The Productive Woman

We've talked in the past about developing the habits that help us be more productive, but what are some things productive women don't do?

What drives us to do -- or try? How do you keep yourself moving on a task or project that's hard? Our motivation matters. So what is it, where does it come from, how do we lose it, and how can we get it back?

Monika Kristofferson is a professional organizer, but she's also just a busy woman like the rest of us. In this episode she shares her tips for managing a busy life as a single mom with two teenaged daughters.

Email is a great invention and can be a useful tool, but it can also be a distraction and a time suck. This week we'll look at some tips for managing email so it enhances, rather than inhibits, our productivity.

We've talked about the reasons and process for decluttering in previous episodes, but if clutter's getting out of control and you don't have time for an big clean-up project, maybe just a few quick and dirty tips will help.

It's easy--or maybe just easier--to be productive when things are firing on all cylinders and all's right in our world. But what happens when that's not the case, when in the midst of one of life's "storms" you get up in the morning and look at your schedule or your to-do list and think "I just can't even . . ."? Sometimes life throws us a curve. What do we do then?

A whole industry has been built up over the years around the concept of productivity. It's been the subject of decades of study and countless written words. Experts have identified the keys to productivity--rules that we're taught to follow in order to maximize productivity. But what if those rules don't work for you? Can you still be productive? Absolutely!

Many women feel isolated in their efforts to advance in their careers, learn the skills they need to accomplish their goals, and become the person they want to be. In this episode we'll talk about one solution: finding a mentor. We'll look at what mentoring is, what the benefits are (on both sides), how to find mentors, and some guidelines for successful mentoring relationships.

Very few of us have lives focused on just one thing. Most of us instead juggle multiple roles, and try to do well at all of them. Author, attorney, and homeschooling mom Cara Putman understands the challenges of a multifaceted life. Dubbed by a friend as the "Do-It-All Mom," Cara shares openly about the not-always-pretty realities of managing a busy life and a busy household, and encourages us to...

In an increasingly noisy world, one key to true productivity and to building a life of lasting significance and satisfaction is learning to identify and pursue only what's essential, purposely eliminating the nonessential from our lives to make room for what really matters. We can learn how by studying Greg McKeown's wise and profound book, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less.

If you're struggling to make progress on accomplishing the things you care about, if you start lots of projects but don't finish many, perhaps you're feeling the effects of a lack of focus. For some of us, the biggest challenge to productivity is the temptation to chase too many rabbits. One tool that can help us sort through the options and stay focused on what really matters is to choose a theme...

One of the keys to being a productive woman is having a system in place to track and manage all the things we need to do in each area of responsibility. The options for task management systems and tools are as varied as we are. Nothing works for everyone, but there really is something that will work for each of us.

Is the life you're living an accident, or the result of conscious, purposeful choices? This episode features a conversation with tech podcaster (and retired aerospace engineer) Allison Sheridan about how important it is for women to make conscious choices about their life, and to acknowledge that the choices are theirs to make.

Sometimes our best-laid plans don't pan out. Failure can either paralyze us or propel us into growth and new beginnings. This week we consider some thoughts about how to recover--and learn--from failure.

Much of the quality of our life, including our productivity, depends on the habits we employ. In this episode we look at how schedules, routines, and rituals can help us establish habits that let us be more productive, achieve our goals, and build the life we want.

Why is it so hard to get ourselves to do the things we most want to do? Few things in life are more exasperating than the way we sometimes sabotage our own goals. In this episode we look at some of reasons we block our own success, and offer some suggestions to address those issues, get past that resistance, and accomplish the things that matter most.

In celebration of reaching the milestone of episode 25, I'm sharing 25 great productivity tips--some from listeners, some from special guests, and a few of my own. Thank you so much to all those productive women who contributed their great tips and suggestions for this episode.

Writer Karin Beery joins me to talk about staying productive when facing health challenges and caring for family members. She offers great tips and suggestions. I especially liked her perspective on how to handle those days when everything gets away from you.

2014 is winding down, and 2015 is upon us. While we want to stay in the moment and enjoy the holiday celebrations, there's still a little time to give thought to the coming year and what we want to accomplish. In this episode we look at 5 important productivity principles to keep in mind as the new year begins, 6 simple productivity assignments for the last 2 weeks of the year, and a peek at what'...

Tis the season . . . for giving gifts. In case you're still shopping for those last few gifts, or in case you're looking for ideas to give those who want to gift you!, this episode offers some productivity-boosting options for all the folks on your list, including gifts at a variety of price levels. And best of all? Every one of them can be ordered online!

Even new moms can get things done! This week business owner, horsewoman, and new mom Jamie Clark Samples joins me to talk about the challenges of running a small business while caring for a new baby. Jamie offers some great suggestions and encouragement.

When I recently put the question out on social media, asking listeners what topics they'd like to hear about on upcoming episodes, several asked for suggestions on productivity apps for smart phones. It's a question I often get asked by friends and colleagues, since I'm known to try lots of apps. In this episode I share ten(ish) of my favorites.

The holiday season is a time filled with family and friends and joy . . . and often, for those of use whose schedules are already busy, even more stress than usual. This week we're going to look at some steps we can take to minimize the stress, and maximize the joy, of the holiday season.

21st century life is cram-packed with activity, stress, and tension, and a lot of us have a hard time letting it go long enough to relax, rest, and recharge. Learning to do so, though, will reap dividends in our physical, mental, and emotional health, our creativity, our relationships, and ultimately, in our productivity.

Productivity is a good thing, but there are potential pitfalls we should be aware of in our pursuit of productivity. In this episode we look at seven of those pitfalls, and consider how we can avoid them and stay on track toward making lives that matter.