I've been an avid enthusiast (not to say follower) of GTD and productivity blogs in general. (This one has long been chief on that list; keep up the good material without diluting it.) Currently I just started a new role at work where I have a bit more responsibility.To keep track, I've been using tasks--via Outlook 2007 and Remember the Milk. Both are great ways to quickly catalog things to be done. However, the other side of my job is that I can get "interrupted" with urgent things that legitimately take precedence over my (usually) non-urgent tasks. So days can go by without me getting any tasks completed. This feels pretty crummy. What do I do with that? Any mentality tips you can … [Read more...] about Reader Question – Uncompleted Tasks
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Portable Scan Snap S300
Fujitsu has released a portable version of the ScanSnap line of scanners. It can run on its own power cable or use power from the USB connection. This is particularly useful if you are traveling or working of your laptop with a battery. When running off the USB power it is a little slower to scan. When plugged into its own power connection it can handle 8 pages per minute. The S300 is only for Windows. It is fairly new, so they may release a S300M version sometime in the future. You can buy the S300 from our online store for $291. … [Read more...] about Portable Scan Snap S300
Definition of Wealth
One of the most important things you can do in aligning your finances to be more productive is define what wealth means to you. Obviously being wealthy is something of a relative term. Someone at the poverty line in the US would be seen as extremely rich in other parts of the world. The Rich Dad Poor Dad books give an interesting definition of wealth. They say that wealth is determined by how long you can survive at your current standard of living if you quit your job today. So once you stop getting your regular paycheck, how long can you live off your savings and passive income sources before you go broke. I think this is a very healthy description of wealth because instead of … [Read more...] about Definition of Wealth
Subprime Problem Explained
Thanks to everyone who helped answer my questions in the previous subprime post I now have a much better understanding of what is going on. I thought I'd go ahead and explain it here. The first reason is to share with anyone who is interested. The second is so the financial wizards among my readers can correct me if I got anything wrong. Over the past several decades home prices have been going up. This has made them a fairly safe investment. If someone can't make their payments they can always sell the house--usually at a profit--and pay the mortgage company back. In order to create as many loans as possible, mortgage companies will take a group of mortgages and turn them into a special … [Read more...] about Subprime Problem Explained
Remote Executive Assistant – First Try
I find that I have a lot more ideas of things I'd like to do than I have time to do them. I get all the important stuff done, but there are many smaller things that I'd like to accomplish that I simply don't have enough time. I looked at a lot of the companies that provide remote executive assistants, but decided I'd rather work with someone directly. I found a paralegal from Texas who was looking for work as a virtual assistant. My thinking was that someone who grew up in the US would be easier to communicate with than someone from a foreign country. I also wanted to keep the work in the USA if I could instead of sending it out of the country. When I spoke with I called one of her … [Read more...] about Remote Executive Assistant – First Try
Reader Question – Working from Home
Why would it be valuable to work from home? Lets say you commute 30 minutes to work each day. Working from home will save you at least 5 hours per week of drive time. If you apply this time to your job, you should be able to pull ahead of people who have to invest those 5 hours in driving to work. You can also choose to invest those extra 5 hours in sleep, your family, a hobby or whatever you like. Sometimes working from home can help you focus. Being out of the office means it is more difficult for people to distract you--they can't just pop into your office or cubicle. Of course if your home work environment is distracting, you may not see much benefit. If you want to know more … [Read more...] about Reader Question – Working from Home
Another Scanner
A reader pointed me to the Fujitsu 6140. It is faster than the Scan Snap at 80 to 120 ppm (each side counts as one page) and seems to be a little more heavy duty in its construction. It looks like it uses dual rollers where the Scan Snap 510 and 510M only use one. This might help guard against misfeeds and paper jams. The 6140 comes with Kofax workgroup software that will handle some scanning tasks including processing bar codes scanned on documents. The scanner appears to only support the Windows platform. The 6140 is quite a bit more expensive with a list price of $1999. You can get it in the Productivity501 Store for $1,660. … [Read more...] about Another Scanner
10 Signs You Will Be Poor
Here is a list of signs that indicate someone is likely to be poor in the future. If any of these apply to you, it might want to consider making some changes. 10. The only type of CDs you know about play music. Not understanding basic investment tools is one sure sign that you will mismanage your finances. This is especially true because a basic financial education is so readily accessible on websites, through library books, etc. 9. Your bank account balance goes down each month. You don't need any fancy charts to see if your net worth is improving or decaying. If you usually have less money in your accounts each month then your lifestyle is not sustainable on your current income. You'll … [Read more...] about 10 Signs You Will Be Poor
6 Ways to Look Smarter
In life, many opportunities are tied to what other people think of you. If the people around you think you are smart, you are more likely to get asked to participate in projects that will enhance your career. If people think you are dumb, you'll probably be passed over. Looking smart is just as important as being smart. Assuming that you are actually smart you don't have to fake anything. Your goal is to make people think of you as a smart person. Humans aren't particularly good at judging the intelligence of other humans. Here are six things you can do that will help enhance people's perception of your intelligence. 1. Look Smarter by Asking More Questions Most people try to show … [Read more...] about 6 Ways to Look Smarter
Reader Question – Memorization
How should I memorize a speech? I don't generally memorize any of my presentations. If you create a detailed outline and then practice giving your speech to a few friends, you'll probably do fine unless you have really bad stage fright. If you do have stage fright, simply memorizing your speech word for word is likely to cause you problems because it will be difficult to remember while under pressure. If you want to give your speech word for word, you can memorize it, but keep the speech with you just in case you have to revert to reading the speech. If you do this, make sure you use some type of method to keep track of where you are in the speech. You don't want to stumble around for 2 … [Read more...] about Reader Question – Memorization