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Reader Question – Organization & Saving

2008 by 2 Comments
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How can being organized save you money? If time is money and being organized saves you time, it saves you money. Lets say you look for 6 things each day that take you on average 5 minutes apiece. You reorganize your office and reduce the time to 1 minute search for each item. You are now saving 24 minute each day or about 146 hours each year. Even if you have to invest half of that time staying organized that still gives you 73 hours of extra time from being organized. This is an extra 9 days each year. You can reinvest your extra time back into work to try to earn more money, spend it with your family, or just take some extra time to relax. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Money Tagged With:

Procrastination Prevention Course – Now Live!

2008 by 3 Comments
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Previously I announced that we were testing the Procrastination Prevention Course. I took the feedback from the testing group and made some changes. The course is now live. If you have trouble with procrastination, you need to go through this course. It is designed to give you some simple strategies for preventing procrastination. Each day you get a short email with a simple assignment to help you practice breaking the procrastination habit. The funny thing about a procrastination course is that the people who most need it are the ones most likely to put it off. If you are reading this and thinking "Maybe I'll do that some day" I strongly recommend that you sign up for it right … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Time Tagged With: ,

Group Interview – Productive Software

2008 by 1 Comment
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If you made a list of the software that helps you stay productive, what do you think people would be most surprised to find on that list? That is the question Productivity501 asked a number of productivity experts. Below are their responses. A little program called On The Job from Stunt Software. It's a simple time tracker and invoice generator for projects. But here's how I also use it: I have entered what would be my hourly rate based on my projects and income. Then, as I field phone calls, do tasks, and muck around, I click the starter button on the timer, the "Stop" at the end. The value of what I just did immediately appears on the screen. Wow. After one day of seeing how I was using … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With:

Books

2008 by 1 Comment
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Earlier today I mentioned a book by the Wall Street Journal about personal finance, but failed to actually point people to the book. I've added the book to the Productivity501 store. The book is designed to give you a good financial foundation.  It doesn't go into great depth on subjects, but it seems to do a great job of making sure you aren't missing anything in your financial foundation of understanding. Another book that I'd recommend is called Founders At Work.  It is a series of interviews with people who started various companies.  It is a great read and very enlightening to hear the stories behind all these different businesses. One thing I've been fascinated by in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Money Tagged With: ,

Being Financially Literate

2008 by 11 Comments

One of the best investments you can make in yourself is to increase your financial literacy.  In fact if you only have 10 hours this year that you can invest in self-improvement there are very few ways you can better spend that time than reading a book on investing and financial management. Go ahead and take the time to visit your library and find a few books on investing and financial management.  Even if you just skim the parts that look interesting you'll find this small investment can make a big difference in your ability to plan financially for the future. The Wall Street Journal has a good book on investing that I'd recommend.  What do other people suggest?  Is there a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Money Tagged With:

Add Productivity501 as a Friend

2008 by Leave a Comment

If you use Digg, consider adding Productivity501 as a friend. We will add you back so we can see what stories you find interesting and vice versa. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Asides Tagged With: ,

Folder Template Video

2008 by 2 Comments

Several months ago, I did a post where I talked about creating folder templates. I've created a short You Tube video that shows the folder templates in action. I'm a bit disappointed with the You Tube quality, but I'm going to post it anyway in hopes that someone will find it useful. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With:

Group Interview – Distraction Free Internet

2008 by 3 Comments

The internet can help your productivity, but it can also be a distraction. How do you obtain the benefits while avoiding the downsides?. I finally had to do two things that are working for me: In the Bookmark Bar, I narrowed the categories to only those related to business. I allow myself a set amount of time (20 minutes) to check the newsfeeds and other favorite sites for 20 minutes maximum 4 times during the day. On minute 21, I close the browser window.That means I potentially "lose" 1:20 minutes of work. As a result of the routine, it never amounts to that much. Steve Roesler from All Things Workplace (rss) Steve's suggestion to allow a certain amount of time for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Misc Tagged With:

Reader Question – Checking Email Abroad

2008 by 5 Comments

How do I access my email from a foreign country? In most countries you can check your email just like you do in the US. If you are using a web mail provider like Gmail or Yahoo, you just have to find an internet connection. Many countries have internet cafes where you can use their computer for the internet by paying an hourly fee. If you are in China or another country where they limit citizen's access to certain sites on the internet, it might be more difficult to check your email. If you are traveling with a laptop and want to download your mail, things should still work about the same as in the US. Many internet cafes will let you connect into their network with your laptop for the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With:

American Express Concierge 3

2008 by 1 Comment

On Mondays we've been discussing working with a remote assistant.  We've taken a brief side trail for a few weeks looking at actually trying to use American Express' concierge service.  This week I'm going to show an attempt to use the service to find housing in Mexico.  My wife and I lived in Durango Mexico for a few months and couldn't seem to find any type of furnished housing.  I figured the concierge would be good at locating this type of thing--especially since dealing with lodging in other countries seems to be something American Express advertises they do well. Here is the message I sent:  I am looking at spending some time in Mexico next fall. Specifically I am looking at … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With:

Reader Question – Credit Cards

2008 by 7 Comments

Why do people use credit cards? If you have financial self discipline, using a credit card can be much safer than using cash or debit cards. Credit cards offer you better protection from fraud. They are also setup to protect your rights as a consumer because you can leverage the credit card company against a merchant who sold you a defective product. In a previous post, I discussed 4 Reasons You Should Use A Credit Card. Many people are conditioned to avoid credit cards at all costs. This is a good strategy if you have no financial discipline--just a like an alcoholic should steer clear of even driving near a bar. If you treat your credit card like a checking account and keep track of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Money Tagged With:

American Express Concierge 2

2008 by Leave a Comment

Last Monday we looked at using the American Express concierge service for scheduling a tuneup on my car. This week we will try something else. I have been looking for radiometers to send as a corporate gift to some of my clients. (A radiometer looks light a light bulb but instead of a filament it has metal vanes that spin in the sunlight.) Unfortunately most of the ones I've found for sale were packaged for kids science experiments. The radiometers are fine, but the packaging doesn't look very "corporate". I figured this sounded like a job for super concierge, so I called them with a request. I explained what I was looking for and in particular asked them to find a radiometer with … [Read more...]

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Reader Question – Desk Organization

2008 by 1 Comment

What should you have on your desk? Everything you need to do your job and as little as possible to distract you. Is a clean desk an organized desk? Not necessarily. If you clean your desk simply be stuffing everything into your drawers, your clean desktop may just be superficial. The best measurement of organization is how quickly you can find anything you need. If you have to spend a lot of time hunting for files and bits of information, you are not organized--no matter how clean your desktop is. Also see the post 12 Tips for an Organized Desk. On Fridays we publish questions from our readers. If you have a question you'd like to see answer here, please send it to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Organize Tagged With:

Michael Sampson on the Dvorak Keyboard

2008 by 13 Comments

We've talked about the Dvorak keyboard before when I learned Michael Sampson was making the switch. Since it has been a few months, I thought it would be interesting to checkup and see how it was going so I sent him a few questions about the change. checkout his responses below. What promoted you to switch to the Dvorak keyboard? There was one main reason that I switched: I was suffering from severe RSI in my left lower arm and hand, and I needed to find a better way of doing things. I knew of the Dvorak layout, and had recently read Mark Hurst's excellent book (Bit Literacy) in which he talked about his own transition from QWERTY to Dvorak. So I did some online study on the Dvorak … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: