Productivity – Laura Earnest Archive

Signs You Don’t Need A Time Management Upgrade

Laura Earnest — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

It’s always a temptation for me to fiddle with my system rather than actually do the work needed to move myself toward my goals and complete my projects. And so I get a lot of articles in various places on when to upgrade my time management. One of the things I have learned, though, is that it’s not about time management, but what I should be focusing on.

You Can’t Manage Time

Here’s the kicker, though: you can’t manage time. The passage of time is completely out of our control. All we can do is focus on what we choose to do at any given moment.

I’ve seen a lot of articles over the years that talk about when you need to revamp your time management, but it all boils down to when you need to adjust how you spend your time.

Today I thought I would share some signs that you might be able to use in order to get your focus on the right things.

Being Overweight

Many people will say that we are overweight because we don’t have enough time to do anything about it. In my case, I’m carrying extra weight because I stress eat too much of the wrong foods. I also don’t exercise every day, not because I don’t have time, but because I simply don’t want to.

I am working to add movement to my day, every day. I am using a program to help me reprogram my brain so that I don’t stress eat and I make better choices.

Solution: one has to eat. Make smarter choices. Exercise more.

Articles that might help:

Having Lots of Email in Your Inbox

Some people have thousands of emails in their inboxes.

I view emails in the Inbox as decisions that have been put off or not acted on.

Email has very limited outcomes: delete it, file it, respond to it, or put the information in another system, like a task list or calendar.

I keep my email under control, and deal with it regularly.

Solution: minimize the amount of email boxes you have to check, and then streamline your process for handling the email.

Articles that might help:

Clutter

It isn’t a sign of time management failure to have clutter in the house. Instead, it is much like email: it represents decisions not made or acted on.

My mother used to bring a mini-van worth of stuff when she came to visit. My strategy was to dump it all in our dining room and then work through it in my time.

Some clutter comes from a lack of a place to keep something. It isn’t a matter of time, but rather a matter of organization or mistaken needs. Most of the cluttered people I have run across are cluttered simply because they don’t have a good place to keep things.

Solution: start purging things you haven’t used in the last year. Once that is done, eliminate duplicates as far as possible, then designate a place to keep everything. If you’re really stuck hire a professional organizer for coaching.

Articles that might help:

Commitments Fall Through the Cracks

Sometimes stuff that we quietly tell ourselves that we need to do, simply doesn’t happen. If this is the case with me, it isn’t because of a lack of time. It’s because I have not made it a priority, or I never really wanted to do it to begin with.

Solution: before you agree to do anything, make sure it is in line with your interest and goals, and that it is not something you are saying “yes” to because someone else expects it.

Articles that might help:

We Don’t Stay in Touch

Not staying in touch with people isn’t always a failure of time management. It’s because we lose sight of the important people in our lives and the need that any relationship worth having requires work.

I stay in touch with those people who are important. Others I purposefully neglect, and they’re usually the ones upset because I haven’t met their expectations. Well, those expectations are theirs, not mine.

Solution: if you really don’t have time for your spouse and children, make that a top priority, for they won’t stick around to be ignored forever. If other people are upset with you, ask yourself if it really is your problem, or if it is theirs.

Articles that might help:

We Are Stressed

We can take work with us everywhere. But that isn’t the only cause of our stress. Many people these days are stressed for many other reasons, like not having a job, or not being able to pay the bills, or wondering how you’re going to make it on a single income (that’s me there). When I’m stressed, it has nothing to do with work, but with everything else that is piling on top of me.

Solution: if you are stressed because you’re always working, stop. Turn off the cell phone. Turn off the laptop. If you’re not at the office, you don’t have to work. And work can get by without you.

Articles that might help:

Solution #2: if you are stressed because of economic reasons, know they are valid. Talk to someone about them; find specific ways to counter the specific stress. These are large items in this economy and cannot be fixed by turning off the technology.

