List Of Fun Stuff For Weather Buffs

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(Photo credit: Shmector)

April showers bring May flowers. Emphasis on the SHOWERS this week in NYC! As this wacky weather continues I thought it would be fun to make a list of creative products and apps to get us through the rain, sun, cold, snow, and warm spring days Mother Nature keeps throwing our way.

DarkSky app: This is one of my all-time favorite apps! If snow or rain is heading your way this app will be the first to let you know! DarkSky uses your GPS location and can give you a weather forecast down to the very minute it will begin to rain. It will also send you an alert when a storm is approaching – even if you don’t have the app open ($3.99) (see more useful emergency apps here)

GustBuster Umbrella: If you’ve ever had a fight with an umbrella, had one turn inside out, or bust through the frame during a downpour — you need to buy one of these for yourself and a friend. I’ve had my current Gustbuster for 11 years! You can find them at most golf stores and online too. It’s much more productive to buy one umbrella that really works instead of going through one after another of those cheapy ones you can get on the street.

Hunter Rain Boots: I went through a ton of rain boots before I just gave in and brought the expensive ones. They are pricey but worth it! They have been amazing for the past two years, and you can choose from various colors and styles.

Tieks travel flats: Cold in the am, toasty by the afternoon? Swap out your winter boats during the work day for these on-the-go adorable flats. They are super comfy, and fold up to fit in your purse or drawer. You can take them with you in case the weather changes or store them in your desk for when the sun decides to peak out!

The Sole Mates: Have an upcoming outdoor picnic, wedding, or event to attend? Well, if you plan on wearing heels Sole Mates are a great buy. They keep you from sinking into muddy grass or falling into concrete cracks. Great way to save your heels (and your ankles).

Funny Doormats: Keep the pollen and mud away from your floors by adding one of these hilarious doormats to your front decor. They have a multitude of categories to choose from and they are great conversation starters.

2n1 Ponytail & Bracelet: Bad hair days are bound to happen with rainy or humid weather. In case your hair decides to friz up, disguise these ponytail holders on your wrist. They look like bracelets so you can still be fashionable yet throw up a sock bun in a moments notice!

Hoter waterproof, reusable bags: Instead of ruining your purse or briefcase in the rain you can use of these bags! They are totally waterproof to keep everything dry and they come in various colors and styles. You can use these for groceries, double as a diaper bag, or a tote for the beach.

Weather playlists: Be on the look out for this awesome new feature from The Weather Channel and Songza. They are teaming up to create music playlists that are “weather appropriate”!

Hope these help you enjoy the crazy weather! Happy April 🙂

Business Card Organization

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English: Photo of two free business cards

English: Photo of two free business cards (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I am constantly meeting new people, which means I have stacks and stacks of business cards, possibly from fantastic business card providers similar to Metal Kards Business Cards, stuffed in my desk drawer. I’m sure most of you know the feeling. Also, when you’ve got networking events to go to and you know that you forgot your business cards, at that moment, it feels like the worst thing ever! You had one job, but when you think about it, it’s not the end of the world.

CardMunch: This is a free iPhone app that turns your business cards into contacts. All you have to do is take a photo of the business card and it uploads all the info automatically. My favorite part is it also connects you to the person’s Linkedin profile.

Evernote Hello: Whenever you meet someone you can input their info manually or scan their business card in this app. There is also a “hello connect” feature that can connect you to a group of people instantly. Once you do this, the app will bring in any other related info from your calendar, Evernote account, and social media and build a profile. The app also builds a history of all your meet and greets, so you will never forget anyone! You can download this to your computer or your smartphone.

ScanBizCards: Take a photo and scan in any business card, add in notes, forward contacts to colleagues, and assign and create groups. This app can also remind you to follow-up with people and will connect you to Linkedin. You are also able to sync all this info to your other devices! ($1.99)

Time to scan away! How do you keep your contacts organized?

Uncommonly Productive Tasks

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productivity (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)

Twenty-four hours is not nearly enough time to accomplish your daily routine while still having time for yourself. If you are not a naturally productive person, it can be hard to get into the habit of allotting your time correctly for all your to-do’s. If you attempt to be a super star of productivity, you can get frustrated and burnt out fast! Trust me – it takes some trial and error to see what works best for your needs.
Recently, I came across a Forbes article that lists 24 ways to be uncommonly productive.

Here are 5 of my favorites:

1. Get up an hour earlier: The early bird gets the worm as the saying goes! I know the snooze button is easy to hit but getting up a little earlier everyday can help you be more productive. Whether it be reading the newspaper and enjoying a cup of coffee, finishing a pitch for work, or doing that last load of laundry, your day starts out with crossing SOMETHING off the to-do list. Check out what the most successful people do before breakfast!

