Tag Archive for: Paula Rizzo

5 Common Ways We Hold Ourselves Back

/2 Comments/in , , , , /by

4222582036_79168848bc_zSometimes we are our own greatest enemies.

No matter how confident I am —  there are moments when I feel not good enough.  It happens to all of us.  We can’t all walk around feeling super confident all the time – although that would be nice!

Ironically this attitude can often stop us from performing at our best and send us in to self-sabotage mode.

So how do you get over these feelings?

It’s hard work in the end.  Once you’re aware of it you can start to make changes. Here are some of the ways we hold ourselves back, and how to fix it: Read more

My Love/Hate Relationship with Tim Ferriss

/4 Comments/in , , /by

Timothy_FerrissTim Ferriss is considered to be one of the leading experts in productivity right now. His book ‘The Four Hour Workweek’ is immensely popular and I would recommend reading it.  I mean – who wouldn’t want a four hour workweek?

When I tell people I write this blog or about my book Listful Thinking —  they will often ask me what I think of him. While I often smile and tell people he’s great….the truth is, I have a sort of love/hate relationship with Tim Ferriss.

What I ‘Love’ About Tim Ferriss

There’s nothing wrong with him, in fact I agree with him on most things. These are just a few examples:

Go right to the source – Tim believes that if you want the best and most accurate information you should head to the best source. It’s how he made his decision for voting in the presidential election and I completely agree.  He asked people in the know what they thought about each candidate and decided from there.  No suffering from analysis paralysis for him.   Read more

Eliminate Small Annoyances to Boost Productivity

/3 Comments/in , , , , , , , , , , /by

1_525527379346252552737934a0We all experience them, those little everyday things that get in our way.

But you deal with them even when they set you back. I do it too.

I’m sent tons of magazines and books at work and they are good resources for story ideas. However they take up so much space.

I keep them on my desk because I always plan on looking at them. But in the end they just get in my way and slow me down and create clutter.

They topple over onto my keyboard.

They spill onto my notes and pencil and often I can’t find what I’m looking for — but there they are…under that stack of magazines.

So why don’t I just move them! Right? We’ll it’s a lot easier said than done. These types of irritants are only slightly annoying so we let them slide. Read more

The Most Productive 15 Minutes of Your Work Day

/2 Comments/in , , , , , , /by

How-to-Never-Feel-Stressed-at-Work-Again-722x406For those of you who work a typical 9 to 5 job, looking at the clock and seeing it’s 4:45pm can be quite a relief. Only a quarter of an hour and you’re out of there!  Yay!

For others it can be quite stressful – only 15 minutes to get everything done!

But would you believe the way you spend those final 15 minutes could completely change what happens the next day?

Every day, when I’m nearly finished with work I create a “roadmap” for the following day.  I’ve stolen the idea from my time as a live news producer.  We always have a rundown to keep us on track during a live show.  Your work day should run the same way. Read more

The Perfect Combo: Tea and Productivity

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , , , /by

IMG_6149Last week I held the very first ever ProductiviTEA event at Podunk tea shop in New York City. I’m still beaming from the amazing energy in the room. (Maybe it was the boozy tea too?) The group was a mix from all different backgrounds.  We had lawyers, fashion designers, personal trainers, financial services gurus, productivity coaches and branding experts.

Between sips of delicious tea and bites of yummy scones — it was clear that despite the differences in careers we all shared similar productivity issues.  Some of the problems that popped up included:
1. Focusing on one task at a time (I suggested trying the Pomodoro technique where you work on a IMG_0008given task for a set amount of time — like 25 minutes.)

2. Dealing with email overwhelm (I’ve been there too – I love to sign up for newsletters newsletters,PDFs and free gifts of all kinds.   If there’s a free promo code out there — I want it. All these goodies are delivered right to my inbox and I always have the best intentions to read them all but….the truth is I rarely do anything with that stuff.  I created a system to Take Back My Inbox! For some tips and tricks on that front check out my new course.

3. Stopping your brain from going 100 MPH before bed (Reading a fiction book is a great cure for this. I used to read non-fiction all the time because I’m just so curious and always want to be learning somethinglaura new.  But about a month ago I realized it wasn’t working and switched to fiction. It’s amazing how much it settles you down before bed.)

We also talked about productivity styles and how you have to find out what works for you. I had so much fun helping people with their list and productivity problems and cheer on their successes. I created ListProducer.com to help those who where struggling to get organized – it feels really good to see the effect the blog has on people.  Thanks so all who attended and hopefully we will have a repeat event sometime soon.  I’m even thinking of doing a virtual event so people from all over can participate.