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Productivity Workflow

First, state your goals of your productivity system and workflow.  For me, I wanted a quick easy way to get ideas out of my head, a way to organize those ideas, and a way to turn those ideas into actionable goals and items.  Seems simple, but when you try using a million different tools to get it done, it turns into a sloppy mess of a nightmare.

Next, we’ll take a quick inventory of tools or resources we currently use, would like to use, or need to find.  My list included three different todo applications!!  How am I supposed to be productive when I’m using so many different programs that all do that same thing? I narrowed down my list to the following items - below each item is a notation about what role it plays in my personal productivity workflow:

Things for iPhone and Mac

Things is an application for Mac and iPhone.  You may not use either of these, but here is what it gives me, personally: the ability to quickly enter items that come accross my mind, wirelessly sync those items to the desktop version, then organize into projects and life-areas.  Granted, I can also do some organizing on the phone, but the phone app is much better at grabbing information, doing a little editing, and viewing your ongoing lists and projects.

Another thing that is invaluable to me, and why I use Things over several other applications I’ve tried, is the ability to easily pick which items to do today!  This may seem like a no-brainer, but there are a lot of list applications that just… well… list stuff.  Sure you can put them into projects and prioritize, but I want to get up and the morning, go through my actions/lists and determine what needs to be done right now.

Evernote for iPhone and Desktop

Evernote has come a long, long way since it first started out.  I remember using it a long time ago and just kind of thinking, “this is alright.”  Now, I don’t know if I could make it a day without using it.  It’s that good!

Basically, Evernote is a digital note-taking application.  You can use it’s Firefox browser plugin to grab snippets or entire websites, you can use it’s iPhone, Mac, or PC application to take notes - long or short - photos, audio?  Sure.  And it handles it all with ease.  It allows me to take a project or todo item and really expand on it.  Can you use paper for this?  Sure you can, but what if I want to take a note at the office PC, then need it at home on the Mac? Or need it across town at a business lunch?  I forgot my notebook!!  Not with Evernote you didn’t.

Google Calendar

Not much to say here, but I use and swear-by Google Calendar.  Simple and accessible from anywhere (it syncs to my iPhone calendar using Neuvasync).

Moleskine Notebooks

You probably thought I was anti-paper or something.  But I’m really not.  I LOVE notebooks - nice ones, that is.  Aside from Google Calendar for scheduling, I also have a Moleskine Calendar sitting on my desk all day.  I use it to take quick phone notes, and jot notes about the appointments in it.

You’ll also find me with a new Moleskine Volant notebook - a credit-card sized Moleskine with perforated pages for quick notes on the go.

I also use a standard ruled Moleskine for journalling.

What does all this mean?  I can quickly get things out of my head, a daily review to turn all those things into actionable items, and a weekly review to make sure I’m on track.  Things is the main part of my productivity plan right now, but I encourage you you find your own.  Your personal, and business life will thank you!

Unlock Your Social Potential

A socially-empowered person achieves so much greatness, basically because of the people that catapult him to success. He earns the trust and all-out support of the people, whom he had helped before. He never runs out of help. He can do anything with the plethora of people behind him. All because he knows he maximizes his social potential!

See, if you know your social skills and you make use of them, you will reach self-empowerment. Self-empowerment is making a general overhaul in your life and turning yourself into a happier and more successful person.If you can be one of those people-persons, then I can’t see any reason why you will not succeed. You just have to know how to start.

1. Be genuine.

Hypocrisy will just bring you all the way down. Be genuinely nice and interested to people. Once they perceive that you are Mr. Hypocrite with selfish intentions, you might as well say goodbye to self-empowerment.

2. Be the greatest listener that you can be.

To earn the love and trust of the people, listen to their problems and sympathize with them. Do not just hear them out, listen to them with your heart. Make eye contact when the person talks to you. Listen as if every word matters, and it does. Brownie points when they find out that there is a confidante in you.

3. Laugh out loud.

I do not mean that you force yourself to laugh for every joke cracked by someone, albeit you do not find it funny at all.This means finding humor in things and not being too darn serious. A person oozing with an awesome sense of humor attracts crowds and eventually, attracts success.

