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Getting Things Done
Why Complicated Productivity Tools Will Get You Stuck
May 17th
I had a relapse a couple of weeks back. After full bore sobriety from all things productivity porn, I couldn’t help myself any longer. When I see an update to a “GTD” app or see something new online that looks like it can be a “GTD” app, I get the itch to try it out. What pulls us to do this?
I’ve tried everything from simple paper, pencil and a paper filing system to the robust yet complicated systems like OmniFocus and even Microsoft Project. I’ve found that the more complicated the tool tends to be, the more I end up tweaking it and entering into the “cool thing to do on a Saturday afternoon” type of mentality that Dave Allen speaks of. Everything looks great about my system when I’m tweaking, but when I’m in the “heat of battle” on Monday morning, how will it stand up?
I’ve found a couple of things about these productivity tools over the past 5 or 6 years that I want to let you in on.
Productivity tools suck when they use you
The problem with super complicated productivity tools is that they tend to only work when you work them. If you let them lay stagnant for any period of time and have set up reminders, due dates, and notifications, there will come the day when all of the little “boops and beeps” will repel rather than attract you.
Have you opened up a digital productivity tool and been overwhelmed by the tasks that you have assigned to yourself? Couldn’t believe how many tasks had due dates that didn’t really matter if they were due? If so, then you have been used by your productivity tool.
It’s a dirty feeling. I know.
The worst thing is that if you don’t do something drastic, even as drastic as erasing all tasks and projects from the tool, your time enjoying the use of the productivity tool will soon come to an end. You will probably end up resenting it.
If you spend more time organizing than doing
The reason that your tools end up using you is that you probably tend to spend more time organizing your work than actually doing your work. I know that is the case with myself.
I love OmniFocus. It’s probably one of the best productivity apps around, but you can really get down in the weeds with it. And when you do, you will find yourself making decisions about how to organize tasks in a more “intuitive manner” and trying to figure out which GTD contexts better suit you as a human.
All of these tools tell us they are made for getting stuff done, but don’t let their robustness fool you. If you are a “tinkerer” or someone that likes to organize things into their proper “buckets”, complex tools will be your own productivity’s kryptonite.
Completely simple tools aren’t the answer
If you think that paper and pencil is the answer, think again. While the benefits of paper are many (and we sure have talked about that a lot here at Lifehack) it lacks in important things like sorting, rearranging, filtering and alerting.
Rather than throw the baby out with the bathwater, try to find a tool that doesn’t get in your way and use you while still having support for your large amounts of tasks, priorities, and deadlines.
How to get unstuck
The easiest and most straight-forward way to get unstuck from the wrath of complicated productivity tools is to start fresh. That’s right. Start over.
If you have any decent productivity tool you will be able to easily export or save your current data and start with a clean slate. This is the only way that I have found to take control of a complicated system that has gone stagnant and to get myself unstuck and doing the right things again.
When you are setting up your system, make sure to not get too particular about naming conventions, tagging, etc. Also, try really hard not to set “fake due dates” for your projects. After that, instead of thinking of the 20 ways your productivity tool could be better, starting working and checking items off your lists.
Remember, your productivity tools are only as good as you keep them. If they are a dumping ground and not current, your productivity will suffer.
Standing: The One Simple Trick That Can Double Your Productivity
May 15th
A subject of great interest to most of us is productivity. We want to be more productive, and we’re willing to do anything to achieve this, yet we spend a major part of our lifetime doing something that makes us less productive while at the same time posing the risk of reducing our lifespan. Unfortunately, this particular thing is so common these days that a lot of us now see it as something normal.
It is called sitting.
While sitting isn’t a totally bad idea, spending the larger part of our day doing it can damage our productivity significantly.
Unfortunately, in the digital age we are today, we now spend more time sitting than ever before; the average human being spends around 9 hours sitting every day, when sitting down for just 6 hours a day increases your risk of dying in the next 15 years 40% higher than that of someone sitting for just 3 hours a day.
The bad news is, this also crushes our productivity; and while some of us might not be that concerned about living for 100 years, what’s the point of living for a thousand years if you can’t achieve anything significant?
Start Using a “Standing Desk”
Since sitting can be a huge productivity killer, what kind of solution can there be to something so fundamental that it is a part of human nature?
Well, there is standing. And there are desks that make it easy to work with a standing desk.
