Have you ever been surprised at how much you can fit in when you’re at a conference? When we have a schedule provided for us, we manage to get from one event to the next at the right time; the imposition of external timings means that even if we’d like to stick with one task a little longer, we move on quickly. We deal with emails in brief breaks, sending shorter replies than usual, ditching any junk without even opening it.

In day to day working life, though, we tend to find ourselves struggling to stick to self-imposed schedules. One or two things overrun; emails and phone calls come in; our boss dumps an urgent task on us.

However beautiful your schedule looks, just writing it out isn’t going to help you.

Don’t Over-Plan

The biggest mistake which most of us make when it comes to scheduling is to over-plan. We’re optimistic, even unrealistic, about how much work we can really fit into a day. We look at a blank seven or eight hours and think we can cram them full – when the reality is that we never can.

Whatever your job, you’re almost certainly going to have to face all sorts of little interruptions and hold-ups. You’ll probably also find that some tasks invariably take more time than you realize. Try timing how long it takes you to clear your inbox each day – perhaps you’re budgeting half an hour when it’s actually more like a whole hour.

Build in Margins

Often, when we write out a schedule it looks like this:

• 8am – 9am: Write report section 1
• 9am – 9.30am: Clear inbox
• 9.30am – 10.30am: Conference call with Jo

…and so on. Rather than letting each item run right up against the next, allow a buffer of ten minutes or so. This covers the time which it takes for you to mentally task-switch, and any preparation time for the next item. (For example, that conference call will end up eating into your “clear inbox” time if you need to take ten minutes to dig out the relevant papers and to refill your coffee before the call.)

Margins also apply at a larger scale. If your boss needs the report on his desk by Friday at 5pm, then set yourself a target of having everything complete by Thursday at 5pm. This means you won’t end up rushing things at the last minute, you’ll have considerably more peace of mind on Friday, and you can cope with any sudden problems or other urgent tasks that come in.

Plan for Interruptions

Of course, you can’t literally plan on being interrupted at a convenient moment. But you can plan for the fact that you will have interruptions during the week. Don’t schedule every single minute – allow a “spare” hour or so each day as a bucket for any tasks which have to be delayed or deferred.

When you’re giving an estimate to your boss or to a client on how long a piece of work will take, allow for the interruptions to that piece of work which will inevitably arise. If writing that piece of sales copy will take fourteen full hours, don’t say that it’ll be done in two days – there’ll inevitably be something which comes up to derail you.

Give Yourself Regular Breaks

Your schedule should not look like an endurance test. If you’re focusing single-mindedly on each item and putting in full effort, you will need to take breaks at regular intervals. No one can focus at full capacity for hours on end.

When you come to the end of one task, give yourself a short break. Obviously, this is easier to do if you work for yourself: even though playing Grand Theft Auto for half an hour every morning and afternoon may well make you more productive overall, your boss probably won’t see it that way. But you can at least get up, walk to the water cooler, get a coffee, or do something which requires little mental energy (like tidying your desk or sorting out your filing) while you’re mentally recharging from a high-focus task.

What does your schedule look like? Do you have any tips for success to share?

Cultivating An Attitude Of Gratitude: Why You Should Bother

If you regularly find yourself feeling stressed, are constantly running against the clock, often wonder if there’s any point to it all anyway, and occasionally contemplate just burying your head under the bed-sheets and refusing to face the day then you might want to try something that’s worked wonders for me.
I’ll warn you – this might come off as a little corny at first, and you may wonder how it can possibly change anything. But the truth is that since I’ve employed this very simple 5-minute technique my life really has changed for the better. Not just my career as a blogger and freelance writer, but my health and fitness, and even the quality of relationship I have with my partner and my baby daughter.

But before I start to sound too salesman-y let me tell you what I’m talking about.
THE POWER OF GRATITUDE
The power of gratitude is an amazing thing. When you actively take the time to be grateful you’ll slowly but surely notice all the things you have to be grateful for. Things that you probably never really thought about and maybe even took for granted. I mean really – unless your typical is full of lottery wins, miraculous healings, and career breakthroughs – how often do you take the time to consciously be grateful?

