All posts by John Hall

From email follow-ups to meeting prep and note-taking, thanks to technology some of today’s most menial tasks don’t have to take up your precious time anymore. In fact, there is pretty much an app for everything nowadays. But what apps boost your productivity levels?

The app FollowUp compiles all of your most urgent emails and unanswered communications so you don’t forget anything. Charlie puts together information on a person you’re meeting with. And Squid converts your hand-written notes into digital files. It is safe to say there is an app to help with anything you do today.

If you are not sure where to start, take a look at these eight out-there apps to help boost your productivity levels.

1. FollowUp

When you’re busy, it’s easy for things to slip through the cracks. However, FollowUp wants to make sure you don’t forget anything. FollowUp congregates all of your most important emails, text messages and unanswered phone calls in one place, so you’re reminded to get back to them.

2. Charlie

Whether you’re meeting a new client or going into an interview, it’s important to know some background about who you’re meeting with. Instead of taking the time to research people on the web, Charlie can do this for you. The app goes through hundreds of sources to create a one-page document with information about the person you’re going to meet with.

3. Things

To-do lists can get messy and congested, and the app Things seeks to fix that by helping users make the most of their day.

For Mac and iOS, Things organizes your to-dos in different lists including today, this evening, upcoming, checklists and other customizable headings. It helps create an outline for not only your day, but months in advance.

4. Squid

Built for Android and Windows, Squid helps you save time by converting your handwritten notes and other documents into images or PDFs. You can annotate and write on the new images, and you can also scan and sign any documents without needing to use a printer or scanner.

5. Atlas Recall

Few of us are born with a photographic memory, although with the help of today’s technology, we can feel like we have this power. Atlas Recall creates a searchable index of all of your content, including browser history, email accounts, social media, chat messages and more. Calling itself a “searchable photographic memory,”

Atlas Recall helps users find anything they’ve come across on any device, apps and cloud services.

6. Strides

Strides isn’t just another daily to-do app. It helps you track your goals and habits, letting you know how close you are to achieving the goals you’ve set. It groups habits and goals in four categories: target, habit, average and project. It will not only help you reach your long-term goals, but also help you kick any bad habits.

7. Feedly

With the abundance of news outlets out there today, there’s a ton of overlap when it comes to breaking news and other content. Feedly helps users quickly filter through articles published by their favorite news outlets — allowing them to organize, read, save and share stories that they care about.

8. Realtime Board

Communication is key when you’re working with a team. Realtime Board is an online whiteboard designed for collaborative work environments that helps keep every team member on the same page. Users can work on research together, sharing images and creating mood boards, conduct visual brainstorming sessions, work on user experience and design together and more. Realtime Board puts everything in one place and lets every team member chip in and see what’s going on.

Now, you can get started with any one of these apps to boost your productivity levels.

8 Out-There Apps to Boost Your Productivity Levels was originally published on Calendar by John Hall

No founder enjoys losing a client. That goes double when the client has been with the company for years or contributes a large amount of revenue. However, when a client turns toxic or prevents the company from growing, founders have no choice but to cut ties. There are rules of why and how to sever ties with bad clients.

A client who is bothersome or needy does not necessarily merit firing.

An infographic from Invesp details that new customers are more expensive to acquire than existing ones is to retain, less likely to try new products and more profitable in the long term. By firing a client, the company might solve some immediate problems but create larger ones down the road. Every successful founder will eventually sever a few relationships, though. To keep company growth on track without creating unnecessary, hurt feelings, leaders need to understand when they have no other choice.

When to fire a client.

Startups should only fire clients in a few situations. Most importantly, if keeping the client is preventing the business from growing, founders should cut loose quickly. A company that started in one field but found massive opportunities in another cannot continue to dedicate resources to older, less profitable areas of business.

Clients may also merit firing when they have a negative effect on employee retention. Happy employees are productive employees. When workers continuously have to deal with a client who is never satisfied and always rude, they get less satisfaction from work, increasing the likelihood of burnout.

Talented and committed employee teams are far more valuable than any single client. In some cases, firing a bad client is like kicking a belligerent regular out of a restaurant. The company might miss the income, but the staff will be grateful knowing that management has their backs when push comes to shove.

Firing a client the right way.

Most clients won’t be happy about losing a vendor. Once the decision becomes final, the founders need to know how to navigate the conversation without causing unnecessary problems.