It wouldn’t be easy at first, especially when you’ve spent the larger part of your life sitting than standing, but this article will be showing you a few benefits of standing while working, and how to get the best from it.
Standing while working has a few advantages that makes it more productive when compared to just sitting, and here are some advantages to why you should stand while working from now on instead of sitting.
1. It constitutes to a little bit of pain.
Comfort can make it difficult for us to produce, but pain makes us concentrate.
Standing for prolonged hours constitutes pain and only leaves us with one thought: “how to quickly finish what we’re doing so we can go back to sitting down”. Unfortunately, this is the natural way of things, and there’s nothing we can do about it.
Success isn’t possible without struggles, and productivity is hardly possible in a comfortable environment. The key to productivity is to challenge yourself, leave your comfort zone, and introduce more pain; standing does all that, while sitting is the direct opposite of these things.
2. Unlike sitting, standing is associated with work.
The world we now live in is more about perception, instead of reality, which is why productivity is more of a psychological process than physical.
Creating is a mental process, and this means you have to be in the right frame of mind to create. Unfortunately, sitting is mostly associated with rest and relaxation thereby making it less productive for work when compared to standing; for example, we spend a huge part of our time watching TV, playing games, and chatting with ourselves; the reality about this is that we do all these things while sitting, while the majority of the activities that can be classified as “real work” are done standing.
3. Standing while working is actually healthier than sitting
Health is wealth, and no matter your desire and mental preparation for getting things done, nothing is possible if you’re not healthy enough to do what needs to be done.
Sitting for prolonged hours has its health dangers, but very few people are aware of this. Some major health dangers to sitting that can be eliminated by standing are:
- Death: The reality is that sitting for 6+ hours a day will increase your likelihood of dying within 15 years when compared to someone who only sits for 3 hours a day, by 40%.
- Obesity: Obesity is a great enemy of productivity, and the more obese you become the less you feel like working. Research has shown that obese people sit for 2.5 more hours a day compared to their thin counterparts.
- Diseases: Research has also shown that those who sit for 3 or more hours a day watching TV are 64% more likely to die from heart diseases. People with sitting jobs have also been observed to have twice the cardiovascular disease as people with standing jobs.
What’s more? Research has also shown that exercise is nearly ineffective for those who spend a large portion of their day sitting, even if they exercise for an hour a day.
All the stats quoted above can be found here and here.
How to Get the Best from Standing While Working
Now that we’ve seen how critically important standing while working is, it is important that we also realize that there are things we should do to maximize our productivity.
There is a huge difference between being productive and abusing your body. Here’s a couple of tips to help you get the best from standing while working:
- Create a resting interval. Don’t just work for prolonged hours on your feet without taking any measures. Make sure you segment your work into various periods, and take a break every hour or so of standing. A 10 – 20 minutes break per hour can go a long way to enhance your productivity, so make sure you don’t exhaust yourself by working while standing for prolonged hours.
- Alternate sitting with standing. Know when to stand and when to sit. If you think you need to get a lot of work done for a particular day, and that you will probably be working for a very long time, make sure you sit for a few minutes as a way to rest your brain. Standing for way too long can increase your chances of having back pain, so make sure you alternate it with sitting every once in a while.
This is especially important if you’re just getting starting with using a standing desk.
(Photo credit: Two People Standing via Shutterstock)
Bamidele Onibalusi is a young blogger, blogger, and freelance copywriter you should hire to take your business to the next level. He also has a free guide designed specifically for those who want to write for traffic and money titled, The Writer’s Handbook: How to Write for Traffic and Money.
Hate Your To-Do List? Try A Rolling List Instead!
May 4th
Oh, the great To-Do List Debate! The productivity world loves arguing over this topic.
Are to-do lists the only way to keep yourself on task, or an unrealistic goal that just stresses you out and make you feel bad about all the things you never get to? Should you keep a short list of the most essential items, or a massive running list of every task you’ll ever need to remember?
I won’t try to jump into this debate, because the truth is that different things work for different people. For me, I’ve found what works best is something known as a “rolling” to-do list. So I’d like to share this technique with you — not to convince you that it’s the only way to go, but to give you another option you may find works well for you, too.
