ProdPod, a Productivity Podcast

Negative self-speak eats away at productivity and no one is immune from it at high stress times in our lives. And, while you may have positive self-esteem, you may still have negative self-speak creeping into your daily life. In this episode, I give you a three-pronged approach to eliminating self-speak from your productive life. Daily affirmations: 1. First, you need to identify what you think ar...

Most people associate the idea of talking to one's self as a problem. However, the kind of talking to yourself I discuss in this episode I think makes you more productive thereby increasing your sanity! We all have an inner voice; it is a collection of our approximately seventy thousand thoughts per day converted to words as we consciously think them. Let's enlist for our purposes of this discussi...

I believe most people think of "fitness" and think about living a healthy lifestyle, however, I have long thought of it under a much broader context I call "Whole-Being Fitness." In this episode I explain my concept of Whole-Being Fitness and why it's so important to your productive life. Let's take the example of how Whole-Being Fitness works in real life. that I've decided to run a marathon in a...

Back in the 1960's, there was a movement that developed, founded on the core concept that we could help people become happier, more fulfilled and more creative. It was called the Human Potential Movement. Further, we know so much about personal productivity today because of the Human Potential Movement and yet so few people actually know its history and how you can use this core concept to enhance...

In our last episode, we discussed the first part of Hardcore Decluttering, recognizing physical clutter and determine its cost to you financially and emotionally. In this episode, we'll turn to two additional kinds of clutter for you to recognize and tackle. That second type of clutter is that which resides in your mind. Start a bucket list in a single, good-old-fashioned paper notebook. This isn'...

We all know that clutter is a part of life for many of us. Further, some clutter is natural and manageable. But, at some point the clutter is apparent and stymies your productivity. So, let's kick-start your decluttering process with learning where clutter lives and a few tips on your way to what I'm calling, Hardcore Decluttering, a regular series of podcasts here on ProdPod. The idea is to take...

This is the final episode in our four-part ProdPod series on outsourcing your personal tasks in life...this episode is on getting started with bartering your personal tasks. To get started... Grab a paper ledger journal from the local office supply store (or if you're tech savvy, create an Excel or Google Spreadsheet workbook). Each sheet is dedicated to one person. Discuss with your barter buddy...

We discussed in the last episode about the idea of using virtual assistants, personal concierges and daily money managers to help get more done in life without you doing all of it. In this episode in our four-part ProdPod series on personal outsourcing, I will be explaining for you how to use an age-old concept of outsourcing tasks for greater productivity...for free, bartering. You know what bart...

In this second episode of a four-part ProdPod series on outsourcing personal tasks, I introduced the idea of hiring a virtual assistant, personal concierge and daily money manager. In this episode, I'll explain what each is and why you would need one. In the last episode, I introduced the idea of hiring a virtual assistant, personal concierge and daily money manager. In this episode, I'll explain...

Welcome to Episode 38 of ProdPod, the podcast of productivity lessons in two minutes or less. This is the first episode in a four-part ProdPod series on outsourcing your personal tasks in life. Enjoy! For many of us, we feel overwhelmed not by the many things we are doing on a daily basis but by the many things we want to be doing additionally or instead of what we're already doing everyday. Furth...

Email is one of the most powerful and pervasive communication tools in our day-to-day lives, especially at work. Email is also one of the most persistent and systemic interruptions when you get too many messages, or consistently receive messages that were unsolicited, ill-written and/ or misdirected. In this episode, I'd like to look at building a culture on solid email communication grounds, usin...

I had the pleasure of interviewing Paula Whitacre, principal, Full Circle Communications , which provides writing and editing services to help organizations reach wider audiences. She provided a great quick tip on writing productivity. Enjoy! Oh, and if you get a chance, please subscribe to Paula's e-newsletter , Ease in Writing. (I think that link will work; if it doesn't, visit her website and s...

