Some of my favorite memories of growing up are building model airplanes with my dad. I remember him showing me how to assemble, sand, and paint them. I think back on how proud I always was when we finished a project together.

On one occasion, I remember struggling to get two parts to fit together. I tried several different angles. Nothing seemed to work. I grew increasingly frustrated.

Calmly, my dad said, “Son, don’t force it.” I stopped what I was doing, looked up at him, and instantly knew he was right.

I relaxed, set down the parts, and started working on some other aspect of the project. An hour later, I returned to the obstinate parts and clicked them into place.

Life is often like that, isn’t it?

You do your best, but often you get to the point where you are in danger of breaking something if you press any harder. Then you realize that the best strategy is to let go—at least for a while.

I had an experience like that yesterday.

I have been wanting to interview my friend, Bob Goff, for some time. His new book, Love Does, was just published earlier this month, and is already in Amazon’s top 300 books.

I read the first draft of the manuscript more than a year ago and was blown away. Not only did I want to help my friend, I wanted to share this treasure of a book with my readers. I knew they would love getting to know Bob and his book.

So, Bob and I decided to do the interview via Skype last Saturday. I called him at the appointed time. However, he couldn’t get Skype to work correctly on his computer. I could hear him; I just couldn’t see him.

After twenty minutes of fiddling with it, we gave up and decided to reschedule.

We tried again yesterday. Everything seemed to work fine. I had a fantastic time talking to Bob and hearing more about his adventures with the book. But when we hung up, and I played the video, the audio was badly out of sync.

I worked on it for several hours, trying various solutions I found on Google. Nothing worked. The video looked like a bad foreign film where the actors lips and words wouldn’t align.

I grew increasingly frustrated. I kept thinking, I just need to push a little harder.

Then I remembered my dad’s words. “Son, don’t force it.”

So, I relaxed, set it down, and decided to do something else. It’s just not worth breaking something. Instead, I had to believe that it was not meant to be. At least not for now.

In life, we have to learn there is a fine line between working hard and forcing an outcome that isn’t meant to be.

If we don’t push hard enough, we never experience the breakthroughs that take us to the next level. But if we push too hard, we risk breaking something important—our physical or emotional health or even a relationship. It’s just not worth it. We have to trust.

After all these years, this is a lesson I am still struggling to learn.

If you have followed my journey from corporate CEO to full-time writer and speaker, you know I am a big advocate of using virtual assistants. I couldn’t survive without mine.

But I have noticed that many of my fellow entrepreneurs are reluctant to take the plunge. So often they don’t get the help they need because they think hiring a full-time, physical assistant is their only option.

That’s what I thought too. However, this is usually not the best option—at least not at the beginning. Perhaps ever.

In his new e-book, Bryan Miles, CEO of eaHelp.com, explains why. He provides 9 Reasons to Rethink Your Approach to Staffing:

1. It takes forever to find the right person
2. Employees cost more than their salary
3. You have to find a place to put people
4. You need to keep the people you have busy
5. Availability isn’t the same as competency
6. Employees don’t really work eight hours a day
7. Firing people is a hassle
8. Your personnel budget is suffocating your margin for growth
9. An affair will cost you more than you think

You can download this new e-book for free or, if you want it on your Kindle, buy it here. (It’s only $2.99.) You should also follow Bryan on Twitter. He is THE authority on cloud staffing and virtual workforces.

Granted, Bryan is biased. He co-founded a company that provides virtual assistant services to businesses and non-profit organizations, including churches. I am biased too since my virtual assistant, Tricia, works for his company.

However, I think he is right. Too often, we think that full-time, physical staffing is our only option. It’s not.

I’m convinced that virtual assistants are the future. Tricia has worked for me, fifteen hours a week, since last August. Honestly, it’s one of the best decisions I have ever made. Many successful entrepreneurs I know are following suit.

You might need to consider hiring a virtual assistant if:

1. You feel overwhelmed with your workload.
2. You need help digging out from the administrative pile.
3. You know you could really “move the needle” is you could focus more on what you and only you can do.
4. You want to be more productive and less stressed.
5. You know you need help but can’t afford someone full-time.
6. You don’t want the hassle of recruiting, hiring, and training a physical assistant.
7. You want—and need—more margin in your life.

What can an virtual assistant do for you?

Anything that does not require her physical presence.

Practically speaking, this means she can:

• Screen your e-mail and respond on your behalf
• Schedule and confirm your appointments
• Book your travel arrangements
• Make calls on your behalf
• Perform miscellaneous research
• Fill out expense reports and track reimbursements
• Create invoices and post payments
• Manage any projects you don’t want to handle

The truth is that most of my professional relationships today are virtual. I’ll bet many of yours are as well.

Almost all of my business transactions are conducted via e-mail and occasionally phone. It really doesn’t matter where my assistant is located. No one knows the difference.

All they know is that I have a sharp, responsive assistant who helps them get what they need when they need it. What I know is that I have a trusted business partner who frees me up to do what I do best. Maybe it’s time to consider hiring one for yourself.

Do you ever feel like you are running out of bandwidth? I do. I am in one of those periods right now. The last several weeks have been crazy.

My new book, Platform, is about to be published. My speaking calendar is full for the next several weeks. And I have a daughter getting married at the end of this month.

As a result, I feel like I am falling further and further behind, especially as I try to keep up with my e-mail load and meeting requests. Something has to go.

This weekend, I am planning to go through my calendar and engage in a little calendar triage. In case you are not familiar with it, triage is a battlefield term. Medics have to decide where to apply their limited resources. They can’t help everyone.

According to Dictionary.com, “triage” is

the process of sorting victims, as of a battle or disaster, to determine medical priority in order to increase the number of survivors.”

In other words, some patients will survive without medical care. Some won’t survive even if they have medical care. Triage means ignoring these two groups and focusing on those that will only survive with medical care.

With regard to your calendar, it means you must know which things you can safely cancel or reschedule and which things demand your participation.

I’ve done this before and here’s how it works:

1. Protect the basics. I will look at my current priorities and make sure I have allocated time for them in my schedule. I especially have to build-in time in the alone zone, so that I have time to actually get my work done. I will schedule these as appointments. (This is particularly important as you get busier.)
2. Eliminate the non-essentials. Sometimes I make commitments that seem to be important when I schedule them. However, after further reflection, I realize that they aren’t that important. So, to the extent possible, I am going to either cancel these meetings or see if I can handle them another way.
3. Re-schedule some of what remains. Some things are important, but they are not important now. I like to get things done as soon as possible, but this some times works against me. So, I plan to go through my calendar and see what can be postponed without significant consequences.

Hopefully, with a little planning, I can regain my equilibrium and carve out a little more margin for myself.

We live right next to an elementary school. If I’m going to an appointment, I’ll sometimes see the kids out at recess. Jumping, skipping, laughing—genuinely free.

Inevitably, the bell rings and the teachers start the impossible task of herding excitable, pint-sized people into the confines of a classroom. I can almost hear them from inside my house, “But I don’t wanna!” Such is life, I guess.

One afternoon after witnessing this scene, I started thinking how important recess is to those children. This brief break in the day provides them with the opportunity to blow off some steam, socialize with friends, and get some physical activity.

The consequences of having these basic needs unmet are dire. Ask any teacher and they’ll tell you the worst days are the ones with inside recess. Simply put, kids need this time.

It’s easy for us adults to see recess as something only for kids. But are we, in all our sophistication, that different? Could it be that long after we’ve left the crayons, hot lunches, and paper maiche projects behind we still have a deep need to recharge during our day?

Our modern workday has been heavily influenced by the Industrial Revolution. The name of the game was “efficiency” and the star of the show was the production line. Human beings became human doings.

Unfortunately, the work patterns of this era still follow many of us into our nine-to-five jobs. We’ve chained ourselves to the modern-day version of the production line (computer) and pushed ourselves past the point of productivity.

Is it any wonder that a Towers Watson study suggests that companies with a high percentage of disengaged workers (read: burned-out) reported an eleven percent decline in earnings and a thirty-two percent plummet in operating income?

I think grade school kids understand something that we grown-ups have forgotten.

Might I suggest an adult version of recess? A period of time during the day where you have the ability to clear your mind, chat with friends and co-workers, and get some physical activity?

If that sounds like something you’d want to try, here are some suggestions I’ve implemented into my own life:

1. Have lunch with a friend or spouse. An alarming number of people eat in the same place they work: at their desk. Adding insult to injury, this “cube food” is usually highly-processed, frozen, and devoid of all nutrients. Grab a friend and go out of the office for lunch. Even if you’re an introvert, you’ll be amazed at how much better you feel afterwards.
2. Read a fiction book. For fun. Having a young family, I can’t always read as much as I’d like. My “recess” allows me the time to catch up on books I’ve been neglecting for too long. Fiction accesses a different part of the brain and gets us out of our mental ruts.
3. Go for a walk. Have you ever wondered why solutions to some problems only come when we stop thinking about them? It’s because your brain is backlogged. Taking a breather gives it time to catch up. Taking a walk (or any physical activity) is a great way to give your brain a break!
4. Sit in silence. This might sound goofy for uninitiated, but your mind, body, and spirit crave the chance to quiet down during the day. Turn off your monitor, cell phone, close your office door (if you can). Any place you can shut out distraction. Then, just sit. Even if it’s five minutes, you’ll feel it. In going with our analogy, think of this as “nap time” for adults. Kids need it. So do grown-up kids, i.e. “adults.”

Depending on where you work (or who you work for) your options may be limited. That doesn’t mean you can’t unplug. You’ll just have to get creative.

If you start implementing some of these changes into your workflow, you will feel a difference. It’s biologically impossible for you not to!

There is high-level research being done on the link between rest and productivity. Suffice to say that taking breaks during the day allows us to gather the mental debris floating around in our heads and get rid of it. It’s not wishful thinking; it’s science.

So the next time you see a group of elementary kids playing in the schoolyard, ask yourself the question, “Did I get my recess today?”

I am a technology enthusiast and love to learn from others. So I thought I would share a list of the programs I launch when my computer starts. This might help you discover a few interesting programs. Hopefully, you will share some you use in the comments below.

Let me begin with a disclaimer. I use a Mac, so all my recommendations are Mac related. If you use Windows you can usually find an equivalent program.

I also manage all my start-up programs with a really cool program called Startupizer. It allows me to create different start-up sequences, depending on various conditions, including the day of the week and whether or not I am holding down a modifier key (e.g., ⌘, ⌥, or ^).

These are listed in the order they load.

So now it’s your turn. What programs do you automatically load when you restart your computer? If you are not sure (and not using a program like Startupizer, look under  > Preferences > Users & Groups > [Your Name] > Login Items.

I love to-do lists. Are you a to-do list person? Not sure? Take this one question quiz to find out if you might be an official to-do list person.

Question: Have you ever completed a task that wasn’t on your to-do list, and then added it on to your to-do list, after you completed the task, just so you could enjoy the twisted satisfaction of crossing that task off of your to-do list?

If you have, then you, my friend, are officially a to-do list person. Welcome to the club.

The major challenge I have with my to-do lists, like many people, is that I have more tasks to do on them then any ten people could possibly finish in a week. Sound familiar? Because we live such frenetic lives, we can quickly become mired in the tyranny of the urgent, and prioritizing my tasks for the week becomes paramount if I am going to move closer to my goals.

One of the questions I like to ask myself, in order to determine what tasks get assigned a higher priority, is the following,

“What tasks on this to-do list should, or can only, be accomplished by me?”

We can all think of tasks in our area of responsibilities, for many reasons, that are best done personally, and asking the question, “What tasks can only be accomplished by me?” is an especially important question to consider when we are organizing the tasks and responsibilities of our professional and personal lives.

Last summer my wife, Rachel, found this to-do list that my then eight-year-old son, Harrison, had in his room, and it really made me re-think the types of tasks that are on my to-do lists. Take a look.

In case you can’t read my son’s writing let me go over the list:

1. Bionicles (this is a toy made by Lego)
2. Go to Joshua’s (his friend)
3. Legos (Do you remember when Legos were on your to-do list?)
4. Nap (I wish!)
5. Go-Go’s (This is a toy not the 80s band)
6. Computer (I was glad to see that #6 and #7 were left incomplete.)
7. T.V.
8. Play with Dad

Even though Harrison had a hectic summer schedule, which consisted of playing with friends, building Legos, and recreational-sleep he still put “play with Dad” as an important task to be completed.

Honestly, this to-do list got me more than a little choked up. At times I can be more focused about writing down work related tasks than I can be about the things that matter the most, like my family and important relationships. It made me think about the fact that I spend a crazy amount of time being strategic and intentional with my job, and I want to remember to apply that same intentionality to my relationships as well.

I am great about creating and tackling lists that need to happen to lead a productive work day, but I am less intentional about the fact that:

• I am the only father my children have.
• I am the only husband that my wife has, and I am called to be her partner, champion, and lover.
• No one is going to run three miles for my heart or loose fifteen pounds on my behalf.
• If I don’t spend regular time with God I will have a harder time recognizing his voice in my life. (John 10)

Like many people, I am much more comfortable asking the question what is there “to-do” and a lot less focused on what/who I am called “to-be.”

So, in order to be more intentional with developing habits that remind me that I am not simply a collection of my accomplishments and my to-do’s, I have started thinking about not only my to-do list but my to-be list.

What is a to-be list? It is simply a list of the time and tasks that I need to invest in, so that I can move towards being the person God has called me to be.

Here are a few examples of my “to-be” categories with one task on each list.

In order “to-be” a caring father I will:

• Find time each week to spend with each of my children, one-on-one, doing something they love.

In order “to-be” a loving husband I will:

• Make sure I tell Rachel every day how much I love her, and give her specific example of how much I appreciate what she does for our family.

In order “to-be” the Barry God has created me to be I will:

• Exercise at least three times a week for thirty minutes.

In order “to be” a child of God I will:

• Spend time listening to God’s voice, every morning, for at least twenty minutes through prayer and the reading of scripture.

You see, I get so focused about meetings and tasks that sometimes I forget to prioritize the things in life that most need to be accomplished, and that can ONLY can be done by me—like my relationships with my friends and family.

Let me encourage you that I am not writing this because I have all the answers figured out, but because I have been challenged by these things more than I would like to admit, and need helpful tools, and people, to keep me accountable. It took the to-do list of my eight-year-old son to remind me what is important in life.

As an exercise, I encourage you to take a few minutes today and write down a few “to-be” categories and add one task to each category.

I have been using task-management software since the late 90s, when I first installed a program developed by Franklin-Covey. Since then, I have tried almost every system available, including Things, Remember the Milk, OmniFocus, Midnight Inbox, iGTD, Wunderlist, and many more.

But the one I have used for more than four years is Nozbe. In my view, nothing else comes close. The company just released a new desktop version (both Windows and Mac), which I have been beta-testing for the past few months.

If you are looking for a task management software tool—or are tired of the limitations of the one you have—here are eight reasons you should consider Nozbe:

1. It follows the GTD methodology. This is the task-management methodology made popular by David Allen in his best-selling book, Getting Things Done (i.e, GTD). Rather than organizing tasks in a rigid, hierarchical fashion, he developed a flexible system for organizing tasks according to the context in which they are done (e.g., while online, while at the office, while at home, errands, phone calls, etc.) Nozbe follows this structure.
2. It has an elegant, beautiful interface. The interface is much different from the web version, which, frankly, was showing its age. (Note: it, too, is being completely redesigned.) The desktop version is faster and easier to use. In my opinion, it still needs some work. It is missing a Preferences panel, for example, along with standard Mac menu items and keyboard shortcuts. For example, rather than entering ⌘-N to start a new task, you enter the letter “a.”
3. It has the ability to share projects. This is one of my favorite aspects of Nozbe. It is designed with teams in mind. You can easily share projects with others, so they show up in their Nozbe. You can then assign tasks to individuals. The best part is team members can comment on individual tasks to update the status of the project, share resources, and ask questions. For example, my wife, Gail, and I use this for sharing shopping lists.
4. It syncs seamlessly in the cloud. This is the primary reason I stopped using Things, another GTD task management system. It allowed you to sync over a WiFi network but not in the cloud. This proved to be too cumbersome in every day use. (The developer finally has a cloud version in beta, but the process has been painfully slow.) Nozbe uses auto-sync in the latest version, so everything is instantly synced in the cloud and pushed to every other device you have running Nozbe.
5. It works with third-party applications. This is another aspect of Nozbe I love. For example, you can forward e-mails to Nozbe so a task is automatically created and the e-mail is attached as a comment. You can also sync individual Evernote items to specific projects. This is very handy if you use Evernote as much as I do. You can also attach individual files to projects or link them using DropBox. This makes Nozbe a veritable command center.
6. It is available on almost every device. I use Nozbe on my MacBook Air, my iPad 3, and my iPhone. It is also available on Android. As a result, I always have my cloud-synced task management system with me, no matter what device I am using. The iPhone app in particular is a delight to use. And, I understand a HTML 5 version with offline support is in the works.
7. It provides a Quick Entry mode. Nozbe is easy to use but was built with power users in mind. The new quick entry mode, for example, allows you to enter a task and then, using a hashtag (i.e., the pound symbol) immediately add a context, project name, due date, etc. This is a big time-saver.
8. It is supported by an active development team. The founder of Nozbe, Michael Silwinski, is a personal friend of mine. His energetic, can-do attitude is infectious. He has a great vision for the product, leads a talented team, and is committed to releasing updates every few months.