How It Works
If you always have multiple projects percolating at once, a rolling to-do list can be a great way to break down all the steps and deadlines and keep you on schedule without overwhelming you. Here’s how it works:
Start with a blank document (digital, not paper). Rolling lists don’t work well on traditional calendars or notepads because there’s just too much reordering and rearranging. You need something you can easily cut and paste on as your priorities shift and new items come up.
Break your projects up into steps. Say one of your to-dos this month is to finish the Smith report. That task is made up of many smaller components: gathering research, compiling and organizing data, drafting the report, circulating it to coworkers for feedback. Write out each component as a separate item on your list, in the order you’ll need to-do them.
Give those steps deadlines. Let’s say the Smith report is due in 2 weeks. Next to each component of the project, put down an estimated deadline for when you’d need to complete that item in order to keep things on schedule. This isn’t a hard and fast deadline, just a reference point to keep you from falling behind and to help you rank the item in the right spot on your list.
Prioritize your items. Let’s say you’ve got five action items with deadlines this week. Decide which are the most crucial and put those first. If Mr. Smith is your biggest, most VIP client, then action items related to his report will probably go before any others. Whatever’s at the top of your list should always be the items you absolutely must get done, even if the rest get rolled over to tomorrow.
Tackle the items in order. No skipping ahead if you don’t particularly feel like doing item no. 1 right now. The whole point of ranking your items was to make sure the most important things get done first. So, buck up and do whatever’s on the top of your list.
Reevaluate and reorder. Your list will always be evolving. Every morning, examine your tasks to make sure they’re still in the right order. Maybe another project has suddenly been upgraded to urgent status; bump its tasks up on the list. Maybe you’ve gotten some new to-dos, so you need to figure out where to fit them in. The key to keeping a rolling to-do list effective is to keep it rolling.
Why It Helps
It’s manageable. Rather than a list of big, nebulous projects that’s paralyzing to look at, a rolling list breaks things down into small, actionable items you can work on right now. You’re always chipping away at a piece of one project or another, making progress without getting overwhelmed.
It’s flexible. Life happens, and traditional to-do lists don’t accommodate that very well: if today’s to-dos don’t get to-done, they stay at the top of the list, while more things keep getting to the bottom, leaving you with twice as much work and twice as much stress. In comparison, a rolling list allows you to juggle things around and make space for the unexpected, restructuring your priorities as projects change and deadlines shift.
If traditional lists haven’t worked for you, try giving the rolling list a trial run. You may find it’s just what you need to keep your changing priorities in order (and your sanity intact).
(Photo credit: Thoughtful Businesswoman via Shutterstock)
Kelly Gurnett runs the blog Cordelia Calls It Quits, where she documents her attempts to rid her life of the things that don’t matter and focus more on the things that do. You can follow her on
The Best of Lifehack: April 2012
May 1st
April has come and gone, and so it’s time for another installment in our Best of Lifehack series. This series showcases articles from the month just gone by, just in case you missed some of what we offer each and each every day at Lifehack.
This month we delivered posts on a wide variety of topics, focusing on fitness, nutrition, communication and overall productivity. You may have also noticed a lot of new contributors have joined the fold, largely as a result of our “How to Write for Lifehack” post that was published back in March. The result has been a slew of great articles from some very talented writers — and we’re going to bring even more of that to you from this month onward.
As we bid April farewell, here is The Best of Lifehack from the past month.
How to Get Stuff Done: A Quick Guide
Have you ever felt like your to do list is completely out of control and you’re just not getting anywhere? You have jobs piling up and you just don’t know where to start? Zoe B. has put together a primer on how to get stuff done that’s well worth checking out.
7 Things You Should Add to Your Stop Doing List…Right Now!
You probably make lists of things to do and follow them through. But what about the things you should stop doing? Successful people do not do the following things but chances are you still do. Paul Sloane recommends that you make a decision to add 7 things to your “stop doing list” starting today.
Hack Your Weight Loss Workout – Lose Weight In 15 Minutes a Day
A weight loss workout doesn’t have to be boring. It shouldn’t require you to workout for hours every day to be effective either. You can actually lose weight and excess body fat in just 15 minutes a day. Lifehack contributor Curt Pedersen explains how you can do just that.
The 3 Best iPhone Apps to Help You Remember
Regular Lifehack contributor Royale Scuderi has discovered many very useful apps in her quest for better life management. Here are a few of the best iPhone apps to help your remember and that she has found to be very helpful.
