Paula Rizzo shares list-making techniques to boost productivity. The video covers how to organize tasks on paper or digitally to stay focused and get more done in 2014.
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Hello everyone. I hope that you're seeing and hearing me. Uh, this is the webinar that you signed up for, hopefully. Uh, my name is Paula Rizzo and we will be starting in a couple minutes. Um, I'm going to be going back and forth between slides and also this camera. Um, there will be a section for you to ask questions and, um, So bear with me as I put up a slate so that people joining us will know that we'll start in about 2 minutes. Thanks so much. So we're about to start in about 2 minutes. I am having trouble with my slides because I'm not a techie genius. Like some people may be. But I am trying to get my slides together so that I can share some of the work that I have for you guys. So just give me a sec and I will be right back. I apologize for the clicking and looking off screen, but I will be with you in about 2 minutes. OK, well, I want to officially welcome you to the webinar. My name is Paula Rizzo from ListProducer.com, and I'm so happy to have you guys here with me today. I know how difficult it is to get 5 minutes to yourself, so a full hour is quite a commitment, and I really appreciate your time. And I do hope that, you know, sitting here hanging out with me you're able to get a couple of tips and tricks and ways to make your life a little less hectic and a little more calm and organized and productive. So I do have some slides to share with you, but as luck would have it, they're not actually working. So I'm going to try one more time to get those situated, but otherwise you're going to have to stare at my mug the whole time. And I'll do my best to entertain, and maybe I'll hold up some props, and we'll work through it. But I do have some slides. To share. Just give me 2 seconds. Let me just see if I can do it one more time, and if it doesn't work, we'll just go ahead. So bear with me for a minute. As I'm doing this, I'll just do some quick housekeeping stuff. So if you're joining us on Google+, you'll notice that there is a group chat on the side. And it's a Q&A— I'm sorry, it's a Q&A on the side. And you will be able to type questions throughout the webinar, and I. I would be happy to answer those at the end. But there is a slight delay with the questions, so it may not be exactly as I'm saying it that you're hearing it. So, but go ahead and write your questions. I will get to them at the end, as many as we possibly can get through. And there will be a link at the very end of this. We're going to be recording this. It's recording right now. So it will live forever, I hope, on YouTube. So you can always go back, refer to it, see things you missed, questions you had, all of that. Share with your friends, whatever you want to do. That will be available to you. So let me just try one last time to figure out what I'm doing, and we will go from there. So let me see. Give me one sec. And let me see. So I apologize. I am here in New York. This is my apartment. Welcome to my apartment. This is my living room space, my living room office space, as you can see behind me, kind of office. And this is the very first webinar that I've ever done live. You know, I've done things over the phone, and I've done a couple interviews here and there, but I've never done a full-on webinar. Thank you for joining me for the maiden voyage. I really do appreciate it. So my intention was to share some of these slides, but as luck would have it, I think we're not going to have them. But let me just try one more time to open them up and see if the Google+ people will help us to share. Okay, so I'm going to share my screen. Ah! It's going to work. Okay. Less panic. So let me just tell you how this is going to work. I'm going to pop in and out between slides and this camera. So if you have any questions, you can write those on the Q&A section if you're joining us on Google Plus, or you can email them to me, paula@listproducer.com, and I will get to as many as I possibly can throughout the hour. So the intention here is to help you guys be a little less stressed and be able to be more productive, successful, get more stuff done at home, at work. Let's do it. Okay? So I'm going to share my screen with you now of some of these slides that I've prepared for you. And screen share. Start screen share. Okay. OK, so you should see my screen that says it should be starting in 10 minutes, but that's a lie. I'm about to start right now. There I am. And I wish that I could open this bigger for you, but it doesn't really work if I do that. So I just want to introduce myself. So my name is Paula Rizzo, and if you follow my blog, you know listproducer.com. I'm a television producer by day here in New York City, and by night I run this website. And I am thrilled To be able to announce that I have a book coming out in the fall of 2014. I am so, so happy about that. It's called Listful Thinking, and it will have all the tips and tricks that I've been dispensing to people, like it or not, for the past 3 years. And I really got to start doing this from being a television producer and, you know, being out in the field, in the studio, having to do tons of things all at the same time, which is not always so easy. And so I found that for me, having lists have helped me really to be grounded. Oh, I guess I could just scrip— do that. So to be able to be grounded and to be able to get stuff done, because it's so difficult throughout the day to really stick to one task or two tasks or three tasks. Things pop up, stuff happens, And for me, lists have been the real thing that have really helped me. So I started this blog about 3 years ago because I was looking for an apartment. I was looking for this apartment. This apartment that we're in right now was the whole thing behind ListProducer.com. And what happened was my husband and I would go out looking for an apartment and we were completely befuddled. We would come in, we would go through, we would not remember anything about the apartments we saw. And we were just so, so irritated with the whole process. And you know, you don't remember, did it have carpet, did it have this, did it have air conditioning, was there a dishwasher? It's so overwhelming and you don't even really know what to look at. So what I did was I made a list, I made a checklist of all the things that I needed to look at when we walked through the door. So he and I had our checklist and we would go through and we would say, okay, this is what we have to do. Here, there, and that. And that way we were able to come home and then just go through, okay, let's compare and see, you know, this one was better than that one, or, you know, whatever, whatever needs we really wanted, we were able to focus. We walked through the door and we knew exactly what we were looking at. We were not overwhelmed by, you know, shiny pretty things and, you know, crazy views and this, that, and the other thing. Nice if it had a view, But you have to stay on target and stay focused. So I use a lot of the things that I do at work as a television producer in my home life. And I've noticed that that's really helped me to be focused and a little calmer. I mean, I'm a little high-strung, as you can