I have seen some employers who figure that a down economy means they can treat employees poorly. I suppose the logic is "they should be happy to have any job at all". Since the employer figures their workers can't really leave, the employers make demands that they would never make in a normal economy. This approach is very short-sighted. First, the very top employees are always going to be in demand. I'm not talking about good, solid employees. I'm talking about the star performers--the top 5%. These types of people are always in demand, simply because they are rare. When an employer treats people poorly, the best people are the first to leave because they have other options. … [Read more...] about Treating Employees Right
Misc
Tuesday’s Tip: Stop Communication You Don’t Need
Most everyone gets a barrage of emails, telephone calls, and physical mail that they don't really need. I'm not necessarily talking about spam. I'm talking about newsletters from organizations in which you are no longer active, donation requests from non-profits that you gave to years ago, etc. Most people just accept the interruption and toss these items into the trash, but a better option is to try to stop them altogether. Taking a few minutes to send a note asking to be taken off their mailing list can save you a tremendous amount of time in the future. If you get a monthly newsletter in the mail that you identify, consider opening and then toss in the trash, it can easily take … [Read more...] about Tuesday’s Tip: Stop Communication You Don’t Need
TIP: Wake Up Right
Imagine waking up to your alarm clock. Now imagine gently waking up as the sunlight fills your room with light. Which one seems like a better recipe for having a wonderful, high performance day? Alarm clocks are designed to wake you up, so they make annoying and jarring sounds to jerk you right out of your peaceful sleep. You have to wonder if this is really a good way to start your day. I mean, really, do you want the first few seconds of each day to be associated with something containing the word "alarm"? When I was a kid, my brother and a friend decided we wanted to see what the early morning cartoons were like. I constructed a device with a small fire alarm style bell, … [Read more...] about TIP: Wake Up Right
Tuesday’s Tip: Removing Superglue
Have you ever gotten superglue all over your fingers and had to live with it for two weeks as it wore off? There is a simple way to take it off, but first, let me tell you a story. When my wife worked in the ER of a large county hospital in Dallas, she saw a lot of very strange cases. One of the most interesting was the guy who came in with his eyes closed. Evidently, his wife had accused him of looking at other women and they got into a fight. Somehow, he decided that he could prove that he wasn't looking at other women by super-gluing his eyes closed. (I am not making this up.) After the glue dried, he began to think it wasn't such a great idea and got some people to drive him … [Read more...] about Tuesday’s Tip: Removing Superglue
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
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
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
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
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
The Right Things
Last night I made a late night run to the grocery store. As I got out of my car, I noticed a woman walking around the lot looking at the ground. She had her hand cupped as if she were holding something. By the time I exited the store, she had worked her way across the parking lot to the store entrance. In her hand, I saw five slightly smoked cigarettes. I watched her continue her search as I got into my vehicle. It took me a few minutes to realize what she was doing. She was looking for cigarettes that had been partially smoked and discarded. I assume that she would take them home and finish smoking them. While I admire her frugality, it was a sorry sight. She was going through … [Read more...] about The Right Things
Previous Posts
Here is a list of a few important posts from past years that you may have missed. Expect Change - How a wealthy man destined his family for poverty by not expecting change. Top 5 Time Wasters - Small things that will eat up your time and keep you from being productive. Time Discounting - A look at why it is psychologically difficult to work on things that give future reward. Fewer Choices for Greater Productivity - A look at how limiting your choices helps you get more done. Not To Do List - The opposite of your to-do list. This list can be just as important as the list of things you want to do. … [Read more...] about Previous Posts
Questions and Answers
Here is a collection of some random questions that have come in, either by email or search terms that brought people to this site. The run the gamut from banks to bullets and cover a lot of area in between. If you have questions you'd like to see answered, please send them to [email protected]. Why do banks fail? In the US, banks fail when the FDIC decides they are under-capitalized and force them to sell to another company. This happens when a company makes a bunch of loans that go bad. Much of the current financial crisis was brought on by banks investing in complex investments in mortgages that turned out to be much more risky than originally thought. Why create a … [Read more...] about Questions and Answers
Simple Way to Speed up Elevators
