You can connect with Productivity501 on Facebook by becoming a fan of the Productivity501 Page. Please consider helping promote the site by becoming a fan. Thanks! … [Read more...] about Facebook
Mark Shead's articles
Mark Shead
5 Tips for an Organized Computer
1. Use Your My Documents Folder The My Documents folder is there for a reason. If you don't have a My Document's folder, create one. The idea is to keep all of your documents in this folder. This makes it easy to backup your computer and easy to find stuff instead of looking all over your hard drive. You can take this idea step further and create folders for the types of items you produce on your computer. Here is an example of how OS X sets up your home directory by default: One of the big benefits of this type of setup is that you can go to one place to start looking for anything you've previously saved. It also gives you a single place where you can tell your backup software … [Read more...] about 5 Tips for an Organized Computer
Text and Image Documents
There are two basic types of documents you can use in a paperless office. The first type of document is text based. These are formats like .TXT .RTF .DOC, etc. These store text as editable information. You can go in and change the document, fix spelling, copy sentences, etc. The second type of document is an image based document. This includes formats like .TIF, .JPG, .PNG, .GIF, etc. These documents just represent a bunch of pixels. The computer can't edit the words themselves other than by deleting pixels and putting new pixels down. You can't copy a sentence and paste it into another program if you are using this format. The advantage of the text-based formats is the … [Read more...] about Text and Image Documents
Your Employer Owes You Nothing
I see many people working a normal job with the idea that if they work hard they will be rewarded for their good service. That isn't the way it works. Your employer owes you nothing. It doesn't matter how long you've worked at the job or how loyal you've been. In the end, your years of service aren't going to turn into some valuable investment that you can cash in. Just the other day, a friend of mine was let go (along with all the other employees) at a business where he had been working for the past several years. The sad part is that, he had several offers over the past few months for jobs that he really wanted to take, but he decided to stay out of loyalty to his current … [Read more...] about Your Employer Owes You Nothing
Integration is More Important than Features
I am working with a client that has about 10 employees. They are starting to hit a wall when it comes to productivity. While each of their systems have a bunch of nice features, none of them integrate with each other. As a result, they spend most of their time moving information back and forth. The more their business grows, the slower their back office processes become. Here is an example: when someone buys something from the online store, that information has to be manually entered into the accounting software. The customer information must be manually entered into the customer relationship management system. If a customer gets a refund, the accountant handles the refund, but then … [Read more...] about Integration is More Important than Features
Where Did My Day Go Contest Winner
We have a winner in our most recent contest. Chad Harless won a copy of Where the !@#% did my day go? by Matthew Cornell. I'd encourage you to subscribe to Matt's RSS feed or newsletter for more tips on his time management method. Thank you to everyone who participated. If you'd like your own copy of Where the !@#% did my day go? or his other ebooks checkout his products page. Also … [Read more...] about Where Did My Day Go Contest Winner
Learning to Stay Current
Imagine that your memory was only good for two years. Anything that you learned over two years ago was forgotten. The only education you had at your disposal was the things you had learned in the past 24 months. This should be a pretty terrifying prospect for anyone. However, some people would find themselves unable to function at all, while others would find themselves merely handicapped. It all depends on how much effort each individual has put into learning new things in the last two years. Some people graduate from college with the idea that they can stop learning. They pick up some additional education in the form of on-the job-training, but the amount they learn each year … [Read more...] about Learning to Stay Current
Interview: Productivity Tool
In our interview series we asked a number of people the following: What do you feel is your most important productivity tool?(1532) The metaphorical axe - no bit of software or technology would help me if I didn't know how to constantly remove anything from my life that is getting in the way of living in a balanced and productive manner. Joel Falconer (rss) The word "No". I am getting really good at establishing boundaries and saying "No". "No" is probably THE most difficult thing for anyone, like me, who is interested in everything, loves talking with people, and has no internal time clock. I love generating ideas and options. I truly do not naturally like to say no to … [Read more...] about Interview: Productivity Tool
Tuesday’s Tip: College Records
When I was in college, I quickly learned how important it was to keep records. You can't rely on your university to keep track of everything correctly. Maybe they will, but just in case they make a mistake, you need to be prepared. One habit I formed early on in college was to get a copy of my transcript each semester. One semester, there were an extra 15 hours of credits on the transcript for classes I had not taken. After doing some checking, it became clear that they had accidentally given me credit for someone else's work. I explained it to the university and they straightened out the records. However, I imagine it was much easier to get something taken off than it would be … [Read more...] about Tuesday’s Tip: College Records
Working with Your Spouse Financially
In the book The Millionaire Mind and The Millionaire Next Door, the authors point out that millionaires tend to marry people who support them financially. One of the easiest ways to wreck your financial plan is for there to be competition between a husband and wife, financially. If you have ever heard a couple say things like, "well, you bought a new dvd player, so I can go buy a new dress" or "you spent $300 at the mall, so I decided to go buy a new television." You know what I'm talking about. If the members of a marriage feel like they are in competition with each other for spending, they are off to a bad start. Here are some simple tips to avoid this type of … [Read more...] about Working with Your Spouse Financially
More Infuential than David Allen?
