4 Review of Making It All Work

4 How to increase productivity

4 Productive! Show and... Humor
Michael Bungay Stanier Alex Fayle Laura Stack James Mallinson
Thomas Groehl Art Carden Alex Shalman Mike Vardy Michael Sliwinski
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Bungay Stanier
Exclusive Interview
S p o n s o r e d b y
#3 (August 2009) www.ProductiveMagazine.com
Michael
on Finding Your GREAT Work
Summer, Twitter...
and Great Work
A
lthough its summertime in the
Northern hemisphere and most
of the busy professionals are
out enjoying their vacation,
weve decided to prepare a summer
issue of the Productive Magazine feel
free to print it out and take it with you
and hopefully youll have a great read
when lying on the beach and sipping
a pia colada.
After two very successful issues of the
magazine were working on setting new
standards for your favorite productivity
read. Weve got a great team of editors
with Lori Anderson, Delfina Gerbert and
Dustin Wax who are actively helping me
out with the magazine and I wouldnt have
finished it without them.
We are on our way to make it a bi-
monthly magazine this year with next
issues to be published in October and
December... and in the next year? Well
see:-) Monthly anyone?
Weve noticed many of you still like the
printed version and for that, switching from
Lulu to Magcloud was a good decision. Just
for the record we are offering the printed
edition of the magazine only for your
convenience the PDF version will always
be free and you can also print it yourself.
On the personal note, I started Twittering
a lot more since the last issue of the
magazine, you can follow me @MichaelNozbe
to see what recently has grabbed my attention
and how my projects are developing.
From the Editor
By Michael Sliwinski, Editor
As Ive received great feedback on
my 2-minute productivity show from
the magazine readers, Ive decided
to compile the videos to a sister site called
Productive! Show now we have two
sites with the new Productive! brand.
The video shows are now being published
every week for you to enjoy. Make sure
to subscribe to them.
In this issue of the magazine Im happy
to introduce you to Michael Bungay
Stanier Canadas coach of the year
l
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2006, a person who might not be very
well known in the social media but whos
one of the most respected coaches on
personal productivity and life planning.
His new book Find your Great Work is
a great read and has helped me define
my own personal Great Work. I was
eager to do the interview with Michael
after I listened to a series of Creative
Questioning podcasts published by David
Allen on his web site.
Apart from the interview weve got
great articles for you to enjoy and as its
summer, weve got plenty of humor for you
as well. From The 30 Types of Vacations
by Mike Vardy to a very funny cartoon
about falling into the GTD trap by Whakate
be sure to check it out well try to have
a Productive! Humor section at the end of
each magazine. Productivity should also
be fun!
On the last note (but a very important
one for me) our magazine sponsor
i
Nozbe.com online time and project
manager developed by yours truly will
be launched in just a few days (August
11th) with a completely new graphics
design, full code rewrite for maximum
speed and power, new features for project
collaboration and more. And Nozbe has
a new logo! You can follow the Nozbe 2.0
development on the Nozbe blog and make
sure to be there on August 11th to see the
brand new standard of the productivity
application.
As always, if you liked the magazine,
make sure to forward it via Email to your
friends, Tweet about it on Twitter and help
us bring great productivity tips and tricks
to everyone you know. Thanks again for
your support!
Michael Sliwinski (@MichaelNozbe)
Founder, Nozbe Simply Get It Done!
i
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05
Michael Sliwinski
Great Work
Interview with Michael
Bungay Stanier
08
Art Carden
Productive! Review:
Making it All Work
10
Alex Fayle
The number one spot
is for losers
12
Laura Stack
I spend waaaaaay
too much time on...
14
James Mallinson
The 5 Big Reasons
Why You Fall Off The
Productivity Wagon
16
Alex Shalman
11 Practical Ways To
Jump Out Of A Lazy Rut
19
WHAKATE
10 Signs you are in the
GTD

Trap
Table
of contents
18
Mike Vardy
The Vacationary
Productive!Magazine
www.ProductiveMagazine.com
Sponsor:
www.Nozbe.com
Your Online tool for Getting Things Done
available in your computer browser, mobile phone and
on your iPhone.
Chief Editor:
Michael Sliwinski
editor@productivemagazine.com
Technical Editor:
Maciej Budzich
tech@productivemagazine.com
www.blog.mediafun.pl
Editorial Team:
Lori Anderson
Delfina Gerbert
Dustin Wax
Tribute:
Marc Orchant (1957-2007)
The Productive!Magazine is dedicated
to the memory of a productivity guru,
great blogger and a very close friend,
Marc Orchant who passed away on 9
th

December 2007.
All articles are copyright by their respective authors.
Productive!Magazine is copyright by Michael Sliwinski.
Getting Things Done

and GTD

are the registered

trademarks of the David Allen Company.
1
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Michael Sliwinski: Youre saying that all
the work we do can be divided into three
categories: bad work, good work and
great work?
Michael Bungay Stanier: Correct. Heres
a snap-shot definition of each type of
work:
Bad Work A waste of time, energy, and
life. Doing it once is one time too many.
This is not something to be polite about.
