Solution Building

OneNote Is One of Those Tools When we think of tools, we usually picture saws and nail guns… not digital notebooks. But productivity isn’t just about building stuff, it’s about staying organized. OneNote has become one of my favorite tools. It’s like a supercharged binder that keeps everything in one spot, syncs across devices, and helps me keep the chaos in check. Even if you aren’t a recovering...

Productivity isn’t just about getting things done. It’s about doing the right things with efficiency and excellence, for a purpose that matters to you. If you treat everything like it’s a top priority, nothing really is. This week, we'll break down how to shift your focus, set clear priorities, and stop wasting time on the wrong stuff. Start by asking: what’s the first next thing I need to do?

Here’s How I Do It I see my daily routine of journaling as one of the most productive things I do. My journal has evolved from simple prompts in 2013 to a tool that helps me look back to see what I did well and where I need to do better. If you’ve ever thought journaling was just a diary, this might change your mind. You don’t need to journal like I do. You just need to start.

Today was not the day I planned. You ever have one of those days where your calendar might as well have been written in disappearing ink? The reality of running a construction business is that your schedule will get hijacked, but you've got to keep moving forward anyway. If you don’t build flexibility into your plans, your plans will break. Learn how to shift gears without losing direction.

Ever feel like journaling is just another thing on a never-ending to-do list? You’re not alone. Most people never stick with it and I used to be one of them. But after a life-altering accident in 2012, everything changed. In this episode, I’m sharing why journaling became a daily habit, how it helped me get clear on my purpose, and why it’s one of the most powerful tools I use to stay focused and...

Here’s Why I Do It Journaling. What does it really mean to journal? It’s a question I’ve been asking myself a lot lately. I journal three times a day and I’ve been doing this consistently for a little over twelve years. But why? Before then, I had made a few weak attempts at journaling. But to no avail. There were always other things that I needed to do, keeping me from making it a habit. Then som...

This Can Be Hard to Do We tend to be binary thinkers. We assume things have to be one way or the other, ignoring the nuances and complexities of life. But that kind of thinking doesn’t work well in balancing your life. So how do we find that balance? Sure, sometimes there are only two choices. When choosing between right and wrong or good and evil, I believe this is the case. But most of life? It’...

An Example of a To Do List Triage Everything in life comes down to decisions. The decisions we make affect the outcome.  This past Sunday morning I was running behind schedule due to decisions I made Saturday evening, which were the results of something that happened Friday evening. I can’t go back and change the past, so this gives me a fixed time to get things done. How do I decide what to do an...

How to Know What to Do First It is easy to get consumed by all the things that need to be done. But we have more control over this than we think. It’s like BUILDing anything, it comes down to Being aware, Understanding, taking Intentional action and continued Learning. How are we supposed to get everything done? It’s amazing how much can be accomplished when there’s a deadline.

You Can Only Lay One Brick at a Time Nothing gets done without taking action. But when there are so many big, scary things ahead of us, it can be hard to get started. Overwhelm can slam the brakes on progress. We get stuck in neutral, and nothing moves forward. Nothing will get done if you don’t do something. This is where we are going to focus today. And to show you how this works, I’m going to u...

Understanding Your Life’s GPS and Finding Direction A friend and I were recently discussing the sense of overwhelm and out-of-control feeling that we were both experiencing. There are so many worthwhile, valuable things pulling at our attention. How will I ever get them all done? My to-do list is so long there’s not enough time to read it…let alone do it.

Nothing gets done if you don’t do something. A construction project is a big thing made up of a lot of different smaller things. Things need to be done in the right order, or the project will fall apart, or won’t be what it was intended to be. Building a business is no different. The question is… How do you manage all the little things?

What’s the First Next Step? We’ve been talking a lot about routines over the past several weeks. Like most things, it sounds great, but where to start? There’s already too much to do and not enough time. There’s no room on the list to add anything else. No one ever said building a successful business would be easy. If they did … they lied. Operating a business requires a lot. With so much to do, i...

And How It Fits in My Morning Routine We’ve been discussing routines and how they help us  get more done . How  reading and learning  is a big part of developing a good routine. And how I use  journaling . Last week it was  daily planning . The first thing on Daily Planning is reviewing my Weekly Life Plan. That’s what we’ll go over this week. What is a Life Plan? A life plan is pretty much what i...

Reminders Are a Big Part of This Taking control of your life requires intentional action. Having a routine is a big part of that control. The past several weeks we discussed routines and their importance in being productive. Last week we focused on my morning journaling. My routine includes reminders …. lots and lots of reminders. People that have seen my calendar and lists think I may be going a...

Your Morning Routine Should Be Where Your Day Starts Being out of control is one of the most helpless feelings we can have. I shared a little bit about my struggle with this last week and how reading and learning changed things for me. It was the realization that I had control over my decisions and how this control affected my life. Routines are a big part of that control. 

Books Are a Good Place to Start Too many times, people drift through life without any plan. They neglect to take control of the things they can control. I know how this is. I used to feel this way. Early on I had big dreams. Then when they didn’t happen, I felt like my messy life was just what I was stuck with, and I gave up on my dreams. Then God got my attention with a board upside the head.

A Daily Routine Can Help You Routines are regular procedures, chores, or duties done at specific intervals. We are creatures of habit and routines will happen to some degree (even if they are unplanned). The key is to not let your routines be unproductive or random. A routine requires intentional action. Too many people live their lives mired in regret. They leave things up to fate, wondering why...

Like Everything Else, It's a Choice Last week we discussed being busy. It’s easy to find ourselves with too much to do. There are just so many important and fun things that need done. This leads to burnout. It’s all too common for people to get burnt out. I’ve seen this happen a lot over the years. One place this happens as much as any is in the church. There’s no work any more important than that...

Having Too Much To Do Is “Self-Inflicted” I have too much to do and not enough time to do it. We have all heard someone say this (or said it ourselves) and we have all, for sure, felt it. Just over the last few days there have been numerous times, in a variety of situations, that I have heard it. We all know that there is a fixed amount of time, so why is it that we’re always over-filling it? Even...

It’s Up to You to Take Control We like being in control of our lives, but most people feel like they aren’t. I contend that we all have more control than we think we do. Control doesn’t mean you control everything that happens. It means you confidently move forward with your goals and priorities, understanding that there are things that happen that are beyond your control. This means that you are...

And How This Can Affect Your Home Maintenance Sometimes the changing seasons can be quick and serious. The weather here has been a bit of a roller coaster ride over the past several weeks. We’ve had temperatures ranging from below zero to seventy. Some of these swings have happened within days. It’s currently seventeen degrees on midday Friday as I’m writing this. It’s predicted to be in the upper...

You CAN Teach an Old Dog New Tricks You’ve probably heard the saying, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks“. This means that it is very difficult to teach someone new skills or change someone’s habits, especially when they’re older. This phrase is often used to express the challenges of altering deeply rooted behaviors or learning new concepts. It is not typically about actual dogs, rather it re...

This Isn't the Same for a List You can have the best laid plans, but life happens. You can choose to do no planning and just take things as they come. This haphazard process gives control of your life to others. Or you can plan with so much detail that when things do happen that aren’t part of your plans, everything falls apart. Flexible rigidity is where planning and change can work together. Cal...

Getting Your “To Do” List and Calendar to Work Together  As is normal, early in a new year there is a lot of focus on being better organized. Looking for new ways to get more done. This has been a topic that has come up in several conversations over the past few weeks. At the same time, there can be a sense of despair, knowing that you’ve been trying to be better organized over and over without mu...