As it turns out, organizations are unknowingly sabotaging their own success. Not because they have poor strategies or lack talented
Read More → EE #004: The Modern Manager Meltdown: How Work Volume, Ambiguity, and Disengagement Are Undermining Managers and Organizational Performance—and What to Do About It If You’re a Modern Manager

As I write this, it’s Mother’s Day in the U.S. and I have to admit… I miss my Mom.  She
Read More → EE #003: The Evolution of a Worldview: How a Lifetime of Experiences Led Me to See Personal Productivity Differently

In the first Issue of The Efficiency Edge, I talked about the 3 Forces—the megatrends—that have radically reshaped the professional
Read More → EE #002: Productivity Myths and Bad Advice, What Big Tech Wants You to Think, and How to Design Your Workday Processes So They Work

We have more tools, more tech… and less progress. It’s not you—it’s the workday. Here’s what’s really going on… If
Read More → EE #001: The 3 Forces That Have Radically Reshaped the Professional Workday—and What This Means for You

Have you ever noticed that the more you say yes, the harder it becomes to actually deliver? Commitments stack up.
Read More → The More You Say Yes, the Less You Deliver—and It’s Costing You

Do you feel more rushed and chaotic in your workday or do you feel more calm and on schedule? Is
Read More → Fear vs. Focus: The Tug-of-War You Can Actually Win Every Day

Several years ago, a new buzzword emerged: pre-crastination. It was defined in Psychological Science as “hurrying to complete a task
Read More → 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
Read More → 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
Read More → 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
Read More → 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
Read More → 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
Read More → 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
Read More → 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,
Read More → 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
Read More → 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
Read More → Why an Overloaded Inbox Wastes Time and Works Against You

We’ve recently been posting on LinkedIn about my work with one of our clients who’s currently implementing Taskology® to take
Read More → How Sam Went from Stress to Success—and How You Can, Too

I’ve been approached a lot lately with questions about how AI will impact workday productivity. One of the more specific
Read More → Will AI help you manage your workday more efficiently and effectively?

I had a wonderful breakfast with a new friend a few weeks ago and we got onto the topic of
Read More → Overwhelmed Like I Was Back Then? Here’s What You Can Do to Change It

I saw a recent article in Inc.com about one of the trends for 2024 being “strategic slowness.” Sounds good, right?
Read More → How to Increase Productivity with “Strategic Slowness”

Did you enjoy a fun and festive December filled with occasions to celebrate the Holidays and ring in the New
Read More → 3 Things to Know so You Can Make THIS Year Your BEST Year EVER

 The ONE most important work technique you were never taught, but need to know. In too many companies, employees never
Read More → How to Make Progress and Reduce Stress with the Power of ONE

Amanda felt chaotic today. And it was only 8:20 am.  No sooner had she arrived at her office did three
Read More → How to Prevent the Unknown from Derailing Progress and Increasing Stress

Do you feel prepared for most days? Are you ready for anything? Or do you feel like the day snuck
Read More → Are You Working in a State of Readiness or Stress? You Need This One Skill to Execute with Agility and Make Powerful Progress

If you’ve ever overbooked or double booked your time, or you’ve been late for meetings (or missed a few altogether)
Read More → How To Make Your Calendar Support You for Success Instead of Sabotaging You

We’re in the third month of summer and coming to the end of vacation season shortly. I hope you’ve had
Read More → How To Optimize Your Time and Make Bigger Strides in 3 Simple Steps

You want to be more productive, but you say your job is different, right? You want to be more proactive,
Read More → Why You’re Out of Time and 6 Strategies to Get It Back

Trust is essential to a company’s success. Trust is a cornerstone on which many other necessities are built: leadership, teamwork,
Read More → How to Build Trust at Work and Avoid the 5 Behaviors that Break It

What experts are leaving out of their advice is stealing your time and wrecking your productivity.   If you’ve ever
Read More → What’s Wrong with the Email Advice You’ve Been Given

A columnist for Inc.com recently wrote an article about productivity tools and opened his article by saying, “I’ve spent a
Read More → Do You Know How to Design a Task for Action? Answer These 5 Essential Questions to Get Better Results

If you’re like most professionals—whether in corporate or in the entrepreneurial space—you may be constantly seeking out a new way
Read More → Looking for the Next Great Productivity Tool? You’re Searching for the Wrong Thing

