Learning With a List | List Producer

List of Ways to Make the Best of Jury Duty

May 27, 2013/0 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, List Making, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

English: New York City – Supreme Court Deutsch: New York City – Oberstes Gericht (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It happens to all of us at some point in our lives — we all get called for jury duty. I had to serve last week in New York City and I tried to make the most of the slightly irritating and inconvenient task. Here’s some ways that you can do the same:

Take yourself out to lunch: When do you get an entire hour to yourself to eat and relax? The thing about government agencies is that they are very strict about their break times and their lunches. They will have you out to lunch at 1pm on the dot. So take advantage! Do a little prep work beforehand and find some yummy options near the courthouse where you’re assigned. Read more

Creating A Realistic Bucket List

May 19, 2013/2 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Decision Making, Guest Posts, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, List Making, Reduce Stress, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

Whenever someone tells me that they are new to listmaking — I always suggest making a life list or bucket list first. You know yourself better than anyone and you know what you like and don’t like. A bucket list is a collection of your greatest hopes, dreams and goals. It can include something as extreme as “travel around the world,” or as practical as “learn Spanish.” But it is important to make your list attainable if you really are serious about crossing off all the items. For ways to keep your list manageable and realistic — Christine Harding from Wish.co.uk offers this guest post: Read more

Congrats to Astrid: An Amazing To-Do List App

May 2, 2013/5 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Boost Memory, Decision Making, Fellow List Producers, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, List Making, Reduce Stress, Saving Money, Saving Time, Technology, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

Would you like a personal assistant to help you remember appointments and check things off your to-do list? I know of one who will work for cheap and keep you organized and make sure you hit all your deadlines. Her name is Astrid. And I’d like to offer my congratulations since the company was just sold to Yahoo.

Who is Astrid?

Astrid is an adorable little octopus and one of my favorite to-do list apps for iPhone or Android. If you don’t have one of those devices you can also access this productivity tool by going to Astrid.com.

Astrid will keep all of your tasks organized and remind you of what you need to do with motivational and encouraging nudges like “How about it? Ready tiger?” You can also rename all of your lists and maintain them however you like — set reminders or not, give your tasks due dates or not. It’s up to you. Read more

Fill Your To-Do List With Fun

April 21, 2013/0 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, List Making/by Paula Rizzo

The “real” to-do list in this photo inspired me and I wanted to share it with you. Check it out — it lists things that you should really have on your to-do list — like:

Sing
Smile at strangers
Eat ice cream
Laugh

I’m all for a list that looks like this one! It’s much more fun than one goes on and on about responsibilities and tasks. But both are equally important. So how about for every task related to-do you add to your list — you also add a fun one? I’m going to try it today.

Start Next Year’s Taxes Today

April 14, 2013/0 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, List Making, Reduce Stress, Saving Money, Saving Time, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

Tax (Photo credit: 401(K) 2013)

Tax day is here! So you’re either cringing and cramming to get your return in on time or you’re sitting back, sighing a breath of relief that you’ve already gotten your money from the government. Whichever category you fall into — this post is for you.

Be Prepared

I’ve spoken about Evernote before because I think it’s a great tool for keeping organized and remembering everything you need to in one place. It’s also fabulous for keeping track of your tax information.

I used it this year and it really helped to keep me on track. Next year you should try it too. Starting now though will keep you less stressed when tax time comes around again. Here’s what I did:

1. Make a notebook in Evernote called “Taxes”.

2. Create a note that lists out all the documents that you will need to collect for next year’s taxes. That’s all the 1099 forms for each of your accounts and employers. Put a checkbox next to each so you can check them off as you get the correct paperwork.

3. Throughout the year put notes and receipts in this notebook for tax writeoffs.

4. When you start getting 1099 forms back later in the year — scan them into this folder.

5. Once you get all your information together — do your taxes! Or send off all the forms to your accountant.

That’s it. If you just take the extra step to be a little bit ahead of the game you won’t be scrambling this time again next year. Think of all the time and money you’ll save! Let me know how you keep track of your tax information.