Posts by Helene Segura, M.A. Ed., CPO®
Declutter Your Mind
Last week I discussed how the brain’s operating speed can slow down when it gets bogged down with too much information it wants to keep available for recall. This week, let’s look at recommendations for where you can store that information for easy access. In other words, how can you declutter your mind? Calendar items:…
Read MoreFree Your Mind – and Productivity Will Follow!
Do you remember the 1992 song by En Vogue, Free Your Mind? There’s a line in the song: “Free your mind, and the rest will follow.” That hit song was definitely not about time management, but that line can certainly be applied. My mantra that I preach is “Time management is all about mind management.”…
Read MoreDoes Your Lack of Sleep and Breaks Affect Your Productivity?
During a workshop I was presenting on work-life balance, we discussed the importance of sleep and taking breaks. The mantra I preach is: Time management is all about mind management. So, if you’re not taking care of your brain through sleep and taking breaks, then your brain won’t take good care of you. When your…
Read MoreNavigating Open Enrollment for Small Businesses
November 1 was the first day of open enrollment for health insurance. If you’re a small business owner, it can be overwhelming to determine what kind of group coverage will keep you in the good graces of government mandates, plus balance that with your desire to help your employees as much as possible without breaking…
Read MoreHow to Prevent Holiday Stress in 2021
Sharing this letter has been a tradition since 2012. Over the decades, I’ve learned that it takes entirely too much effort and stress to take things to the hilt at holiday time – decorations galore, baking like nobody’s business and hosting holiday parties featuring homecooked mains, side dishes and desserts for a few dozen guests.…
Read MoreGet Organized for the Holidays! (2021 edition)
Back in the beginning of this year, I recommended that you reflect on the prior months and record a quick debrief of your 2020 holidays in order to get organized for your holidays in 2021. Can you believe it? The 2021 holidays are just around the corner, so it’s time to get a-crackin’! Do you…
Read MoreApple Crisp “Cobbler” Recipe (Standard and Keto, Slow Cooker and Baked)
Ingredients Crumble Topping 1 cup all-purpose flour (for Keto: almond flour) 1 cup brown sugar (for Keto: golden granular monk fruit or other brown sugar substitute) ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon nutmeg 1 pinch salt 1/2 cup butter, cut into ¼” -ish cubes 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional) Apple Coating ½ cup brown sugar…
Read MoreProductivity Lessons from the Facebook Outage
When Facebook crashed last week, millions of people around the world were sent into a tizzy. In addition to the Facebook outage, Instagram and WhatsApp (both owned by Facebook) also went down. All three platforms were offline for six hours. Here are some takeaways from the Facebook outage. Do you have a back-up communications plan?…
Read MoreProductivity Boost – The Importance of Recharging
Too many times we forget to put “recharge” on our to do list. We do our best to accomplish tasks for our work and personal lives, but we don’t make a conscious effort to plan for taking a break from pushing ourselves. In fact, most of America does not completely recharge. In 2013, American workers…
Read MoreWhat is Time Blocking or Time Boxing?
Whether you call it time blocking or time boxing, the overall concept boils down to this: You make appointments with yourself to focus on certain subjects or tasks. Here are a few keys to time blocking or time boxing: Know your professional and personal priorities. This should drive your decisions. Determine how much time you…
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