Tag Archive for: being more productive

Use Lists to Cut Out Clutter

Andrew Mellen Headshot Tighter

I love meeting people who are just as organized as I am and getting the chance to learn something new from them. I went to the BlogHer conference in Chicago last weekend (more about the productivity tips and tricks on outsourcing that I learned there to come soon!) and met Andrew Mellen, bestselling author of Unstuff Your Life. Needless to say, he’s an expert at staying organized and keeping it together! So I thought he’d be the perfect “list producer” to feature:

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

A: I don’t. I call myself a practical list producer.

Q: What do you make lists about?

A: Things I need to do that need to get out of my head, onto a page, then onto my calendar.

These are typically:

Errands

Home Projects

Work Projects

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Make the Most of Your Weekend

Remember that song “Working for the Weekend” by Loverboy from the 80s?

It always puts a smile on my face! Weekends are the best — I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone who disagrees. You have time to sleep in and indulge in all the things you’re too busy for during the work week.

List of Ways to Make Working At Home Easier

Summer is the perfect excuse to work from home. But working from home can be both a blessing and curse. There are distractions around every corner — kids, food, your bed, etc. I don’t work from home that often but when I do it can sometimes be daunting to keep my head in the game. No wonder why people look to use a hotspot booster though, as this will allow them to work anywhere in the world with good quality internet connection. What more could you ask for? I was recommend to look into email hosting, which would enable me to look at my work emails wherever I am. This is beneficial to people who have their own businesses and their own domain. It’s an easy way to get more reliable and efficient service. Who doesn’t like to make work easier for themselves? There’s so much I have planned this summer in terms of my business. I have always wanted to update and improve my website and I feel like this is the perfect time to do it. The last website that I had, I used an outsource company to help create all my pages. But this time round, I want to try and do this myself. I know it will be difficult initially, but I’ll get used to it. Once I look into what ia definition is and all the other terminology, I should be fine! Plus, if I do get stuck, I know a few people who can give me a helping hand.

I often try to keep the same time table I would if I were working in an office. Taking breaks for lunch and walks to keep myself going. I can’t even imagine how difficult it must be if you also throw kids into the work from home mix.

Care.com, which helps parents find babysitters, nannies and child care, recently asked me to give some tips on ways to be more productive and stay focused. Here’s my list of ways to prioritize and get more done at home.

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4 Ways to Escape a “School’s Out” Mentality

Summer family jump

Summer family jump (Photo credit: Evil Erin)

Summer is here and it can be hard to escape the “school’s out” mentality.  Co-workers are leaving for vacation, and the office is slowing down. The sun’s out and all anyone wants to do is head to the beach or camp out poolside. It’s easy to start counting down the days until your own vacation.

This can be tempting, but we can’t spend the whole season with our minds somewhere else — unfortunately! It’s important to keep a good balance between your work and the rest of your life, especially in the summer.
Here are 4 ways to stay focused when it matters:

5 Reasons to Say No and Get More Done

NO!

NO! (Photo credit: guercio)

Everyone wishes they had more time — more hours in a day and more days in a year. Who would have thought that making more time for yourself could be as simple as saying “no?”  Yep — that one word will give you your life back.

It’s easy to agree to a coffee break or to see that movie your friend has been obsessed with for weeks. But its important not just to say “yes” as a default answer. Do you really want to drop whatever you’re doing to get coffee? Or just not say “no” to a friend? We all end up saying “yes” to things we don’t actually want to do.  Then you don’t get to do the things you really want to do.  Of course, there are some things that you just can’t get out of.   Read more