Write Off Unproductive Days

There are days when it seems that I can’t get any­thing done, I lack the focus I des­per­ately need. When an unpro­duc­tive day comes along, I choose to write it off. I accept that noth­ing is get­ting done and go do some­thing else. Typ­i­cally I go to the store, run errands, shop online, play games, read news, any­thing that I want — just so long as I am doing some­thing. The still­ness of star­ing at a mon­i­tor, or a blank page is makes me not want to... Read More

∞ Six Simple Factors for Successful Goal Setting

Alex Black­well: The first task in goal set­ting is to clearly visu­al­ize what you want to achieve. Spend time con­sid­er­ing what you want and then burn this goal into your mind. Once there, the chances of suc­cess increase significantly. via Dumb Lit­tle Man.  Read More

Keeping Your Inbox Empty

Inbox Zero is a con­cept by Mer­lin Mann that I embrace fully (he is writ­ing a book on it due to be out soon), and most email hogs have a love hate rela­tion­ship with Inbox Zero. The thing is, most peo­ple have Inbox Zero wrong. Not being the inven­tor of the con­cept, I should say that most peo­ple approach keep­ing noth­ing in their inbox the wrong way. Keep­ing your inbox empty is not about react­ing to email quickly and effi­ciently – keep­ing your inbox... Read More

∞ Work Better and Faster by Exploring Your Tools

Brett Kelly: Take some time today to really get acquainted with one spe­cific tool that you use fre­quently. Poke around the menus and help files, search Google for “<appli­ca­tion name> tricks” and see what comes up. I think you’ll be sur­prised by what you find. Excel­lent advice. via Brett Kelly Dot Org.  Read More

∞ Getting Good Service: Insiders Spill

Jenifer Lang: Try­ing the “Do you know who I am?” tac­tic is obnox­ious, and it doesn’t work—it just makes the staff do an imi­ta­tion of you over beers after the shift is over. While this is cer­tainly true for the Food Ser­vice indus­try, it holds in every aspect of your life. I have watched many peo­ple try this with me and I also black­list them (yes I keep a black­list of companies/people I will never work with). via The Atlantic Food Chan­nel.  Read More

∞ 50 Ways You Can Create a Better Day

Mark Foo: Here are 50 tips to set you on your way to a bet­ter day. Do your­self a favor and don’t try more than a hand­ful of these in a sin­gle day. In fact, put these ideas in a hat and pick one ran­domly the next time you get in a funk. via Dumb Lit­tle Man.  Read More

Tips to Higher E-Mail Productivity

Qui­etSpac­ing: This is a short seg­ment of a pre­sen­ta­tion I recently deliv­ered on how to improve your e-mail pro­duc­tiv­ity. The top­ics cov­ered include: Turn­ing off your new e-mail alerts. Batch pro­cess­ing your e-mail. Sub­ject line nam­ing conventions. One sub­ject per e-mail. Reduc­ing the use of Reply All. Drag & Drop functionality. via Qui­etSpac­ing.  Read More

Workers Should Turn Off Visual Alerts, Study Finds

Ker Than: Mul­ti­taskers beware: On-screen noti­fi­ca­tion pop-ups and visual alerts designed to increase pro­duc­tiv­ity can actu­ally end up cost­ing you time in the long run, accord­ing to a new study. I think that most read­ers here know this by now, but any type of noti­fi­ca­tion that dis­tracts you from what you are cur­rently doing is bad. It truly doesn’t mat­ter what the inten­tion of the noti­fi­ca­tion is, the result is always distraction. via... Read More

Personal Kaizen: 15 Tips for Your Continuous Improvement

Pre­sen­ta­tion Zen on increas­ing your design mindfullness: .  Read More

Better Working Tip: Reclaim the Morning

Dar­rell Etherington: It may not be pos­si­ble to ded­i­cate the first part of your day to relax­ation and prepa­ra­tion, but con­sider get­ting up early to allow time for a good start. You may be sur­prised to find that the extra time pro­vides more energy and drive than an addi­tional hour of sleep might. The sleep you do get could be of much bet­ter qual­ity, espe­cially if you resist that urge to check Twit­ter just one more time before bed. I too have found... Read More