YOUR DAILY GRATEFUL LIST

Try this. Take just 5 minutes each day to write a list of 10 things you’re grateful for. I like to do this in the evening for the day that has just ended. You can do it anytime, but I find expressing my gratitude at night really helps me relax and wind down before bed. Oh – and I’m not necessarily talking about finding big, huge, amazing things to be grateful for. You can be grateful for –
•    Having a roof over your head
•    The smell of fresh coffee in the morning
•    Your child’s smile
•    The ability to read and write
•    Good company
•    An upcoming social event
•    A new purchase or treat
•    Your willpower throughout the day – i.e. eating well or hitting the gym

These are just ideas to get the ball rolling. Once you start to write a grateful list every day I guarantee more and more things will start coming to you and your pen just about won’t keep up!

HOW GRATITUDE BEGETS SUCCESS

And then something amazing will start to happen. It might take as little as a few days, or it could be a couple of weeks but I guarantee you this. Once you start consciously being grateful for the good things in your life you’ll notice more and more things that you actually have to be grateful for.
Now I’m no scientist or psychologist so I can’t really comment on how this works exactly. But you know what? I don’t really care because if it works it works. And whether being grateful is simply opening my eyes and my mind toward a more positive outlook, or whether it’s actually creating new opportunity and success (which I honestly believe it is), either way I feel pretty darn good.

But I do know this. You get what you expect. And when you take the time to end each day with an attitude of gratitude it’s automatic that you’ll start to expect more good things to happen the next day. And that’s a whole lot better than going to bed focusing on the stresses or challenges behind and ahead of you. Wouldn’t you say?

Kat Eden is a health coach and blogger from Melbourne, Australia, and has recently released her first book – a guide to holistic weight loss. Visit Kat over at www.bodyincredible.com for regular tips on nutrition, lifestyle, and motivation.

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More and more of us are working from home nowadays. With fast broadband and mobile phones, we’re no longer tied to an office. Employers are becoming increasingly willing to consider remote working arrangements, and you may well have taken advantage of these yourself.

Alternatively, your whole job may be home based. Perhaps you’re a freelancer or you run a small business. Maybe you’re fitting in some part time work or even studying around looking after your family.

There are lots of advantages to working from home – flexibility, no commute, and the ability to take care of any little chores that crop up during the day. There are also down sides – it can be much harder to focus with interruptions family or flatmates, and you may find yourself constantly distracted by the television, computer games, the fridge…

Here are some ways to make it easier.

Set Working Hours

Having a “start” (and a “stop”) time for work is particularly crucial when you’re working from your home. It’s very easy to put off starting work in favour of doing the dishes, watching day time TV, or popping to the shops. If you’re a freelancer you might get away with this – though clients may well expect to be able to phone you during normal business hours. If you’re telecommuting and your boss realises you’re spending the morning in your pyjamas in front of the television, you could lose your flexi-work privileges.

By having fixed hours, you help train your brain to be in “work” mood at 9am (or whatever time you choose) each day. You also avoid letting work spill over into the evening or even long into the night.

Designate a Specific “Work” Space in Your Home

Many of us work on laptops nowadays, which can be extremely handy – but not if it means trying to “work” while curled up on the sofa with the television blaring a few feet away.

Just like having set hours for work, having a specific space where you work (even if that’s just a desk in the corner of the spare room) can help you to get straight into the right mood for cracking on with your task list.

Having a proper working set up also means you’re less likely to risk back ache or RSI from using computer equipment in awkward positions. You’ll find it easier to pick up where you left off, too; if you’re constantly moving your work around the house, it’s easy to lose important papers.

Close Your Door to Avoid Interruptions

If at all possible, make sure your workspace is in a room which the rest of the household won’t need access to during the day (so working at the kitchen table isn’t ideal…)

When you need to focus on a particular task, close the door. This lets everyone else know that you’re working, and that you’re only to be interrupted if it’s really important. Don’t feel that you’re being rude or inaccessible by doing this; from their point of view, they’d prefer to know when you need to concentrate so that they don’t annoy you by constantly popping in at a bad moment.

If you don’t have a door to close, try wearing headphones while working. You don’t have to actually listen to anything – but the headphones will stop people wandering past and trying to hold a conversation.

Get Out to a Coffee Shop

Finally, if you’re really struggling to focus when working from home … then don’t work from home! Grab your laptop and anything else you need, and head out to a local coffee shop. Without all the distractions around the house, you’ll find it easier to concentrate (plus, if you’re paying several bucks for a coffee, you’ll want to make the most of your time there).

If you find coffee shops too noisy, try your local library. In nice weather, you might even write outside in a park.

Do you work from home, some or all of the time? Have you got any great tips to add about staying focused?

