INDUSTRY INSIGHTS YOUR PEERS ARE READING
I realized I was having difficulty sticking to my task list.because I had never made a plan. The Planning The Night Before challenge was to get me past that difficulty. The challenge was to make my plan for the next day in my bullet journal the night before. MORE
I was working with a colleague recently, helping him through a process that was unfamiliar with a tool he had not really used. What we were doing is less important than the conversation. Paste the item three times." I'll admit it, I was bored. MORE
Adults aren't the only ones who have to think about stress management. Recently, my Girl Scouts shared their favorite techniques with each other during their AP Exam week. The post Stress Management From Teenagers appeared first on Laura Earnest. Stress MORE
What do you do when you've done nothing so long that it becomes a habit? Today's episode talks about how I conquered that problem with the power of three: three tasks every day, with a secret weapon. The post Podcast Episode 4: The Power of Three appeared first on Laura Earnest. Podcast MORE
130 
Calendars form the basis of any productivity system. These are the single item that tell you where you need to be and when. But calendars have evolved massively from 30 years ago, when everything was on paper. Today I'll look at my own calendar evolution and share how I use a calendar today. MORE
I spent a month working through a life reboot. I found that it was useful in many ways.but that at the same time I needed to recover from a hard-drive crash of life rather than the stuffed memory that required a reboot. The post 30 Day Challenge: Life Reboot Wrap-Up appeared first on Laura Earnest. MORE
My 30 Day Challenge for the month of September is a spending freeze involving no spending outside of the necessities. I will confess that I have a shopping habit. It's not for clothes or decoration or even anything big, but I still shop for a lot of stuff. MORE
It is really easy to get bogged down in the minutiae. We can start thinking of all the steps that need to be done to get a specific result, and lose sight of the end game: the result itself. I find that instead of writing down the next actions, it is better to write down what I am trying to accomplish. The post Don’t List Next Actions appeared first on Laura Earnest. Getting Things Done Productivity MORE
100 
Stress, the flight or flight response, is a necessary part of being human. It's what kept us from being eaten by things in the distant past. There are a whole lot of physical changes that occur while stressed, but there are also mental changes as well. MORE
It used to be that people sent cards at the holidays as a matter of social norm. Now with social media, most people don't send holiday greetings. After all, it is much easier to click a few times or to post once and let others see it when they may. MORE
I spent a month putting things away immediately - and found that not only were things neater, but my procrastination and stress went down too! The post 30 Day Challenge: Touch It Once Wrapup appeared first on Laura Earnest. 30 Day Challenge MORE
My 30 day challenge of exercising every day is over. See what I learned! The post 30 Day Challenge Wrap Up: Exercise Every Day appeared first on Laura Earnest. 30 Day Challenge MORE
The average American sits for 11 hours a day. That is outside of the time spent in bed sleeping. We are the fattest we have ever been, and our sedentary lifestyle is leading to disease. MORE
One of the things that I struggle with as I put together routines to support my life is meaning. It's one thing to take another person's routine and adopt it, but for me, this quickly turns sour if it doesn't matter to my life. I'm looking at this more closely as I rebuild routines. MORE
For my 30 Day Challenge this month, I did a spending freeze. As I talked about when I started it, I wanted to reduce the stuff I was bringing in to the house, and see if could manage to break my spending habit. It wasn't easy, but I got some great results. Read on for more details. MORE
Doing research into stress is enough to induce stress. Looking at all the damage that chronic or acute stress can cause to our bodies is enough to make people want to crawl into their beds and not come out. MORE
Life can get caught up in the day to day task list items. So much so that we forget about everything except crossing off the next item. In today's show I will talk about an every day list. We'll look at what they are, how to make one, and how to make sure you do them. MORE
Today we take a look at a targeted way to read content from the web. I'll look at RSS readers, and share an even better way to read the content when it's convenient for you. Most bloggers will offer free content in exchange for your email address. MORE
Our brains simply can't hold everything that goes with modern life. Add in some stress, and it's more like a sieve than a filing cabinet. Today I'll talk about some common external brains and some tips on how to use them. MORE
I had thought to tackle something major this month, but honestly, I need something that is going to help me stay on track rather than something that is going to shake the foundations. And for that reason, I have decided that this month's 30 day challenge is going to be to plan the night before. MORE
Back about 10 years ago, multi-tasking was touted as the way to get more done. Doing two things at once is better than one, after all, right? Not so fast.(literally literally and figuratively!). When I first heard about multi-tasking, I really thought it was a good idea. MORE
The holiday season is upon us. For most people, it hits like a blizzard tornado, and they find themselves spit out in January dazed, exhausted and bruised. And I understand, because I was like that for many years. MORE
It’s the last month of the year, and I was at a loss to choose a single habit. Many of the habits I have tried through my 30 day challenges over the past year needs some reinforcement, so I thought it would be good to spend a month making those habits stronger. MORE
Last month I did a spending freeze. I spent no unnecessary money, and it really opened my eyes. I had gotten in the habit of running to the store with the pretext of buying something necessary, only to come home with much more. When I did the spending freeze, I realized how much extra this was costing me in both time and energy. Everything has a cost. There are no exceptions. But are you aware of the hidden costs of time and energy of areas in your life? MORE
100 
Not all tools can be used optimally by all people. This applies whether it is a physical tool like a hammer or a productivity system. Today we will look at an approach to allow you to get as much out of a tool as you can. I've always maintained that there is no magic bullet in productivity. MORE
130 
For my monthly patron Q&A I was asked the question: "Do you put tasks on your calendar?" It's such a big question that I wanted to unpack that in a single episode, but I think it's also very important for people to hear. The post Podcast Episode 11 – Why You Shouldn’t Put Tasks on Your Calendar appeared first on Laura Earnest. Podcast MORE
There are productivity lessons everywhere, if you just look. Here are four lessons I learned from a video game my daughter got me into, "We Bare Bears Match 3 Repairs.". MORE
Stress is everywhere in modern life. Some of it is chronic, everyday stress. And some of it can be extreme, brought on by situation and choices. Today I'll look at some advanced stress management techniques that don't get (in my opinion) enough coverage, but can be extremely useful. MORE
What's a great way to avoid procrastination and clutter? Touching things once. My 30 day habit for August of 2019 will be exactly this: training myself to complete little things so I don't have piles of unfinished tasks everywhere. Read more about this challenge and join me. MORE
How many emails are in your inbox? How much time do you spend scanning over emails that are already seen, thinking about what you have to do to each one? Inbox zero, which is not the number of emails in your inbox, minimizes the time you spend in your inbox. MORE
Teachers have an immensely difficult job. Faced with a classroom of children, they have to plan the lessons, produce the materials, manage the classroom and deal with the politics of the front office and parents. If a teacher is not productive, they end up working hours beyond their contract hours and adding to their stress burden. It has been four years since I entered the classroom to teach high school math. MORE
I've talked about how you can take a tool that is not quite right and make it work for you. This is good if you cannot use a tool optimally, or don't really know how to use it fully. There are times, though, when you do know how to use a tool, but are forced to use a sub-optimal or substitute tool. MORE
130 
How you start your day impacts how the rest of your day will go. Start the morning frantic, and you will be playing catch up the rest of the day. But you can stack the deck in your favor by doing the two things that will make your whole day go smoother. MORE
Stress, either chronic or acute, can have major impacts on your productivity and happiness. Today we will look at 5 basic ways to manage your stress. The post 5 Basic Stress Management Techniques appeared first on Laura Earnest. Stress MORE
It has now been four years since my very short excursion into the world of education. The wounds have skinned over enough for me to talk about it, and so I wanted to take today to talk about why I am grateful for the worst boss I ever had. I'm going to call it a mid-life crisis. MORE
Over the summer, making deliberate choices about my life and activities have fallen by the side of the road. Not deliberately (no pun intended). It just has happened due to a lack of intention. MORE
Simple Productivity Blog
DECEMBER 8, 2019
It used to be that people sent cards at the holidays as a matter of social norm. Now with social media, most people don't send holiday greetings. After all, it is much easier to click a few times or to post once and let others see it when they may.