4. Don’t forget yourself.

In the process of fluttering around like a social butterfly, you might forget yourself, allowing everyone to push you over. Remember, love and value yourself before anyone else. If you deem yourself respectable and worthy of affection, people will flock to you and not trample on you.

5. Do random acts of kindness.

You don’t have to do a John Rockefeller and blow your savings to charity. Little acts of kindness matters the most, and this can be as simple as giving someone a surprise you-take-care card or helping an elderly cross the street. When we were kindergarten students, kindness was taught to us and greatly practiced. Now is the time to revive the good deeds and this time, let them stay for good.

6. Contact your old friends.

Sad how some friendships are destined to goodbye, but thanks to technology, you can do something about it. Relive the good old days by flipping your yearbook and look for the great people whom you want to communicate with again. Adding these old friends to your roster of support peers will surely make you feel good all over.

7. Develop your personality.

Are you grouchy, grumpy and generally morose? Whoa, you can’t go through life with those. Get rid of the bad traits and habits that perpetually hamper your growth. And really, who wants a grouchy friend anyway?

8. Be confident.

Be able to stride to the other corner of the room and introduce yourself to people with that winning smile of yours. Just remember: be confident, not arrogant.

9. Practice control.

When angry, don’t snap at anyone. Never throw a tantrum. Stay calm and collected. Be adult enough to take control of situation and transform your anger into something more productive and passive. As soon as people think your anger goes to volcanic proportions easily, they will find it hard to come to you.

10. Keep nurturing your relationships.

Your relationship with your family, friends and significant others is too precious that you must not neglect it whatever happens. Go out and have fun with them. Do things together. Happiness will never fly from your side as long as the people who matter the most are close to you.

In the end, using people for self-empowerment means becoming a better and more lovable person. It’s a win-win situation: the people know they can turn to you anytime and vice versa.

Seeing is believing, or so goes the old saying. It is something that we are taught by our parents, by society in the Occidental hemisphere, and it is something we know by experience.

How many times have you said “I can’t believe in something that I can’t see”? Most of the time this refers to something other than religious beliefs. It might be related to events that we experience every day, at work, at school, at home, with our friends, neighbors, in our city.

But it rarely applies to our selves. We believe in whatever we do, what we say is our word, there is no question from “me” to “I”, unless whatever is said or done is a mistake.

More often than not, we find ourselves asking: “How could I’ve done that?” “Why did I do that?” … These questions are followed by regret. We repeat it over and over in our minds, as some kind of self punishment. Why do we do that? Simple: we have problems believing in ourselves!

There is a huge industry dedicated to self-help, to introduce the regular person to the secrets of successful people. If you look into every guide, into every affirmation, into every self-help book, there is one common thing that is repeated as a mantra: Believe in your self.

Basically, you have the power to enjoy your life, to change what you don’t like, to make lemonade when life throws you lemons. But you also have the power to give up, to take the easy road, to betray your beliefs, your ethics, your self.

If you have the power to wake up every day, and give yourself the chance to be a better person, to enjoy better your day, to help others, to love more, why not use it? Don’t wait to see something to believe in it. First believe, in you, in your power, in your abilities. Then, everything that you want to achieve, as hard as it can be, could become a reality.

It is probably the easiest thing to do, and yet the most difficult to keep it up, but it is the key to success: first believe in yourself, and then you’ll see the results.

Money: The Problem & The Solution

So, what is your amount? And what would you do to get it if you could? What is your “price”? Some people think that the magic number is 1 million dollars. They can pay the mortgage on the house, do some repairs, send the kids to college and invest in something so they can live comfortably the rest of their life.

Daydreaming is probably one of the things people spend more time on, especially when they don’t have what they want. So, if you are looking for your million dollars, what are you doing about it besides daydreaming? Many of us buy a lottery ticket hoping that, with a dollar and a dream anything can be possible. But chances are that will not happen for most of us.

Instead of daydreaming about what would you do when you have the money, what about investing that time in proactively trying to make it?

Explore your ideas, search for opportunities. Perhaps you will be able to find the key to make some money that will help you solve your problems. Maybe it will not be a million, but it will make you know of your abilities, your capabilities.