Articles that might help:

Poor time management can lead to a lot of things; but let’s be honest about the other stuff on this list. Getting a better planner isn’t going to help you get a job; nor is it going to magically make your house pristine. Take the time to deal with the real root causes of the issues and you will find they are not about time at all.

How To Plan A New Year

Laura Earnest — Mon, 22 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

It’s the New Year. Have you done any planning? I sometimes feel like I have done more drifting than planning. But planning will give a sense of direction. Think of it as a road trip with some destinations in mind.

I’m not talking about the high-flung promises you might make to lose weight or get more organized. I’m talking about deciding what direction you want to go in, and setting up some plans to move in that direction.

No? You haven’t done that? You should. It’s not too late.

I find that even if I don’t know my life’s purpose (see ‘Why I Hate Life Purpose’), I still have to have some idea of what I want to accomplish, or I will accomplish nothing. So for the past few years I sit down in late December or early January and formulate my plans. I use a series of questions to help me figure it out.

Note: it works best to write out the answers and review them periodically to make sure you are fine with your present track.

The Questions To Ask Yourself When Planning The New Year

What have I started that isn’t complete? Do I want to complete it? This is good to assess the things you have committed to do. The second question gives you an out if you decide it no longer serves your purpose.
Do I owe anyone anything (borrowed or promised items)? This is for things you might have committed to other people. Yes, borrowing implies a commitment to return the borrowed item.
What went well in the past year? Looking back on what we have done well allows us to use that as a springboard for new plans.
What could have gone better? Could I have done anything to make it better? By reviewing the things that were not so stellar successes, we can learn lessons for the future. But if what happened was completely beyond your control, cut yourself some slack. Things happen sometimes that have nothing to do with us, despite our best efforts.
What was beyond my control last year? Let it go. You couldn’t do anything about it.
How is my activity level? Do I need to stop or start things? Assess how much you have going on. Do you have too much? Consider cutting back. Too little? Find something you would like to do.
Am I taking care of myself in a healthy way? We only get one body in this lifetime, and many diseases can be lessened or avoided by proper care of that body. If you are not taking care of yourself, make plans to do so. Make the doctor’s appointments. Eat sensibly. Aim for health rather than weight.
What do I most want to experience next year? Nobody sets out to have negative experiences. But recognizing that we want to have a certain type of experience can help us gravitate toward them. For example, if you decide you want to experience less stress at work, this might lead to changes in dealing with the people at your current job.
What do I most want to feel next year? Again, no one sets out to have negative feelings. But if you decide you want to feel peace in the next year, you might add meditation or tai chi to your activities.
What do I want to let go of next year? There are always things we can let go of. Deciding to let go of a past experience or a physical item that brings back bad memories can set you free.
What places do I want to visit? Deciding that you want to visit certain places means that you put them in your mental radar.
What books do I want to read? Even if you don’t know the specific titles, thinking about what you might want to read heightens your awareness for when you do find it.
What movies/plays do I want to see? If there is something that you really would like to see, write it down.
Where do I want to go financially next year? If you have certain financial goals, write them down, and make a plan to get there. This does not include things beyond your control like “win the lottery”.
Where do I want to be physically next year? This question can be taken on two levels. It can mean your body, but also where you reside.
Where do I want to be with my career next year? Too many people coast in their careers. Answering this question can be as simple as listing things you want to learn, or as complex as switching fields.
What do I want to create next year? All of us create things, even if you consider yourself a non-creative type. Figure out what you want to create? Do you want to paint? Write? Sing? Try a new food?
Where do I want to be spiritually next year? Along with the physical and mental planes, we must also examine the spiritual one.
Are there any big dreams I want to start making reality? Sometimes we have big dreams. You know, the “I would love it if I … but that will never happen” kind of dreams. These are big and scary, but not usually unattainable (unless they involve the lottery). Write down ones that you can take a few steps toward making a reality.

These are the basic questions you can ask yourself to start planning a great new year.

Is Productivity Overrated?

