Fresh Focus On Productivity!™

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The Pareto principle (also known as the 80-20 rule, Haddad’s Theorem, the law of the vital few and the principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. Business management thinker Joseph M. Juran suggested the principle and named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed that 80% of income in Italy went to 20% of the population. It is a common rule of thumb in business; e.g., “80% of your sales comes from 20% of your clients.”

So with that thought in mind, I am going to lead a multi-part series on time management.

We will cover such topics as:

• Stomping out procrastination
• Mind Dump
  • Processing the dump
• Categorization of tasks
  • Email sorting/GTDInbox for Gmail
  • Using Microsoft OneNote in your daily life
    • Setting up your main NoteBook
    • Sharing Notebook/ Synchronization
  • Prioritizing / Scheduling
    • Action Priority Matrix
  • Setting your Goals and Keeping Them / SMART Methodology
  • The Completion Journal

  Since starting my path to organization, I have discovered tip and tricks to accomplish tasks in both my daily life and my personal life. One goal is to implement the paperless office. My first tool in this goal is to purchase a great scanner. The mizer in me has procrastinated because of the cost: the one that I would like to have is quite pricey, but a good investment nonetheless.

  Each topic will cover the methods that I use, in addition to methods gleaned from other popular blogs and websites. While I do not claim to be an expert in any of the above mentioned topics, I can relate to you my processes, successes and failures and what is available to you to get to the ultimate goal in your life: whether it be perfectly organized, excellent skills, how to make a to-do list, or just how to get the ball rolling! Through this journey, I’m sure that we will all learn new things and share great ideas.

  Stay tuned for the start of this series. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts and comments!

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You've read the series, now get the E-Book! Special EXTRA material not included in the blog series, plus three FREE templates!! Templates included are Time Management Matrix, Goal worksheet, and The Completion Journal. Only $24.99 for the book!


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Track Time and Increase Productivity

Here’s something we like – a new approach to time and activity reporting. Because going by the number of time recording programs we’ve seen lately, it’s clearly an ongoing problem.

TimeSnapper is an Automatic Screenshot Journal. It runs in the background of your computer, taking screenshots of your desktop every few seconds all week long.

Then you can play back your day, week, or month just like a movie. Play it at any speed you like, and skip around all you like. Use your screenshot journal to fill out your timesheets, document what you’ve done, or just keep a running record of your activity and productivity.

TimeSnapper Professional lets you:

• Automatically takes screenshots of your work, at any interval you set. Keep track of your time without interrupting what you’re doing!
• Gives you an effortless way to keep track of and document how you’ve spent your time, or what you were doing at any point.
• Automatically calculates your productivity, based on what you tell it makes you productive! It’s a great way to Get Things Done.
• Is a great tool for software testing, QA and bug reporting and reproduction. See and reproduce exactly what you were doing to cause a program problem.

Who Needs TimeSnapper Professional?
You do if you’ve ever needed to:

• Keep track of your time using the screenshots and note recording.
  Useful for anyone who charges by the hour, like consultants, lawyers,
  and technicians.
• Track time spent in each program or the computer.
• Measure and improve your productivity using the included Productivity Calculator.
• Be sure you’re billing clients for all the time you spend on their projects.
• Know where your time went, even when you’re too busy or too distracted to keep track of it yourself.
• Use the Note Reminder / Auto-popup to remind you to write down
  notes throughout the day (without losing your concentration or your
  place in your current project).
• Recover lost data easily by extracting text from the snapshots.
• Make sure no one is using your computer without your knowledge.
• See how to reproduce a bug in your company’s software products.
• Use your screenshots effectively to take your time management to an entirely new level.

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You've read the series, now get the E-Book! Special EXTRA material not included in the blog series, plus three FREE templates!! Templates included are Time Management Matrix, Goal worksheet, and The Completion Journal. Only $24.99 for the book!


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…And Forget No More!

Organization is a personal thing, and each of us has our own ways of achieving it. However, much of the organizational software out there is bloated, bewildered, and laden with superfluous features that most of us will never use.

The truth is, sometimes all you really need to stay on top of things is a nice, well-implemented To-Do list. To-Do DeskList is just such a utility. Notes in To-Do Desklist are represented by To-Do “Leaves” that reside on your desktop. You can add new Leaves via the application menu or, even better, with a user-definted hotkey.

FYI: If Leaves aren’t your bag, you can also view and edit your To-Do list in a standard spreadsheet-style format.

To-Do Desklist is slick, simple, and as unobtrusive as you want it to be. Pre-defined themes, custom backgrounds, variable opacity, font and color choices… it’s all up to you. If a To-Do list is what you need, you’re not going to do better that To-Do DeskList.

Key Features:

• Simple, nice looking, and easy-to-use interface.
• No inconveniences: Just press a hotkey, write the to-do down, and press Enter… it’s that simple!
• Provides a constant overview of your to-dos.
• Priority To-Do ‘Leaves’ with sorting and reminders.
• Theme and look customization.

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You've read the series, now get the E-Book! Special EXTRA material not included in the blog series, plus three FREE templates!! Templates included are Time Management Matrix, Goal worksheet, and The Completion Journal. Only $24.99 for the book!


__________________________________________________________

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!