Simple Productivity Blog
DECEMBER 3, 2019
How you start your day impacts how the rest of your day will go. Start the morning frantic, and you will be playing catch up the rest of the day. But you can stack the deck in your favor by doing the two things that will make your whole day go smoother.
Simple Productivity Blog
DECEMBER 1, 2019
The holiday season is upon us. For most people, it hits like a blizzard tornado, and they find themselves spit out in January dazed, exhausted and bruised. And I understand, because I was like that for many years.
Simple Productivity Blog
NOVEMBER 30, 2019
It’s the last month of the year, and I was at a loss to choose a single habit. Many of the habits I have tried through my 30 day challenges over the past year needs some reinforcement, so I thought it would be good to spend a month making those habits stronger.
Simple Productivity Blog
NOVEMBER 29, 2019
My 30 day challenge of exercising every day is over. See what I learned! The post 30 Day Challenge Wrap Up: Exercise Every Day appeared first on Laura Earnest. 30 Day Challenge
Simple Productivity Blog
NOVEMBER 24, 2019
Many years ago I saw the effect of simplifying spaces in my home. By taking away the immediate choices my daughter had for activities, she was able to settle quicker and play longer.
Simple Productivity Blog
NOVEMBER 10, 2019
I've talked about how you can take a tool that is not quite right and make it work for you. This is good if you cannot use a tool optimally, or don't really know how to use it fully. There are times, though, when you do know how to use a tool, but are forced to use a sub-optimal or substitute tool.
Simple Productivity Blog
OCTOBER 30, 2019
I realized I was having difficulty sticking to my task list.because I had never made a plan. The Planning The Night Before challenge was to get me past that difficulty. The challenge was to make my plan for the next day in my bullet journal the night before.
Simple Productivity Blog
OCTOBER 27, 2019
I was working with a colleague recently, helping him through a process that was unfamiliar with a tool he had not really used. What we were doing is less important than the conversation. Paste the item three times." I'll admit it, I was bored.
Simple Productivity Blog
OCTOBER 20, 2019
One of the things that I struggle with as I put together routines to support my life is meaning. It's one thing to take another person's routine and adopt it, but for me, this quickly turns sour if it doesn't matter to my life. I'm looking at this more closely as I rebuild routines.
Simple Productivity Blog
OCTOBER 13, 2019
It has now been four years since my very short excursion into the world of education. The wounds have skinned over enough for me to talk about it, and so I wanted to take today to talk about why I am grateful for the worst boss I ever had. I'm going to call it a mid-life crisis.
Simple Productivity Blog
OCTOBER 6, 2019
Not all tools can be used optimally by all people. This applies whether it is a physical tool like a hammer or a productivity system. Today we will look at an approach to allow you to get as much out of a tool as you can. I've always maintained that there is no magic bullet in productivity.
Simple Productivity Blog
OCTOBER 1, 2019
Life can get caught up in the day to day task list items. So much so that we forget about everything except crossing off the next item. In today's show I will talk about an every day list. We'll look at what they are, how to make one, and how to make sure you do them.
Simple Productivity Blog
SEPTEMBER 30, 2019
I had thought to tackle something major this month, but honestly, I need something that is going to help me stay on track rather than something that is going to shake the foundations. And for that reason, I have decided that this month's 30 day challenge is going to be to plan the night before.