We Follow ranks twitter users by their influence by topic. According them, Productivit501 is more influential than David Allen when it comes to productivity. I'm questioning how they calculate "influence", but it still feels good to see Productivity501 at the very top of a list like that. … [Read more...] about More Infuential than David Allen?
Doing Less
A lot of what people write about being productive is centered around doing more. GTD is based on trying to make sure you are able to do more. Most planning systems are based on trying to do more. While I can see the need for this, it is sometimes important to step back and think about what you are really accomplishing. Doing more is only valuable if you are doing things that really need to be done. A system that just enables you to always be busy isn't really valuable. Obviously there is some value in not letting anything "slip through the cracks" if you are talking about things like getting your wife a birthday present or going to your son's soccer game, but letting some things … [Read more...] about Doing Less
Leadership Traits
If you work in a leadership position, you'll probably appreciate this article that looks at leadership traits from the perspective of what followers desire in a leader. … [Read more...] about Leadership Traits
Optimal Sleep
Sleeping is something we don't usually think much about, but if you could do something to convert just 90 minutes of each day from sleep time into productive time, that would give you an extra 10 hours each week. Steve Pavlina discovered that he could reduce the amount of sleep he required by an average of 90 minutes each day by getting up at 5 am 7 days per week. He only goes to bed when he is tired enough that he will immediately fall asleep. You can find more about his experience here and here. Polyphasic sleep is a drastic method of changing your sleeping schedule. Basically, you try to train your body to enter deep sleep immediately by taking a 20 to 30 minute nap every 4 hours. … [Read more...] about Optimal Sleep
Review of DropBox Updated
We've updated our review of Dropbox after using it a bit more. If you need to sync or share data, it is worth reading. … [Read more...] about Review of DropBox Updated
Top 5 Time Wasters
Here is my top 5 list of items that can waste my time without achieving anything of real value. These aren't necessarily bad things, they are just areas where it is easy to lose precious time without realizing it. Everyone has their own top 5 list of time wasters. If you would like to share yours, please do so in the comments below. Television - It is very easy to lose a few hours mindlessly flipping through channels on the remote. For many people, a subscription in something like NetFlicks will provide a ready source of entertainment without dealing with commercials. Also, with watching a specific movie, you have a definite end point, unlike channel surfing that can go on for … [Read more...] about Top 5 Time Wasters
Where Did My Day Go Contest
Matthew Cornell has a great little PDF out called Where the !@#% did my day go? He has offered to let me give a copy away here on Productivity501. See below for information about the contest. "Where the !@#% did my day go?" is designed to help you adopt a daily planning routine. It assumes that you have some type of task management and calendar system in place, already. From that standpoint, it kind of picks up where other system leaves off--once you've captured what needs done, how do you execute? Here are some of the things I found interesting: Task selection - Matthew has some really good points about how to select tasks so that you feel good about what you've accomplished … [Read more...] about Where Did My Day Go Contest
Utah’s 4 Day Work Week
Previously we mentioned that Utah was trying a 4 day work week to save energy. The results are in and there was very little energy savings. However, they made a lot of savings in other unexpected ways. It is still up in the air whether they will keep the program or not. … [Read more...] about Utah’s 4 Day Work Week
New House Checklist
If you are looking at moving, here is a checklist of not-so-obvious things to consider: What time does the mail come? I still prefer reading a newspaper. Most newspapers are delivered via the postal service now, so I let my last two subscriptions expire because the mail didn't come until late in the day. We just moved to a new house, and the mail comes at 9:30--much more convenient for reading financial news. How many minutes is it from the nearest grocery store? It isn't a bad idea to time how long it takes to get to the places you plan to go on a regular basis. Just because a house is physically closer, it doesn't mean that it will take less time to get there. What types of … [Read more...] about New House Checklist
Striving for Genius
Thomas Malthus ( 1766 - 1834) had a theory that continual increase in the world population would eventually cause food demand to outpace supply, and a collapse that would push the survivors back to subsistence farming conditions. Obviously, this hasn't happened and there are a number of theories why. For example: Malthus' theory is just flat out wrong. He didn't take into consideration the growth of technology and the productivity of farming over the last 200 years has increased faster than what is necessary to (temporarily) prevent worldwide famine. Population levels determine agricultural output, not the other way around. Malthus didn't understand the impact of … [Read more...] about Striving for Genius
