The Paul Minors Podcast: Productivity, Business & Self-Improvement

Something I’ve started to do more of with my writing is to challenge popular opinions. For example, I’ve written about how too much of a focus on self-improvement can be a bad thing or why it’s okay to waste time. My goal here is to take these popular opinions and look at the flip side. To help people realise that they don’t have to conform to these ideas and that they can make up their own mind....

As a freelancer or consultant, there are many ways you can charge for your services and work with clients. Since starting my consulting business in 2016, I’ve continued to iterate my own model and how I work with clients. Each change that I made over the last few years was made in an attempt to either 1) grow my income 2) deliver my service more efficiently, or 3) deliver more value to clients (id...

We’ve all heard the advice that we should do less , focus, and say ‘no’ before taking on too many commitments. This is a lot easier said than done. Social pressure and our personal desire to please people often results in us doing more than we’d like and getting overwhelmed as a result. Now I’m far from perfect. But do my best to maintain a sense of balance in my life. With that in mind, here are...

I recently came across this Tweet by David Heinemeier Hansson. In short, David shares a video of Joe Rogan condemning video games for being “fucking fun” and the cause of much wasted time. Joe talks about how you can use your life to become an expert in an industry, start a business, and become “successful”. Or you can waste your time playing video games. David talks about how this obsession with...

Email… Some of us love it, some of us hate it. For some people, email is an absolute nightmare and a chore to deal with. Usually, this is due to a combination of 1) being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of messages received, and 2) not having clear processes or systems that help you to manage your email. Personally, I don’t mind dealing with email, mainly because I’ve managed to make it a relative...

Depending on how you stumble across me and my website on the internet, you may be confused about what it is that I do. This is totally understandable because I cover a range of topics. In the past, I’ve struggled to clearly articulate what I do. And depending on who’s asking I may give a different answer. So, what is my business all about? Well, the central theme is: TO HELP YOU ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS...

For years I've been following the journey of Jeff Sheldon from Ugmonk . Ugmonk is an online store that sells beautifully designed t-shirts, prints, and work accessories. Jeff started Ugmonk over a decade ago as a side business and it's grown to become a well-recognised brand (you've probably seen stock photos of Jeff's desk around the internet). What I love about Jeff's business is that he likes t...

For most of our professional careers, we are pushing to achieve, do and earn more. Constant growth. That’s the goal. The problem here is that we become insatiable. We’re never satisfied and constantly have to move the goalposts to achieve more. If you’ve ever received a pay rise or promotion, you’ll know what I mean. You think that earning that little bit extra or having that new responsibility wi...

My calendar is probably the most important productivity tool I use (even more important than Asana). It’s how I organise my life, see what’s coming up and ultimately how I plan what I should be doing. But when I work with clients, I’m often surprised by how little or how much they have on their calendar. Or I see they’re not using basic features that can help you to get more out of their calendar....

Change can be scary. And this isn’t our fault. The thing about change is that it creates mystery around what’s going to happen next and as humans we are biologically programmed to fear what we don’t know. But the thing is, change is necessary. Personal growth, self-improvement and business development all require change. Show notes » https://paulminors.com/176 Download my productivity blueprint an...

One of the most frustrating things I hear from clients and subscribers is that they are ‘too busy’ to improve their situation. These are people who feel overwhelmed and don't have an effective system to manage their work. They usually approach me because they want to use a tool like Asana or Pipedrive to improve their efficiency and free up their time. And they understand that having better system...

There are loads of habits you can adopt to be more productive. Some people like to meditate, journal, wake up early (or stay up late), drink coffee, set timers and so on… If you think this episode is going to tell you which habits are the absolute best to adopt in order to be more productive, sorry to disappoint you. The not so exciting answer is that there is no secret recipe to productivity. If...

5 Years ago I made my first ever online sale. It sounds cliche but I really couldn’t believe it when it happened. It was a Saturday morning and I received a Paypal notification on my phone and here’s what went through my head: “WTF! Someone, from somewhere in the world just found me online and decided to send me their hard-earned money to buy an ebook I had created from nothing on my computer. And...

