Why Being Nosy Makes You Unproductive

cultura-organizationala-doru-dimaI’m a naturally curious person. You might call it nosy, but I don’t see it that way.

I’m just interested in what’s going on around me. It’s why I love people watching so much and it’s also probably the reason why I went into journalism.

The problem is sometimes this curiosity can be a hinderance. When you want to be in the know about everything… well it’s a lot of research. Sometimes I get so wrapped in things I don’t even care about, because I’m interested to see if it might lead somewhere good.

So I’m taking a stand and trying to cut these nosy time wasters out of my life.  Check out my list – maybe you are guilty of dilly dallying with these tasks too: Read more

A List for Thanksgiving Efficiency!

turkey-966494_640This week you’ll be bombarded with posts about gratitude and remembering to love your friends and family and I was tempted to write one myself.  But the planner in me stopped — and decided to make a practical list instead.  

I figured it would be more efficient to share a list of ways to get through these busy days easier because everyone else would cover the other topics.  

So here’s a few posts I’ve written in the past (yes one IS about gratitude) to get you through the hectic Thanksgiving holiday:

Checklist for a Stress-Free Dinner Party – If you’re hosting this year, check out this list to make sure you’re all ready for your guests! Read more

Tested Strategies to Get More Done

workstation-405768_640I don’t have ADHD or ADD, but I know a lot about it.  That’s because I cover health news for a living. Although having this blog has taught me a lot about it too.  Turns out a lot of the tips that I’ve given through the years are particularly useful to people with ADHD and other attention issues and they’ve reached out to me about it.  It’s true — I struggle with distractions too and have systems to cope.

Recently I listened to Peter Shankman’s webinar on how to be productive when you have ADD. If you don’t know of him, Shankman is a public relations and marketing expert who has written three books including “Nice Companies Finish First: Why Cutthroat Management Is Over–and Collaboration Is In.” He also created HARO (Help a Reporter Out) which is a journalism tool I use daily. And he also has ADHD and travels all over the world regularly.  So there are a lot of amazing sights that catch his eye throughout the day! Read more

Make Technology Work For You

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!

Things You Always Do To Have a More Productive Day

mountain-918637_640I’m a procrastinator by heart, so in order to make sure I get everything done I force myself into a routine. I like to always wake up at the same time and stand at the best part of the station platform for getting on the train quickly. All these little things help to make me my day more productive.

Yes – getting to know where the doors are going to stop on the platform only saves me one minute or so everyday. But it makes me feel like my commute is going faster. Which puts me in a good mood and helps to kick start my day.

Here are some other little ways you can ensure you’ll have a productive day:

Make Your Bed – I know, I know I sound like your Mom. But taking a few minutes in the morning to make your bed look nice doesn’t just give you that feel good – post clean up feeling. It gives you something to look forward to coming home to! Read more