DISQUS

Marek Eby · 1 year ago

Great post. I'd like to add one thing if I may, on the subject of time needed for rest and relaxation.

I have always found that one of the best ways to stay motivated is to accomplish as much as possible. There is nothing quite like the feeling of accomplisment to keep people fired up. So, in a funny way, making great use of your time may actually decrease the amount of R&R time you need.

Christine · 1 year ago

Excellent tips! I signed up for the AwayFind beta, now here is hoping that I get in!

Rahaf · 1 year ago

I find Omni's GTD software Omnifocus is awesome for optimizing the stuff you have to do during the day. It lets you tag tasks with contexts (@home, @incar, @mall) so that when you're about to run out, you can just easily shift the view from a project list to a context based list and know that you're maximizing your time.

I honestly can't remember how I got anything done without it.

Michael fitzGerald · 1 year ago

My weakness is playing with the tools. So I try to employ the principle of "Getting to One" I don't need to keep signing up for note taking tools I just need to stick with the one that I'm using and which does 80% of what I need

alex harris - alexdesigns · 1 year ago

Great post, I am going to pick up that book you mentioned. Excellent tips for sure.

Jonnice · 1 year ago

Thanks for the useful information, I was familiar with a few but I'm definitely going to try the new ones that you suggested. I also shared your link on FlackMe.com so our readers can add your suggestions to the ones we recommended.

Sara · 1 year ago

Chris, that's exactly the post i needed this morning...I'm writing my master thesis and I've just bought the iPhone...really bad match if we are talking about "doing more with less time" =)
thank you so much and have a great day!

Jeff Sass · 1 year ago

"Jott to self: Comment on Chris Brogan's blog post... " Oh, here I am... Hi Chris. Great stuff. I use JOTT daily and also love the fact you can set reminders with it, and even add calendar events right to Google Calendar. Great productivity tool while commuting. Another time saving tip I have used for years is to NOT ANSWER THE PHONE. Unless I am expecting a scheduled call or know I have to take it (family members, etc.) I let it go to voicemail. Then, I can control when and with whom I speak to, rather than let the phone interrupt me from the task at hand. It makes a huge difference. I also assign unique ringtones to key family, friends and business associates so that when my phone rings, without looking or stopping what I am doing I know who is calling and can decide to abide by my "DO NOT ANSWER" rule or not. Thanks, as always for another useful and thought provoking post!

- Jeff @sass

Juggling Frogs · 1 year ago

Agreeing with @Jeff Sass, above.

I like to save mindless routine tasks (filing, shuffling papers, folding laundry, ironing, routine cooking, exercise) for the time-consuming but important social phone calls. When certain talkative but beloved friends and family members call, I grab a telephone headset and give the call my only-somewhat divided attention.

This takes the edge off any impatience or guilt I might feel about hanging out on the telephone, improves the relationship, and allows for a stunning amount of boring but necessary mindless work to get done, painlessly.

Roy Jacobsen · 1 year ago

Note about Jott: It's finally out of beta, and they're rolling out three different plans.

* Jott Free: Ad supported, very basic service, 15 second recording time.
* Jott Basic: $3.95 a month, still just 15 seconds, a few added features.
* Jott Pro: $12.95/month, 30 seconds, and more toys to play with.

Hot Mommas Project · 1 year ago

Chris, great ideas and resources. Love the Social Media 100 concept. Just blogged about your time saving and etiquette tips the other day. I felt happy and frustrated as I read this. 1)Happy that there are so many great solutions to give back time to ourselves. 2) Sad that we cannot Spinvox or Jott more of our lives. Our survey from the Hot Mommas Project (women's leadership teaching tools project housed at George Washington U) indicates Time, Flexibility, and Support as the three musketeers of "doing it all" for the high-drive women who were our survey.(Cool Daddies - ie renaissance men - beta for you guys in dvt). But like a "can of paint"...what can we do with that information, specifically? Your readers probably have amazing ideas and approaches if they are reading about these great tools you highlighted. Hats off,in advance, to them.

Christopher Penn, Financial Ai · 1 year ago

Enforce blackout periods by making sure devices and such are simply not available. Need quality family time? Leave everything in the car, so that even if it rings, beeps, or hollers, you can't hear it. It's not that important anyway.

HelloChris · 1 year ago

A huge one that you should check out Chris is www.rescuetime.com. Tim Ferris of 4 Hour Work recommended this and it is amazing at seeing what you are doing on the computer throughout the day. Try it, I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

DJ · 1 year ago

I'm a big proponent of toilet-time reading. 'Nuff said.

bgavin · 1 year ago

As usual, a great post, Chris.
Additions from Christopher (leave the crackberry in the car) and Juggling Frogs (learn how to identify tasks that don't need your entire brain) were especially good additions.

