I teach a lot of time hacks to help people be more productive and one of the more unusual time hacks is the link between exercise and productivity.

When you are busy and overwhelmed, the last thing most people want to try to jam into their already overloaded day is time for exercise. However, exercise and productivity have a powerful synergy that should not be ignored.

Now, I am an overweight old guy who spends most of my day in front of a computer. So what would I know about exercise and fitness? But as “Captain Time” I know a LOT about productivity and increasing my physical activity has had a HUGE impact on my personal productivity.

My Personal Exercise and Productivity Experience

Like most people, after I got out of school and stopped having regular physical education classes and playing on school sports teams, I stopped putting time into fitness. Add to that that most of my jobs since then have been working at a desk and computer, and over the years my weight increased and my fitness level plummeted. After so many years of neglecting my fitness, what changed for me?

Honestly, I got tired of being tired all the time. I decided to make one simple change and see if that would help. I decided every day, I would take a 20-minute brisk walk at lunch before going back to my desk to work. I was ruthless with myself – rain, snow, or shine, I would push myself out to walk at lunch and just make sure I dressed accordingly. Being on Vancouver Island where it rained a lot, my Tilley hat got a great workout! [insert picture of me in my Tilley hat]

The first week, my new healthy walking habit had great benefits!

1. Improved Well-Being: After my walk, I immediately felt better. The break from my office and getting outdoors really refreshed me. It was like rebooting my mental computer.
2. Energy levels: I found that walking every day, greatly improved my energy levels.
3. Focus: With my renewed energy, I was better able to focus and work longer in the afternoon, instead of my usual dragging near the end of the day.
4. Mental Back Burner: With the change of perspective during my walk and the exercise, I found my mental back burner would kick in, solving many problems for me and generating many creative new ideas. I was able to easily add these new ideas and tasks to my productivity systems using the mobile apps on my smartphone.

I called it my “Productivity Walk” and shot a vlog post about the walk one day while I was out.

Prove The Link Between Exercise and Productivity

Several studies have demonstrated the benefits of exercise on productivity. Here are some key findings:

1. Resource Caravans and Job Self-Efficacy: A 2023 study published in the Personnel Psychology journal found that daily physical activity provided “resource caravans” such as improved sleep quality, increased vigor, and enhanced task focus, which collectively supported better concentration, attention, and information processing. Additionally, exercise improved job self-efficacy, leading to higher motivation and better job performance[.

2. Corporate Wellness Programs: A 2017 study by the University of California highlighted the impact of corporate wellness programs on productivity. The study followed 111 workers in five laundry plants who participated in a wellness program that included exercise. The results showed a 10% increase in productivity among participants who improved their health through better diet and more exercise.

3. Connecting With Nature:  A 2021 report from the Mental Health Foundation in the UK found that being out in nature has a major impact on mental health with 45% of survey respondents saying being out in nature helped them cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.

3. Exercise is More than Medicine: The working age population’s well-being and productivity: In Denmark, 15 randomized controlled trials involving over 3,500 workers demonstrated that workplace exercise programs improved health outcomes and productivity. These programs, which included about an hour of weekly supervised exercise, resulted in significant improvements in muscle strength, balance control, and cardio-respiratory fitness, leading to increased productivity.

4. Exercise Fights Low Energy and Fatigue: This trial found that regular exercise helped sedentary people had a beneficial impact on their energy and fatigue levels.

Adaptability Is Key

When I moved back to Edmonton the winter cold made it more difficult to do my daily walks, but I persevered. I joined the local Tri-Leisure Fitness Centre in the winter and use their indoor walking track and weights.

At one point, I ran into a problem with my productivity lunch walks. I got a puppy. While my puppy was ecstatic to join me on my lunch walks, have you ever tried walking around a friendly neighborhood with a cute, puppy who greets everyone like a long lost friend. [picture of Kya]

My 20-minute brisk productivity walks turned into leisurely 40-minute chats with my neighbors. Fun, but not getting me back into my office for my afternoon work. So I shifted my walks to be in the late afternoon or after supper so that I could take the time to socialize with the neighbors.

