Expert insights. Personalized for you.
Predictable annoyances wear us down, much like a river wears away stone. By dealing with these ongoing issues, we can free up our time and energy for something more meaningful. Let's turn our pigeons of discontent into bluebirds of happiness. MORE
I'm sure that doing puzzles can be a great help to those who want to up their mental game, but it didn't have the effects I was hoping for. The post 30 Day Challenge Wrapup: A Puzzle A Day appeared first on Laura Earnest. 30 Day Challenge MORE
Even though Evernote has some serious disadvantages (see Evernote: Love, Hate, and Usage ), it is still my chosen note software. Today I wanted to show you how I use Evernote so that things are manageable. When I first started using Evernote seriously, I researched the best practices. MORE
I can go down a rabbit hole of distraction faster than a rabbit. To keep myself on track, I took a trick I learned as a parent – using external tools to enforce limits. Today’s show is about the various limiters I use to keep myself away from distraction. MORE
Do you ever have a stretch of time where you are so busy it feels like you can't even pause to catch your breath? If so, you need to look at building margin into your life. MORE
Most people have moments when they see something and think, "I'd like to do that someday." If you're not going to forget about it, that means you either have to do it right now or write it down somewhere so you won't forget. MORE
How much time per day do you spend consuming media? I'm talking about news, magazines, social media and websites. Has it increased with the pandemic? Is it doing you good? Or is it making you anxious and depressed? A media fast can help us break the cycle that news has over us. MORE
I do three different types of planning in order to keep myself on track and productive: daily, weekly and long-term. This month we will be looking at all three. We'll start with what I consider the most important for my productivity: the weekly plan. MORE
During April I wanted to spend some time trying to learn to meditate. Since I fall asleep more often than not when attempting meditation (especially guided meditation), I wanted to have something of short duration, but that would be easy to do on my own. MORE
I was having difficulty coming up with 30 day challenges that actually interested me. I knew that if I wasn't interested, there was no way in heck I was going to do them. So I decided to challenge myself to make my own list of 30 day challenges. This was actually fairly easy to do. MORE
When the pandemic hit with the stay-at-home orders, many people were knocked out of work. The world economy is now officially in recession, and most households are facing lean times. I'm one of the lucky ones in that I can work from home, and my client committed to keeping us consultants employed. MORE
Joshua Galinato of Galiway.Blog and Lifelong Learning podcast interviewed me about productivity, burnout and deliberate living. He has been gracious in allowing me to share the interview with my audience. The post Podcast Episode 26: Interview at Lifelong Learning appeared first on Laura Earnest. MORE
We all have multiple demands on our time. Some of these we choose, and some are thrust upon us. Some of them we choose; some we are asked to do, and some creep up on us through insidious means. This time of pandemic has been a good time for examining our commitments. MORE
SuccessWeb put together a roundup article about productivity and goals in quarantine. I was asked to participate. Read my answers to the questions, and other answers, here: Expert Insight: Planning for a Successful Rest of the Year. MORE
Jeffrey Marr, from Between The Lines Animation, has made a great video on how to break bad habits. It's a summary of the information provided in the book Atomic Habits. Take a look at this informative and entertaining video: The post Animation: How To Break Bad Habits appeared first on Laura Earnest. MORE
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How much do you remember about your day-to-day life? When it was busy it was hard. But under the stay-at-home restrictions, I have found that the days all blur together unless I am very deliberate about remembering. This month I am doing a 30 day challenge to take a picture of something each day. MORE
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Daily and weekly planning will get you through the day-to-day without having tasks pile up for a massive weekend task-fest. But isn't there more to life than just the day-to-day? For a long time I existed on daily and weekly planning only. MORE
One of the things that can suck up a lot of our time is doing things for others. This is particularly apparent if you have kids that still live at home. If you can empower others' independence, you can get a lot of time back for yourself. MORE
The times, they are a'changin. Life now in the details bears little resemblence to life a year ago. And it hasn't been easy. But even though things are changing, that doesn't mean there isn't positive among the negative. The post The Times, They Are A-Changin’ appeared first on Laura Earnest. MORE