Don’t think it will be an easy thing. You’ll probably have to take 2 jobs, or work on your ideas at night after a long day. Search for it, and put your efforts towards your goal. Just don’t expect it to be easy. Nothing is really easy to achieve. And nothing is really impossible if you find the way to do it. Trust your self, your efforts, your abilities and your dreams. The world is in your hands if you see it from the right perspective.

But just in case, keep playing the lottery. Who knows? The next winner might be you!

Silencing Your Inner Critic

Are you afraid of trying new things? Do you stick to boring and safe endeavors because you don’t want to risk failing? Do you let opportunities pass you by? If so, you probably have an over-developed inner critic.

The inner critic is the little voice inside of us that constantly evaluates our performance and gives us feedback. Sometimes the information it provides is helpful. All too often, though, the inner critic is as mean as Simon Cowell in a snotty mood. “Why bother to try? You know you can’t do it.” “You’re stupid.” “You’ll never succeed.”

When criticism turns into soul assassination, as in the examples above, it’s time to put a gag on it.

In order to contain your inner critic, you must first become aware of its influence. Keep a journal for a week or two. Record any significant events that happened and what your thoughts were as you dealt with them. For instance, “Boss asked me to take on a new project—massive anxiety—I can’t do this!” “Sent in the mortgage check a day late—I’m so stupid about money.” Pay attention to any negative refrains that keep coming up. What are your inner critic’s favorite words of attack?

Next, formulate a response to your inner critic. If your inner critic frequently calls you stupid, for instance, your response might be, “I am intelligent and capable of handling challenges as they arise.” If your inner critic calls you a failure, you might respond, “I am skilled and successful.”

Now comes the difficult part. As you go through your days, listen closely for the voice of your inner critic. As soon as it starts its vicious attack, cut if off. This is called thought stopping. Make a conscious effort to say or think the word, “Stop!” Then replace the criticism with the positive response you have formulated.

Most people have trouble with this step. The positive thoughts may feel artificial or difficult to believe. This is because listening to your inner critic has become a habit. By challenging the old, familiar thoughts, you’re stepping out of your comfort zone. Be proud of yourself. It takes courage to make such an effort.

Experts agree it takes about 21 days to form a new habit. That’s less than a month, though while you’re struggling to make the change, it may feel like a lifetime. Slowly, though, you will notice a difference. More and more often, your first response to a situation will be positive rather than negative. Eventually, your inner critic’s voice will fall silent, replaced by more nurturing and encouraging messages.

From time to time, everyone experiences a lapse in memory that begins to convince that they are starting to lose their mind, or that their memory is fading. Unless you are 55 years or older, this probably isn’t the case, there are probably many reasons why you aren’t able to retrieve certain memories at that point in your life.

Your brain needs regular exercise just like your body does, and if you want you memory to improve, you need to work at it. No pills can replace effort.

To improve your memory, try these 10 tips:

1. Keep your brain active:
Sitting and staring at the TV all day long isn’t going to do anything to help improve your memory, in fact, it is more detrimental then you would probably believe. You need to keep stuffing your brain with facts, pictures and challenge it on a daily basis to see improvements.

2. Exercise daily:
The benefits of exercise on your body are too numerous to list here, but keeping oxygen flowing to the brain is important not just in keeping yourself alive, it also helps in keeping the mind clearer and more focused.

3. Avoid alcohol and narcotics:
As much fun as it can be plying your body full of alcohol, the end result on your brain and your memory can be less than beneficial, and helps in the deterioration of your mind.

4. Repitition:
If you want to remember something new, you can’t just hear it once and then expect to remember it again. Repeat it to yourself, even out loud, so that you can give your brain another chance to be able to hold onto the memory.

5. Reduce stress:
Chronic stress and temporary stress can get in the way of being able to recall memories. Try to relax, or exercise if you are having trouble remembering something, it can only help.

6. Eat well:
To improve your memory you might want to try adding more foods with antioxidants, like spinach, blueberries and foods with Omega-3 acids to your diet.

7. Organization:
If you put your glasses or wallet in the same place every night before you go to bed, you’ll know where they are the next day. Keep your memories organized and recall becomes simpler.

8. Sleep well:
Insomnia affects the mind in many ways, including messing with your memory. Sleeping well is a great way to keep your mind healthy and active.

9. Believe in yourself:
If you have convinced yourself that you have a terrible memory, you will have a terrible memory. Try convincing yourself that you have a good memory and see what happens next time you can’t find your wallet.

