Displaying All Posts tagged with time management

6 Ways to Make the Most Out of Your Commute

The daily commute to and from work can be a drag. Given the state of the job market, some workers are commuting more than an hour a day. But let’s get this: Our ride time shouldn’t necessarily be our dead time.

6 Ways to Make Most Out of Your Commute

Despite what many think, long, dull commutes can be made interesting and productive. Here are six tips on how to increase your productivity en route and make the most of your commute to work: Click Here to Read Article …

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Episode 18 – Jason Womack: Work Awesome Podcast

Mike Vardy 22nd April Podcast 15 Comments

On this week’s episode of the Work Awesome podcast (the first under new ownership, I might add), we start a new era. A new theme will greet listeners as they tune in, but a familiar voice can still be heard as host.

I continue my journey with this site in my new role as Podcast Prodigy, and every other week the Work Awesome podcast will bring tips, tricks, interviews and more. This week, I had the opportunity to speak with Jason Womack, noted productivity expert and author. Jason is one of the principals at The Womack Company, a company that aims to help those in all walks of business (and in life) “level up” their productivity.

Jason recently inked a book deal with Wiley Publishing, and his first book under its banner, Your Best Just Got Better, will hit bookshelves later in 2011.
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Personal Life Outside of Work

Scott McIntyre 20th April Office Life 8 Comments

Are you spending longer at work these days, putting in extra hours just to get everything done? And, when you finally clock out and leave, do you bring your job — and workplace worries — through the front door with you?

It can be a constant struggle protecting your precious personal life from the pressures of work. And it’s a battle many people are losing.

The temptation is to do the extra hours tonight in the weak hope you’ll get caught up and be able to relax a little in the morning. But, the ‘to do’ list keeps on growing — and you end up waiting behind again tomorrow. Click Here to Read Article …

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WorkAwesome Podcast: Episode 17 – James Shelley

Mike Vardy 3rd April Podcast 1 Comment

This week’s guest on the WorkAwesome podcast is James Shelley. James is a highly-regarded online writer, offering articles on productivity and time management — as well as attention and willpower. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

That said, James is also a storyteller and speaker. He has spoken to high school students about the challenges the world has to offer as well as looking at lifestyles choices and decisions that need to be made. These kind of musings don’t just apply to the youth of today; we all can learn from James’ work online. His work at JamesShelley.net is a great place to start.
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The Path to Productivity: Short Hours, More Breaks

Cara Stein 25th March Productivity 10 Comments

You want to be more productive. Who doesn’t, right?

We’ve all heard suggestions for packing more work into the idle moments of our day and shrinking tasks by reducing the time we make available to them. If you have too much work, you’ll just have to work more to get it done. But maybe that’s actually the opposite of what we should be doing. The goal isn’t really to do more; it’s to accomplish more. We need to accomplish more of the things that are most important and do high quality work.

One counterintuitive way to increase your productivity is to work fewer hours per day. Even back in the early 1900s, studies had shown that working 10 hours a day did not result in any more production output than eight.

That’s why Henry Ford decided to scale back the work week for his employees, while still paying them the same amount. First he cut back from 10-hour to 8-hour shifts. Then, he trimmed the work week from six days to five.

“Now we know from our experience in changing from six to five days and back again that we can get at least as great production in five days as we can in six… Just as the eight hour day opened our way to prosperity, so the five day week will open our way to a still greater prosperity.” — Henry Ford

Experiments in his own factories demonstrated that workers accomplished no more in 60 hours a week than in 40. It didn’t make sense to keep them there more hours if it didn’t result in more production, so he didn’t.

This was a radical move, and it still would be today. Many workplaces encourage and reward longer hours when they should be rewarding accomplishments. If factory workers get tired and experience degradation of performance over the course of a long day, how much more do people who do mental work?
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WorkAwesome Podcast: Episode 15 – Adam Lisagor

Mike Vardy 10th March Podcast 2 Comments

Our guest on this week’s episode of the WorkAwesome podcast is Adam Lisagor. Adam has a lot on the go, including developing iPhone apps (like Birdhouse with Cameron Hunt), being involved in a couple of podcasting projects (You Look Nice Today with Scott Simpson and Merlin Mann) and acting as what some may call as a “reluctant” pitchman for products such as Square and Flipboard.

But what Adam primarily does is make video. Really good video. With clients that include the aforementioned Square and Flipboard, he also has created some great spots for Jawbone’s JAMBOX and Peel. Adam’s videos don’t really feel like commercials, which is what may have led to a steady stream of work over the past few years. WorkAwesome editor Mike Vardy has more of a discussion than an “interview” with Adam about things like workflow, how he keeps on top of all that he has going on, and his particular drink of choice. (Hint: it’s not coffee, tea, or soda…)
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Review: GTD Agenda – Versatile Productivity Software

Leslie A Joy 28th February General 6 Comments

Image via http://studentmacreviews.files.wordpress.com/

It seems like every day there’s a new task management app for a new productivity system. GTD Agenda breaks out of that mold by making a task management app that can be used for multiple productivity methods.

In fact, my absolute favorite thing about GTD Agenda is that in addition to the standard tour and features page, they have pages dedicated to how you can use GTDAgenda for different productivity systems (GTD, The 7 Habits and Highly Effective People, and Zen to Done) and different activities (the gym, school, and software development).