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Overcoming A Loss Of Motivation

“Original Fake” Photo Credit: courtesy of MashKulture

Is your self-confidence natural, or a daily struggle?

Many people’s confidence naturally wavers from day to day, leaving them too timid or confused at just the wrong time. Whether you are naturally confident or could use some better eye contact with your life, setting in place a few simple strategies goes a long way to stoke your inner confidence.

If you think you’re not especially smart or capable, or that failure is a given no matter how hard you try, you’re right.

And if you believe you’re brilliant and can accomplish anything you set your mind to, you’re right.

Amplifying your inner confidence is like any other skill you develop; you can do it in a blink. Day by day, step by step, you will get closer to your goals. No one runs a marathon fueled by decision alone. It takes days, weeks, and months of consistent exercise before your muscles, lungs and stamina will harmonize enough to give you winning results.

Same with confidence. Use these 10 tips to start appearing as confident on the outside as you will soon feel on the inside.

1.  It’s not about you. Understand people’s actions, even when hurtful, rarely have anything to do with you. It’s easy to read into the negativity of others and see it as a slight to our personality or challenge to our ego. Yet this type of reaction can trigger unnecessary stress and prevent you from focusing on the positive things in your life. People are people; there’s never a need to link their behavior and your happiness. Knowing this gives you freedom to feel the confidence you deserve.

2.  Buy clothes that fit. Wearing clothes that fit well and flatter, no matter the shape of your body, provides an enormous boost to your self esteem. Don’t wait until you’ve arrived at a magical ideal to start dressing your best. Clothes never make the person, but it’s hard to feel confident inside when your outside sends signals of uncertainty. Love what you’re wearing and the world is likely to love it too.

3.  Keep laughing. Let your brain give vent to the endorphins that will fill you with authentic happiness and internal confidence. Laughter releases some of the tension that invariably builds in your body each day. Pepper your routine with the people or media that make you most happy. You don’t have to overdo it, but a bit of levity goes a long way toward elevating your level of confidence.

4.  Embrace the quiet. Many people are eager to populate every waking second with activity. With a world moving at the speed of broadband, the problem blooms more with every passing day. Realize you can be comfortable alone with your thoughts and you will provide your internal processes the space needed to develop. This will make you more comfortable with yourself, helping you appear more confident to others.

5.  Make a budget. If this isn’t natural for you, take the time to do it anyway. Claiming control of your finances is an early step to a healthy attitude about money. Though many people believe confidence comes with having lots of cash, confidence accompanies a clear picture of what you have and what you need.

6.  Don’t gossip. Exit conversations that swim in hearsay. Indulging in idle chatter might make you feel in the loop, but the feeling is fleeting and will leave you wondering what others are saying about you when you’re not around. Take the high road – you’ll feel better inside and appear far more confident to others around you.

7.  Do as you say and say as you do. This doesn’t mean you have to draw neat lines through all of life’s to-do’s, but if you articulate your goals, and start to accomplish them, easy ones first, you will develop a mindset of success. This, in turn, makes it easier to feel confident. Your goals could be anything from running your first 5K to finally cleaning out the garage; learning how to strum a guitar or play the piano. Whatever your goals, find something you truly desire, make a promise to see it through to the end, then feel the confidence of success.

8.  Make peace with your body. You will always want to stay active and improve your health, but your confidence comes with the understanding that no matter your size, shape, number of wrinkles or height, you are a person who deserves love and dignity from yourself and those around you. Truly know this, and confidence will bleed through your skin.

9.  Realize you know more than you think you do. All those things you think everyone else just knows? Well, they don’t. If you don’t know something, there’s no shame in asking for the answer. Admitting you don’t have the answer is the first step toward finding it, and the right answers pave the road to confidence.

10. Be enthusiastic. Playing it cool is a great way to ignore your honest emotions and bury the authentic you. Be happy and excited, and allow the world to see it. Your joy will be infectious, your confidence contagious.

You don’t have to follow all 10 of these tips, but they are starters that will help you find your internal confidence and boost your sense of self belonging. No one feels confident 100% of the time, but there are steps you can take to make yourself feel far more confident than you probably do now.

Start with any of the 10 items on this list, and start feeling better inside out today!

Sean Platt is a content marketing specialist and better life blogger. Follow him on Twitter.