Keep these rules in mind when cutting ties with a client:

1. Leave pride at the door.

Before making the first move, think about the factors driving the confrontation. If this client is generally good for the business, don’t let one lousy interaction sour the relationship beyond repair — especially if the company is at fault.

Be willing to make amends if the client suffered the first insult. Michael Luchies, the founder of TrepRep, recommends full ownership of mistakes in times of strife. Only if the relationship has become harmful for the business (and not just personal pride) should the firing process proceed to the next step.

2. Decide on acceptable solutions.

If the relationship is broken beyond repair in its current state, outline acceptable solutions to the problem first. Would this relationship be better if the client continued to use some services but not others? Could this relationship resume later? Has the relationship deteriorated beyond the point of repair?

Answer these questions before making any ultimatums. Don’t let the client come in with an unconsidered compromise. If that happens, it may prolong an inevitable separation and create bad blood on both sides.

3. Outline an exit plan.

With the final decision to separate, walk the client through the exit strategy. Be willing to complete all current projects on time and budget, if possible, or be prepared to talk about how to hand over the unfinished work.

If you are leaving a client behind, it is an excellent time to be familiar with the contract, but don’t let legalese set the tone of the conversation. Relying on “Section 5, Article 4, Paragraph 3,” is a cowardly way to end a relationship.

Instead, talk to the client like a human being and be clear about expectations for the future. Knowing the underlying agreement provides structure for the conversation, not ammunition for an attack.

4. Stay committed to the plan.

Bad clients who get fired don’t always take the news well. If you think you can burn a client via email, they might call and start yelling. If they’re already on the phone, they might try to guilt or bargain their way out of the situation.

Remember all the research and difficulty that led to this hard decision. Bring a written list of reasons into the conversation as a reminder of why this became necessary. Offer recommendations for other providers but stay committed to the final decision.

Not all bad clients require active damage control when they get fired. Plenty of them understand the reasons and wish the best for both parties. When that happens, feel free to leave the door open for collaboration down the road. Just remember – the situation deteriorated for a reason. Unless the factors that soured the relationship change, a second attempt would end up the same as the first.

Why and How to Sever Ties With Bad Clients was originally published on Calendar by John Hall

Many founders love to compete on who gets the fewest hours of sleep, who works the longest and who takes the most infrequent vacations. This toxic attitude about time is not only unhealthy but unproductive. Here are some ideas about how to break your bad time management habits.

Americans are especially bad about working long hours. If you are in the U.S. or anywhere else in the world working too many hours, you need to break your bad time management habits.

The International Labor Organization found that Americans average 137 more work hours per year than Japanese workers and 260 more than British workers. That’s nearly one extra working month per year compared to Japan, a country that has a word for “death due to overwork.”

In a nation of over-workers, founders seem to work more than just about everyone.

It’s easy to see why. Popular media idolizes founder martyrdom, and people like Gary Vaynerchuk tell would-be entrepreneurs that they have to work 18 hours a day to succeed.

Fortunately, there’s more to success than working long hours. The most successful founders are not the ones who force themselves to work late into the night, but the ones who do more in eight hours than most people do in those elusive 18 hours.

Use these tips to get more from the workday and let other people handle the late shift:

1. Schedule it, do it and forget it.

No one can multitask, even people who pride themselves on their ability to do so. Research from the American Psychological Foundation found that multitasking carries a host of hidden costs. According to the researchers, the best way to multitask — is not to do it at all.

Avoid the temptation to multitask by scheduling time to handle batches of small tasks throughout the day. For example, set one time during the morning and one time during the afternoon to answer emails, then ignore the inbox outside those windows. Schedule a couple of short breaks to avoid burnout and maintain focus.

Practice decisiveness by setting deadlines on when to make final choices.

That might mean deciding on a new vendor by the end of the week. Decide on which flight to take by the end of the next 10 minutes. Get into the habit of acting on available information to cut down on unnecessary balking. If the decision isn’t correct — you can pivot just as quickly.

2. Fight the urgency effect.

Founders who answer every email, phone call, and meeting summons barely have time to sleep, let alone work on their companies. Determine quickly whether a task requires the attention of the founder and delegate any work that someone else could handle just as well.

