Tag Archives: Productivity

How to write first thing in the morning

My wee brain is very slow to start in the mornings. Typing is not easy. Neither is thinking. Video – Daily Writing Routine Warm Up Writing Exercises So, how do you start to write first thing in the morning. Here’s a few ways: Decide on a specific target, say 100 words. Identify the topic the […]

The Right Way to Ask a Quick Question

Hate being interrupted? Who doesn’t. The thing is: sometimes you need to interrupt others too. If you start off with, ‘I just got a quick question…,’ their proton shields shoot up. Defense mode activated. Getting the response you were hoping for slips away… ‘Yeah, I’ll get back to you’, isn’t good enough when you need […]

How To Develop Your Peripheral (Business) Vision

No one wants to admit they’re lazy. I don’t. But if we’re not careful we end up getting into ruts, stagnating, going in the same circles, getting less results each time. So, how to stop this? In no order: Read outside your comfort zone. Ask for feedback, but not from your staff. Go to events […]

How to increase your productivity when surfing the web

If I could show you how one small tweak change improve your future earnings, health, and happiness, would you be interested? Who wouldn’t, right? It’s to do with active and passive surfing. The way you surf online affects your long-term objectives. For example, if I read one article from Harvard Business Review every day, and […]

Eat a Frog v Getting Things Done

Not getting things done? I’m not a big fan of GTD or other productivity systems. Despite their good intentions, they seem to take more effort to setup and often an indirect impediment to starting on tasks. Maybe that’s just me. However, I do have a framework that helps me get started faster and wrap things […]

How to reply to: “Is that the best you can do?”

Is one way of challenging others. It’s a slight twist on the carrot v stick approach. Instead of praising others, possibly when you know they could do better, it encourages the person to see if they can up their game. You begin to think, ‘Maybe he’s right. Is that the best I can do?’ The Scotland […]

Sleep – Digital Distractions = More Sales

Which is better – one extra hour in the morning or one the evening? Staying up one hour late doesn’t mean you gain an extra hour’s productivity. In fact, you may be eating into tomorrow’s resources. Getting a good night’s sleep is critical to your performance, creativity, and ability to cope with tomorrow’s stress. Here’s […]

How to answer: “How can I help you be more effective?”

Did your boss ever ask you this question? One of the dilemmas for managers is the tendency to delegate down and avoid asking others for feedback, especially on how they can perform their job better. The risk in doing this is that you stop others from sharing what you need to hear; as a result, […]

How to Improve Action Plans with To Do Lists

To bring your Action Plan to life, create a To Do list in MS Excel. Once you have developed your Action Plan, you need to allocate time to each activity. To Do lists are one of the simplest ways to track, monitor and improve your Action Plan’s tasks. Action Plans: Creating To Do Lists The […]