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A few months ago I had a toothache and so I went to see a dentist. He had a look at the problem and then knocked off a bit of my tooth and smoothed the rough edge down. I can feel it now as I’m writing this. He told me that he could try to build the tooth back up, but that a basic rule of dentistry is that removal strengthens and addition weakens.

I am not a Buddhist and I don’t know much about Buddhism. But one thing I know – and I think it’s probably all I need or care to know – is that Buddhism teaches a simple truth: suffering comes from attachment, and the end of attachment is the end of suffering. So whenever you can feel yourself feeling bad, you know you’ve become attached to something. Something matters to you.

There is no end to the list of things you can be attached to, no end to the things that can matter to you, things that you care about, things that have meaning for you. People sometimes talk about the ‘meaning of life’ – in the Buddhist view, meaning means suffering. So the way to stop suffering is to relinquish meaning. Let it go. Surrender.

So what’s at the top of the list? What means the most to you? Your marriage? Your job? Money? The stories you tell yourself about who or what you are?

But here is the root of the matter – nothing ever stays the same. The world is constantly changing, and so are you.  Trying to hold on to something that’s always changing is like trying to tie water up in a brown paper package – it can’t be done and only makes you angry (or sad, or frustrated, or depressed, or a whole host of bad stuff). Trying to hold onto impermanent things (ie everything) is a recipe for unhappiness and pain.

So what’s the alternative? Instead of clinging, recognize the truth – that you are always changing, and so is the world – and so to follow the moving currents of life is the only sensible option if you want to be happy. This means letting go of your stories about what matters. It means giving up everything – in a sense, it means losing yourself. When you see the world through your own eyes, not the eyes of who you tell yourself you are – wife, father, teacher, introvert, victim, leader – it’s all so different.

Just as in dentistry, in life, subtracting is always better than adding. When you drop the stories you’ve been telling yourself, drop the labels – when all that stuff doesn’t matter any more – something strange happens. Life starts to work. All the things you cared about and strived for start to show up. The philosopher of Asian religion, Alan Watts, called this the ‘law of reversed effort’ – when a man who can’t swim struggles to stay afloat, he sinks, but when he yields to the water, he floats; when a fly in a spiders’ web struggles to become free, it only enmeshes itself more in the web.  Being still, watching as life unfolds, unattached (not caring about stuff)and letting things work in their own miraculous way is also called the ‘art of allowing.’

The truth of the matter is that, whatever we might think, we cannot force life to go our way. When I was a kid, my dad taught me how to saw wood – he told me to make sure I was moving along the grain, and to let the saw do the work. After a bit of practice, it did indeed feel as if the saw was doing all the work. I was there, holding the saw, but there was a kind of letting go, a kind of effortlessness that led to more effective results. By working with the grain of wood, a carpenter can create amazing and stylish pieces of furniture, but he has to respect the integrity of the material – the way it flows. By sailing – or tacking – with the wind, a skilful sailor can travel enormous distances, but she has to be observant and follow the changing air currents.

I am not a Buddhist. That’s another label, another story to tell myself. But to let go of attachment, to stop caring about things, to allow life to unfold and, in so doing, to achieve more, seems to me like a better way to live.

Mark Harrison writes for a number of self development sites, including his own, EffortlessAbundance. Check out his latest book, Thirty Days to Change Your Life.

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Getting things done is a topic of many websites out there these days, and they all say different things.  How is a person supposed to get anything done when there are so many sites to read on how to get things done?!?  I don’t subscribe to any specific guru out there, but here are a few ways that I have stayed productive for the last several years.  These methods might not be ground breaking, but they work for me, and I think they will work for you too.

Create Small Lists

I take an 8 1/2×11 sheet of paper and fold it in half three times, and use one side to make my list.  This accomplishes a few things.  First it keeps my list short, which requires me to only put my high priority items on the list.  Second, I can carry it around with me easily during the day so I can mark things off of the list.  This is very motivating.  Finally it saves paper; I just refold it for the next list!  Keeping a small list makes the to-do list less overwhelming and more manageable.

Put Everything in a Calendar

I put everything in my calendar.  The good thing about this is that I don’t have to remember things, I just check my calendar the night before (more on this later) and I end up making all my meetings.  The bad thing about this is that if it isn’t in my calendar, it doesn’t get done.  This has taken some training of the people around me as well as some discipline on my part to keep it up to date.  In the beginning there were a couple missed meetings and phone calls, but the world didn’t come to an end, and now not many things slip through the cracks.  Whether you keep a calendar in hard copy form or digital form is up to you.  I use Google calendar because I can sync it between all of my computers and devices so I don’t miss anything.  Also, a great tool for training the people around you is Timebridge.  This allows you to provide a web page to people so they can schedule time with you based on the availability on your calendar.  I use this all the time, and it prevents a lot of back and forth when scheduling meetings.

