Tag Archive - michael hyatt

On Productivity: Part I – 101 Reasons to Get Nothing Done

April 7, 2012 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife, Leadership with 3 Comments

Getting in the groove, especially after a break, is difficult. I seem to burn a day without much to show at the end of it. I get off the hamster wheel to grab a bite to eat or meet someone, but, over all, my nose is put to the tasks with little or no effect. I need to be more productive with my time.

My time and effort gets me nothing. Nothing, but 101 reasons why I can’t get things done. My desk might be one reason.

Desk

It’s a mess. I know. My workspace usually looks worse. So bad that I often take the MAC Air and head to clearer places.

My computer files are more messed up than the desk.

And please, don’t even look at my email inbox.

But the most cluttered part is my mind. It’s exponentially worse off than both my space and schedule combined.

The outcome is lots of stress and no progress. My productivity has been ZERO for too long. If I was my boss, I’d fire me.

The reality is that the creative part of me generates more ideas (tasks) than the practical homeschooling mom, household manager, and minister’s wife could possibly get done. I still have to perform the regular duties of cooking, cleaning, gardening, teaching, mentoring, leading, speaking and just being a wife and a friend. Add on the creative part of ministry and the business of it and I’m done.

Tired.

Sick and tired of not getting things done. By itself, my Franklin Covey way of prioritizing tasks in my little notebook wasn’t working anymore. Where is that saw that needs sharpened anyway? I need some drastic help.

Therefore, I looked into what other productive people do to get things done. After trying several systems, Michael Hyatt applauds David Allen, author of Getting Things Done and Nozbe, a task management system based upon the book’s principles. I researched the program and it sounds awesome. Check out Mr. Allen’s desk. But I can’t afford Nozbe’s monthly fee to get my life together.

GTDdesk*picture gettingthingsdone.com

Overwhelmed and lusting after productivity, I ended up doing what every overworked preacher’s wife does.

I whined.

Got slightly depressed.

And conducted an intense search of the house for dark chocolate!

Afterward, I called a friend for help.

Lori is a smart business woman who coaches small business owners to be more productive. (Surely she could help.) After sitting down with me for an hour and listening to my whine and never ending to-do lists, she quickly concluded how I should handle my tasks. (Btw, she didn’t see my desk or she’d have given up before starting.)

Stay tuned for the next post where I’ll share, to the best of my understanding, the system Lori said would help me. Her system might work for you too.

How do you deal with your weaknesses? What does your workspace look like? What excuses do you have for not getting things done?

Part II: 6 Tips to Get More Done System

This post is part of the blog series Insights into Ministry and Leadership. Interested in guest posting, check out the guidelines.

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Social Networking & Spreading Good News

November 6, 2008 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 0 Comments

I’m passionate about sharing God’s love and I’ve found a marketing truth that applies to the spreading of anything. Social networks have proven their ability to share news. I want to share some of what I’ve found in the way of links, books, and webinars to help you understand this new world of marketing where advertizing doesn’t work as in the past.

I heard Seth Godin at the Catalyst Conference and received a free copy of his book, Tribes. It’s a great eye-opener to the thought processes of spreading news today. I recommend Seth’s book.

PyroMarketing by Greg Stielstra, VP of Marketing at Thomas Nelson Publishing, is available as a free audio download. He builds a good visual with fire that helps understand marketing in today’s world.

Twitter is micro-blogging. Get twitter educated with blog posts from Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, or Terry Whalin, a literary agent.

Facebook, a social network, works great to connect people. To learn how to spread news and use it to touch lives, read free download e-book, Facebook for Pastors.

Looking for a webinar to teach us more. (Coming soon)
 

Writer Going Totally Apples? Or Bananas?

August 27, 2008 in Confessions of a Preacher's Wife with 2 Comments

 

What does Michael Hyatt know? That’s what I wanted to know. I have been frustrated with PC elitist mystical knowledge. I’ll never know enough to keep the thing running right, or to recover the files it loses upon crashing. I’m always taking it in for some expert geek to make it behave. I hate the thing. It’s driven me beyond bananas.

I’ve drooled over the ease from which all things Apple seem to work. The iPod is so user friendly with only one button that a grandmother or kid, either one, can use it with ease. Actually, I think a happening dog could howl along with his choice of tunes from using the friendly device.

My husband’s iPhone is absolutely amazing. (I must be careful not to drool profusely on it. He found out they don’t swim well.) As a Blackberry user, the iPhone is whoa so cool. The display, the internet visual, and usage exceeds all I’ve been using with my PDA.

I wondered if a writer’s business could be done in its entirety with the same ease and pie-in-the-sky dream of Apple tools that actually work without the major headaches of the PC.

I took my wonder to Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers and Apple fanatic. Counting on his knowledge about business, writing, and Mac’s, I asked him why I should or should not do the switch from PC to Apple, what might be the weaknesses of doing my business all in Apple. (It seemed the advantages were obvious.) Basically, I was a beggar looking for a crumb to keep my life and ministry running.

Mr. Hyatt said, “I think the biggest issue will be accounting software. You may have to run what you are using in Parallels. I do this on some other software, and it works flawlessly.”

There you have it. Flawlessly. That’s what I want. So I drove to the Apple Store and purchased all things Apple. Now, I have to learn a few new tricks, transfer info from the PC, and set all the Apple stuff to work for me. The learning curve and set up are slowing me down some, but I still have dreams of working flawlessly. I purchased OnetoOne for training and questions as I learn. These geniuses know Mac AND are always ready to share all they know every time I enter the store. One day cyberspace, business space, and personal space will all be unified in one place with one button. I’m so excited. Could it really be true that tools do what they are supposed to do? Pinch me. I pray I’m not dreaming.