Home Archives for Productivity Tips

Stand Up Straight, Improve Your Focus

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I like walking and, as you may know, most mornings I go to Saint Mary's Park here in the South Bronx for my walk. Sometimes I jog when I get there. Sometimes I even run. Full out run! But today I walked around the track for two miles trying my best to concentrate on standing up straight and in balance and alignment. When you find that perfect alignment, your body flows from one step to the next with a minimum of strain. It feels like you could walk a hundred miles … [Read more...]

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6 Simple Ways to Get into a Flow State

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Every so often things that felt confusing and challenging and hard start to flow. Rather than fighting to make things come to fruition, they just do. Rather than feeling stuck, you have a sense of where you are going, why you want to get there and where you need to focus your energies to make them happen. The Magic of Getting into the Flow State When you're in a flow period, excitement and anxiety come together to create energy. And at least for a while, what seemed … [Read more...]

Categories: Overcoming Challenges, Productivity Tips

Take a Giant Leap Forward with 1% Steps

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I just read a fascinating blog post by the neuromarketer Roger Dooley (yes, I know, it's scary that such people exist) in which he suggests that a marketer can improve results quite radically over a fairly short time by finding little ways to improve results very day. Specifically, Roger cites research that says that 1% improvements day after day can make a 100% improvement in just 43 days. Well, that certainly caught my attention. I'm tired of setting big, hopeful … [Read more...]

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Slogger or Sprinter: What’s Your Work Style?

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Have you ever castigated yourself for being inconsistent? Perhaps you, like me, can't sustain a process easily. You work for a while and then go fritter away some time. Then, later (sometimes a lot later) you come back to the task again. I've often criticized myself for not being able to stay focused on a task from beginning to end. And really, sometimes I'm extreme. If I'm writing something, after 15 minutes, when I get stuck, I sometimes go lie down! Recently, … [Read more...]

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What’s the Gestation Period for Your Ideas?

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Being pregnant isn't limited to one's child bearing years! I woke up this morning in the mood to give birth. Not to a human baby, of course -- those years are long gone -- but to the actualization of an idea I've been stewing about for many months. Last year, I started thinking seriously about creating online courses about capital campaign fundraising. If I am an expert anything, that's it. I've written books on capital campaign fundraising. I've lectured and given … [Read more...]

Categories: Planning, Productivity Tips Tagged: ,

Throwing Spaghetti at the Wall

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As you may know, I'm super frustrated by my propensity to leave things unfinished. In last week's post, I came up with several ways to get things 100% done. But I left out the one strategy that has now gotten under my skin, and solidly planted itself in my brain. That's the strategy of simply getting stuff out without worrying whether it's done. You throw stuff against the wall to see if it's done, and cook it some more if it's not. Spaghetti on the Wall Years ago, … [Read more...]

Categories: Managing Stress, Productivity Tips Tagged: ,

Five Tricks to Help You Get Stuff 100% Done

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Ever been victim of a time suck? I was cleaning up my desk, going through the overflowing inbox and assorted piles that had grown tall and unruly over a couple of months. My work space had been compromised by unattended to dribs and drabs and it was time do something about it. I sorted the piles on my dining table until every paper found its rightful place. Now, you might think that I felt great by the time it was all done. But you’d be wrong. I was sorely … [Read more...]

Categories: Making Better Decisions, Productivity Tips Tagged: ,

Open Yourself Up to Learning New Ideas – Like Time Quilting

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I'm taking Chris Brogan's course on creating courses. And when I watched the video in the first installment, he introduced a concept called "Time Quilting." Time Quilting is the idea of using bits and pieces of time productively and then "quilting" them together into a big, beautiful product. Years ago, a businessman I was interviewing told me that he thought of using time in the same way he packed his suitcase. He put in the big garments first and then tucked in the … [Read more...]

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Good or Great: Is 80% Effort Good Enough?

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Are you an 80 percenter? Are you confident that no matter what you take on, you'll do a good job... at least an 80% job? Most people I know do at least an 80% job of just about everything they do. That's just their baseline. Doing a good job is the norm. I expect it of my friends and acquaintances and they expect it of me. If 100% = "Great," then 80% = "Good" With that logic, 80% of excellent is a good job. What's Your Percentage of Excellence? If you were to … [Read more...]

Categories: Getting What You Want, Productivity Tips Tagged: , ,

Handling Overwhelm, Staying Productive and Asking for Help

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Clearly, I'm not alone in feeling overwhelmed. After my last post -- a cry for help in managing overwhelm -- many people got in touch with me. Through email, phone calls, Facebook and comments at the end of the post, I heard from many of you.  And I'm excited to share the things that have already made a big difference. Sanebox: A System for E-Sanity Melea Seward's suggestion of sanebox.com wins the prize! Sanebox is a remarkable app that looks at the patterns of your … [Read more...]

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