The more I use Nozbe, the more I am impressed. It’s not perfect—and it’s not the least expensive—but it is better than anything else I have found on the market. The product is at once simple to use and yet full of numerous, advanced features. It is the only task management system I feel comfortable recommending.

The app itself is free. Nozbe makes its money by charging a subscription fee to sync your data between devices. It is worth every penny. However, you can try this service risk-free for sixty days. You can download the free Nozbe desktop apps (Mac and Windows) from the Nozbe home page.

I am a habitual nap-taker. I take one almost every day and have for years. I used to feel a little guilty about it—like I was slacking off or something. Then Sam Moore, my predecessor at Thomas Nelson, admitted to me he too was a napper.

“Every day after lunch, I lie down on the sofa in my office,” he recounted. “I hold my car keys in my right hand and let my hand hang toward the floor. When the car keys fall out of my hand, I know I’m done.” (Evidently, the famous artist Salvador Dali had a similar practice.)

Napping Celebrities

Then I discovered many other successful people who were nappers:

• Leonardo da Vinci took multiple naps a day and slept less at night.
• The French Emperor Napoleon was not shy about taking naps. He indulged daily.
• Though Thomas Edison was embarrassed about his napping habit, he also practiced his ritual daily.
• Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, used to boost her energy by napping before speaking engagements.
• Gene Autry, “the Singing Cowboy,” routinely took naps in his dressing room between performances.
• President John F. Kennedy ate his lunch in bed and then settled in for a nap—every day!
• Oil industrialist and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller napped every afternoon in his office.
• Winston Churchill’s afternoon nap was a non-negotiable. He believed it helped him get twice as much done each day.
• President Lyndon B. Johnson took a nap every afternoon at 3:30 p.m. in order to break his day up into “two shifts.”
• Though criticized for it, President Ronald Reagan famously took naps as well.

Could these successful leaders know something you don’t?

Napping Benefits

I suggest you seriously consider taking a daily nap for the following five reasons:

1. A nap restores alertness. The National Sleep Foundation recommends a short nap of 20–30 minutes “for improved alertness and performance without leaving you feeling groggy or interfering with nighttime sleep.”
2. A nap prevents burnout. In our always-on culture, we go, go, go. However, we were not meant to race without rest. Doing so leads to stress, frustration, and burnout. Taking a nap is like a system reboot. It relieves stress and gives you a fresh start.
3. A nap heightens sensory perception. According to Dr. Sandra C. Mednick, author of Take a Nap, Change Your Life, napping can restore the sensitivity of sight, hearing, and taste. Napping also improves your creativity by relaxing your mind and allowing new associations to form in it.
4. A nap reduces the risk of heart disease. Did you know those who take a midday siesta at least three times a week are 37 percent less likely to die of heart disease? Working men are 64 percent less likely! It’s true, according to a 2007 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Dimitrios Trichopoulos, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, who led the study said, “Taking a nap could turn out to be an important weapon in the fight against coronary mortality.”
5. A nap makes you more productive. Numerous medical studies have shown workers becoming increasingly unproductive as the day wears on. But a 2002 Harvard University study demonstrated a 30-minute nap boosted the performance of workers, returning their productivity to beginning-of-the-day levels.

Napping Tips

I typically take a 20-minute right after lunch. If I can’t do it then, I try to squeeze it in before 4:00 p.m.

While working in a motor shop in college, I would eat lunch in my car and then lie down in the back seat. When I was CEO at Thomas Nelson, I napped in a “zero gravity chair” that reclined to a horizontal position. Since I now work from my home, I retreat to my bedroom and lie down in my bed.

Here are a few practices I have found helpful.

1. Be consistent. Try to nap at the same time every day. This helps stabilize your circadian rhythms and maximize the benefits.
2. Keep it short. Avoid “sleep inertia,” that feeling of grogginess and disorientation that can come from awakening from a deep sleep. Long naps can also negatively impact nighttime sleep. I recommend 20–30 minutes. Set an alarm on your phone to avoid oversleeping.
3. Turn off the lights. Light acts as a cue for our bodies. Darkness communicates it is time to shut down—or go into standby mode. If you can’t turn off the lights, use a simple eye mask. I bought mine at Walgreens. Turn the lights back up to full brightness when you wake up.
4. Use a blanket. When you sleep, your metabolism falls, your breathing rate slows, and your body temperature drops slightly. Though not imperative, you will usually be more comfortable if you use a light blanket when you nap.
5. Be discreet. Getting caught napping at your desk is not a good way to earn respect. In some old-school environments, it might even get you fired! But most people get an hour for lunch. Eat in half that time and then go snooze in your car, an unused conference room, or even a closet.

Finally, shift your own thinking about naps. People who take them are not lazy. They might just be the smartest, most productive people you know.

Tell me if this scenario sounds familiar. You hear the alarm clock go off in the morning. You just need a couple more minutes of sleep, so you hit the snooze button.

Ten minutes later, the alarm clock goes off, but you’re already sound asleep. Thirty minutes later, you wake up in a panic. You just overslept and are going to be late.

You rush out of bed, throw on whatever you can find and head to the bathroom. You look at your toothbrush and tell yourself there’s no time. You gargle, grab whatever is in the fridge for lunch and you’re off.

As you’re heading to the door, you see your Bible on the table, but you don’t have time. You get in your car, praying there will be no traffic. You get on the highway, and it’s bumper-to-bumper.

Whatever shot you had of having a good day is gone. The whole way to work, you’re thinking up excuses of why you’re late.

The rest of your day, you’re dropping things and running into people. It becomes one of those days you completely want to forget.

You get home, and you’re already worked up. Any little thing sets you off. You can’t wait for bed!

Now, your day may not have gone exactly like this, but you’ve had days that were close, right? How you spend the first hour of your day will determine how well the rest of it goes.

You can have a bad first hour and turn it around, but nine times out of ten, if you have a bad first hour, the rest of your day is ruined. Here are four tips for having a great first hour of the day:

1.  Get things prepared the night before. Right before you go to bed, set yourself up for the next day. Get your clothes ready, and put them in a spot where you can grab them in the morning. If you have to iron, do it that night.

   Grab everything you’ll need in the morning and put it in one spot, so you can wake up and have it ready to go. If you make your own lunch, have it ready in the fridge. Do as much prep work as you can to eliminate the hectic morning routine.

2.  Get enough sleep. You have to get a good amount of rest. What that amount is—that’s up to you. For the last ten years, I have delivered bread, waking up as early as nine p.m. to three a.m. at the latest.

   For the longest time I would get between two to four hours of sleep. Do I need to tell you how rough the first hour of the day was for me?

   When I got home I wouldn’t make it if I didn’t take a nap. The problem was the nap would cut into whatever time I wanted to write, do activities with my family, or any projects I wanted to do. Your body needs enough sleep for you to function properly all day. It’s just not natural to not get enough sleep.

3. Get up a little early and have devotions. That quite time you spend in the morning, reading God’s Word and praying, will calm you and prepare you for the day.

   The verses you read as a part of that first hour of the morning will be your shield. Even if you can only spare twenty minutes, it can go a long way to ensure a positive, stress-free day.

4. Use every minute of that first hour wisely. When I started the bread route, I would do devotions for twenty minutes, then my morning workout for another twenty minutes, then shower and head to work.

   During that workout time, I would listen to some soothing music or a podcast that inspired me. Using every minute of that first hour helped keep me focused throughout the day. I was intentional with my time, which led to amazing results.

Are you in a “funk” lately and wonder why? You might feel like that those few minutes of sleep is just what your body needs, but that’s not true.

When that alarm clock goes off, wake up and hit the ground running. Make sure you give yourself the proper amount of rest the night before.

Spend that time with the Lord and prepare yourself for all the stresses life will throw at you. And get encouraged with some of the amazing content we all have available to us.

Question: How do you normally spend your first hour? How does the rest of your day turn out? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

I often write and speak on workload management. But even I occasionally get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of requests and assignments. I’m in such a state right now.

In the last week I’ve attended board meetings for three different companies. Two were out of town. In addition, I have spoken publicly five times and am right in the middle of reviewing the copy-edited manuscript for my new book.

That doesn’t even count the 669 e-mails I have received in the last week. (Yes, that’s the exact count as of 10 minutes ago. It only represents the ones that have come through to my private account.) No wonder I feel overwhelmed!

But I’ll bet your life is no different. The reality is all of us have more work than we can possibly do. When you add to this the demands of regular exercise, family, church, civic duties, and some semblance of a social life, it becomes impossible.

Here are six things you can do to cope. Trust me, I am preaching to myself!

1. Acknowledge you can’t do it all. The idea that you will eventually get caught up is a myth. It’s impossible. You have more work than you can reasonably expect to get done. And unfortunately, your workload is not static. Even now, while you are reading this post, your inbox is filling up with fresh new tasks.
2. Accept the fact some things won’t get done at all. This flows from the first item. You have to make peace with the fact that you must leave some things undone—for the sake of your own sanity.
3. Practice workload triage. On the battlefield, medics have to decide where to apply their limited resources. They can’t help everyone. According to Dictionary.com, triage is
   

   the process of sorting victims, as of a battle or disaster, to determine medical priority in order to increase the number of survivors.”

   Some patients will survive without medical care. Some won’t survive even if they have medical care. Triage means ignoring these two groups and focusing on those that will only survive with medical care.

   You must know which things you can safely ignore and which things demand your intervention.

4. Categorize your tasks by priority. In my view, this is the one thing missing from David Allen’s system. It assumes all tasks are equal. Or to say it another way, you can only decide a task’s relative priority in the moment.This doesn’t work for me. I end up with scores of tasks I must review every day. My eyes glaze over, and I fall prey to what Charles Ummel calls the Tyranny of the Urgent.

   Instead, I like the Franklin-Covey method of assigning a priority tag to each task:

   A—urgent and important
   B—important but not urgent
   C—urgent but not important
   D—not urgent or important

   I personally categorize each task with one of these tags. At the beginning of each day, I focus on my A’s first. If I get those done, I move to the B’s, then the C’s.

5. Practice intentional neglect.Many people practice the opposite—unintentional neglect. They forget to do something or they are late in meeting their deadlines. They don’t like this behavior and neither do those who are counting on them.But this inevitably happens if you don’t practice intentional neglect. You must decide in advance you will not do category D tasks. They are neither urgent nor important. They are simply not worthy of your time or attention.

   “But,” you may ask, “what about tasks I don’t think are important but someone else does?” Great question. Let me give you an example.

   When I was a CEO, my Board sometimes asked me to do something I thought was a waste of time. I didn’t regard it as important. But, because I served at their pleasure—and wanted to keep my job!—I re-categorized it in my mind as important. Sometimes, it is a simple matter of re-framing the task.

   On the other hand, I recently received a lunch request from a man who is an acquaintance. He is looking for a job and wanted to discuss career possibilities in the publishing industry. This is no doubt important to him and possibly urgent. For me it is neither, so I declined.

   The bottom line is you must learn to say “no” to the unimportant tasks, so you can say “yes” to the important tasks and actually get them done.

6. Do the next most important thing next. Multi-tasking is a myth. You really can’t do more than one thing at a time—at least more than one thing that requires focused attention. So get your list of priorities, do the most important thing first, then move to the next item and work down your list.

For today, I have six things I’d like to accomplish: one of them is an A, four are Bs, and one is a C. I’m starting at the top and working down the list.

I left my role as CEO of Thomas Nelson in April 2011. I thought I could get by without an assistant. Boy, was I wrong.

As a result of greater focus on writing, my blog traffic spiked and my comment load doubled. I started getting more email. I had to book my own travel. I soon felt overwhelmed.

Initially, I thought I’d hire a part-time assistant. I even created a job description and sent it to several people I thought might know of someone. A few people applied.

But then I started counting the cost:

• Where would I put them, since I work out of my house?
• Would I have to supply my assistant with a computer? a cell phone? other equipment?
• Did I want to pay payroll taxes and keep up with the paperwork?

So, I switched gears and considered a virtual assistant (a “VA”). I re-read Tim Ferriss’s excellent chapter on virtual assistants in The 4-Hour Work Week (see Chapter 8).

I had hired a “VA” a few years ago while I was still at Thomas Nelson. I did this more as an experiment than anything else. I hired someone in another country for about $10 an hour. It was cheap, but the service was disappointing. I decided this time that I would hire someone domestically.

I posted on Twitter that I was looking for a virtual assistant. Within an hour, Bryan Miles of eaHELP.com responded. We talked by phone a few minutes later.

I was impressed by Bryan’s responsiveness, personal values, and operating philosophy. After considering a few other options, I decided to give his firm a try.

Bryan assigned Tricia to my account. I was immediately impressed with her. She has worked for me since August, and I couldn’t be happier. People I interact with, assume that we are working out of the same office. She has her own michaelhyatt.com email address. I routinely get compliments on her responsiveness and efficiency.

Here’s what she does:

• She screens my email. She checks my main email accounts, handles what she can, and “redirects” the messages that require my personal attention to my private account. She has reduced my email load by 90 percent.
• She books my travel. She handles all the details, including airline reservations, hotels, car rental, etc. She sets up a trip in TripIt, so I have everything I need in one place.
• She makes calls on my behalf. She makes appointments (both personal and professional), confirms my appointments, checks my voice mail, and follows up as needed.
• She manages my calendar. Almost nothing gets on my calendar unless it passes through her first. We have agreed together that I will only accept appointments on two afternoons a week, and she works to stay within those boundaries.
• She handles other projects as needed. I continue to turn over more and more to her. For example, she recently screened all the people who had applied to be a community leader on my site. She and my manager, Joy, ended up picking the final ten I appointed.

Basically, Tricia can do anything that doesn’t require her physical presence.

I started using her for five hours a week and quickly went to fifteen. I found that I was so much more productive that it was well-worth the additional investment.

Tricia has now become such a partner in my business that I no longer even think of her as virtual. She’s just one of my teammates—and a very valuable one at that.

Vision and strategy are both important. But there is a priority to them. Vision always comes first. Always. If you have a clear vision, you will eventually attract the right strategy. If you don’t have a clear vision, no strategy will save you.

I have seen this over and over again in my professional and personal life. Once I got clear on what I wanted, the how almost took care of itself. Let me give you an example.

In July of 2000, my boss suddenly resigned. I was already the Associate Publisher of the division, the second-in-command. With his departure, I was asked to take his job. I became the publisher of Nelson Books, one of the trade book divisions of Thomas Nelson.

I knew our division was in bad shape. But I didn’t know how bad things really were until I became the publisher. I took a deep breath and began to assess reality. Here’s what I found:

• We were the least profitable division of fourteen in the Company. We had actually lost money the previous year. People in the other divisions were mumbling about our performance and how we had drug the whole company down.
• Revenue growth had been basically flat for three years. In addition, we had just lost our single biggest author to a competing publishing company. This made revenue growth going forward even less likely.
• As a percentage-of-revenue, inventory and royalty advances were the highest in the company. In other words, we were the least efficient users of working capital. We were consuming enormous corporate resources and providing virtually no return to our shareholders.
• We were publishing about 125 new titles a year with ten people. Everyone was overworked and the quality of our output showed it. We simply had too much to do.

Honestly, things could not have been worse. However, as the new divisional executive, I recognized that things could not have been better for me. This was a great career opportunity. If I turned the division around, I would be a hero. If I didn’t, that would be okay, too. After all, the division was a mess when I inherited it. I couldn’t lose.

The first thing I did was to go off on a private retreat. I had one objective in mind. I wanted to get crystal clear on my vision. What did I want to see happen? What would the division look like in three years? I didn’t care about strategy; I was only concerned with vision.

Through the years, I had learned that if you think about strategy (the “how”) too early, it will actually inhibit your vision (the “what”) and block you from thinking as big as you need to think. What you need is a vision that is so big that it is compelling, not only to others, but to you. If it’s not compelling, you won’t have the motivation to stay the course and you won’t be able to recruit others to help you.

For example, if I had been strategic before I was visionary, I might have said, “Well, I don’t see how we can accomplish much. The situation is so dire. We don’t have many resources to work with. Let’s just try to get to break-even this next year. Maybe we can reduce our working capital some by selling off a little obsolete inventory. And, maybe we can sign a few new authors and get a little revenue growth.”

Do you think anyone would have gotten excited about this? Would this vision have attracted the right authors? Would it have retained the right employees? Would it have secured additional corporate resources? I don’t think so.

The problem is that people get stuck on the how. They don’t see how they could accomplish more, so they throttle back their vision, convinced that they must be “realistic.” And, what they expect becomes their new reality. This is simply faith applied negatively.

I didn’t take this approach. Instead, I developed a vision statement that I found compelling. If I couldn’t get excited about it, I couldn’t sell it to others. Instead, I gave myself permission to envision the perfect future. Here’s what I wrote down:

Once I had this on paper, I came back to the office and called a meeting with my entire staff. I reviewed our current reality. I was brutally honest. The situation was dire, and I didn’t pull any punches.

