Category: Other

Realise that you’ll never get everything done. That’s not the game anymore. Be safe in the knowledge that you’re in control, selecting the right things to do, and that you’re doing as much as one human being possibly can. This definitely does not mean ‘don’t be ambitious’; it does mean that if you have a…

As a Productivity Ninja, I relish the opportunity to run Public Workshops – available to all and fabulously good value. Every month or so, Think Productive UK opens its doors to the productively-challenged. We share best practice, challenge embedded thinking and change lives. I ran a sold-out Public Workshop on October 5th in London. As…

Think back to a moment in your working life when there was nothing more to possibly do that day. It’s probably very hard to think of that situation in recent times; there’s always a bit more business development, a bit of clearing the decks, a bit of catching up on reading or housekeeping. You’re probably…

As I mentioned early on in “How to be a Productivity Ninja”, we all derive personal pride or identity from our work in one way or another. I spent the month of August “going dark” – taking some time out after the release of my book to re-energise, disconnect and ask myself difficult questions about…

What You Need: Pen and Paper Time – 10 minutes Every job will have within it a range of tasks. These will often range from making huge decisions about what to do and when to do it, through to updating contact information, filing things away or changing the printer cartridge. > Make a list of…

It’s possible to temporarily ‘trick’ your brain into a short additional period of active attention if you’re feeling sluggish and inactive. To do this, you need to jolt your brain into needing to feel its way around again. If I’m asked to facilitate a long meeting, I will ask people to move chairs in the…

I’m delighted to say that I’m featured in a great new book to hit the shelves – Soul Trader, by Rasheed Ogunlaru . I’d definitely recommend you picking up a copy (to store alongside your copy of How to Be a Productivity Ninja of course!) Through the book, Rasheed wants to help you reconnect with…

Last month I was sitting in a local pub with a good friend. He was stressing about the fact that he had an important wedding anniversary on the horizon and that there was some expectation from his better half that plans were put in place to celebrate it…and that the plans should involve a weekend…

What You Need:  Pen and Paper Time: 10 minutes Our attention can be divided (roughly) into 3 types: Proactive attention: This is where you are fully focussed, alert, in the zone and ready to make your most important decisions or tackle your most complex tasks. This level of attention is extremely valuable Active attention: This is…

Somewhere along the line, the game changed We now live in an age of constant connection and information overload. The current potential to be bombarded with new information inputs – and from several different sources at the same time – would have been staggering to comprehend even ten years ago. In the old time management…

          I’m not sure if you were watching the Man U-Spurs game at the weekend, but if you were  – you’ll know that Sir Alex Ferguson was not happy about the referee only allocating 4 minutes of stoppage time. He called it an “insult to the game” We say – four minutes…

Before You Go Couple of quick actions in the “prevention is better than cure” frame of mind. 1. Set up an auto responder making it clear that you will not be reading your emails while on holiday. Notice the assumption – that you won’t. If you do it is open season to keep them piling…