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The two-minute rule says that if you can deal with it in under 2 minutes, do it right then. In some cases, I think this is a good rule. But in others, I think batching is a better way to go. Batching is grouping like tasks together and getting them done. MORE
Doing a weekly plan (see How I Do Weekly Planning ) is a great way to frame your tasks in your schedule. But it isn't enough, because you need to be able to figure out what you will do on any given day. Today we will look at how I do my daily planning, based on my weekly plan. MORE
Today I talk about the importance of making a daily agenda - and why writing it out is key. The post Podcast Episode 25: The Importance of Writing Out A Daily Agenda appeared first on Laura Earnest. Podcast MORE
I love my hobbies. Creativity is second nature to me, and I would spend my days making music, braiding, knitting, scrapbooking, doing calligraphy, spinning and writing if I could. Unfortunately, I can't. I have financial and family obligations that preclude my full-time participation in hobbies. MORE
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Spending patterns and consumption are areas that get out of control for a lot of us. The pandemic has changed our consumption patterns, if for no other reason than we couldn't get out to the stores. MORE
I feel like I've been getting mentally sloppy. For this month's challenge, I decided I would do brain training every day. Why Brain Training? I feel like I've been getting mentally sloppy. MORE
Once again I am struggling with burnout. I looked through my archives to see how I dealt with this in the past. And I thought I would pull together the information on burnout in one place. The post Podcast Episode 19: Dealing with Burnout appeared first on Laura Earnest. Burnout Podcast MORE
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Have you ever bookmarked a website, to return later and find that it is gone? Or wished that you could make notes on a website and save it? These are the primary reasons to use a notebook application like Evernote instead of a bookmark manager. MORE
As we start to reemerge after the quarantine, many of us are headed back to the office. But after working remote for so many weeks, it's hard to think about going back to the way we were. Today I offer some tips to keep your productivity up as you move back to the office. MORE
Simple Productivity Blog
JULY 12, 2020
When the pandemic hit with the stay-at-home orders, many people were knocked out of work. The world economy is now officially in recession, and most households are facing lean times. I'm one of the lucky ones in that I can work from home, and my client committed to keeping us consultants employed.
Simple Productivity Blog
JULY 7, 2020
Joshua Galinato of Galiway.Blog and Lifelong Learning podcast interviewed me about productivity, burnout and deliberate living. He has been gracious in allowing me to share the interview with my audience. The post Podcast Episode 26: Interview at Lifelong Learning appeared first on Laura Earnest.
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Simple Productivity Blog
JULY 5, 2020
I love my hobbies. Creativity is second nature to me, and I would spend my days making music, braiding, knitting, scrapbooking, doing calligraphy, spinning and writing if I could. Unfortunately, I can't. I have financial and family obligations that preclude my full-time participation in hobbies.
Simple Productivity Blog
JUNE 30, 2020
I feel like I've been getting mentally sloppy. For this month's challenge, I decided I would do brain training every day. Why Brain Training? I feel like I've been getting mentally sloppy.
Simple Productivity Blog
JUNE 29, 2020
I was having difficulty coming up with 30 day challenges that actually interested me. I knew that if I wasn't interested, there was no way in heck I was going to do them. So I decided to challenge myself to make my own list of 30 day challenges. This was actually fairly easy to do.
Simple Productivity Blog
JUNE 28, 2020
Spending patterns and consumption are areas that get out of control for a lot of us. The pandemic has changed our consumption patterns, if for no other reason than we couldn't get out to the stores.
Simple Productivity Blog
JUNE 23, 2020
Today I talk about the importance of making a daily agenda - and why writing it out is key. The post Podcast Episode 25: The Importance of Writing Out A Daily Agenda appeared first on Laura Earnest. Podcast
Simple Productivity Blog
JUNE 1, 2020
As we start to reemerge after the quarantine, many of us are headed back to the office. But after working remote for so many weeks, it's hard to think about going back to the way we were. Today I offer some tips to keep your productivity up as you move back to the office.
Simple Productivity Blog
JUNE 14, 2020
As we come out of the isolation made necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have an unprecedented opportunity to shift our lives into ones of our choosing. Rather than taking things as they were, we can look at what we desire our lives to be and shift in that direction.