probably imagine, as you can see. But it's really helped me to get stuff done and not be so crazy about it. What I want to do is go through, and I hope that you guys can see. Can you see these, these things now? I don't know if I have to say share screen again. Sorry, I'm just learning. Share screen Microsoft Word. I don't know if it's going to work for me. Can you guys see this, these lists now, or is it just my face again? Sorry. Anybody? It's so hard when this is not really live. Well, I'm going to go through a bunch of lists that I make on a regular basis and go through them with you guys so that you know there's more than just a to-do list, right? So to-do list is a big one. I want to talk about to-do lists because they're really for me the forefront of what I do. So to-do lists is just that, it's the things that you need to get done and get it out of your head and onto paper because it really makes it much easier if it's not all stuck in here all the time. So I would suggest to-do lists high on your list of lists you need to make for sure. Another one that I love is a pro and cons list.. And a pros and cons list will help you do anything, really. I mean, if you're thinking of taking a new job and, you know, that job includes, you know, all different benefits and different things, but it may not really be what you're looking for, you're not really sure, a pros and cons list, I mean, you can use that for a vacation, to find a new job, you can use it for an apartment, you can use it for any kind of big decision in your life. I always kind of go back to the pros and cons list because it's a good way to just set things in front of you and you're able to just focus on that. And what I do when I do a pros and cons list is I write it out and then I just leave it alone. And I go to sleep or I do whatever I'm going to do and then I come back to it. Because sometimes things on your pros and cons list that seemed like a big deal, like, "Oh, the office has free snacks. That's amazing." Yeah, that's amazing, but it's not as great that you're taking a $15,000 pay cut. Hello! You know, like maybe that day you were really hungry. Angry. And so that was sort of like, oh, that outweighs the $15,000. No, it doesn't. So you need to take yourself out of that situation a little bit or share the list with someone else just to get an idea from that person. Maybe there are other things that you haven't thought of. And that's a good way to collaborate lists too. A packing list. For me, there is no way I'm going on any trip without a packing list. And the reason The reason that I can't do it is because I think that I've become so accustomed to the packing list. And so what I'll do is before I go on any vacation, I go through, I go in my producer mind, and I go through all of the things that I'm going to do on that trip, right? Like every single day. And I know this is not as spontaneous and fun as it possibly could be, but I'll go through, you know, Monday we're going to go to the beach and hang out, or Tuesday we're going to go to a wedding, so I need this, this, this, and this. And I just really itemize every single thing that I need for that trip. And for me, it's a real nice way to kind of keep the focus. Because otherwise, you end up with 10 things you didn't really need, or you get there and you don't have your toothbrush or, you know, your flip-flops. And it's like, those are kind of essential things that you should have thought about before. So list-making for me is really just thinking ahead, thinking ahead of time and being able to just really put that thought into it. So packing list, essential for sure. And we can talk about these more in depth. Life list, this is one that I love. So for people who don't make lists, I always tell them to make a life list because a life list is so personal, right? You can't make a life list for somebody else. You can make your own. You know if you want to learn to speak Spanish or you want to go to Italy or you want to, I don't know, learn to rollerblade or whatever it is. So it's a really nice way to start your list-making and to be able to, you know, get in that mind frame of making lists about things. So life lists are amazing, and I really, I tell everybody to just do a life list maybe once a year. For me, I really, really love doing, and this is an Oprah secret, but you can do a, it's called a vision board. And I have a vision board that I make a new one every single year, and it's like an art project. And so basically you go and you go through magazines and pull out inspiration, things that you really love. If you want to go to Italy that year, or there's a new house that you want, or a car. Mine's filled with tea and food and the Eiffel Tower because I love Paris and I'd love to go back as much as possible. The Golden Gate Bridge because I'd love to go to San Francisco. I've never been before. I have people who inspire me on there. I have Oprah, who's one of my one of my favorites who I'll talk about later. I have Giada De Laurentiis because I love her, but also for me that means cooking and learning to cook and being a little bit more free in the kitchen and not just so stuck with my poor recipes that I make all the time. It's a fun way to put that all in one place. I keep mine in my closet. Every morning when I open the closet I see my vision board there. With all the things that I want to do. You can make a digital vision board, put it on your desktop, you can put it on your phone, whatever works for you. But I just think it's a fun way, and it's a different kind of list. So it doesn't have to necessarily be written down. This is with photos and pictures. And I just think it's a nice way to kind of upgrade your list-making if you'd like. So let's see. I'm looking. Some of you have found the Q&A. Thank you very much. Don't worry about the glitches. This is the first time for you, and appreciate you giving it a whirl. Well, thank you very much. I appreciate that. So I'm going to try my screen share. My screen share's not working. So you're stuck with me. I'm sorry. You're stuck with this face. OK, so I'm going to go to the next one for me, which is the catalog list. And what I mean by catalog list is Lists of things. So I make tons of lists in general, but I also make these catalog lists about books I want to read, magazines I want to subscribe to, places I want to go, restaurants I want to go to. And so I make these lists so that I have them all together. And for me, like restaurant lists, I live in New York City, and so people are constantly like, oh, what are your favorite restaurants? And like you would think you would know, right? But then when the time comes, I'm like, man, what is my favorite restaurant? Or, oh, there was this great Thai place, but like I can't remember the name of it. And so I just— places that I either love or I want to go visit or I want to see, for me those catalog lists are really great. So that's another list that I make. Research lists are another list. For me, research lists come kind of naturally because I'm a journalist. I'm used to researching a lot. And what I'll do with research lists are, you know, something that I might research as a vacation, let's say. You know, so I'm making lists of things about Mexico. You know, these are the airports I'd want to go to, or these are the things that I'd want to do. I want to research rock climbing, or I want to research, you know, the Mayan ruins or whatever. And so if you compartmentalize those things and keep them all in one place, when you go back to them later, it's much easier, you know, to say, oh, this is my project for when I'm looking at my, um, you know, all of my stuff from Mexico. That's my Mexico list research stuff. Um, and I'll talk more about that in a minute, but these are just all the kinds of lists that you can possibly make. Gratitude list, one of my favorites, one of my favorites for sure. A gratitude list is basically a list of things that you're thankful for. So some days when you're feeling super crappy and you think, "Oh, this is the worst day of my life and there is nothing good in this world and this is terrible and I hate my job and it's raining and it's awful," and all of these things, I sometimes sit and write things that I'm thankful for and it makes me feel better. And it can be anything. It can be, "I'm thankful for dark chocolate. I'm thankful that mangoes are in season. I'm thankful that my husband hugged me today. I'm thankful that my boss didn't yell at me today as much as he possibly could." You know, anything. It could really be anything. Or it could be very profound. "I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful for my friends. I'm thankful for this. I'm thankful for that." A gratitude list is really kind of a big one. It's a kind of big list. So you can do that every day, every week. Some people do it before they go to bed at night, which I think is kind of a nice way to end your day. But it's up to you, but it's definitely a list that is at your disposal, and maybe you might not have thought to make that kind of list, but it's definitely one that you can make easily. Stay focused. This is one of the biggest benefits of list-making. So I'm going to go through now a couple of benefits that I've had, that you can have, and things that really will set you apart with your list-making. So the benefits of list-making really are to stay focused. And like I said, when I was going through the apartment and I didn't know what I was looking at or what I was doing, it really helped me to stay on track. And the same thing, if you make a to-do list during the day, that to-do list should be your roadmap. That should be what you're doing for the day. This is how I'm running this day. This is my outline. This is my rundown. And this is what's happening today. And for some people, if it's not on this list, it's not happening today. And that's fine. And if that's the way you want to run your ship, then do it. But you need to stick to that if that's what you're going to do. Stay on deadline. That's huge. For people who fall behind, you know, on work and think, "Oh, I'm never going to get it done," or you're at work until 11 o'clock at night or whatever, if you have these lists in place and you prioritize them correctly, you can really get a lot done. Be more productive. I mean, that goes without saying. You're going to use a list to get you to the other side of whatever project or whatever thing you're working on, and it's really, really helpful. Be more successful. For me, I can say that that's worked for sure, because being organized, being productive really sets you apart at work. It does. You know, I'm a senior producer now where I work, and I've worked my way up, and I think part of that is because I'm so organized. Part of that is because when we're in a meeting, I mean, it's just sort of my nature, but when, you know, a project is given out, I'm like, okay, let's take this apart, let's put this So who's going to do this part of it, and who's going to do that part of it, and let's just make sure and do this and that. Okay, so I'm going to make a list. Here's some to-dos for you to do, and to-dos for you to do, and to-dos for you to do. Okay. You could say I'm a little bossy. Maybe I am a little bossy. But part of that too is just being organized and wanting to have things in a row. And so it definitely will help you get to that point. The other thing about lists is that it reminds you of what's important to you. And it reminds you what's to come and what you need to accomplish. So it's sort of like, um, can be kind of annoying because it's sitting there telling you, you have to do this and you have to do that, and remember you had to do this thing and you said you were going to write that letter of recommendation and you haven't. So it can be kind of irritating, I get that. You know, sometimes people hate lists for that reason. But, um, it's a reminder. It's really, it holds you accountable. And it's a good thing, I think. And the other thing about lists that I really like and I find to be really telling is that famous people do it. Right? And so one of the biggest list makers I know is Madonna. Madonna is a huge list maker. And she's super successful for whatever reasons. She stays organized, and there's actually been a couple of auctions to auction off some of her lists that she's made in limos. You know, get a dress fitting, get shoes, call back such-and-such person, and this and that, whatever. So Madonna, Ben Franklin was a big list maker, Johnny Cash, Ellen DeGeneres, let's see, John Lennon. A lot of big-time people who are very successful, and it's no, it's no It's no coincidence that all of these very successful people also happen to make lists, and that's why they're so successful. So that's kind of— for lists, it's the sexy part of lists. I get that they're not so sexy and fun all the time, but famous people use them, and it works for them. So there you go, for what it is. So why do lists work? And the reason I think that lists work And if you can see my slides, I have a very cute picture of Oprah on my slide right now. And she's giving a thumbs up sign. That's what, that's, this is what it looks like. She's got some sunglasses on. She's smiling. And it, lists work because you become what you believe. And I truly believe that. So Oprah said, "You become what you believe." Which she stole from Maya Angelou. But anyway. You become what you believe has become one of my most loved quotes ever because it's completely and absolutely true. If you set an intention, whether it be pick up milk, find a new job, get a husband, do your laundry, big or small, if you write it down, you put it out there, right? And you set the intention. For it to happen and to be able to achieve it. And so I like to think that lists are like these— it's the framework really. And it's a nice way to set your intention and focus on something. If you really want it, write it down because that's going to remind you that you want to do it and the reason that you thought of it. Checklists work for sure. So now I'm going to talk a little bit about checklists at work. And so I work in, you know, the health realm. That's where I work. I work with a lot of doctors and surgeons. I'm a health producer. And so I work with surgeons all day long. So sometimes I do go into ORs, and I'm able to see them work and do things. And checklists are a big part of their lives. And the same with pilots, and also construction workers. And these are people who are highly trained to do their job. And they're really smart. And they're very good at their jobs. But sometimes they need these checklists— most of the time they need