Have Everything Accessible

This is very important to me.  I try to get everything in digital form, and put it in a place where I can access it from wherever I am at the time.  There are many tools that make this easy, but the one that I use is Evernote.  This allows you to capture things in many different ways, and access them from an online website, or sync them between multiple computers or mobile devices.  The other thing I use is an iPhone.  This has become a device I cannot live without.  This particular brand is not required, but some type of smart phone is a great time saver.  You get to carry around your calendar, contacts, and anything else you can access on the Internet through sites like Evernote.  Additionally, there are thousands of applications out there to help you do everything.  I still write my to-do list on paper though.

Plan the Night Before

Each evening, right before I go to bed, I look at my calendar for the next day.  This allows me to identify any special events that require something outside the norm, such as an early meeting or a late meeting that will cause me to miss dinner with my family.  This also allows me to get a good night’s rest because I am not worrying that I am missing something important for the next day.

There you have it, four simple things that have enabled me to accomplish an enormous amount of stuff in a single day.  They may not be cutting edge, but they have worked for me for a long time!  What are some ways that you use to deal with the avalanche of things in your life?

When he is not flying around the world securing complex computing systems, Sean Mathena runs Find Your Peak where he helps people to achieve peak performance in every area of their life.  Let him help you improve your life by visiting Find Your Peak today!

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“Buy Now, Pay Later!”

This is a huge money myth that seems true, because it is so big and pervasive. The real truth about this belief system is that it is designed to create perpetual consumers! The truth is really pay now and pay later. First you pay by subtly extending your indentured servanthood another three years, five years, or in the case of a mortgage, 30 years.

The same competitive system that is most likely your employer is part of the same competitive system that loans you the money to buy the house. The banking system loans you the money as long as you stay on the job (you have to show them your W-2, right), and “the job” keeps you in the workforce, and by keeping you in the workforce the banking industry gets to make the interest. You actually end up paying now, and paying later.

Do you ever own the home? Maybe, but then there are property taxes to pay that are ever increasing, and they are never paid off. So now you are working for the bank, the labor market, and the government. You are paying, paying, paying, and you are investing in someone else’s bottom line. With buy-now,-pay-later credit cards the interest rate is often more than the original purchase. With a car purchase, you pay hundreds of dollars a month for years in interest and additional car insurance. Once the car gets paid off in say, five years, the car wears out and you have to buy a new one. So you never own it, you are paying now and paying later. The truth it is quite rare that anyone ever gets around to really buying and truly owning!

SOLUTION: Be your own bank.

This is as simple as saving up and buying with cash. One small example: I bought my last car with cash. Granted, it was seven years old, but it was a luxury vehicle with only one owner in immaculate condition. I saved $225 a month in car insurance and in interest. That money (not a business loan) has been invested in my writing business because that is $225 that I do not have to earn each month, adding up to $2,700 a year back in my pocket. This is the equivalent of $13,500 over five years that I have been driving the car. In fact, it is effectively more than that, because to clear that $225, I would have to make $400 to cover taxes, gas, commute time, lunches, dry cleaning, and other expenses of going to work to earn that amount. Assuming I would make about $15/hr in the “job market,” I therefore freed up 30 hours a month (assuming I invest the time freed up as opposed to spending the extra $4,800 per year) to invest in my writing business. This is because I banked the money to buy my automobile with cash. So as my own banker, I have invested $24,000 into my small online businesses without having to borrow that money, pay interest on it, or pay it back. Be your own bank. If you need help in creating a personal banking system, go to www.infinitebanking.com.

Deborah S Nelson is a guest blogger for PickTheBrain and the founder of Author Your Dreams Publishing

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I have a confession to make: I’m not a planner and I don’t have any real productivity system to speak of.

I’ve tried systems like David Allen’s Get Things Done and after a month of I gave up on them. Sometimes I felt more productive while using the systems, but when it came to assessing my overall productivity at the end of the day, I could see little difference.