2. Avoid meetings at all costs: Impromptu meetings, unless totally necessary are a waste of time and energy! You will not be prepared and the things you want to accomplish will most likely not get done. Having a schedule of weekly meetings is the best way to go – even during the meetings you should have a set schedule of talking points and goals.

3. Take a proper break – after one or two hours take 10-20 minutes to dance to your fave song, do some push-ups, or get out in the fresh air.  You always need to give yourself a break to refocus your energy. Working on a task for too long can burn you out.  Madonna (another fellow list maker) is great to jam out to when you need a break.

4. Don’t answer your phone: This is also one of my mottos. I NEVER, I repeat never, answer my phone during the work day unless I have scheduled a phone call (I even have a YouTube video dedicated to it). If it’s really important that person will leave a message. You don’t want to get stuck in a conversation for a half hour that is not on top of your priority list or that you’re unprepared to have.

5.  Ask yourself “Is what I’m doing right now getting me closer to what I want to achieve?” I think this would be great to put on a Post-It note on your computer, or as the background of your phone. It’s a simple reminder to keep focused on what really needs to be done throughout the day!

Try out one of these tips this week, and build up to the rest! Rome wasn’t build in a day and neither is a productive lifestyle. Check out the rest of the productivity tips from Forbes here

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My First Blog Tour

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Notebook collection

(Photo credit: Dvortygirl)

This post is going to be a slight departure from the content you’re used to reading on ListProducer.com but I hope you’ll find it as fun.  I was invited to participate in what’s called a “blog tour” by writer and blogger Sarah Klein.

Here’s how it works:  I answer four questions about my writing process and then introduce three new bloggers who will do the same thing on their blogs next week.  And so on and so on…kind of like a chain letter for blogs.  I hope it’s a fun opportunity to gain some insight into how I’m able to pump out this blog three times a week and also introduce you to some bloggers I really admire.

Here we go!

1. What am I working on?
I’m always working on something! My biggest project to date has been my book, which will be published this fall by Viva Editions.  It’s called “Listful Thinking: Using Lists to be More Productive, Efficient and Less Stressed.” Right now we are working on marketing plans and what the cover will look like. It’s very exciting and I’m thrilled to be able to share it with all my Listproducer.com blog readers when it’s ready!

Read more

Get More Done By Speed Reading

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Speed Reading Class

Photo credit: iBjorn)

With only 24 hours in a day, finding time to get everything done in our hectic lives is really a challenge. Each day I find new articles, books, or little tidbits that I am dying to read but they just end up collecting dust in a pile on my counter or get lost in one of my cyber folders – what a waste!  I’ve started using a new system to capture some of the tweets and articles I want to read later but it’s not enough. It’s hard enough to read what I need to (especially now that I am attending B-School) and it’s frustrating that I have no time to read for fun.  But recently, I thought… “What if I could speed read?” that would solve this problem, right?

Speed reading is a technique that allows you to obtain the material you are reading in half the time as normal by reading groups of words at once. It may seem strange and it’s a little intimidating at first, but it really works !

Here are two tools that I found for quick and easy speed reading:

ReadQuickApp: This app displays an article (no books) of your choice one word at a time at the pace you are comfortable with. You can start at the slowest speed and gradually move on to get used to the technique! It will also tell you how long an article will take you to read based on your words per minute. (Cost $9.99 and is available for the iPhone)

Spritz: Want to read a whole novel in 90 minutes or less? Well now you can with Spritz. This app works by displaying one word at a time with a “fixation point.” One letter of the word is a different color and that is where you focus your eye. This allows you to focus on the word individually and obtain it, rather then moving your eyes side to side – this leads to distraction. This app can train you to read up to 1,000 words a minute – that is some serious speed reading! (Comes out around March 21st for Android, Javascript for web, and iOS. Test it out on their site here.)

If you can’t get into the speed reading that’s okay- it’s not for everyone! There are other ways to cut down reading time by using some old fashioned skimming techniques:

Yahoo News Digest (formerly Summly): No time to read lengthy news articles? This app will summarize them for you. Each story is created from multiple news sources that way you are consuming the essential information. You get all the important stuff without wasting your time! And it’s free!

Need 2 Know: This awesome free newsletter gives you “Need 2 Know” news coverage! It’s one of the first things I read in the morning.  They consider themselves the CliffsNotes for news. In each news category they sum up everything you need in 1-2 sentences. Want to know more details later – no worries, they provide the links for the full coverage.

How do you get all your reading done? Let me know which reading techniques you like best – I’m always looking for new ideas.