GTDAgenda allows you to easily break up your work across Goals, Projects, and Tasks. In addition, you add Contexts to your Tasks and label tasks as Next Options. There’s also checklists, schedules, and a calendar.

Dashboard

The Dashboard isn’t the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen, but it’s comprehensive. First and foremost, when you login, you see your Next Actions and have the option of grouping them by Priority, Project or Context. On the right-hand side, you have your Calendar. Then underneath your Calendar, you have a box of your Contexts. Underneath that, your Projects.

This setup makes it super-easy for you to have an idea of what’s due when, what to do next, and enables you to quickly pick a task to work on.

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The On/Off Principle

James Hayton 25th February Your Job 5 Comments

If you’re the kind of person who thinks outside the box when it comes to work (as most WorkAwesome readers are), then you probably know all sorts of tricks and techniques for getting the most out of the working day. Whatever your “top tips” for time management are, there’s one element which underpins them all; one fundamental ingredient which determines whether you stick to a program of time management or slip back into chaos or procrastination.

Working State

If you’ve ever read a list of tips or even a detailed manifesto like David Allen’s GTD system, you were probably sold on the principles instantly. You’d spent a couple of afternoons being productive, but then promptly fell off the wagon and straight under the crushing wheels of habitual routine.

What matters most isn’t so much your system, but rather your state of mind. You might have had days when work just happened effortlessly — like an athlete in the zone — when everything just seemed to come together. Unfortunately, if left to chance, this doesn’t happen so often.

The key to any program of self-management, self- motivation, self-improvement — call it what you will — is to take responsibility for your own brain first.
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5 Simple Tools That Unleash Meaningful Work

Scott Dinsmore 16th February Office Life 23 Comments

I recently watched a TED talk by Jason Fried of 37 Signals entitled Why Work Doesn’t Get Done at Work. The message was right on: The office has become a place of endless distraction; so much so that people seek anywhere but there to get their real work done. What happens is the real work ends up getting handled at home, on the weekends, super-early in the morning or days off.

Office distractions are almost an institution in the workplace. They can come in the form of impromptu meetings, Sharon from accounting stopping by your cube to clarify your latest expense report, or a buddy dropping in to kill some time. It’s endless.

The reality is that we cannot get meaningful work done in 15 or 20 minute increments, and office distractions regularly put us in that position. We must allow space for our minds to create the stuff that matters; we can’t command that to happen at a moment’s notice. Sometimes it can take the first hour just for the juices to start flowing, and then the last thing anyone wants to do (especially your boss) is interrupt that flow. Because once it’s gone, no one knows when it will return.

But it happens constantly. These tiny interruptions keep us from doing what matters. Well, I have a few suggestions that can work wonders in reclaiming our best work. In a word it comes down to focus (something deeply covered in 11 Steps to Insane Focus).
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The Best Way to Make Time for Passion Projects

Cameron Plommer 14th February Productivity 19 Comments

Do you have a blog, startup idea or just want to start/build something outside of you day job? Do you have enough time to make it as awesome as you envision? I’m sure most of you would nod your head in agreement.

Most of us that have a blog, want to start a side business or just have a passion project that is maintained outside a full-time job struggle with making time to work on such projects. Working hard by putting in extra hours — which is common in many work places — to get the work done is not an option. We cannot act like The Technician working more and more hours to get the work done as Michael Gerber describes in his book The E-Myth.

Time is limited by not only a full time job, but also by family and other commitments. In order to make time to progress in our passion projects we must work extremely hard, but we must also work smart. Working smart means being efficient and not wasting the precious time we carve out in the day. To get passion projects finished or make them a success we must combine working hard with working smart, while finding those few hours each week to do the work itself.
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Tom’s Planner: Gantt Charts for Everyone

Leslie A Joy 11th February Software 1 Comment

Gantt charts are incredibly helpful scheduling tools, but the problem is making them. Programs like Microsoft Project tend to be clunky and ugly. Tom’s Planner aims to solve that problem by being colorful and easy to use.

Ease of Use

Tom’s Planner is super-easy to use. I know just about any app will tell you that it is “easy to use,” but Tom’s Planner means it. With Tom’s Planner, there are two main things you need to know in order to use it:

Drag and Drop Simplicity
“The Magic is in the Right Click”

Once you get those two concepts down, you’re pretty much ready to go.
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Dayrunner Hacks: 6 Ways to Optimize Your Day Runner

Joshua Riddle 8th February Productivity 4 Comments

In your journey to become a more productive and organized individual you have probably purchased a Day Runner personal organizer. These Day Runners can be pretty convenient for keeping track of appointments, contacts, and to-do lists. However, in order to get the most from owning a personal organizer you need to know a few simple things.

1. Make it Your Own

First of all, a personal organizer is not a personal organizer until you personalize it. The first step in making your Day Runner work for you is customizing it to fit your needs. There are several ways to do this. You can choose your favorite colors, fill it with personal photographs, or buy custom pens and other awesome writing utensils for use with it. Remember, there are many styles of Day Runners to choose from. So pick one you won’t mind looking at or carrying around with you.

Another thing to consider when purchasing a Day Runner personal organizer is what you plan on using it for. Do you need a small calendar and contact list or do you need a larger portfolio organizer with a calculator and multiple slots to store your credit cards and such? Once you know your planners purpose you will be able ensure you have a product that fulfills your needs. You will also be able to use it more efficiently.
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