For the bitterly cold days, I either go to the local Tri-Leisure fitness Centre and use the walking track, weights, or pool or I stay home and exercise in my basement using exercise videos and home weights or our rebounder. I alternate between more active videos such as The Body Project, Rebounder Videos, and my Qi-Gong playlist. The key thing is not to let weather, tiredness or procrastination stop you from exercising.

I do this by “stacking habits.” For example, I set it up so the first thing I do after supper and putting the leftover food away is 20 minutes of exercise. By keeping this exercise time “sacred” I am maximizing the beneficial impact of exercise and productivity.

So I highly recommend you “Get Moving to Get Results.” Your body and mental health will than you for it!

The post Get Moving, Get Results: The Surprising Link Between Exercise and Productivity appeared first on Time Management Training.

In today’s digital age, the temptation to monitor every click and keystroke of your employees is stronger than ever. But let’s face it: tracking software is not the answer to boosting productivity. In fact, it might be doing more harm than good. As your trusted productivity expert, Captain Time, I’m here to show you a better way to measure employee productivity – one that fosters trust, encourages creativity, and delivers real results.

Let’s look at two fictional sales employees – John and Susan. John is always at his desk and works long hours as shown on the company’s employee activity computer tracking system  Management’s perception is that he is a hard worker. Susan is often out. She is meeting prospects, business networking, and picks up her kids from school. Management’s perception is that she isn’t at her desk much and isn’t working as hard as John and the computer tracking seems to support this. But if you measured success by sales generated, you would find Susan’s sales are double that of John’s because of her networking efforts and her willingness to go out and meet clients. This is the pitfall of measuring activity instead of results.

The Pitfalls of Employee Monitoring Software

Before we dive into the solution, let’s examine why computer tracking tools are counterproductive:

1. Erodes trust: When employees feel watched, they lose their sense of autonomy and become less engaged.
2. Increases stress: Constant surveillance leads to anxiety and burnout, reducing overall productivity.
3. Encourages rule-breaking: Surprisingly, monitored employees are more likely to break rules and engage in unethical behavior.
4. Stifles creativity: Innovation often happens during moments of reflection or “unproductive” time, which tracking software doesn’t account for.
5. Misses the big picture: Keystrokes and mouse clicks don’t equate to meaningful work or outcomes as shown in the John and Susan example above.

The Trust-Based Way to Measure Employee Productivity

Instead of relying on invasive tracking tools, let’s shift our focus to what really matters: outcomes and trust. Here’s how to measure employee productivity effectively:

1. Set Clear Goals and Expectations: Start by clearly defining what success looks like for each role and project. When employees understand their objectives, they’re more likely to stay focused and motivated.
2. Implement Regular Check-ins: Schedule brief, frequent one-on-one meetings to discuss progress, challenges, and goals. This open communication builds trust and allows for timely course corrections.
3. Focus on Deliverables: Judge productivity by the quality and timeliness of completed work, not by hours logged or keystrokes counted. This approach encourages efficiency and innovation.
4. Encourage Autonomy: Give your team the freedom to manage their time and work processes. Trust them to deliver results, and you’ll often be pleasantly surprised by their ingenuity and dedication.
5. Measure Impact, Not Activity: Look at the bigger picture: How does an employee’s work contribute to the company’s goals? Are they solving problems and adding value? These are the true indicators of productivity.
6. Foster a Culture of Feedback: Create an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing ideas and concerns. This open dialogue can lead to process improvements and increased efficiency.
7. Utilize Project Management Tools: Instead of surveillance software, use collaborative project management platforms that allow teams to track progress, share updates, and manage deadlines transparently.