Last week we looked at a beautifully simple solution to reduce crime in low income housing areas. I wanted to give a few more examples. A contractor had built a skyscraper downtown in a large city. The new occupants were moving in and the contractor and new owners were finishing up dealing with little issues in finalizing all the little details of the contract. As the number of people in the building increased, the office workers started complaining about the elevators being too slow. Trying to make changes to the elevator would have been a pretty expensive modification. The people who had designed the building came in, timed the elevators, and determined that they were … [Read more...] about Simple Way to Speed up Elevators
100 Ways to Enjoy Life
The Great Outdoors Feed the ducks at the park. Cut some fresh wildflowers for your table. Go fishing. Hike somewhere with pretty scenery. Go jogging with a friend. Take your dog for a walk. Get a group of friends together for a water balloon fight. Try to find out about little-known waterfalls in your area and explore to find them. Volunteer for a non-profit association. Go camping at a place you've never been before. Learn how to sail a catamaran. Visit a farm with a friend. Go off-road mountain biking. Take horseback riding lessons. Find a quiet place with beautiful scenery to read a favorite book. Find a wildflower information book and explore to see how … [Read more...] about 100 Ways to Enjoy Life
Need Your Input
I'd like to get some input as to what type of articles you'd like to see on Productivity501. If I'm missing something please add your suggestion in the comments. You can vote for up to 3 poll options. Thanks for your help! [poll id="3"] … [Read more...] about Need Your Input
Great Games
Over the Christmas holiday's someone suggested we play a game we use to play in college (Sardines). My first reaction was "we are too old for that and "it will be boring". I realized that I was displaying the first symptoms of old age. We went ahead and played the game and had a great time. So as a reminder to myself of the importance of having fun, we've compiled this list of fun group games. If you have any suggestions, please add them in the comments. 1. Sardines This is kind of like hide and go seek in reverse. One person hides and everyone goes looking for them. When the hider is found, the searcher hides with them. As more and more searchers hide with the hider, it … [Read more...] about Great Games
Adobe Create PDF/Share Review
Adobe has produced many useful and efficient tools throughout the past years. At www.acrobat.com, Adobe has grouped several different tools that aid productivity. One of these programs is Adobe Create PDF. In this article by Abby Randal, the author lists 10 Advantages of PDF Files. They are compact, universally compatible, and can be created from any source document or application. Adobe Create PDF allows the user to upload a limit of 5 different files to convert to PDF format. How it works Adobe Create PDF is very simple to use. All the user needs to do is click the "Browse" button to upload a file from their own computer to be converted. It is that … [Read more...] about Adobe Create PDF/Share Review
Personal Productivity from Management Theory – Maslow
This is the second of a four part series examining how management theory can be applied to help improve one's personal productivity. Abraham Maslow lived from 1908 to 1970. He started studying Law in New York, but soon transferred to University of Wisconsin where he switched to psychology and earned a Ph.D by 1934. Maslow developed a theory known as the hierarchy of human needs. This hierarchy is usually represented as a pyramid. On the bottom are needs such as food and shelter--the basic needs of the human body. At the top of the pyramid are the categories of esteem with self actualization (reaching your potential) at the top. Here is a representation of the … [Read more...] about Personal Productivity from Management Theory – Maslow
Safety Tips
Safety is something we don't usually think about ahead of time, and hindsight isn't usually very effective in this area. Here are eight things you should consider when thinking about basic safety practices. Fire Extinguisher - Fire extinguishers are specially designed to put out the types of fires you might have in your house without causing the fire to spread. Throwing water on an electrical or grease fire may make things worse. Keeping an extinguisher handy helps ensure that you'll have something effective to use if it is needed. First Aid Kit - This is particularly important to have in your car. Our first aid kit contains a variety of bandages, disinfectants and pain … [Read more...] about Safety Tips
iPod Shuffle Facebook Giveaway
Just a reminder that we are giving away an iPod Shuffle to one follower on our Facebook Fan page. Simply visit the page, click the "Become a Fan" button and watch for an announcement with the lucky winners name. Anyone can enter, but we will only ship within the US. Contest will run for two weeks from March 29th. Winners will need to respond to a wall post on the Productivity501 Fan Page using their Facebook account. If the winner doesn't respond in time, we will run the giveaway again. … [Read more...] about iPod Shuffle Facebook Giveaway
Turkeys and Skunks
Turkeys don't like skunks. Skunks like turkeys, but mainly because they can eat the baby chicks. So it isn't surprising that when a skunk comes around, a mother turkey will attack it to keep it away from her babies. Here is another fact about turkey mothers. They respond to their chicks saying "cheep cheep". If the chick says "cheep cheep" the mother will care for it. No "cheep cheep" and the mother will ignore it and sometimes even kill it. So if you are a baby chick, the "cheep cheep" is very important. In a slightly bizarre experiment, scientists rigged a stuffed skunk and sent it toward a mother turkey. Ask expected, the turkey attacked the stuffed skunk with her claws … [Read more...] about Turkeys and Skunks
Don’t Repeat Yourself
In software engineering there is a principle known as DRY -- Don't Repeat Yourself. The idea is this: If you are going to solve a problem, do it only once. Don't solve the same problem again and again in different parts of your code. In software, this means that you take your solutions to these common problems and code them in a way so they can be used from wherever necessary. The DRY principle can also apply to your personal work habits as well. Over the course of a week, a good portion of our time can be taken up by unnecessary tasks or overly complicated processes. Proactively looking for areas where we are "repeating" ourselves can unearth these areas where we can … [Read more...] about Don’t Repeat Yourself
5 Minute Outliner 2.0 Review
Sometimes compatibility issues between technological devices leave us scratching our heads and disheartened at the loss of productivity that results. One such frequent frustrate-or is programs for mobile devices. Few truly helpful organizational programs are available for use with a wide range of cell phones or PDA's. However, the developers at 5 Minute Downloads have created software that allows a user to effectively visualize and organize ideas, create outlines for projects, import information from a personal computer, and to top it all off, stay compatible with other team members in the work place and with their mobile devices. The product in question is the 5 Minute Outliner, which … [Read more...] about 5 Minute Outliner 2.0 Review
Is Stupidity Killing America’s Productivity?
When a society makes it a huge priority to protect people from their own stupidity, it will eventually grind to a slow, bureaucratic halt. I have to show my ID to buy Sudafed, spray paint or glue because someone has decided I might use these items to do something stupid. However, I can buy bullets without an ID. I was talking to a policeman the other day and discovered I could be thrown in jail for the amount of decongestant I had in my house. Seriously! When it comes to the safety of society as a whole, I'm much more concerned about a couple lunatics running around with an unlimited supply of bullets than teenagers armed with nasal decongestant and super glue. Yes, I know that … [Read more...] about Is Stupidity Killing America’s Productivity?
Making Habits of New Years Resolutions
New Years resolutions are a very familiar concept to most of us. The tradition of these habit-changing goals originated in ancient times in Babylon, according to most academic sources. The Romans picked up and carried on this tradition and interestingly enough, one common resolution was to ask forgiveness from enemies of the prior year. In Medieval times, the date for the New Year was changed several times, but was eventually returned to January 1st. Cultural Differences According to this article by Brooke Williams, some cultures take their New Years resolutions quite seriously. The Chinese, for example, have made house cleaning an important customary event on the first day of … [Read more...] about Making Habits of New Years Resolutions
Career Renegade
Jonathan Fields sent me a copy of his brand new book to review called Career Renegade. I've skimmed it and am now working my way back through reading it. The book looks at how you can turn what you love into income. Jonathan knows what he is talking about. He used to be a NYC attorney before he quit and started a string of businesses doing things he enjoyed. The book is divided into four sections: 1. What Makes You Come Alive. This section encourages you to figure out what you actually enjoy doing. It also helps you get past the idea that you need to be at the top of a particular field in order to do what you enjoy. I was impressed by how practical Jonathan is. No matter how … [Read more...] about Career Renegade
Getting a Good Night’s Sleep
Though many people don't give a second thought about getting adequate rest, those that struggle with insomnia know that lack of sleep can have a very detrimental effect on one's productivity. According to this article from the National Sleep Foundation, "about half of Americans report sleep difficulty, at least occasionally." With this many people being affected, sleep deprivation may be the cause of some things we never would have associated with it before. Effects of Sleep Deprivation Many of us have walked into work and seen sleepy or irritable co-workers struggling to concentrate on their daily tasks. However, one of the things that we often miss is the loss of productivity … [Read more...] about Getting a Good Night’s Sleep
Redeeming Your Time
Whether you run a home business or simply want to be more productive with your time each day, time tracking tools are a technological aid that can diagnose tasks that are efficient and those that are not worth the time invested in them. The time tracking tools that are available today are customized to suite different needs and preferences and help make productivity an achievable goal. We thought that our readers would find a list of time tracking tools useful, as well as a bit of information about each one. Rescue Time This tool offers time tracking service in a neatly organized package that is easy to install and operate. Rescue Time works by tracking which applications the user … [Read more...] about Redeeming Your Time
