There are a lot of gadgets, devices, apps, and software packages
\ntoday people use to keep organized, manage their time, and boost
\ntheir personal productivity.<\/p>\n
But I don’t use them.<\/p>\n
Instead, I’m going to give you my top personal productivity
\nmethodology right now for free.<\/p>\n
I use the system with Word — but in a pinch, a pencil and paper
\nwill do just fine.<\/p>\n
This is sort of a “personal productivity by the numbers” approach
\nbased on having just 3 simple to-do lists and updating them
\nweekly; keeping them as Word files on my hard drive makes the
\nupdating — and printing of the revised lists — quick and easy.<\/p>\n
You can use more or fewer lists. You can use different lists than
\nmine. But the multi-list principle is the same.<\/p>\n
Here are my lists:<\/p>\n
#1: To-Do Today List … This is a list of all current copywriting
\nprojects I am working on for my clients.<\/p>\n
It is arranged so that the project with the closest deadline is
\nnumber one on the list, the project with the next-closest
\ndeadline is number two, and so on.<\/p>\n
This list I actually update several times a week, and sometimes
\ndaily, based on my progress and completion on the various
\ncopywriting assignments.<\/p>\n
I begin each day by immediately working on item #1 on the list.<\/p>\n
When I am unable to continue because either I am tiring or there
\nis an obstacle preventing me from doing so (e.g., I am waiting
\nfor a client to provide a promised and important background
\ndocument, comments on a draft, etc.), I move on to the next item
\nin the list.<\/p>\n
By having multiple projects and handling them in this fashion, I
\nmaximize my productivity:<\/p>\n
When I run out of steam on number one from the list, I put it
\naside and move to number two.<\/p>\n
So I am always fresh and energized; never bored. And can
\ntherefore write better and faster.<\/p>\n
I break my day into one-hour writing increments, taking a 3 to 5
\nminute break at the end of each hour to refill coffee or watch
\nElvis or Dire Straits or Jim Jeffries on a YouTube Clip.<\/p>\n
Then I decide after completion of an hour module and during this
\nbreak whether to continue with that project or switch gears and
\nwork on another.<\/p>\n
#2: To-Do Bob Projects … This is a list of all the projects of my
\nown I have in some stage of development from “it seems a good
\nidea” to “currently in progress.”<\/p>\n
These projects include: books … information products … columns …
\narticles … seminars, speeches, workshops, and conferences … and
\nother projects.<\/p>\n
#3: To-Come List … This is a list of my sales leads: marketers
\nwho have reached out to me and expressed interest in hiring me to
\nwrite copy.<\/p>\n
I annotate the to-come list to note which leads are the best fit
\nfor me, which have an immediate need, and which just want to know
\nmore about me for possible future work.<\/p>\n
These prospects are simply listed in descending order of date of
\nfirst contact, with the most recent leads at top.<\/p>\n
The To-Do Today List is my priority, because contract freelance
\ncopywriting is my main source of income, my bread and butter, and
\nclients come first.<\/p>\n
My second priority is my own projects. I usually work on these
\nduring the final hour or so of my 12-hour day, as a way of
\nchilling and winding down.<\/p>\n
Third comes tracking sales leads and talking with potential
\nclients, because my first obligation is to my current clients and
\nprojects; I can’t detract from that focus by diverting attention
\nand energy to potential new business.<\/p>\n
And that’s my 3-list personal productivity system in a nutshell:
\nsimple, easy, and it works.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are a lot of gadgets, devices, apps, and software packages today people use to keep organized, manage their time, and boost their personal productivity. But I don’t use them. Instead, I’m going to give you my top personal productivity methodology right now for free. I use the system with Word — but in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1848,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1848"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1323"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1327,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1323\/revisions\/1327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}