Posts Categorized: Productivity

Question: How do you eat a whale?  Answer: One bite at a time! Anytime you decide to focus on a single task, you need to decide if it can be reasonably be finished the same day or if it will take more time. If it is the latter, you may want to consider Time Boxing. Time boxing […]

The BIG Question: Why are you here?  To be productive, you must have a mission, a purpose, a reason for being. Otherwise, all your actions could just turn out to be noise. Everyone is unique. Certainly, genetics is part of that; however, the real key is what you choose to do with your life. Mission Statements […]

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” – Attributed to Abraham Lincoln I love the above quote as it makes clear that preparation is a key attribute of highly productive people. Of course, trial and error learning is necessary for any beginners; yet, there […]

Productivity is the result of five basic choices. Starting a new activity:This means beginning a new habit, goal, or project to your life, such as a new exercise program. Stopping a current activity:This means completely eliminating a habit, goal, or project, such as television viewing. This step can be difficult but much needed to reach […]

Two-Year old children quickly learn how to employ this powerful word: NO! Some individuals retain this ability from childhood through their elder years; yet, for many adults, saying Yes is easier than No. People want to please managers, direct reports, clients, friends, mates, and children. Why not just be a nice person and always respond […]

Here is a short aphorism that everyone should remember: One may do anything, but not everything! You are finite being and do not have enough time to try, much less complete, everything. You cannot read every book, see every town, or have a pint at ever pub. The solution is to choose well: focus on quality, […]

In corporate America, few things waste as much potential productive time as meeting. As the poet Lord Bryon wrote ‘Nothing is so difficult as a beginning’ and this applies to meetings as well. A great meeting begins before it begins. How often have you attended a meeting that did not seem to have a purpose, […]

Many find etymology an enjoyable activity. I agree. It also can be educational for two reasons. First, it gives a fascinating glimpse into the evolution of language, as it illuminates the origin, history and (sometimes) shifting meaning of certain words, as most have long and distinguished lineages. Second, understanding words can also, on occasion, help […]

The various measures of central tendency within a normal distribution graph clearly tell us one thing: it is not too hard to be mediocre. The majority of any such population are, by the definition of a normal distribution, at the mean (and, for a true bell curve, the majority of people also lie at the […]

Although some of the techniques I’ve discussed, such as serial tasking, can be very helpful to get the right things done in a very efficient manner, these are not enough by themselves. I hope this model is helpful for thinking about your professional life. Imagine an equilateral triangle, one where all three sides are the same length […]