Tag Archive for: San Francisco

What Google Headquarters Taught Me About Productivity

Paula & Jay with Gopi at Google

Last week I decided to use the 4th of July weekend as an excuse to go on vacation. I have always wanted to go to San Francisco and figured now was the time. My husband Jay and I toured around the city — saw the Golden Gate Bridge, walked up Lombard Street, strolled along Fisherman’s Wharf and even tasted some amazing wine in Napa and Sonoma Valleys.

While there – we were amazingly lucky to get a tour of the Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA. That’s about 50 minutes south of San Francisco. Anyone can check out the grounds but to get a real look inside the buildings an employee has to take you around. I was lucky to be introduced to Gopi Kallayil by a mutual friend and he was our very gracious host. He’s the Chief Evangelist at Google for Brand Marketing — isn’t that the coolest title ever? Read more

Win Free Stuff for Sharing Your Bucket List

Paula_MiamiThis past week I went on vacation to Miami for my birthday. I had a fantastic time relaxing by the beach and eating lots of delicious food. Even though this wasn’t an especially exotic vacation, it got me thinking about my bucket list and all the amazing places I’d love to visit and things I want to do before I “kick the bucket.” The thing about having a bucket list is that it is personal to you, so you’ll never feel like your list isn’t as good as someone else or the other way around.

My Bucket List

Thinking about the goals you would like to achieve is a great way to get started planning your future…especially after having another birthday! If you’ve always wanted to trek along the Inca Trail – why not research what time of year is best to go and what you’ll need to bring?

Here are a few things I’ve got on my own bucket list:

  • Visit San Francisco
  • Live in Paris
  • Hold a koala bear Read more

Make Your Team More Productive With Asana

teamworkBeing productive is not always a lone effort. In my day job and with my interns for this blog, I frequently have to work with a team. Being productive with a team requires collaboration and good communication, but with more people involved there are more opportunities for someone to forget to “reply all.”

Recently my interns and I began using Asana, a web and mobile application, designed by Facebook employees to improve the company’s productivity. We like it because it has allowed us to send fewer emails and it never lets us busy ladies forget anything!

There are a few reasons we think you’ll love it too:

Read more

The Power of a Pro vs. Con List and a FREE Giveaway

This blog is three posts in one:

1. A case study of the power of one of my favorite kinds of lists: the pros/cons list.

2. A plug for a cool website and the pre-made list paper they make.

3. A chance for you to win FREE list paper from KnockKnockStuff.com.

 

 

WHO: Colleen Cappon – my colleague and a non-list maker

WHAT: Colleen and her fiancée Chris are getting married and having trouble planning their honeymoon

WHEN: Their wedding is in October

WHY: It’s tough to narrow down the perfect destination to celebrate their nuptials because they are overwhelmed by all the choices

WHERE: This is just the problem! They have too many options and are losing sight of what they really want

The Power of a Pros/Cons List

Enter the “List Producer” with the solution I have for everything – make a list! I told Colleen that a pros/cons list is really the best way give attention to each choice individually. I also shared some cool list paper that I’d gotten from KnockKnockStuff.com for her to write out pros and cons about each resort she and Chris were considering. Read more