Productivity Tip: Checklists for Recurring Tasks

For tasks that you do regularly, write up outlines of the steps required. This is especially important for tasks that you don't do regularly enough to remember the exact steps every time you do it. It's so easy to miss a step when you do something repeatedly.

Productivity Tip: Bridging Between Sessions

Often the hardest part of making progress on a project is... getting started. Or re-started after a break. When you sit down to start a writing session, you're facing a blank page. When you set up your easel to paint, you face a blank canvas. When you start a planning effort, it's a blank calendar. When you're cleaning the garage, it's the opposite: complete overwhelm.

Whatever type of project you're working on, getting yourself going on each session can be a challenge.

Using Personal Knowbase for Contact Management

A common use for Personal Knowbase is to store contact and address information. Create a Personal Knowbase "index card" file for your contacts.

In Personal Knowbase's terminology, we refer to each "index card" as an "article". Make an article for each contact containing all information and notes about that person, company, or organization. You can easily sort, print, search, index, and filter the list of entries.

Productivity Tips: Setting Goals

Happy New Year!

It's that time of the year again. We sit down and review the past year and map out a path for the next year. How are we doing on long-term goals? Is it time to discard some old ones? What short term goals should we attack for next year? Entire books have been written on goal-setting. But a few basic tips can help you set better goals for your resolutions for the New Year:

Productivity Tips: 5 Tips for Nurturing Creativity

When you're stuck on a current project... When you're looking for new ideas for your next project... When you need a creative solution to a problem... Creativity moves you toward your productivity goals.

Whether you're writing a story, creating a work of art, designing a website, or planning a wedding, here are 5 tips to stimulate your creativity:

Productivity Tips: Effective Telephone Tips

If you find yourself spending too much time on the phone, these tips can help streamline your phone time.

Productivity Tips for Working from Home

Whether you're starting a home-based business, are temporarily working from home, or are teleworking, you need a functional home office that helps rather than hinders your work.

You need an office workspace that helps you work efficiently. You need effective time management. And you need to stay organized. Here are some ideas for dealing with the challenges of working at home.

Cleaning off Your Desk with Personal Knowbase

Today is National Clean Off Your Desk Day, which falls on the second Monday of January every year. Personal Knowbase can't help you get rid of old pens, half-used batteries, and that broken coffee mug. But it can help you tidy up all those scattered bits of paper.

As part of your efforts, try this:

Productivity Tips: 5 Tips for Sending Email

Composing and sending emails can eat up a lot of time. Here are some tips for making your email production process more effective and efficient:

Productivity Tips: 5 Tips for Your Email Inbox

Every year, our email inboxes get fuller and fuller. For many people, email is the preferred method of communication due to the ease of sending emails. Unlike with phone calls, both parties don't have to be available at the same time, you can send the same message to multiple recipients, and you can copy and paste blocks of text without rewriting. Here are tips for getting the deluge under control: