A number of folks have recently signed up to receive my emails. Looking over the subscriber list, I see that about two-thirds of you have Gmail addresses. I wanted to share 2 time-saving Gmail tricks that you might not be aware of.
The following two tricks work for Gmail and some other email providers as well: (more…)
Poker legend Doyle Brunson is rumored to have been asked whether he would take the following bet. A coin is flipped. If it comes up heads, Doyle loses his entire net worth. Tails, he wins 10 times his net worth. Doyle responded, “I’d have to take that bet.”
He’d “have to” take that bet because of a concept called expected value. Even if some of us wouldn’t take that particular bet, the concept of expected value can help us make better decisions in many areas of life, especially those involving time and money.
In this post, I’ll define expected value and show how you can use it to save time and money. (more…)
How annoying is it when you can’t remember a password for an online account you need immediate access to? If you’re like this survey’s respondents, you find forgetting a password even more annoying than misplacing your keys or having your cell phone battery die.
Nearly 40% of sampled workers waste a whopping 24 hours per year entering passwords. If you don’t have that substantial problem, then your problem may be even worse. You may use the same password for everything. If so, you’re giving the keys to your financial accounts to folks at eBay, Facebook, Skype, etc.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that there is a simple solution to all of the above problems. The solution is a password manager.
Multitasking used to be cool. People thought it possible and aspired to it. Now, however, so-called productivity experts condemn multitasking. But the picture of multitasking they paint is woefully incomplete. The experts fail to acknowledge two ways in which multitasking is not only possible but very efficient.
The 80/20 rule states that 80% of effects are determined by 20% of their causes. The rule is also known as the Pareto Principle, after the 19th Century Italian economist, Vilfredo Pareto. Pareto noticed that 80% of the peas in his garden came from 20% of the peapods. (Weird thing to notice.) He also showed that about 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population.
The Pareto Principle is not a law, like gravity. It’s a rule of thumb. It fits a wide array of phenomena. Consider, for instance, these applications of the rule across a variety of fields: (more…)
What do you dream about when it’s quiet? On a hike, on vacation, on retreat, or when lying awake in bed–what desires emerge? Is there something you want to do that the noise of life drowns out but that resurfaces whenever the noise subsides?
If so, life is too short to ignore such dreams. I know, because I’ve ignored them and wished I hadn’t. (more…)
Have you ever wished there were another “you” to help you get everything done? If so, you need a personal assistant. “Personal assistant!?,” you scoff. “Aren’t personal assistants for millionaires and CEOs?” Yes, they are. But not only for them. Not anymore. Nowadays, you and I can afford an assistant as well.
A generation ago my suggestion may have been preposterous. But times have changed. Consider these three differences: (more…)
Have you ever been up against a deadline and found yourself accomplishing more than seems humanly possible? Final exams used to spark that feeling for me as a student. Now, my biggest work projects do. I also recall getting a million things done in the days leading up to my wedding.
Lots of pressure can be stressful. But for many of us, it is also energizing. Our focus skyrockets. We become super-efficient. We feel intensely alive.
Do you ever wish that you could live “in the zone” more often? After all, final exams, big work projects, and weddings don’t come around every day.
I’d like to discuss three approaches to being super-efficient more often. One I argue against, and two I argue for. (more…)
When you want to eat at a busy restaurant, making a reservation is great. But sometimes you forget to do so. Or you decide to eat out on the spur of the moment. Or you want to eat somewhere that doesn’t take reservations. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could waltz in to a crowded restaurant with no reservation and still get a seat right away?
There’s a trick my wife and I have used countless times, without fail, to do just that. It works best for parties of two. Here’s how to execute the trick in 5 steps: (more…)
If you know how to get where you are going, using a GPS app is pointless, right? Not in my opinion. There are 3 reasons why I think you should use a GPS app every time you get in the car. These reasons save you time and money.
Following are those reasons as well as my top two GPS app recommendations. (more…)