Productivity Tips: 5 Tips for Avoiding a Reading Backlog

Many people let their reading material build up into a backlog. You may collect piles of mail and other papers or folders full of website bookmarks. Over time, it feels like your reading backlog is a black hole that things never come out of.

Here are 5 tips to help you avoid a reading backlog or take control of one you already have, whether online or offline:

Productivity Tips: 5 Office Organizing Tips

We may spend most of our time in a virtual workspace online, but we still need a physical workspace to use to access the virtual. We have mail and papers and other office supplies to organize.

Here are 5 tips for making your work area more functional, especially if you don't have much extra room:

Why Keep a Journal

Are you thinking of starting a journal, but aren't sure if you would benefit from the time spent? People keep journals and diaries for many reasons. Yes, you need to set aside some time for making entries, but overall, most find that it's time well spent.

You may decide to use an elegant blank book, or a cheap spiral notebook, or dedicated journaling software, or simply a text file on your computer. The process and benefits are basically the same in any format.

Productivity Tips: 5 Tips for Reading Concentration

As we rush through our piles and folders of reading, we can be left wondering what we just read. Maybe you're reading while distracted or just have so much on your mind that the content slips away soon after reading. Reading with purpose can help us understand and retain what we read.

Here are 5 tips for concentrating on your reading for better comprehension and retention:

Productivity Tips: Handling Interruptions

In a previous post, I gave some ideas for how to minimize interruptions, hopefully stopping them before they occur.

Sometimes, however hard we try, we get interrupted. Here are five tips for coping when it happens:

Productivity Tips: 5 Writer's Block Tips

Writer's block. Usually, it's just a temporary inability to write. The key to getting out of a slump is understanding why you're in the slump. Determine the underlying cause.

You may feel out of ideas. Maybe you're having trouble getting started. Or not interested enough in your current project. Or you're distracted by external issues. Or you're stuck on your project, unsure what the next step is. Once you understand the cause, usually addressing that cause directly can push you forward.

Here are five tips to help you get writing again:

Productivity Tips: Time Management

Time management is a vast topic. But don't put off good practices until you have time to research and adopt a whole life-consuming system. Here are 5 quick tips that can help anyone today:

10 Great Notes Quotes

Anyone who follows my Twitter account or browses this website knows that I'm an inveterate quote collector. Even my earliest teenage journals are full of quotations.

Nowadays, I'm especially drawn to quotations that speak to Personal Knowbase — quotes that address the importance of taking notes, sharing knowledge, and recording thoughts and ideas.

Productivity Tips: 5 More Tips for Your Email Inbox

In a previous post, we covered quick tips for handling incoming email. There's more that you can do to keep your email inbox under control. Here are five more tips for organizing your folders, filtering your messages, and prioritizing:

Productivity Tips: 5 Tips for Building Your Writing Skills

Previously, we posted with 5 Writing Tips for Everyone. Here are 5 more tips for building your writing skills. Exercise your writing muscles.