Welcome to Episode 35 of ProdPod, the podcast of productivity lessons in two minutes or less. I'm Ray Sidney-Smith, your productivity guide. In 1996, Daniel Goleman wrote his hit book, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Mr. Goleman is a journalist, and not a scientist, but nevertheless he made a break-through in the way in which humans understand ourselves by giving context to...

Welcome to Episode 34 of ProdPod, the podcast of productivity lessons in two minutes or less. I'm Ray Sidney-Smith, your productivity guide. Partly because I'm a tech geek and partly because of my professional responsibilities, I get to see a dizzying array of new technologies every day. And, I try to keep most of them swimming around in my head to differentiate the potential winners and likely lo...

Welcome to Episode 33 of ProdPod, the podcast of productivity lessons in two minutes or less. I'm Ray Sidney-Smith, your productivity guide. I'm rather comfortable with conflict resolution, but I see an abundance of poor conflict handling in the media today (especially coming from our politicians), I thought it might help to give an explanation of two foundational principles, Think Win-Win and Pri...

Welcome to Episode 32 of ProdPod, the podcast of productivity lessons in two minutes or less. I'm Ray Sidney-Smith, your productivity guide. What do MRIs, Buddhist monks and meditation have to do with each other? It turns out, your productivity. There are many studies past and ongoing [here's  a recent article of one such study] that reveal that meditation has innumerable benefits for helping the...

Have you ever been at the bank and the power goes out? They can't do anything! It's quite frustrating and you basically need to step out of line and come back later. Period. Now, let's jump over to your personal productivity system. You've set up the perfect system using your desktop or Web-based tools. You're on top of the world. And, then, the power goes out, or you're on the road and your smart...

One of my favorite productivity reads of 2011 was 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done by Peter Bregman . Mr. Bregman assembled his book from his highly popular Harvard Business Review blog, and he endeavors to give insights and highly practical tips for just what the title states...and he delivers. In this episode, a summary of his concept of the 18-minut...

I recently re-read a book I picked up a few years ago by Clare Harris called Conquer Stress, Achieve Success , and it describes something I advocate highly: doing a personal stress audit. Here's Clare's process:   First: Find a quiet space where you're comfortable and won't be disturbed. You may even want to do a relaxation technique or meditate for a few minutes to release any tensions from the o...

Getting to know yourself, your current productivity tools and how to use them correctly is a definitive step in creating flow in your productive life. Bernard M. Baruch once said, "Only as you do know yourself can your brain serve you as a sharp and efficient tool. Know your own failings, passions, and prejudices so you can separate them from what you see." Many times people ask me for the latest...

In 1955, a British naval historian and prolific author, Cyril Northcote Parkinson, wrote an essay for The Economist, in which he wrote what now has become the renowned Parkinson's Law, that "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." In 1955, a British naval historian and prolific author, Cyril Northcote Parkinson, wrote an essay for The Economist, in which he wrote what no...

For those of you who suffer from carrying too much with you on a regular basis, or feeling the clutter of technology accumulate on your desk or around the house over time, think about these three questions to see if you can simplify your technology infrastructure. 1- How often do you use each of the devices you own? Like with your wardrobe, if you haven't worn it this year, it's likely you won't u...

Is your system too complex? Well, it is if you spend more time managing your system than your system helps you manage getting things done.  We all have an idea that benefits should be greater than the costs, whether they're tangible or intangible. And, this naturally implies that your developing, implementing and evaluating a productivity system should be outweighed by the amount of time spent act...

Every Thanksgiving, I'm reminded about all the wonderful people in my life as my greatest blessing. In our modern, global society, though, it's easy to take many of these important people for granted the rest of the year. Every Thanksgiving, I'm reminded about all the wonderful people in my life as my greatest blessing. In our modern, global society, though, it's easy to take many things for grant...

Perseverance is a definite key to success. And, there are opportunities to persevere in everyday life. "Become a 'possibilitarian.' No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see the possibilities-- Always see them, for they are always there." ~Norman Vincent Peale I'd like to invite everyone listening to the podcast to my new live, monthly Twitter conversation, Pr...