Tag Archive for: listproducer.com

3 Ways to Have an Effective Lunch Meeting

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I always look forward to a good lunch meeting, but it can be tricky to get it right because there are so many distractions. If the purpose of the meeting is to talk business you may have to plan ahead. There’s nothing worse than getting to the best part of your pitch when suddenly the waiter interrupts to take your order. Or when the food takes to long and makes you late to work.

The best way to ensure a successful lunch meeting is to put in a little planning beforehand. Here are some of my top tips.

Choose the location wisely – When I meet with my mastermind group for meals we have got them down to an exact science! When booking a place to meet we always ensure that we meet at a restaurant where you can go up and get your food and then sit down. This saves you getting distracted looking at the menu and dealing with the waiter. Plus once you’ve got your food you can sit down and get started quickly on whatever topics you’ve got on the agenda. Read more

Productivity Tips I Learned from Seth Godin

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screen-shot-2016-11-20-at-12-41-49 On this blog I have talked about some of the well known experts in productivity. I caught a recent interview with Seth Godin on Marie Forleo TV and I was inspired to share it with you. Seth isn’t in the productivity biz per se, but he’s one of the most prolific writers and business developers out there. He’s written 18 bestselling books, built and sold businesses and has some of the best advice. Here are some of the top tips from his talk with Marie:

Be geared to ship

I’m a perfectionist – I can’t help it! I don’t like to put out anything that I’m not 100% happy with. I’m getting better but it’s still an issue.

The problem with that, as Seth points out, is that the focus is on making it perfect instead of just getting it out there. Seth writes a blog entry every single day, they won’t all be great, but everyday he’s putting his thoughts and ideas out there.

When you do that you can’t worry about making it perfect, you just have to go for it. Being a perfectionist can go hand in hand with overthinking or overstretching an idea. If there’s something you want to do, stop worrying about it and just get started! Read more

How Do You Say List in Portuguese?

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You know when you do something and you aren’t quite sure how it will turn out? That’s what it’s been like for me to publish my book Listful Thinking. This January will mark two years since it came out and I’m still grateful for all the opportunities it’s given me.

I’ve had the chance to meet some of you face to face at book signings and talk with people all over the world about lists. Plus, I got to record the audiobook version of the book this summer.  I’m also excited to announce that Listful Thinking has also made it onto the Apple iBooks bestseller list!

I’m thrilled to be mentioned with other classic titles like “The Secret” and “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” When I first published my book I had no idea there were so many list makers out there. What I certainly didn’t expect was how many different languages the book would be published in as well.  Right now it’s in Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Dutch, Indonesian and just recently in Portuguese as well. I’m so happy to welcome all the new Portuguese list makers to this blog.

unnamed-8The book has also allowed me to do some speaking gigs, which I really love. I’ll be speaking at the MA Conference for Women on Dec 8th. I’ll be leading the session appropriately named Listful Thinking. And I’ll also be hosting a session with two execs from Boston Scientific, leading the discussion about work/life balance. I’ve written about this quite a lot. And I’m interested to get their take on how they manage it as well.  It resonates with all of us.  If you’re at the conference, please put “stop by to say hello to Paula” on your list.

The Real Reason You Can’t Clear Clutter

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Why is it so difficult to just get rid of stuff? As a recovering pack rat – I totally get it. It seems easy enough but sometime there are items like those boots you never wore or that candlestick holder your friend gave you when she moved out of her apartment.

The important thing here is to know that you’re not alone in struggling to get rid of stuff. I recently attended a Running with Heels dinner in NYC. Running with Heels is a women’s networking group run by my friend Jenny Powers. She books all kinds of speakers and interesting experts.  The dinner I went to featured productivity expert Julie Morgenstern. Julie kindly wrote the foreword to my book Listful Thinking.

The topic of discussion was about clearing clutter and why it’s so difficult to get rid of our stuff! This included a heartbreaking story of how Julie often found her kitchen over stuffed with cookbooks she never used. When she thought about why she clung to these cookbooks so desperately, she realized it was because the represented the mother she wished she could be. A mom who was well known for her delicious home-cooked meals. Read more

Put Yourself First This Year

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When did more become better? Longer hours, bigger sacrifices, fewer hours of sleep. This is becoming the new norm for many people and even I get excited when I see an article that claims to have the secret schedule of the most successful people. But the truth is you don’t need to be getting up early to go to yoga, work a 10 hour day then get home and make a freshly-prepared home cooked meal, before you rush of to your child’s clarinet recital. I’m not the only one who has noticed this growing trend, it was a big topic of discussion at the Listful Thinking afternoon tea event and it was raised in my friend Cass McCrory’’s recent podcast interview.

Buying into the “more is more” philosophy can set you up for failure. It can lead to blaming yourself that if you just push a little more then you’ll be able to achieve all your goals. That’s not always necessarily true.

Truthfully, however, working harder can only help you up to a certain point. Beyond that it you may only get diminishing returns. This is the point  when the benefits gained is less than the amount of money or energy invested.

After my appendix burst, I started taking a ‘just enough’ approach. I learned this when I interviewed Heidi Hanna, a stress expert, in my book Listful Thinking but didn’t really apply it til now. She told me to make a “just enough” list instead of bogging it down with lots and lots of to-dos. The list contains only the minimum requirements that I would feel like just enough after completing them.

The free time I have left over can be spent doing things I enjoy or that I want to work on. I find that in the long run prioritizing  my mental and physical well being, instead of just working hard all the time, has been a key part of my success. When you have more room to breath you have to more time to:

  • Think creatively
  • Be inspired with new idea
  • Concentrate on the task at hand

I’m challenging you to put yourself first this week! Make a ‘just enough list’ for today and share it with me on social media. (@ListProducer on Twitter, @ListProducer on Instagram, or here on Facebook) I’d also love to hear about the other ways you prioritize your well being.