Its not something to be resigned to. This
is the work that is pointless.
Sadly, organizations have a gift at
continuing to generate Bad Work. It
shows up as bureaucracy, interminable
meetings, outdated processes that waste
everyones time, and other ways of doing
things that squelch you rather than help
you grow.
Good Work The familiar, useful,
productive work you do and do well. Good
Work is how you spend most of your
time, and theres nothing wrong with it.
This work blossoms from your training,
your education, the path youve travelled
so far all in all, its a source of comfort,
nourishment and success.
You always need Good Work in your life.
At an organizational level, Good Work is
Producti ve! Magazi ne i ntervi ew wi th Mi chael Bungay Stani er
by Michael Sliwinski
Great
Work
This is what we
want more of.
This is the
work that is
meaningful
to you, that has
an impact and
makes
a difference.
It inspires,
stretches, and
provokes. Great
Work is the work
that matters.
1
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vital. It is a companys bread and butter,
the efficient, focused, profitable work that
delivers next quarters returns.
Great Work This is what we want more
of. This is the work that is meaningful
to you, that has an impact and makes
a difference. It inspires, stretches, and
provokes. Great Work is the work that
matters.
It is a source of both deep comfort and
engagement, the flow zone where time
stands still and you feel youre working
at your best and effortlessly. The comfort
comes from its connection its sight line
to what is most meaningful to you, your
values, beliefs, and aspirations.
But Great Work is also a place
of uncertainty and discomfort. The
discomfort arises because the work is
new and challenging and as a result,
theres an element of risk and possible
failure. Because this is work that matters,
work that you care about, you dont
want it to fail. And because its new and
challenging, theres a chance that it might.
For organizations, Great Work drives
strategic difference, innovation, and
longevity. Often its the kind of innovative
work that pushes business forward that
leads to new products, more efficient
systems, and increased profits.
Whats Great Work for me? Its been
interesting to see how thats evolved
over time. For instance, when I started
being a full time coach about a decade
ago, that was my Great Work. Id wait by
the phone with sweaty hands and a fast-
beating heart, waiting for the client
to call. Now, Id consider that Good Work
still love doing it, but its no longer
an edge for me. My Great Work now is
focused on writing my next book based
around my short movie, The Eight
Irresistible Principles of Fun and also
supporting my leaders for our Coaching
for Great Work program. There are 16
based around the world, so building
a community within this group is exciting
and definitely Great Work.
MS: In your book youre saying that
to do great work, we should decline
good work. How to do that? How should
I make myself ditch good work and start
great work? Can you give examples from
your life how youve declined good work
to do great work?
MBS: Its one of the deep truths
about doing more Great Work. You need
to decide on what to say Yes to... and what
to say No to. There are two challenges with
that saying No to yourself and saying No
to others.
Saying No to yourself is difficult
because Good Work is a comfortable
place to hang out and be. Even though
Great Work is where the more meaningful,
more engaging work lives were
constantly pulled back to the familiarity
and certainty of doing Good Work. It is an
act of courage to decide what Good Work
you want to say No to, so you can free up
more time, space and energy to do Great
Work.
It is also difficult to say No to most
people, especially colleagues in the work
place. Heres my best tip for this. Think
of your goal not as saying No but as
saying Yes more slowly. Part of what trips
us up is how our default is set to saying
Yes and saying Yes quickly. If you can just
slow things down a little and the best
way to do this is to get curious and ask
questions about whats being asked of
you then youll end up not committing
yourself to so much.
MS: I really liked your creative question
is this true?. Every now and then I get
feedback on my Nozbe.com application
from a user who says your app doesnt
have X and Y feature, nobody would ever
use this without it. And I know I have tens
of thousands of users who are happily using
my app! Same applies to this magazine.
I really need to ask myself this powerful
question quite often. And in your life? When
recently you did have to ask yourself this
question, what have you learned from that?
For companies Great Work drives strategic
difference, innovation and longevity.

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MBS: Part of the secret to doing more
Great Work is to get more mindful about
what work youre doing, clearer about
the why. Quite often just like in your
example we get thrown into a situation
where others and ourself starting making
judgments about whats going on that
spark us into action. Slowing it down by
asking is that true? helps you stop and
make the best possible choice on where
you spend your time.
I use this question a lot to manage
myself from overreacting to feedback
I get. For instance, today I just received
a collation of feedback from a keynote
I gave at a conference. It was mostly
very positive, and it also had some less
than positive comments not terrible
just not two thumbs up which got
me going down the path of I wasnt
very good, Im never any good at this,
I should just stop speaking, etc. By
pulling back and asking myself are their
comments true, is my inner dialogue
true? I can calm myself down and
collect myself.
MS: When I started my Nozbe app,
I was a one-man shop. Now I have
a team to support me with my business.
I started the Productive Magazine with
a friend who actually designed the
magazine into what it is today. Now
I have a team of editors (Lori, Dustin)
who help me out. Tell me Michael, what
support do you have and what support
do you need?
MBS: I truly believe that you cant
do Great Work by yourself. If youre
smart, you build up a team people who
can provide technical, intellectual and
emotional support.