Sandy Santra · 1 year ago

I've written up a set of three amazing but simple tools for saving time (the "3 Ps") that can double or triple your productivity. Imagine saving 2-5 hours a day! Check out these systems at this link to my site:

http://www.thesandystudio.com/TSS/3_Ps.html

And none of them require a computer! (though you can use one, if you like) Thanks, Chris, for this great opportunity to share. Enjoy!

--Sandy

TheJennTaFur · 1 year ago

Thank you for the list of services especially SpinVox. I have about 30 messages on my voice mail that I have neglected to listen to because I do not have the time and some people refuse to be brief with voice mail message even when I have indicated in my greeting *please leave a BRIEF message.* But like Jeff Sass said earlier I usually do not answer the phone unless it is an important telephone call.

I've used Jott but I have not been very successful in incorporating it into my daily routine which I will reconsider now!

Thanks again for the listing for this is definitely a valuable post for me to continue to refer to.

Jane Quigley · 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing these Chris - I also love 37signals Backpack (I use Basecamp for project management) for throwing ideas, to dos, pictures, videos etc. to share or come back to later.

Frank Abrams · 1 year ago

I was testing out Jott last night. Way better accuracy than my typing! Good suggestions.

Amy Flanagan · 1 year ago

Great ideas. I love the tools, but I still think the answer is usually less technological. I always look at emails before I send and think, "What doesn't need to be said." Then I edit. I've recently started doing that with my To Do list: What doesn't need to be done? Then I edit.

Paula Williams · 1 year ago

Thanks Chris. Yes, I do wonder how you do everything that you do, this sheds some light. I am also a Stephen Covey Franklin Planner follower of some 15 years, sometimes more structured than others. Thanks for all the great leads to time saving tools. Appreciate your work.

Joshua Gowans · 1 year ago

Great post, and I agree completely with Amy Flanagan above... getting things done is easier when you hack away what doesn't need to be done. For folks needing a good task manager, I've been using http://www.rememberthemilk.com... it's nice and simple (there's a google mail plugin as well if you need it).

Cale · 1 year ago

Setting all of these knick knacks up keeps you from doing the main thing.

chrisbrogan · 1 year ago

Cale - but they also give me gatekeepers so I can do all my work. Without them, I'm distracted PLUS people trying to reach me feel unheard.

Jamie Lin · 1 year ago

Nice post! I love ways to become more efficient! Definitely gonna try SpinVox! My one trick to add is if an email will take you more than 10 mins to respond, call the person instead!

Steven W · 1 year ago

Thanks for the list, you do have a great site for the kind of things that make you more effective. I just started my own blog and so the sites you use now get my attention.

Ed Walker · 1 year ago

I find delicious is really useful, for tagging lots of interesting content and then reading it in one big content burn. Great post Chris, useful stuff as always.

Role of Commissions in Choosin · 1 year ago

Great stuff as always Chris!
Thanks,
JR

Sue Murphy · 1 year ago

These are all great tips. I use Evernote to jot down just about everything - from travel details to project outlines to blog ideas to podcast runsheets. It's a great little tool.

One tip that I think is really important to mention is to delegate tasks when you can. Don't try to take everything on yourself. Even if you work alone, there are always ways to share the load. This can be anything from asking an employee to help you find information, to using a travel agent to make your travel arrangements for you, to having your teenager run to the store to get milk. It's something I struggle with, but I have to say I'm getting better at it.

Delegate delegate delegate!

Troy Malone · 1 year ago

Great to see that there are still some Covey guys out there! He was my professor at BYU so I was on the bandwagon for quite a while as well. He has some great concepts that as you say, keep you focusing on the main thing.

I love evernote since I have discovered it. You can take "notes" vocally, jot things down, and also clip items from web pages. Truly a remarkable tool.

Those are the tools I use personally, but in a group setting while working on a project, I use Pelotonics to keep everyone on the project on the same page with what needs to happen.

Thanks for the post. Additional time is always needed!

Kaye · 1 year ago

I love Jott! And I am so glad to learn about Evernote. I've downloaded it and am determined to learn it this week! Thank you!

I'm procrastinating...whut up · 2 months ago

Good stuff. Lots of it applies to busy technologically savvy adults more so than it does to college students with a very strong tendency to procrastinate though.