To people who are night owls either by nature or circumstance, getting up to do a productive morning routine can seem impossible. But it's possible to claim this quiet and uninterrupted time for yourself. I am biologically wired to do better at night. I catch a second wind at about 9 pm, and then I am off to the races, mentally alert and ready to flex my creative muscles. If I give in to it, I will work until 1 or 2 am, at which point I force myself to go to bed because I know the consequences rather than because I'm tired. I don't allow this to happen often. After all, I am employed outside the home, and I…
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Our 30 day challenge this month is to rise early. But rising before the dawn doesn't net you anything if you don't put that uninterrupted time to use. And even if you aren't doing the challenge, you can still craft a productive morning routine that helps set the tone for the day. I've worked on and off with early rising and morning routines for years. But as a night owl, it is hard for me to function in the morning. Even as I write this, I am fighting the impulse to go back to bed and get another hour's sleep. But I know that if I do cave, I will miss the satisfaction of getting important things done before I…
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Welcome to the second of the 30 day challenges. By doing 30 day challenges, I explore a topic that I feel will make my life more deliberate and productive. This month I will be looking at rising earlier. My schedule is such that I feel busy all the time. I don't feel like have uninterrupted time. I get up, go to work, and then when I get home I am bombarded with household tasks, exercising, and various evening commitments, not least of which is time with my family. I felt like I never had time to work on projects that were important to me. Non-fiction reading, fiction writing, blogging and crafting are wedged into the odd fifteen minutes I can…
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Productivity isn't just about what you do. It's also about what you don't do. Today I'll give you 20 things that productive people don't do. Do you do any of them?
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Productivity is a mental game as much as it is about doing things. One of the limiting beliefs I hear people tell themselves over and over is, "I don't have time." I used to be a chronic "I don't have time" person, but I have found that I actually do have time to do more things than I thought possible. Today we'll look at how I use those chunks of time to get more done.
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When people think about productivity, it's often about the physical actions. But the mental game of productivity is just as important as the physical actions. Today we look at how to get into the productivity mindset.
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There are productivity lessons everywhere, if you just look. Here are four lessons I learned from a video game my daughter got me into, "We Bare Bears Match 3 Repairs." I like matching games, and when my daughter started playing this one (based on one of her favorite cartoons), I peeked over her shoulder. What makes this game different from most is that there is no time pressure - a round is governed by the number of moves that you make. Make less than "par", you win the round. Otherwise you need to try over. It's fun, and it made me think about the general rules I was applying to select my moves...and all can be applied to productivity.
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As part of my quest for productivity, I read a lot of articles and books on the various aspects. I get frustrated from time to time, because I think a lot of the authors miss the points. For example, I have been reading a lot about building a better task list. And I’ve discovered that most task advice is worthless.
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I tackle my email overload by moving everything into a "backlog" folder, setting up filters, and creating processing folders like "Respond" and "Task." Using timers to sort emails helps me stay organized and focused.
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You have a beautiful blank calendar before you. What should you put on it to ensure you get the most use out of it? This article addresses the basics. In spite of my dedication to electronic calendars (because of their portability and shareability), I still maintain a paper calendar in my kitchen. This is simply for the visibility without extra steps. But both types of calendars have benefited from my adding the following types of items.