Productivity Hacks: 8 Things That Are Hurting Your Productivity
Fixing minor issues can sometimes play a big role in enhancing your overall productivity and allow your creativity to flow like never before. Uttoran Sen offers up 8 things that are hurting your productivity — and how to hack them.
Lifehack Presents: A Mini-Guide for Weight Loss for Men
Lifehack Associate Editor CM Smith has been assembling some excellent mini-guides over the past couple of months, and this one is no exception. If you’re a guy who’s looking to lose some excess pounds, give this a good read. And then follow through!
Top 10 Reasons Why People Don’t Reach Their Goals
With everything that happens around us, it is sometimes difficult to reach our goals. Robert Chen hasn’t just listed the top 10 reasons why people don’t reach their goals, but he’s also included a quick fix for each of them.
20 Encouraging Quotes to Level Up Your Life
With everything that happens around us, it is sometimes difficult to reach our goals. Robert Chen hasn’t just assembled the top 10 reasons why people don’t reach their goals, but he’s also included a quick fix for each of them.
How to Be 25% Happier in Five Minutes a Day
Remember when you got a raise and bought a new car, and you were happy ever since? Neither does Cara Stein. So rather than dwell on that, she outlines ways that you can be 25% happier in just five minutes — each and every day.
Seven Truths About You
In this excerpt from the book Kiss That Frog: 12 Great Ways to Turn Negatives into Positives in Your Life and Work, Brian Tracy and Christina Tracy Stein explain that no matter where you are today, or what you have done or not done in the past, you need to accept seven essential truths about you as a person.
(Photo credit: Golden leader of business team via Shutterstock)
Mike Vardy is the Managing Editor at Lifehack. An independent writer, speaker, podcaster and "productivityist", you can read more of his writing at Vardy.me. He is @mikevardy on Twitter.
7 Ways to Leverage Your Time to Increase Your Productivity
Apr 30th
We’re all busy people. Some people, though, are busier than we’d ever imagine, yet are somehow are able to stay on top of things so well they seem to go about their life in a lackadaisical manner, while we struggle to produce good work and maintain a household.
What’s their secret? Why do they seem to have everything figured out; always unstressed and ready to go?
Leverage.
Sure, tactics like maintaining “to-do” lists (or “done” lists), setting goals, and decreasing the amount and time of meetings can all help. But really, these are all tactics that fall into a strategical category of leveraging our time.
Leverage is an awesome force–it allows us to multiply our abilities by applying a little pressure to something.
In life, we can leverage our time, and here are seven ways to do just that:
- Get it out of your head. If it’s in your head, chances are it’s taking up valuable storage space that you can be using to get things done. Every time you think of a task, to-do item, or idea, write it down. Getting it out of your head not only lets you focus energy elsewhere, rather than trying to remember things, it also helps you clear your mind so you’ll be more effective when you do try to tackle that massive list of chores.
- Organize your day. Do you go to work and just “jump in” to all the work that’s in front of you? Try this instead: organize your day into chunks of time–10-15 minutes for emails, an hour for that large project due at the end of the month, etc. Focus on knocking out the most important things on the list, earlier in the day to increase your productivity. As your day draws to a close, the easier or shorter items on the list will require less effort, allowing you to de-stress at the same time.
- Use other people’s time. One of my favorite entrepreneurial tactics is leveraging other people. This doesn’t mean using other people–no one likes that. Leveraging other people means empowering and allowing coworkers and employees, or even outsourced help, to help you with some of your routine tasks throughout the day. If you run a website, consider hiring someone to maintain the server, site, comments, and emails.
- Focus on the prize, but work in “chunks.” Don’t let the looming pressures of finishing that massive report get you down. Focus on how awesome it will be, but actively seek to “chunk” it into manageable parts that you can work on steadily. Give yourself a small reward every time you finish a chunk, and yes–give yourself a large reward when you finish the final project!
- Allow time for yourself. One of the most overlooked aspects of the American working life, leading to stressful people who are spread too thin, is giving time to yourself. Plan and write down a segment of each day that you can take 10-15 minutes (at least) to just unwind and do nothing. Don’t think, don’t check email, don’t call your friend. Just sit, relax, and let your mind recharge. You’ll come back refreshed and more able to leverage the time you have. In addition, take a breather for one day a week or every other week if possible to increase your productivity. Do some easier tasks or the “fun” parts of your work, but don’t let yourself get carried away turning Sunday afternoon into another workday.