these checklists to stay on target, to stay focused. Because guess what? There's a lot of stuff going on in that world. There's a lot of stuff going on when you're flying a plane. There's a lot of stuff going on in the ER, in the OR. And so you need to really be focused on what's at hand. Because for them it's a life or death situation. So for you in your job, it may not be life or death. But it's still important, right? So you want to make sure that you're giving yourself the best possible tools that you can. And so checklists for travel are big. You know, for pilots they have— I think it's 13 checklists from the time they leave to the time that they get to their destination. That's a lot of checklists. That's a lot. And the same with surgeons. And so I want to talk about a book that I absolutely love, and it's called The Checklist Manifesto. And The Checklist Manifesto, the subtitle is How to Get Things Right.. And it is by a doctor, Dr. Atul Gawande. And he is a surgeon. And what he did was he realized that there were a lot of mistakes in surgery. You know, you read about this stuff all the time. Somebody amputates the wrong leg. There is an infection. A lot of stuff can happen. And so what he did was he worked with the World Health Organization to get checklists into hospitals. And when he first started this, it was in 2008. And he had a 19-point checklist system. And the checklist system seemed kind of silly to a lot of people, to the nurses and to everybody. It was things like wash your hands, make sure it's the right patient, confirm what side of the body the surgery is going to happen on. Things that you think, this guy is a surgeon, really? Can't you get it right? You're getting paid a zillion dollars to do this. But the truth is there's a lot of stuff going on. And it's the same in your job. It's the same for anybody else. The phone rings. Somebody walks into your office. There's a lot of moving parts to your day that if you have to have a little cheat sheet and it's your little list, so what? By using the list, the checklist in the operating rooms, they did a 6-month study in 8 hospitals, right? And they saw a 36% drop in post-surgical complications. 36%! That's a lot with a simple piece of paper. Just having a piece of paper and having everybody on board saying, okay, is this the patient? Great. Any allergies? Did you wash your hands? Just going through that list helped people save lives. Pretty amazing. And people resisted it at first because they thought this is ridiculous and stupid, but once they caught on, it was really beneficial. So I talked to this guy, he's the CEO of a company, it's a financial firm called United Capital. He's an author and he's fantastic. His name, he's from South Africa, his name is Joe Duran. And I contacted him when I first started this blog because he read Checklist Manifesto and loved it and thought that checklists are the answer to all life. And so he's the big CEO of this huge company, reads it, makes everyone in his company read it. Any employee who works there has read this book, Checklist Manifesto. And he refuses to have a meeting with someone unless they have a checklist. Literally won't have a meeting with you if you don't have your intentions, all of the things that you're going to go through. You know, and his checklist includes things like, you know, what did we talk about last week, what has happened so far since last week on that project, what's your new business, what's this, what's that, what's that. So everyone knows exactly what they're going to be talking about in this meeting, and you don't go on and on and on and on and on forever, which you guys know how terrible are meetings. Meetings are the worst. And sometimes you have meetings about meetings and they keep going on and on and on and on and on. So he said by starting this checklist thing, it's really helped his workers to feel empowered because they're able to really drive the train on the meeting. You know, it's not your boss calling the meeting saying, "Okay, we gotta talk about this, this, and this." You're the one. You're the one who's driving the train on it. So it's helped them to do that. And he told me that they've had a 50% decrease in meeting times. 50% by having a simple checklist. And I think the thing that's really important too is the thought process that goes behind the checklist. So I know for myself, how many times have you run into a meeting where you're like, "Hoo, I was not prepared for this at all, and now here I am, and I'm going to wing it." Well, you can't wing it, really, with the checklist. You have had to have had— you have had to have thought about this a little bit beforehand. You know, you have to give yourself 15 minutes before the meeting starts to go through the checklist and say, what am I going to say when they ask what's the old business from last week? Let me run through and write down a list of 10 things that happened since last week that now I can update my boss on. Just doing that extra that extra little bit will really help. So I think if you're a manager or if you're not, maybe suggesting to do some kind of checklist at work will help. Speaking of work, I want to go through some of the ways that I use checklists or lists in general at work. So every day before I leave work, no matter what's going on, I'm late for something, things are crazy, whatever it is, I make a list. I'm sorry, I'm a little distracted by some of these questions. It's so fun to see you guys writing questions. So every day before I leave work, I write a list. And I basically run through the following day in my head and think, okay, so I have that phone call. I look through my calendar. I have a phone call at 11 AM. I write that down. I have a shoot, I have to go do this, I have to call this person back, and I'm very specific. I say email Jane, write back to Tony about shoot for Thursday. I'm very, very specific about what I write so that when I come in the next morning, I'm able to sit down, look at my list, it's my roadmap for the day. Okay, this is what I'm doing today. Ready? Let's start. Let's go. This is what I'm doing first. This is what I'm doing second. This is what I'm doing third. Ready to go. So it's not really a hodgepodge of, oh my God, I just got in and let my email just get away with me. And I'm just doing whatever the emails are telling me to do. And I'm dodging calls and I'm doing this and I'm doing that. I don't ever answer my phone. I don't know if people can do that in your line of work, but for me, I know it sounds a little bit snobby, but I do not ever answer my phone. Never, never, never, never, never, never, unless you have scheduled that time to talk with me. I mean, if my boss calls, I'm going to answer the phone. But for the most part, I do not answer my phone unless you have a scheduled time to talk to me at that time, because you get so sidetracked by phone calls and other people, because as soon as I talk to that person, Oh, let me just do that real quick because that'll take me 5 minutes. But now I've left this other thing over here. And I forgot about what I was doing here because now I'm doing this over here. So if you just take out that distraction, you'll get to it. Leave me a voicemail. And when it's time for me to check my voicemails, I will check my voicemails. And I will get to it. But I get so