Tag Archive for: to-do list

7 Ways To Eliminate Time Wasters

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(Photo credit: openDemocracy)

When you think about how much time you waste, you tend to think of the big things, like the hours wasted binging on Netflix (I’m obsessed with Orange Is The New Black,) paging through social media or wandering
aimlessly around the mall. When something only wastes a minute or so we don’t think about it as much. But when you add all those things together you could potentially be throwing away hours of your day.

I’ve come up with a list to help you combat the small time sucks in your life: Read more

Sandra Bullock Is A List Maker Too!

Sandra BullockGuess what? I found another famous list maker!  This time it’s Sandra Bullock!

I stumbled across this quote from her recently and could totally relate. I suppose you have to have good time-management skills when you act in as many films as she does. (Did you see Gravity? It’s fabulous!)

In fact, there are many celebrities who are known list makers like Madonna and John Lennon.  On Pinterest I made board dedicated to productive celebrities:

Follow my Pinboard of Productive Celebrities Who Probably Keep Lists on Pinterest.

Whose your favorite productive celebrity?

 

Find An Extra Hour in Your Day

(photo credit: wikipedia.com)

If you’re a busy person like me, you’ve probably found yourself day-dreaming about a 25 or even a 26-hour day. A fantasy world where you not only finish all your tasks for the day, you even find time to pick up that book you’ve been meaning to read. Unfortunately I can’t make the day longer, but I do know how you can save one hour at a time.

Don’t let waiting time be wasted time

On hold with the bank? Bored on your daily commute? Use this time to do smaller tasks like reading your emails, checking your Facebook page or paying bills with a mobile app.  This not only saves time, but stops these smaller errands from becoming pesky interruptions at work.

Time saved: 10 minutes  Read more

Barbara Walter’s Retirement To-Do List

Barbara Walters

Barbara Walters retires May 16, 2014. (Photo Credit: deadline.com)

If you were to visit my parents on Long Island and ask to see my high school year book, next to my photo you would find the words, “hopes to become the next Barbara Walters.” What an overachiever I was, even then! Truth is — I’ve always looked up to Barbara Walters. I remember watching interviews she had done in my college journalism classes and learning from the best. I try to use her techniques even today when I do my own interviews. After reading her memoir, “Audition” I felt compelled to write her an email — and she actually wrote me back! I’m happy I got the opportunity to tell Barbara that she is one of my greatest teachers.

Today is her very last day of work after 50 years on television. She’ll finally be able to enjoy some well-deserved downtime.  To help her out, I made a to-do list of things she should enjoy during her retirement that will keep her up to date with the times:

1. Get a Netflix account: In a recent interview, Barbara said one of the first things she wants to do during her retirement is go to a movie. What she may not realize is that with a Netflix account, she’ll be able to watch as many movies as she wants whenever she wants… in her own home!

2. Get an Instagram account: After 50 years on television, it may be hard to adjust back into the “real world.” But she doesn’t need to cut out the entertainment industry completely (and she’s not—she’s still going to be executive producer for The View!). With an Instagram account, she can stay up to date with some of her favorite people she’s gotten to know over the years by “liking” their posts as they attend numerous events and award shows. And I would love to continue seeing what she’s up to!

3. Go through her old wardrobe: Barbara is in luck—fashion trends are starting to repeat themselves. Rather than have to update her wardrobe, she can just go through her closet and bring out her old favorites. Or use the extra time to clear out clutter and do a bit of a fashion show with all the garments she’s worn through the years on big interviews.

4. Travel: Since her budget won’t be going towards an updated wardrobe, Barbara can spend all her money towards travels. I even have some recommendations on my Pinterest board for places to go!

5. Learn how to take a selfie: Lets face it– we’re all going to miss seeing Barbara on our television screens everyday. It’s going to be weird not knowing what she’s up to! But once she learns how to take the infamous selfie, we’ll be able to stay updated. She can post it to her Instagram account!

6. Have lunch with me! I had to throw it in there because I’m sure we’d have tons to talk about. I’m available whenever you are Barbara!

Happy Retirement!

Organize Anything With SpringPad

A friend of mine is moving for a new job and needed to get a lot organized in a short period of time. She tried a few apps that I’ve suggested on the site, but even my hero app Evernote couldn’t keep up with everything she needed to do. She needed an app that would allow her to make notebooks that could include tasks, people, events, lists, location information, and important links. While I can think of the best apps to handle each of those things individually, I couldn’t think of any that handled them all together. Until we found SpringPad.

SpringPad is a multi-faceted personal organization tool that is designed to help you plan or organize anything. Create custom notebooks for yourself, or share them with others to collaborate. Then, start filling those notebooks up with “springs.”

A spring could be anything, like:

Movies – When I spring a movie title Springpad creates a small icon with the poster of the movie. The app notifies me when the film comes out in theaters (and will help me find showtimes), when it comes out on DVD, and even when it is available on Netflix.

Links – For links, I usually use the “Spring It” feature, a button that lives in the bookmarks bar and allows me to “spring” any website to my SpringPad account. It’s a great way to save articles and videos to watch later. Read more