So I have a coach who I use as
a sounding board and strategic thinker
and who Ive worked with for three years.
I have a brain trust, a mastermind
group where I can show up and be
confused and despairing and also people
who know my blind spots and kick me
in the back when required. I have a full
time office manager, and two or three
fantastic operations people who help
manage the various systems that make
the business run. Weve got some great
technical experts a designer, a web
person, a flash movie maker. And Im just
creating another team to lead a project
that will culminate in January. Bottom
line: I have a ton of support, and Im
deeply grateful for it.
MS: We very often we tend to think about
an idea and just go into action, but youre
asking this question: what is possible?
to make us think of coming up with
different possibilities before we go into
action...
MBS: Let me suggest my five favorite
questions for generating possibilities.
The first is to ask, after youve defined
your challenge and the ideas you already
have, and what else? until you run out of
ideas. Thats always a good start and you
have more ideas than you thought.
Then ask these three questions:
Whats the easiest thing to do?
What could I do that would have the
most impact?
What do I want to do?
Those three questions will help generate
an interesting range of possibilities. And
then you just need to ask yourself: What
WILL you do?
MS: I really liked your question about
building stories. So whats your story?
How did you create a scenario planning
for your book?
MBS: Youre referring to one of the
maps from the book, where you imagine
different stories for whatever your Great
Work project might be. Its a great exercise
for bringing to life your ambition and
to test the extent of your risk. I use two
questions as part of this process:
What would extraordinary look like?
This starts stretching whats possible
and allows me to imagine brave thoughts
working on the principle that once
a mind has been stretched, it can never
shrink back to its original size.
What wouldnt I do to make this
a success?
This is powerful because once youve
clarified what you wouldnt do you have
a lot of stuff left over that you WOULD do.
This opens up possibilities.
And then, you have a choice. Having
imagined whats possible, what do you
want to strive for? How much courage
do you have? How much risk are you
willing to take?
One of my stories is about Find Your
Great Work becoming a mainstream
success and that narrative is still
unfolding.
I truly believe that you cant do Great Work by
yourself. If youre smart, you build up a team.
Michael Bungay
Stanier, born
in Australia,
lives in Canada
where hes been
awarded Coach
of the Year 2006.
To find out more about his book, visit
the Find Your Great Work web site:
www.FindYourGreatWork.com
Learn Michaels practical next day
usable coaching skills:
www.CoachingForGreatWork.com
Michael on Twitter: @boxofcrayons
Michael
Bungay Stanier
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The number ONE spot is for losers
Stop trying to be number one. Relax and enjoy being simply great.
Alex Fayle
Im the best.
Be the best in your niche.
Your goal should be to reach number
one.
Blah blah blah...
Know what? I dont care about being the
best. Im quite happy being great. Theres
so much more company when youre great.
The best is a lonely place, always looking
over your shoulder to make sure that no
ones coming up from behind ready to take
the number one spot away from you.
Theres so much pressure on being
NUMBER ONE. Think of the Olympics,
a perfect example of this. While thousands
train for an event, dozens will make it
to the final moment and only one person
will be the best. You watch the news and
the way they handle everyone else, asking
second and third place athletes how it feels
to lose the top spot. How totally icky.
Ive learned since moving to Spain that
most Spaniards dont care about being the
best. They find constant competition and
work-work-work very English. Whenever
I start getting all gotta be the best, gotta
be the best Raul asks me why. And I say
because... and stop. I dont know why
actually. Peer pressure perhaps?
I can understand why Id want
to be great. After all whod want to listen
to someone who isnt striving to be great?
But the best? Nope, cant think of a single
good reason.
Theres only one type of best that
I care about and thats doing my best. Im
not a slacker. I give whatever Im doing
my best, but thats an internal thing. Its
competing with myself and going one step
farther than I thought possible. But being
the best? Thats completely external and
Ive had enough trouble in my life learning
not to care what others think. Why should
I allow others to measure my success
against my competitors?
No thanks, Ill stick with being simply
great and share the winners circle with all
the other great people in my field.
Alex Fayle, Master
of Information
Studies from
the University of
Toronto who now
lives in northern
Spain where he found his soul. Hes
back out on the Someday Sea to help
others cross it. Find out more about
Alex on his blog:
SomedaySyndrome.com
Alex on Twitter: @alexfayle
Alex Fayle
pressmaster - Fotolia.com

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The number ONE spot is for losers
Next Tuesday,
August 11, 2009
a new Era of Productivity Applications
will start with the launch of New Nozbe 2.0
featuring
Use Coupon code
PRODUCTIVE
to save 10%
and start getting things done with
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Productive! Review
Making It All Work
by David Allen
David Allens Making it All Work, the highly-anticipated follow-
up to his blockbuster Getting Things Done, offers a practical
and philosophical approach to the problem of defning and
processing our stuff.
Art Carden
H
e defines stuff expansively
its basically anything
intruding on your cognitive
architecture that isnt properly
defined.