sidetracked by phone calls and things that I just can't do it. So unless you have a scheduled time to talk to me— and I will schedule time for sure, absolutely. I mean, I talk to people all the time on the phone. But it's because they've scheduled time with me to talk at that time. And otherwise I can't get through my day because I have tons and tons of people. I get pitched all day long and I get tons of people calling all day long and I can't do it. I won't get done the things that I need to get done. So I also add to that list throughout the day. So it's not like I'm just, oh, these are the only things I'm doing for the day. As things come up, right, so I listen to that voicemail and I hear, oh, I have to get back to that person about XYZ, I write that on my list. And that gets put down there. And it keeps my place if I do get distracted. If something happens where I get pulled into something else that I can't help, that I can't be a total snob and be like, "Oh, I'm not— actually, it's not on my list. I'm not doing that. It's not happening." You can't always do that. I get it. I'm realistic about that. So if that happens, if I get pulled away, I write down what I'm in the middle of. Writing back email to Jay about Paula Rizzo, whatever. I write that down and I go away and I go do what I have to do, and when I come back, it's there. And so I'm able to kind of catch all the things that I'm thinking about and doing. And distractions happen, and there's really no way around it. I'm going to try one more time to share my little things with you here. I don't know if it's going to work. I sort of doubt it, but let's just try it. Might as well. You know, why not? Now I do want to talk to you a little bit about lists at home. And we can go back to lists at work because I know that's really important to a lot of people. But lists at work definitely help. And lists at home are, for me, it's like, how do you live life without lists at home? You never get anything done. For the most part, grocery lists I think are the one thing that people really, other than to-do lists. Grocery lists are the real ones that people gravitate towards at home. And so for me, grocery lists, even if I buy the same thing every week, I write them down on my list. I mean, that's just me being kind of neurotic. You don't have to do that. But I think having a grocery list in the same spot all the time really helps. So if you're going to keep it in the drawer in your kitchen or if you're going to keep it on your refrigerator on a little magnet, just having a central location for that list makes it much easier. Because how many times do you write it on a Post-it or you write it here, oh, I wrote it in an email, but where is that now? I can't find that. So I think having a catch-all place, like the same thing for things. I have, I don't know if you can actually see, well you can't see behind, well like right over there where my pen is, right there on that table, that's where I put my cell phone every day. I come in from work, wherever I am, that's where I put my cell phone. So that's my go-to place for my cell phone. And if my cell phone's not there, I don't know where it is, because that's where it goes. Same thing with keys. I have a place just for keys. So people are always losing things and disorganized and trying to get out of the house on time and all these things. Just make central locations for things. This is where these things go at all times. And then you won't really have as many problems finding them if, you know, if you try it at least. Okay, so my screen share doesn't work. I'm over it. Sorry. I tried. The other thing about grocery lists is adding to it immediately. So for me, and this is with to-dos and any kind of list, as soon as I think of it, I have to put it on the list. Because if I don't, I will do something else. So if you have a catch-all place, even on my to-do list at work, I have it on a regular piece of paper, in the bottom corner is my little catch-all. That's my little, oh, I need milk. I'm gonna write that down. Okay. What were you saying? Back to the phone call. 'Cause things pop in and out of your head so quickly, and then they're gone, and then you forget. Oh, I was supposed to get 4 things, and now I'm at the store and I only remember 2 of them. And just having that kind of catch-all really, you know, really helps you to kind of get it together. Using deadlines, that's another thing that I do at home. I'm used to working in a very deadline-oriented job. And so it has to happen by 2:00 PM on Tuesday. That has to happen, and there's no pushback on a lot of the things. And so sometimes I will trick myself at home. And I'll say, this has to happen at this time. And it really helps me focus and keep to that time. But you have to be strict about it. So using deadlines really, really helps. And for me, running through events in my mind, so really producing something out. So like I had mentioned before about the packing list, having a packing list and running through everything you're doing on your vacation. If you're planning an event, you know, a wedding, a barbecue, or you know, a graduation party, any of that, just running through, okay, so we're going to have the caterer come at this time, they're going to serve the food at that time, then we're going to do the cake, then we're going to do this, then we're going to do that, at least like Go through all of that in your head like in list form, and then you work out some kinks. Just being prepared really, really can help you. So another question that actually I'm popping this one up. Where do you keep all your lists? Notebook, phone, computer? That's from Beth. And that's actually my next thing that I'd love to get to is that you can make lists anywhere and everywhere. And so by that I mean I make lists on my phone, I make lists on the back of my phone on a Post-it, I make lists, you know, on my little pad here, I use apps to write lists, I sometimes will, I use Outlook for work, and so what I'll do sometimes is I will send myself little email reminders Sometimes what I also do is I will be home. So I make my list at work before I leave, and then I leave and oh God, I think of 10 other things that I need to do tomorrow. And my list is in my desk at home— at work, I mean. I'm sorry. My list is in my desk at work. So what I do is I go on my phone for work and I end up making meeting makers in Outlook. For 10 AM the next morning to add, you know, call so-and-so, or send project to XYZ at 1 o'clock. So if there's not like a deadline for it, as soon as it pops up on my computer screen, I put it on my list for the day. I add it to my list. I was like, oh, that's right. I do have to do that. And I put it down on the list. And so for me, it's just an easy way to kind of, you know, hack my little system of to-dos. Because you are going to forget stuff. And I'm going to talk a little bit about apps, because apps are really awesome too. And I'll get to that in just a few minutes. The other thing that people do sometimes, now I'm going to go through a couple of mistakes and some fixes that people can use. So number 1 really is you mix your lists.— and this happens to a lot of people, right? So you want one catch-all place where you're going to put everything. I'm going to put my to-dos for work, I'm going to put my to-dos for home, I'm going to put my life goals, you know, write a book, you know, go to the grocery store, pick up my prescription, oh, I also have to write that report for work. Like, this is how your brain works, right? I get it. Like, that's what happens to you. But you need to keep them separate. So for me at work, Home stuff happens when you're at work. It's just inevitable. It's going to happen. You have to run to the bank at lunch, or you have to call your kid's babysitter or something. It just happens. So what I do is I make two columns. The first column is my work stuff, everything that I made the day before. And then the other column is the little work stuff, the go to the ATM, and return the phone call about whatever, pick up the laundry on the way home. All of that stuff so that I have it as a little reminder there. And it's, but it's in its own section. It's not next to all my to-dos for work. I have everything separate. Things need to be in their own spot because then you know where to find those things. So the same way that I keep my phone back over there, it's the same thing with these lists and all these items on it. Now you know exactly where to find those things. And in your head, oh, that's exactly where that goes. And so it's better for you to keep your lists separate. If you're going to make a life list, that's amazing and great and fabulous, but you don't need to have it on the same list as your to-dos that you have to do for today. It just doesn't belong in the same place, and it's going to end up just making you unfocused. So I say keep your lists separate. Mistake number 2, this is a huge one for people. You lose your lists. So how many people do this? Right? Everybody does. You have a little Post-it. This is my cute little Post-it that I put on the back of this. And then, you know, it gets pulled off and then I lose it. It's like, "Oh, I needed that and where is it?" And so you lose these things, right? So what I would say for if you lose your lists and you really need to keep on top of them is you need to go digital. That's it. You need to use some apps. And I know that maybe you don't want to, because I didn't want to either at first. And I was very, very opposed to getting an iPhone. I had a BlackBerry for work, and I thought, fine. It's not fine. You need an iPhone, first off. Second off, you're fine with doing apps. You will be fine. Try them, because once you try them, you will never go back. You will say, how did I live my life? How was it possible for me to go through this 24-hour span of a day without having these apps. So there are 4 apps that I'm going to tell you about that I really, really, really like. The first one can be used for so many things. So it's not just a to-do list app. You can keep to-dos in it, but you can do so much more. So it's called Evernote. So evernote.com is fantastic. A lot of people get very overwhelmed by it at first because it is overwhelming because there are so many things you can do with it. So let me just tell you a couple things that I do with it, and then maybe you can think of ways that you'll do it. So every once in a while I'll make a list in there. If I'm going to go to the grocery store or something, or I'm going to go to the drugstore, or I need to buy something on Soap.com, I'm constantly writing it in Evernote. So what Evernote does, as many of these apps do, it's syncs to your desktop. So you can have a desktop application on your computer. You can also have the website. You can access the website and you sign in. And you can also have an app on your phone. And then it all syncs together. So if I'm at work and I'm on the Evernote.com website, I write in all the things that I'm thinking of. Oh, I've got to buy this, this, this, and this. Right? And so I leave work. And it's here on my app. I have it. And I get to the store and I open it up and there it is. And I wrote it on my other thing, you know, on the desktop, and now it's there. And it's accessible and it's easy. The other thing I use Evernote for is, you know, keeping recipes. You can get a little bookmark thing that you put into your, you know, right into your Chrome or whatever, and you're able to click on that. Oh, that looks like a great recipe. You click on it and it goes Sends it right to your Evernote, so when you're home, you're like, "Oh, let me look in my food folder and see what new things I have," and then you have a whole bunch of new recipes right there. Same thing for articles. It's great for research. When I was writing my book, I was able to pull together a lot of different articles and things that I wanted to include, and I kept it all in Evernote. I also do all my taxes in Evernote. So what I'll do is I will scan things in and send it to my email through Evernote. So they give you an email account through Evernote., and you can forward things. So it's also great for traveling. When I was traveling, my husband and I went to Italy with some friends in March, which was fantastic. We were there for 2 weeks. It was a big, big trip. A lot of planning. So you can share the list with other people. So I shared my list with my friend Nicole, and we were going back and forth. You know, she was putting some stuff in like, "Oh, did you see this tour?" And then it would pop up on my phone, and I had it, and then I would I would also put in that folder, oh, here's the train tickets that we bought. Here's all the contact information and all that stuff. And it's great because you can download it to your phone, and so if you don't have internet or Wi-Fi, it's still accessible. Evernote, best thing ever. They should pay me because I tell everybody I know about Evernote. The second one that I really like is Wunderlist. It's W-U-N-D-E-R-L-I-S-T. Wunderlist. That for me is just a to-do list app. That's what it is. So you can make different kinds of lists in there. You can do like a bunch of like work list, home list, grocery list, all different separate. That's cool. You can do deadlines. You can get little pop-up reminders, set priority, that kind of thing. I like it. I think it's good. Try it. Another to-do list The next app is Clear. Clear does not work for everyone, but the thing I like about Clear is that it's beautiful. It is so amazingly designed, you will just love it. If you look for the Clear app, it's won all sorts of awards because it's so beautiful. And it's very user— it's very intuitive, and if you do this, it makes a little noise, and then the thing disappears. It's very, very lovely. And so you may like it. I don't love it because I don't need that flash. I just need you to put my to-dos on a list. That's all. I don't need all that. But some people may like that. So you should try it. At least give it a whirl. Carrot, just like you eat the carrot, is really a fun, fun app. And I used it for a very, very long time. And it's almost like a game. And it turns your to-do list into a fun activity, really. As you go through and you cross things off of that to-do list, it gives you, it incentivizes you, and it gives you different things. So it gives you points. And as you go through the system and you get more points, Carrot, which is a character, will give you more permissions. So then you are able to go back and look at old lists, things that you've already deleted. So it adds functions. As you go up in numbers. So as you get 5 points