Sunlight to Reset your Internal Clock
If you ever find yourself having trouble sleeping at night and feeling tired during the day, don't forget that your internal clock is set based on sunlight. Getting even just 15 minutes of direct sunlight every day can do a lot to help reset your internal clock if you are coming from another timezone or have just messed your schedule up by working a bunch of late nights. Sunlight can also help you when you are feeling tired. It is amazing how much you can improve a sluggish afternoon just by opening the blinds and getting some direct sunlight into the room or taking a 10 minute walk outside in the light. I'm not sure if sunlight works best because of the spectrum or if it is just … [Read more...] about Sunlight to Reset your Internal Clock
Random Thoughts on Comments
We have made a few changes and you can now have a picture show up next to your comments by creating a Gravatar. It is simple to do and will give you a visual presence on many websites. We have published 386,590 words since Productivity501 was launched. Not bad, but even better is that readers have contributed 300,264 words in comments! Thank you to everyone who is helping make Productivity501 a better place by adding comments and opinions to posts. … [Read more...] about Random Thoughts on Comments
WikiReader – Wikipedia in your pocket
A $99 device that lets you carry all of Wikipedia around in your pocket: WikiReader … [Read more...] about WikiReader – Wikipedia in your pocket
Interview Productive Work Zone
What is your most valuable tip for getting into your productive zone for working? (190) Definitely keep a clean desk and inbox. Before I leave work for the evening, I clean off my desk. When I get to work every morning, I always have a clean desk. The only stuff that can be found on my desk are projects that require action that day. The same can be said for my inbox. Every evening I clean it out. The next morning only contains emails that I'll read/work on that day. Michael Morton from Marketing Monster (rss) Pavlovian conditioning. Here's where procrastination can really hurt you in the beginning. If you go into your home office (or cubicle or whatever) and do nothing, that's … [Read more...] about Interview Productive Work Zone
Bounce Feature in OS X Mail
OS X Mail has a neat little feature that lets you "bounce" an email back to the sender, making it look like your email address doesn't exist. This isn't particularly useful for dealing with automated spam because most spam is sent from fake addresses anyway. However, it can be very useful to deal with emails from people who you don't want to have contacting you or who insist on sending you jokes and hoax warnings all the time. To use this feature, simply control click on the offending email and click "bounce" on the popup menu. They will get a message back that looks as if it came from your server saying that your email address doesn't exist, like the image you see below. … [Read more...] about Bounce Feature in OS X Mail
Understanding Other’s Perceptions
The other day I overheard some young people talking. A fresh graduate from high school was posing this question to his peers. Is it illegal to wear a ski mask into a bank to conduct business? Obviously, I would not suggest trying this to find out. The brief snippet of this conversation I overheard started me thinking about how important it is to understand others' perception. If you walk into a bank wearing a ski mask, your intentions are far less important than others' perceptions of your intentions. When I'm on a bus or subway, I like looking around and trying to see how much I can tell about the fellow passengers just by looking at them. It is a simple way I try to keep … [Read more...] about Understanding Other’s Perceptions
Dealing with Signatures and Email
Today an insurance company needed my signature, and they sent me a TIFF of the file. I used my scanned signature, added it to the TIFF and sent it back. They said they couldn't accept that because it came over email. Since the document they sent me had their signature, I asked if I should reject it because it came to me over email. The agents said I was "too funny". I sent them the same TIFF via fax and they seemed happy with that. This is why we need to get everyone using true digital signatures and encryption on email. … [Read more...] about Dealing with Signatures and Email
Overcompensating to Change Habits
The strobe light in the device flashed and made the wheels look like they were spinning one way or another. Fred adjusted his pressure on the lever and watched the wheels closely while plucking the last string. "I think that does it" he announced as he shut off the power to his tuner and started to pack up. I was eleven, and completely fascinated watching the piano tuner work his magic on our family instrument. I learned a number of things that day. One of the more interesting facts was the way that the pegs in the piano hold a tune. I noticed that Fred would never tune directly to a note, he would always over-tune and then come back to the desired pitch. He explained that if he … [Read more...] about Overcompensating to Change Habits