So what did I do? I blamed myself. I thought of myself as “not good enough” or lacking the attention span necessary to keep track of everything. It seemed that the moment I wrote something down, or made some note on my computer, I’d never look at it again. It was only much later that I realized that what might be perceived as “not good enough,” was really just “different.” Some people like lists and priorities and systems, while others like to listen to their intuitions and see where that takes them.

Time Management and Personality Types

The problem, as far as productivity is concerned, is that 90% of the methods for becoming more productive are system-based. This is cool for you if you’re a system-based thinker. If you are, you’ll probably eat up GTD and other productivity systems like wholesome meals. If you’re an intuitive, however, there’s a good chance you’ll feel inadequate when reading these books. The systems in these books might seem attractive for you at first, but because you’re not a system-based thinker, you may have a high level of difficulty integrating them into your daily routine.

Although the lion share of the books on productivity are for system based thinkers, the actual number of system-based thinkers out there don’t reflect this amount. According to Myers Briggs Personality Type Indicator (MBTI) statistics, those who have personalities well suited for using systems like GTD are in the minority.

The MBTI is an index of 16 personality types. All of these types are based on four different indicators: Whether someone is extroverted (E) or introverted (I), sensing(S) or intuitive(N), thinking(T) or feeling(F), and judging(J) or perceving(P). You get two choices for each of the four indicators and once you have them all you’ve found your personality type.

The best possible personality type for taking advantage of productivity systems like GTD would be the ISTJ (Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, Judging). Because ISTJs are introverted, they’re better at knowing their personal priorities, and thus able to set more meaningful goals for themselves. Because they’re Judging, they’re able to better understand how to make action plans and break their goals into smaller, more manageable steps. Because they’re sensing, they’re much more able to follow along with lists than intuitive people might be. Finally, because they’re thinkers, they’ll stick with their decisions more often without letting emotions get in the way. The ISTJ is the Ultimate Planning Personality, In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the people writing books about productivity systems were ISTJs themselves.

At the other end of the spectrum we have the ENFP. The ENFP will probably have more difficulty with GTD than other personality types. As extroverts, they’ll have more difficulty determining meaningful goals for themselves. As intuitives, they’ll probably prefer to go with their “gut feelings” and intuition over systems, rules and lists. As Feelers, they’ll be more interested in consulting their emotions than logical actions. And, finally, as Perceivers they’ll be more comfortable doing things “on the fly” than planning things out.

Productivity, at least productivity as the GTD’ers define it, doesn’t come easily to the ENFP. But in focusing on their weaknesses we fail to acknowledge their strengths. The ENFP is great at living in the moment and acting spontaneously. They may lack focus, but they make up for it with raw enthusiasm and a passion for things exciting and new. Their contributions cannot be so easily measured with the cold and calculating metrics that many time management “experts” find indispensable.

The problem with GTD and other similar systems is that they cater to the Ultimate Planning Personality, and the irony is that people with the Ultimate Planning Personality are probably such good natural planners that they don’t need any help from these books. And yet, these books have a virtual monopoly over what it means to be “productive.”

This shouldn’t be the case. According to a 22,000 person internet survey, The Ultimate Planning Personality (ISTJ) only counts for 8.8% of the (internet) population. There has got to be some alternative productivity systems out there for the other 91.2%.

Alternative Productivity Systems

This imbalance wasn’t destined to hold for long, and I’ve already noticed a few voices out there that advocate different philosophies when it comes to productivity. One example of a such a philosophy is outlined in Jonathan Mead’s article Why People Hate Productivity.In it he argues that we should focus on fulfilment and creating value, instead of just getting things done. He says that we shouldn’t rely so much on metrics, but our own intuitive sense that we’ve been doing fulfilling work.

As an intuitive myself, this idea resonated with me, and I’d like to bet that Mead is probably also an intuitive. If you were a Sensing person, however, you’d probably wouldn’t even know where to start with a philosophy like Mead’s. Working without a list could be a very dangerous thing to do. You’d be lost and directionless. So, while some people probably thought Mead was making a lot of sense in his article, I imagine there were others out there shaking their heads in derision.

Another example of an alternative productivity system is Leo Babauta’s “One Big Project” method in which he argues that in order to achieve an ideal productivity level you must limit yourself to only one big project at a time so that you can focus all your attention upon it. I think this is a good idea for intuitives because it keeps them from being distracted by less important goals. System-based planners, however, might be more comfortable working on several big projects at once, gauging priorities and tasks and checking them off a list one by one. Again, there’s no right or wrong here, just different.