The Benefits of Trust-Based Productivity Measurement

By ditching the computer tracker and embracing a trust-based approach, you’ll reap numerous benefits:

• Increased employee satisfaction: When workers feel trusted and valued, their job satisfaction and loyalty improve.
• Enhanced creativity: Without the pressure of constant monitoring, employees are more likely to think outside the box and innovate.
• Better work-life balance: Focusing on outcomes rather than hours worked allows for more flexible schedules, leading to happier, more productive employees.
• Improved company culture: A culture of trust fosters collaboration, open communication, and mutual respect.
• Attraction and retention of top talent: High-performing professionals are more likely to join and stay with companies that value their autonomy and skills.

Implementing the Trust-Based Approach

Transitioning to a trust-based productivity model requires a shift in mindset and some practical steps:

1. Communicate the change: Explain to your team why you’re moving away from monitoring software and how the new approach will benefit everyone.
2. Train managers: Equip your leadership team with the skills to manage based on outcomes and trust rather than surveillance.
3. Establish clear metrics: Define how you’ll measure success for different roles and projects, ensuring these metrics align with company goals.
4. Provide the right tools: Invest in project management and collaboration software that supports transparency and teamwork.
5. Lead by example: Demonstrate trust in your employees by giving them autonomy and focusing on their results rather than their minute-by-minute activities.

Conclusion: Trust is the Key to True Productivity

As we’ve seen, measuring employee productivity through trust and outcomes is not only more effective but also creates a more positive and productive work environment. By focusing on results rather than surveillance, you’ll unlock your team’s full potential and drive your business forward.

Remember, true productivity isn’t about how many hours someone spends at their desk or how many keystrokes they log. It’s about the value they bring to your organization and the impact of their work. By trusting your employees and giving them the freedom to excel, you’ll create a workforce that’s not just productive, but also innovative, engaged, and loyal.

So, are you ready to ditch the computer tracker and embrace a more effective way to measure employee productivity? Your team – and your bottom line – will thank you for it.

Reach out if you want my help on setting up a trust-based employee productivity system.

The post Measure Employee Productivity Through Trust and Outcomes: Ditch the Employee Computer Tracker appeared first on Time Management Training.

In this video and article, I want to talk about how to use a value ladder for business growth. 

 

Value Ladder Definition

A value ladder is a marketing strategy where you offer a series of products or services with increasing value and pricing at each step. So this creates a customer journey starting from your inexpensive offerings to your high-end exclusive services. This helps you develop and sell more profitable products and services.     

The examples I’m going to use here are from my own time management coaching business. You can download a copy of this mind map and use it as a template for your own value ladder brainstorming. 

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First Rung: Your Value Ladder Freebies

So the first rung, the first step in your ladder is the entry level. These are the free items, the things that don’t really cost anything for people to connect with you.   

Some of the examples of this might be:

• blog posts
• checklists
• guides
• free ebooks
• free courses 
• YouTube channel
• Social media

For example, I’ve created a free download called The Connection Code, which is a short guide for business networking for people. So the uses for this rung of your value ladder are primarily to build your list, to build your social media followers, position yourself as an authority, and of course creating all these articles and this content works great for search engine optimization.   

This level is how people connect with you for free. These connection offerings are a great way to introduce yourself to people, and position yourself as an authority. 

Second Rung: Building Blocks

The second run, or level of your value ladder is what I call building blocks. You can call these whatever you want – the idea is just that you have multiple levels that you take people through. 

So in the building blocks level, the client investment is is modest. It’s inexpensive. They might be spending anywhere from $20 to $500 for a product or service from you.   

• For example my book, “Stop Wasting Time“, is about the cost of a pizza.
• Or you might have some basic online courses. I have courses like Inbox Zero and Running Effective Meetings that people can pick up for under $50. I also run some workshops and webinars that are under $100 each.
• I have some basic coaching that runs between $100 to $500. This is 1-on-1 time management coaching and 1-on-one digital marketing coaching. 