I then shared the new reality—the vision—and described it in as much detail as I could. I was genuinely enthusiastic and committed. Because I found the vision compelling, most of the them did, too. Some were slow to get on-board, but in the end, even the most reluctant ones came around.

I personally read through this vision daily. I prayed over every part. I asked God to guide us. Little by little, He brought us the strategy and the resources. However, I spent way more time—probably ten-to-one—focused on the what rather than the how.

When people would ask, “How in the world are you going to accomplish this?”, I would just smile and say, “I’m not sure, but I am confident it is going to happen. Just watch.”

And, guess what? It happened. I thought my initial vision would take at least three years to accomplish. Amazingly, we had an almost complete turnaround in eighteen months. We exceeded almost every aspect of our vision.

Over the next six years, Nelson Books was consistently the fastest growing, most profitable division at Thomas Nelson. It had one bestseller after another. It was home to almost all of our company’s bestselling authors during that time.

This didn’t happen because we had a great business strategy. It happened because we had a clear vision of what we wanted to achieve. That’s where it started, and that’s where you have to start if you want to experience a different reality than the one you have now, you have to get clear on what you want.

Here’s what I recommend:

1. Get alone with just a journal and a pen. If you can get a way to a solitary place, so much the better.
2. Make sure you won’t be interrupted. Turn off your cell phone, e-mail, television, etc.
3. Close your eyes and pray. Ask God for inspiration and guidance. What you ultimately want is alignment between His plan and your vision. But don’t make this harder than it needs to be. God usually speaks through our desires. If that’s a new thought, then read John Eldredge’s book, Desire: The Journey We Must Take to Find the Life God Offers.
4. Write down your current reality—all the things that you don’t like. Be brutally honest. It’s difficult to change unless you find your current reality unacceptable.
5. Now write down what you would like to see happen. Write it down in detail. If you can, use all five senses. Write it in the present tense, as though it has already happened. This will make it more believable to you.
6. Share your vision with the people who have a stake in the outcome.
7. Commit to reading your vision daily. This is critically important. “Faith is the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). The more you can “see” this, the more likely it will come to pass.

Remember: Don’t get hung up on how you will accomplish your vision. Just believe God and watch it come to pass.

Recently, I was preparing to deliver a speech and found myself in a funk. I was experiencing an unusual amount of distraction and self-doubt. Fortunately, I had about four hours before I was to go on stage. So, I decided to call my wife, Gail.

She instantly knew I wasn’t in a good place. (This is one of the many benefits of long-term marriage. My wife can read me like a book.) After listening to me whine for a few minutes she said, “Okay, I want you to hang up and go for a run. Call me when you are done.”

I was tempted to blow her off, but I knew in my heart that she was right. I needed a big shift in my emotional state. It wasn’t going to just happen. I needed to do something.

When I called her an hour later, everything had changed. My emotional state had shifted—dramatically. I was focused, alert, and upbeat. I had a can-do attitude.

This was a good reminder of something we had learned years ago from Tony Robbins:

Emotion is created by motion.

If you want to change your emotional state, often all that is necessary is for you to change your physiology. I have experienced this first-hand again and again.

Don’t believe me? Try this:

• Slouch in your chair
• Round your shoulders
• Take shallow breaths
• Close your eyes
• Frown and then sigh

If you are like me, almost immediately you will start feeling down—maybe even a little discouraged. As it turns out, discouragement and sadness have specific physical manifestations.

But so does joy and confidence.

This is why you can look at someone and say, “You look like you are having a difficult day.” Or conversely, “Wow. You look like you are on top of the world!”

Over the years, I have learned (and Gail periodically reminds me) that I can change my emotional state for the better by focusing on my physiology rather than my emotions. So can you. Try these five steps:

1. Put on some upbeat music. This can dramatically alter your mood, because of the memories you associate with certain tunes. Gail recently created a playlist of “Music for an Outstanding Day,” which I borrowed. It is awesome!
2. Stand up and stretch. Try to reach the ceiling. Get on your tippy-toes. If you are brave—and no one else is around—jump up and down for 60 seconds. Shake it out. Rotate your neck. Look up.
3. Take several deep breaths. Oxygenating the blood makes you more alert and awake. Close your eyes and concentrate on breathing. Draw the air deep into your diaphragm (or gut). This is a great way to forget about what has you down or afraid.
4. Get your body in motion. The more vigorous you can move the better. Go for a run, a bicycle ride, or simply a walk—preferably outdoors. This stimulates your blood flow and gets oxygen to to your whole body. If you do it long enough, your brain will release endorphins that elevate your mood.
5. Focus on the positive. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he“ (Proverbs 23:7). Think strong, positive thoughts. Affirm what you know to be true. Give thanks for what you have rather than what you don’t have. Shift your internal narration to what you get to do rather than what you have to do.

I am now going through this process a couple of times a day, usually first thing in the morning, then again after lunch. It has given me the energy and emotional boost I need to be productive and stay productive.

“I don’t have time to read.”

When I tell people about my blog, that’s one of the comments I usually hear in response. The implication—or at least the way my possibly oversensitive mind takes it—“You must not have any life to read that many books … loser.”

Of course, I exaggerate. But, really, it’s a tension a lot of people in our overworked and overstressed society deal with. They understand that reading is important—after all, their second grade teacher made that clear. But nobody has the time to read a Dr. Seuss book, much less To Kill A Mockingbird or (gasp!) Infinite Jest.

In the last few years, I’ve dramatically changed my lifestyle. I’ve trained for five half marathons and two full marathons while working a full-time job. I’ve read 30 novels since last September. And, on top of all that, my wife and I had our first child last June. Kids have a slight effect on your schedule. Maybe you’ve heard?

Life is hectic around our house. But I’ve somehow managed to make time to read in the middle of all that. And I say that not to pat myself on the back but to show that, even with a busy life, it is possible (and important) to make time for hobbies you’re passionate about.

Here are a few tips that have helped me:

1. Sacrifice something. You’ve got 24 hours in a day. You spend 8–10 hours (hopefully not much more) working. You spend 6–8 hours sleeping. You’ve got family and friends to spend time with every day. All of this doesn’t leave much time for other interests, like reading. So your golf game, like mine, might take a hit. You might have to turn off the television after 9:00 p.m. But, if reading is a priority, you’ll make time for it. As Jon Acuff puts it: “Be selfish at 5 a.m.”
2. Make a routine. If I say I’m just going to “find time to read,” then it will never happen. I have to make time to read. So here’s what I do: I read during my lunch break, and I read at night, beginning around 8:45, after family time, after the wife and little guy are in bed.
3. Set a goal. You’ve heard this so much that it’s clichéd. But it works. My goal is to read 101 novels. Usually, I would’ve given myself a deadline, but I didn’t want to speed read through the books, so I just chose to read them as they come. At my current pace, I’ll reach my goal in three more years. Maybe you should set a goal to read one book a month. If that seems unlikely, then make it one book every two months. And take it a step further—tell someone about your goal. Or, if you’re crazy like me, start a blog about it. There’s nothing like that extra accountability to keep you moving.
4. Have fun. You don’t have to read a book simply because a friend suggested it, you know? Think about your hobbies, interests, and passions—then go and read about those subjects. I once spent five months reading nothing but casual, behind-the-scenes books about restaurants and chefs. I’m a chef groupie, I guess. Once you’ve read a few “fun” books, then dabble into the more serious, thought-provoking stuff.
5. Mix it up. Once you get into the flow of reading, branch out of your comfort zone. If all you’ve read is nonfiction business books, then relax a little and pick up a novel. If you’ve plowed through Stephen King’s entire catalog in a few years, maybe it’s time to give a leadership or inspirational book a try. The point is: If you read the same style of book over and over, you’ll eventually get burned out and go back to watching two hours of Brady Bunch reruns every day…unless you’re reading 101 books for some crazy blog, of course.

As a result of these basic steps, I’ve dramatically altered my lifestyle over the last year. If I’m not at work or spending time with family or friends, I’m probably reading. At 9:00 every evening, you can probably find me in my “man cave,” in my chair, lights dimmed, reading a book or updating my blog. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Hopefully, one day, my mind will thank me for the daily exercise. As Dr. Seuss says, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

And who’s going to argue with Dr. Seuss?

I have been thinking a lot about discipline lately. Everyone knows you can’t succeed without it, yet few people seem to possess it.

My friend, Andy Andrews asks this question:

Can you make yourself do something you don’t want to do in order to get a result you really want?

If so, then you are disciplined—at least in that area.

The key is on focusing on a result you really want. In this sense, the key to discipline is goal-setting.

Over the years, I have found that I can become disciplined in any area of my life by taking five specific steps. Whether it is trying to get in shape, maintain a blog, or develop a great marriage, the psychology is the same.

1. Determine your goal. Notice in Andy’s definition that the key is in knowing what you really want. If you are going to succeed, you must be specific. You must be able to see it. Write it down and—while you are at it—add a “by when” date.

   Example: I will lose 20 pounds of body fat by December 31, 2011.

2. List your reasons. This is often the missing piece in both goal-setting and discipline. You have to ask, Why is this goal important? What is at stake in my achieving it? I list both the positive reasons and the negative.

   Example:

   • I want more energy.
   • I want to lower my cholesterol.
   • I don’t want to put myself at risk for heart disease.
   • I want to look more trim, especially on video.
   • I want to demonstrate that I can lead myself.
   • I want to be a good example to my family.
3. Identify likely obstacles. As soon as you start swimming against the current, you will start feeling resistance. It’s as if the universe conspires to keep you from succeeding. That’s why you have to anticipate these obstacles and build strategies to overcome them.

   Examples:

   • Obstacle: Mindlessly eating for lunch what I always eat. Strategy: Plan my lunch before I leave the house—where and what I will eat.
   • Obstacle: Inability to work out on the road. Strategy: Make sure the hotel has a workout room before I book it. Also, pack my workout clothes and shoes.
   • Obstacle: Eating more calories than I intend. Strategy: Record everything in LoseIt, thus educating myself about the calorie-count of various foods.
4. Develop new behaviors. This is where you should focus. What are the positive, new behaviors you want to develop to replace the old, negative behaviors.

   Examples:

   • Drink two-and-a-half liters of water a day to stay hydrated.
   • Eat healthy snacks like raw almonds, celery, carrots, etc.
   • Share entrees with Gail when we eat out, so that I eat half the normal serving.
   • Chose simple grilled fish rather than beef or chicken.
5. Stay focused. Read your goals daily, review your reasons why, anticipate obstacles, and work on your new behaviors. If you get off-track, don’t beat yourself up. Sometimes it is three steps forward and two steps back. Just shake it off and re-lock on your goal.

Discipline is not really about will-power so much as it is focusing on what you really want. If you get clear on that, it suddenly becomes much easier.

Apple released the iOS5 upgrade for iPhone and iPad last week. It is a major upgrade and is free. I downloaded it immediately. It has some great new features, not the least of which is the the ability to sync your mobile devices without connecting to your desktop first (via iCloud).

However, I was reluctant to upgrade the phone itself. I already had an iPhone 4. Why did I need a 4s? I just wasn’t sure it was worth the investment, especially since I got most of the new bells and whistles with the iOS5 upgrade.

However, one of my daughters upgraded to the iPhone 4s on Friday. She convinced me to try it, especially after I realized that I could like get $300+ for my iPhone 4 on Ebay.com or one of the used gadget sites.

So, after speaking in Indianapolis on Saturday morning, I walked across the street to the AT&T store and bought the 64GB model in black. I didn’t have to wait in line, and they activated it for me on the spot. They also transferred my contacts to it.

After using it for the last 24 hours, I am impressed. Here are the three biggest benefits to me.

1. A Digital Assistant. Siri, is the voice recognition software Apple has built into the 4s. (It is not available on the 4.) You can speak to it like you would a real person. You can ask it for your next appointment, the weather forecast in any city, or directions to your destination. You can even ask it for restaurant recommendations near you. I found it surprisingly accurate.

   This technology is also built into email and texting. This enables you to dictate a text message or an email message and Siri will transcribe it—supposedly. For some reason, I found this much less accurate and, frankly, not worth the effort. I am going to continue trying and see if Siri gets “smarter” with practice.

2. A More Powerful Camera. The 4s boasts an 8 megapixel sensor. That is 60 percent more pixels than the iPhone 4 and more than enough for 90 percent of the shots I need to take. (For those rare, high-end shots, I have a Canon 60D with 18 megapixels.)

   In addition to the sensor, the 4s sports a new fifth lens, an enlarged aperture (f/2.4), face detection, and reduced motion blur (i.e., image stabilization). It also now allows for basic photo editing—crop and rotate photos, auto-enhance photos, and remove red-eye. It can also shoot gorgeous 1080p HD video.

3. A Faster Processor. The 4s uses the dual-core A5 chip—the same one used in the iPad. It is twice as fast as the iPhone 4. Apple claims that it delivers up to two times more power and up to seven times faster graphics. In my limited use it seems much quicker and more responsive. It is delightful to use.

   Apple claims that it does all of this without negatively impacting battery life. So far, that has not been my experience. It could be that I am just using it more than I was using my previous phone. However, it may also because I too many notifications were turned on by default. I have since turned a bunch of those off and am hoping that helps.

One hitch I had was that all my contacts were duplicated. I think, however, this was a function of iCloud on iOS5 rather than an iPhone 4s problem.

I was able to eliminate this by downloading a program called Contacts Cleaner from the AppStore ($4.99) and re-syncing. There may be an easier, cheaper solution, but this is something Apple should fix. If you Google the problem, you’ll find many users complaining about it.

All in all, I am quite pleased. I am glad I upgraded to the 4s.

Should you upgrade? If you haven’t already, I would start by installing the iOS5 software. That will give you a lot of new functionally and may satisfy your need for a new Apple fix. Then you have to ask whether or not the benefits I have described are worth the upgrade to you.

Everyone’s heard of the “To-Do List.” Whether you use Outlook, Gmail, a dedicated task manager like Nozbe (which I use), or the back of a paper napkin, the idea is the same: you list in priority order the items you want to get done. Simple. Elegant. Powerful.

Until you have more items that you can physically get done.

Enter the “Not To-Do List.” I stumbled across this idea several years ago, and I keep coming back to it. The idea is to list all the activities you are intentionally going to stop doing for the sake of greater productivity.

Here’s why this is important. As people succeed at work, they attract more and more assignments. It’s like they become a task magnet. “Give it to Laurie,” they say. “She’ll to a great job!” The problem is that people are a finite resource. I don’t care how good you are, you only have so much energy and so much time. It’s true for me. It’s true for you.

The only way for these super-productive people to continue to grow professionally without going crazy is periodically to decide what they are not going to do.

This is particularly important for people who have just been promoted to a new job. That’s when you really face the pressure to perform and it’s the most difficult to say, “no.”

But you must say “no” if you are going to say “yes” to the things that really count—both in your job and in your life.

Keep in mind that the great risk for people in a new job is that they continue to do their old job. Read that sentence again.

“Now why would they do that?” you ask? Probably because it is familiar. And probably because their supervisor didn’t tell them they had to stop doing it. Being aware of this dynamic is half of the battle.

The other half of the battle is to sit down and literally create a Not To-Do List. Here’s how:

1. Find a quiet place where you can think.
2. Look at your previous month’s calendar activities. Write down anything you’re not sure really fits your current job description.
3. Look at your upcoming appointments for the next month. Again, write down things that are questionable in terms of your current job description.
4. Go through your to-do list(s) and do the same thing. Write down the questionable activities.
5. You should now have a list of “not to-do candidates.” Good work! You’re almost done.
6. Now go through the list and put an asterisk beside each item that is significant enough that you want to add it to your official “Not To-Do List.”

Once you get your list done, share it with your assistant (if you have one) and your colleagues. If you can enlist their help (no pun intended), they can assist you in screening out activities and tasks that no longer belong on your to-do list.

It’s especially important to discuss your Not To-Do List with your boss. You need her buy-in so she doesn’t keep assigning you work that both of you have decided you should no longer be doing.

Just to stimulate your own thinking, here is a the Not To-Do list I prepared back when I became CEO:

Even if you haven’t just been promoted, you will find the Not To-Do List helpful. This is especially true if you want to maintain some semblance of balance in your life.

If you don’t periodically take a machete to your to-do list, it will eventually grow over everything and strangle you! I know of no better way to “buy time” than with this simple tool.

I have been writing for a while now about Evernote, the software that turns your computer into a digital brain. It allows you to remember everything. Literally.

Yesterday, someone asked me if I had a list of all my blog posts I’d written on this topic. Sadly, I had to admit that I didn’t. The best I could do was point them to my blog’s search engine.

So I decided to pull together this list of all my posts, to make it easier for those who want to get up-to-speed fast. Also, I have decided to call this series, “Evernote for Busy Leaders.” If I write additional posts, I will include them here.

1. How to Organize Evernote for Maximum Efficiency
2. How to Use Evernote If You Are a Speaker or Writer
3. How to Use Evernote with a Traditional Paper Notebook
4. How to Use Evernote with an iPad to Take Meeting Notes
5. How to Email Your Documents Directly to Evernote
6. How to Scan Documents Directly into Evernote
7. How to Get Your Stuff into Evernote
8. Is Your Data Safe in Evernote?
9. How to Use Evernote as a Blogger
10. How to Find Your Stuff in Evernote
11. 7 Evernote Resources You May Not Know About
12. How to Get Your Kindle Highlights into Evernote

When I read anything, I mark it up. Margin notes, circles, and, most of all, highlights. In fact, I buy highlighters by the box. Or at least I did, until I started reading so much on my Kindle.

