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I am a small business Conversation Consultant and public speaker that uses the power of the internet to leverage your success. Productivity in Context is a web magazine focused on Productivity and tools for organizing. Make this your headquarters for improving your life and work through increased mindfulness, education, and workflow practices.

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Please contact me via e-mail: stephen @ hdbizblog dot com

Kris from Fresh Focus on Productivity has a review of a new GTD software application. Read about it here [link].

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/6cy5rn. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen

Drew and Gavin have completed the gargantuan task of pulling together all of the submissions for the sequel to The Age of Conversation. I am very excited to be part of this project, and I believe that it will be a great success.

The following is a link-rich list of all of the 237 contributors, please do take the time to visit their sites and leave a thoughtful comment.

Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tim Brunelle, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

I am looking forward to working on something with each of the authors on this list in the future.

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/67f99s. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen

This is a test post for my PodPress installation.

Listen to the Elevator Pitch

 

 Elevator Pitch [0:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (193)

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/3m7km6. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen

When I read Brian Tracy’s Eat That Frog a few years ago, I was like most productivity thinkers: skeptical.  I wanted to build my daily schedule so that it would be fun, engaging and full of creative moments.  Unfortunately, I live in the real world and that initial plan hasn’t come to fruition.

Tracy’s genius is not so much a rugged “get it done” mindset as much as a smart way to counteract procrastination and human nature.  A friend of mine once said, “Give to God your best time of the day,” and I think there’s something to that.  When I get into the zone before 10a.m. my day generally runs smooth. 

Stephen Smith has a nice experiment going, measuring his own productivity.  One key is again this element of using the morning hours wisely.  I’ve found that it helps to use those first hours to get things done, but also to eliminate unnecessary steps in the process.  When I arrive in the morning at work, there are a few things that I could do but have stopped doing as it slows me down early in the day.  These include:

• Turning on extra building lights
• Opening up public office doors
• Checking paperwork that I could check later in the day

I’m mindful of St. Francis of Assisi who said in the 13th century, “Start with what is necessary, then do what is possible.  Eventually you’ll find yourself doing the impossible.”  How are you spending your first five hours of the day?  By tackling one difficult task, you’ll have more energy to accomplish it and you won’t have “productivity guilt” later in the day.  Go for it!

If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/563z55. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen