being more productive | List Producer

Ready, Set, Time Yourself

April 18, 2016/0 Comments/in Apps, Increase Productivity, Saving Time, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

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From CEOs to janitors, we all have the same problem: We think we don’t have enough time.

For many of us getting the most out of our time is crucial. Everyone knows what tasks they need to do in a day, but do you know how long each of those tasks will take? Down to the second?

After working in television and digital producing video segments for nearly 15 years I’ve learned timing is everything. You need to know exactly how long each segment takes and every last second counts. If a story runs long 15 seconds then another story needs to be cut by the same amount of time. Read more

Get a Stopwatch — You Need It!

January 11, 2016/0 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Increase Productivity, Saving Time, Technology, Tool for Success/by Paula Rizzo

The most common excuse for not being more productive is saying that you have too much going on.

“I’m too busy.” — you often say.

Am I right?

I’m going to let you in on a little secret — no you aren’t!

The thing with productivity is that it’s not how much you do, but how you do it. Do you get the most out of the time you have? Or are you so busy because you fill your day with stuff you don’t really need to be doing. That’s precious time you could be wasting!

The easiest way to find out is to track your time.

When I started making a note of how I spent my day I had a few surprises. For example, that thing I thought took only five minutes, actually took way longer than that. It’s never just five minutes in the end.

There are a few apps and techniques to help you track your time. You can find them in the Entrepreneur.com article I wrote on time management.

Also if you want to know more about tracking your time, my friend and fellow author Laura Vanderkam is giving away her time tracking guide for free! Laura’s written several books including What The Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast and I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time. If anyone knows how to manage time it’s her!

Why Being Nosy Makes You Unproductive

November 30, 2015/0 Comments/in Increase Productivity, People, Saving Time/by Paula Rizzo

I’m a naturally curious person. You might call it nosy, but I don’t see it that way.

I’m just interested in what’s going on around me. It’s why I love people watching so much and it’s also probably the reason why I went into journalism.

The problem is sometimes this curiosity can be a hinderance. When you want to be in the know about everything… well it’s a lot of research. Sometimes I get so wrapped in things I don’t even care about, because I’m interested to see if it might lead somewhere good.

So I’m taking a stand and trying to cut these nosy time wasters out of my life. Check out my list – maybe you are guilty of dilly dallying with these tasks too: Read more

The Productivity Hangup You Probably Have Too

October 12, 2015/1 Comment/in Children, Decision Making, Happiness, Home, Increase Productivity, Learning With a List, List Making, People, Reduce Stress, Saving Time, Tea/by Paula Rizzo

A few weeks ago I was invited to a dinner party to celebrate my book Listful Thinking. My friend and colleague Joya Dass runs a women’s networking group called LadyDrinks and hosted the event.

So I was thrilled when she asked me to recreate the magic with an afternoon tea theme in Princeton, NJ. (You know how much I love tea if you read this blog regularly! So I was all in on this.)

Most of the women at the tea were professional moms who juggle careers in industries ranging from technology to medicine. They all had one question – “How can you balance everything?”

It’s not easy, I struggle with this too and it’s only me and my husband at this point!

One of the pitfalls and mindset issues I noticed coming up time and time again as we went around the room chatting was the idea of setting boundaries. I think mothers who work outside of the home tend to feel guilty about not spending enough time with their families. And then they feel guilty about not working enough when they are with their families. That’s a recipe for overwhelm and disaster.

Taking time for yourself is super important for your productivity and for your sanity. Here’s the fix: boundaries. Read more

The Most Productive Tricks Learned Over Drinks

August 26, 2015/0 Comments/in Benefits of List Making, Learning With a List, List Making, People, Technology/by Paula Rizzo

It’s amazing what you can learn over drinks. Really.

What was it that Ernest Hemingway said? “Write drunk, edit sober.” Ok so that doesn’t perfectly make my point but it’s a good saying nevertheless.

Recently I was invited as a guest at the LadyDrinks Author Series Dinner in New York City for my book Listful Thinking. My friend and fellow newswoman Joya Dass runs the events and I’m thankful she asked me to participate. The room was filled with entrepreneurs, doctors, teachers, journalists and coaches. It was an excellent opportunity to discuss and share thoughts on productivity with other professionals. Even though I’m a “productivity expert” and I’m constantly seeking out new information to share. Read more

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