you use the 4 D’s to filter your tasks.  Look at your task list and for every single item on it ask yourself:

  • Can I delegate this?
  • Is this time-sensitive or can it wait?
  • What would be the consequences if I don’t do it?
  • Is this a priority in the coming week?

Delegate It

My favorite delegation quote is by Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay. He says that “five times 80% is much larger than 100% of me.”

Delegating is hard:

  • It takes time
  • It takes effort and planning
  • It takes patience
  • You have to follow up
  • Team members probably won’t do it as well as you at the beginning

But Delegating is Worth It:

  • If you’re doing someone else’s work, you aren’t doing your own work.
  • It improves the effectiveness of the entire team.
  • It provides opportunities for growth and drives engagement.
  • Best of all, delegating gets it off your plate.

My delegation process involves:

  1. Defining what to delegate.
  2. Identifying the right person for the task.
  3. Providing clear instructions.
  4. Maintaining open communication.
  5. Supporting the delegate while empowering them.
  6. Following up on delegated tasks.

If you can, delegate the task

Delay It

Not all tasks are of equal importance. To determine what can be delayed, consider:

  • The impact of postponing the task.
  • Who might be affected by the delay.
  • Whether approval is needed to delay the task.
  • If discussing the delay with someone is necessary.

Time is limited, so prioritizing tasks based on their impact and importance is helpful. If the task isn’t time-sensitive, consider delaying it.

Delete It

Ask yourself, “What would happen if I didn’t do this task?” Some tasks lose their importance over time or may no longer align with your goals or current situation. If a task is deemed non-essential, remove it from your list.

Do It

If doing something serves you, your goals, your business, or someone important to you and it is high impact then that’s a good reason to do it now.  Other reasons are the ones I suggest you use to help you prioritize your tasks – if you don’t do it in the next few days

  • You will miss a deadline
  • It will cost you money
  • You will let someone down
  • You will be embarrassed
  • You will let  yourself down

Productivity is about intentional action, so if a task is significant and time-sensitive, tackle it promptly to maintain efficiency. With intention, doing it now makes sense.  And that is what productivity is all about.

Unlock your potential with the upcoming audio version of Productivity for How You’re Wired on Audible! If you enjoy my blog, you’ll love the insights in my book, available now in print and as an ebook on Amazon. Don’t miss out—I’m excited to share these transformative strategies with you!

01 Oct

Posted at 15:04h in Productivity, Tips for Easier Living

The Value of Systems

Some people love systems, while others resist them. Have you ever asked yourself why you have a system in place? We utilize them so we don’t have to reinvent the wheel every single day.

Most people strive for efficiency. This helps clear time for the tasks that need to be done, while still leaving room for the things we want to do. A useful tool for increasing our efficiency is a well-designed system.

What do you have a system for?

  • Getting ready for bed
  • Getting dressed in the morning
  • Paying bills
  • Establishing children’s bedtimes

These everyday tasks involve numerous steps, yet we perform them so frequently that they become routine. Initially, we need to think through the process, but after repeating it enough times, it becomes automatic. This is the process of learning and integrating new systems and methods.

What systems would be beneficial for you to develop, practice, and execute often enough to become second nature? Here are a few of my favorites:

Planning Today’s Work

  1. I review my calendar, check my emails for anything new, and look at my task list for high-priority items. Then, I assess how much time I have available for work.
  2. Based on this, I determine my tasks for the day. Sometimes I jot them down on a sticky note; other times, I work directly from my task list. It’s perfectly fine if it varies from day to day.
  3. What helps me the most is having a curated list of priorities to focus on each day. I strive to include only the work I can realistically complete. On days when I do this, I am often amazed by how much I accomplish.

New Client Onboarding

  1. I open my master Getting Started document and customize it with the specific needs of the client. I then save the document with the client’s name.
  2. Next, I open an email and use a pre-written template saved in my signature. I update the email with the client’s name, start dates, and materials needed, and add a personalized greeting. I attach the Getting Started document.
  3. I enter the client’s email address, hit send, and I’m done! This entire process takes just five minutes. I’m a bit embarrassed to share how quickly I can do this—I want my clients to feel special. Most of the time, the effort lies in the personalization.

Weekly Meal Planning

  1. I keep a running grocery list. Whenever I use an item up or get close to finishing it, I add it to the list.
  2. Before heading to the store (or ordering groceries), I plan what I’ll cook or eat for the week.
    1. My breakfasts tend to be repetitive. As long as I have eggs, fruit, and the ingredients for oatmeal and granola, I’m set.
    2. For lunch, I prefer leftovers from the previous night’s dinner. I also keep tuna fish packets, salad ingredients, and sliced turkey breast on hand—this is usually all I need.
    3. I enjoy cooking dinner a few nights a week as it helps me make healthier choices and serves as a great creative outlet. First, I look at my calendar to determine how many nights I can realistically cook. Then, I select recipes accordingly—usually around three. I try not to overdo it to avoid wasting food. I browse my collection of recipes (which I often change) saved in a three-ring binder or flagged in a favorite cookbook and write down the necessary ingredients on my grocery list. If an item isn’t available, I can figure out a substitute on the spot.
  3. I cook! Knowing I have ingredients for a few different meals gives me the flexibility to whip up whatever I’m in the mood for. However, I make it a priority to prepare fresh fish the same day I buy it.

From these examples, you can see that developing a system can apply to nearly anything. I bet you have numerous systems in your life that you don’t even realize.

Stop Reinventing the Wheel Consider applying this approach to the areas that challenge you. Can you identify one task that frustrates you and that you struggle to complete? Do you have a system for it? Probably not. Can you create one? Likely. If you’re having difficulty, please comment below, and I’ll be happy to share some ideas to help you get started.

Coming Soon to Audible: Productivity for How You’re Wired, print, ebook, and soon as an audio book, available on Amazon.