Laura Earnest — Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Productivity – personal and work – was the hot topic of the past decade. Everywhere one turned there were sites and articles on lifehacks and how to be more productive. But is productivity overrated?

The Podcast That Got Me Thinking

I started to consider this question while I was listening to Cal Newport’s podcast, episode 235. In it, he considered an old article he had written about personal productivity, and whether the article was still valid.

(I highly recommend listening to the podcast because he takes apart his article point by point and walks through the changing in his thinking.)

The thing that captured my attention was that Dr. Newport equated productivity with organization.

Organization Has Never Been Productivity

In my mind, organization and productivity have always been two separate topics. One can be productive without being organized, and organized without being productive.

Organization is simply one of those things that helps people without an innate sense of “stuff” to find the things they need in the least amount of time possible.

I have seen several people (not many) who can find any piece of paper immediately in a towering pile because they remember where it is located. I have also seen several people (not many) who can locate anything immediately in a living space that seems totally chaotic.

The key word here is immediately. Organization is simply a means to find things with the least amount of time spent.

And when we talk about doing something the quickest way possible, we are talking about efficiency.

Efficiency Is One Side of the Productivity Coin

It wasn’t long into my own productivity journey that I realized that productivity is not just about efficiency. True, if you are wasting time while doing activities, you are not efficient, and therefore not using your time to its best advantage.

But it isn’t just about being efficient.

Productivity is also about being effective.

Effective: Doing the Right Things

It doesn’t matter how well and fast you can crank widgets if what is needed is to turn whatsits.

One has to be doing the right things in order to be truly productive.

An example from my own life: I was working with a junior developer to help her assimilate into a programming team. Her job included many tasks, but the main focus was for her to write code. As in develop (hence the job title of developer).

She was falling behind, missing milestones on a project, and I was asked to find out why.

During my first meeting, she proudly showed me the documentation she had written for the first phase of the project. It was beautifully formatted with a table of contents, an index and a glossary. Terms were cross-referenced and it was easy to use. She showed me how she had used styles and bookmarks to make updating and formatting the document a snap.

She had taken all of the development time for phases 2 and 3 and put the effort into creating the masterpiece of documentation for phase 1.

This had two problems, outside of the fact that she hadn’t done the development: the first was that the documentation would become outdated as she finished each phase; and the second was that focus group studies had told leadership that users of the software preferred to get answers to questions online.

She had created the document efficiently but had done the wrong task. She had not spent her time effectively.

Deep Work is Effective Work

One of Dr. Newport’s books is on Deep Work*. In it he talks about how people can and should escape the trap of doing things that are low-value, like answering email, if you want to be able to focus on more cognitively challenging work.

No one gets paid to solely answer email, after all.

Deep work is clearing out the distractions so you can focus on the task at hand.

I’ve always thought this is about the second half of the productivity coin: being effective. Doing the stuff that matters while limiting the stuff that doesn’t.

This idea was brought back to me as I was listening to the podcast where Dr. Newport looked at his past article.

Organization Plays a Part

So productivity is effective work done efficiently. But does organization come in?

Absolutely. For those people who don’t have the spatial memory to be able to locate things in total disorganization (and very few people do), organization can be a means of clearing out the distractions. It gets low-value stuff out of the way so I can get to a mind space to do effective work.

Organization allows me to find the tools I need to do the job at hand without the delays of searching for them. Organization means that my mind is not constantly distracted with tasks I need to do because they are written down in a trusted system. Organization means that my visual field is clear when I work (an important consideration for my personal focus).

Organization allows me to be efficient and effective, but it is neither one of them.

Is Productivity Overrated?

Coming back to the question of “is productivity overrated”.

Since productivity involves doing to right work, I would say no. It is never going to be overrated for people to do what they do best and to be their best selves.

Efficiency will never be overrated either. If you need to get something done with the least amount of time spent you have to be efficient.

Organization as a means to a goal will never be overrated because it supports both effectiveness and efficiency. Organization as a goal in itself seems like a timewaster.