 

These are the tools where I work directly with people that are fairly inexpensive. A modest investment for people, good value but a modest investment. 

Most of us are good at the entry-level. We know about lead magnets. We know why they’re important, and most of us are pretty good about getting the building blocks that next product in there. But levels 3 and 4 are where most of us struggle. 

Rung 3: The Signature Experience

For level #3, I’m calling this the Signature Experience. Again, you can call it whatever you want. The idea here is the clients are going to invest a little more money now. They’re going to invest maybe $500 to $5,000 and they’re going to get a lot more value for  that investment. 

You can survey your clients, to find out what additional help and value would they be willing to pay more for.   

Here are some examples and again these are from my time coaching. 

• More in-depth online courses, maybe 50 plus videos in each course. 
• I could even license these courses knowledge database to corporations.
• More intensive coaching programs, that might run for 6 weeks or 3 month. Perhaps a coaching portal for clients, weekly group check ins, a personal orientation and roadmap. I can create additional value by adding checklists, templates, mind maps, a lot of things they wouldn’t get in a normal shorter coaching program.
• Software training for larger companies. I teach task management  and CRM software. 
• I could create custom marketing plans for people, custom products, perhaps even a bespoke like a custom productivity system, for my clients. 

 

So that’s that Signature Experience, a deeper level, providing more value and something clients are willing to pay more money for. 

Rung 4: The Exclusive Offer

The next level is the exclusive offer, Client investment is  $5,000 plus to start. We want to be shooting for 10,000 to $75,000. These are top-tier offerings for loyal clients, people who love what you do. 

You want to create immense value for them, an experience that will have a massive impact on your client success. Something that’s going to totally transform their business, workflow, or life.   

In these cases of major transformations, it’s cheap to pay $10,000 or $75,000 for the package because they‘re getting 10 times or more of that value in return. 

Here are some examples and again, this is for using my own coaching program as a guideline. 

• Consulting – I could offer consulting services where I might review their tech stacks, survey their teams on morale, productivity, and roadblocks, and then recommend productivity improvements, software recommendations, advise on workflows and structure and provide training for them. So this would be more intense. I might be going into a company for weeks or months working with them. 
• Retreats – I could offer intensive 2 or 3 day retreats, for $7,500-$12,000.
• Mastermind Groups – I could offer mastermind groups, uh, for business owners that are serious about improving their business. I would be the facilitator, advisor, help with goal setting, visioning, and accountability within the group. 

Value Ladder: Something for Everyone

So that’s the value ladder.

1. FREE: Starting off with the free entry level resources to get them to follow you, connect with you, position yourself as an expert, help your SEO, 
2. BUILDING BLOCKS: Offer the building blocks. The products and services, you’re going to offer them that are inexpensive, $20 to $500. 
3. THE SIGNATURE EXPERIENCE: Higher value, deeper experience offerings from $500 to $5,000
4. THE EXCLUSIVE OFFER: Amazing experiences that transform people, businesses, workflows. $10,000+

 

If you’d like help creating your value ladder, you can book some value ladder coaching sessions with me.

    If you liked what you saw here today, please hit the Like and Subscribe buttons on YouTube and share this with others via your social media. I appreciate you supporting my quest to end time stress!

The post Value Ladder: Creating a Profitable Pathway for Your Business appeared first on Time Management Training.

Time blocking is a popular productivity technique and I have previously created videos on time blocking with Google Calendar and Notion. Today, I am going to introduce you to a new technique that I use personally that I call “rotary time boxing.”

Time Blocking vs Time Boxing

The first question most of you have is what is the difference between time blocking and time boxing?   Time Blocking involves dedicating specific blocks of time in your calendar for different tasks or activities. For example, you may block out 9 am-11 am for writing, 11 am-12 pm for emails, and 2 pm-3 pm for meetings.   Time Boxing, on the other hand, involves setting a fixed time period or “box” for a specific task, and stopping work on that task once the time box expires, even if incomplete. For instance, you may time box 30 minutes for responding to emails, 1 hour for content creation, etc. The emphasis is on limiting the time spent per task to increase focus and prevent overworking.   The Pomodoro technique is an example of time boxing where you might spend 30 minutes on a task or project, take a 5-minute stretch break, and then move to the next project for 30 minutes.  

