Project management is among a top skill to master in any business; especially one wanting to grow.
Why?
Because without project management, business owners will unnecessarily run into common issues:
You often get derailed by "the unexpected.”
It’s inevitable.
You get interrupted an unexpected number of times daily. Those interruptions come at unexpected times. They each take an unexpected amount of time with which to deal.
That’s why it’s "the unexpected."
These interruptions kill your flow, destroy your focus, and force you to work on the urgent instead of the important.
So how do you deter, prevent, and deal with the problems these unexpected interruptions incur?
I was shocked, hurt, and felt like my idea had been stolen. Though I had the idea first, Nintendo would be the star. Nintendo would make $millions. It took years before I was old enough to recognize the important lesson in this experience...
Are you second-guessing your next great idea? Are you downplaying the value you could provide to others? Are you upset that you found a competitor in the market who seems to be offering everything you want to (and seems to be finding great success doing it)?
It might be time to step back and realize a few important things.
Tetris is the best puzzle game of all time. Period.
(I thought of ending the post here, but you’d have no f*cking clue how that statement relates to this picture, and I have a point to make...)
The satisfaction of slipping a multicolored shape into the perfect opening to clear the entire board in one epic moment can’t be explained, it must be played.
When you get good at Tetris, you automatically get good at similar games like Dr. Mario, Bejeweled, or Luminex.
That’s because they all have…
I’m pissed 😡🤬🤯🤭😡
Somewhere, in the Denver airport, some kid is walking around with my lost AirPod earbud dangling from his right ear.
I can see him now, happily listening to crappy music, laughing obnoxiously while playing that God-awful Fortnight game with his friends.
The left earbud, still in my possession, doesn’t cut it. My brain rejects music in only one ear, and trying to talk on the phone in my left ear is like trying to brush my teeth with my left hand, possible, but messy and ineffective.
It’s not about the money. AirPods are expensive, but the missing bud can be replaced for only $69.
I’m pissed because I’ve lost one of the most effective tools in my toolkit.
AirPods are awesome. They are game changing. They are (were) one device that absolutely, unequivocally helped me comfortably, enjoyably, and reliably get more done.
That’s because while I maximize my productive time through planning, scheduling, and building systems, I also get more done by using the right tools.
AirPods were my tool. I popped them in for phone calls, music, dictation, podcasts, or just drowning out airplane noise while traveling. I wore them while walking my dog, hustling through the airport, working out, or even sitting hands-free at my desk.
These little wireless wonders have saved me more hours than I probably realize, and now they’re gone; lost forever in a massive airport 1,465 miles away.
I’ve ordered a new earbud. It should show up in two to three days.
Until then, if you’re traveling through Denver and see a snobby-looking kid with one white bud in his right ear, give him your best stink-eye for me. He’ll never understand why you did, but he deserves it nonetheless.
Have any tools you’re passionate about? Tell me in the comments below. I’m always testing out new ways to be productive and love a good gadget more than most :-).
I help high-achieving entrepreneurs live their passion and achieve their dreams by consistently saving time, getting productive, and being more efficient and organized.
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Yes, texts are an amazing instant communication tool. No, I'm not suggesting we turn text messaging off completely. It's just that the assumed commitment to a conversation is what often derails from our work. And losing focus is exactly what separates the busy from the productive.
So, how do we keep our ability to stay in immediate touch without disabling texts completely?
My neighbor is being fitted for a bike.
Fitted. For a bicycle.
Not only was I surprised that such thing was possible, I wondered why anyone would do such a thing. That is until I learned that she was trying to win enough triathlons to make the Women's United State Triathlon Team.
Now, it all makes sense. She could train the most powerful legs in the world and lose every race riding a tricycle. Those with the right tools would speed by.
If sticky notes are 3M’s gift to random thoughts and ideas, and the Internet is Al Gore’s (ha) gift to communication, Trello is Trello, Inc.’s perfect union of the two; a web app combing the simplicity of sticky notes with the power of the Internet; a gift to anyone who wants to organize their ideas and turn them into reality.
Want to skip the foreplay? Sign up here and play with it. It’s free.
Note: I don’t make a penny for recommending this tool. I just love it that much.
If you’re not ready to dive in, here’s why you should consider it.
I’ve written before on just how valuable your ideas are.
Bottom line up front?
If you haven’t taken action on your idea, it’s worth precisely nothing.
Many ideas have infinite potential, but never amount to anything because their creator didn’t execute. It’s easy to understand why. One of the most challenging things to do is take that first step toward transforming an idea into reality. We fear perfection, success, and failure all at the same time. We are overcome with indecision when facing a forest full of trees to cut down.
As such, any app that captures your ideas, if it’s to be worth anything, must also help transition your ideas smoothly into execution.
This is why I love Trello. It’s an idea organizer, process development, project management, and general productivity tool for turning ideas into reality and getting shit done.
Think of Trello like an online whiteboard (called a Board) you can cover with sticky notes (called Cards). Your whiteboard is divided into columns (called Lists)—one for each step in your process.
Trello can support multiple Boards, and each can be customized to fit any stepwise process that works for you.
Your Cards are the thoughts, ideas, and tasks that you need to track through your process. They are the digital "sticky notes" containing a title, description, notes, labels, assigned team members, due dates, and other tracking tools necessary for small business projects. Create new ones, delete old ones, move active ones between the columns to represent where each task lies in your process. You can even view the cards with due dates on a calendar. Oh, and if your Card is a bigger task that requires multiple actions to complete, you can list action items within and track them to completion.
It’s Time to Take Action
Trello is free to use for teams, making it perfect for creators, entrepreneurs, and businesses with less than 25 employees. For businesses working in distributed environments, the Trello app on iOS and Android interfaces perfectly with their web app, allowing teams to access their Trello board anywhere they have an Internet connection.
Remember, your ideas are worth nothing if not executed.
And if you don’t have a process for turning your ideas into reality, it’s about damn time you created one. Trello might be exactly the app you are looking for to help you get organized, get productive, and transform ideas into action.
Mike Mehlberg spends most of his productive hours playing with cool apps that would make him more productive, if only he’d use them for real work. Want to get organized and maximize your time? He knows an app for that. Contact him at mike@moderndavinci.net to get organized, get productive, and make the most of each day.
Technology isn’t just improving the lives of consumers, it’s changing the ways in which businesses perform and operate. Technology is emerging that caters to consumers, making everything from technical support to the payment process more seamless and efficient.
The question is, as a small business owner, how can you effectively use this technology to better serve your customers?
Take a look at the following technological breakthroughs. They are a great way to engage audiences, while also increasing your collaborative abilities and security infrastructure.
In short, here are the technologies that small businesses can’t live without in 2018:
It’s no secret, you’re pressed for time.
You wear multiple hats, share multiple responsibilities, and have more things to do than there are hours in the day.
Maybe you’ve even committed to being more productive or focused in the new year.
Superhuman productivity you say? I’ll take two helpings of that.
After all, with so many demands on your time, being able to accomplish your goals while still saving time for family, self-improvement, and relaxation sounds like a dream.
But where do we start?
There are literally thousands of productivity tips and apps on the Internet… every one claiming to give you that dream.
This isn’t “yet another productivity tip.”
This is a way to organize your learning, clean up your computer, educate yourself using spare moments in your day (like driving), and literally read your news and articles twice as fast as you can today.
Superhuman. Productivity.
Let’s get focused. Let’s get productive. Let’s stop procrastinating. And let’s download an app to help.