Making Bad Things Hard
In high school I had braces. During college, my retainers broke and I didn't get them replaced. Over time, my teeth shifted and became crooked again. About a year ago, I decided to do something about it and went with Invisalign braces. They are a type of clear plastic mold that fits over all of your teeth. Every two weeks, you switch them out with a set that is slightly closer to the final position for your teeth. One of the side effects of having your teeth encased in plastic is that you have to plan out your eating a bit more. You have to take them out before you eat. When you are finished, you have to wash them and then brush your teeth really well before putting them back. … [Read more...] about Making Bad Things Hard
The Right Space for the Job
My work area has a comfortable chair, a nice desk, a computer, a large monitor, a phone, etc. It is easy for me to get stuck at my desk and not want to go to other parts of the house because everything I need is right there. However, when I just stay in my office, I miss out on some of advantages of the other parts of the house. In fact, sometimes the tools that make me feel so productive actually get in the way of what I'm trying to do because they are distractions. Trying to sit and think while I'm sitting right next to my computer is kind of like the teenager trying to do Algebra in front of the T.V. My email is right there along with all of my other online tools. Reading is the … [Read more...] about The Right Space for the Job
Managing Electricity (and everything else)
You can't manage what you can't measure. A lot of my consulting work centers around helping people deal with the business consequences of that sentence. Giving businesses real-time data about what is going on can solve a lot of problems, just because it gets things out in the open where they can be seen and discussed. A good example of personal data that ignores this little truth is your electric bill. Electric bills aren't real time--you get them once each month. By the time you see how much you owe, you only have a vague idea about what might have produced those dollar figures. You might see a low bill and think "Oh yeah, we were gone most of the month." You might see a high … [Read more...] about Managing Electricity (and everything else)
Discount on Deck
Today I was getting ready to order material for a new deck. The manufacturer was already giving me about 20% off the normal price. I figured that the sales of high end decking materials might be down in this economy so I decided to ask for an additional $1,000 off. The sales person said he would call me back. Thirty minutes later I had reduced the price by $1,000 simply by asking for a discount. Not everyone will be willing (or able) to give a discount, but it doesn't hurt to ask. … [Read more...] about Discount on Deck
Inteview: Biggest Productivity Challenge
What is your biggest challenge to productivity and how do you overcome it? (671) That is the question we asked a number of bloggers and here are their answers. As a student, I was a master of procrastination, running down the clock as long as I could before beginning a project. What resulted was strong work and ridiculous levels of self-induced pressure. (I suppose that's the academic version of living on the edge.) The strategy that I now like to call granularity helped me to overcome my tendency toward procrastination, by making it possible to see a large project as a matter of many smaller, more manageable tasks. Michael Leddy from Orange Crate Art (rss) My biggest challenge … [Read more...] about Inteview: Biggest Productivity Challenge
Dealing with Difficulties
I was reading a biography of Albert Einstein and was struck by his determination and persistence. It wasn't the way that he developed his theory of relativity that was impressive. I was impressed with the way he approached difficult reading materials when he was young. Einstein had been given a book by Maxwell about electromagnetic. He started reading and made it about 10 pages into the book before he was confused. So he started over. The second time he made it 15 pages before he stopped understanding the text. So he started over again. Gradually he made his way through the entire book. I was very impressed with his determination and the willingness to start over if … [Read more...] about Dealing with Difficulties
6 Mistakes That Look Dumb In Email
These are six things that will make you look stupid in email. In some cases, breaking these rules will make you lose your job. In others, they will simply annoy your readers. If you have any suggestions that should be added, please leave a comment. 1. Put Your Entire Message In The Subject Just because you can see the entire subject as you type it, doesn't mean it will show up for your recipient the same way. Depending on their email program, it might even truncate it. 2. CC A Bunch Of Unrelated Recipients If you need to send something out to a large number of people who don't already know each other, don't put them in the CC field. That broadcasts their email address to … [Read more...] about 6 Mistakes That Look Dumb In Email