A phenomenon called the urgency effect, covered in the New York Times, describes why people perform minor tasks they don’t need to do, even when larger projects await. Human brains enjoy the satisfaction of completing tasks, so they direct people to complete everything in front of them regardless of how those tasks affect the big picture.

Fight the urgency effect by following a straightforward rule: if someone else can do it, someone else should do it.

Founders face plenty of work that only they can accomplish (such as high-level sales and investor relationships). Don’t waste precious time on administrative work or in meetings that someone else could attend.

3. Keep a notebook.

Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter, could use any productivity tool in the world. He could even hire a team of developers to build one just for him. Instead, he uses the most straightforward tool possible — the note-taking app on his iPhone.

Dorsey understands what every innovative person does: thoughts are fleeting. A potential solution to a longstanding problem might seem obvious in one moment, but when it comes time to tackle the issue again, the brilliant idea may not seem so clear.

With a bit of practice, efficient entrepreneurs can make impressive progress in just a few hours.

Keep a notebook throughout the day to jot down ideas, short to-do lists, and anything else that merits a written reminder. Get into the habit of externalizing thoughts. Entrepreneurs have plenty on their minds, and they can’t keep track of everything without a few things slipping out. Less time spent reconstructing old ideas means more time to execute and move on to the next something.

Why work late into the evening when a few productivity adjustments during the day work just as well? Drop out of the additional content on hours logged and start doing more with the rest of the workday.

How To Break Your Bad Time Management Habits was originally published on Calendar by John Hall

In an ideal world, you would breeze through your to-do’s and still have time to do everything you enjoy. Unfortunately, many of us come home from working feeling discouraged because we wish that we could have gotten more done. Instead of beating yourself up for not getting enough done in 2020, start using these 15 productivity hacks to get everything you want, accomplished.

1. Become a time management ninja using your Calendar.

If you want to be more productive then you should only be focusing on activities that deserve your time. The best way to achieve this is by effectively managing your calendar.

As Renzo Costarella writes in a previous Calendar post, “On a basic level, most people use their calendar to schedule meetings, with each empty slot representing a time when you’re available. If you only had a couple of meetings scheduled in a day, this leaves considered free time.”

“A great strategy to use for calendar management is time blocking. As you schedule meetings on your calendar block out times throughout the day for finishing specific tasks,” adds Costarella. “That way you’ll accomplish what you need without over-extending yourself to meetings or unfocused tasks.”

2. Stick to a “work uniform.”

Yes, he gets in hot water over and over, now. But, as a business professional, did you ever wonder why Mark Zuckerberg used to wear the same outfit over-and-over again? The same orange t-shirt was because it saved him time and stress. Instead of spending 20-minutes looking for an outfit and worrying how he looked in it, Zuck already knew what he was going to wear and how’d he look.

As an added perk, wearing the same thing ensured that he was saving his energy for more important decisions. “I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community,” Zuckerberg said. He also mentioned that he had “multiple grey shirts.”

When it comes to your work outfit, it can actually be whatever you prefer. Steve Jobs wore turtlenecks, while some professionals have a handful of suits on rotation. The idea is to have a minimalist and comfortable wardrobe that also reflects your industry. Grey t-shirts may be acceptable in Silicon Valley, but times are changing. And even an incredible t-shirt is not okay in the courtroom. I see the millennials looking quite snappy these days. Do cast a critical eye around every once in a while — so you don’t look like you are homeless.

3. The Pomodoro Technique

This is one of the most well-known hacks out there. And, for good reason, it’s been used by successful and productive people for decades because it helps:

• You focus on the task at hand.
• Eliminates multitasking.
• Develops a sense of urgency.
• Helps you stop being a perfectionist.
• Reduces stress because you’re doing one thing at a time.
• Gives your brain a chance to relax and recharge.

If you’re new to this concept, it’s simply where you break all of your tasks into 25-minute blocks of time. After those 25-minutes are up, you take a 5-minute break. After four of these 25-minute blocks you take a longer break — usually 15-30 minutes. Of course, people have modified this technique to better fit their own personal preference habits — but the idea is the same.

4. Keep one-day a week meeting free.

“One of my favorite hacks is No Meeting Wednesdays, which we borrowed from Facebook,” writes Dustin Moskowitz, CEO of Asana. “With very few exceptions, everyone’s calendar is completely clear at least one day out of the week. Whether you are a Maker or a Manager, this is an invaluable tool for ensuring you have some contiguous space to do project work. For me personally, it is often the one day each week I get to code.” This also eliminates the time wasted at unproductive meetings.

