How To Read Twice As Much In Half The Time

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girl-791686_1280I love reading. I’ve always been a book worm.  In school I would start a new book every few days.

While I still try to read as much as possible, I’m a little ashamed to admit down to about one book a month (if that!)

The slower I progress through my book list, the more guilty I feel.

The problem with reading is that it doesn’t really fit in with our “on-the-go” lifestyle. You can’t read a book while you walk (unless you are exceptionally talented). Which is why I’ve started listening to audio books.

When you’re no longer constrained to sitting down to read, it’s much easier to make time to learn something new or escape to a far off land in a book.   Read more

Listful Thinking Goes International

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Spanish Listful ThinkingGuess who is going international?  I’m so excited and I just had to share with all of you.  

When my book Listful Thinking was published in January 2015, it was exciting to think about all the people out there who would read it. However, I had never imagined quite how far that reach could go.

I was recently excited to discover that my book has been translated into Spanish and Chinese!

Isn’t that so cool?

While I write this blog from an American perspective I do believe that lists are universal. I’m very thankful that I can share my passion even across language boundaries.

Listful Thinking ChineseI’ve added pictures of my international covers into this post.

You’ll note that since Listful Thinking doesn’t exactly translate, the Spanish language version is called Lists, Lists and More Lists.  If anyone can read the one in Chinese please fill me in and let me know what Listful Thinking translates to there.  

I’m grateful to have gotten a bunch of new subscribers to this blog since Listful Thinking went international too.  Welcome and thanks for joining us here at ListProducer.com.  If you have any productivity or list-making topics that you’d like me to tackle shoot me an email.  

Meeting “Listful Thinkers” at Book Expo America

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BEA1Sometimes it’s important to look back in order to move ahead.  That happened to me last week when I attended my fourth Book Expo America conference.  I go every year for my day job as a senior health producer at Fox News.  I meet with publishers to talk about their new health, wellness and medical books that are coming out in the next year.

But this year I also attended as an author.  What a thrill!  I met with some list makers during two signings that my publisher set up.  One woman took out her huge binder to show me all her lists.  I couldn’t believe that she lugged it around with her everywhere, but she said she wouldn’t think of writing lists anywhere else.   Read more

6 Ways to Improve Your Life in Under a Minute

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 Goals like getting healthier and being more organized can sometimes seem quite big, daunting and worst of all time consuming. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are little things you can do each day, that may not radically change your life, but they can make it a bit better.

Here are some little ways to improve your life and, since I know how time conscience you are, they’re all things that can be done in less than a minute:

1. Eat a blueberry – Blueberries are not only delicious, they’re also really good for you. They’re high in antioxidants, high in fiber and low on the glycemic index. Plus this study shows eating blueberries can help ward off degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

2. Stretch out – A minute is not enough time to go for a run, but you can still get a little workout while you sit at your desk. These desk exercises are a great way to get your blood flowing again. Or there’s a new book called Happy Go Yoga that gives you some quick yoga moves to do on the go.

3. Doodle – When you’re scribbling away on a piece of paper it may seem like a waste of time. But studies show that doodling helps you to focus and increase your memory. So feel free to doodle away at your next meeting.

4. Make a cup of tea – I love tea! I’m practically obsessed. And for a good reason. Tea can help to reduce stress, lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. So why not make yourself a cup today? Green is my favorite but darjeeling comes in close second.

5. Look at cute animals – Animals are adorable and they are also good for your productivity! Researchers at Hiroshima University have found that looking at cute pictures or videos of animals trigger care giving impulses, which can improve your work performance. That’s because you’re more likely to be attentive.  I suggest checking out CatsvsCancer.org because as you’re watching cute cat videos and increasing your productivity, you’re also helping to raise money to fight cancer.

6. Change your shirt – In a study from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, adults reported feeling happier around the colors green and yellow. So put on something brightly colored to help lift your spirits.  It just takes a few seconds.

What are some little things that you do to improve your life in under a minute?

What’s the Best Planner To Make You More Productive?

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image1 (1)Last Thursday I went back to Long Island, to the town I grew up in to attend a Listful Thinking event. It was at the library I went to as a child, where I first developed my love of reading. I remember joining a summer reading group there when I was a kid and getting a sticker for each book I completed. What a thrill!  So being there to speak about my book felt very much like an Oprah full circle moment.

My very first friend and neighbor Jackie is a librarian there and set up this event for me. While I was there I spoke to a women who was having issues with buying too many planners and not using them. (Sound familiar?)

image5Her friends all raved about how helpful the planners had been for them, but she just couldn’t get into them. So she assumed the problem was with her.

I asked her if she was having any organizational troubles, besides not using the planners, which she didn’t.

I imagine this may sound like something many of you can relate to, so I thought I would share with you what I told her – If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! Don’t try to force yourself into a system that doesn’t work for you. You have to find your own unique productivity style and be true to it.

image4It’s almost a psychological thing where we feel the act of buying a new planner/notepad/pen will make us more productive. But the truth is there isn’t any special planner or notepad that will change your life and make you more productive. There is a only the planner or notepad that suits you.

If that’s a simple steno pad or Post-It note then so be it. It’s more important to have a system that works for you. I write my work to-dos for the following day before I leave the office everyday. I do it on a simple steno pad. Where you write the to-dos matters less than the actual system you have for capturing them.

What planners have you tried that worked or didn’t work for you?