It’s that time of year again. Time for New Year’s Resolutions. You may try each year to make changes and
Read More → Replace Resolutions with Becoming Who You’re Meant to Be

Like most professionals, you’re probably overwhelmed by email overload. The number of emails sent and received continues to rise every
Read More → 10 Simple Strategies for Sending and Receiving Fewer Emails

I run across bad advice from time to time and today, I’m calling out one bit of advice that must
Read More → What NOT to Do in Your Task Planning Process and the ONE Essential Element to Add that Will Make Getting Things Done a Lot Easier

What beliefs do you have about your workday? In his book, Thinking for a Change, John Maxwell says, “a belief
Read More → Think Success, Not Survival: The Mindset Shifts to Turn Your Workday Around

Countless surveys, reports, and studies are showing that employee burnout is continuously on the rise. Thank you, Captain Obvious, right?
Read More → The Worst Email Advice You’ll See and Why Never to Follow It

Your ability to be productive depends on two essential elements that drive planning, prioritizing, and achievement. Categories isn’t one of
Read More → 6 Reasons Why Categories Are Disastrous for Managing Tasks

Your intention is to put in a solid day’s work to get things done, right? You want to complete tasks,
Read More → Is this workday gap holding you back from reaching your potential?

6 Steps to Replace Old Habits with New Ones for Greater Productivity, Progress, Success and Happiness   Did you know?
Read More → Are Your Habits Helping or Hurting Your Workday Productivity?

When asked to take on new tasks, participate in projects, collaborate on special initiatives, or to join certain meetings, do
Read More → Saying Yes Too Often? Here’s What to Consider Next Time, So You’re Not Always Over-Committed, Over-Stretched and Overwhelmed

I was on Facebook one day and just happened to see a post from someone who had JUST emptied her
Read More → The Truth about Your Email Inbox When It’s Overloaded

In 2014, the “Wasting Time at Work” Annual Survey conducted by Salary.com revealed that 89% of workers said they wasted
Read More → Why This Kind of Planning Works and How It Saves Time without Sacrificing Progress

Quick Quiz: Who’s in charge of your work day? YOU! That’s right. Now, who’s in charge of all of the
Read More → Are You in the Driver’s Seat of Your Day or Just Along for the Ride?

Do you ever have days when you shake your head in frustration and think “I’m just not cut out for
Read More → Where to Look for the Solution if You Think, “I’m Just Not Cut Out for This Job”

Before the pandemic, the World Health Organization estimated that 9% of the global population was working long hours. Then they
Read More → The Truth About Where Time is Wasted in Your Workday

Do you ever feel like interruptions are leading you through your day and you follow them like bread crumbs down
Read More → How to Avoid Reactivity and Make Rapid Recovery from Interruptions

A lot of software applications have been created over the years to try to help professionals keep up with email.
Read More → Your Email Inbox Doesn’t Need Artificial Intelligence. It Needs YOUR Intelligence.

An audience member said something to me when I addressed a large group for their annual conference, and I found
Read More → The Consequences of Working in the Dark

Papers, files, information, to-do lists and unfinished work slowly creep across your desk like a lava flow. Email flows into
Read More → Without This One Skill, You Prohibit Your Productivity, Progress and Potential

Did you know? More time is WASTED in your workday than you realize. You go about your day, doing what
Read More → Creating a To-Do List Every Morning Is the Worst Way to Manage Tasks and Wastes Time You Could be Using to Get Things Done

What kind of interruption or distraction is more costly to your time, focus and progress: receiving a call, an email
Read More → Six Steps to Prevent Interruptions and Distractions from Stealing Your Time and Stalling Your Progress

Game-changers in life and in business happen all the time. Some are good, like having a child and now you’re
Read More → To Be Highly Agile, You First Must Be Well Prepared

When working with an executive coach, a leadership coach or any success coach, your aim is to set and achieve
Read More → Why Workday Efficiency is Essential for Success with an Executive Coach

Get away from the old methods for managing tasks and start using the systems you already have to be more
Read More → How You Work Can Make or Break Your Efficiency, Productivity, and Results

If you asked professionals today about email, most—if not all—would say, “It’s too much to handle.” Email is still the
Read More → The Solution for Email Overload Won’t Be Found in Special Software, Fancy Apps, or Fly-by-Night Hacks. It’s OUTSIDE of the Email Inbox.