- Use technology. Technology is an evil temptress for productivity–it can suck us in with promises of simple task management, planning, and keeping us in the loop. But we can easily get caught in the vortex of more, more, more tech. Use a simple task manager if it suits your work style, but give yourself limits on social networking sites, checking email, and even text messaging (if that’s your thing). Ironically, there are really cool apps and software packages that help increase your productivity, so be careful and mindful of how you’re leveraging their help.
- Keep learning. The day you stop learning is the day you stop producing good stuff. Keep reading, trying new things, and implementing them. To leverage your ability to read, start listening to audiobooks in the car to and from work, and during workouts. Don’t let your RSS feed reader bog you down during the day, but make sure you keep tabs on your favorite blogs and news sites a few times a week, if for no other reason than inspiration.
Leverage is only useful to us if we’re using it in the right direction: if we let the pressures of our lives get to us so much that we feel like we’re drowning, leverage is to blame. But it’s leverage in the wrong direction.
Use leverage the right way and you can free yourself from the mundane things that you never want to do, allowing yourself the ability to create the things that motivate you, inspire you, and keep you pushing toward the weekend.
Or a better tomorrow!
What about you? What are some other ways you’ve been able to leverage your time at work, at home, or elsewhere in your life to give you more “you” time?
(Photo credit: Close Up of Newton’s Cradle via Shutterstock)
Nick Thacker is a writer from Texas, and he's interested in hacking life to make it better. His posts are helpful for writers, bloggers, and pretty much anyone who wants to hack their life! Check him out on his website, www.nickthacker.com.
Yet Another Getting Things Done Article (with 11 Useful How to Tips)
Apr 10th
If you are a regular reader of Lifehack, I bet there have been times when you have had this reaction:
“Oh no not another Getting Things Done article.”
But I also bet you read them anyhow.
Why is that? Maybe it is because our lives revolve around getting things done. From the moment you wake in the morning to the time you close your eyes at night, you spend the day fulfilling responsibilities, completing tasks and working towards goals both big and small.
For some this revolves around home life, cooking, cleaning and looking after children. For others it’s buying and sell stock or painting magnificent paintings. Regardless of the type of work you do, it is usually go…go…go!
There is a body of people out there that believe we should toss productivity out and live life more in the flow. Some believe that we cannot control life’s outcomes and we shouldn’t even begin to try. Although there is some merit in not trying to control and over engineer a life that could be fluid and carefree, but at Lifehack we believe in productivity. We believe in its merits and its potential. We believe that there are ways and means of managing your daily and weekly workload that will help you to get “it” done more quickly, reducing your stress and allowing you to do what it is you do when you are not in work mode.
Learning
When we read an article it is usually to gain more knowledge about the subject area — to see if there is anything we can learn that will enhance and improve our lives. So if you find you are reading article after article on getting things done, I will pose to you the following question: How much of what you have learned have you implemented?
Be honest now — do you have a successful workflow system set up? If your answer is “yes” then you are excused to go back and get some stuff done. If your answer is “no”…well, then you are also excused to go implement some of the stuff you have learned to date and start getting things done.
Doing
There appears to be a huge gap between knowing and doing. How much longer will you wait to get started? How many countless books do you read before you heed their lessons? Are you subconsciously hoping that the changes will happen in your life without your input?
I urge you again to stop reading and start doing. Because productivity systems are nothing without action. Ideas without action amount to nothing.
So if you are still hanging around and haven’t gone to take action, here are a few suggestions to get you started and create a little bit of momentum.
- Revisit your goals for inspiration to act (if you don’t have any, create some today!).
- Commit to doing 10 minutes of something a day, create new positive and productive habits to help you on your way.
- Block process emails, a maximum of three times a day.
- Start the day with your worst task first (“eat your frog”); the rest of the day will be sweeter.
- Get up an hour earlier and exercise; this will give you more energy.
- Declutter your environment. A clean desk allows you to focus more easily.
- Be clear about what you want to achieve every day.
- Always leave time in your schedule for contingency; this way you won’t be disappointed if things don’t go to plan.
- Eliminate distractions, close email programs, switch off email notifications. In fact, switch off the phone when you are trying to get important work done.
- Implement the Pareto Principle (80/20 rule) and identify your 20% that adds value to what you are trying to achieve.
