August 4th, 2008 by Stephen
Posted in How To -, Productivity, Stephenotes |
If you're new here, Welcome! To learn more about what this site is all about click here [link].
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.
Subscribe by E-mail for updates on: Productivity methods, Lifestyle innovation, and the collaborative design of the next-generation personal knowledge management system.
Click Here for an overview of the content. 
Please take a look at our sponsors. (Hosting isn't free...)
Please contact me via e-mail: stephen @ hdbizblog dot com
Thanks for visiting!
Today’s tip: “Take one step at a time.”
The largest cruise ship in the world is constructed by attaching one small piece to another, one at a time, over and over again.
Confronting a big problem? Stop, take a step back, and break it into little pieces. Address each smaller piece in turn. Break those into pieces if you must.
When you get down to the list of smallest possible actions, you will discover that you have manageable list of tasks.
If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/5we4w3. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen
July 15th, 2008 by Stephen
Posted in GTD, How To -, Productivity |
Study Hacks : The Study Hacks Guide to Note-Taking
In this post, I describe some of the most important note-taking strategies to grace the digital pages of Study Hacks. Take a look. If you master this step, you’ll enjoy significant improvements to your academic life.
A Study Hacks Crash Course on Smart Note-Taking
Why Most Students Don’t Understand the Real Goal of Note-Taking
A classic article from the early days of Study Hacks. It lays out my core philosophy on how to take notes well. You can use its “Three Laws of Reduced Study Time Note-Taking” as a general framework for the construction of your own customized note solution.
Read the whole thing, it is not just for students!
If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/6gwo7l. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen
July 11th, 2008 by Stephen
Posted in How To -, Links |
I have a guest post today at Spatially Relevant. If you are interested in blogging tips, please check it out.
If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/55av9e. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen
June 26th, 2008 by Stephen
Posted in GTD, How To -, Productivity |
David Allen calls the calendar your “hard landscape”. There is a reason for that, primarily because your calendar is the foundation of your productivity practice. The raw data you put into your calendar determines the information that comes out. This is the “landscape” that you are going to traverse on any given day.
What goes in your Calendar
Three types of raw data go into your calendar:
- Time-specific actions - This is jargon-speak for meetings and appointments, some will be with other people and some will be for yourself. Make a habit of scheduling your Most Important Tasks for the day.
- Day-specific actions - Less-structured than a meeting or appointment, this type of entry is for an action that needs to get done on a particular day, but any time is fine. I suggest that you use this category carefully, as your calendar should not become a to-do list. Your 3-5 Most Important Tasks will often fall in this category.
- Day-specific information - This category of entry is for data like telephone numbers, directions, or specific information about a person you are meeting or the agenda for that meeting. If this category gets too bulky/takes up too much space, consider just writing a note in the calendar as to exactly where you can find that information.
Your Calendar is a Tool,
…not your taskmaster. Work toward the habit of limiting your calendar entries. To paraphrase Albert Einstein, keep the entry as simple as possible, (but not too simple) for you to be able to make the most of the information. A cluttered or messy calendar leads to a day of frustration!
Remember: the appointments that you make with yourself for your most important tasks are just as binding as appointments that you make with other people.
If you aren’t able to trust yourself to show up, how can you trust your system?
Where is your to-do list
I’d love to know what kind of information you are getting from your calendar, or what kind of assistance you are not getting.
(Click the links below to learn more about the specific questions)
Leave a comment, perhaps we can work together on a solution.
If you found this post useful, please share it with your friends on Twitter using the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/6lk4cb. Thanks, I appreciate it! Feel free to comment below, I enjoy discussing these ideas. ~@Stephen
Subscribe
Get involved with the 
