Tag Archives: productivity

Do the Next Best Thing

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Six years ago I had a breakthrough in learning how to stop getting stuck in overwhelm by doing the next best thing.

I was working on HUGE client project which involved interviewing seventy plus people over the course of a month and a half, evaluating the data and drafting a report which was due to the client the beginning of October. Not a problem. I’m a planner and I love laying out a project step by step. I don’t even mind deadlines. I’m one of those weirdos who always had her undergrad term papers done a week early. And I majored in English AND history, so there were a lot of papers.

My best friend, Brandie Kajino, diagnosed with pancreatic cancer the previous spring, was just beginning to feel like herself again thanks to an aggressive chemotherapy regimen. So we decided to make a day of it and drive to Hood River to drive the Fruit Loop and enjoy the fall colors. We picked a Friday in early October, and Cory agreed took a vacation day to chauffeur us and participate in the merriment. Continue reading →

I resolve to…

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Close up , colorful pushpins on calendar

Close up , colorful pushpins on calendar

Several years ago I was reflecting, and I had an overall tinge of regret, sensing that I spent too much time reclining in the sidelines and not enough time balls-to-the wall embracing my life.

Sidelined by kids’ schedules, work schedules, the limits of one car for a household of three drivers ,and the limits of my own mind.

This made me uncomfortable. I resolved to do something else. Or eat something else. Or shop for something else. Continue reading →

Your clients don’t care

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Keep cool and keep clients happyYour clients don’t care if…

…you’re having a bad day.

…you don’t feel well.

…your car breaks down.

…your computer is acting up.

…you don’t feel like working.

Your clients hired you to do a job. They only care about the outcome. Do the job you said you would do in the timeframe you said you’d do it. 

Don’t complain. Don’t make excuses. You signed up for this.

Shake off everything else and hunker down and get it done.

No excuses.

4 Tips for Getting Difficult Tasks Done

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Piece of paper with "to do" written on itHere are my four favorite tips that I use to motivate myself to do something I don’t want to do:

  1. Double check to make sure that you really need to do the item on your to-do list. On a good day, I cross of about a quarter of the things that I’ve added to my list. They’re just not that important and they get in the way of getting real work done. It’s easy to be busy doing things that don’t matter. Continue reading →