Increasing productivity: Paper or Plastic? Managing Your To-Do Lists

Paper or Plastic? Managing Your To-Do Lists

Technology has given us so many options when it comes to keeping track of our to-do lists—Smartphones, web-based applications, desktop applications, PDAs—but figuring out the best system for you can be a real challenge (and a frustrating one at that).  Interestingly enough, even with all the technology out there, informal research (mine and others’) still shows that when push comes to shove, most people still fall back on good old-fashioned paper. In fact, a lifehack.org survey shows that not only do most people use a paper to-do list, but that paper is more than twice as popular as any other method listed!  Why is that? Because we’re human. Life doesn’t always happen when you’re sitting in front of your computer. We sit in meetings. We leave the office and go home. We travel. … [Read more...]

Microsoft Outlook Virtual Training with Laura Stack

Announcing The Productivity Pro® Microsoft Outlook virtual training series! Attend “live” training with Laura Stack, a Microsoft Certified Specialist in Outlook, from the privacy of your home or office. I’m going to present ten modules covering various aspects of Outlook step-by-step. This isn’t just computer training. It’s real-world, reality-based workflow processing that helps you actually be MORE productive with Outlook, instead of wasting hours every day playing with it. I estimate most people know 10-20% of the capacities of Outlook. Even if you think you’re an “expert,” you’ll be shocked by what you don’t know you don’t know. I’m making each one-hour webinar very affordable at $39 per person. If you attend all ten, the price is discounted to $349 per person. If for some reason you … [Read more...]

Work life balance: How to Make the Most of 5:00-9:00 PM

Feature Article: How to Make the Most of 5:00-9:00 PM by Laura Stack

Let’s forget about 9:00 to 5:00 for a minute. We spend lots of energy making sure that we are efficient and productive during the workday. But what about AFTER the workday? Do you find yourself keeping your nose to the grindstone and working diligently throughout the day only to have it all unravel when you step through the door at home? I hear it all the time: “I’m so exhausted when I leave the office, but I always know there is more work waiting for me when I get home. What can I do?” With most of the day behind us, it’s easy to lose our focus and end up letting those precious hours at the end of the day go to waste. Keep in mind that those weekday hours from 5:00 ‘till 9:00 make up 20 hours of your week! Not many of us can afford to waste that much time. Ask yourself a few … [Read more...]

The Productivity Minute #3 by Laura Stack – Graciously Refusing Requests from Coworkers Part I

The Productivity Minute, Episode 3.  How do you say NO without saying NO?  Laura Stack explains how to tactfully decline requests by coworkers in this episode. (C) 2009 Laura Stack.  All rights reserved. … [Read more...]

Go on a Low-Information Diet and Improve Your Efficiency!

Pretty much anybody you ask will tell you they’re pressed for time. There just aren’t enough hours to get it all done, yadda yadda yadda.  So we prioritize, streamline, and simplify.  You can improve your efficiency until you’re blue in the face, not to mention very tightly wound, but you still aren’t addressing one of the biggest time and energy wasters in your day: incoming information.  As my 13-year-old daughter, Meagan, would text on her phone: “TMI” (translation: Too Much Information). If the 21st century has brought us anything, it is WAY too much information. You can watch several channels full of cable news 24 hours a day. You can surf the internet on any topic until you can’t see straight. Most people could heat their home with the amount of junk mail they receive on a continuous … [Read more...]

Social Media: What, why, and how to be productive – Podcast

Like it or not, social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are here to stay – and it isn’t just kid stuff anymore.  In fact, businesses and individuals worldwide keep finding interesting ways to use social networks and other interactive online media to do some pretty amazing things – from building their brands to getting to know their customers. How do you keep it from sabotaging your productivity? Powered by Podbean.com … [Read more...]

NEW Productivity Pro audio podcast! The Importance of Productivity During Down Times

Like it or not, social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are here to stay – and it isn’t just kid stuff anymore.  In fact, businesses and individuals worldwide keep finding interesting ways to use social networks and other interactive online media to do some pretty amazing things – from building their brands to getting to know their customers. How do you keep it from sabotaging your productivity? Powered by Podbean.com … [Read more...]

Watch Laura Stack sell The Productivity Pro Day-Timer on QVC

My QVC segment aired live on 1/8/08 at approximately 8:20 EST. … [Read more...]

Social Media: What, why, and how to be productive

Like it or not, social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are here to stay – and it isn’t just kid stuff anymore.  In fact, businesses and individuals worldwide keep finding interesting ways to use social networks and other interactive online media to do some pretty amazing things – from building their brands to getting to know their customers. Where do you stand in this new phase of the internet revolution, which many techies are calling “Web 2.0”?  Perhaps you avoided it altogether…or you’re an addict…or you’re somewhere in between. Like most technology, social networks and other social media tools are great resources but lousy masters.  You could spend all day hopping around to different sites, updating your information, and connecting with people all over the world.  … [Read more...]

Laura Stack appears on QVC

Tune in on Thursday, January 8, 2009 at 7:00 AM EST to QVC and watch Laura Stack LIVE as she sells her Productivity Pro(R) Day-Timer(R)!  Or if you miss the show, go to www.QVC.com and watch it on-line. … [Read more...]