- Smile and be optimistic about life. Optimistic people are healthier, happier and more productive.
It is time to stop learning and start doing. Ask yourself what one thing could you do this week to get you closer to your personal success. What one thing have you been procrastinating on that will have a major impact when complete? It’s time to take action, my friends.
It’s time to finally get things done!
(Photo credit: Handwritten Motivational Note via Shutterstock)
Ciara Conlon is a Personal Productivity Coach and author. Her mission is to help people achieve their best through working efficiently and being positive and present. “With Productivity and Positivity there is little you can’t achieve” Find out more about Ciara and sign up for her tips, articles and links at Productivity & Positivity
How to Get Stuff Done: A Quick Guide
Apr 3rd
Have you ever felt like your to do list is completely out of control and you’re just not getting anywhere? You have jobs piling up and you just don’t know where to start?
You’re not alone. Many of us spend a large proportion of our time chasing our tails as we strive to get too many things done too quickly. The thing is – there are a couple of very simple things that we can do to make all the difference when it comes to ‘getting stuff done’.
Setting yourself up for failure
Have you ever considered that there may be a very good reason why you’re not completing some of those tasks on your to-do list? That’s right – often we will set ourselves tasks that we don’t really believe in and that have little value to us and then we wonder why we never end up getting those things done!
One of the easiest ways to make your to-do list more manageable is to run a full blown assessment. Does every item deserve to be on the list? Or can you cross a few items off knowing that, in the grand scheme of things it won’t really impact your life that much.
Another mistake people make is prioritizing other peoples most important tasks. Make sure you ask yourself who’s task it is on your list – is it really important to YOU or has someone close to you made you feel like it should be important – when in reality it’s not. Never feel like what’s important to others should also by default be important to you!
Focus on value and outcome
Consider the value of the tasks on your list before you commit to them. If we focus on the task its-self it’s very difficult to motivate ourselves – however if we focus on the outcome or the result of the task – it’s much easier to get excited and power through, knowing it will all be worthwhile in the end.
Banish any fear you may have around the tasks – is something stopping you from making a start? Often fear of failure will stop us from attempting things so it’s a good idea to adjust your attitude towards this. Understand that failure is a prerequisite for success – as Henry Ford said:
“Failure is the ability to begin again, only this time more wisely.”
Get comfortable with the notion of failure – knowing that it only assists us on the path to success. Think back to the most successful innovators of our time such as Thomas Edison – if he had allowed a fear of failure to stop him from progressing imagine the consequences. We would be living in darkness! Edison conversely was quoted as saying:
“I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
How to Get Stuff Done
- If you find yourself procrastinating – check in to determine if you really want to achieve the tasks
- Identify the true ‘value’ of the task – how committed are you? Is it really worth it? What will you get by completing it?
- Check that the task is yours and no-one elses! If you’re trying to do it for someone else then you should re-evaluate if it’s worthwhile
- Focus on the outcome, not the task its-self. If you’re truly passionate about the task then the result should inspire & motivate you to forge ahead and get it done
- Overcome your fear of failure. Adjust your attitude and know that failure is a prerequisite for success
(Photo credit: Mug with Memo Notes Stuck to It via Shutterstock)
How to Do the Ultimate Brain Dump
Mar 21st
When it comes to getting things done – whether we’re talking about David Allen’s wildly popular methodology or just the act of doing stuff – the first thing you have to do is get it all out of your head and capture it somewhere. Your brain is not meant to hold all of the stuff you have (or want) to do and keeping it all up in there will only serve to disappoint you in both the short and long term.
Knowing that you have to get it out of your head is one thing. Where you put it is an entirely different matter. Some people are great with tools of technology, such as apps on your mobile device or desktop software solutions. Others deal with this kind of stuff far better when it’s on paper. No matter which type of person you are, I’m going to unveil for you the ultimate way to get it all out – to do a “brain dump” if you will – so that you can keep moving forward instead of always looking back to see what might have slipped through the cracks.
1. Grab a pen and paper
That’s right. Even if you are someone who lives in the digital world, you need to write stuff down using simple analog tools. In fact, if you’re a technophile you’re in somewhat of a better position in that you don’t see the need to spend money on fancy pens and notebooks – you can save your money for the tech gear you want. There is something about writing something down that makes it stick; you connect better with the tasks, projects and goals you have on your plate when you write them down rather than enter them into a device.
