4 Ways To Free Up 1 Hour of Your Day

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clock-407101_640Do you wish you had an extra hour in your day? Some time to finally get to all those things at the bottom of your to-do list or start working on that personal project?

There’s no need to wish for longer days, instead you can just make better use of the time you have.

The first thing you need to do is stop making excuses. It’s easy to put something off, claiming you’re too busy to get around to it. If you feel that way it’s probably because you aren’t using your time efficiently.

I recently wrote a blog post on how being aware of how much time you spend on various tasks can help increase your efficiency. I like to use RescueTime.com as it tracks how much time I spend on websites and applications. This helps me to pin point my biggest ‘time-wasters’ which I can then cut down on, or eliminate completely in future. Read more

Don’t Micromanage – Make This List to Work With Others

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team-386673_640Remember in high school when you’d have to do a group project and get paired up with a bunch of other kids?

I was always the one who was trying organize things and make sure we hit our deadlines.  (Nerd Alert!)

But no matter the project — there was always that one kid who said she would be responsible for a crucial element…and then not deliver.  

Nothing would make me more annoyed, but I was always happy when the project was over and we didn’t have to work together again.

In the “real world” the same thing can happen.  But the downside is you can’t trade in your team members as often.  

You’re forced to work with the same team and figure out a way to make it work.

This is where lists can really come to the rescue.    Read more

A Personal Travel Guide Makes Your Trip Less Stressful

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1dOsJawbWhen this post goes live, I’ll be in Puerto Rico catching some desperately needed sun and relaxation (and cocktails) before the holiday season.  It’s all part of my plan to recharge and renew.  My husband Jay and I have done a lot of travelling this year with trips to Mexico, San Francisco (we got a tour of Google!) and even Orlando. I’ve really enjoyed our vacations and I’m definitely planning to take more trips next year — hopefully overseas!

I take travel pretty seriously and always prepare well in advance.  And when I say prepare — I mean stalk TripAdvisor, blogs, Rick Steves guides and travel sites for weeks on end.  OH and I ask everyone who has ever been to that destination what they recommend.  

Now there’s another resource in my arsenal.  It’s called the Trip Scout app. They provide self-guided city tours. With local tour guides who explain about the local history, culture, and food as you go along.  My friend Konrad who blogs at World Venture Project created it.   Read more

Make Technology Work For You

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mail-566337_640You may have seen my recent emails about email overwhelm and my course Take Back Your Inbox. I’m determined to help everyone reach inbox zero! Our email overwhelm is really just a symptom of our much bigger problem… technology.

There are so many apps out there designed to make your more productive, you could waste a whole week downloading all of them. Too much technology can be counterproductive. So how can you target the right apps for you? How do you figure out which emails count and which ones can go? You can use websites such as my digital mate to research and read more about the latest apps and phone developments to help make a more informed decision about what to download and what to pass on. I’ve also heard of some people deciding to better understand their smartphone technology by buying components from websites similar to Octopart.com and building electrical circuits in order to gain new skills and improve productivity because of a newfound understanding of how this amazing technology works. But I digress.

Tonight I’m doing a teleseminar with ADHD expert and author Terry Matlen where I will be discussing some easy ways to use technology to be more productive. We will talk through a significant number of apps and how to use them throughout your day for maximum efficiency.

What we will cover:

  • How to get out from the overwhelm of email
  • Ways to use technology to help you — apps that will make you more productive

If you’d be interested in joining us for the teleseminar click the link here. I’ll also be doing a Q&A at the end, so if there’s any burning questions you have, now’s your chance!

A List Making App For Us!

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17oTr569List makers rejoice! There’s an app just for us!

It’s called The List App — and it’s like Twitter for lists.

You can create and share all your best lists. You can also request a list from users – so you could ask your friend what they favorite food is, or you can ask Snoop Dogg for a list of his favorite movies. (Yes, even Snoop Dogg has an account!)

The app was created by The Office actor and writer B J Novak along with Dev Flaherty. On producthunt.com Novak explains why he created the app:

“I just love ’em. I’m always asking people for lists of favorite restaurants in certain cities, or documentaries on Netflix that are good, and originally wanted a place where people could request and share those types of lists with friends. There’s still a lot of that.

But we’ve also discovered what I think we all knew deep down – that lists are addictive, because they’re the way our brains naturally order things anyway. It enables substance way easier than other forms of writing because it is often the connective tissue that gets in the way.”

The app encourages people to share all kinds of lists, not just shopping lists. There are lists on hot new music alongside lists of favorite emojis! Read more