This week we’ve been exploring how to be more productive.

At the heart of these efforts is (#1) defining our key priorities, and then (#2) planning our days to get these things done, says Google productivity expert  Laura Mae Martin in her book Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity and Wellbeing.

Pretty simple, right?

Not so much.  We say: “Well, this is great, and I’ve set my … continue reading

1: “When we’re asked,” Google productivity expert Laura Mae Martin writes in her book Uptime, “to schedule a meeting on Monday at 8:00 a.m. the day we’re returning from a two-week vacation, we think ‘Sure!’ and add it to our calendars.”

What don’t we do?

“Envision future 7:45 a.m.-Us that day trying to make that happen,” Laura notes.

The psychological research is clear: There is a disconnect between our … continue reading

1: One of Google Productivity Expert Laura Mae Martin‘s most popular trainings centers around what she calls “The List Funnel.”

We “can think of to-do lists like a funnel,” Laura writes in her book Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity and Wellbeing.  “Start with the highest level of everything we could possibly do, or want to do, and narrow it down into what we actually will do … continue reading

1: How do we maximize our productivity?

That’s the question Laura Mae Martin is tasked with at Google.  Her job title?  Google productivity expert.

At the core of Laura teaching is the idea of the List Funnel, “something I’ve taught successfully at Google for years,” she writes in her book Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity and Wellbeing.

We “can think of to-do lists like a funnel,” Laura … continue reading

1: The goal? To be more productive and less stressed.

Google productivity expert  Laura Mae Martin believes there is one simple thing we must do.

Make a list of every open loop we currently have in our brains.  

Personal. Professional. Projects. Deadlines. Ideas. To-Dos of all types and flavors.

“If we do only one thing from this entire chapter, it should be this,” Laura writes in her book Uptime: A … continue reading

1: So how exactly do we define productivity?

Google productivity expert Laura Mae Martin tells us in her book Uptime that productivity is comprised of three distinct elements:

Step #1: Defining clearly what we want to do,

Step #2: Setting aside the (right) time and place to do it, and

Step #3: Executing well within the designated time.

Productivity, Laura believes, is closely aligned with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi‘s concept of … continue reading

1: What if we worked backwards?

What if we did the year in review? But at the beginning of the year?  

“With slides and a full presentation about how we hit our sales numbers.”

That’s how Google productivity expert Laura Mae Martin describes “one of the greatest leaders I’ve worked with” in her book Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity and Wellbeing.

This leader conducted an annual “pre-postmortem” … continue reading

1: What if someone were to stop us in the street and ask us to share our top three priorities?

What would we say? Can we answer quickly and confidently?  

“This is the very first question I ask anyone I’m coaching,” says Google productivity expert Laura Mae Martin in her book Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity and Wellbeing.

“The first step for productivity is defining clearly what … continue reading