5 Ways To Survive A Task Explosion

Laura Earnest — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Have you ever found that there is a time when your life is suddenly frantically busy? So much that there are not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything. I’ve heard this called a Task Explosion.

I think explosion is an apt description, because for me it always happens suddenly, I never see it coming, and it sends me reeling across the landscape.

I’ve had a couple of these happen this past year. A couple frantic all-hands-on-deck to get product out the door, coupled with family demands and suddenly everything is turbulent.

Here are five ways to survive a task explosion:

Leave Things Behind

For everything you say yes to (however unwillingly), you are saying no to something else. You have to be prepared to leave things behind – you are not going to be able to get everything done.

Example: What are some things I gave up? Weedubg, housecleaning, fiction reading, podcasts, and crafting. None of these was particularly pressing, and none had consequences for being postponed. Which leads me to the next point:

Consider The Consequences

Sometimes there will be no easy choices. In order to survive, you are going to have to choose your outcomes wisely.

Example: You have to stay at work to get a product finished for people waiting to test it. But you are also scheduled to be at a meeting of your homeowner’s situation, where you were expected to present one side of a contentious argument that affects your neighborhood. The consequence for not getting the product finished is people will be idle and the schedule will slip (not to mention it will be brought up at your next review). The consequence for missing the meeting is the issue you have been working on for months will not be brought up, and you’ll have to rebuild momentum. Which is more important? I can’t tell you that. But you do have to choose, so weigh the consequences.

Time Slice

You can call this (10+2)*5, Pomodoro or whatever name you wish, but this is basically allowing yourself certain time on task, followed by time on another task. The outcome is you will get more done overall than if you worked straight through. (Although it works best of the tasks are not similar, like both working on the computer)

These techniques basically fool yourself into believing personally set deadlines. You have a certain amount of time to accomplish task A, at which point, you must switch to task B for a set amount of time. Knowing you will have to take a break will force you to push yourself and get things done.

By the way, this technique only works with an independent timer – you can’t do it by watching the clock.

Example: during my last NaNoWriMo, I was facing a serious word count deficit because of some rather untimely bronchitis. So I set my timer, wrote for 20 minutes, then cleaned a bathroom for 10. Then I wrote for another 20, then folded laundry. So on, and by the time four hours had passed, I was nearly caught up – both with writing and housework.

Be Productively Lazy

No one can run full speed for ever. You must take time to be off task in order to maintain peak performance. But that doesn’t mean you can sit in front of the television for four hours. The key is to get things done during your down time that also have the affect of recharging you. The trick is to do something completely away from your other tasks.

Example: I find knitting a soothing activity if I am working on something that is repetitive. So when I am super busy, I take 20 minutes and knit. My mind zones out and I get a break, but my knitting progresses.

Keep An Accurate List

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to have an accurate list of everything you have to do. It is even more important when the tasks are coming at you furiously. Once you have a list, you have a better starting place to know what to cut and what to save. You can also see things that can be delegated.

Example: When I started working the extra hours recently, there were a lot of things I had to do to prepare for a class I was teaching the week following. By listing out each little step (proofing the slides, getting the handouts copied, submitting the receipts) I was able to find ways that others could help me in the tasks.

Having a task explosion isn’t fun. But it is possible to survive it with a little effort.

Concentration: Taming the Squirrels in My Head

Laura Earnest — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

I believe that focus is not just about eliminating the distractions of the squirrels in my head; it also has to do with having a strong concentration muscle.

The ability to focus is not just limited to not being interrupted. It is also dependent on the mind’s ability to stay on track. I think a lot of the talk that is going on right now is focusing on the interruptions and minimizing them. And this is a good first step. But in order to truly focus, you have to be able to stretch your concentration.

Concentration, Endurance and Percussion

I have known for some time that my concentration levels are not what they used to be. I have always blamed the amount of distraction that is going on around me.