10. Visualize:
If you are having trouble recalling information, try to visualize a scene or scenario involving the object or objects in question.

The only way to improve your memory is to work at it and exercise your memory muscles. But you can do it! You just have to believe in yourself.

Deal With Conflict

Here are some quick tips to deal with conflict when it occurs in you life:

1. Avoidance:
If conflict can be avoided in anyway, go for it. Unfortunately sometimes it is the only way to improve a situation with someone who is hurting you or doing you wrong.

2. Accommodation:
Are you the reason for the conflict? Are you being bull-headed or asinine? Try to be more accommodating to the other person’s needs and wants. Why stand in the way of progress? It’s great to fight for what you believe in, just be reasonable.

3. Compromise:
When you compromise, both parties win. You may not get all that you were fighting for, but it sure beats the hell out of being party to a grievous situation.

4. Problem solving:
Problem solving will always be an important part of solving conflict. Try to be objective about the situation and see it from both angles. Having a cool head and knowing when to bend will help the conflict come to a positive resolution.

5. Confrontation:
Sometimes conflict happens over the phone or over the net. If you confront the person in a none-hostile way, face to face, the conflict can be brought to a faster resolution. Small people often use the net and phones as a way to act like a jerk with little to no consequences.

6. Don’t go looking for trouble:
Don’t start a conflict for no reason. Make sure the reasons for the conflict are well thought out and have solid reasoning behind them. If you truly believe that what you are fighting over is worth the grief, then just try to be reasonable about what you want out of the conflict.

7. Involve another party.
This only works if the third party is objective. Sometimes it takes another point of view to realize that you are conflicting over nothing.

Conflict can also be resolved by taking a deep breath, relaxing and taking a moment to think things through. Ask yourself: ‘is it really worth this aggravation just to get what I want?’

Just be reasonable, rational and open minded and a mutually acceptable solution will be found.

Greener Living

Some people thing that in order to go green, they have to give up too much, or do too much, but this isn’t true. Here are 20 tips to help you save our planet:

1. Have smaller families:
The more people there are, the more pollution we create. Do you really need 15 kids?

2. Eat less animals:
Animal waste is a major contributor to the green house effect. Cut down on your meat consumption and you’ll cut down on pollution.

3. Drive alternately fueled vehicles:
Once upon a time this was a harder decision to make because there was so little choice. Now the choice is clear and much easier.

4. Turn off appliances when not in use:
Should be a given, but just in case, here’s another reminder.

5. Walk instead of driving:
This doesn’t work if your going somewhere like Australia, but if you’re just going to the park or the mall, get some exercise and do the planet a solid at the same time.

6. Install ceiling fans, turn down air conditioning
Air conditioners are bad news to the ozone, use only as needed.

7. Turn off background TV:
If you are in the kitchen or on the computer, turn the TV off.

8. Hang clothes out to dry:
They smell better when they’re hung out to dry anyways.

9. Use fluorescent bulbs:
Save on your energy bill and save the planet at the same time; a no-brainer.

10. Turn on dishwasher only when full:
Doing half-loads is just wasting energy.

11. Buy locally:
Support your local economy.

12. Eat vegetarian more often:
You shouldn’t be eating meat all the time anyways. High cholesterol is just the animals’ way of saying: ‘you shouldn’t have eaten me in the first place’.

13. Donate electronics you don’t need:
Just because you don’t need it anymore, doesn’t mean it’s useless. Don’t throw it out, give it away.

14. Stop idling in your cars:
How hard is it to flick your wrist, and turn the darn thing off?

15. Carpooling:
That’s what the carpooling lane is there for.

16. Don’t use hazardous insecticide:
If it’s bad for another living, breathing creature, what makes you think it won’t hurt you?

17. Get a push mower:
Get exercise and save the planet at the same time. Save cash too!

18. Take public transportation:
With the price of car insurance surging ever upward, can you afford not to take public transit?

19. Borrow instead of buying:
Stop wasting money on things you can get for free. Less trash = a healthier planet.

20. Use the stairs:
It’s better exercise than using an elevator, and stairwells don’t reek like stale perfume.

It’s the small things that will in the end, make the big difference. Start living green today!