Simple Productivity Blog
SEPTEMBER 29, 2019
For my 30 Day Challenge this month, I did a spending freeze. As I talked about when I started it, I wanted to reduce the stuff I was bringing in to the house, and see if could manage to break my spending habit. It wasn't easy, but I got some great results. Read on for more details.
Simple Productivity Blog
SEPTEMBER 22, 2019
Back about 10 years ago, multi-tasking was touted as the way to get more done. Doing two things at once is better than one, after all, right? Not so fast.(literally literally and figuratively!). When I first heard about multi-tasking, I really thought it was a good idea.
Simple Productivity Blog
SEPTEMBER 17, 2019
You have a list of projects. How do you know which one to focus on? It all comes down to return on investment, at least in terms of time and energy. Today I will give you a way to rank your projects to make it a bit easier to figure out which one to tackle next.
Simple Productivity Blog
SEPTEMBER 15, 2019
Productivity advice can be found pretty much wherever you look. I was watching the Princess Bride a few days ago and realized how much of the movie can be applied to make my life more productive. I work on a team of men that constantly quotes movies.
Simple Productivity Blog
SEPTEMBER 10, 2019
Once a year I take a survey of my readers. I use this information to direct content over the next year. Please help me to help you by filling out the survey. The post 2019 Annual Reader Survey appeared first on Laura Earnest. Announcements
Simple Productivity Blog
SEPTEMBER 8, 2019
Over the summer, making deliberate choices about my life and activities have fallen by the side of the road. Not deliberately (no pun intended). It just has happened due to a lack of intention.
Simple Productivity Blog
NOVEMBER 17, 2019
It is really easy to get bogged down in the minutiae. We can start thinking of all the steps that need to be done to get a specific result, and lose sight of the end game: the result itself. I find that instead of writing down the next actions, it is better to write down what I am trying to accomplish. The post Don’t List Next Actions appeared first on Laura Earnest. Getting Things Done Productivity
Simple Productivity Blog
AUGUST 31, 2019
My 30 Day Challenge for the month of September is a spending freeze involving no spending outside of the necessities. I will confess that I have a shopping habit. It's not for clothes or decoration or even anything big, but I still shop for a lot of stuff.
Simple Productivity Blog
AUGUST 30, 2019
I spent a month putting things away immediately - and found that not only were things neater, but my procrastination and stress went down too! The post 30 Day Challenge: Touch It Once Wrapup appeared first on Laura Earnest. 30 Day Challenge
Simple Productivity Blog
AUGUST 25, 2019
How many emails are in your inbox? How much time do you spend scanning over emails that are already seen, thinking about what you have to do to each one? Inbox zero, which is not the number of emails in your inbox, minimizes the time you spend in your inbox.
Simple Productivity Blog
SEPTEMBER 1, 2019
Teachers have an immensely difficult job. Faced with a classroom of children, they have to plan the lessons, produce the materials, manage the classroom and deal with the politics of the front office and parents. If a teacher is not productive, they end up working hours beyond their contract hours and adding to their stress burden. It has been four years since I entered the classroom to teach high school math.
Simple Productivity Blog
AUGUST 18, 2019
Today we take a look at a targeted way to read content from the web. I'll look at RSS readers, and share an even better way to read the content when it's convenient for you. Most bloggers will offer free content in exchange for your email address.
Simple Productivity Blog
AUGUST 11, 2019
Podcasts are a great way to get information for a busy person. It's like blog articles in audio - you can listen on your commute, while washing dishes, weeding, exercising and more. Today we'll look at what podcasts are and how I listen to them.
Simple Productivity Blog
AUGUST 7, 2019
Calendars form the basis of any productivity system. These are the single item that tell you where you need to be and when. But calendars have evolved massively from 30 years ago, when everything was on paper. Today I'll look at my own calendar evolution and share how I use a calendar today.
Simple Productivity Blog
AUGUST 4, 2019
Tablets are a great way to have productivity on the go. With the latest hardware and apps, some people are using them to replace their computers. Today I'll give you an update on how I use my iPad.