A few weeks ago my percussion teacher assigned me an exercise known as the “Stone Killer”. It’s purpose is to build, by repetition, speed and endurance of single-stroke sticking.

My teacher told me to repeat each line 50 (yes you read that right) times. The whole exercise would take about 15 minutes.

I didn’t mind the repetition count, and I didn’t protest. I have done this sort of exercise before to build muscle memory and speed – my college flute professor had us playing scales starting on the lowest note of the flute to the highest and repeating the scales starting on every note of the octave. It’s boring as heck, but very effective.

So I started on my practice. RRRR LLLL RRRR LLLL RRRR LLLL…what number was I on?

It became apparent to me that the endurance I was going to build was not just physical, but also mental. Because I had lost the ability to focus and count 50 measures of repeated pattern.

This was pretty horrifying to me. One of the things required as an ensemble musician is the ability to count measures. Granted, I don’t do ensemble work right now, but it was shocking evidence of my inability to concentrate.

I told my instructor about the mental endurance, and jokingly said I blame my phone. He told me he had seen a similar deterioration in himself during COVID, when he had spent a lot more time on his phone. He didn’t hesitate to blame his phone.

Two Sides of the Same Coin

Most of the articles I found during my research talked about increasing focus by limiting distraction. And that is a very important part of the process.

It’s impossible to concentrate – to even start – if there are things buzzing, beeping, interrupting your train of thought, waving for your attention. You have to be able to limit the distractions, no matter which of your senses they are capturing. Sight, sound, smell, touch, taste…all can be distracting, and every effort must be made to minimize these.

I also believe that in order to truly focus, you have to have a strong concentration muscle. Like any other muscle, it can be trained and strengthened. This is where the true focus comes in: the ability to not only ignore your senses, but also to make your mind laser in on something and stay there.

The Three Types of Concentration

Concentration is centered in the brain, and there are three different types of mind energy that fall into this classification.

Engaging the mind: this is the ability to stay engaged on one topic for long periods of time.
Emptying the mind: this is the ability to let thoughts float through without engaging them.
Daydreaming: allowing the brain to go where it wants to without trying to direct it.

Each of these requires a different set of concentration skills: the first to focus on something specific; the second to focus on nothing; and the third to focus on observation.

Increasing concentration

I believe that concentration is like a muscle. And like any muscle it can be strengthened. It takes dedicated practice to increase the types of concentration, but there are proven ways to make it happen.

Engaging the Mind Practice

Music

If you are a musician, this type of practice is easy. Most musical instruments have exercises that are designed to increase flexibility of hands and muscle memory. If you’re a percussionist, this can be in the form of the Stone Killer Exercise. If you play flute, Trevor Wye’s book on technique* will do the trick.

And if you can’t find anything, do the scale exercise my flute professor assigned: pick a key and start on the lowest note of your instrument, and play a scale all the way to the highest (note: you may not be starting on the tonic of the scale). Move up a single note at a time, still in the same key, until you do the full octave. Then move to the next key in the circle of fifths.

Athletics

Work on your endurance by repeating the same exercise over and over. Count each repetition. This could be free throws, serves, hitting a baseball, even tossing cornhole bags. If you are walking, count the number of steps and groups of steps using some non-typical grouping like 3, 5 or 7. Of course, always be aware of your surroundings as you do this so you don’t injure yourself.

Crafting/Creative

Engage in your hobby with deliberate intention. Count the number of stitches or paintbrush strokes made. You can even count the number of stirs you are giving a cake batter!

Games

There are games on the market that will help you increase your concentration. Brain Training is available on multiple platforms. Even the 70s Simon* game can help you engage (and it comes in a smaller version* now too!)

Emptying the Mind Practice (aka Meditation)

Meditation comes in many different formats, but to practice emptying the mind, you must pick one that isn’t a guided meditation that will engage your ind..

Breath meditation is good for a beginner. You focus on your inhale/exhale and let any thoughts just float through. Having a sound or word can help increase the focus.

