take notes with pictures

Take Notes with Pictures

A picture is worth a thousand words, or so the saying goes. In our modern lives, we focus on text: text messages, emails, web pages, books, newsletters. But sometimes a picture is a better way to capture information. And with cameras on phones, it becomes even easier.
scale your task list

4 Ways To Scale Back Your Task List

There are days when I am overwhelmed. I still haven’t learned to only put on my task list what I can actually do. Today we will look at how to scale back your task list.

I approach my task list from the standpoint that if it is on there, I have committed to do it…today. This isn’t always feasible, though, and it can build up to the point where I need to revisit the list. I recently needed to scale back my to do list, and here are the ways I did it:
overwhelmed

What To Do When You’re Overwhelmed

It's one thing to make deliberate choices when the choices are easy. But what can you do when there are too many to choose from and they all need to be done yesterday? What do you do when you're overwhelmed?

Overwhelm is a common problem and can stop people from doing anything. After all, why even start if you can't possibly finish?

I'm looking at a perfect storm of a week: meetings Tuesday through Friday, along with a full task list. Here are the steps I took to make this week do-able.
secret to getting things done

The Secret To Getting Things Done

There is only one thing you need to do to get things done, no matter what the time frame or task. It's very simple, yet profound. And still many people won't do it.

Want to know this secret?

Today we'll look at the secret and why most people don't do it.
managing energy

The Basics of Managing Energy

One of the things that came out of the 2020 Reader Survey is that people are struggling with energy management.

I’m not a naturally energetic person. In fact, some of those same readers made the comment that not everyone has energy to manage everything that I do.

I laughed until I cried at the thought that anyone in the world thought that I was a peppy and energetic person. I’m not. I don’t sleep well. I don’t sleep enough. I’m often irritable from lack of sleep. I sometimes want to put my head down on my desk and nap.

But over the years, I have learned how to manage my energy, and even what to do to increase it. So today I present the Energy Primer.
working from home

How To Manage Working From Home

Working from home...many of us are doing it right now. Some are doing it better than others. So how can you make working from home successful? Today we look at various ways, including how to make the mental shift to and from working; maintaining an office space; keeping up motivation and the importance of notes.
pareto

Applying Pareto to Pareto, or Math Doesn’t Work That Way

The Pareto Principle has been much abused in productivity circles. But I recently saw something that blew me away. Someone suggested that if 80% of the results comes from 20% of the work, then it must also hold that 64% of the results comes from 4% of the work.

Umm, no.

So I'm going to put on my math teacher hat here for a bit.