Blog
You’ll get lost without time management!
Think of time management this way: It would have been so easy to get lost… Deep in the woods—surrounded by trees—everything in every direction looked the same! Without a handheld GPS device, pathfinding through the forest would have been almost impossible. The GPS device —about the size of a smartphone—is an electronic map and compass combined, which lets you know where you are—and easily helps you find your way. In the same manner, finding a [...]
Tracking the elusive time bandits
Where did it all go? How much of your time is being spent on emails or on the phone instead of accomplishing your priorities for the day? If you don’t have a clear picture of how your days (and hours) are spent, it’s going to be difficult to make improvements. The first step to using your time better is knowing how you’re spending it now. Keep a list on paper or a spreadsheet of what [...]
New Features in PlanPlus Online: Release Notes for April 27, 2016
Release Notes 167 Release Date: April 27, 2016 The following features are now available in your account: Homepage speed improvement. Fixed Task Delegation problem Chrome browser. New custom field type: String Table. New custom field type: encryption. Added Custom Field Filters on Organization, Contact, Opportunity Summary pages. Daily Task Reminders: Added B & C Priority tasks. Entity Custom Fields: Improved search update functionality Home Page Task list Interface Improvements on Task List drag & drop [...]
The need for insulation
Today's highly effective productivity hack: How did that happen?!? I had my phone on the charger—and it still died! It wasn’t charged at all! Upon closer inspection, the insulation on the charger cord was worn and the power wasn’t making it to the phone. Wires designed to carry electric current are insulated so that the energy will reach its destination with full power. You’ve probably noticed that you occasionally need insulation in order to operate [...]
Free time: schedule time to be outside
Today's highly effective productivity hack: Schedule your free time! One of my favorite activities is to head out to the wilderness with my camera to hike and explore (living in Utah makes that pretty easy). I just don’t do it as often as I’d like. In fact, honestly, I’d feel a little guilty about actually scheduling free time on my calendar. After all, shouldn’t I be scheduling my work instead of my free time? Maybe [...]
One action step can make all the difference
Today’s highly effective productivity hack: Feeling lost? That often happens when you’re not clear on what exactly to do next—and then what to do after that. Sound familiar? It does to me, too! It’s easy to set a goal and not work out all of the action steps needed to accomplish your goal--but simple action steps can make all the difference. An "action step” or a “task” is the one action—or step—you need to take [...]
Weekly planning: how to predict the future
Todays’ highly-effective productivity hack: Planning is just like predicting the future. To someone trying to be more productive, weekly planning is predetermining future events. Albert Einstein spent a lot of time thinking about time. He said, “Time has no independent existence apart from the order of events by which we measure it.” So planning is determining the order of events. Now, that’s powerful! How to do weekly planning Most productivity experts agree: Planning for the week [...]
Don’t stop with just a task list!
Today's highly effective productivity hack: Assign each task a time on your schedule! In order to be highly productive, understand that task lists by themselves, are useless. They’re just the first step. The next step? Assign each task a time on your schedule! Why? It helps you be realistic about what you can get done—and it allows you to do tasks when it's most effective, not just because it's third on your to-do list Assigning work [...]
Eat the Brussels sprouts first!
Today’s Highly-Effective Productivity Hack: Do the hard stuff first When younger, I learned from sad experience that when mom serves you Brussels sprouts, you better eat them. The secret is to eat them first! Once they’re gone, you can enjoy the rest of the meal. Every now and then you’re going to have tasks on your task list that are completely undesirable. They have to get done, so get them out of the way first. [...]
Score the most points
Today’s Highly-Effective Productivity Hack: Here’s an addictive game that’s actually good for you—especially if you’re a little competitive! On your list of tasks to be completed today (see this post), assign a point value to each one—depending on the degree of difficulty. At the end of the day, total the points for the tasks you completed—then for the tasks you didn’t finish. Which total is higher? If you like, at the beginning of the day, [...]