Now I use the Highlighter feature of the Kindle to mark passages. I also occasionally use the Notes feature to record my thoughts about a passage. (This is actually pretty cumbersome on the Kindle itself. I usually only do this if I am reading on my Mac. Then I can use my keyboard.)

I only wish that I could store all these notes and highlights in Evernote, which has become my digital brain. Well, now you can! It’s easier than you think. Just follow these eight steps:

1. Create your highlights as usual. This feature is different on each device. I find it easiest on Kindle for Mac or my iPhone.
2. Log into your unique Amazon Kindle page. Who knew you even had a unique Kindle page? It contains a list of all your books, with links to the notes and highlights. You can even record your progress then rate the book. Your main page will look similar to this:

   

3. Click on Your Books. This is at the top of your Kindle page. Choose this option instead of Your Highlights. It will narrow the display to notes and highlights for a specific book, once you select one. You should now see a page similar to this:

   

4. Select the appropriate book. You can either search for it in the search bar at the top of the page or scroll down your list of books. Once you select a book, you will get a page that looks similar to this:

   

5. Click on the Evernote Web Clipper icon on your browser’s toolbar. Note: if you haven’t done this previously—and you really should—you can find the appropriate one for your browser here. On Google Chrome, the web clipper looks like this:

   

6. Select the appropriate notebook and tags. This is optional, of course. However, I store my Kindle notes and highlights in my Reference notebook. I use the booknotes tag. Keep in mind that Evernote automatically indexes every word in the note, so you don’t have to repeat key words as tags. Now select Clip full page.
7. Go to Evernote and make sure the new note is there. You might need to sync first. You can now add additional notes or delete unwanted material. For example, I delete the section called “Posts from this Book.”

   

8. Copy and paste your highlights to other applications as needed. I often use highlighted passages in blog posts, Keynote slides, speaking notes, or manuscripts. Anything is possible.

If you are disciplined about this, you can have near-instant access to all your book notes and highlights in Evernote. It really takes very little effort once you get the hang of it.

There is something about the word productivity that makes every blogger blush deeply.

You turn on your computer, check your email and Facebook, and forget why you logged on. Forty minutes later you walk away feeling guilty and unproductive. It happens to you every single day.

The Internet is inherently unproductive. Every aspect tries to consume your attention. Your friends want you to read their updates. Apple wants you to check out their latest gadget. Google wants you to click on as many search results as you can.

But there is good news. Believe it or not, productivity is overrated. It is not the secret sauce that leads to success. You do not have to get a lot done in a short amount of time.

When I email Seth Godin, he invariably writes back within minutes. Despite what others tell you, that giant checks his email early and often. Nothing wrong with that.

But if you do not have to be productive to build a successful online community and business, what do you need? You need to provide content that is worth people’s attention.

Attention is difficult to get. For example, let us suppose you have an audience of five hundred readers. If you publish articles twice per week, your audience grows accustomed to this.

If you start posting every twelve hours, you are suddenly demanding extra attention. Eventually you wear them out and they unsubscribe. There is a limit to the amount of attention your audience is willing to give you.

You must learn to use it wisely.

You must learn to be efficient in the amount of content you make visible.

Every word you write is asking to be read; every picture you tweet or Facebook is asking to be seen. The more you scatter across the web, the less attention your followers are able to give each item. In other words, each item becomes decreasingly effective.

Every time you disappoint your readers, you decrease the likelihood they will open your next email. If you want your stuff to spread, you must learn to censor what you publish.

This is a painful business. Very few writers can do it. When you see someone who achieves success every single article, you may rest assured he is editing like mad. Creating a wildfire every time you post is a difficult feat.

If your archives are lousy, you lose potential subscribers. You may have an awesome article today but the meager post you wrote two months ago is hurting you.

This applies to every aspect of your online presence. For example, it is often tempting to tweet snippets of your life’s happenings, but the result of these outbursts is an undermining of your relevance; followers grow less likely to pay attention to your next tweet, which might be great content.

These things are all connected, you see.

The less noise you make and the more effort you put into each point of contact, the more attention you build. As you develop a reputation for only putting the best of yourself online, readers will notice. They will reward you with a healthy dose of their attention.

Attention is a difficult thing to get, and an easy thing to lose.

You must play your cards wisely.

It has nothing to do with productivity, and it has everything to do with efficiency.

How does this affect you? Instead of spending five hours writing ten blog posts, spend five hours writing one good post. This means the amount of attention you are asking is less, and the prose you are offering is superior.

If it takes me all day to write an email that makes me a lot of money, that is better than spending five minutes to write an email that fizzles on impact. Yes, the email must do its work efficiently, but I do not have to be productive in its construction.

Individuals are the building blocks of an audience; treat them as such. Give them stuff worthy of their attention. But do not bother with being productive in the process; it is okay.

Instead of shouting and splashing, slow down and be unproductive. Focus on just one thing and do it right. You will be spinning circles around your competition.

Or better yet, love your enemies and tweet this out. They need some help.

Over the last few months, people have asked how I am doing since leaving my CEO post at Thomas Nelson. For the most part, great. I am really enjoying this new phase of my life.

But last week, I was feeling overwhelmed. It seemed that I was spending all day, every day mired in administrative detail—responding to emails, making travel plans, and filling out expense reports. Ugh.

This the first time in more than a decade that I have been without an executive assistant. I had clearly taken this role for granted, not realizing how much it had freed me up to do what I do best.

So what to do?

At first, I decided to power through it. But that didn’t work. The tennis balls have been coming over the net faster than I can hit them. My volume of email alone has doubled in the last 90 days.

Next, I tried to enlist my wife, Gail, to help. Bad idea. She already has a full-time job as a homemaker, mom, and counselor to countless women. (After watching her in action for the last few months, I have a whole new appreciation for her!)

Finally, I decided that I had had enough. Something had to give. I needed to take a different approach if I was going to get my head above water.

I took the following seven steps:

1. I decided I had to make a change. This sounds almost trivial, but it is essential. Evidently, some people like being overwhelmed. They wouldn’t admit this, of course. But they thrive on stress in a perverse way. Perhaps it makes them feel important or indispensable. They may complain about their workload, but they are unwilling to do things differently. Are you ready for a change?
2. I identified my three high payoff activities. I asked myself, What is it that only I can do? Where do I add the most value? What is really important as opposed to merely urgent? For me, that is writing, speaking, and networking—in that order. Anything else is a waste of what I have been given. What are your high payoff activities?
3. I identified my three biggest productivity sinkholes. This was easy. For me, it is responding to email, booking my own travel, and meeting with acquaintances who want my advice. (As much as I’d like to do this, I am drowning in requests.) I decided I had to eliminate—or at least dramatically reduce—these activities in my life. What are your productivity sinkholes?
4. I spent time reviewing the productivity basics. In his book, The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss, says that the key to productivity is elimination, automation, and delegation. Some stuff is just no longer worth doing. Other stuff can be put on auto-pilot. Most of the rest can be delegated. Have you made a list of which activities fall into which category?
5. I decided to do the math. Unfortunately, I had fallen into a common paradigm: I was thinking that if I could do something I should do it—myself. Balderdash! If you can make $50.00 an hour, is it a good investment for you to do tasks that you can hire done for $12.00 an hour? I don’t think so. This is not only bad math, it is bad stewardship. What do you make an hour? Could you be more financially productive if you delegated?
6. I hired a virtual executive assistant. I realized that I wasn’t ready for a full-time one. I wanted to take this one step at a time. Thankfully, there are scores of companies (offshore and domestic) that specialize in providing virtual assistants for as many hours as you need. I did this several years ago, and it was a positive experience. I decided to go with Miles Advisory Group. I am very impressed with their responsiveness. Have you ever considered a VA?
7. I am scheduling the important tasks. I know, I know, I teach this stuff. You’d think I would already have this nailed. Well, I did. More or less. But it was a completely different context, namely, CorporateWorld. Now I am having to implement the same thing in a different context. I am now scheduling my important tasks first and forcing my productivity sinkholes into small blocks of time. How much of your calendar this week is dedicated to high payoff activities?

Just going through this process has had a huge, positive impact on my attitude. Nothing has really changed yet, but I am already feeling less overwhelmed and more in control. I am ready for a change. Are you?

I have a hard time saying “no.” Perhaps you do, too. I think it is more common than we think, especially for those who are empathetic or nurturing. We just hate the thought of hurting someone else’s feelings.

I didn’t really notice this problem in myself, because for most of my career I have had an assistant who said “no” for me. If someone had a request, they had to get through her first.

This gave me the buffer I needed to consider the request more carefully. I then let her say “no” on my behalf. The fact that I didn’t have to deliver the bad news myself kept me focused and productive.

Now that I have left the corporate world, everything has changed. I don’t currently have an assistant (a problem I am working to remedy). That means the requests are all coming straight to me.

For example, a few weeks ago, an acquaintance—someone I met briefly at a conference—sent me an email. These aren’t the exact words, but this is typically of the kinds of requests I now get:

I read your blog daily and follow you on Twitter. We met briefly after your speech in Dallas. I am going to be in Nashville next week and would really like to meet with you.

I am in the middle of a personal crisis and could use your counsel. I know you are busy, but this is really important. It would mean the world if you could make time for me. Could I buy you breakfast, lunch—or just coffee—to pick your brain?”

I ended up saying “yes”—and was kicking myself almost immediately. The lunch meeting ended up being a total waste of time. He didn’t come prepared. In fact, when it was all said and done, I had no idea what he really wanted.

The problem is that I am now getting several of these requests a day. It could be a full-time job if I let it.

But that’s not going to happen, thanks to the encouragement of my family and close friends. There is too much at stake. They are holding me accountable.

I have now resolved to say “no” to everything unless there is a really, really compelling reason to say “yes.” In other words, I have switched my default response from “yes” to “no.”

Sure enough, I have getting plenty of opportunities to practice!

As I was thinking about this today, I was reminded again of why it is so important—not only for me, but probably for you as well. I wrote down five reasons.

If we don’t get better at saying “no,”

1. Other peoples’ priorities will take precedence over ours.
2. Mere acquaintances—people we barely know!—will crowd out time with family and close friends.
3. We will not have the time we need for rest and recovery.
4. We will end up frustrated and stressed.
5. We won’t be able to say “yes” to the really important things.

This last one was the clincher for me. Every time I say “no” to something that is not important, I am saying “yes” to something that is.

Note: if you think this is somehow unspiritual, think how many times Jesus said “no” either explicitly or implicitly, so that He could stay focused on His Father’s business (see John 11:5-6 for one example).

When it comes to Evernote, I am a hopeless fanboy. It has become an indispensable part of my productivity tool box. I use it as much as I use email or my calendar.

While it is easy enough to get started with Evernote, it is a program that is incredibly deep and rich. Just when I think I have mastered it, I discover a new tip or trick. In addition, the company regularly issues new updates with additional features.

For example, last week I discovered that I can share a note with others by creating a “shared note URL.” Just right-click on any note and select Share | Copy shared note URL to clipboard. To demonstrate, here’s a template I use with event planners who book me to speak. You can share this via an email or (as I am doing now) in a blog post.

Because I have written a number of posts on Evernote, people assume I know more than I do. The truth is that I know where to find what I need to know. Rather than keeping these resources to myself, I thought I would share them with you.

Here are seven Evernote resources you may not know about:

1. The Evernote Essentials e-Book. The author, Brett Kelly, does a great job covering the basics. This is where I tell everyone to start.
2. The Evernote User Forum. The Evernote user community is large and growing. They are also actively engaged in helping one another solve problems.
3. The Evernote Blog. This is the best place to hear about new updates and features. There’s nothing like getting it straight from the horse’s mouth.
4. The Evernote Trunk. This is a built in resource catalog of third-party hardware, software, gear, and even notebooks (e.g., recipes, restaurants, photography tips, etc.)
5. Ron’s Evernote Tips. This is actually a series of three Evernote notebooks created by Ron Toledo, the marketing Manager at Evernote. You might also want to subscribe to his Tumblr blog.
6. Evernote Blogcast. This is a podcast contains news, tips, and tricks for Evernote users at every level—beginner to advanced. This is great resource to listen to during your morning commute or run.
7. My previous Evernote posts. I have written several posts about Evernote, mostly from the perspective of how I am using it to manage my personal life and career. You can find the complete list below.

This should get you started. If you have come across other Evernote resources, I would like to hear about them.

Be honest. You’re distracted, right? In fact, that’s probably why you are reading this blog post instead of working on that project you should be working on now.

Maybe you’re like my friend, Justin, who told me a few weeks ago that he was having real trouble making progress on his book. “The deadline is looming,” he admitted. “But I can’t seem to get focused.”

I know the feeling.

If that describes you, I have good news. Here are seven steps to getting unstuck. They are not that revolutionary on their own, but practiced together, they are like a defibrillator for your productivity:

1. Create a to-do list for today. Many people keep lists, especially those who have been inspired by David Allen’s GTD method. They have scores—perhaps hundreds—of tasks, neatly divided by projects, contexts, or areas of focus. But they don’t know what they need to get done today. So create a simple list for today with 5–7 actions on it. Keep the list short.
2. Turn on some inspiring music. You need music that is not distracting. For me that means instrumental-only selections. I have built a playlist in iTunes called “Soundtrack Favorites.” In it, I include some of my favorite tracks from Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius, Searching or Bobby Fischer, The Horse Whisperer, Finding Nemo, Dances with Wolves,” and others.
3. Turn off the social web. Shut down HootSuite, the tab in your browser with your Facebook account, and email. If you don’t have the discipline to do this, use a program like Anti-Social (which I use and love). It allows me to keep those programs open, but cuts off my connection for a specific time-period. (If you use a PC, use Freedom.) It also allows me to keep my browser open for research.
4. Do one task at a time. Multi-tasking is, at best, over-rated. At worst, it is a myth. Instead, you need to focus. Starting, stopping, and switching tasks before you finish costs you time, energy, and productivity. Instead do one discrete task from beginning to end. Check it off your list and then go to the next task. After a few of these, you will feel the momentum build.
5. Group similar tasks together. This is the value of GTD: do tasks that require a similar context. If you need to run an errand, run a bunch of them while you are out. If you need to do a financial task, do several. Why ramp up to do one? Leverage your effort across several.
6. Take frequent breaks. This is one of the secrets behind the Pomodoro Technique. Work intently for a defined period (say, 25–48 minutes), then take a break. Be as rigorous about the breaks as the work. You’ll find that this actually increases your concentration and productivity. (I use the same method for running. It’s called the Galloway Method.)
7. Rinse and repeat. Go through several cycles like this each day. The main thing is to surge and then rest, surge and then rest. As you do so, you will learn the best length for your own optimal cycle.

Productivity is like any skill. The more you practice it, the better you get. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t initially make as much progress as you want. Stick with the process and expect to improve. You will!

A friend recently sent me a fascinating article on “batching.” After reading it, I became intrigued with the idea of dedicating blocks of time to similar tasks in order to decrease distraction and increase productivity. While there are variations of batching, the Pomodoro Technique seems to be well thought out and tested. There are also free tools and resources to get you started.

What Is Batching?

Batching is simply a form of time management that allows a person to maximize concentration and decrease distraction. As a result, it increases your productivity, creativity, and mental sharpness, while decreasing fatigue, procrastination, and stress. Batch processing is the grouping of similar tasks that require similar resources in order to streamline their completion.

Too many of us go through our day allowing distractions to dictate our activities. We’re in a constant state of reacting to the needs or interjections of those distractions (e.g., email, phone calls, text messages, voicemail, meetings, etc), However well-intentioned, we often allow the priorities of others to supersede our own. How often have you had a project or specific tasks that required time and focus but an email or phone call distracted you from accomplishing it? Working in a perpetual state of shifting tasks and refocusing attention creates fatigue, stress, and decreased productivity.

Every time we become distracted, it takes an average of 15 minutes to regain complete focus. Unless you are intentionally managing your time, there is a very good chance that you operate in a constant state of unfocused response. If that’s the case, you are not being nearly as effective or productive as you could be and you’re simply not giving yourself, or your employer, your best (note: your best is not defined by how hard you work but by how smart you work).

Batching minimizes the amount of distraction that’s placed on our increasingly connected lives. It not only protects us from the distractions of others, but also from our self-inflicted distractions. How many times have I seen an update on Twitter or Facebook from a friend that indicated they should be ______ (fill in the blank; writing a paper, editing, answering email, working on a project, cooking dinner, etc.)?

Batching is setting aside an intentional amount of time for intentional tasks and making an intentional effort to not allow the distractions or interjections of others break that focus. After that block of time is up, take a planned break, then begin the next block of focused time. Each block of focused time is dedicated to one task or set of similar tasks.

The Multi-Tasking Myth

We are creatures of structure and habit; without it, we get stressed and fatigued. There’s a myth that (s)he who masters the practice of multi-tasking will be at the top of their game. It couldn’t be further from the truth. Study after study has shown that multi-tasking decreases productivity dramatically and drains one of creativity. The purpose of multi-tasking is reactive in nature—it’s the ability to adapt to tasks “on the fly” and to constantly shift focus from one task to another. Multi-tasking creates a convoluted and stressful environment that is eventually unsustainable. Left unchecked, you will drop balls lose your sanity.

In an article for the the Harvard Business Review, Peter Bregman notes that our productivity goes down by 40% when we attempt to focus on several things at once. He notes that we are not really multi-tasking. Instead, we are rapidly switching from one task to another and interrupting our productivity.

The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is one method for batching tasks. Here’s how it works:

1. Plan and prioritize the tasks that need to be completed, by writing them down.
2. Set a timer for for 25 minutes and devote that time to a task, or to a group of similar tasks. Larger tasks can be broken into multiple blocks or “pomodoro’s,” and smaller tasks (responding to email, returning phone calls, etc) can be grouped into a single block. After completing each Pomodoro, you put an “X” next to it and mark the number of times that you were distracted.
3. Take a 5 minute break.
4. Begin another block of time or “pomodoro.”
5. After completing 4 pomodoro’s, take an extended 20 minute break.

According to the Pomodoro website, you should see noticeable improvements in your productivity almost immediately and mastery of the technique in 7–20 days.

And what about the name? Pomodoro means “tomato” in Italian. The inventor of the technique, Francesco Cirillo (Italian), initially used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer when he developed the technique.

Pomodoro Resources

Here are some Pomodoro resources you might find helpful:

• The Pomodoro Technique one-page The Pomodoro Technique Cheat Sheet
• A free PDF of The Pomodoro Technique book
• The Pomodoro Technique To-Do Checklist
• The Pomodoro Technique Activity Inventory
• The Pomodoro Pro app for your iPhone/ iPad

I have written previously on how to get your stuff into Evernote. In fact, I have expounded on ten different tools, including my two favorites: emailing and scanning. This is all well and good. But how do you find your stuff when you need it?

In this post, I want to share four different techniques for finding your stuff in Evernote. Honestly, it is so simple to get started, that Evernote doesn’t even include a section on this in their Getting Started Guide. However, don’t let this fool you. Evernote provides a robust set of tools for finding almost anything—easily and on-demand.

1. Click on a notebook or tag and visually scan your notes. This is the easiest way to find your stuff. Just click on one of the notebooks or tags in the left-hand sidebar. Then visually scan the notes. This works fine if you don’t have a lot of items. As you add more notes, it becomes increasingly difficult. However, it is still a useful tool, even with the more advanced techniques (keep reading).
2. Type a search term into Evernote’s search box. This is the the technique most people use right away. It’s similar to Google, so you already know how to do it. Just start typing a search term. Evernote will start narrowing down the results in real time. If you click on a notebook or tag first, Evernote will limit the search results to those within that notebook or tag group.
3. Familiarize yourself with Evernote’s basic search operators. This is where Evernote begins to shine. For example, if you type:
   red white blue

   Evernote will return notes that contain red, white, AND blue. In other words, this default is an “and” search. However, if you type:

   any: red white blue

   Evernote will return notes that contain red, white, OR blue. This turns an AND search into an OR search. Note: The word “any” must be the first word in this type of search.

   You can also explicitly search for tags by typing:

   tag: receipts

   If you want to reference tags that consist of multiple words, you must enclose them within quotes, like this:

   tag: “post ideas”

   If you want to search for all notes that don’t have a specific tag, you can use the minus sign:

   -tag: paid

   This will return all notes (in my case, “bills”) that are not paid. There are numerous other “operators” you can use. You can find a complete list here. It is worth clipping this page to Evernote, so you always have it at your fingertips.

4. Save routine searches for lightening fast retrieval. This is the really cool part. Once you construct a search, you can create a “Saved Search” and re-use it whenever you need it. Just construct the search and select File | New Saved Search. Evernote will prompt you for a name, and it will be available to you with a mouse click from that point forward.

   I have Saved Searches for my Life Plan Documents (e.g., my Life Plan itself, my Ideal Week, and my Annual Time Block), Unpaid Bills, Reimbursable Expenses, Guest Posts, etc. Basically, any time I create a search, I ask, “Could I use this search again?” If so, I save it.

Someone once said, “My memory is perfect. It’s my recall that is broken.“ With Evernote, if you understand these basic search techniques, even your recall can be perfect.

Earlier this week, I attended a very productive meeting. It was long, but we accomplished what we set out to do. We made significant decisions, established accountabilities, and left the meeting knowing exactly what was expected of us. I think everyone left feeling that it was a good use of time.

Unfortunately, too many corporate meetings don’t go this well. Often, they are a complete waste of time. But the good news is that they can be substantially improved by observing a few simple rules. Here is my list of seven rules for more effective meetings.

1. Establish hard edges. Good meetings start and end on time. When you start late, you inadvertently penalize the punctual and reward the tardy. This only make the problem worse rather than better. People get “trained” to come late because they know nothing significant will happen until well after the announced start time.

   When you finish late, you also frustrate participants. People are busy. Meetings that finish late cascade into other meetings which must then also start late. Instead, we have to be as disciplined about our ending times as our beginning times. It’s amazing how much you can cover if you know you absolutely must finish on time.

2. Create an agenda. I don’t think any meeting should proceed without an agenda. If it’s not important enough to create a written agenda, then it’s not important enough to attend. Leaders must set the example here.

   They need to think about the topics to be covered and how the meeting should flow. I always like to start the meeting with a review of the minutes from the previous meeting (more about this in a minute). I like to end every meeting with two items: a review of the agreed-upon action items and setting—or confirming—the date for the next meeting. Agendas should always be circulated in advance of the meeting, so that people know what to expect and how to prepare.

3. State the desired outcome. If you are the leader, it is important to know exactly what outcome you want from the meeting. If you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you have arrived?

   I would suggest that you state the desired outcome in the meeting invitation and then re-state it as you begin the meeting. For example, “the purpose of our meeting is to report on the results of our latest market research and give you a chance to ask questions.” Or “the purpose of our meeting is to evaluate prospective titles for Don Miller’s new book and determine which one we are going to recommend to the author.” Or “the purpose of or meeting is review the company’s Q3 operating results and provide a progress report on our five strategic initiatives.”

   By stating the outcome, the participants can work together to achieve it and keep the meeting from wandering off-track.

4. Review the minutes and action items. The first thing I do in any meeting is to review the minutes and action items from the previous meeting. This gives the participants context and gives those that were absent an opportunity to get up-to-speed.

   You also want to get a progress report on each action item from the person responsible for it. If you make a habit of always doing this, people will soon learn that you expect them to complete their assignments. If they have to give an account in front of their peers, so much the better. This may give them the added “incentive” to complete their assignments, so that they are not embarrassed in front of their colleagues.

5. Take written minutes. Someone should take minutes, even if the meeting only has two participants. However, detailed notes that chronicle the discussion as it unfolds are usually—in fact, almost always—unnecessary. In most meetings, recording the key decisions and action items are sufficient.

   You want to document decisions, so there is no misunderstanding later. You want to document action items, so that you can hold people accountable and track progress. Beyond that, you’re probably just engaging in busy work. You should distribute minutes as soon after the meeting as possible, so that participants can review the key items while they are fresh in their memory as well as review what is expected of them.

6. Clarify action items. At the end of the meeting, the person recording the minutes should read off the action items. It is particularly important that these be stated in a specific format.
   • Start each action item with a verb. For example, “Review Milford contract with the agent” or “Call Jim and get latest turnover figures.”
   • Specify the deliverable. What exactly do you expect the person completing the action to do. It must be an observable behavior with a specific end-point. It may be a phone call, a written report, or a presentation. It should not be a process.
   • Assign a single owner to each action. No action should have more than one owner. You want one person to blame if the action isn’t completed.
   • Agree on a due date. Get a commitment from the person responsible. Be realistic but put it in writing. This is a commitment and should be treated as such.
7. Determine the next meeting date. This is easy to do when everyone is together. Everyone should be encouraged to bring their calendar to the meeting (or their iPad, iPhone, or Blackberry).

   If the meeting disperses without setting the next date, it makes it that much harder to schedule the next meeting. Take advantage of everyone being in one place to get this settled. It’s one less thing you have to do later.

Improving the quality of meetings takes work. Every once in a while we need to step back from the meeting itself and ask, “How can we make our time together more productive?” We need to be honest. Meetings consume a lot of resources. The more efficient they are, the better the return on our investment.

A few weeks ago, I started using Evernote as my primary “blogging workbench.” It is where I store blog post ideas, collect various post components, and then write the post itself. This has proven to be a robust solution that enables me to be working on several posts simultaneously.

I thought I would share my workflow with you. Yours will be different, I’m sure. But, hopefully, this will provide you with a few ideas.

My go through the following six steps in creating a new blog post.

1. Set up a blogging template in Evernote. There are certain components that I want to create or collect for every blog post. For example, I am now using the SCORRE™ method from the Dynamic Communicators Workshop (DCW) to prepare every post. This is an acronym for Subject, Central Theme, Objective Statement, Rationale, and Evaluation. I store my template in an Evernote notebook called Templates, along with numerous other templates I use on a regular basis.

   The template looks like this:

   

2. Create a new note for every blog post idea. Whenever I have a blog post idea, I go to my Template notebook, select my Blog Post Idea template, right click on it, and select Copy to Notebook. This puts a fresh copy of the template in my Blog notebook, complete with a “post ideas” tag. I then give the note title a unique name (the working title for the post) and then fill out as much of the not as I have the time and inclination to do. As a result, at any one time, I have dozens of post ideas in various stages of completion.
3. Assemble the various post components. When I get ready to really work on a blog post, I begin assembling the various pieces. I usually begin with the subject and the central theme. Then I add whatever is easiest to add first. It might be the relevant links, a few images, and then the objective statement. (I don’t have space in this post to go through what these elements are. If you want to learn the SCORRE™ method, I highly recommend DCW. You can get a $200 discount by using the special discount code: HYATTVAIL) Although it is primarily designed as a speech preparation tool for public speakers, it works equally well for bloggers.
4. Write your blog post in Evernote. I write the first draft of my post in in Evernote. i like having everything in one place. I don’t worry about formatting. I just try to get the post out, resisting the urge to edit my work as I am creating it. Once I have the first draft, I go back through and edit it. Once I have a stable draft that I am relatively happy with, I am done in Evernote.

   The completed note may look like this:

   

5. Copy your post to your blogging software. I select all the text in my post and copy it to MarsEdit, my blogging software of choice. This is where I add the metadata (i.e., post category, tags, and description). I also add all the formatting, including bold text, italics, lists, and other styling. I like a lot of control, so I personally work in HTML mode. However, this is not necessary for most bloggers. In fact, you could copy and paste your draft directly into WordPress.

   Here’s what blog post looks like in MarsEdit. Keep in mind that this is HTML code.

   

6. Schedule the post and review your work. When I am happy with my work, I edit the date I want the post to appear. I always schedule mine for 4:00 a.m. CDT. I then upload the post to WordPress. I then usually preview the post and review it on my site. The post isn’t live yet, but it gives me a chance to see the post in my blogging environment. I then proofread it a couple of more times and declare it done.

Evernote has enabled me to be more productive in my blogging. I love having one place where I can store everything.

In the last few months, Evernote has become my digital filing cabinet. It has enabled me to go completely paperless. Once I scan the paper into Evernote, I toss it into the recycling bin. Simple. Clean. Efficient.

However, as I have shared my enthusiasm for Evernote, several readers have expressed their concern for the safety of their data. Some have asked:

• What happens to my data if Evernote goes under?
• Who owns the data, since my information syncs to the Evernote servers?
• Do Evernote employees have access to my sensitive data? What if there’s a security breach?

I have researched Evernote pretty thoroughly, and I have concluded that my data is safe for the following six reasons:

1. Evernote is a successful, financially-solid company. Currently, the company has over six million users and more than 200,000 Premium (paid) users. It has raised three rounds of funding, including $20 million in its last round. Its investors include some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley. This is no guarantee that Evernote will make it, but certainly a lot of very smart people are betting on it.
2. Evernote has a clear data-ownership policy. Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote, has blogged publicly, “We do not own your data. Putting notes and other content into Evernote does not change its ownership or copyright status. If the data was yours to begin with, it remains yours after you put it in Evernote … you retain all the rights to your data.”
3. Evernote data is stored both locally and in the cloud. This is the beauty of cloud (remote server) technologies. A copy of my data is stored on Evernote’s servers and backed up by them. However, unlike some other cloud services (e.g., Google Calendar), my data is also stored locally on my hard drive. Even if the Evernote servers go down, I have the most recent copy of my data.
4. Evernote can encrypt sensitive data within a note. If you have something within a note that you want to keep private—passwords, financial information, counseling notes, etc.—you can do so by highlighting the data, right-clicking, and selecting “Encrypt selected text.” You will then be prompted to enter a password. In order to view that information in the future, you (or anyone else) will have to enter the password to do so.
5. Evernote data can be stored only on your local machine. When you create a notebook, you have the option of creating a local notebook or a synchronized notebook. The notes within a local notebook will not be sent to the Evernote servers. As a result, they will not be synched on your other devices (e.g., iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, etc.). However, they will be totally secure—or at least, as secure as your local drive.
6. Evernote data can be exported and taken elsewhere. Not only does the company provide ten ways to get your information into Evernote on sixteen different devices, but it is committed to making it easy for you to get all of your data out of Evernote as well. Using the desktop software, you can export all of your notes and content in HTML or XML format. As they say on their blog, “Our philosophy is that if you’re confident that you can leave Evernote at any time, then you’ll be confident enough to want to stay.”

There are no absolute guarantees in the world of digital media and cloud storage, but this is compelling enough to me. I use the various security tools Evernote provides and keep my local Evernote database backed-up. As a result, this is just not something I spend time worrying about.

Update: If you need something even more secure than what Evernote offers out-of-the-box, you can store your database locally on an encrypted database. If you are on a Mac, you can follow this guide. I am using this now. It took me less than ten minutes to set it up.

If you are on a PC, you might check this guide. You might also consider a free product called TrueCrypt. This is a free, open-source solution. However, I don’t have a PC and haven’t tried it.

Thanks to Atle Iversen, who works for the company that makes Dropbox. In the comments below, he suggested the encryption option for more sensitive data and recommended TrueCrypt.

It is no secret that I am a big fan of Evernote. It is one of those amazing tools that can radically boost your productivity. I use it probably more than any other program other than Mac Mail. It has enabled me to realize my dream of a paperless office.

But Evernote can also be initially intimidating. The program is so deep and feature-rich that new users hardly know where to start. It is like buying a Swiss Army Knife. I personally used it for two years for little more than typing meeting notes into it.

Now, after several months of really exploring the program, I have discovered ten different tools for getting my content into Evernote:

1. Type It. You can create a note and start typing. I find this particularly helpful for brainstorming, taking meeting notes (especially on the iPad), outlining a speech, or even—as I am doing now—writing a blog post.
2. Email it. You can forward any email to your unique Evernote address, and it will show up in your default notebook a few seconds later. I do this several times a day. I often add additional comments to the note and tag it.
3. Scan it. While I have gone paperless in my office, not everyone else in the world has. As a result, I still must process paper. If I determine that I need to save a copy of the letter, invoice, invitation, etc., I scan it directly into Evernote with my ScanSnap scanner. I then toss the paper into the recycling bin.
4. Clip it. When I encounter an interesting blog post or web page, I use the Evernote extension for Chrome to clip the entire page directly into Evernote. When I do so, I can assign it to a notebook and add any relevant tags. Evernote has these extensions or add-ins available for most browsers.
5. Paste it. Sometimes, I don’t want to save an entire email message or a web page. Perhaps I just want to save a quote, an image, or some other interesting item. No problem. I just select the text, copy it to the clipboard, and then use a keyboard shortcut to save whatever is on the clipboard to a new note.
6. Drag it. If I have a file I want to save to Evernote, I can select it in Finder and then drag it to the Evernote icon on the dock. Evernote then creates a new note with the file attached. Note: With the free version of Evernote, you are limited to image, audio, ink, and PDF files. With the premium version, you can attach any kind of file.
7. Print it. If you are working on a file in another program and want to save a copy in Evernote, you can select File | Print and then (at least on a Mac) “print” a PDF of the file to Evernote. Note that when you save a PDF to Evernote, it becomes fully searchable.

   

8. Record it. Admittedly, I don’t use this much, but you could use this to record a note to yourself, a phone conversation, a meeting, or a lecture. (Make sure you first familiarize yourself with the laws pertaining to recording these various items.) This option is especially handy on the iPhone when you want to record an idea but aren’t in a position to type it.
9. Photograph it. This is particularly useful with the iPhone. I use it all the time. Recently, for example, Gail and I were shopping for a couple of side chairs for my home office. We took pictures of the ones we liked and stored them in Evernote. It was the a simple matter of reviewing them when we got home. I have taken pictures of medications, license plates, and printer cartridges, etc. As an added bonus, Evernote indexes all the text in the picture.
10. Automate It. This is a bit technical, but I found it worth the effort. You can create a new “Mac service” that allows you to right-click on a file in Finder and send it directly to Evernote. You can also create an Auto Import folder using the Mac’s “Folder Actions.” Once you set it up, any file you save or drag into that folder will be immediately added to Evernote. I didn’t know what any of this meant until I set it up, using the links I have provided. It took me about 20 minutes to do it.

You don’t have to use all of these techniques, of course. However, I think it is worth familiarizing yourself with them, so you know what tools you have in the tool chest. You can then select the appropriate tool for the job. My goal has to make these second-nature, so that I can quickly add items to Evernote and keep working on the task at hand.

I have used a paper journal for years to take meeting notes and jot down random thoughts. (I detailed my system here.) Yes, I tried the first generation iPad for this, but I ended up passing it on to a colleague. I just couldn’t quite fit it into my workflow—especially after I got a MacBook Air.

For years, my journal of choice has been the Moleskine. In fact, I have an entire shelf in my office set aside for storing my old copies. I have loved the simplicity, usability, and low profile of this notebook.

However, as I became more and more addicted to Evernote, I tried to figure out a way to get these notes into Evernote. Yes, you can take a photo, using the Evernote app for iPhone. But this is not as simple as it sounds. It is difficult to get the pages in focus and in the right orientation (landscape vs. portrait). If it works for you, great. It didn’t work for me.

What I really wanted to do was tear the pages out, scan them in my ScanSnap scanner, and then throw them away. The problem is that the Moleskine notebook only has 16 perforated pages at the end of the journal. That sent me on a search. What I really wanted was a journal where every page was perforated.

Google didn’t let me down. I almost instantly found the Ecosystem line of personal journals. I also discovered that they were available at my local Barnes & Noble store. Gail and I made a quick trip to the store near our home, found the Ecosystem spinner rack, and began exploring our options.

We discovered that the Ecosystem journals look almost identical to the Moleskine ones. It has a ribbon bookmark, elastic closure, and expandable inner pocket. However,

• Every page is perforated
• The paper is 100% post-consumer recycled and acid-free
• Each journal has a unique ID number. If you register it, and it is found, whoever found it can return it to you.
• It is made entirely in the U.S.A.
• It comes in four styles:
  1. Advisor (calendar formats)
  2. Architect (grid paper)
  3. Author (ruled paper)
  4. Artist (blank paper)
• It comes in six vibrant colors (see photo above)
• It comes in three bindings:
  1. Hardcover
  2. Flexicover
  3. Paper
• It also comes in three sizes:
  1. Large (7-3/8″ x 9-7/8″ inches)
  2. Medium (5-1/4″ x 8-1/4″ inches)
  3. Small (3-5/8″ x 5-5/8″ inches)

Currently, I am using the medium, hardcover Author style in Oynx black. If you didn’t know better, you would think it was a standard issue Moleskine notebook. The retail price is $16.95, a dollar cheaper than the Moleskine. However, via Amazon, they are about the same price ($11.53 vs. the Moleskine at $11.67).

If you are a Moleskine user, I would encourage you to try the Ecosystem’s Journal—especially if you are using Evernote. It is worth the added features.

Also, you can follow Ecosystem on their Tumblr blog, Facebook, or Twitter.

Thanks to Evernote, I have been able to go completely paperless in my new home office. For years this was a dream of mine; now it is a reality.

In this post, I want to explain how to use a scanner with Evernote. This has been the single biggest clutter-buster for me. No more stacks of paper sitting on my desk or credenza. Those days are history!

Instead, I scan all loose papers—receipts, invitations, business cards, bills, warranties, letters, and even entire seminar notebooks—directly into Evernote.

Here’s how you can do the same thing in seven steps:

1. Buy an Evernote-compatible scanner. I opted for the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300. Fujitsu, Canon, and Lexmark all make models that sync directly to Evernote. This saves you the step of scanning into a PDF and then importing into Evernote—a huge timesaver.
2. Set up the scanner. This is the trickiest part. The ScanSnap process is not automatic. I tried it on two different computers with the same results each time. I had to setup an Evernote profile manually. Fujitsu needs to make this process easier. However, once it is setup, it is as simple as inserting your paper and pushing a button.

   In case you have to do this yourself, here is what my Settings look like. If this doesn’t apply to you, just skim past these images to Step #3.

   
   
   
   
   
   

3. Gather all your loose papers. I had about a foot-high stack of loose papers when I started. I had everything from receipts, to bills, invitations, and multi-page manuals and white papers. There’s almost nothing you can’t scan into Evernote. The ScanSnap handles paper of all sizes up to 8½ inches wide. As long as it is not thicker than normal paper or even light card stock, you can scan it.
4. Start scanning. I just started scanning and figured it out as I went. I got progressively better and faster. The ScanSnap even compensates for misaligned or downright crooked scans. It straightens them on the fly, so that the images are almost perfectly vertical. It took me about half a day to get through the paper I had accumulated.
5. File and tag each item. You will want to enter “metadata” (i.e., information about the information) in the Evernote item that is created. For example, with receipts, I always start with the date, the vendor, and the amount. I use minimal tags; sometimes I don’t use any. Evernote indexes everything in the document, so you don’t need to repeat that in the tags. A good rule of thumb is to tag items with information that doesn’t appear in the document. Here’s an example:

   

6. Throw the paper away. Yep, that’s right. Just throw it away. Or better yet, recycle it. Is your data safe? Yes. You have a local copy on your hard drive. Hopefully, you also have a backup of that. In addition, you have a copy securely backed up on the evernote servers. If you are skeptical, you might want to read this Evernote blog post on data protection. By the way, I do keep paper copies of a very few important records (e.g., birth certificates, passports, etc.) though I have also scanned them.
7. Rinse and repeat. Scanning with Evernote is surprisingly easy once you get it set up. It doesn’t take any more time than creating a paper file, plus you have it instantly available and searchable no matter where you happen to be, thanks to the magic of “cloud syncing.”

Buying a scanner will set you back a few hundred dollars. I certainly hesitated when I saw the price tag. But it has been one of the best investments I have ever made. I love working in a clutter-free environment where I can instantly retrieve the information I need.

Whenever you are about to embark upon a vacation, the question of email inevitability comes up. Will you remain online, go offline, or try a hybrid of the two? In this post I provide a brief overview of these options and the system I will use on my upcoming sabbatical.

First of all, I have experience with all three of these options:

• Remaining online. I think this is usually a bad idea. I have done it many times, and I never feel rested at the end of my vacation. So much of our lives happen online today. If you remain online, nothing really changes except the scenery.
• Going offline. I try to do this at least twice a year. It is like a digital fast. It detoxes the soul, relieving you from the constant ping of the outside world. It takes courage to do this, but it is well-worth the initial effort it takes to unplug.
• Trying a hybrid. For me, this is the best option most of the time. It means that I remain online but set strict boundaries for what I will and won’t do. This gives me the freedom to continue researching and writing, without feeling obligated to reply to every email.

The key to pulling off the last option is intention. You must be proactive, outlining a plan and sticking to it. This is the approach I am taking for my upcoming sabbatical.

The basic premise is that I will continue to blog. (For me, this is how I process what I am learning. It is also a creative expression, akin to painting for some people.) I also want to be able to hear from my family and close friends. I also plan to engage in the comments on my blog and in twitter—but to a more limited extent.

For me, the key is eliminating 90% of the emails I receive. That is the part that is taxing. Since being responsive is so important to me—it is now part of my DNA—this means I have to have a system that gets these emails out of my field of vision, so I don’t feel obligated to read and reply to them.

Here’s the system I am using:

1. Create an out-of-office message that sets expectations. For example, mine says:
   Hi,

   I am on a sabbatical until Wednesday, June 15th. Unless you are a member of my family or a close friend, I will not see your email until I get back. If you have something that requires my immediate attention, please re-send your email with the word “urgent” somewhere in the subject line.

   Thanks,

   Michael

   I doubt that this will get abused. At the very least, it forces the sender to re-evaluate the message and ask whether it is truly urgent.

2. Use email rules to manage the flow of email. If you haven’t discovered the power of email rules, you are missing out. Most email programs (Outlook and Apple Mail) have this built-in. I place these rules at the end of any others that handle normal processing. Each one is a separate email rule:
   • Urgent. This rule tests the message to see if the word “urgent” (as per my out-of-office message) appears in the subject line. If it is, it leaves the message in my inbox. (In Apple Mail, I chose the “Stop evaluating rules action.”)
   • Family. This rule tests the message to see if it is from a member of my family. If it is, it leaves the email in my inbox. (Again, using the “Stop evaluating rules action.”)
   • Friends. This rule tests the message to see if it is from a close, personal friend. If it is, it leaves the email in my inbox. I have a small list of people here, all of whom know I am on a sabbatical, so I know they won’t abuse this.
   • Business Associates. This rule tests the message to see if it is from a handful of business associates. If it is, it leaves the email in my inbox. This includes my accountant, the person who handles my speaking requests, and a few key people at Thomas Nelson.
   • Sweep Remaining. If the message meets one of the above criteria, the program stops, leaving the message in my inbox. However, if it doesn’t, then this rule moves the message to a folder called “After Sabbatical.” If you want, you can also mark the message as read, so the message count does not distract you.
3. Implement the plan. You might want to notify your family, friends, and key business associates what you are doing and set their expectations as well. Now simply turn the system on and enjoy your vacation.

This system is not perfect. Your email is still available in folder that you can get to. However, it will be out of your direct line of sight.

The best option would be to redirect the mail to another email account entirely. However, I found that this function did not work reliably in Apple Mail. In researching this on Google, I found others who reported the same experience.

The bottom line is that this system sweeps 90% of the messages I receive on a daily basis, leaving only those message that I intentionally want to see.

Through the years, I have raised money for all kinds of projects: private schools, mission trips, even adoptions. It has always been such a hassle to promote and administrate. Until now.

Razoo is a new web service designed to make fundraising easier than ever before. It puts the “fun” back in fundraising. (Okay, maybe I am overselling a bit.)

It enables you and your team to:

• Keep track of each team member’s progress.
• Save time by eliminating all the paperwork.
• Receive donations securely from your donors.

It really couldn’t be easier. Here’s how it works:

1. Set-up your team. As the team leader, you simply create a team page and then invite others to join you. Team members then create their own fundraising pages, using Razoo’s simple but elegant user interface. They can even add photos and videos. Using Razoo, you and your team members stay connected throughout the whole fundraising process.
2. Launch your promotion. Once you are ready to launch your project,Razoo provides all the tools necessary to promote your page in today’s world of email and social networking. No more printing support letters, stuffing envelopes, and licking stamps. Everything is done electronically. Every Razoo page is built to share on Facebook, Twitter, and email, making it easier for fundraisers to reach their networks of family and friends.
3. Let Razoo handle the record-keeping. The best news for you? No more paperwork. Razoo handles all the tax-deductible receipts, sending a receipt to each donor’s inbox immediately after they donate. Razoo also gives you a downloadable Excel spreadsheet telling you where every dollar has come from and what page it came through.

What does it cost? Razoo charges a minimal flat fee of 4.9%. That’s a mere 49¢ for every $10.00 you raise—about as cheap as it gets. This fee includes full credit card processing. (In case you are interested, Razoo pays 2.9% to its credit card processor and provides their service for only 2%.) By the way, Razoo is waving its 2% fee for all teams that sign-up before September 1, 2011.

Why raise money the old-fashioned way? You are just a click away from experiencing the power of Razoo first-hand.

Since making the decision to go paperless, I have gained a lot of experience with Evernote. It has become my digital filing cabinet for literally everything. As a result, I am now working in a clutter-free environment.

Once you have organized Evernote for maximum efficiency, it is time to start filing your documents into Evernote’s digital repository. There are a number of tools for doing this. However, I find that I use the email-to-Evernote function more than almost any other method.

Yet, surprisingly, I have met many Evernote users who don’t even know this capability exists. Once you get the hang of it, this input method transforms Evernote from an interesting software application to an indispensable one.

Here are five steps you need to take to use this feature:

1. Find your unique Evernote email address. When you signup for an Evernote account—whether free or premium—you are assigned a unique email address. You can find this in the desktop version of Evernote under Evernote | Account Info. Your email address will look similar to this:
   [username].12345@m.evernote.com [example only]
2. Add this address to your contact list. I created a new contact in my Address Book called, “Evernote” and assigned this email address to it. Now when I want to send a message to Evernote for forward an email I have received, I simply send it to my new Evernote contact.
3. Set your default notebook in Evernote. When you email something to Evernote, it is automatically filed in your default notebook. Mine goes to a notebook named “!Inbox.” (I start it with an exclamation point, so that it appears at the top of the sorted list of notebooks.) However, you can set this to anything you want. You can do this in the desktop version of Evernote under Preferences | Clipping.
4. Learn the email syntax. You can simply forward items to your default notebook and then move and tag the note within Evernote itself. However, it is far easier if you learn how to do this in the subject line of the email itself. Here’s how:
   • Forward the email to the Evernote contact you set up in step #2 above.
   • In the subject line of your email, write the title of the note as you want it to appear in your account. (I usually begin by just deleting the existing subject line.)
   • In the same subject line, add an @ symbol followed by the name of your destination notebook.
   • You can also add a # sign followed by the name of one of your tags. If you want to use multiple tags, proceed each one with the # sign.

   Note: both the notebook and the tags must already exist within Evernote. Also, this feature will not work for notebook or tag names that contain an “@“ or a “#” in their name.

   Here’s the correct syntax:

   [Title of the note] @[folder name] #tag1 #tag2 #tag3

   Here’s what it might look like:

   

5. Start using it! The easiest way to learn something is by forcing yourself to use it. Once you get everything set up, this process is remarkably simple. Even the email syntax will quickly become second-nature. Try it a few times and then check the notes in Evernote to make sure you are getting the hang of it.

Evernote is one of those applications that becomes more valuable the more you use it. I have found that the email-to-Evernote function is the fastest way to start populating my notebooks with the content I need to reference most often.

I have been using Evernote for months. However, I have not really taken time to explore the depth of this incredible program until just recently. I have mainly just used it for a place to store meeting notes and an occasional web clipping.

However, thanks to Brett Kelly’s very helpful e-book, Evernote Essentials, the Evernote user forum, and a little experimentation, I have begun to see the incredible power of this digital repository. So much so, then I am committed to going paperless in my new office setup.

It all begins by establishing a solid organizational structure. Evernote doesn’t require one, but, based on my personal experience you won’t realize the full power of this tool without one. You need to give some thought to how you want to structure your notebooks, “stacks,” and tags.

First, let’s define some terms:

• Notebooks: These are collections of individual notes. Theoretically, you could just have one notebook and dump everything into it. But most people will want to establish different notebooks for different “areas of focus.”
• Stacks: These are collections of notebooks. For example, you could have a stack called “Work” that has separate notebooks for each client, project, or area of responsibility.
• Tags: These are attributes that you can apply to any individual note. You can then view all notes with a specific tag, regardless of which notebook it resides in. This provides for the ultimate in filing flexibility, though it can be confusing at times. (I still get confused about whether something should be a notebook or a tag.)

I tend to think of stacks and notebooks as a vertical (or hierarchical) way of organizing, and tags as a horizontal (or lateral) way of organizing. To use the metaphor of a filing cabinet, think of stacks as individual drawers, notebooks as the files within the drawers, and tags as a way of identifying common attributes regardless of what folder or drawer the note is in.

For example, you might “tag” a piece of paper within a folder by printing invoices on yellow paper. With Evernote, it’s much more simple, because each note can have multiple tags. So, for example, I have some notes in my Receipts notebook that are tagged “tax deductible” and others that are tagged “reimbursable.”

Perhaps my current structure—which is still a work in process—will serve as an example. Here are my stacks and notebooks. Bear with me. The list is a little long.

I created this list by first asking myself, “What are my primary areas of focus?” The highest level stacks or notebooks are that list. Note that “!Inbox” is my default notebook. This is where I put random items until I know exactly where I should file them. (The exclamation point ensures that this notebook is first in the sorted list.)

Note that I had to divide Work into several stacks, all with the prefix “Work.” This is simply because Evernote doesn’t currently allow the nesting of stacks. (Note to Evernote developers: please consider this as a feature request.)

Here are my current tags:

It is tempting to tag every note with a several tags. However, I broke myself of that habit once I realized that Evernote indexes every word in every note. So if you have a great quote on “purpose,” for example, you don’t need to tag the note with “purpose,” so long as the word appears in the note. This only adds more clutter. The key is to remember that less is more.

Once you get your basic structure, the fun really begins. (Okay, maybe this is a stretch.) I hope to post soon on how I get stuff into Evernote. This is where the versatility of the tool really shines.

I live in Evernote. It has quickly become one of my most important software tools. I especially liked using it with my iPad. However, I gradually stopped using my iPad after buying a Macbook Air. I ultimately gave it away to a colleague.

So for now, I have returned to a traditional paper-based notepad for taking meeting notes. Previously I used a Moleskine notebook. I have written about this also. Honestly, I don’t think you can beat it for being unobtrusive. I also find real value in the physical act of writing.

But how do you get these notes into Evernote, so they are accessible later? That’s the challenge.

Recently, I created a new workflow that I am really liking. Here’s what I did:

1. I replaced my Moleskine notebook with an EcoSystems notebook. Though you can buy these directly from barnesandnoble.com, Barnes & Noble retail stores typically has a full selection. That’s where I bought mine. The ruled notebook looks identical to the Moleskine with one important difference: all the pages are perforated, not just the last sixteen. This means you can tear them out and scan them. (Moleskine would be smart to replicate this.)
2. I bought a Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner. This is not cheap, but it makes the dream of a paperless office possible. You can set it up so that scanned pages go directly into Evernote. The setup wasn’t quite as simple as I had hoped. But, now that I have it set up, I don’t have to think about it.
3. I tear out my pages and scan them. Once they are scanned, I give the note a name that always starts with the date and then a brief description of the content, e.g., “2011.04.21 – Andy Andrews.” I then file my notes under “Filing: Notes.” (“Filing” is what Evernote calls a “stack”—or collection of notebooks.) By the way, I then throw away the paper pages. This takes courage. But my notes are secure both locally, on a backup, and in the Evernote cloud.
4. I add any action items into Nozbe. This is the task management system that I am presently using. I used to use Things, but I grew impatient waiting for them to implement cloud syncing. Nozbe has it today, and it works flawlessly. My task lists are always available on my MacBook Air and my iPhone—or any device I log into.

The value of this system for me is that it is the perfect blend of old-world and new-world technology. I can keep taking my notes the old-fashioned way and still have access to them electronically.

You have a choice in life. You can either live on-purpose, according to a plan you’ve set. Or you can live by accident, reacting to the demands of others. The first approach is proactive; the second reactive.

Sure, you can’t plan for everything. Things happen that you can’t anticipate. But it is a whole lot easier to accomplish what matters most when you are proactive and begin with the end in mind.

One of the ways I do this is by plotting My Ideal Week. I was first introduced to this concept by author Todd Duncan in a series of audio recordings he made that eventually became the book, Time Traps: Proven Strategies for Swamped Salespeople.

The idea is similar to a financial budget. The only difference is that you plan how you will spend you time rather than your money. And like a financial budget, you spend it on paper first. Building Champions, the executive coaching company I recommend, refers to this as a “Time Block.”

My Ideal Week—the week I would live if I could control 100% of what happens—is divided into a simple grid. Each day has a theme. In addition, each day is segmented according to a specific focus area.

In the spreadsheet embedded above, the themes are listed on the very top row:

• Monday is devoted to my team, one-on-one meetings and a staff meeting at lunch.
• Tuesday and Wednesday are devoted to travel and extended meetings, like our Monthly Business Review meetings.
• Thursday is an ad hoc day. This is where I try to push external requests for meetings.
• Friday is spent on planning and long-term thinking
• Saturday is for personal chores and activities.
• Sunday is for church, rest, and planning the next week.

My focus areas are listed in the left-most column:

• The early morning hours are devoted to self: reading, praying, and working out.
• The middle of the day is devoted to work. Note that I arrive at the office by 8:30 and leave promptly at 6:00 p.m. It is amazing what you can get done in the time allotted when you create “hard boundaries” around your work. Otherwise, Parkinson’s Law becomes operative: “Work expands to the time allotted for it.”
• The end of the day is reserved for my family and writing. Currently, I don’t have any children living at home. However, Gail I eat dinner together almost every night, taking time to connect and catch up. I then enjoy writing for the last ninety minutes of the day.

Activities that contribute to my goals and priorities are shaded green. Those are not related to my goals are shaded red. Those that could be either, are white. Those that are grey are simply not scheduled. This represents “margin.” This scheme is admittedly subjective, but it is helpful to me to they and make sure I am working on what matters most.

To use this tool, I suggest that you map out your own Ideal Week. You can either download my Excel spreadsheet or start from scratch.

Once you have created your Ideal Week, you can use this document as a basic template for planning each week. I have also found it helpful to give to my assistant, so that we are both working with the same set of expectations.

If you are like me, not everything can be shoe-horned into the template. However, having this document will better enable you to to accomplish those things that matter most.

Sometimes, you get stuck in a funk and can’t figure out why. Maybe it is something tangible and specific. Maybe it is nothing in particular.

For example, a month ago, we had two gorgeous weeks of spring. The temperatures were in the 70s, the birds were singing, the daffodils began to bloom. I caught myself whistling as I was leaving for work.

But, as usual in Tennessee, cold weather has returned. Right now it feels just like winter. The temperatures are in the 40s. It’s overcast and raining. Last night, for no apparent reason, I caught myself in a funk.

What do you do?

Well, if you’re a blogger, you see an opportunity (or at least a post!) in every problem. I decided to make a list of twenty-four “hacks” (or quick fixes) for getting out of my funk:

1. Write a list of 10 things you are thankful for. Be specific.
2. Put on some upbeat, happy music. I like Keith Urban.
3. Go for a walk—or a run.
4. Plan a vacation or, better yet, go on one!
5. Schedule an appointment with a counselor.
6. Talk to a good friend who knows how to listen.
7. Have a good cry. It’s okay. It will cleanse your emotional system.
8. Take control of that little voice in your head. “Change channels.”
9. Turn off the TV and the radio.
10. Read the Psalms.
11. Do volunteer work with a local charity.
12. Organize your desk and/or your office.
13. Take one “baby step action” for each of your top three projects.
14. Take the afternoon off and take a nap.
15. Get a massage or sit in a hot jacuzzi or tub.
16. Change positions. If you are sitting, stand. If you are standing, sit.
17. Pray. Pour out your heart to God.
18. Smile. Your emotions will usually follow your body’s lead.
19. Do that one thing you fear the most.
20. Write a love note to your spouse and mail it.
21. Excuse yourself from negative conversations.
22. Resist the temptation to complain—about anything!
23. Forget the past. Ignore the future. Be fully present NOW.
24. Stop worrying about things you have no control over.

So what have I missed?

If you are working more than fifty-five hours a week, you are working too much and likely out of balance. You may be able to work more than this for a season, but it is not sustainable. If you persist in working this much—or more—something will eventually break.

When I first began my publishing career, I was determined to succeed. Part of what drove me was fear. I didn’t have any experience, and I was scared to death I would be found out.

However, I was also driven by the desire to achieve. I would later learn from the StrengthsFinder™ test that my top strength is “Achiever.” As a result, I loved climbing the corporate ladder, moving from one level to the next.

In those early years, I would arrive at the office at 5:00 a.m. and not leave until 6:00 p.m. Since I would usually be at my desk during lunch, this was thirteen hours a day. I would almost always go into the office on Saturday, too. I was routinely working seventy hours a week.

My dear wife, Gail, was patient, but with several small children, she really needed relief. It took some serious marriage counseling for me to realize that my work/life balance was totally out of whack. It was simply not sustainable.

Think of it this way: If you are working more than fifty-five hours a week, you are out of balance. You are putting at risk at least five very important assets.

1. Your health. Early in my career, I thought I could get by by eating junk food and not exercising. However, I learned that this will inevitably catch up with you. How many people do you know who have died young, simply because they refused to take care of themselves?
2. Your family. You can’t afford a divorce. The cost is incalculable. Just ask those who have gone through one. You also can’t afford to ignore your children. If you don’t invest in them now, you will be forced to spend time with them later—in rehab, in juve, or worse.
3. Your friends. Sadly, I didn’t really have any close, personal friends until about five years ago. I thought that my work colleagues and church acquaintances were enough. Not so much. I have several great friends now that mean the world to me. But I must have margin in my life to invest in those relationships.
4. Your effectiveness. I think you are the most productive when you are relaxed. Work is like golf—or any sport. The harder you work, the less effective you’ll be. You are the most productive when you are not stressed. The number of hours you work has almost zero correlation with your effectiveness.
5. Your example. Your people will unconsciously mimic you. They can’t help it. As a leader you set the pace. If you work seventy hours a week, your people will think they must work seventy hours a week. Most of them won’t be able to keep up. And you will be responsible for the consequences.

Don’t get me wrong. I still work hard. But now I have boundaries—and balance. I get into the office at 8:30 a.m. and I leave promptly at 6:00 p.m. I also work for two hours on Sunday evening, preparing for the new week. In total that’s about 50 hours—give or take.

If you want to get your life back into balance, I suggest that you grab a copy of my free e-book, Create Your Personal Life Plan. It will equip you to live on-purpose, making time for those things that matter most.

I wrestle with this question everyday, if not several times a day. Most of the things pinging our brain for attention our merely urgent but often trivial.

In this brief, two-minute video clip, Behance founder and CEO Scott Belsky discusses how today often trumps tomorrow and what happens when it does. He then discusses how to distinguish between the urgent and the important.

Another great resource is Stephen Covey’s book, First Things First. In Chapter 3, “The Urgency Addiction,” he provides a framework for deciding whether or not a task is urgent, important or some combination thereof. Think of it as a 2 x 2 matrix:

We should prioritize our daily task list by determining which quadrant it is in. For example,

1. Quadrant 1: Important and Urgent. These tasks should be our first priority. They go at the top of your to-do list. They are important, and they must be done today.
2. Quadrant 2: Important But Not Urgent. These are the “tomorrow” tasks that Scott speaks about. They should be our second priority, because if we don’t do them, we will face the consequences in the future.
3. Quadrant 3: Urgent But Not Important. These are those tasks that are urgent to someone else, but they are not important to us. They should be our third priority. Frankly, much of the email we receive and social media falls into this quadrant.
4. Quadrant 4: Not Urgent and Not Important. These should simply be deleted from our daily task list. They are simply a distraction that keeps us from accomplishing those items in the first two quadrants.

Years ago, I used to actually plan my day using Covey’s matrix. I no longer do that, but it has become second nature to me.

Update: One of my readers pointed me to the Priority Matrix for iPhone. It is a 99¢ app, which replicates Covey’s model. I’d love to see something like this as a web app or software app.

The iPad 2 goes on sale at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 11. If Apple’s other product launches are any indication, there will be long lines of eager consumers eager to snatch up Apple’s latest electronic candy. But do you really need one?

I bought the original iPad. Admittedly, I am a sucker for new gadgets—especially those from Apple. While I initially took the iPad everywhere with me, I found myself leaving it behind more and more. Part of the problem was that I still needed my laptop to do the work I couldn’t easily do on my iPad.

I eventually stopped using my iPad. My laptop could do everything the iPad could, but the iPad could not do everything my laptop could. I eventually gave the iPad to a colleague at Thomas Nelson. (I since picked up an Amazon Kindle 3, which I love. I like a dedicated e-reader for reading rather than a multi-function device. I don’t need more distractions to keep me from reading.)

Should you buy the new iPad 2? Maybe. But not before you answer three questions:

1. What kind of computer user are you? It seems to me that computer users fall into three categories:
   • Media Consumer: These are users who mostly consume media. The iPad is a fantastic device for this kind of user. You can consume media of all types: movies, books, web surfing, etc. If this describes you, the iPad may be the perfect device.
   • Digital Contributor: These are users who are more than consumers. They also contribute and collaborate via the web. They read and respond to email, blogs, Twitter, and Facebook. The iPad is a decent device for this. The software keyboard is more clumsy than a physical one, and it doesn’t have all the features I have grown accustomed to. I especially miss my keyboard shortcuts and special typographic characters.
   • Content Creator: These are users who create content. In addition to consuming media and collaborating via the web, they also create content. This includes serious bloggers, book authors, graphic artists, videographers, etc. Yes, there are applications to do all these things. (Heck, you can do most of these things on your iPhone.) But, in my experience, it requires way more work.
2. Do you have the time to invest in the learning curve? The iPad is super easy to use. The touch interface is elegant. But there is still a learning curve. At the very least your keyboard muscle memory will have to be retrained. And the software is slightly different, even for familiar applications. You will likely take a step back in productivity before you can take a step forward.
3. Are you willing to change your workflow? This is the key for me. You may not be conscious of it now, but you have a workflow—a way you get your work done with your computer. How will this change with an iPad? Will you use the iPad for certain tasks and your laptop or desktop for others. If you don’t think this through, you will end up adding to your workflow and becoming less efficient.

For now, I will stick with my MacBook Air. It is the best computer I have ever owned. It’s not that much bigger than an iPad 2, and it does everything I need a computer to do.

How about you?

Ever since I did a video blog of my laptop bag, I have wanted to do one on my current carry-on bag. However, after watching George Clooney in Up on the Air, I was inspired to see if I could ditch my laptop bag and get everything into one carry-on. I even found a web site called “One Bag” that is devoted to this concept. Thankfully, my MacBook Air has made this possible.

So six weeks ago, I stopped carrying my laptop bag—at least on overnight trips. In fact, I am only using a separate laptop bag when the trip is longer than two nights. This may sound trivial, but traveling with just one bag has made a big difference for me. I arrive at my destination more rested, without the stress of keeping up with two bags.

I demonstrate how I pack my carry-on in the video above. However, I thought it might be helpful for me to describe my process in case you would rather read than watch.

1. Start with the right suitcase. I use the Eagle Creek Travel Gear Tarmac 22 Carry-on. I love all their products, as you will soon see. I bought this bag several months ago after Chris Brogan recommended it. It has multiple compartments and makes very efficient use of the space. It is the best overnight bag I have ever owned.
2. Pack your dress clothes. I pack my shoes first. The Tarmac 22 even has a sealed compartment for them. This protects your clothing if your shoes happen to be soiled. I then carefully fold my suit and dress shirt, wrapping them in the thin plastic I get back from the dry cleaners. This keeps fabric from rubbing against fabric, dramatically—though not entirely—reducing wrinkles.
3. Pack other interior items. I then pack my underwear, pajamas, belt and a Philips goLITE Blu Light Therapy Device. (I have written about this last item here. I use it for 30 minutes a day during the winter months.) I use an Eagle Creek Travel Gear Pack-It Quick Trip for my shaving bag.
4. Pack an electronic cables bag. I use an Eagle Creek Travel Gear Pack-It Half Tube Cube. This is what I use to put my MacBook Air power cord, mini-DVI to VGA convertor, mini-DVI to HDMI convertor (for newer projectors), KeySpan “Easy Presenter” Remote Control for clicking through slides (along with a spare battery). When I speak, I just hand my laptop and this bag to the production tech, and they have everything they need to get me set up.
5. Pack an in-flight bag. I use an Eagle Creek Travel Gear Pack-It Quarter Cube. I store this on the outside flap of the Tarmac 22, along with my bag of liquids. This makes it easy to get to at security, at the gate, and in-flight. Inside the bag is a Verizon USB760 Wireless Modem (which I wish Apple would build into the Air like they have done the iPad), a Kingston 16GB Data Traveler flash drive, MagSafe Airline Power Adapter, Shure Noise-Canceling Headphones (various models are available), a few snacks, and over-the-counter medicines.

You may be thinking, what about workout clothes and running shoes? I generally don’t take these unless I am going to be gone more than a day. If I do, I plan my wardrobe, so I can get by with one set of dress shoes and pack my running shoes instead. The Tarmac 22 has plenty of room for the extra clothes.

Also, I use the Belkin Black Neoprene Air Sleeve for Macbook. It provides protection from scratches and is very low profile.

Note: Thanks to Nancy Duarte and her magnificent team at Duarte Design for creating my new video intro and outro. I love the work they do!

I have been using Evernote for a couple of years now. I use it to manage meeting notes, store blogging ideas, and file interesting articles I read on the Web. It has basically become my electronic brain. However, unlike my aging brain, Evernote provides near-instant recall.

Recently, I started using it to manage the raw components of my speeches. I have seen a lot of different systems for this. One of my authors, who is also a popular public speaker, once showed me his system. It contained literally thousands of 4″ x 6″ cards, arranged alphabetically by topic.

I decided to use Evernote for this and am loving it. It works beautifully. I don’t have everything converted yet, but enough to make it an indispensable tool. This database will only become more valuable over time.

I have set up four separate notebooks in Evernote:

• Illustrations
• Jokes
• Quotes
• Statistics

I am now in the process of adding my content to this database of speaking resources. Specially, I am including the following:

1. Blog posts. I am going back through my 900-plus blog posts and extracting the various components. When I find a personal illustration or a historical anecdote, I copy and paste it into my Illustrations notebook. The same is true for quotes and jokes.
2. Web articles. When I am reading on the Web, I do the same. If I stumble across something I think I might want to use later, I copy and paste it into the appropriate notebook. This can include everything from other bloggers’ posts to news articles.
3. Digital books. This is also a big advantage of using Kindle for my reading. Anything I highlight in a Kindle book is automatically extracted to my personal Highlights page on Amazon. I can copy and paste these directly into Evernote from there. This is a huge productivity boost.
4. Traditional books. One of the great things about Evernote is that you can share individual notebooks with others. For example, I am still reading several print books and highlighting them as usual. In the margin, I put an “I” with a square around it to indicate to my assistant that I want her to key the highlighted content into Evernote. I use a “J” for Jokes, a “Q” for Quotes, and a “S” for Statistics. Like this:

   
   

   Evernote Marks and Highlighted Text in The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns

The key with all of this is to add the appropriate meta tags, so that you can search the content later. I try to add every tag I can think of—usually 6–8 per entry—so I can find the relevant information quickly. Evernote also allows me to add a URL for each entry, so that I can get back to the original source if I need to.

