You know it’s time to declare email bankruptcy when you are experiencing the following four symptoms. If this is true of you, I provide a seven-step strategy for wiping the digital slate clean and starting over.

When I speak publicly, I often ask how many people believe in the power of written goals. Every hand shoots up. Yet when I ask how many of them have written goals for this year, very few hands go up. This always surprises me, given the fact most people know intuitively (and research has proved) […]

How many times has this happened to you? You go to bed after a long, unproductive day with the intention that tomorrow is going to be different. Then you wake up the next day and fall right back into the same old trap. It feels like you’re trapped inside your own private version of Groundhog […]

Do you have a long-term delegation strategy? This is the secret to moving more into “the zone” and getting out of those activities you don’t enjoy or don’t do well. Recently, I recorded two podcasts on the subject of delegation. The first dealt with the principles of delegation. The second suggested how you might delegate […]

The best way to produce consistent outcomes is to employ proven patterns and practices that make them repeatable. In this guest post, J.D. Meier outlines 10 of them.

But it is really possible to get caught up on your email and stay caught up? Yes. I’ve done so for years, even as the demands of my job have increased. I’m not bragging; it’s just a fact. But I should warn you: there is no easy fix. Taking control of your inbox means changing your behavior. You must be willing to make the investment.

Not everyone thinks it is important to respond quickly to email. How do you get them to respond to you in a timely manner? Here are ten strategies.

Do you ever feel like you are running out of bandwidth? Maybe it’s time to take a hard look at your calendar and start cutting back on your commitments. Here’s how.

I am mostly offline, attending a business conference. I have asked several bloggers to post in my absence. This is a guest post by Craig Jarrow. He is an author, speaker, and blogger on time management and technology. You can read his blog and follow him on Twitter. If you want to guest post on […]

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of tasks and assignments you have? Here are six steps you can take now.

If you can learn to write faster, you will write more frequently. Here are eleven tricks I use to write my blog posts in 70 minutes or less.

Early in my career, I thought I had to be good at everything. Not true. You can’t be good at everything. In fact, you can only be great at a few things. The sooner you realize this, the more quickly you can focus on your strengths and steer clear of your weaknesses.

Several months ago, I spoke to a large group of military officers and contractors. My topic was “How to Shave Ten Hours Off Your Work Week.” In my speech, I provided seven tools for achieving greater productivity and restoring work-life balance.

I have a confession to make. Until about eight years ago, I didn’t floss. In fact, I hadn’t been to the dentist in a decade. My last experience had been so negative, that I just kept finding excuses to procrastinate.

Of all the things that affect my energy and productivity, nothing is more important than getting a good night’s sleep. Exercise, diet, and mental focus are all important, but they can’t make up for a lack of rest. Here’s how I make sure I get a good night’s sleep.

You schedule time for large meetings, small meetings, conference calls, and phone appointments. If you are like many leaders, you often feel that your life consists of nothing BUT meetings. As a result, there is no time to complete the work you volunteer for, agree to, or are assigned in those same meetings.

Whenever I write or speak on the topic of delegation (as I did yesterday), I always get a question from someone who says, “But what if you don’t have a staff? How can you delegate?” This question typically comes from staff people, technicians, stand-alone professionals, or start-up entrepreneurs. It’s a great question. I recommend four strategies.

When I read a non-fiction book, I typically practice these ten disciplines. They help me get more out of the books I read and insure that I retain the information longer.

My pastor recently took a three-month sabbatical. I imagined him sleeping in until ten every morning, followed by extensive periods of crossword puzzles and personal grooming. But he assured me that his time off was really more professional in nature: he studied up on the Emergent Church and did a biblical tour of Turkey. Am I jealous? No, of course not. Resentful is probably a better word.

I hate saying “no” to people. In fact, I don’t know anyone who enjoys it. So to make the process less painful, I have developed a series of email templates that I can use for these requests. Here is my list of requests by category with my boilerplate text.

or several years now, I have profited from using a “Master Task List.” This is a way to group your work-related activities so that you do what you were hired to do and keep from getting side-tracked by “trivial pursuits.” It is something you should develop before you start throwing together a to-do list.

As I was driving back to the office, I began to speculate about how many procedures my own company has that may be superfluous? What are we doing that is no longer necessary or useful? How much cost and frustration does this add for our customers and other key constituents? Probably more than I’d like to admit.

I cleaned out my bedroom closet this morning. I’m not sure what got me started. But once I got going, I couldn’t stop. I literally got rid of half my stuff.

I often hear people complain about how long it takes to get a response to e-mail. Sometimes, to be sure, it is because the person they are waiting on is inept. The simplest request gets lost in a sea of unprocessed e-mail.