Why The Index Card Is My Most Important Productivity Tool

We live in a world that obsessed with productivity, technology, and productivity technology. Conduct a Google search, or look in any app store, and you’ll find a seemingly endless supply of productivity tools. Yet despite all this amazing technology, do you feel like you’re more productive today than you were 10 years ago? I’m both … Continue reading Why The Index Card Is My Most Important Productivity Tool

Email Product Ideas: Inbox100 and InboxNow

Random Product Idea #1: Inbox100.  It’s an email inbox where it has a hard upper limit of 100 messages.  Once you hit 100 messages, until you archive or delete some current messages, no new emails come in.  This forces you to deal with emails rather than allowing them to pile up.  And the instant you … Continue reading Email Product Ideas: Inbox100 and InboxNow

The Power of Knowing Where To Start

Each night, I wash the dishes for my family. Some nights, the sink is fairly empty, and it’s easy. Other times, the sink is overflowing with dirty dishes, and it’s tough to work up the motivation to get started. But what allows me to get the job done every night is that I know where … Continue reading The Power of Knowing Where To Start

Two-Face Productivity

Most of us have a problem with procrastination.  I could certainly argue (with real justification) that a majority of Facebook and Twitter’s usage occurs when people are procrastinating. Despite my wide array of productivity techniques, even I find myself procrastinating.  Ironically, one of the main reasons I end up procrastinating is because I have trouble … Continue reading Two-Face Productivity

Doing more by aiming lower

Think back to your last long weekend (perhaps even the one that just concluded).  In your mind, you probably had a long list of things you wanted to get accomplished. How many of them did you complete? If you’re like me, most long weekends and holidays end up as a “lost weekend,” where you accomplish … Continue reading Doing more by aiming lower

How To Work From Home With Kids

When I work from home, I sit on the corner of the kitchen table, which means that I’m right in the thick of the action.  The living room is about 10 feet to my left, including the main television that the kids use for watching television and playing Wii.  They also tend to keep the … Continue reading How To Work From Home With Kids

Lessons from my Mother-In-Law

One of the thing that always amazes me when I visit my in-laws is the condition of their household.  Everything is always completely clean and tidy.  There isn’t even a stack of old mail near the door–somehow, even the products of the direct mail industry are whisked away to some hidden repository. After observing my … Continue reading Lessons from my Mother-In-Law

What busy professionals and the working poor have in common

Most busy professionals view the working poor who struggle from paycheck to paycheck with barely veiled contempt.  These holier-than-thou Whole Foods shoppers marvel at the poor decisions of the poor, whether in consumption of fast food, using payday loans, or worst of all, buying lottery tickets. What these yuppies don’t realize is that they’re doing … Continue reading What busy professionals and the working poor have in common

The bell-curve of to-do list productivity (and how to manage it)

I’m a big fan of to-do lists, but I’ve noticed something about them.  If I have too few to-dos, I’m not really productive because I’m still trying to keep all my tasks in my head.  If I have too many to-dos, I’m not really productive because I’m getting to far down in the weeds, and … Continue reading The bell-curve of to-do list productivity (and how to manage it)