If you’re like most people, you have a lot of projects on your back burner that you hope to get to someday but aren’t quite ready for. Writers call this a “one-day novel” — as in “one day I’m going to write that novel.” Of course, that one magical day never comes. Perhaps…

About 10 days ago, I accidentally posted a question I had meant to schedule for later this month, and as I’m coming to expect, your responses really got me thinking. The question was simple: What one big productivity block do you most struggle to overcome? But the issue it raises — how can…

In concentration we marshal all our dispersed energies into focusing on just one thing. When mastered, concentration can be of unimaginable benefit in our life; through concentration we can increase our productivity and give ourselves greater peace of mind. These are some suggestions for improving your concentration. One-Pointedness Concentration means that we can focus on one thing…

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could.Ralph Waldo Emerson Sometimes we start a day with the previous day still in mind. We think about the mistakes we made in the previous day, how things went wrong, and how we felt bad about it. No wonder it becomes difficult to…

David Seah suggests there are two ways to gain focus in your work: one being danger [deadlines, money etc] and the other certainty. In certainty, Seah is referring to something that you know is going to make you happy. With this certainty you are willing and able to focus entirely on any given task. It’s important to…

Today is Columbus Day in the USA and Thanksgiving in Canada. We have commemorative days for famous people, famous events and (in many parts of the world) religious festivals. I want to suggest that you establish a special day specially for yourself: for allowing yourself time and space to be who you are—and to look…

A twenty five hour day isn’t coming any time soon. As long as your feet stay planted on the ground here, twenty four is all you’re going to get. However, with a bit of skill you can squeeze out a couple more hours to add to your day. Here’s how…

You had me at ‘Hello’. What a corny movie. But I was thinking about what the character in the movie Jerry McGuire is forced to do, and as a result allows him to succeed. It was focus. If you remember in that movie Jerry is a struggling agent for athletes and finds himself losing all his clients…

Meditation isn’t just a spiritual practice. If done properly, meditation can be a practical one. Through taking more traditional meditative practices and altering them to fit my needs, I’ve found it can serve many purposes: Focus. Meditating can cut through distractions and focus your mind. I’ve found certain meditations to be useful…

So there you are with your Today list, your to-do list, your project lists, your house list, your calls list and even your list of lists. You know each and ever one of the 49 things you want to accomplish today. There’s only one small problem: come the end of the day you’ve accomplished zip…

John Richardson at the blog Sucess Begins Today has posted a productivity tip that he learned from Donb Crowther, an internet marketing expert. The technique is to set aside 48 minutes for work, without any interruption and avoid distractions, then use 12 minutes to rest. The result from Don is pretty promising. He is able…

I’m amazed at the number of postings and advice articles, let alone pieces of software, that are spawned by the GTD phenomenon. To me, it’s yet another symptom of today’s short-term mentality and our obsession with activity. Getting Things Done is useful, of course. I’m not without sympathy for people with bulging schedules and huge…

While visiting friends in Maine this weekend, I stumbled upon what might prove to be a useful morning hack for you. They’d taken down their bathroom mirror (presumably to replace it), and in its place was a big white rectangle with nothing on it. The first few times, I was disoriented, because I counted on…

Remember “management by objective?” In the early years of my own management career, management by objective was the single-minded battle cry for business. It was a time when we took certain things for granted, like the hard work ethic of our staff; with few exceptions, dependability and reliability was pretty much a workplace-entry given. Little wonder that…

You may have the world best todo system on world – You may know the most effective productivity theory – However if you are not focus into the task on hand, you couldn’t complete anything efficiently. David Seah understands this and shares some of his idea on what makes you really focus. He suggests couple…