Leslie Shreve...

Several years ago, a new buzzword emerged: pre-crastination. It was defined in Psychological Science as “hurrying to complete a task as soon as possible just to get it off your plate.” Sound familiar? If you’ve ever jumped on a task the moment it appeared—just to avoid adding it to your already-long to-do list—you’ve lived it. … Why Pre-crastination is Secretly Sabotaging Your Productivity (and What to Do Instead)

Want to leave last year behind and start fresh? If you’d like to get NEW results and make better, FASTER progress, we’re going to have to talk about NEW routines for your workday. To help you go in a new direction, I’ve assembled a list what to LET GO OF in 2025 with regard to … What to Let GO of in 2025

Imagine you’re working on a task with great focus and suddenly, a new, urgent issue comes up. What do you do? The simple answer is to “reprioritize,” but that’s easier said than done if you don’t have all your tasks in one place. Without a solid system, you’ll worry about what’s slipping through the cracks … Pivot Like a Pro: 5 Steps to Prevent the Unexpected from Derailing Your Productivity

Having trouble keeping your focus? Do you get interrupted ALL the time? Is your frustration about this going through the ROOF? Whether you’re trying to accomplish small tasks or get into deeper work to think, strategize, create, or innovate, far too often, focus and concentration are getting broken and that means… …it’s going to take … How to Handle What Breaks Your Focus So You Can Stay Productive

It all starts with leaving a voice mail for someone. Or you send an email in which you’ve made a request or asked a question. Now you’re waiting for the other person to get back to you. But what if they don’t? How often have you suddenly remembered something you’re waiting for and thought, “I … How to Stay in Charge of Results When You’re Waiting on Someone Else

Email is a like big magnet, right? It’s ever-present and never-ending. And it tends to rule our days arbitrarily. I get it. Email is like a magnet for all of us, because we succumb to its pull very easily as we hope to keep it under control as often as possible. Staying in control is … Email is Not the Problem (…and the REAL problem is not what you think)

Is your calendar overcrowded with appointments and things to do? Does it get frustrating when something gets missed, because your day just DIDN’T go the way you planned? No matter what kind of calendar you use, its main purpose is to keep track of scheduled appointments. But too many professionals are also using their calendar … 6 Reasons NOT to Use Your Calendar for This (and What to Do Instead)

There is ONE workday process that professionals STILL use today to try to manage their workload, but it’s outdated, unproductive, and highly inefficient. Can you guess what it is? Yep. Writing to-do lists on paper. Whether you use a legal pad, notebook, steno pad, post-it notes, a planner, or anything similar, you’ve got the #1 … This Outdated Tool Puts Your Progress in S-L-O-W Motion—and This ONE Change Will Fix It

Productive Day recently celebrated 21 years in business. For more than two decades now, I’ve helped busy C-suite leaders, business owners, and professionals bridge the gap between their current workday and the workday they’ve always wanted—and needed—to achieve more success and enjoy more time and freedom. Over the years, many things have changed, but I’ve … 5 Tried-and-True Strategies to Shift from Workday Survival to Success

Two opposing arguments exist for managing the email Inbox: let email accumulate or get it out of the Inbox. For those who want to keep email in the Inbox and use searches to find what they need, it’s important to understand why having MORE email in your email Inbox makes you LESS efficient, LESS effective … Why an Overloaded Inbox Wastes Time and Works Against You