Reduce Stress | List Producer

Make Awkward Small Talk Disappear With This List

February 11, 2014/4 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Learning With a List, List Making, People, Reduce Stress, Relationships, Uncategorized/by Paula Rizzo

This picture of Paul McCartney will make much more sense when you continue reading this post! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Remember in high school or college when the teacher would make each student in the class introduce themselves and say one interesting fact? My hands would sweat, and I would panic trying to think of something cool to say before the teacher got to me. Total torture!

Well this still happens today. You know what I’m talking about. Those awkward situations where you are forced to make small talk or be interesting. Like at a business meeting, at the dentist’s office (why do they always want to talk when you can only mumble?,) with your hairdresser, at a party that you felt obligated to attend, or maybe even on a blind date.

My solution for these awkward exchanges are simple. Make a list. This can be something you write down or just keep in your head. But this list should contain several interesting facts about yourself and a few conversation starters. Here are a few of mine for inspiration:

1. I was named after Paul McCartney. Yes, really. My mom had BeatleMania big time.

I’m Hosting a Free Productivity Apps Webinar

February 9, 2014/0 Comments/in Apps, Benefits of List Making, Increase Productivity, Reduce Stress, Saving Money, Saving Time, Technology, Tool for Success, Uncategorized, Webinar/by Paula Rizzo

A few weeks ago I hosted a free webinar – “Boost your Productivity in 2014“. I really enjoyed sharing all of my tips with you and one of the most frequently asked question was about which apps I find most useful. So, I am happy to announce that on February 26th at 8pm EST, I will holding my 2nd FREE webinar : Productivity Apps!!

If you follow my blog, then you know I love all kinds of apps and just can’t get enough of them! I am constantly researching and testing out new ones to see which work best for my productive needs. Apps have recently been taking over my “Fab Find” column on Fridays.

When I see people using the “Notes” app on their iPhones to keep their to-do’s or tasks, I literally cringe thinking back to when I used to do the same! There are so many great apps out there that blow “Notes” right out of the water. And don’t fear – they are mostly all free!

Make Conference Calls More Productive!

February 6, 2014/0 Comments/in Apps, Fab Find, Increase Productivity, List Making, Reduce Stress, Saving Time, Technology, Tool for Success, Uncategorized/by Paula Rizzo

I use conference calls all the time – whether it’s for interviews, chatting with fellow co-workers, or with my interns to brainstorm ideas for this blog. Having a way to contact your clients is important to any business. There are a lot of companies that offer internet and phone services (view online) for businesses that are looking for phone solutions to help them keep in contact with their clients. Group calls always seem like a good idea until you get on them. It’s easy to lose track of who is talking or what the topic is at hand with so many people trying to talk at once. It can get overwhelming and unproductive fast! Freelance business relay conference calls to keep in touch with clients and potential customers so having a business phone could be very helpful – see more at https://www.megapath.com/voice/.

So for this week’s “Fab Find” I want to share a website and app called Speek which makes conference calls super easy and simple! You can sign up for a unique URL for free and share it with people when you want to conduct a call. I have been testing it out this week and have come up with a list:

Pros:

1. Multiple ways to join the call: You can do it the old fashioned way by dialing the number and pin provided on the URL. Or you can have Speek call you. All you have to do is type in your number and in seconds your phone is ringing. Similar services are offered by a VoIP Provider. My favorite way to connect through is through your computer. The site will connect to your speakers and microphone and you can chat right through the computer. I love this option because you can be hands-free and are able to take notes or pull up files while on the call.

Checklist for Moving

February 4, 2014/0 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Home, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, List Making, Pets, Reduce Stress, Uncategorized/by Paula Rizzo

Moving Day (Photo credit: Gavin St. Ours)

Recently, Jay and I made a major change — we bought a new apartment in Manhattan (YAY)! Totally exciting, but as I have come to realize, it can also be very stressful and overwhelming. I thought that after we finally closed on our place that there would be a sense of relief. But moving out of our old place and moving into our new one is a totally different story. So, as I embark on this new journey, I thought I would create a few lists (as usual) to lessen the stress!

Packing up the old memories and moving everything out.

Address change. Don’t forget to change your address to the new place. Here are forms on how to do it

Stock up! Make sure to stockpile boxes and tape! Having extra is okay in this case. You don’t want to run out mid packing and have to stop to buy more. Color coding the labels doesn’t hurt either.

De-Clutter! There is a lot more extra junk than you would think lurking around (even if you are organized.) Anything that you won’t be able to use in your new space should be donated. You can find a new home for anything like furniture, books, clothing or even a vintage car! If this is the case and you don’t want to sell your car, you will definitely need to organise car storage. With regards to clothes, you can either sell them, store them or give them to charity.

This Productivity Tip Will Blow Your Mind

February 2, 2014/3 Comments/in Apps, Increase Productivity, Reduce Stress, Saving Time, Tool for Success, Uncategorized/by Paula Rizzo

I use Twitter every day to gather news, ideas, recipes, and the occasional “cute emergency.” I often “favorite” tweets with articles so I can read them later. They are usually ideas for blog posts, interesting tidbits, and, of course, productivity tips. I have all of these stockpiled in my “favorite tweets” but I never actually go back to read them. NEVER. What a waste, right?

Then I found IFTTT.com and discovered the most amazing productivity tip ever! “If this then that” is a service that allows you to connect different apps and sites (channels as they call them) to create your own “recipe” or action that you want your media channels to perform.

IFTTT.com has almost 10,000 pages of different “recipes” to choose from or you can create your very own for pretty much any function. For example, want to know when there will be a chance of rain? Create a recipe to receive a text whenever a drizzle or thunderstorm is near – no more bad hair days! Or want to save all your Instagram photos to your computer? There is a recipe that will automatically save them to Dropbox.