Egg timers, pickle jars and the 4-day work week

(edited 5/28/08; added a section about Process Maps)
(edited 5/29/08; added two online mind mapping applications)

Struggling with time management? That ends today.

In this post, I'm going to share with you six things I use that are guaranteed to:

• Increase how much work you get done
• Increase the QUALITY of your work and business
• Make your life less stressful

I have discussed the last three items previously but they're worth repeating; the first three are recent discoveries for me and are absolutely LIFE CHANGING.


FOUR DAY WORK WEEK

There's a great blog for webmasters and designers called A List Apart. I was introduced to the founder, Jeffrey Zeldman, several years ago and was immediately impressed with his passion for the Web. His style and blog are as strong as ever. The other day I was searching his site for articles on 'Project Management' and found this gem: The Four-Day Week Challenge. I'm already applying the principles learned.


THE PICKLE JAR THEORY

Also found on A List Apart is an article by Jeremy Wright entitled The Pickle Jar Theory. No charts, no grids, no five-syllable words, just a simple idea that can help you get more done with less stress.


NO B.S.

A must read book by the legendary Dan Kennedy; No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs is one of those books you'll markup, go back to, and completely reread once or twice a year. No doubt, Rich Schefren got inspiration for his Attention Age Doctrine from this classic 'no b.s.' guide to getting things DONE.

PROCESS MAPS

I've become fanatical about building process maps for all my repetitive tasks and/or tasks that I need to delegate. I highly recommend getting a free trial of Mindjet software. Process maps are essential if you a) feel overwhelmed by your workload; and b) you find yourself repeating certain tasks on an irregular basis.

For collaborative online versions, check out bubbl.us and mindmeister.

Start mapping today. You'll be hooked.

GETTING THINGS DONE

Speaking of getting things done, I can't say enough about this book by David Allen. I credit David with helping me to tame my e-mail inbox once and for all. See my 'takeaway' points here.

BOW TO THE EGG TIMER

Although I've blogged about Rich Schefren's 'super awesome must-read' Internet Business Manifesto in the past, I want to direct your attention to page 19 of that free e-book where he discusses the use of a 'kitchen timer' in order to engage in truly 'productive time'. Well, I call my kitchen timer an 'egg timer' and you can bet it's on right now. Download the Internet Business Manifesto immediately and go to page 19 before you waste another hour of your life.

That's it for today. Please add your comments below.

Mike

P.S. Look for a post from me later in the week about 'Split Testing'. Every web site should be using it.

P.P.S I'm happy to say that I've been asked to become a weekly contributor on StumpMarkus every Thursday at 12 noon EST. I strongly encourage everyone to take advantage of this free discussion hosted by a real marketing genius, Markus Allen. By the way, Markus charges $297.00 for a 45-minute private brainstorming session, but I gotta tell you it's a better deal when you sign-up for his 30-day FREE trial and get access to his entire archive of business-building tips, strategies, and methods. Easily worth thousands of dollars to me.

Survey Results + 2 Great Tips

Thanks to everyone for completing the survey that I posted last week (“Just One Question”). And welcome to all the new members on this list—we’re up to 3,019 and climbing fast!

The results of the survey are clear; I asked you to tell me what you would like to learn first and the most popular category was “Getting Search Engine Traffic” (selected by 71% of you). A close second was “A Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Building Profitable Web Sites” (selected by 63%). Going down the list, I see “Finding Keywords” at 31%, “Being More Productive Overall” at 30%, “Choosing Affiliate Networks” at 28%, and “Choosing Products to Market” at 28%.

This is great news because the system that I’m going to reveal on March 11th is focused on doing ONE thing: Getting Search Engine Traffic. When you get your hands on this tool you’re going to feel a little sorry for the rest of the webmaster universe (I’ve been testing it out for weeks and I still have feelings of guilt).

Anyway, remember March 11th—that’s the day everything changes for you.

Now, as for “A Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Building Profitable Web Sites”, the timing couldn’t be better; I’ve scheduled my next message to cover the industry’s absolute best “out-of-the-box” web building and traffic generating package. That’s coming this Thursday.

As for today, I’ve got two things to share with you: a book and a Windows productivity tool. Both have transformed my life in numerous ways.

First the book; it’s David Allen’s Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.

The book is only $9 at Amazon and is a must read for anyone (like I was) who feels overwhelmed by all the information being thrown at them today. I will summarize my biggest takeaway from this excellent book; when reviewing your pile of e-mail or things to read or whatever, categorize each piece as follows:

1. If you can deal with it in 2 minutes or less, do it (thereby you get rid of it)

2. If it relates to information that could be useful in the future, file it under ‘Reference’ (I now have an e-mail folder that contains all sorts of documents that I MAY refer to in the future….but NOT NOW)

3. If it’s a business idea or proposal but it’s not ESSENTIAL to your high priority, focused task(s) file it under ‘Someday’ (just like my ‘Reference’ folder, my ‘Someday’ folder is a storage tank for things I MAY consider in the future but NOT NOW).

4. If it’s related to a task that will take more than 2 minutes, then place it in your ‘Action’ folder and/or delegate the task to someone else. This is the folder that you will check at least once a week and it’s the most critical folder for your short-term success.

That’s just a snippet from this extraordinary book by David Allen. I don’t care what you do with your life (personal or business), this book will help you to breathe, think, and act in ways you’ve never been able to do so previously. Find it here.

As for the Windows productivity tool, all I can say is that I’m shocked this little gem isn’t on every Windows computer in existence. It’s called Activewords and it enables you to assign one or two keystrokes to a task that would otherwise take several keystrokes. That is a gross simplification but, trust me, you must get Activewords and see for yourself how unbelievably powerful it is. There’s no need to search for files or websites any longer, just assign a keystroke or word to those files or sites that you repeatedly use and Activewords will bring it to you. No searching, no frustration. Activewords is currently available as a fully loaded 60-day free trial. Get it now, you’ll thank them later. Don't wait on this one, click here.


That’s all for today. Look out for my post on Thursday. You're in for a treat.

Regards,

Mike Corso
Cool Site of the Day TM
On the Web Since 1994. Over 4,000 Sites Served!

P.S. PLEASE POST YOUR COMMENTS. If you have any questions about this post or blog (in general) or would simply like to share a cool online business tool that you've discovered, post it here.