Make sure that you aren’t lying down when you do meditation practice. This can often lead to falling asleep! But as a meditation teacher I once had told me: it’s OK to fall asleep because your body must need the rest.

Visualization can also help take the mind to the next level of emptying.

Even some of the meditation apps, like Calm, can assist with the breath and emptying meditations.

Daydreaming Practice

Daydreaming practice seems counter-intuitive if we are trying to build concentration. After all, we’re trying to contain the squirrels, not let them take over.

But daydreaming allows our mind to make connections between ideas and thoughts that it might not if we were directing its flow. It’s great for creativity, and allows us to have a break from other concentration and distraction avoidance.

The difference between daydreaming and typical mind squirrels is that we usually try to silence and still the squirrels. During daydreaming, we let our squirrels frolic and observe what they do.

Daydreaming can be done sitting or walking. And it has loads of benefits outside of increasing concentration – even helping us avoid negative behavior.

Build Those Concentration Muscles!

Building your concentration muscle is just as important as learning to deal with distractions on the quest for focus. Remember that concentration can be built. Just take it slow, and don’t be upset if you can’t go for long. Like any muscle-building activity, endurance comes with practice and time.

Doing Time Compression Right

Laura Earnest — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 00:00:04 +0000

One of the ways to get things done faster is to set a tight deadline…and then pare down the task at hand to the bare essentials.

The setting of tight deadlines is known as time compression, and it can spur creativity. But if you set a close deadline, it is essential that you also get rid of the non-essential parts to the task. Here’s why:

There are three basic elements in any item that needs to be done:

how many people are doing it
the time allotted
the amount of stuff to do

Think of it this way: you have a piece of string. You make a knot in the string to form a loop, then pin the knot to your desk. This represents the people; in this case, you. Now put take two fingers and put them on the inside of the loop so that they pull the string into a triangle.

Visualize this on a graph. The y-axis is (negative) time, or the time closest to the pinned point is the furthest away in true time; and x-axis is the amount that can be done. If time is very far away from today (low on the y-axis), the amount that can be accomplished is greater (Fig. 1). If you move time far up the y-axis, or require something to be done sooner, the amount that can be done must be reduced. (Fig. 2)

Figure 1

Figure 2

So it follows that if you need to get something done quicker, you need to eliminate things from what needs to be done.

Fixing the second point of amount to be done does not allow you to move the time frame. Conversely, if you don’t eliminate things from the task at hand, part of you will be resisting the task from the belief that there is too much to do in the short time span.

5 Things To Do When You Hit A Productivity Wall

Laura Earnest — Mon, 23 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

It’s funny. When we have all the plates spinning in the air, we never intend for any of them to fall. But when you’re spinning plates, it’s easy to hit the productivity wall.

I know I’m not alone in this. Countless people through email and conversation have told me they have experienced the same thing: going along at a steady clip and then you hit a wall and stop. Suddenly. Then you find yourself in a bit of wreckage, wondering what happened.

But What’s Important…

But what’s important here is not necessarily regret about what got dropped. What’s important is how you recover from the sudden impact.

Here is what I am going to do to get back on track:

Assess what is outstanding. There are several things that slipped. I will determine which of these things were truly urgent and/or important, and which were merely self-imposed “shouldas”.
Look at the big picture. Right now I feel my life is unbalanced. Not enough creativity or down time. I need to figure out why I am off-center and what needs to change.
Figure out what isn’t working. One of the reasons things piled up is because my tasks weren’t in my face. I need to understand what it is about my current system that allowed this to happen.
Make a reasonable plan. I will take the results of the past three bullet points and make a reasonable, balanced plan that will allow me to get back on track.
Take a break. I need to step away from some of my activities and find my motivation again. And if I can’t find it, the activities need to go away.

Productivity walls are never fun. But they can be learned from.

5 Reasons To Use Checklists

Laura Earnest — Mon, 25 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Checklists are a great tool for productivity. They can save a lot of time and prevent mistakes, rethinking, and missing steps. Yet many people don’t use them. Here are 5 reasons to get checklists into your productivity system today.

