Tag Archive for: productivity

Meeting “Listful Thinkers” at Book Expo America

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BEA1Sometimes it’s important to look back in order to move ahead.  That happened to me last week when I attended my fourth Book Expo America conference.  I go every year for my day job as a senior health producer at Fox News.  I meet with publishers to talk about their new health, wellness and medical books that are coming out in the next year.

But this year I also attended as an author.  What a thrill!  I met with some list makers during two signings that my publisher set up.  One woman took out her huge binder to show me all her lists.  I couldn’t believe that she lugged it around with her everywhere, but she said she wouldn’t think of writing lists anywhere else.   Read more

How To Work Through Challenges And Get Stuff Done

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finishCan you imagine a day where you checked off everything on your to-do list without any problems or interruptions? Wouldn’t that be a nice change? But truthfully these days are quite rare. When we hit a roadblock it’s important to remember it happens to us all!

In fact problems are a normal part of the process. It’s all about how you deal with them.

Here are a few of the more common hang ups and how to move past them:

Denial: Do you ignore a problem when it arises?  Me too!I  I’m naturally a procrastinator, so I’m inclined tell myself “It’s nothing!” or “I’ll have time to address it down the road.” Especially if it’s a large task, or something I don’t want to do. Since I know these are my usual ways of ignoring a problem, I can recognize them and deal with them.

Make sure to pay attention to your own personal ‘tells’ so you can stop bad habits before they happen. If you are in denial, try writing a list of all the things you need to do to complete that day. You might surprise yourself and find that it’s easier than you think. Read more

10 Activities to Reward Yourself the Right Way

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Reward yourself the right way with thisI’m going to let you in on a little secret.  I’m a huge procrastinator and sometimes the only way I can get anything done is with a reward.  You know — a light at the end of the tunnel type thing.

If you have nothing to look forward to, your workload can quickly overwhelm you. So I’m a big fan of rewarding yourself after completing a time-consuming task.

However, it’s also important that the reward matches the progress that you’ve made.  So if you spend 20 minutes replying to your emails, you probably should treat yourself to a marathon Netflix binge.

But put a limit on it.  Will you watch 1 episode of House of Cards or 2?  If you plan out your reward in advance – it will be much easier to stick to it and get back to work.

There’s the thing though — a reward doesn’t have to take hours to be effective. There are some quick ones that will do the trick just as well.

Here is my list of small rewards you can treat yourself to without feeling guilty:

  1. Make a cup of tea.
  2. Go for a walk for 15 minutes.
  3. Listen to your favorite song.
  4. Watch a cute animal video for 4 minutes.
  5. Send a silly text to your friend.
  6. Eat some dark chocolate.
  7. Go on an adventure via Periscope for 10 minutes.
  8. Look up something you want to buy online for 15 minutes. (But don’t actually buy it until you’ve finished all your to-do’s for the day!)
  9. If you like to exercise, you could go for a quick jog or do some 10-minute yoga.
  10. Read a chapter of a good book. (Sign up here for a free chapter of Listful Thinking!)

How do you like to reward yourself?

10 Ways to Break Up Your Routine

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standupI’m a sucker for a good routine. I’ve been known to stand in the same spot every day while I wait for the subway, eat the same thing for breakfast and even pick out my clothes before going to bed at night.

Goodness knows that you oftentimes need your routines to keep you on schedule. I sure do! They can help you order your life, and bring a sense of normalcy to an otherwise hectic schedule.

However, given enough power and time, they can potentially dampen your productivity. If your “routine” is starting to feel more like a rut, try boosting your creativity by shaking things up!

Here’s how to do it:

Take a different way to work: We take the same way to work every day, and for good reasons: The shortest route, the least stressful way, the commute that takes you past your favorite coffee shop. Occasionally breaking from this rut can bring a fresh perspective. After all, your mind is used to seeing the same sights for roughly the same time every single day. Changing this up could be a stimulating experience to wake you up to a new way of thinking or see a new neighbor you didn’t even know existed!

Change up your lunch: Always grab a burger? End up chatting with the same people about the same things? Change it up! Eating a salad with lots of leafy greens can be a healthy way to get the nutrition you need to focus. Picking a new spot means you might run into new people to chat with too.

Switch up your exercise: Services such as ClassPass offer a variety of classes and workouts you can try. So go give a spin class a shot, or maybe try out yoga. Read more

Be More Productive with a 15-Minute Vacation

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photo credit: Nicole Rouyer Guillet

photo credit: Nicole Rouyer Guillet

BONUS FREEBIE: Want even more ways to stay organized, productive and less stressed? Click here to get access to my List-Making Starter Kit. It will boost your efficiency and get you back to doing more of the things you love.

The most productive people know the importance of taking a break. In fact studies show that brief diversions from a task can dramatically improve one’s ability to focus on that task for prolonged periods. This is a productivity tip I talk about in my book, Listful Living.

But what do you do with you break? Some go for a short walk, others make a cup of tea – but what about something a bit different? Today I’m going to show you how to take a 15-minute vacation and feel rejuvenated and re-energized.

Here’s how it’s done:

1. Go onto Google and choose the street view.
2. Type in your favorite city or a place you’ve always wanted to visit.
3. Use the Google navigation tools to take a stroll around and enjoy
4. Walk down the Champs-Élysées in Paris or relax on the beach in Bali!

Another great way to take a virtual vacation is to use the app Periscope.  If you haven’t heard it’s a new video streaming app that I’m totally obsessed with. Download it and you can watch people live streaming from their phones all over the world. Just recently I watched someone walk along the Great Wall of China. It’s so much fun and a great way to reward yourself after some hard work!

What do you like to do on your break?

BONUS FREEBIE: Want even more ways to stay organized, productive and less stressed? Click here to get access to my List-Making Starter Kit. It will boost your efficiency and get you back to doing more of the things you love.