Getting Things Done (GTD), the time management system based on David Allen’s best-selling book, is loved by many. It’s also no secret that not everyone finds it smooth sailing. GTD can become a cause of pain for some people, maybe for you. I often work with people who have tried GTD and after a while…
Category Archives: Books
Want To Save Hours Every Week? Read This Fast!
For years I considered myself a slow reader. But it wasn’t until I began to use an electronic reader that I understood just how slow. Routinely I would dawdle over a page of newspaper text for so long, that my iPad would time out and close up the document, thinking I wasn’t there anymore. I…
What’s Better Than Perfect? Escaping the Perfectionism Trap
What’s better than perfect? Many years ago, when I applied for my first real career-launching job, I prepared for my round of interviews with practice questions supplied by a university career counselor. I remember one question we were advised to be ready for. It was this: What is your greatest weakness? And I recall my…
Keeping too much? Some things never change
My organizing colleague Susan Shankle is an avid student of history. Recently she shared a discovery that illustrates our enduring human tendency to hang on to things that don’t serve us. I get a smile every time I read her note, so with her permission I’d like to share it with my readers. Susan wrote:…
Why Tasks Hang On – Three Productivity Traps to Avoid
Take a look at your to-do list. Are there things that have been lurking there for weeks, maybe months? How do you feel when you think of those tenacious tasks? Tired? Discouraged? You can get rid of those “Velcro jobs” faster if you know how they got to be clinging to your days in the…
Want Greater Productivity? Walk This Way.
I’ve written before about ways to exercise when it seems hard to include exercise in your schedule. There’s another tool that I recently suggested to a client who wants to do a lot of exercise with no down-time. It’s a Steelcase desk called the Walkstation. The Walkstation’s basic structure is a treadmill that operates at…
How Pareto's Principle can turn 20 percent of your effort into 80 percent of your results
Allow me to introduce someone who can profoundly affect your productivity. You may know him by his reputation, if not by his name or face. Name: Vilfredo Pareto. Claim to fame: formulated/discovered the Pareto Principle, also known as the “80/20 Rule.” Pareto was an Italian economist who first observed that in developed economies, about 80…
Four no-excuses ways to exercise for better productivity
If I could not walk far and fast, I think I should just explode and perish. – Charles Dickens Balancing stress and recovery is essential to high performance, and I am in need of a tune up before I, in the words of Dickens, “explode and perish.” Yesterday I sat on a rock at Pescadero…
How to Get Clients Now
Getting more clients is crucial for nearly every small business owner. Are you frustrated because the clients just aren’t coming? Help is here, now. This summer, doing a small part to move our economy forward, I am giving away just 20 places in the “How to Get Clients Now” teleclass. In my two-part teleclass, I…
Kaizen: solve small problems
There are many instances when we must solve large problems because we failed to notice them when they were small. Tiny changes can add up for good and for ill. Consider these examples: The uncomfortable chair that causes a small back problem that flares into a major disability. The daily 100-calorie indulgence that adds an…