Tips for Airport Travel
The next time I check luggage at an airport I'm going to say: "I am flying to Hartford. Can you please send one bag with me and one bag to Boston?" When they say, "we can't do that," I will reply, "really? You did it last time..." Joking aside, here are some tips I've compiled from the time I've spent in airports. Ship Your Luggage With the additional fees airlines are charging simply to check a suitcase, shipping your luggage to your destination can be cost effective. Not only do you skip the extra fees, but you can avoid the long lines some airports have waiting for your checked luggage to be x-rayed. Minimize Metal Anything you can do to reduce the number of metal objects … [Read more...] about Tips for Airport Travel
Minimalist Guide to Mac
Leo at www.mnmlist.com (got to love that url) has a Definitive Guide to a Minimalist Mac Setup that is an interesting read for OS X users out there. I think he is missing out by not using Time Machine, but he links to a bunch of great apps and has a lot of ideas on how to keep your computer lean and work focused. … [Read more...] about Minimalist Guide to Mac
Moving a Home Office
We bought a house and I've been working on getting my office moved. Here are a few things I've learned in the process: Set up new internet before switching off the old. If you want to minimize downtime, don't turn off your old office's internet until you have everything set up and running in your new space. Vacuum, vacuum. If you have the floors cleaned before you move in, make sure you give yourself time to vacuum two or three times before you start moving your stuff in. Pack by what you need. Make sure the things you are going to need access to are easy to find. I put all the stuff I needed for the next week or so in my laptop bag where I knew I could find it. Don't set … [Read more...] about Moving a Home Office
Using Different Parts of your Brain
There was some research done into what parts of the brain were triggered when writing at a computer versus what parts were triggered when writing with a pencil and paper. The experiments showed that writing by hand triggered activity in significantly different portions of the brain than when writing at a computer. (See Mozarts Brain and the Fighter Pilot book.) Obviously, it is expected that there would be some difference because of the varied muscle motor skills required by each activity. However, the difference was greater than what would be expected by just the required motor differences. The conclusion of the researchers was that we think significantly differently when writing … [Read more...] about Using Different Parts of your Brain
TIP: To-Do Email Folder
I gave up trying to keep a clean email inbox years ago. Everything I had read said that I should sort anything I needed into folders and keep my inbox clean, but I finally just gave up. I finally decided on keeping anything that might be slightly important in my inbox where I can search for it. It turns out that, for me, this is far more productive than trying to move things around and categorize them. It was very liberating, and I found that nothing bad happened by keeping older emails in my inbox. In fact, I discovered it was easier to find things, because it only required a simple search instead of trying to find the folder where I had filed something. However, there is a … [Read more...] about TIP: To-Do Email Folder
Using Different Passwords
Recently some hackers got a hold of a list of usernames and passwords for a dating site. By itself, this wouldn't have been too big of deal. However, many of the victims were using the same password on other sites. This gave the hackers access to many Facebook, MySpace, AIM and GMail accounts. The hackers then did everything they could to embarrass the victims by posting things online. This ranged from making a minister look like he was having an affair to creating a panic that someone was going to commit suicide. I've previously talked about how it is a good idea to use different passwords, if not for every site, at least for every type of site. (You don't want to use the … [Read more...] about Using Different Passwords
Fall Cleaning & Organizing
As the summer draws to an end, it is a good time to consider arranging your surroundings to maximize your productivity. 1. Purge Old Files If you still have paper files, it may be time to get rid of some of the older ones to make things easier to find. Even with paperless digital files, there are times where it makes sense to delete or at least archive off the older files to reduce the amount you have to look through. 2. Take Stuff Home Whether your office is in a spare bedroom or in a skyscraper in downtown New York, there are always going to be items from home that migrate to work. Taking a few minutes to identify these items and move them back to where they belong in your home … [Read more...] about Fall Cleaning & Organizing
Starting a Business in a Down Economy
