Get Control of Your Calendars

sunrise

I often hear a common complaint from productivity seekers like yourself — “I wish I had a better way to keep track of all my calendars.”

I get it – I have the same problem.

I have an Outlook calendar for work and I use Google Calendar for my personal and book stuff. And sometimes iCal gets thrown in the mix too.  But sometimes they don’t cross pollinate and I forget stuff.  I never like feeling like I’m missing out or not hitting a deadline.

Not to worry — I’ve found a pretty cool solution.  I was a guest a book club last week (yes, they read my book Listful Thinking and asked me questions about it!) — and we started talking about apps of course.  And one popped up that I’d never heard of — the Sunrise App.

So I took a closer look and it’s basically amazing.  It allows you to connect multiple Google Calendar, iCloud, Exchange and Facebook events all in one place.  So you’ll be able to keep track of your appointments, work meetings and social events.

Pros:

  • It’s really pretty.  In my book a gorgeous design goes a long way.
  • It can be used on your desktop, iPhone and Android.
  • It’s smart and uses appropriate icons for your entries.  For example, if you enter “Lunch with Ali” it will instantly assign the knife and fork icon for quick reference.
  • It includes the weather forecast and any holidays or sports schedules you’d like to add.

Cons:

  • You’ll need to rework your alert system.  I still had my Google Calendar alerts on when I started using Sunrise and I was getting double notifications.  So that’s really annoying but totally fixable.
  • I’ve had a friend (Ok, so it’s my friend Terri, who you all know by now as the host of Solopreneur on the Whatever It Takes Network) tell me that it doesn’t update quickly enough and changes made outside of the app take a while to show up on Sunrise.  This hasn’t happened to me but don’t say we didn’t warn you!

 

My Favorite Trick for Saving Time & Money

trick

Do you know exactly what’s in your kitchen? Or in the drawers of you desk? Over time – both at work and at home we tend to accumulate more then we use.

Did you know delving into the back of your pantry could save you time and money? How many times have you gone to buy something from the store, not realizing you still had some at home?

Get to Know Your Kitchen Again

This week I encourage you to reacquaint yourself with your kitchen to start.

Make a list of everything you have in your inventory. I’m talking about paper towels, maple syrup and even olive oil. Then when you do your weekly shopping you will have an idea of what you already have on hand.

You probably won’t spend anywhere near as much on groceries rebuying stuff you already have. Come on, we’ve all done it! It’s also a good time to get rid of old and expired food.

Optimize Your Desk for Efficiency

I also recommend taking a look through your desk at work. You’ll be surprised how much you can accumulate that will get in your way of being efficient. You might even find that file you’ve been looking for! I have lots of extra papers and pens that I never use. They just take up space and I always have to move them out of the way. Go through and take a look at what you have on hand as far as supplies go. And make sure to refill anything you need to do your job better.

This tip can also be applied to your inbox too. If you’re constantly sending similar emails, keep a saved draft version so all you have to do is edit the details and resend. It will cut down on time spent crafting emails from scratch.

What are some of your time and money-saving tricks?

10 Habits of Truly Optimistic People

optimisticThe publishers of my book, Listful Thinking, recently asked me to take a look at a new book they’re publishing called 10 Habits of Truly Optimistic People by David Mezzapelle. I love these sorts of books like The Secret or Gretchen Reuben’s Happiness Project – so I was excited to check it out. I’m a big believer in the power of positive thinking, I try to remain optimistic even when things are looking bleak.

The following excerpt from 10 Habits of Truly Optimistic People really spoke to me. It seems like this man has the worst luck in the world – but then he turns it all around and lives a fulfilling life in the end. All because he didn’t lose sight of optimism and positivity – and feeding his soul.  I think we could all learn a lesson here.

Meet Frank Stranahan, and his son, Lance

“Frank’s father was the co-founder of Champion Spark Plug Company, so obviously he was born into a wealthy family. At an early age, Frank found his passion in golf and became known as the best amateur golfer of his era and even to this day. In addition, he developed an excellent physique from vigorous weight training. He believed weightlifting would make him a longer hitter, and he was the first person ever to combine strength training with golf. As a result, he earned the nicknames “Muscles” and “The Toledo Strongman.” Read more