Your Own Productivity System

In order to be more productive you must get to know yourself better, so that your time-management habits complement your strengths rather than painfully point out your weaknesses. Take personality tests and strengths assessments, and build your productivity system on the foundation of self-knowledge that you gain from making these assessments. For starters I highly recommend Tom Rath’s Strengthsfinder 2.0 and Dick Richards, Is your Genius at Work?.

Although my own productivity system is far from complete, The more I work on it the closer I get to something that works for me. I’m an intuitive, and hate lists and systems, but I realize that I still need order in my life. For me, I’ve found that narrowing my focus (as recommended by Babauta) is a great way to go. I pour all my attention into one huge project, and I only do work that relates to getting that project done. It’s especially helpful if I clear my desk of everything except for the project I’m working on right now. If I feel distracted, and I can’t focus on the project, I do low intensity tasks until I feel focused enough to go back to the high intensity task. If I don’t know the next step I should take in my project, I gather information until it’s clear just what the next step might be. This system was effective enough for me to teach myself programming and create a web application in the space of seven months with no prior experience.

But just because the system I describe above works for me, doesn’t mean it that it will for you. You can’t just buy a productivity system off the rack and expect it to fit. You have to tailor it to your own needs and your own strengths. Books like GTD are just a starting point. There’s some great advice in these books, but not all of it will be useful for you. Take what you can from them, but don’t feel as though you’re bad at productivity because you can’t swallow them whole.

So what about you? Do you believe in the one-size-fits-all solution? Or have you found something unique that works just for you?

Kenji Crosland is a writer and web entrepreneur who manages the social donations website goldhat.org. Ever since quitting his job as a corporate headhunter in Tokyo he has made it his goal to help more people make an honest buck online. When he’s not managing goldhat, he blogs about creating an ideal career at unreadyandwilling.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KenjiCrosland

‘I feel the most fulfilled and perform best when I am helping others in a direct capacity, and am learning in a collaborative work environment.’

I recently told a friend this.  Being able to put such thoughts into concise expression hasn’t always been easy for me.  In fact, in my past, I’ve actually had different ideals, which I’ve gravitated toward.  These ideals had little to do with my aforementioned paraphrase.

I’ve done considerable research on my interests and passions as well as possible career options, which take advantage of the intersection of these areas.  I’ve read numerous books on these subjects, seen documentaries and lectures on the topics, and sought out a variety of mentors and a number of individuals in my own career search and selection.  I’ve even done career assessment through surveys.  I recently took one of these types of career assessments.

The Strong Interest Inventory is based on Holland Codes, and is a common career assessment tool.  I’ve utilized this testing in the past but for some reason my latest assessment provided a new perspective for me, and what I learned was quite revealing.  Not only was the view interesting and relevant to me, but I believe my insights were not unique.  This explains my reasons for writing about this subject.  I believe my thoughts are relevant to many of you as well.

[**] While on a trip to my hometown of Santa Cruz, California, I took time to meet up with David Thiermann to chat about my current career direction.  (I am refocusing from entertainment marketing to mental health.)  In the past, I have worked in a few environments where I perceived people caring more about the work getting done than the conditions under which it was completed.  However, in addition to noticing this, I began to feel a deep disconnect between my own interests and my work.  In bringing this up to David, we began to do some refinement when it came to my own personal ethos.

To give a bit more of a background on the Strong Interest Inventory, I believe it would be helpful to better explain the Holland Codes.  According to Wikipedia, the Holland Codes are as follows:

• Realistic – Someone who enjoys working with his or her hands, tools, machines, and things.  Someone who is practical, hands-on, mechanically inclined or tool-oriented, and physical.
• Investigative – Someone who enjoys working with theory and information.  Someone who is analytical, intellectual, scientific or explorative.
• Artistic – Someone who is non-conforming, original, independent, chaotic and creative.
• Social – Someone who is supporting, helping, healing/nurturing, and enjoys cooperative environments.
• Enterprising – Someone who is persuasive and enjoys selling, dominating, promoting, status, and enjoys competitive environments, leadership and leading.
• Conventional – Someone who is precise, orderly, organized, detail-oriented, clerical, and who has perfect attention to detail.

[**] Of course these self-rating and selecting types of surveys can vary by moment.  At the exact moment I took this test with David, he found me to be feeling most capable and motivated toward the Social, Enterprising and Artistic categories.  The most interesting part about this experience was David’s comment about our society and how it tends to treat Social categories.  David mentioned that in his experience, he’s noticed that society tends to encourage people within the Social category to move toward Enterprising paths.

