Saving Money | List Producer

List Maker Turns Passion Into Career

May 1, 2012/0 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, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

Imagine a place filled with lists to help you navigate through anything in your life. Moving, grocery shopping, meal planning — you name it. Well, such a place exists at ListPlanIt.com. It’s a site started by Jennifer Tankersley and you guessed it — she’s this month’s Featured List Producer:

Q: Why do you call yourself a compulsive list producer?

A: I’ve always been a list maker. I’ve used them to set goals, to help me remember important things, and to organize my thoughts. In December of 2006, I had an inspiration. It suddenly occurred to me that a template in list form would be convenient for printing and then using again in the future. Less than 6 months later, ListPlanIt.com was born. ListPlanIt is a website of my creation that contains hundreds (about 700, actually) of lists and planning pages for its members to print, download, type into, and/or save. Read more

Lists Can Tell Stories

April 27, 2012/4 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Books, Boost Memory, Decision Making, Fellow List Producers, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, Saving Money, Saving Time/by Paula Rizzo

Your lists can tell so much about you. Where you’re going, what you’re doing, how much you have left to do, if you need milk, etc.

More Than a Grocery List

An artsy guy named Bill Keaggy collected a bunch of grocery lists in his blog and book, “Milk Eggs Vodka: Grocery Lists Lost and Found.” People from all over sent in their lists or ones that they found and the results were pretty telling. There were normal grocery items like milk and eggs. But some offer strange combinations like the one that includes hair detangler and Prozac. Bill’s commentary always makes me laugh. Check it out for a chuckle. Read more

Keep Track of Restaurants

April 23, 2012/2 Comments/in Apps, Benefits of List Making, Decision Making, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, List Making, Reduce Stress, Saving Money, Saving Time, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

I take food very seriously. I accumulate restaurant recommendations like someone would keep a rare coin collection. For me — there is no substitute for great food. So I really enjoy giving recommendations and also receiving them.

But in all my list-making frenzy I haven’t been able to find a good way to keep track of all my restaurant recommendations til now. I used to write them down on paper, then I started putting them in my Astrid, Wunderlist or Clear apps. But I kept finding that the lists would get buried or I would forget which app I was using Read more

Remember Everything That Ever Happens

April 18, 2012/0 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Boost Memory, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, List Making, Reduce Stress, Saving Money, Saving Time, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

Sometimes a funny thing happens when you hang up the phone after an important conversation. You forget everything that just happened! Haven’t we all been there? I know I have. I have a fail proof way of dealing with this. I take notes on life.

Almost every time I’m on the phone — I take notes. Even if it’s not an “important” call — I jot down words, phrases and questions that come up. This way I pay better attention and really focus on what’s being said. And I don’t lose track of my follow up questions. It turns out you don’t even have to really take notes — you can just doodle. There was a recent study in Applied Cognitive Psychology that found people who doodle were 29 percent better at a memory test than people who didn’t doodle.

I also use the “note-taking technique” during meetings and when I read magazines. If I don’t — I move on to the next project and poof everything I learned goes out of my head. I’m constantly writing down tidbits I want to remember, websites I want to check out and ideas that I have. It helps you to think about what you’re doing and be mindful — remember multitasking is impossible!

Multitasking Is Impossible

April 16, 2012/7 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Boost Memory, Decision Making, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, List Making, Reduce Stress, Saving Money, Saving Time, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

I used to think I was a great multitasker. But then I learned that it’s impossible to multitask. It’s possible to juggle a lot of projects at the same time but not to multitask. If you multitask you never really focus on the task at hand so your attention is scattered. It can be very dangerous too — how many times have you been driving and then realize you don’t even know how you got to your destination because your mind was elsewhere. Being mindful of what you’re currently doing will help you accomplish more.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Just Say It: Sometimes when I have a hard time getting started I will repeat in my head over and over the task that I want to accomplish. “Write tomorrow’s blog, write tomorrow’s blog, write tomorrow’s blog.” By doing this – I stop and listen to myself and actually start the project I want to do. It’s like you’re clearing out all the other noise and reminding yourself what needs to get done. You need to train yourself to focus.

2. One Thing at a Time: Paying attention to each task you do will make you more efficient. Instead of bouncing around from one thing to another – finish what you’re doing first.

I recently produced an interview with Rep. Tim Ryan about his book “A Mindful Nation,” which is all about mindfulness and being more aware of your surroundings. He told a story about UCLA coach John Wooden whose first lesson to his players would be how to put on their socks. He did this so they paid close attention to the act of putting on their socks before each game – that way they would avoid getting blisters. It’s the simple things that are the most important.

3. Reward Yourself: It’s OK to bribe yourself every now and then. ☺ Sometimes all you need to do is “talk yourself into” doing one task. For instance – if you finish cleaning out the garage you can get a manicure or massage for your hard work.

4. Make Time for Yourself: Be sure to schedule “me” time on your to-do list. This could be watching your favorite show or listening to music. But by putting yourself on your to-do list and not worrying about any other task during that time – you will be much happier and productive.