Imaginary Voice in my Head
Someone unsubscribed from my mailing list today and their reason was: You can't spell and it offends me. Someone unsubscribing isn't a big deal, but I do try to make sure everything is spelled correctly. For most posts, I write it and then have my assistant proof it just to make sure I didn't make any glaring mistakes. The "asides" that I post (one paragraph without any pictures) usually don't get proofed. I think I found the offensive word that caused this person to unsubscribe. I had used the word "there" instead of "their". I catch myself doing this on a regular basis--substituting words that sound the same. I know which word to use, but somehow my brain writes the sound instead … [Read more...] about Imaginary Voice in my Head
Winner Announced
Angela from Louisiana won our latest ergonomic giveaway. Also Kevin Butler sent us a response to some of the questions people had asked on our original interview with him. We still have one more wrist support mouse pad to give away (courtesy of Fellowes), so stay tuned. It’s exciting to see so many responses on what I feel is one of the most important components to maintaining a high quality of life in today’s heavy work load world. While any cost might seem difficult to justify, the proper workstation investments will pay for themselves almost immediately. This can be seen either in increased safety or productivity. A basic worksurface (i.e. desk) is not ergonomically … [Read more...] about Winner Announced
10 Articles on Exercise
Plan Your Meals and Exercise in Advance-The Office Diet Sometimes it is easy to fall out of a routine that requires daily effort to continue. For those that are trying to cut back on calories, it is no different. This article gives readers some helpful tips on how to stay organized with their meal and exercise planning on the road to success. Why Exercise Can Reduce Anxiety-Overcoming Social Anxiety For those of us that feel stressed in crowded places or even around a few people, perhaps regular exercise would be a valid option to help eliminate those feelings of anxiety. In this article the author speaks about how exercise has been a proven method for dealing with social anxiety. 5 … [Read more...] about 10 Articles on Exercise
Continuing Links of Interest…
How to Have a Civil Political Debate-Art of Manliness Often, political debates are marred by improper approaches to presenting opposing ideas. This article would be helpful to anyone that is looking to improve their debate etiquette. New Workspace-Behance Magizine With fuel prices on the rise, there is a growing movement towards telecommuting and working from home. This article is an interesting read that examines the drawbacks and benefits of working from home. Why iPhone Owners Don't Need Wallets-The Cranking Widgets Blog At times, clutter can become very overwhelming. However, this article looks at a new way to reduce the amount of clutter in your wallet! 5 Ways to Fall Asleep … [Read more...] about Continuing Links of Interest…
Striving for Greatness
Statistically speaking, you are unlikely to achieve above average success on accident. Here is a short list of things that seem like common qualities in people who achieve greatness. If you have qualities you'd like to see added to the list, please leave a comment at the bottom of the page. Embrace Failure – The lives of the greatest successful people would often seem like horrible failures if you remove their one or two biggest achievements. Successful people often fail. While they aren’t intentionally trying to fail, they see it as a path to success. Failure is part of the learning process and is seen as a necessary step toward success. Right Place, Right Time – Most great people … [Read more...] about Striving for Greatness
Investing in Education
Education is an investment in the future. Just like investments have different rates of returns, studying different things will give you different payback. There are generally two types of education available to people after high school. A technical education prepares you to do specific tasks. A general education prepares you be able to learn. Many people don't understand the difference between these two types of learning. Going to massage school may seem great in the short term. It doesn't take too long to learn and the pay is significantly better than what you can get from a job right after high school. However, it doesn't really prepare you for changing jobs in the future. A … [Read more...] about Investing in Education
Stretching Yourself
Take the time to do something hard. Take the time to do something new. Your biggest surges of growth will come from stretching yourself. You can stretch yourself in small ways by trying a new type of food, talking with a stranger, or watching a movie that is different than your norm. You can stretch yourself in big ways by quitting your job and going into business for yourself. Regardless of how you go about it, you will grow more by stretching yourself on a consistent basis than by reading every self-help book you can find. When you are looking for things to stretch your capabilities, here are a few things to keep in mind. What are the risks? You need to understand the impact of … [Read more...] about Stretching Yourself
Worry vs. Problem-solving