2. Create your lists
You need to have the following headings for your list: Musts, Wants and Perhaps. Each of these heading represent the things you’ve committed to doing (Musts), the things you would like to do but haven’t committed to them yet (Wants), and the things you may want to do at some point but are far down on the priority list (Perhaps). You might need more than one sheet of paper for each list as you go, but start with the Musts, then move on to the Wants and finish up with the Perhaps. It is important that you go in that order, because that way your brain isn’t moving all over the place. It is focusing on one type of thing at a time and writing down the things that fall under that type until there are no more left to capture.
3. Criticize your lists
Now you need to honestly evaluate each list. Start with the Must list and move on until your have finished the Perhaps list. When you look at each list, use some of the principles of GTD to whittle the list down to a more manageable size. You can move stuff from one list to another during this exercise as well, but ultimately you want to wind up with the least amount of things on your Must list so that you can get to the Want list stuff that much faster.
4. Complete your lists
Once you’ve criticized and crossed things off your lists that aren’t part of your “master plan” any longer, start to complete the things on the lists. Get the Must stuff out of the way first, then move on to the Want list – maybe even moving some of the Wants to the Must list as you go. Once Wants graduate to Musts, they become more crucial to you, and that means they have a greater chance of getting done. You’ll also be able to move some the Perhaps stuff into the Want list as you go, with the Perhaps list likely being the longest list you’ve got going.
Whenever you feel as if your life is getting out of balance or you are feeling overwhelmed by everything that is on your agenda, conduct this exercise and get yourself back to a more comfortable space. Not only is the stuff you’re trying to get done worth, but so is the person trying to get it done: you.
(Photo credit: X-ray of Male Skeleton via Shutterstock)
Mike Vardy is a writer, speaker, and "productivityist". You can read more of his writing and learn more about him at Vardy.me, and he can be found on Twitter as @mikevardy.
Get ‘Er Done and Increase Productivity with Google Docs
Mar 16th
Have you struggled with multiple workstations, laptops, mobile devices and having access to a certain document? Do you share documents and spreadsheets with teams of people? Do you ask for feedback on projects from people all over the globe?
If you do I have solution for you that doesn’t even cost a dime to use.
Google Docs
Okay, okay, I heard the groans even across the Internet. Google Docs hasn’t enjoyed a good reputation as a replacement for Microsoft Office or even Open Office. I am not talking about using Google Docs as your word processing software. I use both MS Office and Open Office to create and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. If you are a heavy user of office type applications you really have to have some sort of desktop software.
What I am talking about is using Google Docs as a supplement to your desktop applications. Used in the right way, Google Docs can provide assess to your documents while at home, at the office, traveling, anywhere with an Internet connection. It also is a great way to collaborate with people, sharing items, getting feedback.
There are other collaboration tools out there. Dropbox, Syncplicity are some. They are good for techie people who understand what is expected of them. I have found when I want to share with non-techies, they run into problems with tools like these. Also they have a free and professional versions. If you are using them for anything concerning a business, you should consider paying for it so as not to run afoul of the terms and conditions.
Getting Started
Of course you need a Google account to use Google Docs. If you don’t have one already, just go to google.com and sign up. Once you have your account you can access Documents by clicking on the tab on the top of the screen. This will take you to your home screen.
Collections
The key to using Google Docs in understanding collections. Collections are the same as file folders in Google Docs. Each collections holds a number of other things. A collection can hold multiple documents, spreadsheets, presentations, or even other collections. A collection can hold multiple types of items, a couple documents, a spreadsheets and a few other collections. This is just like file folders in an operating system.
I use collections to hold like items so that they are grouped together and I can share them to whoever I want. You will collections on your home Google Docs screen on the left side. There will be a listing of your collections and collections shared with you.
Get ‘Er Done Easily
I discovered that the best way to get your documents into Google Docs is to create folders on your workstation, put in the items you want access to and then upload them as collections to Google Docs. I struggled for a long time trying to upload the documents one at a time, create the collections on Google Docs and then then put the items into the collections. Don’t do that. It is really clunky. You can do it all on your workstation in a matter of minutes, upload it and then have access to them anywhere you go.
