“Today, I offer a journal entry from Etty Hillesum (1914–1943), a young Jewish woman who was killed at Auschwitz. In her diary, she recreates a conversation with her friend, writer Klaas Smelik, about the hatred and bullying she saw within her own community: Klaas, all I really wanted to say is this: we have so much work to do on ourselves that we shouldn’t even be thinking of hating our so-called enemies. We are hurtful enough to one another as it is. And I don’t really know what I mean when I say that there are bullies and bad characters among our own people, for no one is really “bad” deep down. I should have liked to reach out to that [bully] with all his fears, I should have liked to trace the source of his panic, to drive him ever deeper into himself, that is the only thing we can do, Klaas, in times like these.” Source: https://email.cac.org/t/ViewEmail/d/62082DE5E9C4AC972540EF23F30FEDED/95BE6BBD9631A2EE6D5E5F9A8728A5A6
I am a huge fan of productivity thoughts, tools and tactics and I firmly believe that no matter what business you are in, you can benefit from some intentional thinking in this area. All of us have more things to do than time to do it in and could benefit from a tool that would help us to organize our thoughts and tasks in a more systematic way.
I have been interested in this space since the early 90’s when the company I worked for at the time implemented the Franklin Planner as a means of increasing or enhancing productivity. Franklin Planner was a great way to start but organizing things according to their methodology was as cumbersome as the mass of binders that we had to carry around in order to manage our days.
Almost 20 years ago David Allen came on the scene with his radical ‘Getting Things Done’ approach to time and task management. His ‘mind like water’ approach is perfect for a time when to-do lists must be more flexible while recognizing the context of tasks as well. I have taken his approach to productivity to heart for almost half of my business life and thought of you who know me have heard me talk about it at least once, if not more! What I have never really found is a way to implement his thinking in a way that incorporates the best of software tools, the cloud and a platform independent approach that met my needs. Until now, that is. The tool I want to tell you about is called Priority Matrix from Appfluence.
Priority Matrix is platform independent, based in the cloud, freemium software that integrates with any email platform you’re using including Office 365, Outlook, G Suites and Gmail and it does it seamlessly and elegantly.
Here’s a brief overview:
Overview
Additional Examples…
It’s even available for smartphones!
You can find many more of these examples on their YouTube channel here.
This solution hits all my high notes around thoughts, tools, tactics and timing in the productivity space and it meets all my criteria for an effective solution. It is simple, it is powerful, it is platform independent, it is freemium and therefore it is effective. If you’d like to talk about how this applies to you, please use the contact form below!
Supplemental articles
“Benjamin Franklin didn't become one of history's greatest inventors just by sitting around. His daily schedule was pretty intense. This meticulous and rigorous routine may seem impossible to follow, but it could mean a serious productivity boost” https://t.co/Fv8oqua50lpic.twitter.com/M4eNqOExkj
These thoughts were assembled with care for the important people in my life. If you’re getting this link, it’s because you and your productivity and happiness are very important to me! I hope it benefits you…
Whenver I begin to work with a new client, I immediately establish a Google Account that we both can share. Why? For practical starters, I don’t want access to someone’s Gmail account — that’s a whole lot of trust issue that I don’t want to deal with. Second, the account gives us a place to create, share and store together. Third? Look at all the tools that come with a Google account at no additional cost. There’s simply nothing that beats a Google Account for good, fast and cheap!
@dottotech talks about Google Photos — a must have tool for business and personal images…
Part 5 of our Google Basics series is Google Photos! Want to know the ins-and-outs of the best photo management app on the market? Google photos will make it easier to access your photos, and more efficiently organize your photos.#askdottotechhttps://t.co/skSrV9SiAn
Do first things first, and second things not at all.
Peter Drucker
“The ability to set priorities, focus on them and not deviate may be the most important skill for success in life. The quote from Peter Drucker was written in the context of talking about business efficiency but can be applied to any field. With limited time and energy that is available, there are only so many things that can be done – no matter how many time management skills you learn. And because not all things get you the same return on investment it is important that you only do those things that are the best investment of your time, energy and also money.”
I believe that mind-mapping is a special skill that will help you organize your thoughts for business or life. Here’s Brian Johnson’s take. Click the title to watch the video…
Too few webmasters move beyond Google Analytics, which is a pity. Google Webmaster Tools is all you really need to become a Google-whisperer. Why spend all this time and money on MOZ and Woorank when you could just hear it directly from the Horse’s mouth.
I have been using it a lot lately since I have been doing a lot of SEO strategy work and I have really had some serious fun working through some of the tools that Google basically begs you to adopt in order to make things super-easier for them — and therefore better for you, the site owner or manager.
There’s a common misconception that SEO is a “one and done” task — that you clean up and optimize a site, and once that’s done, you can focus your efforts elsewhere. There’s so much more to the day-to-day work of an SEO, though, and in today’s Whiteboard Friday, Rand walks us through those ongoing parts of the job.
Imagine a place where people go to actually watch ads and where marketers can take all the time they want to unfold a story. That magical place is called YouTube and UPS shows us how it’s done:
If you can count on anything during the holidays, it’s advertisements that take aim at your heart — and this one hits the bullseye.
The spot from UPS highlights the bond between a 4-year-old boy named Carson and UPS driver Ernest Lagasca, who Carson calls “Mr. Ernie.”
Carson loves Mr. Ernie and his truck so much that he has a UPS uniform of his own and dreams of being a UPS driver. And when Mr. Ernie comes to the door in the ad, Carson practically leaps into his arms.
“I could come here three times in week and I’d get the same reaction every single time, all that excitement,” Lagasca says in the spot.
But in the commercial, Lagasca isn’t bringing an ordinary package. As part of the UPS Your Wishes Delivered campaign, he’s delivering a child-sized UPS truck to help make Carson’s dream come true.
Bright, shiny objects! 
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