Though we live in a very exciting time in history, it is filled with distractions. Regardless, you and I still have to get real work done. That requires focus.
But what if mental focus is not something you either have or don’t have? What if it’s something you could create, on-demand, whenever you need it?
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Not long ago, I did two podcasts on delegation (Episode 42 and Episode 43) and wrote a blog post. However, in this post, I want to address the single biggest objection I get from leaders who struggle with delegation. Care to guess what it is?
It’s usually some variation of this:
How many times has this happened to you? You go to bed after a long, unproductive day with the intention that tomorrow is going to be different.
Then you wake up the next day and fall right back into the same old trap. It feels like you’re trapped inside your own private version of Groundhog Day.
When most people think about making money, they only think in terms of a job. You go to work, you get paid, and maybe—if you have a little surplus—you invest for retirement.
If you follow this paradigm, you can succeed financially, but it is much more difficult. In fact, most people who take this approach end up living paycheck-to-paycheck and don’t have enough saved for retirement.
I don’t recall anyone ever teaching me how to take notes. I didn’t learn it in school—not even college. Nor did I learn it on the job. It was something I had to pick up on my own.
Maybe this is why so few people bother to take notes during meetings or presentations. No one has ever told them why it is important or how to do it. In this episode, I do both.
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On Wednesday, Google surprised denizens of the Internet with the news that they would be discontinuing Google Reader. This was a sad day for people like me who consume most of their blog content with this simple, easy-to-use RSS aggregator.
Almost immediately, I was flooded with messages from people wondering what I was going to do. You would have thought the North Koreans had just launched a missile against California!
In this episode, I give all of you a peek inside my toolbox. These are “tools” that I use virtually every day in my professional and personal life.
I am often asked about my tools. I hope that this episode gives you some insights and ideas about tools you might use to help with your own workflow. The podcast is a little long, but I didn’t want to leave anything out.
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In this episode, I talk about how to overcome the Resistance. Steven Pressfield coined this phrase to describe that invisible, destructive force that opposes you any time you try to start a new project or make an improvement in any area of your life.
I spoke on this topic at the recent Platform Conference, and the response was tremendous. So I wanted to share some practical counter-measures for dealing with the Resistance in your own life and work.
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I am an Evernote junkie. I use it everyday. It is a major part of my workflow. In fact, I have written twelve blog posts about it.
But often people are overwhelmed by it. They aren’t quite sure where to begin. I always recommend that they read a copy of Brett Kelly’s awesome e-book, Evernote Essentials.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I bought an iPad Mini and am loving it. It goes with me everywhere. It is what I think the iPad should have been from the start.
Since writing that post, I have been asked numerous times about which iPad applications I use. I thought I’d share here my top ten favorites. These are the applications I am using daily.
I bought the original iPad, the iPad 2 (though I protested), and even the iPad 3. However, I eventually stopped using each of them. I could not find a compelling reason to carry it over my MacBook Air, other than to read books. For that function, I used a Kindle.
My biggest complaint with the iPad was it was just too big and too heavy, especially for reading. I know, this would be a laughable complaint just a few short years ago. But compared to a book, it was uncomfortable.