Allens 2002 book Getting Things Done
created an entire subculture and a set of
organizing principles that have encouraged
some off-the-wall innovations (Merlin
Manns Hipster PDA, for example). Making
It All Work is a complement to, rather than
a substitute for, GTD, and it incorporates
the insights Allen has picked up from years
of coaching executives and other groups in
his methods.
Allen states this explicitly on page 5:
While Getting Things Done offered
a primer and a simple manual, Making
It All Work is intended to provide you
with a road map one that will enhance
your abilities to process life and work in
tandem.
Allen encourages his readers
to be as outcome-focused as possible and
to develop hard-edged systems whereby
they are able to understand exactly what
it is that they are doing, what it is that
is required, and what the next action
necessarily has to be. This is explicit on
page 17: Because what I teach is actually
not a system but a systematic approach, it
can be adapted to take advantage of many
of the features of software applications
that have seldom been used before.
As an economist I was especially
impressed with the way he led off the first
chapter with a quote from Thomas Sowell,
who, albeit in a different context, points out
that much of what sophisticates loftily to as
the complexity of the real world is in fact
the inconsistency in their own minds (p. 1).
Allen is fond of referring to the
business of life and the game of work,
and this makes its first appearance on
page 2 when he points out that a well-
defined productivity system means that
work takes on a lighter quality, and life
itself becomes a successful enterprise and
further down the page when he writes that
the game of work and the business of life
are really the same thing, when it comes
down to the principles and behaviors and
techniques that eliminate distractions and
foster beneficial focus.
Allens goal is clarified on page 57: the
challenge that we are dealing with in all
this is getting to the state in which we can
trust that what were doing at any point in
time is what we think we should be doing.
Of particular interest is his treatment
of the false distinction between work and
life. Following his earlier work, Allen offers
the broadest possible definition of work
as anything you want to get done thats
not done yet (p. 56) and refers to the
Allen says: what I teach is actually
not a system but a systematic approach
!
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Art Carden
is Assistant
Professor of
Economics and
Business at
Rhodes College
in Memphis,
TN and an Adjunct Fellow with the
Oakland, CAbased Independent
Institute. He is a regular contributor to
Lifehack.org and Division of Labour.
Arts SSRN Author Page
Art Carden
Allen points out that when youre in
this mode you can read a single issue of
a magazine and generate at least a dozen
things to do restaurants to try out, cool
new travel accessories to buy, six ideas
that might improve the next staff meeting
(p. 108).
Im glancing around my workspace right
now and seeing magazines, journals, and
books Im avoiding right now because
Im not really clear on what Ill do with
the information once I collect it. Re-
arranging the piles might create short-term
satisfaction, but it wont produce long-run
results (p. 111).
I would summarize Allens key
point as follows: dross creates drag. In
economics, we talk about opportunity
cost. Opportunity cost is whatever we
give up in order to do something, and the
opportunity cost of holding onto a pile of
commitments in your mind is the ideas you
could be having and implementing. As he
has said in various places, your mind is
for having ideas, not holding them. Trying
to use the mind to hold ideas rather than
to have them reduces clarity and increases
resistance.
For leaders, clarifying tasks and
parameters is of paramount importance.
Making It All Work provides a philosophy
and a toolkit that helps us figure this out.
concept of work/life balance as a hoax
(p. 58). This flies in the face of how a lot of
people think. Many organizational thinkers
and leaders see work as what is done in
exchange for money at a place of business
while anything else is life. As Allen argues,
this is a false distinction. In our super-
productive world, a lot of us have the
opportunity to find fulfillment through our
work, which is an opportunity that many of
our ancestors never had. Thus, Allens very
broad definition is appropriate.
Allen introduces some new terminology
control and perspective to describe
some of his new thinking on Getting Things
Done, and these are the focal points of the
new book. The core of his new contribution
really begins in earnest at the start of
chapter 4, when he argues that control
and perspective are the two key
ingredients for making it all work (p. 60).
Much like in his earlier book, Allen
relies on a number of heuristic hooks, like
the matrix of self-management, which
define different levels of perspective
and control. There is the Captain and
Commander quadrant of high perspective
and high control, the Micromanager/
Implementer quadrant of high control and
low perspective, the Crazy Maker/Visionary
quadrant of high perspective and little
control, and finally the Victim/Responder
quadrant of low perspective and low control.
Obviously, the victim/responder
quadrant is the worst place to be it is
perpetually operating in a crisis mode
(p. 62). Micromanagement is a type of
bureaucratic management where form...
will overtake function (p. 65); This is
a fundamentally bureaucratic style that
emphasizes filling out the right forms at
the expense of actually creating value.
In yet another quadrant is the Crazy
Maker/Visionary, who take(s) on too
many commitments vis-a-vis available
resources (p. 67). It is a quadrant
with which most academics can likely
sympathize.
The ideal in his system is the Captain
and Commander. This is the person
who is in his or her zone; it is someone
who has learned to walk the thin line
between function and form, vision and
implementation, stretch and structure
(p. 69). The key to being a captain and
commander is to implement processes
that allow you to successfully deal with
what is coming at you. In other words,
it is to pay attention to what has our
attention (pp. 72-73).
In chapters five and beyond Allen
reorients GTD along the control/perspective
axes and considers the following tasks:
capturing, clarifying, organizing, reflecting,
(for control) and projects, areas of focus,
goals, vision, and purpose/principles (for
perspective). Engaging/Actions intersects
both categories.
One of the keys that permeates
Allens work is to define stuff so that
it can be dealt with. Its important for
the visionary part of your mind to be
disciplined to define what you want to do.
In a passage that has hit close to home,
Allen offers the
broadest possible
defnition of work as
anything you want
to get done thats not
done yet
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I spend waaaaaay
too much time on...
I recently asked my readers to fll in the blank to I spend waaaaaay too much time on... There
were tons of interesting answers, but it didnt take long to start seeing some patterns. Here are
seven most common responses (and what you can do about them)
Laura Stack
1. E-mail.
Lets face it. E-mail can be a phenomenal
productivity tool, but it will eat your day
alive if you let it. Lots of people complain
that their overflowing inbox is beyond
their control, but here are three steps you
CAN take to start getting a handle on it
right away:
Do you keep one eye on your inbox
all day long? What does that do to your
productivity? If you drop everything and
attend to every e-mail that comes in
throughout the day, you are derailing your
productivity, over and over again. Not
only do you waste whatever time it takes
for you to read, ignore, or act on a given
e-mail message, but it also takes time
to refocus your attention on whatever you
were doing prior to the interruption.
Try to close Outlook completely while
you work on other tasks, if you simply
cant resist looking. Also turn off your
alerts, so the envelope in the system tray
doesnt constantly remind you theres
email waiting.
2. Watching television.
Why is it that we can spend all day
scrounging for extra minutes and then
head home only to flush countless hours
down the drain watching television?
Television (even bad television) can be
extremely habit forming and one show can
very easily lead to another, turning your
half-hour escape into an entire evening
wasted.
Take a quick inventory of the last few
TV shows you watched. Think about how
many you thought about in advance and
then sat down to enjoy. Now think about
how many you ended up watching just
because they were on. Pick a few shows
that you really enjoy and watch them each
week.
If you have TiVo or a DVR, thats even
better. Watch on your own time and skip
the commercials. Then shut the TV off and
go about your business!
3. Searching the Internet.
The Internet is a bottomless pit of
information... some useful and some not-
so-useful. Its much too easy to sit down
to do one thing (pay a bill, look up an
address) and end up wasting time on
something else entirely (reading news stories,
checking your social networking profiles).
Lai Leng Yiap - Fotolia.com
!l
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By choosing a single designee from each
work area, you can make sure everyone is
represented without having everyone in
the room.
Do we need to meet at all?
Any meeting that doesnt have a clear
objective (if not a formal agenda) should be
on the chopping block.
7. Working on fun things instead of
boring tasks.
I love that this one made the list because
it shows how honest my readers are! The
best thing you can do is realize that youll
focus much better on the work that is
important to you if you dont have a bunch
of small, less interesting tasks hanging
over your head. One thing to keep in
mind? About 99 percent of the time, those
nit-picky tasks are DRAMATICALLY easier
and less painful than you think theyre
going to be.
Getting started is the hardest part. If
youre really having trouble, schedule
a five-minute appointment with yourself
to begin the chore. When the designated
time arrives, start working on the task. If
you feel like stopping at the end of five
minutes, you can stop. The only rule is you
must schedule an additional five minutes
for tomorrow. When you begin to see
some progress, five minutes soon becomes
10, 15, 20...
If meandering around the web is
relaxing for you thats fine just make
sure you do it at an appropriate time and
place that doesnt interfere with work or
family time.
Otherwise, treat the Internet like any
other tool: use it when you need it and put
it away when youre done. Once youve got
what you came for, close the window and
move on.
4. Procrastinating on starting
a difficult task or project.
Occasionally, things dont get done
because we just cant seem to get
the ball rolling. Sometimes the task
or project giving us a hard time is
completely within our control, but we
just dont make it happen. Whether the
task is intimidating, time-consuming, or
simply unpleasant, the solution is often
the same: break it down into manageable
chunks.
Forget waiting for a block of time.
That no longer exists. Instead of viewing
the task as one huge project, break it down
into manageable chunks you can schedule
over a period of a week or two. A twenty-
hour project can be seen as ten two-hour
tasks. Getting it down on paper can help
you see how to best approach the project.
The key is to do something to move
toward completion. If you need to focus
without interruption, its best to not work
in your office.
If you can take one large task and
break it into many smaller ones, itll be
much easier to get things going. Rather
than feeling like you have to tackle some
monumental project all at once, you can
just look at your bite-sized first step and
get started right away.
5. Handling family concerns during my
work day.
Life happens. And it isnt always
convenient. Some things can only be
arranged during the week from 9:00
to 5:00. Fortunately, companies are
starting to realize that its in their best
interest to assist employees attempting
to manage their lives during the day
rather than standing in the way. That can
mean anything from allowing workers
to access the Internet for incidental
personal use to offering flexible
schedules to accommodate personal
appointments.
Talk to your boss, your peers, and
your staff about finding opportunities
for flexibility within the workday. If
employees dont feel like they have
to accomplish a million things during
five lunch hours a week, theyll be more
productive during the rest of the day.
Do whatever you can to promote a strong,
reasonable work-life balance at your
organization.
6. Scheduling meetings.
Do you find that its close to impossible
to get five or more attendees that are
available at the same time and the same
date? When key players are overbooked,
it can take hours just to schedule a single
a meeting. Here are three questions you
should ask yourself whenever you schedule
a meeting:
Do we really need all these people?
Make sure you arent inviting anyone
that doesnt need to have a seat at the
table.
Can we keep people in the loop without
inviting them to every meeting?
Some meetings are full of wallflowers
that need to know whats going on but
dont necessarily need to contribute.
Publishing meeting minutes or distributing
essential information electronically can
save time and shorten the attendee list.
If I can complete the action in less than two
minutes, I just go ahead and do it. Why wait?
Laura Stack
is a personal
productivity
expert, author,
and professional
speaker who
helps busy workers Leave the Office
Earlier with Maximum Results in
Minimum Time. Shes the president
of The Productivity Pro, Inc.
Lauras Firm: ProductivityPro.com
Laura on Twitter: @laurastack
Laura Stack
!i
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So what does this mean? If you dont
want to fall off the wagon so often, find
a system that works for you, make sure
you get plenty of rest and stay energized,
giving yourself a break when things
arent going so smoothly and make sure
you have a clear picture of what youre
actually doing on a very regular basis.
Doesnt sound too hard...
James Mallinson
The 5 Big Reasons
Why You Fall Off
The Productivity Wagon
Lack of energy
If you have no energy, its hard to find
the motivation to do a weekly review,
to organize your projects, to actually do
anything in general. And all it takes is a
late evening sucking up to the boss, a bad
nights sleep, skipping breakfast or having
a very hectic day running around like a
headless chicken. In that groggy mood its
all to easy to fall off the wagon.
Lack of clarity
This is probably the most common
reason why people fall off the
productivity wagon. You skip a weekly
review or two, you forget to define
your next actions, you let thoughts and
ideas build up in your head... before you
know it, you get hit by the fuzzy-head
syndrome. And in your unclear state, you
hit a bump in the road and go flying off
the wagon again.
Youre doing too much
Half the reason people obsess over
getting productive is because they have
so much to do, they need to gain some
control to stand any chance of doing it
all. But thats like walking a tightrope.
When your entire day is about getting as
much done as possible, all it takes is one
delayed meeting or one task thats a little
more complicated than you imagined, and
youll take a a head-cracking fall off that
wagon.
Your system doesnt work
Yes, yes. Its about what you do (or dont
do), not about what you use, but you do
need to get organized and get a plan, and
you cant do that in your head, you need
a system that works for you. The problem
comes when you obsess over the latest
app or tool rather than actually putting it
to good use. That isnt going to help you
get productive, and if it doesnt suit your
needs, it will let you down at some point,
predictably shoving you off the wagon
onto the dirt below.
Youre trying to function at 100%
You are not a robot, you are not a machine
(unless youre some secret Government AI
project thats reading this, in which case
I apologize) so dont try and function at
100% all the time. Youre just asking for
a fall. Just remember, every up has its
down... a down that will invariably leave
you a mangled mess under the wheels of
the productivity wagon.
Although a lot of my readers argue that falling off the productivity wagon is a positive thing,
I would also argue that there is a lot to be learned from evaluating how to not fall off so often.
Thus Ive identifed the 5 big reasons why people actually do fall off the wagon.
James Mallinson
comes from the
UK and is an
aspiring author.
He started
Organize IT
nearly two years ago after he
began dabbling in productivity,
and wanted to share his tips and
experience.
Visit Organize IT: Organize-it.co.uk
James on Twitter: @jmallinson
James Mallinson
!1
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Michael Sliwinski
Productive! Show launches
Our Productive! Family is growing with the launch of Productive! Show
- www.ProductiveShow.com - where yours truly is posting weekly shows with productivity
tips and tricks.
Hope youll enjoy the new sister site and
subscribe to it Ill try to keep my weekly
posting consistent and Im counting on you
sharing your tips and tricks with me in the
comments below the videos.
E
very once in a while Ive been
posting a 2-minute video show
for my Nozbe users to share my
tips and tricks that help me be
more productive.
Recently I decided to gather these
videos together and launch them under
our Productive! brand... and most of
all, post more often now regularly on
a weekly basis.
Ill be posting about my personal tips
and tricks, but mostly from a perspective
of a small startup owner how to set up
and run a productive startup.
Here are some recent videos Ive posted:
Capture tools help get stuff done
Where Im talking about my favorite
capture tools David Allens notetaker
wallet and the iPhone with Nozbe and
Evernote on it.
Inboxes for different purposes
Where Im talking about setting up
a special inbox before a trip Ive used this
trick on my way to the GTD Summit in San
Francisco.
Passion the ultimate productivity
driver
Where Im sharing my ultimate
productivity driver this one thing that
keeps me going and reminds me whats
important and why Im doing what Im
doing.
Michael Sliwinski
is your chief editor
of the Productive!
Magazine and
now a host of the
new Productive!
Show site. Every day hes trying to help
people get more done with his web (and
iPhone) application Nozbe.com.
Michael on Twitter: @MichaelNozbe
Michael Sliwinski
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heart pumping, and my body rejuvenated
by the time the one hour is up. At an hour
per day it more than fulfills my weekly
walking requirement as well as enhances
my personal growth.
4. Engage In House Cleaning.
We all get to the point where we let our
house go a bit past okay, way past
the point of being perfectly clean. This
makes me feel a bit guilty because I know
that one of the keys to a clear mind is
a clean home and workplace. It gets
to the point where the cleaning job will
either demand a lot of time, or force you
to move out.
If youve slipped in the clean-as-you
go process, you can use the 15 minute
Alex Shalman
I
have no quick fix Im not THAT
good so youll have to settle for
some practical techniques to dig
yourself out of your own lazy ruts. It
will take some work on your part, but Im
sure that whatever works for me can work
for you too.
1. Start Somewhere, Anywhere.
We can think of the discipline muscle as
a strong pillar. Metaphorically speaking, if
this muscle is big and tall it will serve as
a Pantheon of productivity. Pick any one of
the ideas below, or any one of your own
ideas, and get started!
If you follow the action consistently for
30 days, you will build a habit. Once youre
in the habit of making habits youll be
able to build new ones. Maintaining takes
much less energy than starting, so you
can keep on adding on new habits to your
habit-happy life.
2. Self-actualize, Be Conscious.
This happens to be the most important
point in the article. Think. By questioning
your source, reasons, and intentions, you
are able to transcend whatever obstacle
you find in your way.
3. Improve Exercise Antics.
Sometimes I find myself laying in bed, just
listening to audio books on my iPhone.
Big mistake. The simple hack is to take
that one hour, go outside with my iPhone
and just walk around the neighborhood.
A brisk walk will get my blood flowing,
For one reason or another, weve all been stuck in a lazy rut. From
productivity guru to Average Joe, weve all faced our share of down time.
11 Practical Ways To Jump
Out Of A Lazy Rut
Spauln - Fotolia.com
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Alex Shalman
is a 24 year old
Jewish student,
son, boyfriend,
classmate, writer
and friend that
lives in New Jersey, USA. His interests
include personal development, fitness,
nutrition, productivity, psychology and
relationships.
His blog: AlexShalman.com
Alex on Twitter: @alexshalman
Alex Shalman
rule to get out of your rut. Pick a room,
and designate just 15 minutes to clean
something up (i.e. just the desk, just
the closet, just the floors). Use up all
15 minutes and continue the next day.
In the mean time, clean as you go and
youll find a clean room within about
a week.
5. Cultivate Reading Habits.
Its a sad fact that most Americans dont
read. One of the reasons I started my site
was to cater to such people. My sentiments
were that reading a full book, and
compressing the gems into a 10 minute
read, can be convenient for even the most
modest of readers. Incidentally, after
running my site for this long, Ive come
to realize that you guys are in the upper
echelons of intelligence and do spend
a nice chunk of time reading. I feel like you
can relate when I say that falling off the
reading wagon is a commonly occurring
disaster.
The best thing to do with a dropped
habit is to get back into it slowly. All you
need is to dedicate 15 minutes, as soon
as you wake up, each and every morning.
This is when youll be most alert to read,
which you can do by waking up 15 minutes
early. Commit to just 30 days of 15 minute
mornings, and eventually expand the hours
if you like the new habit.
6. Get Back On Track With Writing.
In the creation of my site I have made
a 180 turn in my thoughts about writing.
It used to be a painful chore, but that was
before I realized that Im passionate about
writing. Now I love writing for my site,
and the other sites where I freelance. After
all, I only delivered 1 article last week,
and it wasnt due to lack of time or lack of
material.
The technique that works best for me is
scheduling a writing time the night before.
When I set aside 2 hours in a day, Im able
to write anywhere between 1-4 articles. If
its more than 1, I can give it away, or set it
for a future date. However, I need to make
sure Im in the habit of getting back the
next day to do some more writing, or else
the lazy bug will slip up on me.
7. Hydrate For Productivity.
One of the things that Ive found to be
continuously daunting is the reappearance
of dehydration. Drinking 2 liters of
water a day gets every atom of my body
resonating and jumping with energy.
8. End Over-Sleeping.
The more you sleep, the lazier you are.
The lazier you are, the more you sleep. By
applying a couple of standardized rules in
the form of habits were able to break out
of this sloth-like cycle.
First, when you hear the morning alarm,
and before you lay there and question
yourself, jump right out of bed! Walk over
to the sink, wash your face with cold water
and immediately bring yourself to your
schedule or to-do list. Need an afternoon
nap? Set your alarm for 20 minutes and
do not allow yourself to sleep more than
this optimal time under any circumstances.
9. Dont Eat Lazy Food.
Have you noticed that with laziness comes
bad food choices that are high in fats,
sugars, and processed carbs? No? Is it just
me? Maybe with bad food choices comes
laziness, which is also very feasible.
