Poor nutrition can be as draining as the wrong diet, and the consequences can sneak up on you. If you're constantly dragging, and you suffer headaches or an inability to get enough sleep despite following proper sleep habits, you may be suffering from a nutritional deficiency. Sometimes, all you have to do to power up your energy is to recognize the symptoms of nutritional imbalances, and then to take steps to address them. These tips can help you with that. 1. Get a good balance of essential nutrients. Things can go wrong with your body if you don't make sure it gets all it needs to function right. Check your symptoms, and eat more of what you might be lacking. Vitamins may be in order, too. 2. Replace favorite foods with metabolism-boosting substitutes. Too much sugar can activate … [Read more...]
What you eat affects your personal productivity
If you keep telling yourself you don't have the time to eat properly, you're shooting yourself in the foot, energy-wise. Balanced meals and nutritious foods are absolutely necessary for maintaining high energy. Your diet needs to include whole grains, colorful fruits and vegetables, proteins, and heart-healthy fats in order to give your body the protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals it needs to keep going. That said, a big part of eating right is knowing what to eat, and knowing when to stop. These tips can help you put together the kind of diet you need to keep going strong. 1. Cut the calories. Eat the proper amount of food and no more. Otherwise, you may find yourself flirting with the consequences of obesity, not least of which is a constantly low energy … [Read more...]
Personal Productivity is Ultimately About Getting a Life
Are you working your life away? Yes, you, the one working six days a week, 12 hours a day. Oh, so you "rest" on the seventh day? Hey, even God rested on the seventh day. You, however, put in a few more hours. When did you confuse your job with your life? Leisure, wellness, fun, and stress reduction are all an essential part of any productive routine. If you have a hard time kicking back, here are a few suggestions you should try. 1. Close the mental office "door" and turn off work each day. It's okay to love what you do; it's okay to have passion for your work. But you're not defined by what you do professionally. Stop being a workaholic, and learn to slow down. 2. Leave work on time, so you can get home and enjoy your personal life. Your personal life is at least as important as your … [Read more...]
Protecting your calendar from others: managing availability
While working with Teresa Gavigan, one of my clients, on her office organization, we talked about the challenge she was having with an overly booked calendar and what to do about it. She had recently taken over another entire division and was splitting her time between the two groups, which were in two different buildings. She had ceded her calendar over to her assistant but hadn’t set any boundaries around what meetings to accept and what to decline. Her assistant was accepting meetings tentatively, which resulted in Teresa often being double and triple booked. She told me she frequently felt like she was “having a Lucy Ricardo moment” as she dashed over to one meeting, then over to the next, then back to the other, never wanting to let one or the other down. After months of … [Read more...]
Keep Up with Daily Responsibilities: Get Back to Your Post, Soldier!
In the military, your job or position is known as your Post. Even if you're not in the military, a well-defined Post is an important pillar of personal productivity. When you do your job well, other things in your life fall into place more smoothly. When this pillar is weak, your personal responsibilities seem to get in the way of life. Try these tips for defining and handling your life responsibilities. 1. Hire out tasks requiring a level of expertise you don't have. You don't have to do everything yourself, especially when there are people available who can do it better for a price. You can outsource just about anything these days. 2. Hire out simple chores to helpers. Most people don't have the time to work full-time and do all the housework too -- so don't hesitate to hire it out if … [Read more...]
The Paperless Office? What a Joke!
No matter how technologically savvy we become, we can't seem to eliminate paper. In fact, studies estimate that we generate up to ten times more paper than we did before the advent of the computer! How much of that paper is sitting in stacks on multiple surfaces all over your home and office? To tame those mountains of paper, try throwing these ideas at them. 1. Consistently purge your files without fear. Before you embark on an overhaul of your filing systems, purge all the old junk first. Why spend time dealing with paper you're just going to toss anyway? 2. Create and maintain a filing system that allows you to find papers easily. If you can't find a particular piece of paperwork when you need it, it might as well not exist. Pick a logical filing scheme and follow it … [Read more...]
Time management is dead: The new reality of productivity
We’ve all been there. There’s mail piled up on the corner of your desk. You have 37 unread e-mails. The phone is ringing (not that phone – the other phone). And you’ll be lucky if you can get through three of the fifteen items on your to-do list.Oh – and you have four hours of meetings ahead of you.It didn’t used to be this way. The world has changed in the last decade or so. Has your approach to time management changed with it?If you find yourself stressed out and frustrated every time you try to hunker down and take control of your time, there’s a good chance that’s because you need a new way to think about time management. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to force yourself to work within a system that just isn’t compatible with the pace of your day or the nature of your work. Just … [Read more...]
Beat the Bandits that Rob Your Time
Pests are the time-wasters and robbers that keep you from being able to accomplish your goals, the "termites" that eat away at your personal foundations. Getting rid of them may seem difficult at first, but it's amazing how good we are at eliminating time-wasters when forced to. Try these pointers and see what you can accomplish. 1. Confront problems head-on and make decisions quickly. Indecisiveness is a big time-waster and a major pest in your quest to be productive. The ability to make quick decisions is the hallmark of a good leader and efficient person. 2. Complete the tasks you start. Don't let projects stall; make a running list keeping track of them so you know what's due next, and break them down into smaller pieces to get them done easier. 3. Keep interruptions from … [Read more...]
Your Personal Productivity Personality and Self-Sabotage
Have you ever considered that your biggest obstacle to finding more time might be YOU? The way you react to the world may be the reason you stay overwhelmed. To fix this you need to look at your behavior, habits, and choices, and then figure out which ones to adjust in order to support your desired direction in life. Here are a few tips that can help you do just that. 1. Control perfectionism. Realize that some things are good enough as they are. Instead of worrying about making things perfect, learn to leave well enough alone. Obsessing over small details can be deadly to your productivity. 2. Refuse requests when appropriate. You don't have to say "yes" to everything, whether that involves accepting extra work or baking brownies for a kid's party. Set boundaries about what … [Read more...]
The Top 100 Productivity and Lifehack Blogs
"Having a little trouble getting motivated? From work responsibilities to personal calendars and endless to-do lists, we can all find ourselves stretched in too many directions. To give you a little boost, we've generated a list of the top 100 productivity and lifehack blogs. Here they are, arranged by category, but in no particular order." … [Read more...]
