Uncategorized | List Producer

My First Blog Tour

March 23, 2014/1 Comment/in Fellow List Producers, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, People, Uncategorized/by Paula Rizzo

(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!

Get More Done By Speed Reading

March 18, 2014/1 Comment/in Apps, Increase Productivity, Saving Time, Technology, Tool for Success, Uncategorized/by Paula Rizzo

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.

Where Does Luck Come From?

March 16, 2014/0 Comments/in Happiness, Tool for Success, Uncategorized/by Paula Rizzo

Is it luck that opens doors in our life or is it our hard work and determination that pushes us forward? I think that it’s a little bit of both! When I look back at the good things that have happened to me — sometimes I’m the one who creates my own luck! I think that Oprah puts it perfectly, “I believe luck is preparation meeting opportunity. If you hadn’t been prepared when the opportunity came along, you wouldn’t have been ‘lucky.'”

It’s always good to be prepared for the time that opportunity comes knocking at your door, and to always keep an open mind.

So to get you inspired, and of course, in honor of St. Patrick’s day, here are 7 quotes to lead you to that lucky pot of gold 🙂

7 Ways to Deal When Cable and Internet go out

March 2, 2014/0 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Home, List Making, Tool for Success, TV, Uncategorized/by Paula Rizzo

no-cable-tv (Photo credit: hjl)

As many of you know — I’m getting ready for a big move to a brand new apartment. With that comes a lot of coordinating and planning. Our cable company made one very big mistake about our move and shut off our service in our current apartment a month too early! So yes, we were left without TV, Internet, and phone service for two days. Who cares, you may think. And I would have said the same — until it happened to me.

When you’re on vacation, you are ready to unplug, you need it and you want it. But in the middle of a work week when you are unexpectedly thrown off of your routine and contact with the outside world is ripped from your grip — you get angry fast! So as I was pulling my hair out with frustration, as our nice field tech Rich tried to get our service turned back on, I wrote out a list.

This is a list of things to do when your cable and Internet go out without warning — like when your cable company screws up or something more dramatic happens like a blackout.

1. Go to the movies. It occurred to me that we had been binge watching Netflix for so long (House of Cards is amazing!) that we hadn’t actually been to a theater in months. It was great to get out and see something new.
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Apps To The Rescue

February 27, 2014/0 Comments/in Apps, Decision Making, Reduce Stress, Technology, Tool for Success, Travel, Uncategorized/by Paula Rizzo

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This week I have been all about apps!! Yesterday, I hosted a “Productivity Apps” webinar. In case you missed it check it out here! Today I want to introduce you to a whole new category – emergency apps! (I know, I know, I can’t get enough!)

1. iTriage
If you have any health questions this app will have the answer. You can find medications, diseases, and medical locations instantly! In the app’s new verison 5.9, members of select insurance providers will be able to find medical facilities that are In-Network for your plan. (FREE)