1. You don’t have to re-think something.

Why expend effort you don’t need to? By creating a reusable checklist, you won’t have to figure out all the steps to complete something you don’t do very often. Example: our weather is such that it is easy to forget to prepare the house and yard for winter.

By having a checklist, we can make sure we get all the water hoses drained and the faucets turned off — even if they are covered by landscaping that removes the possibility of a visual reminder. And that means we will never have a repeat of the flooded side yard after the hose burst and ran for a week.

2. You don’t have to waste time and energy remembering.

Checklists show their power when you use them to prompt your for things you don’t often do. Example: by creating a checklist of pre-vacation items, I remember to do things like turn down the water heater, stop the mail, and bolt the garage.

This means that I will never have to try and figure out how to electronically pay the cat sitter while on vacation, because the checklist includes leaving a check.

3. You can hand a task off to someone easily.

Since the thinking has already been done and the steps listed out, you can hand the task off to someone else and be reasonably assured of the outcome. Example: my daughter, as a toddler, thrived on routine. When my husband was in the hospital for an emergency appendectomy, a friend, with the help of a checklist of evening activities, was able to feed her dinner and get her ready for bed — with no deviations from the normal schedule that would have caused a meltdown.

4. You can tell at a glance where you are in the process.

Checklists aren’t just for short term things. If you have something that will take place over a week or more, you can use your checklist to remind you of what step you are on. Example: Refinishing furniture requires multiple steps, and requires time between steps as well as the right weather to complete successfully. When we refinished our bedroom furniture (several pieces), we used checklists to determine which coat of finish needed to be applied when the weather cooperated.

I also use a checklist to help me manage multi-day software deployments at work – glancing at the list, I know exactly where I am in the process when I am asked for an update.

5. You can keep track of several similar concurrent tasks easily.

Example: My husband’s entire family has birthdays in March. By having a checklist for each person, I can figure out if I need to buy a card or gift, or if I have mailed everything, or if I’m waiting for something to be shipped.

I also used this for planning out Girl Scout meetings: one checklist per meeting, and I could determine where everything was as far as permissions and planning.

Checklists are a staple of my life. I use them to help keep me on track, and keep track of what is going on. If you don’t use checklists, or if you do, I would love to hear about it in the comments.

If you are interested in making printable checklists, I have used Canva. It’s really easy to get the layout – and they walk you through the entire process.

How I Work While Traveling

Laura Earnest — Mon, 18 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

My family and I have been slow to get back into the “real” world after the pandemic. My husband works fully from home, and I am in the office two days a week. My daughter is still doing half of her classes virtually, albeit from her dorm room.

As part of the return to what is a new normal, we are starting to travel more. I made the drive to Green Bay twice (23 hours driving from southern Virginia each way) in the past two years, and have traveled for work conferences and weekend camping trips.

I never fully unplug, but I do change how I work while traveling. And by work I mean both my professional work, and writing.

Travel with Remote Work

Both times I went to Wisconsin I worked from there. Except for the time difference, which had me start an hour earlier by the clock, I was able to get everything done. Mainly this is because I use my computer to remote into the machine on my desk to work. In order to do this, I took the following:

My personal laptop. I have a company issued laptop, but I refuse to use it without an external keyboard. The Lenovo keyboard puts the left function key to the left of the control key, contrary to every other keyboard layout in the world. As a touch typist, I can’t use the keyboard, especially since the control key is used heavily in my work. Rather than hauling along an external keyboard, I use my personal machine, and have the benefit of access to all my personal files as well should I Need them.
An external mouse. Track pads suck.
My mesh wireless point. We use the TP-Link Mesh WiFi* system at home, which came with 2 extenders. I took one of the extenders with me, plugged it into my mother’s internet router, and stood up a network with the same name and password as the one at home. None of my devices had to switch connections with this in place.

