List Making | 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.

Throw Out The Rundown

April 18, 2013/0 Comments/in List Making, Reduce Stress, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

Random Control Room Shot

In newsrooms across the country producers were yelling, “throw out the rundown” when word of the twin bombings in Boston got to them.

Having been in newsrooms and control rooms during numerous breaking news stories I know that phrase all too well. In a split second you dump everything you’ve been planning for your newscast. Then you get on the air as quickly as possible to inform your viewers about what is happening in their world. All the while — piecing together senseless facts and trying to give a clear picture of what is going on. Those are usually the best newscasts because everyone is on their toes.

My heart goes out to the city of Boston. I’ve been there a few times — most recently almost 4 years ago when I stayed at the Lenox Hotel and ate lunch at Atlantic Fish on Boylston street. You may now recognize these two places because that’s right where one of the bombs went off.

I often write about embracing structure, always having a plan and thinking ahead but on days like April 15, 2013 – that all goes out the window.

A good friend of mine just told me she is pregnant with her second child and wasn’t “planning on having another so soon.” She’s a big planner like me. But she is happily “throwing out the rundown” and welcoming this new baby into her life.

These got me thinking about how I approach life and that sometimes I could stand to be a little less rigid and not always stick to the rundown. You never know what an unexpected event will bring you. Whether it be heartache or happiness we should all learn to go with the flow and go along for the ride — good or bad.

I’m going to give myself permission to just go through the day without accounting for every single second. I still see the value in preparation and am not going to abandon my lists any time soon but I really think sometimes you have to just “throw out the rundown” and live your life.