There are some circumstances that you have no power to change. Worrying about these types of circumstances is pointless. On the other hand, you shouldn't give up looking for a solution just because you don't see an immediate solution. It is important to be able to differentiate between worry and productive problem-solving. Worry usually has the following characteristics: It involves repeating the same thoughts over and over. Any "solutions" deal with things that you don't have the power to change. It focuses on changing things that have already happened. Problem-solving on the other hand has the following characteristics: It doesn't involve thinking about the same thing … [Read more...] about Worry vs. Problem-solving
How Good do you Look
In the perfect world, our opportunities would be directly tied to our skills. Luck wouldn't play any part in our successes and our looks would most certainly not be a factor. We don't live in a perfect world and no matter what we do, there isn't a single thing we can do about it. In the real world, luck plays a big part in success and good looking people are picked for promotion over their more skilled peers. You can fight the system, but it won't make a difference. What people think of you is at least partially dependent on how you look. In some ways this isn't so unfair. If you are looking to hire someone, would you be more likely to hire the person who hasn't cut his hair in 6 … [Read more...] about How Good do you Look
Investment allocation
Usually when people talk about properly allocating investments, they refer to money. Even more important is how you allocate your time. With money you usually want to have some investments in areas that will pay off over time, some investments in areas that will pay off quickly, some risky, and some safe. This strategy is to protect you from future events that are outside of your control. Your time needs to be allocated with the same type of care. For example, if you put all of your time into earning money at a high paying job, that does nothing to develop your skills or talents as a person and you could be wiped out by a lawsuit and be left with nothing. On the other hand, if you … [Read more...] about Investment allocation
Focus for Results
Computers are a great tool, but they can tend to make it hard to focus when you are trying to do planning. I've heard it said that the people who get the most done spend the first half of their day planning and the second half executing the plan. However, when I'm sitting at my computer trying to do planning and research simultaneously, it is easy to get distracted--especially when I'm trying to research something on the web. I've found a simple solution for this. By sitting down with a paper and pen away from a computer, I can better focus on my plan. In many cases, my plan will involve answering several questions that require using the internet. If I can stay focused on my planning … [Read more...] about Focus for Results
10 Articles on Working from Home
High-Paying Work-from-Home Jobs-AOL This article describes several different ways that a person can work from home and still earn a good salary. The list includes many different options from several areas requiring various skills. Some of the job suggestions include running a travel agency, Medical claims processing, graphics design, property managing etc. Going Green by Working from Home-Sun It is interesting how gas prices and other environmental factors have inadvertently encouraged many companies to "go green". Sun has made it an option for some of their employees to work from home about 2 days per week. This small change has allowed employees to save approx. $1,700 in gas costs and … [Read more...] about 10 Articles on Working from Home
Loneliness is Unhealthy
If I was looking for an area to research, loneliness would not make the top of my list. But that is exactly what Steven Cole from the University of California, Los Angeles is studying. One of the more interesting discoveries has to do with a correlation between loneliness and detrimental gene activities. It appears that loneliness can actually change how your genes act and make your body less likely to produce antibodies and fight off viruses. I have heard that from a life expectancy standpoint, not getting married is statistically equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes each day for males. Perhaps this is related to the same results Dr. Cole found. Health issues aside, … [Read more...] about Loneliness is Unhealthy
The Rat Experiment
There was an experiment where researchers were given a set of rats and told to rate their ability to learn mazes. They were told that certain rats were "smart rats" and had an abnormally high IQ. When the researchers tested the rats, their studies showed that the "smart rats" performed significantly better than the ordinary rats. The experiment, however, wasn't focused on the rats, it was testing the researchers. All of the rats were the same, but telling the researchers that some of the rats were smart caused them to rate the rats better, even though there was no difference. People will view what you do through their own set of prejudices. To a certain extent, your ability to … [Read more...] about The Rat Experiment
10 Articles on Creating the Perfect Resume
A Professional Resume is Essential- Carla Vaughan According to Carla Vaughan, writing an impressive resume is not as difficult as one might initially think. The important headings for the content of your resume are your contact information, education and objectives as well as a few others. Because many employers simply scan resumes, these headings are essential to the creation of a well-written resume. How to Create a Resume that Gets Results-Penny Loretto In this article, Penny Loretto describes the importance of a resume. She highlights the purpose of a resume by pointing out that it should work toward the ultimate goal of providing the interested party an interview, and perhaps, the … [Read more...] about 10 Articles on Creating the Perfect Resume