Travel for Work

When I am sent on travel for work, it is for training. It is not client billable, and my company has a strict no-client-work-while-training policy. When I traveled to the SQL conference in Orlando last November, I didn’t take a laptop. I used my iPad instead. However, if I am traveling for client work, I take the following:

My work laptop. I may need to access software on the local machine, and that is only installed on my work machine. If I need something on my personal machine, I can remote in from wherever I am.
An external keyboard. Because of the keyboard layout issue mentioned above. I take a small sized keyboard* that fits in my computer bag.
An external mouse. Same reasons as above.
A surge protector. Necessary for hotels.
VPN software. This is used to protect me from whatever may be sniffing around the hotel. Even thought my connection to my work computer from my laptop is secure, I don’t want anything else picked up.

Camping

I try to make sure that there is no reason I would need to have to do work while we are out camping. Firstly because it’s the weekend, and secondly because cell signal is really spotty when I’m in the mountains. Even if we are at a campground that has a strong WiFi signal, I would still leave the computer at home. Instead, I rely on lower-on-the-food-chain technology to allow me to be productive. I was able to take notes for an entire week-long conference using this setup.

My iPad. I can do a lot of things on the tablet, from writing to designing coloring pages to brainstorming.
Foldable keyboard for the iPad. I take this foldable keyboard* with me anytime I am out of the house with the iPad. Because large amounts of typing on the tablet screen is difficult.

The Standards Wherever I Go

There are some things I always travel with, regardless of the destination:

My bullet journal. I like to journal every day, even if I am not following a schedule and task list.
My pencil case. In this case are a pen, pencil, highlighter, but also earbuds with requisite dongles and charging cables for my phone and iPad.

With this very simple set of equipment, I am able to work from wherever I am. I like having the convenience of having the needed tech with me – even if I choose not to use it.

How To Be Productive When Life Blindsides You

Laura Earnest — Mon, 04 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

There are times when I feel like the dump truck of life blindsides me. And then the truck backs over me for good measure.

But life goes on. So as I metaphorically pick myself up and dust off the tire tracks, I need to have a plan. I need to figure out how to be productive when life blindsides me.

Make a List

I make lists instinctively. So when life is handing me a load of stuff, I make a list of everything I have to do. This is a total brain dump, outside of my usual task tracking places.

I write everything down that is claiming my attention. I don’t try to frame this in any context: no project, no “do-ableness”. I add in everything from vacuuming under the dresser to appointments I have to keep in the next month to vague notions of maintenance I need to do. I just write it all down.

At the end of this process I pick up my current task lists and add those things in, then read the whole mess over to see if I’ve missed anything.

Shorten The List

When life blindsides you you are now dealing with a lot more “ick” than you were before. And dealing with anything takes time. So my next step is to shorten the list.

Off comes anything that can be put off for a short time with no serious consequences. Usually this includes external commitments, committee meetings, and anything that can be outsourced.

Next I scratch out anything that absolutely doesn’t have to be done in the next week.

Shorten the List Again

At this point I look at the much-shortened list. The only things left on there are critical things, and things that have to be done in the next week.

But let’s be honest. Do those things really have to be done? I look hard at each item and see if skipping it will cause irreparable harm. If not, off they come.

Focus on Essentials

Now I have a short list – usually two or three items. I add three more things onto the list: food, rest and exercise.

Why?

Because if I don’t write them down, I forget to do them in the appropriate quantities.

By focusing on these essentials I ensure that I am not going to end up in a worse situation due to exhaustion or illness.

Ask For Help

This last one is the hardest for me. But after my husband had a near-fatal accident in 2008, a woman I respect told me that when I let people help, I am doing them a favor, not the other way around. She said that people feel helpless and being allowed to help will make them feel like they can do something to ease what is going on.

If I am really in a bad place, I reach out to others and let them know I am having a tough time. People seem to always come through – even if it is just to listen to me whine for a while.

All of us have times when life gets overwhelming. What are your strategies for coping?