Simple Productivity Blog
JUNE 9, 2020
Today we talk about handling the three types of distractions when working from home: pets, children and other adults. The post Podcast Episode 24: Dealing With Distractions While Working From Home appeared first on Laura Earnest. Podcast
Simple Productivity Blog
JUNE 7, 2020
Far too often what is termed a "weekly review" is actually a planning session for the next week. A true review takes a look at what already has happened, as well as what is coming. The definition of review from [Dictionary.com]([link] says that review means "a viewing of the past".
Simple Productivity Blog
MAY 31, 2020
Faced with a difficulty in finding ideas for my own 30 day challenges, I decided to challenge myself to make my own list. 30 ideas for 30 days. The post 30 Day Challenge: Make A List of 30 Day Challenges appeared first on Laura Earnest. 30 Day Challenge
Simple Productivity Blog
MAY 30, 2020
During May, my challenge was to take a picture a day. I shared these pictures on Instagram with the tag #le30day. Here are the results. The post 30 Day Challenge Wrapup: A Picture A Day appeared first on Laura Earnest. 30 Day Challenge
Simple Productivity Blog
FEBRUARY 16, 2020
The two-minute rule says that if you can deal with it in under 2 minutes, do it right then. In some cases, I think this is a good rule. But in others, I think batching is a better way to go. Batching is grouping like tasks together and getting them done.
Simple Productivity Blog
MAY 24, 2020
In a world where everything has changed, and we all have a lot more time on our hands, does productivity still matter? What passed for productivity before is not relevant, but true productivity still matters.
Simple Productivity Blog
MAY 24, 2020
SuccessWeb put together a roundup article about productivity and goals in quarantine. I was asked to participate. Read my answers to the questions, and other answers, here: Expert Insight: Planning for a Successful Rest of the Year.
Simple Productivity Blog
MAY 19, 2020
For a long time people have been talking about the new normal. But everyone had the expectation that this is how things would be until they go back to the way they were before COVID. The thing is, I don't think they will ever go back to the same.
Simple Productivity Blog
MAY 17, 2020
The times, they are a'changin. Life now in the details bears little resemblence to life a year ago. And it hasn't been easy. But even though things are changing, that doesn't mean there isn't positive among the negative. The post The Times, They Are A-Changin’ appeared first on Laura Earnest.
Simple Productivity Blog
MAY 10, 2020
I really didn't expect my life to change much during the social distancing/isolation of COVID. Other than knocking some forced socialization off my schedule. But I've done some things that I couldn't foresee, and have surprised those who know me.
Simple Productivity Blog
MAY 5, 2020
COVID has completely uprooted just about everyone's lives. We're working, schooling, shopping, exercising, and socializing differently. Every aspect of our lives has been turned upside down and shaken - HARD. Three months ago life balance meant a completely different thing.
Simple Productivity Blog
MAY 3, 2020
Jeffrey Marr, from Between The Lines Animation, has made a great video on how to break bad habits. It's a summary of the information provided in the book Atomic Habits. Take a look at this informative and entertaining video: The post Animation: How To Break Bad Habits appeared first on Laura Earnest.
Simple Productivity Blog
APRIL 30, 2020
How much do you remember about your day-to-day life? When it was busy it was hard. But under the stay-at-home restrictions, I have found that the days all blur together unless I am very deliberate about remembering. This month I am doing a 30 day challenge to take a picture of something each day.
Simple Productivity Blog
APRIL 29, 2020
During April I wanted to spend some time trying to learn to meditate. Since I fall asleep more often than not when attempting meditation (especially guided meditation), I wanted to have something of short duration, but that would be easy to do on my own.
Simple Productivity Blog
APRIL 26, 2020
Daily and weekly planning will get you through the day-to-day without having tasks pile up for a massive weekend task-fest. But isn't there more to life than just the day-to-day? For a long time I existed on daily and weekly planning only.
Simple Productivity Blog
MARCH 15, 2020
Have you ever bookmarked a website, to return later and find that it is gone? Or wished that you could make notes on a website and save it? These are the primary reasons to use a notebook application like Evernote instead of a bookmark manager.
Simple Productivity Blog
APRIL 21, 2020
We have a lot of information coming at us these days. And the fewer spots you have to fetch that information from means the more time you will have for other things. Today we're going to look at what your collection points are, and how to minimize them.
Simple Productivity Blog
APRIL 19, 2020
Doing a weekly plan (see How I Do Weekly Planning ) is a great way to frame your tasks in your schedule. But it isn't enough, because you need to be able to figure out what you will do on any given day. Today we will look at how I do my daily planning, based on my weekly plan.
Simple Productivity Blog
MARCH 1, 2020
Do you ever have a stretch of time where you are so busy it feels like you can't even pause to catch your breath? If so, you need to look at building margin into your life.
Simple Productivity Blog
APRIL 12, 2020
I do three different types of planning in order to keep myself on track and productive: daily, weekly and long-term. This month we will be looking at all three. We'll start with what I consider the most important for my productivity: the weekly plan.
Simple Productivity Blog
FEBRUARY 28, 2020
My 30 day challenge to find a new website a day is done. I've found some great sites - and some new inputs for my regular reading. The post 30 Day Challenge Wrapup: A Website A Day appeared first on Laura Earnest. 30 Day Challenge
Simple Productivity Blog
APRIL 7, 2020
Most of us now have time to tackle all those things we wanted to "when we have time." So why aren't we? We'll look at the causes and the cures today. The post Podcast Episode 20: Getting Back Motivation appeared first on Laura Earnest. Deliberate Living Productivity
Simple Productivity Blog
APRIL 5, 2020
How much time per day do you spend consuming media? I'm talking about news, magazines, social media and websites. Has it increased with the pandemic? Is it doing you good? Or is it making you anxious and depressed? A media fast can help us break the cycle that news has over us.
Simple Productivity Blog
MARCH 31, 2020
For April of 2020 I am going to stretch myself to start a simple daily meditation: 5 minutes of focusing on my breathing. The post 30 Day Challenge: 5 Minute Breathing appeared first on Laura Earnest. 30 Day Challenge
Simple Productivity Blog
MARCH 30, 2020
I'm sure that doing puzzles can be a great help to those who want to up their mental game, but it didn't have the effects I was hoping for. The post 30 Day Challenge Wrapup: A Puzzle A Day appeared first on Laura Earnest. 30 Day Challenge
Simple Productivity Blog
MARCH 29, 2020
Most people have moments when they see something and think, "I'd like to do that someday." If you're not going to forget about it, that means you either have to do it right now or write it down somewhere so you won't forget.
Simple Productivity Blog
MARCH 21, 2020
Even though Evernote has some serious disadvantages (see Evernote: Love, Hate, and Usage ), it is still my chosen note software. Today I wanted to show you how I use Evernote so that things are manageable. When I first started using Evernote seriously, I researched the best practices.
Simple Productivity Blog
MARCH 17, 2020
Once again I am struggling with burnout. I looked through my archives to see how I dealt with this in the past. And I thought I would pull together the information on burnout in one place. The post Podcast Episode 19: Dealing with Burnout appeared first on Laura Earnest. Burnout Podcast
Simple Productivity Blog
MARCH 8, 2020
Sometimes ideas need time to incubate. We may need to work out details, methods, or even the feasibility of the idea itself. To the outside person, this can look like procrastination. But in fact, incubation and procrastination are very different. How are they different?
Simple Productivity Blog
FEBRUARY 29, 2020
The 30-Day Challenges this year are to get me to expand my thinking, abilities and more. This month I have chosen to do a puzzle a day. The post 30 Day Challenge: A Puzzle A Day appeared first on Laura Earnest. 30 Day Challenge aff
Simple Productivity Blog
FEBRUARY 23, 2020
One of the things that can suck up a lot of our time is doing things for others. This is particularly apparent if you have kids that still live at home. If you can empower others' independence, you can get a lot of time back for yourself.
Simple Productivity Blog
FEBRUARY 18, 2020
I can go down a rabbit hole of distraction faster than a rabbit. To keep myself on track, I took a trick I learned as a parent – using external tools to enforce limits. Today’s show is about the various limiters I use to keep myself away from distraction.
Simple Productivity Blog
FEBRUARY 9, 2020
One of the things that I love to do is to dive into a topic and do some research. These thing are always issues that impact my life at the time. I thought as one of the alternating short articles on the blog, I would make use of that research and share it with you.
Simple Productivity Blog
FEBRUARY 4, 2020
Predictable annoyances wear us down, much like a river wears away stone. By dealing with these ongoing issues, we can free up our time and energy for something more meaningful. Let's turn our pigeons of discontent into bluebirds of happiness.
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