False Memories
Your memory is not as reliable as you think it is. Even events that you vividly recall in your mind may never have happened. Here is an example. I have two cousins, Josh and Sam. When they were little Sam sat on a cactus. It was a very painful experience and their mother told the story many times over the years. 25 years later, Josh thinks it happened to him. He can remember the pain, the extraction, everything--even though it didn't happen to him. The experience was so imprinted on his mind that he has all these false memories of an event that never happened to him. These types of memories are particularly troubling when it comes to eye witness accounts of crimes and other … [Read more...] about False Memories
Review of Shoeboxed.com
At times, the amount of paperwork that one person has do deal with can become extremely overwhelming. Many people find that a pile of unorganized paper can have drastic effects on the amount of work that they accomplish. For many of us, the motivation to organize the chaos is sometimes too much to even contemplate. However, an enterprising business has found a way to make the lives of the ordinary person much simpler. Shoeboxed.com is an organization that provides a service that categorizes and organizes your receipts in a hassle-free manner. There are several levels of service that the company provides. One is the free version, in which you must scan in or direct your online order … [Read more...] about Review of Shoeboxed.com
Links of Interest
This is a very large list of links to articles we found interesting here at Productivity501 on no topic in particular. If you like these you might want to add Productivity501 as a friend on StumbleUpon, Digg, and/or Twitter. Also consider subscribing to our RSS feed. Matt Goes Digital - Matthew Cornell Matt Cornell shares some tips on moving away from a paper based system. Particularly useful if you use a Mac and OS X. Organizing Your Desk and Paper-Ariane Benefit Some helpful advice for keeping you desk from becoming one massive pile of clutter. Also gives tips for using items you already have around the house to help you become more organized. Research That Reveals New … [Read more...] about Links of Interest
Poisoning Her Husband Slowly
There once was a woman who hated her husband. She decided to kill him. After contemplating a direct murder, she couldn't come up with any plan that seemed unlikely to result in her getting caught. Finally, she settled on poisoning him with a bad diet. She figured no one would suspect her if he died from eating a typical, American unhealthy food. To accomplish her evil intent, she started cooking for him. She made him all kinds of fried, fatty foods. She fed him donuts and always encouraged him to eat an extra large helping of dessert. The husband of course thought he was in heaven as his wife tried to slowly kill him. In the end, they worked things out and she stopped trying to … [Read more...] about Poisoning Her Husband Slowly
5 Tips for Dealing with Mail
Everyone gets mail. It can consume a lot of your time, effort and storage space to process and store. Here are 5 tips to help you manage your incoming mail. Open your mail over a trash can. This simple tip can help make sure that any mail that doesn't belong in your house gets taken back out. If you have a trash can outside, that may be an even better place to open it. This is a particularly good way to make sure that the envelopes and generic mailings don't clutter up your work area. Get off the lists. If a company has you on their mailing list, but you don't want to receive anything else from them, simply ask to be taken off. It is better for the company, better for the … [Read more...] about 5 Tips for Dealing with Mail
Articles on Sleep
Sleep is one of those little things we often overlook that can make or break our productivity. Here are 10 great articles with tips and thoughts on how to get the most out of your sleep. If you know of any other great articles on sleep, please add them in the comments. Good Sleep, Good Learning, Good Life-Dr. Pitor Wozniak Although many Western civilizations may consider the traditional "siesta" of the Latin American countries to be out-dated, research shows that these short naps are rich in NREM sleep, and improve alertness during the day. Napping may also provide relief from severe sleep deprivation, and also may play a significant role in memory consolidation. Sleep's Healing … [Read more...] about Articles on Sleep
Reader Question – Guns and Safety Deposit Boxes
Can I keep a gun in a safety deposit box? I talked with someone in the safety deposit department of a large national bank in Kansas City and they said it was not allowed. Even if it was, there is the issue of taking a gun into the bank in the first place. Many banks have security devices behind the scenes that are watching for these types of things. The individual I spoke with couldn't tell me about the bank's security system, but he made it clear that bringing a gun into a bank would not be a very wise thing to do--even if you were just going to put it in the safety deposit box. I also talked to the VP at a small bank in Oklahoma. He said it wouldn't be a problem at his bank if they … [Read more...] about Reader Question – Guns and Safety Deposit Boxes