for crossing this off, or 2 points for doing this or doing that, and then it gives you cute little gifts. So one time they gave me a little cat. So I got a cat named Captain Whiskers who was adorable, and every once in a while would tap on my screen and say, "Don't forget to feed me." So it's just kind of cute, and it keeps you going, and it makes you want to do things. So if you need a little bit of help and incentive, you should You should do that. Another one that I really like too is called I Done This. I Done This. And I Done This is really for you to look back on your day and say, what did you do today? And so it's almost a way to look back and say, hey, you know what? I felt like I got nothing done today, but look at all these things I did. And so it's kind of like a little pat on the back. So it's kind of nice. I Done This is kind of fun. And I think the other thing that— let me just catch myself up on my notes here. Another problem that people have, so this is my number 3 big mistake, is that you never check anything off. Right? So you have these lists that keep going over and over and over, and I got it today, and I got it tomorrow, and here it is again, and I just, ugh, I can't get rid of it. And I think the big problem with that is priority, right? Like does that really need to be on your list? And do you have the tools to do that, or do you need to outsource it? I am a huge fan of outsourcing, and I could do an entire talk just on outsourcing, because when I started outsourcing things, I got my life back. It's amazing. It's the best thing ever. By outsourcing I mean there are things that you can do. I can figure out how to do the coding for my website. Of course I can. Me and Google can do anything. But I don't need to do that. There are so many other things that I could be doing that my time will be better utilized doing than figuring out all the hours and all the things that I need to do to figure out how to recode this website. I will pay someone else to do it, or I will barter with somebody to do it for me. So these are things that you just kind of need to— to think about. You know, is it worth my time? And another way to check things off your list is to really be specific and use action words, right? So if you're writing a list for things that you need to do after work and you put "go to mall," great, so you're at the mall, now what? Instead, you should write "buy birthday present for Sharon." You should write, "Return gift to Hallmark," or whatever. You should write, "Pick up chocolates for dinner on Tuesday." It should be very specific so that when you walk through that mall, you're not just like, "Oh, there's something beautiful and shiny," and you go and you buy it and you look at it and then you're like, "Oh, what was I doing here? Oh, this is nice. I'm just going to go," and you leave and you didn't do the thing that you were there for. I mean, that happens in the grocery store all the time, right? It's so beautiful. So if you're specific, you're very, very focused when you walk in. And again, I mean, that takes a little bit of dedication to do the work beforehand. But I really do think that it's worth it. Another little thing that I just want to leave you guys with really before we do some questions is you need to take charge of your lists and not be bullied by them. And it happens a lot because you see them and you feel like a failure because you have all these things on your list that you haven't done. And a way to really set yourself up for success, you need to be kind to yourself. You can't put things on your list that you are not capable of. Right? I mean, maybe on your life list or whatever you'll get to it. But on your everyday day-to-day stuff, be gentle with yourself too. Know your limits and realize that you may not be able to do that thing right now. Or you may need to talk to somebody else to get their input before you can do that. And also make small wins for yourself. And by that I mean if that needs to be your to-do list is 5 things long, 5 to-dos long, and that's what you're doing today, because you know you can do those 5 things, then do that. Then that's what it is for the day. And a woman that I had spoke to actually about the book is fantastic. Her name is Heidi Hanna. And she talks about stress a lot, and she's a really smart lady. And she told me she makes a just enough list. She sits down and the list she makes is what is just enough? What is just enough for today? What can I do today that is just enough? If I do just these things today, will that be enough? And yes, it will be enough. And tomorrow I can do this, this, this, and this. So be kind to yourself. Don't beat yourself up about it. Ask for help. That's a huge thing. Outsourcing. Like I said before, I could talk about that for hours. Outsourcing is really huge. Knowing when to say no. Terrible, right? It's so hard. You want to be the doer. You want to do everything. I get that. I get it. I am a yes, of course. Of course I'll do that. Yep. Oh, can I do it twice? I'll do it twice. But sometimes you have to just really, you have to push back and be like, "Look, I can do it next week. I can do it tomorrow. I cannot do it today." You have to be realistic with yourself. So one of the things that I wanted to offer you guys is access, really, to some of the things we talked about tonight and also anything else that you need help with. So I put together this Productivity Assessment. Right? And so it's basically a way for you to look at your life and look at the way that you're doing things currently and how you can do them better, and just really think about how it is that you're being productive or not being productive, because people think, "Oh, I'm fine. I'm fine." And then they take a test like this and they're like, "I guess I'm not fine." So if you send me an email, I will send you that list. That list. I will send you that quiz that I put together. So in your subject line put Productivity Assessment and then send me an email at paula@listproducer.com, paula@listproducer.com, and I will send that to you. And then from the people who do fill it out, if you do need help further than this webinar, I'd be happy to give it to you. Things like tackling your inbox, reducing clutter, crossing off to-dos, things that you're not able to do that keep popping up over and over again, being more successful at work, ways to outsource, you know, getting ideas for that kind of thing, even more apps because I'm crazy about apps, so we could talk about apps for an hour, that's fine by me, better ways to plan events or vacations, or really anything that will, you know, make you more productive in your life, I would be happy to help you do that. And so people who fill out the productivity assessment I'll be able to help you kind of figure out what's working, what your pain points are, what's really not working in your life. And so I think if you do that, I'm going to select a couple of people to do a one-on-one phone conversation with so we can work on whatever it is that you want to work on, however much or little or whatever. We'll do an hour one-on-one to talk about that. And again, it's paula@listproducer.com, productivity assessment. So shoot me an email. And I'd be happy to do that. Now I'm going to go through some of the questions that we have here on the side, because there are actually a few questions. So I'm going to go through some of those. Okay, let's see. Okay, okay. Oh, somebody has shared with us a real simple printout. Thank you very much for a to-do list. What's the best digital alternative? Hold on. I use this real simple to-do list at home, printed both pages. Okay, what's the best digital alternatives of your recommendations? Not exactly a list, blah, blah, blah. Okay, but I have a computer calendar. I put reminders in ahead of time. Oh, this is a great point. Okay, so, so, Diana makes this point about putting things in your calendar beforehand. And so for me, as soon as I set an appointment, if I set one of those phone conversations or a haircut or dentist or whatever it is, immediately it goes in my calendar. 