I am going to do my very best to add to this database every day. I think this will become hugely valuable to me as I prepare speeches and even write books in the future.

I can’t imagine living in a more distracting time in human history. Hundreds of cable channels, millions of Web sites, and the constant pinging of email and social media all compete for our attention. It’s enough to make anyone A.D.D.

But if you are like me, you still have to get real work done.

A few weeks ago, I had to prepare for a board meeting. I really needed an extended period of time to review the material and prepare my presentation. In doing this, I realized that I go through a similar pattern whenever I need to increase my mental focus and get a lot of work done in a short period of time.

Here are ten tactics I use that may help you:

1. Block off time on your calendar. I schedule time on my calendar for special projects. Following Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson’s recommendation in Rework, I call this “The Alone Zone.” If some asks if I am available, I reply, “I’m sorry, but I have another commitment at that time.”
2. Isolate yourself in a quiet place. I try to eliminate all the distractions I can. While I generally practice an “open door policy,” I close my door when I have something important to get done. This signals to my colleagues that I am in project mode.
3. Turn the room temperature down. If the room gets too warm, I get sleepy and lose my edge. As a result, I intentionally turn the thermostat down to 69°. After years of testing, I have noticed that this is the temperature at which I am the most productive.
4. Get comfortable. When I need to get a lot done, I dress comfortably. For me that usually means jeans and a loose shirt. Even in the office, I kick off my shoes. I don’t want anything constricting my blood flow or distracting me.
5. Take email and social media software offline. When you are constantly checking email and social media, you can fool yourself into thinking you are working. Therefore, I take my email software offline. I also shut down HootSuite, my Twitter client. I do leave my browser open, because I have to use it for research.
6. Put on music that helps facilitates concentration. Certain music really helps me concentrate. When I wrote my first book, I created a playlist of instrumental music that moved me. Listening to it became a powerful ritual. It got me into the writing zone quickly and made me more productive. It still works for me today.
7. Drink caffeine in moderation. Various studies have shown that caffeine can have a positive effect on your mental focus, provided you consume it in moderation. Personally, I do better with a product like AdvoCare’s Spark. In addition to caffeine, “the neuroactive amino acids … help increase your mental focus and alertness by supporting your brain’s ability to receive and send messages to and from the nervous system.”
8. Avoid high glycemic carbohydrates. Nothing makes me sleepy faster than foods containing white flour and sugar. Breads are the absolutely the worst. Low glycemic carbs—darker vegetables, for example—are fine, because the sugars are released slowly. But high glycemic ones spike my blood sugar, and then I get sleepy.
9. Set mini-goals. I try to focus on one project until I am done. If it’s a big project, I break it into smaller goals. This usually means something I can finish in three hours or less. I personally get a rush from accomplishing a task and checking it off my to-do list.
10. Set a timer and take predetermined breaks. I am competitive by nature. If I set a timer on my iPhone and determine in advance how much time I will spend on a task. I will work hard to beat the clock. Not everyone is like this, but it works great for me.

In a world of distraction and competing demands, mental focus is a scarce commodity. If you want more of it, you will have to be intentional about getting it.

Yesterday, when I posted about buying the new Macbook Air, several people asked in the comments or via email what programs I use on a regular basis. I thought I’d post a list of mine in the hope that you will post a list of yours. Even if you are a Windows user, I’d also like to see your list.

Here are the programs that I launch automatically when I turn on my MacBook Air.

Background Programs		Amount
	Alfred is a productivity application for Mac OS X, which aims to save you time in searching your local computer and the web. I like it better than Spotlight, LaunchBar, QuickSilver, or Google Quick Search. Make sure you check out the PowerPack.	Free
	CloudApp allows you to share images, links, music, videos and files. Here is how it works: choose a file, drag it to the menubar and it provides you with a short link automatically copied to your clipboard that you can use to share your upload with co-workers and friends. Super simple.	Free
	I use DoSomethingWhen to change my TimeMachine target drive when I change my location. When I am at home, I want to backup to my backup disk there. When I am at work, I want to backup there. I explain the process here.	Free
	DropBox allows me to do two things: sync files across different computers and share files with colleagues. If you want to share a file, you simply drag it into the DropBox folder and it is available to everyone with whom you have decided to share the folder.	Free
	iKey allows me to create keyboard shortcuts for all kinds of actions, including launching programs, loading web pages, and running scripts. It is a huge time-saver, particularly if you don’t like using a mouse. (I hate taking my hands off the keyboard.)	$30.00
	PathFinder is how Apple should have designed Finder. It is a file browser application that has all kinds of bells and whistles that make me vastly more productive. I especially like the dual-pane browser.	$39.95
	SnagIt for Mac is my screen capture application of choice. I like it better than SnapzPro, which I used to use. It allows for all kinds of enhancements and annotations. It’s a little pricey, but I think it is worth it if you do a lot of screen shots	$49.95
	Synergy gives you total control over your music without interrupting your workflow. You can set shortcut-keys that allow you to pause, skip, or start a song without ever having to flip to iTunes. (Yes, that funny currency symbol is a Euro.)	€5.00
	Typinator boosts your productivity and eliminates errors by automating the process of inserting frequently used text and graphics and auto-correcting typing errors. I couldn’t live without it.	€19.99

Here are the programs I run in the foreground. I load these at startup, because I always want to have ready access to them. Before I bought an Air, I did this manually. But with the Air, it is so fast that I barely notice.

Foreground Programs		Amount
	Evernote allows me to capture and remember everything. I can clip web pages, save emails, or just jot notes. Best of all, it has an iPad and iPhone apps that can share the same database. As a result, my stuff is always readily accessible.	Free
	Even though my company uses Microsoft Exchange for calendaring, I use Google Calendar. The reason is that I need to share my calendars with others outside the company. I run Google Calendar as a stand-alone Fluid app.	Free
	I have used Safari and Firefox but switched to Google Chrome a few months ago. I have found it faster than the others (especially Firefox). I also like the way I add to it via “extensions.” It is a joy to use.	Free
	HootSuite is the program I use to manage my Twitter and Facebook interactions. It enables me to segregate my followers into “streams” or columns. So, for example, I have one stream for my direct messages, one for “mentions,” one for family, etc. I run HootSuite as a stand-alone Fluid app.	$5.99 a month
	Apple Mail comes free with every Mac. It is built into the system. I like it better than Microsoft Outlook, because it is simple and focused. It doesn’t try to be a Swiss Army Knife. It does one thing well: email.	Free
	I have tried numerous to-do list managers. However, I like Nozbe best, because the program syncs in the cloud (unlike Things). As a result, I always have my to-do list with me, whether on my Air or my iPhone. The developer, Michael Sliwinski is super-responsive. I run Nozbe as a stand-alone Fluid app.	$9.95 a month

Okay, now it’s your turn.

I have been quietly using the new MacBook Air for the last 30 days. I haven’t written about it until now, because, frankly I didn’t know if I would like it. However, after using it for 8–12 hours a day over the last month, I can honestly say it is the best computer I have ever owned.

When Steve Jobs announced the new Air computers on October 20, 2010, I was intrigued. While I have always been impressed by this model’s size, I couldn’t imagine it replacing my beloved MacBook Pro. I saw three major obstacles:

1. Hard Drive. I have a lot of media files—112GB of music and 60GB of photos. I had already upgraded my MacBook Pro’s hard drive to 500GB. I couldn’t figure out how to cram all of this into the Air’s maximum drive size of 256 GB.
2. RAM Memory. I also had 8 GB of RAM on my MacBook Pro. I keep a lot of programs open and often use large memory-intensive programs like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. The most RAM you can get on the Air is 4GB, so I figured the Air would slow to a crawl.
3. Screen Size. I use a 27″ Cinema Display at work, so even my MacBook Pro’s 15″ screen seemed like a compromise. I had become used to it, but I couldn’t imagine going down to the Air’s 13″ screen.

However, two of my power-user friends, John Saddington and Michael Sliwinski, had bought the new MacBook Air and were raving about it. It fact, they were gushing that it was the best computer they had ever owned. So I decided to take a second look.

I purchased the 13″ Air with 256GB flash drive, the 2.13GHz processor, and 4GBs of RAM. I also bought a G-Technology 320GB G-DRIVE slim Portable (i.e., external) USB Drive. It was only $99.95 and matched the fit and finish of the Air.

The first thing I did was relegate all my media—music, photos, and movies—to the G-Drive. When I analyzed my usage, I realized that I didn’t need constant access to these files, especially since I keep my favorite music on my iPhone and only access my photos once a week or so. Everything else fit on the Air’s drive, and I currently have 122GB of drive space free.

Here’s what I love about the Air:

• It’s incredibly light and thin. It weighs less than 3 pounds and is only .68 inch thick. In fact, for overnight trips, I have stopped carrying a briefcase. I just tuck it in the outside flap of my Eagle Creek Tarmac 22 carry-on bag. Ryan Bingham, George Clooney’s character in Up in the Air, would be proud of me.
• The battery lasts a long time. Apple says “up to 7 hours.” In my experience it is 6–8 hours, depending on what I am doing. I no longer have to take an airline power cord, except for international flights.
• It is really fast. This surprised me. The processor is only rated at 2.13GHz. My MacBook Pro is 2.66GHz, yet the Air feels much faster. This is probably due to the flash drive, which makes programs and files load faster.
• It boots in less than 45 seconds. If the computer is completely off, from the time I press the on switch to the time I get the login screen is 15 seconds. After entering my password, everything is loaded and ready to go in another 30 seconds. The amazing thing is that this includes nine background apps (e.g., Alfred and Typinator) and the six major apps (e.g., Apple Mail and Google Chrome) that I use in my normal workflow.
• Big programs and multiple programs run fine. I still use Photoshop and Illustrator and can’t tell any difference. Granted, I don’t edit very complex files, but having half the memory on the Air as compared to my MacBook Pro has turned out to be a non-issue. I also still run as many programs concurrently as I used to with no noticeable degradation in performance.
• The screen size is just fine. I noticed a difference during the first couple of days, but I quickly got used to the new size. In fact, I haven’t thought about it until I started writing this post. When I speak, I almost always use a Keynote slide deck. This works no differently on the Air. I plug the Air into the projector using a Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter. The display is the same as the MacBook Pro, albeit a tad smaller.

The only thing I really miss from the MacBook Pro is the backlit keyboard. This is really nice in low-light situations like an airplane at night. Other than that, the Air has completely replaced my previous computer. (By the way, I don’t use a desktop computer. This is my sole machine.)

If you are in the market for a new laptop, I recommend taking a look at the Air, especially if you have been considering the MacBook Pro. In addition to the benefits I listed above, it is also about 30% cheaper. I can’t imagine going back to a bigger machine.

Most people I know still feel overwhelmed by life’s demands. Despite all the gadgets and gizmos, they don’t have more time. They are only getting busier—and falling further and further behind.

Sadly, many people are convinced their situation is temporary:

• “As soon as I get acclimated to this new job, I will have some breathing room.”
• “As soon as I get my toddler into school, I will have some margin.”
• “As soon as my spouse finishes his current work assignment, I will have some help with the kids.”

But, the weeks turn into months. And the months turn into years. People go from one “temporary situation” to the next. Before long, it’s permanent. Like the proverbial frog in the kettle, we’ve been boiled one degree at a time.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. You really can live a balanced life. But first, you have to understand what is creating the busyness in your life.

In my experience, busyness come from one or more of the following sources:

1. Cutbacks at work. The economic downturn has meant that most organizations are cutting costs. This means fewer people doing the same amount of work. Like the children of Israel under Pharaoh, you are having to “make more bricks with less straw” (Exodus 5:6–9).

   The good news is that if you’ve survived thus far, you’re probably great at multi-tasking, prioritizing, and working under tight deadlines. You’re adding value, and that’s why you still have a job. The downside is you’re not sure when your company will resume hiring and give you some relief.

   What to do? Just say “no.” At least to some things. If you don’t establish boundaries, you will eventually burn out or go through a meltdown—and then you won’t be of much use to anyone.

2. Competition in the market. In the current environment, more people are competing for fewer jobs. More competition means everyone is working harder just to keep what they have. As a result, it is more difficult to stand out and get noticed.

   This means that you feel more pressure to perform. You don’t want to lose the job you have, so you add more hours, more meetings, and more trips—anything to add value. But when is enough enough? You can drive yourself crazy, constantly looking in the rear-view mirror and wondering when your competition will overtake you.

   What to do? Exercise faith. Fundamentally, it does not all depend on you. God is involved in the process. Work hard, but from a posture of faith, not fear.

3. Online technologies and gadgets. In our increasingly connected world, we are always on, always accessible, 24/7. While new gadgets and software make it possible to do more in less time, sadly, we often fill this with more work.

   These technologies—email, texting, social media—may start out as a way to connect faster and more efficiently. But soon, they can take over our lives, stealing the last bit of margin we have left. While I am an advocate of technology and social media, there is a cost involved, especially if we don’t proactively manage it.

   What to do? Create boundaries. You don’t have to swear off technology, but you do have to be sensible. If you are accessible to everyone 24/7, you’ll ultimately be accessible to no one—especially those that matter the most.

Yes, balance is possible. But it requires that you recognize the forces that threaten to disrupt it and put into place the appropriate countermeasures.

Too often, we seem to accept the fact that our energy level is what it is. It’s beyond our control. Not true. Like most things in life, we have more control than we think.

Recently, just for the fun of it, I started making a list of all the things that energize me. I started out with a list of 10. Then it grew to 20, 30, then 40, and now, 44. But I am certain I have only just begun.

These are in no particular order:

1. Take Vitamins.
2. Lose weight.
3. Organize your desk.
4. Eat lean.
5. Get 7–8 hours of sleep a night.
6. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day.
7. Take naps.
8. Drink 8 glasses of water a day.
9. Use a sun lamp.
10. Exercise regularly.
11. Stop watching or reading the news.
12. Avoid negative people.
13. Surround yourself with high-energy people.
14. Walk faster.
15. Decide to be energetic.
16. Smile.
17. Learn a new joke and tell it to someone.
18. Read or watch something inspiring.
19. Avoid sugar and white carbs (potatoes, bread, etc.)
20. Reconcile with an estranged family member or friend.
21. Go to church.
22. Sing old TV theme songs with friends.
23. Listen to music that moves you.
24. Get outside.
25. Breathe more deeply.
26. Read the Bible.
27. Relax your body.
28. Cancel unproductive meetings.
29. Plan a vacation.
30. Experience art.
31. Stop complaining.
32. Be grateful.
33. Pay someone a compliment.
34. Give money to a good cause.
35. Lighten someone else’s load.
36. Travel with less stuff.
37. Clean out your closet.
38. Have dinner with a friend and be fully present.
39. Take a shower.
40. Get a massage.
41. Turn off your mobile phone.
42. Get lost in a great story.
43. Make a list of why you are doing what you are doing.
44. Dream about what is possible.

Here are a few other posts I have written on this topic: “How to Reboot Your Spirit,” “What Keeps You Going When You Want to Quit,” and “How to Boost Your Energy Level.”

It’s winter here in the northern hemisphere. Longer nights. Shorter days. And more bad weather. This can wreak havoc on your emotional system and your overall energy-level. This is particularly important for us as leaders, since our energy is one of the most important things we bring to our teams.

I started experiencing mild depression the week before Christmas. For no apparent reason, I started feeling down. This typically began late in the afternoon and continued until bedtime. My energy level was low, and I had a difficult time focusing.

One evening, I shared my experience with a friend. He said he was going through the exact same thing. A few nights ago, another friend told me she had similar symptoms. I thought, I’ll bet this is more common than I initially thought.

Obviously, if someone is experiencing severe depression, they need to seek professional help. I have friends whose lives have been transformed by antidepressants. However, I fear that some people resort to medication prematurely, before making sure they have the basics covered.

Here are four items to consider before talking to a professional:

1. Sleep. Too many of us try to burn the candle at both ends. I could get away with this when I was younger, but not now. I need seven hours a sleep a night. Period. I had drifted into a pattern of staying up later than usual while still trying to get up at my normal time. Bad idea.
2. Sunlight. This is important to our physical and emotional health. When a deficiency leads to depression, it is called “Seasonal Affective Disorder” (SAD). The good news is that you can address this with a simple gadget that replicates sunlight. I bought the Philips goLITE BLUE Light Therapy Device. I have been using it for 30 minutes a day while reading in the morning. Not only do I have more energy, I am sleeping better.
3. Vitamins. I had let my supply of multivitamins run out. , even though I know vitamins—especially antioxidants—help my body cope with stress. Therefore, I bought a 60-day supply of multivitamins and resumed my regimen. I try to keep this simple. In the past, I have taken a handful of supplements daily and found it difficult time to be consistent, especially when traveling. Now, I take only four capsules a day.
4. Exercise. I’m embarrassed to say I was not being consistent here either. Gail and I were hiking on Saturdays, and I was walking or running one other time a week. But this proved insufficient to keeping my energy level up. With the new year, I made a commitment to get back to my four-day-a-week running routine.

I’m happy to report that addressing these four issues did the trick. This won’t work for everyone. But for me, it was enough to make the clouds dissipate. I have not experienced the blues for more than a week.