Learning With a List | List Producer

The Productivity Hangup You Probably Have Too

October 12, 2015/1 Comment/in Children, Decision Making, Happiness, Home, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, List Making, People, Reduce Stress, Saving Time, Tea/by Paula Rizzo

A few weeks ago I was invited to a dinner party to celebrate my book Listful Thinking. My friend and colleague Joya Dass runs a women’s networking group called LadyDrinks and hosted the event.

So I was thrilled when she asked me to recreate the magic with an afternoon tea theme in Princeton, NJ. (You know how much I love tea if you read this blog regularly! So I was all in on this.)

Most of the women at the tea were professional moms who juggle careers in industries ranging from technology to medicine. They all had one question – “How can you balance everything?”

It’s not easy, I struggle with this too and it’s only me and my husband at this point!

One of the pitfalls and mindset issues I noticed coming up time and time again as we went around the room chatting was the idea of setting boundaries. I think mothers who work outside of the home tend to feel guilty about not spending enough time with their families. And then they feel guilty about not working enough when they are with their families. That’s a recipe for overwhelm and disaster.

Taking time for yourself is super important for your productivity and for your sanity. Here’s the fix: boundaries. Read more

Make This List to Get More Out of Your Day

September 14, 2015/1 Comment/in Benefits of List Making, Books, Decision Making, Fellow List Producers, Happiness, Learning With a List, List Making, People, Reduce Stress, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

From CEOs to janitors, we all have the same problem – we don’t have enough time.

In fact, when you think about it, time is an equalizer. That’s because we all only get 24 hours.

Even the President is forced to squeeze all his tasks into that 24-hour time frame.

So how do we do it?

I recently visited the Google headquarters with my husband in Mountain View, CA. Our gracious guide Gopi Kallayil discussed this conundrum with us as he showed us around the gorgeous campus.

At one point he asked us, “If you only had one hour what would be the next one thing you would do with it that would maximize the quality of joy, presence and life?”

It’s a great question for unveiling your true priorities.

Often you’ll be surprised by how little time you dedicate to the things you would put at the top of that list. Read more

The Most Productive Tricks Learned Over Drinks

August 26, 2015/0 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Learning With a List, List Making, People, Technology/by Paula Rizzo

It’s amazing what you can learn over drinks. Really.

What was it that Ernest Hemingway said? “Write drunk, edit sober.” Ok so that doesn’t perfectly make my point but it’s a good saying nevertheless.

Recently I was invited as a guest at the LadyDrinks Author Series Dinner in New York City for my book Listful Thinking. My friend and fellow newswoman Joya Dass runs the events and I’m thankful she asked me to participate. The room was filled with entrepreneurs, doctors, teachers, journalists and coaches. It was an excellent opportunity to discuss and share thoughts on productivity with other professionals. Even though I’m a “productivity expert” and I’m constantly seeking out new information to share. Read more

Famous Musician Loves Lists As Much As Us

August 12, 2015/0 Comments/in Fellow List Producers, Learning With a List, List Making, People/by Paula Rizzo

Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows at EMC World...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do you remember Counting Crows? I loved them, and I was super excited when they came to perform at my college years and years ago. So you can imagine my delight when I found out the lead singer, Adam Duritz, is a huge listmaker.

In an interview with USA Today he said,

I have to have lists. I have lists in my phone, lists for all kinds of stuff. Lists of movies I want to see, lists of books I want to read. And I have a list of things I need to pack on a tour.”

Adam’s packing method involves one master list which he deletes items from as he packs them. The article notes that lists are an essential part of Adam’s life, as he says, “I’ll walk out there barefoot and in my underwear if I’m not careful. But I have the list, so I don’t do that.”

Smart man! Who is your favorite celebrity list maker?

The Most Productive 15 Minutes of Your Work Day

July 29, 2015/2 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, List Making, Reduce Stress, Saving Time, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

For those of you who work a typical 9 to 5 job, looking at the clock and seeing it’s 4:45pm can be quite a relief. Only a quarter of an hour and you’re out of there! Yay!

For others it can be quite stressful – only 15 minutes to get everything done!

But would you believe the way you spend those final 15 minutes could completely change what happens the next day?

Every day, when I’m nearly finished with work I create a “roadmap” for the following day. I’ve stolen the idea from my time as a live news producer. We always have a rundown to keep us on track during a live show. Your work day should run the same way. Read more