My Personal Productivity Rules
It wasn't that long ago that I read an article over at WiseBread called My Personal Productivity Rules. It got me thinking about what my productivity rules are. The exercise of writing them down helped me clarify some of them in my mind, and I thought I would share them with you.
Three Strategies To Deal With Interruptions
One of the challenges to staying focused is interruptions from others. Being pulled off task can result in anything from loss of train of thought to major interruptions that pull you off task for others. Since we can't lock ourselves into a room to avoid distractions, we have to learn how to deal with them. Here are three strategies I use to deal with interruptions.
5 Habits That Will Boost Your Productivity
Who doesn't like that feeling of being productive while expending little energy? I sure love feeling like I've gotten a lot done without feeling like I've been through the wringer. Here are five habits that I use to boot my productivity.
How To Plan A Month
Many productivity systems focus on the task list. You might have a calendar, but that would be only for fixed appointments. If there aren't any fixed appointments, the calendar gets ignored so you can focus on your task list. It is far too easy to slip into a pattern of glancing at the calendar, then plowing through tasks.
How To Streamline Inputs
One of the best ways to swamp yourself is to have too many things coming at you from too many directions. If you were in a canoe and the waves started coming at you from all sides, it is guaranteed you would go for a swim. It is also the same with the information we take in.
Do You Have Brain Thrash?
Since we have a computer metaphor going here for revamping your life, I wanted to talk a bit about thrash. Thrash is where "computer resources are used to do a minimal amount of work, with the system in a continual state of resource contention." Humans can thrash too, except we have a nicer word for it: multitasking.
Doing A Time Audit
In knowing how you are spending your time, you can find the places for improvement. As we reboot our lives, we need to have an accurate assessment of how you are spending your time. Enter the time audit.
Life Reboot: Thinning Projects
In the last article, I talked about how to figure out what your projects are. Chances are, that if you made a complete list, you will find it is much longer than you thought. If your project list doesn't seem do-able, you need to thin your project list.