“Busy” has become the default response whenever someone asks how we’re doing (which is a terrible answer). Right now, a lot of us have more idle time on our hands than we’re used to and don’t know what to do. Now, we can finally do all those things that have been put off to “one day”. On Saturday morning, I jokingly asked Hayley how we were going to fill our time over the weekend while on COVID lo...

Over the last few years, YouTube has become a very important channel for me to market myself online, deliver value to my audience and get new consulting leads for my business. I often get asked about the equipment and process I use to create videos for YouTube. Below, I’ve detailed how I plan and create my videos, from start to finish. Enjoy! Show notes » paulminors.com/171 Download my productivit...

I really didn’t want to write about COVID-19 this week. It’s all anyone is talking about and I don't really want to add to the noise. Then again, it’s hard to write about anything else because everyone is pretty distracted right now. The best I can do is to share my thoughts on the best ways to respond to this crisis. So here goes… Show notes » paulminors.com/170 Download my productivity blueprint...

As the COVID-19 pandemic intensifies around the world, more and more companies are asking their employees to work remotely to slow the spread of the virus. While the Coronavirus is causing events to be cancelled and stock markets to decline there is an opportunity here for companies to trial remote work and actually come out the other end better off. If you’re an employer who’s now wondering how t...

Most of us have pretty consistent routines. We wake up at a similar time each day, eat the same thing for breakfast, go to work, answer email and follow a similar pattern each day. And this a good thing. Routine helps us to be more efficient and build productive habits. But every now and then, it’s important to break out of your routine. Show notes » paulminors.com/168 Download my productivity blu...

I often get approached by readers or clients who are having trouble maintaining creating an effective productivity system. I get asked about how and when to use different tools like email, notes, task lists, document folders and the calendar and whether it’s okay to use your email as a to-do list or notes for sorting documents. Show notes » paulminors.com/167 Download my productivity blueprint and...

When you’re met with a big goal, it’s easy to feel intimidated by the gap between where you are now and where you’re trying to get. Whether your goal is to lose weight or grow your business, overcoming this mental barrier is crucial to making progress and achieving your goals. Regardless of your goal or the new habit, you’re trying to form, start small and focus on making small, repeatable progres...

We create to-do lists with the best of intentions; to plan our work so we can be more productive. But if we’re not careful, a task list can quickly become bloated, messy and overwhelming, making us feel guilty and less productive than before. As I’ve worked with more and more clients to help them with Asana, I’ve noticed some common task management mistakes coming up again and again. Here are the...

Slower? You want to go slower, I hear you ask! Why is someone who writes about productivity talking about going slower? Don't worry, I'll explain everything in this episode! Show notes » https://paulminors.com/164 Download my productivity blueprint and learn the processes and tools I use to be more organised and achieve more in my business and home life. You'll also get my FREE 3-part video traini...

Whenever I’ve worked with customers who tell me they have ‘too much to do’ or they’re feeling overwhelmed, I usually find they haven’t created processes that help them to do their work. Without a process, it’s very easy to get lost and confused in all the work that you’re doing. It’s like trying to navigate without a map, you’re basically just guessing where to go and what to do. Show notes » paul...

We all want to be happy, right? But the trouble with pursuing happiness is that it’s so vague. Happiness comes from so many things. For example, feeling fulfilled by how we spend our time, removing stress and conflict from our lives, from relationships and feelings of contentment. If I just tell you to “be happy” that’s not very helpful. Instead, you need to focus on one of these prerequisites to...

Most people need consistency more than they need intensity. Show notes » paulminors.com/161 Download my productivity blueprint and learn the processes and tools I use to be more organised and achieve more in my business and home life. You'll also get my FREE 3-part video training series where I'll explain 1) 4 simple steps to supercharge your productivity 2) common mistakes to avoid 3) the 10 prod...