BAM!  His statement hit me like a ton of bricks.  Not only did I feel this exact stigmatization toward my Social skills and Social career options growing up, but I perpetuated them by believing that I could excise them by working in “Social” settings, parameters and frameworks within the field of marketing.  Upon further reflection, leadership and management were, and are, of incredible interest to me.  As I see it now, my main issue within my experience in entertainment marketing was that in order to achieve leadership roles, I needed two specific things which I did not have at the time: patience and active mentors.

I believe my issues surrounding “patience” are based on the fact that I didn’t enjoy my work.  It gave me little in return for a lot of hours of hard work, commuting and stress.  It paid the bills and developed my skill set, but the work was incredibly dull for me.  What I wasn’t thinking about at the time was that I valued helping others not the work itself; and, in order to make my way up the corporate ladder, I would need to prove myself in an career path which provided little return back to me.  What a revelation!  I only wish I could have made this distinction a bit sooner in my life.

This is not to suggest that by working in more Social environments I will not run into political situations, frustrations, people who are burned out and miserable, and need to exercise patience on a regular basis.  However, when I was able to put my career into a Social framework, for me, the pieces began to better fit together and my current direction made much more sense.  My purpose is helping others, not about persuading, selling and dominating.  I enjoy collaborative environments.  Though I appreciate competitive environments, when it comes at the expense of other individuals it becomes intolerable for me.  Now that I have had this realization, what is left for me to do?  Simple.  Now I need to take the next step.  I need to figure out a way to tap into more S.E.A. tasks and farm out as many of the C.I.R. tasks as possible.  This may seem like a simple concept but in better understanding it, it is truly making a monumental difference.

[**] This post is meant to serve as a reminder to you that no matter much effort and energy you put into your life, you are only going to be able to achieve a level in life that you permit yourself to through such vessels as reflection, dedication, motivation, honesty, openness and risk.  Even when you believe your current path to be absolute in its representation of your own life, life can still surprise you.  I know it recently did for me.  I encourage you to reflect on your own paths and see how you can better tune in to your life whether it is through a career coach, therapist, and friend or loved one.  As in the wise words of my dear friend David: “When people stop going through transitions, they stop growing.”

Nick Holt is entering University of Southern California’s Master of Social Work program this year.  His background is entertainment marketing and his interests are personal growth and development through a lens of positive psychology.  Like him on Facebook.

“It Takes Money To Make Money!”

No. It doesn’t.

Again, with this statement we believe that we are dependent on those who are sitting on a mountain of money. It takes an investment to make money or create wealth. An investment can be time, resources (the use of a PC), home- office space, automobile, learning, training, energy, love, planning, practicing—all these can be money-free investments.

This myth is perpetuated by existing Power Brokers (I have nothing against them), who invite you to feed their dream. If you dare to try to break away to build your own personal dream, they’ve got it covered. If you are breaking away from indentured servanthood, at least they can loan you the money and earn the interest for it.

Whether it be a government loan, a small business loan from a bank, or putting up collateral for a loan, you are again working for the existing power brokers, and you may be living a semblance of your dream, but you are still working for the bank, the landlord (lease on commercial property), or the government (small business loan or grant and the following their rules).

SOLUTION: Self-funded Creative Business Model. Invest in your own talent and build income using the Creative Business Model. With the Internet, websites can be built for free and hosted for free. Mean- while, you can develop a client base and hone your talent. As you make income invest it in equipment, (laptop, camera, training, net- working). This way you do not borrow thousands of dollars and invest it unwisely. Stair-step your business gradually, building it naturally, rather than forcing it with branded marketing and mass-created need.

This is the competitive business model that subscribes to the belief system that “it takes money to make money,” since they are in the business to make money from interest payments. Only if you are forcing a need onto the marketplace and creating a product or service that is not coming from heart and soul will you need to borrow money to make a business viable. Your gifts and talents are viable because you are you and you are viable. Work with the “Self-funded Creative Business Model, more info at www.UniversityofSelfEmployment.com. This may take months and years and decades to come to its fullness. The Powers that Be have been working at it for generations. Think about how many years of education, on-the-job training, and servitude you have invested in someone else’s vision. Instead start investing in yourself and the creative business model.

Deborah S Nelson is a guest blogger for PickTheBrain and the founder of Author Your Dreams Publishing

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