Simple Productivity Blog
JULY 31, 2019
What's a great way to avoid procrastination and clutter? Touching things once. My 30 day habit for August of 2019 will be exactly this: training myself to complete little things so I don't have piles of unfinished tasks everywhere. Read more about this challenge and join me.
Simple Productivity Blog
JULY 30, 2019
I spent a month working through a life reboot. I found that it was useful in many ways.but that at the same time I needed to recover from a hard-drive crash of life rather than the stuffed memory that required a reboot. The post 30 Day Challenge: Life Reboot Wrap-Up appeared first on Laura Earnest.
Simple Productivity Blog
JULY 28, 2019
Adults aren't the only ones who have to think about stress management. Recently, my Girl Scouts shared their favorite techniques with each other during their AP Exam week. The post Stress Management From Teenagers appeared first on Laura Earnest. Stress
Simple Productivity Blog
NOVEMBER 3, 2019
Last month I did a spending freeze. I spent no unnecessary money, and it really opened my eyes. I had gotten in the habit of running to the store with the pretext of buying something necessary, only to come home with much more. When I did the spending freeze, I realized how much extra this was costing me in both time and energy. Everything has a cost. There are no exceptions. But are you aware of the hidden costs of time and energy of areas in your life?
Simple Productivity Blog
JULY 21, 2019
Doing research into stress is enough to induce stress. Looking at all the damage that chronic or acute stress can cause to our bodies is enough to make people want to crawl into their beds and not come out.
Simple Productivity Blog
JULY 16, 2019
Our brains simply can't hold everything that goes with modern life. Add in some stress, and it's more like a sieve than a filing cabinet. Today I'll talk about some common external brains and some tips on how to use them.
Simple Productivity Blog
JULY 14, 2019
Stress is everywhere in modern life. Some of it is chronic, everyday stress. And some of it can be extreme, brought on by situation and choices. Today I'll look at some advanced stress management techniques that don't get (in my opinion) enough coverage, but can be extremely useful.
Simple Productivity Blog
JULY 7, 2019
Stress, either chronic or acute, can have major impacts on your productivity and happiness. Today we will look at 5 basic ways to manage your stress. The post 5 Basic Stress Management Techniques appeared first on Laura Earnest. Stress
Simple Productivity Blog
JULY 2, 2019
What do you do when you've done nothing so long that it becomes a habit? Today's episode talks about how I conquered that problem with the power of three: three tasks every day, with a secret weapon. The post Podcast Episode 4: The Power of Three appeared first on Laura Earnest. Podcast
Simple Productivity Blog
JUNE 30, 2019
For July 2019 I am going to focus on rebooting my life: getting rid of the "programs" that no longer work and deciding what will restart. The post 30 Day Challenge: Life Reboot appeared first on Laura Earnest. 30 Day Challenge
Simple Productivity Blog
JUNE 30, 2019
Stress, the flight or flight response, is a necessary part of being human. It's what kept us from being eaten by things in the distant past. There are a whole lot of physical changes that occur while stressed, but there are also mental changes as well.
Simple Productivity Blog
OCTOBER 16, 2019
For my monthly patron Q&A I was asked the question: "Do you put tasks on your calendar?" It's such a big question that I wanted to unpack that in a single episode, but I think it's also very important for people to hear. The post Podcast Episode 11 – Why You Shouldn’t Put Tasks on Your Calendar appeared first on Laura Earnest. Podcast
Simple Productivity Blog
FEBRUARY 10, 2019
There are productivity lessons everywhere, if you just look. Here are four lessons I learned from a video game my daughter got me into, "We Bare Bears Match 3 Repairs.".
Simple Productivity Blog
APRIL 30, 2019
This is an extremely hard post for me to write. Sometimes your life can completely change in the blink of an eye. On Monday April 22, my husband and I were watching the pictures from my daughter's trip to Europe. The next minute, he was having a seizure.
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