A friend of mine is starting a business selling Cupcake Towers. When I first heard what she was doing I thought, "Why would you want to start a business right now?" After further consideration, I realized that if you have a good product or service, now might be the best possible time to start a business. Here is why: There is less competition for workers right now so you can get good help for a reasonable cost. If you have a business idea that you can run on the side, it makes sense to start before you quit your day job. Technology has drastically reduced the cost of running a business. You can get a web store up for $20 to $40 per month (sometimes even less). If you want to … [Read more...] about Starting a Business in a Down Economy
Save $10 on Ambient Nature Sounds
For the next 24 hours we are doing a sale on our Ambient Nature Sound CDs. These CDs are designed to make it easier to concentrate by covering up distracting conversations. You can choose from the sound of a Brook, Rain, Ocean or Rain on a Lake and if you use the code HKBHVUXS you'll get $10 off each CD. (You can also buy directly from Amazon, but there they sell for the full $21.75.) … [Read more...] about Save $10 on Ambient Nature Sounds
4 Day Workweek 3 Day Weekend
On April Fools day, I made a post about working all 40 hours of your work week at once and then having the rest of the week off. In the post where we discussed working from home, I mentioned that one way to reduce your commute is to work a shorter work week. Before I go any further, let me address all the people who are poised to send me vicious hate mail saying things like "What type of world do you live in?!" or "My boss would never let me do this!" Please recognize that this won't work for everyone--I know that. However, it is a good thing to keep in mind throughout your career because there may be a point where it would work for you. Okay. Now that that is out of the way … [Read more...] about 4 Day Workweek 3 Day Weekend
That Looks Easy!
This weekend, my brother-in-law graciously offered to tile our bathroom. He does this for a living, so he is naturally very good at it. I, on the other hand, do not, and am naturally very, very bad at it. What struck me as amazing is how easily he came in, looked at the bathroom, came up with an optimal placement and started on it. It looked pretty easy. Later, he was marking the tiles that needed to be cut and handing them to me to cut on the tile saw. He would hold the tile one way, make a mark, hold it another, make a mark and then use a square to draw a line showing me where to cut it. Simple. Not really. I tried my hand at marking the tile while he made some complicated … [Read more...] about That Looks Easy!
Making Sense and Dictation Software
The other day my assistant told me, "When I proof your writing I can tell if you used Dictate. Usually you make sense." Every once in a while she will run into a sentence that she can't make heads or tails of that came from MacSpeech. It is still a wonderful tool, but her comment underscores the importance of carefully proofing your work if a computer transcribed it for you. … [Read more...] about Making Sense and Dictation Software
Skill & Focus
Personal productivity is something that is fairly difficult to quantify. Most people tend to just assume if they are doing better than the average person, then they are doing well. For people who really want to achieve their full potential, simply comparing themselves with others isn't particularly rewarding because it doesn't say anything about their true capabilities. If most of your work is repetitive or easily quantifiable, it is easy to measure your productivity against yourself. You just consider how many of units of work you accomplished in a given amount of time. Unfortunately, most work doesn't lend itself to this type of measurement. If we could measure both our … [Read more...] about Skill & Focus
Experienced-Based Education
Everyone is familiar with traditional education. You sit in a class and a teacher teaches. This is an important part of development. But at some point, every individual has to take charge of their own education. To do this, one must look at the root of learning. What is it that makes some experiences add tremendous value to our lives while other experiences do not? On a very basic level, experiences that are unfamiliar usually add more value than experiences that are familiar. This is because unfamiliar experiences require much more of our attention, which means we are in a better state to learn something new. Obviously, this concept must be used in moderation. Someone who … [Read more...] about Experienced-Based Education
Doing Something Difficult
Increasing your personal abilities is just like increasing your strength. You have to exercise in order to get stronger. If you want to grow as an individual, you have to do things that are hard in order to make it easier for you to do difficult things in the future. They Stop Growing Many people graduate from college, have a few years of growth and then stop growing. Maybe they don't stop growing entirely, but they stop attempting things where they might fail. After all, they now have a mortgage and family to think about! They may still continue to grow incrementally in their area of specialty, but they aren't going to experience any exponential gains in their … [Read more...] about Doing Something Difficult