5. Group “like” jobs.

Also known as batching, this is a productivity hack where you group similar tasks together and complete them at the same time. This way you’re using the same frame of mind and not constantly shifting focus. For example, checking all of your emails, texts, and social messages first thing in the morning. Another example would be doing most of your cooking for the week on a Sunday since this involves not just preparing the meal, but also cleaning up afterward.

6. Follow the two-minute rule.

From David Allen’s bestselling book, Getting Things Done, this rule simply states that if something takes under two minutes to complete, then you should just do it. With the two minute rule, you can cross off all of these small tasks before they consume your thoughts and time.

7. Limit your phone usage.

What’s your biggest distraction? It’s most likely your phone, and that makes sense. Every time you phone buzzes, you stop what you’re doing and check out the notification — whether if it’s a text, email, or social media notification. That may not sound like a big deal, but considering that it takes 25-minutes to return to the original task, you can now see why you should limit your phone usage.

If you have the self-discipline, put your phone on silent on airplane mode. If you can’t then use the Moment app. If you’re Android 6.0 Marshmallow then make use the Do Not Disturb mode. Schedule in specific times to check your phone, like eight a.m., noon, and 4:30 p.m. and you’ll still remain in the loop without checking your phone every five minutes.

8. Listen to music.

Music has been found to maintain focus and help you stay productive, but, pick your music wisely. Listening to pop music may not be effective since you’re singing along. There’s a nifty app called Focus At Will that can help determine which type of music helps you concentrate best. As a result, you’ll boost your productivity.

9. Use a bullet journal.

Most productive use notebooks to jot down their thoughts and ideas. It’s a surefire way to help them remember these things. But, instead of a notebook, start bullet journaling. This strategy is basically an empty notebook that is your calendar, to-do list, sketchbook, and a diary in one location. What makes it so useful is that it can be organized any way you want.

10. Set macro goals and micro quotas.

There was a study on motivation that shows abstract thinking can be an effective method to help with discipline. In other words, you need to balance “dreaming big” with intrinsic motivators, aka the self-determination theory.

The best course of action here is to set “micro quotas” and “macro goals.” While your goals should relate to your big picture, the quotas are the minimum amount of work you must do daily to achieve those goals. For example, if you’re writing a book, then your quota could be writing two pages a day.

11. Chew more gum.

I love coffee. It’s delicious and gives me a much-needed boost — like I’m sure it does for you. However, like everything else in life, too much of it can be a bad thing. For example, coffee has been found to trigger anxiety — and you don’t want that when you’re already stressed. Instead of pouring another cup of Joe, chew some gum. Studies have found that chewing gum can helps with concentration and retaining information.

12. Use red and blue.

Your workspace has a major influence on your productivity. That’s why you should always keep it organized and clutter-free — along with getting some plants and exposing yourself to natural sunlight. However, you should also incorporate some red and blue around your workspace. According to a Science Daily study, red can help increase attention to details while blue can spark creativity.

13. Procrastinate productively.

You turn on Netflix to decompress or clear your head. Next thing you know you just watched an entire season of a show. That’s not good. Here’s the thing. We need to procrastinate occasionally. It’s a great way to recharge and refocus. But, you should be procrastinating productively. As opposed to watching Netflix, pick-up a book or take your dog for a log-walk.

14. Find your “golden hours.”

You’ve probably heard that you should eat a frog each morning. Not literally. It actually means that you should get your most important task done and over with first thing in the morning. We tend to be focused and energetic in the morning. Instead of eating that frog, schedule your most important tasks for the time that works best for you. If you’re unsure about your own “golden hours” then check out “The Perfect Workday to Maximize Motivation.”

15. Just be you.

Darrin Brege, the Creative Director and strategist at HelloWorld, encourages his team to design, build, and race paper boats. Adrienne Weissman, the chief customer officer of G2 Crowd, choreographs a dance routine to her favorite song in her head.

While these hacks are able to make you more productive in 2020, the truth is they may not work for you. If there’s something you do that keeps you pushing forward, then go ahead and keep doing it.

15 Productivity Hacks To Get More Done Each Day was originally published on Calendar by John Hall