Sharing and Feedback
The other cool use for Google Docs is to share things with people. You can either share collections or individual items. The easy way that I use to share is to right click on the item. This will allow you to select Share and then click Share again. This brings up the Sharing settings box. At this point, you have a couple of choices. You can share directly with people using their email address. Just type in the address in the box “Add people”. They will get an email giving them access to the item. Another way is to use a link. At the top of the Sharing settings box, click Change to change type of access. Select anyone with the link to get access to a link that will take someone to your item. You also have the choice to give them the ability to edit the document.
By using a link with edit permission, you can share a document on Facebook, Twitter, etc and ask for comments on whatever you are working on. What a great way to get feedback! People can use the insert comments feature to give you all the feedback you want. Just make sure you have a backup copy in case someone changes the document beyond recognition.
Housekeeping
Finally, to keep clutter down, use collections to keep individual items from clogging up your homepage in Google Docs. Select the individual items and then click More at the top. Select Don’t Show in Home to hide them from your home page. You will still find the items in the collections and it keeps your homepage much more manageable.
Simple, Fast, Free
Using Google Docs in the way that I have described meets my prerequisites for a top of the line productivity tool – simple, fast, and cheap (free). It is a great tool to have in your tool bag. I only see the use of Gmail and Google Docs growing.
Why not start using it and benefit from the increased productivity?
(Photo credit: Electonic News on the Internet via Shutterstock)
For 20 years, Michael Martel was a Green Beret in the US Army. He now works with people to put Special Forces like effectiveness into their lives and businesses. Go to Achieve The Green Beret Way and learn about his book Get ER Done: The Green Beret Guide to Productivity and other tools for achieving outstanding results.
5 Ways to Use OneNote at Work
Mar 14th
If your IT department is like my IT department, the thought of you downloading something like Evernote would make their heads spin. Most IT departments are wary of something you don’t have to pay for.
Additionally, a lot of us are stuck with Windows at work and can’t take advantage of the great tools on the Mac — ones that are Mac-only. However, there is something you might not know about something that is likely already installed on your office PC. That’s right: Microsoft Office. And it has a pretty neat tool that you can use…and it’s called OneNote.
Here are the 5 reasons why you should use OneNote at work.
1. It’s a good tool to implement GTD
We have explained in the past why Getting Things Done is great, OneNote is very much an empty notebook with which you can implement GTD at work. Use folders, sections and subsections like you would use physical folders. Instead of printing out that email or webpage, simply print and hit “send to OneNote” in the drop down menu. You can then file the “printout” where you need to.
2. Shared Notebooks means instant and real time collaboration
Put the OneNote notebook file in a place where it can be accessed by the people who need it and setup it up to share. And as simple as that, you have an online version of a whiteboard. Use OneNote to manage projects among many people, or simply as a place to throw ideas around. If there is sensitive material you can password-protect some or all of the notebook so that only certain people can see it.
In my day job we have a weekly report we have to file with our supervisors. We use a OneNote notebook to make our weekly report accessible to everyone in the division. That way we can see what everyone is up to — and maybe help pick up slack in areas that need it.
3. Take better notes in meetings
If you have a laptop as your work PC, bring your laptop to meetings and have OneNote open and ready to take notes. Use the tagging feature to flag important tasks or questions as they arise. Then, if you have a shared notebook with someone, share your notes so you can see if you were thinking the same things in the meeting.
When I was still attending college I used OneNote for my lecture notes. I was able to tag things to look up later or for items I had questions about. More than once I had fellow students come up to me and ask what app I was using to take notes. They were very surprised to learn the program was included in Microsoft Office.
4. It is an awesome wiki
Since OneNote updates and saves in near real time, the ability to use it as a wiki is clear. Linking inside a notebook is a new feature and allows for a more “wiki feel”.
5. Take fast and simple screen shots
By using the keyboard shortcut Windows+S, the screen will grey out and you will see a crosshair cursor. Select the area you want to grab and that area will be placed into your unfilled notes section of OneNote. You can either cut, copy, and paste (or save) the screen grab as a PNG. You no longer have to hit the print screen button and crop the photo in an image editor (like Photoshop, for example).
OneNote is a great tool that is often overlooked when talking about how to be productive. But if you’re like me and your IT department doesn’t allow you to install apps on your work PC, it is a tool that is indispensable.
Andy Small has been a geek all his life. He works as a library paraprofessional in Missouri. To learn more about him go to andy-small.com