One of the things that helps me break
the cycle is placing some rules on the
table. No eating 4 hours before bed,
unless its a piece of fruit. Using fruits and
vegetables as the only snacks between
meals. Having vegetables be the entree
of my meals, not the side dish. Eating 5-6
smaller meals throughout the day to avoid
lethargy. Healthy food gives you more
energy, which is one sure-fire way to get
out of the lazy hole.
10. Simplify Your Life.
Think about it, extensive filing systems
like GTD require months to learn, just so
you can figure out what to do today. Your
mission simplify. When you take away as
many unnecessary layers and distractions,
your mind will be clutter free and excited
at the opportunity to tackle whats
important.
11. Embrace Your Laziness.
Consider for a moment that youre run-
down. Physically, emotionally, or spiritually
youre experiencing a leak in your battery
thats leaving you sluggish throughout
the day. Thats both understandable and
reasonable.
Put up the white flag, go to sleep, get
hydrated, eat some healthy food, go for
a sweaty run and refer to number 2
think. Perhaps you know what the problem
is, but something tells me that if you stand
in front of the mirror and look yourself in
the eyes for 10 minutes, a little voice will
come out and tell you exactly whats wrong
fix it.
If you follow the action consistently for 30
days, you will build a habit. Once youre in the
habit of making habits youll be able to build
new ones.
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Eventually
self-professed
productivity
expert, founder
of the new
productivity
ideology:
Eventualism. His blog... eventually:
EffingTheDog.com
Mike on Twitter: @mikevardy
Mike Vardy
25. Filetcation A fishing excursion.
26. Oy-Vaycation A Jewish vacation.
27. Raycation A great trip where you
have no idea where youre going (after Ray
Charles).
28. Fay Wraycation A trip with
a primate. (Used in a sentence: Clint
Eastwood went on a Fay Wraycation in Any
Which Way But Loose.)
29. Neighcation A trip to your
neighbors.
30. Bidetcation A trip to the bathroom.
Mike Vardy
The Vacationary
W
hat follows are 30 of the
more popular types of
vacations one can take.
1. Baycation 1. A holiday comprising
of watching the films of acclaimed director
Michael Bay. 2. A trip to San Francisco.
2. Claycation A tennis holiday.
3. Fraycation A vacation that involves
fighting of some sort (watch people fight?).
4. Gaycation 1. A really dumb holiday. 2.
A really joyous one. 3. A trip to San Francisco.
5. Haycation A trip to a farm.
6. Weighcation A trip to the fat farm.
7. Laycation A trip to one of those
Hedonism places.
8. Maycation A trip that could happen.
9. Paycation A business trip.
10. Playcation A trip to an amusement park.
11. Praycation Any sort of religious trip.
12. Sheacation A trip to New York
to watch their other baseball team.
13. Slaycation A hunting trip.
14. Sleighcation 1. A trip to the North
Pole. 2. A trip to the mall so your kids can
have their picture taken with Santa Claus.
15. Straycation A vacation where
things dont go exactly as planned.
16. Yaycation A really fun trip.
17. Treycation A trip to basketball
camp.
18. Drcation A trip involving a rap
concert.
19. Vraication A Franch-themed
vacation taken to search for the truth.
20. Olcation A trip to Mexico.
21. Chcation A trip to Cuba.
22. Okaytion A trip that was just
average.
23. Placation A trip one takes just
to appease another. (Used in a sentence:
I just returned from a placation with my
wife.)
24. Fakation A trip you told people you
took, but never actually did.
I feel that is my duty as your Eventual Productivity Expert to get you in the know when it comes to
terms that describe that all-important thing you need to take at least twelve times per year: the vacation.
Dmitry Ersler - Fotolia.com
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10 Signs you are in
the GTD

Trap
WHAKATE
Sign 1. You keep your underwear in 43
folders.
Sign 2. You go to bed and think: Whats
the next action?
Sign 3. You participate in a blog
discussion on whether it is more effcient
to be effective or more effective to be
effcient.
Sign 4. You karate-chop your friend
because he questioned Getting Things
Done (GTD)
Sign 5. You remove your spam blocker
because your e-mail inbox is empty.
Sign 6. You keep a time log when playing
with your child.
Sign 7. You switch your task management
application on a weekly basis.
Sign 8. You always drink your beer in two
minutes.
Sign 9. You maintain a list of your lists.
Sign 10. You contact Apple for a do-it-
yourself iPhone kit.
Learn more about the Whakate Way and get the Introspection Workbook to get out of the GTD Trap.
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If I had to pick a person to have dinner with, when I need to be prodded and challenged and inspired
to think about the things I really am committed to think about for myself and what Im doing, Id
pick Michael Bungay Stanier. He has an ability to shake our tree and make us more conscious and
responsible about what we know but arent willing to admit we know yet. And the best part he makes
it easy and fun. Great work, Michael!
David Allen, author of Getting Things Done
Find Your Great Work
Napkin-size solutions to stop the busy work and start the work that matters
Newest Book by Michael Bungay Stanier
www.FindYourGreatWork.com
Buy the Book Now