100% goes in my calendar. And not only does it go in my calendar, but I also— for me, I live in New York City, so I take the subway everywhere. I need to figure out how I'm going to get there. You know, yeah, I could take a taxi, but for the most part I take the subway. So I go in and I figure out, okay, well that day I'll probably be coming from work, and this appointment is at 6 o'clock, so I'll be coming from work, going to this place. I'll figure out exactly what route I need to take, what train I need to take, and how I have to walk or whatever, and I put that also in the meeting maker that I've made with myself. So then that's it, it's done. The day happens, pops up, I look at it, oh, okay, great, and I just start going, oh, and I have to go take this train? Okay, I'm going to go do that. Instead of waiting and being like, oh my God, I have to go to this doctor's appointment. I don't know how to get there. And you're looking, and you're walking, and you're trying to get there. Same thing with a car. I mean, I guess you could also do that where you're going to find any kind of driving directions and things like that. But everything I try to do as much as possible beforehand so that when the actual event or thing happens, I just go and do it. I have all the information that I need right in front of me. It's much, much easier to do it that way. Let me see. There is a couple of other questions here. Well, there are two questions that I got. If you guys do have questions, please go to Q&A on the side and write those in. And I'd be happy to answer those for you. There were two questions that I got before the webinar started. And so I want to just go through those. The first one was, um, the first one was, um, which list should we attack first in 2014? The new ones that we've created for ourselves or the ones from 2013 that we didn't get to yet? So for this, it's all about priority, right? So it's all about what matters most. What has to happen? You know, what has a drop dead date on it? What is coming up first? What is happening? So this is very personal for you. You may want to make a list of goals now that it's January. This is what people do. Make a list of goals and things that you would like to do before the year is out to make sure that you tackle. But I would say any kind of loose ends, you should try and figure out what you're going to do with them. Are you going to outsource them? Are you going to drop them and say, you know what, this doesn't matter anymore. I thought this was a great idea, but it kind of sucks, so I'm not doing that anymore. It depends. Whatever it is, it just depends. So I would just say it's personal. So do what works for you. And I'm sorry I can't be more specific, but if I knew exactly what you were talking about, we could talk about that a little bit more in depth. The other question is about email. And email, oh, what a pain is email, right? You get sucked in. It's like forever. So Beth asked about email. She says, email takes up so much of the workday. Right? And she says, many times I'll get an email that I want to wait to reply when I have more time, but then I might forget. Do you have any suggestions on how to organize email? Yeah, so email is tough. Some people say that you should only check email twice a day. I think that's crazy. I don't know how I would live life if I did that, but for some people it works. So if you were able to do that, like 2 or 3 or 4 times a day, just set designated times to check email. And then when you're in that time, you're reading and you're writing back to emails, and that's what you're doing in that time, fantastic. But if not, then that doesn't work for you. So for what works for me is that I often will read an email and know that I need to write back to it, but I can't write back right now, so I do you know, unread. I make it unread so that it just shows it as still an unread email. And then at the end of the day or whenever it is that I'm in that mindset and I'm thinking, okay, now is when I'm going to write back to emails, I go into the filter that says unread emails and I click the unread emails and all those unread emails come up. And then I'm able to do that. There's another thing that I really like through Google, through— if you have Gmail, it's called Boomerang. Boomerang for Gmail. And Boomerang is fantastic because it will remind you to write back to people. So let's say you write an email to somebody and you're not sure if they're going to get back to you, or you want to check up with them in 2 or 3 days and see if there's any movement on it. You can set Boomerang to remind you in 2 days or 3 days or a month or whatever. It will boomerang that email back to you so you can get back to it and be like, oh hey, remember me? What was happening with that thing. And the same thing for, it just reminds you to get back to people. I also use reminders. So I'll go into my Outlook or into my Google Calendar or whatever, and I'll set a reminder. I read an email at 9 AM in the morning, and I think, oh, that's great. I should do that. But if I don't get back to them by the end of the day, but I have a million things that I'm doing. So I'll set a reminder for 3 o'clock. And at 3 o'clock, I'll make sure that I write back. And then it will pop up, and maybe I'm in the middle of doing something else, but I'll write it down on my list. So I put it right down on my list here. Okay, write back to Beth. And I put it down on that list. And so at least there is a place for it. There is somewhere, you know, that there is, you know, I'm accountable for it now. Sorry, I just needed a sip. So I think for the most part we are going to wrap. Now, and I so appreciate you guys taking the time to come out and chat with me. Please send me emails about every and anything, paula@listproducer.com. I'll send you that productivity assessment if you would like it. I will do a one-on-one chat with you if you would like it. And any other questions that you have, I would like to do these webinars more often, maybe once a month, and take one topic per month. So maybe next month we do outsourcing, and the following month we do apps, and the next month we do vacations, you know, how to manage and organize and do these things. So any suggestions that you have for that, I would love. And thank you so much for spending your evening with me. I really, really appreciate it. And I'm here, Paula Rizzo at ListProducer.com. Check out my website ListProducer.com for any kind of list-making needs, productivity tips, and things like that. Thanks so much. See you guys soon. Bye-bye.