What is Rotary Time Boxing?

Rotary time boxing is taking the time boxing technique and using it to rotate through all your critical projects or areas of responsibility on a daily/weekly basis.   For example, you might spend 30 minutes or one hour each on:

• Project 1
• Project 2
• Project 3

Then at the end, you “rotate” back to Project 1. Expanding on this a bit, let’s look at the top three tasks for each project:

• Project 1
  • Task 1
  • Task 2
  • Task 3
• Project 2
  • Task 1
  • Task 2
  • Task 3
• Project 3
  • Task 1
  • Task 2
  • Task 3

In this case, we have worked out the three most important tasks for each project and listed them in priority sequence, where task 1 is the highest priority or the first step in a series.   So for our first 30 minutes, we work on Project 1/Task 1. If we complete it, we move on the task 2 until complete, and so on. When the 30-minute timer runs out, we add a comment to the task so we know where we left off, then move to Project 2/Task 1. So our to-do list now looks like this:

• Project 1
  • Task 1
  • Task 2
  • Task 3
• Project 2
  • Task 1
  • Task 2
  • Task 3
• Project 3
  • Task 1
  • Task 2
  • Task 3

If you find this too conceptual, let’s try a more real-life example.  Let’s say you have 3 projects Marketing, Client Retention, and Productivity Improvements. Now your task list might look like this.

• Marketing
  • Identify target audience
  • Identify marketing channels that reach this target audience
  • Write a marketing plan to use these channels to market to our target audience
• Client Retention
  • Review support tickets for common challenges
  • Create an exit survey
  • Create a plan to reduce client turnover
• Productivity Improvements
  • Identify tasks that could be automated
  • Assign to IT team to automate
  • Identify tasks that could be done by a virtual assistant
  • Hire a virtual assistant

  So if you were working on your Marketing Project, you only have one task to worry about for the next 30 minutes – identifying your target audience.   At the end of the 30 minutes, you move to the Client Retention Project and start compiling problems and challenges from your support ticket database, and so on.  

Rotary Time Boxing vs Time Blocking

While time blocking can be very effective, you might struggle to make things fit in your calendar, especially when you might have unexpected meetings or appointments that replace the time block you had set aside for a certain project. Once that time block is gone, that project might get zero attention that week and get behind.   With Rotary Time Boxing, you are rotating through each project in 30-minute or 1/2 hour sprints of focused time, so the meetings don’t matter. This way every project gets at least some attention each week.   Rotary Time Boxing is the technique I use myself and is an excellent method for people struggling with traditional time blocking.   If you need help getting rotary time boxing working for you, check out my time management coaching program.  

The post Rotary Time Boxing – Captain Time’s New Approach to Managing Project Time appeared first on Time Management Training.

As the clock strikes midnight, an invisible yet profound transaction transpires. A deposit of 24 golden coins is placed into the vault of each person’s day – a currency more valuable than any other on earth. These are not mere coins. They represent the hours of your time, an allotment that everyone, rich or poor, receives equally as the sun rises. I am Captain Time, and I’m here to guide you through the wisdom to invest your time wisely as hours, for unlike gold, they can never be hoarded or reclaimed once spent.

Understand The Value of Your Coins

Every day, as certainly as the morning dew, you are presented with these coins. Understand that each golden hour holds infinite potential, the promise of progress, connection, discovery, and rest. Each hour, each coin, is a slice of your life waiting to be exchanged for experiences and memories that can either enrich or impoverish your life’s story.

Plan Your Spending to Invest Time Wisely

Begin your day with intention. Charting a course for your coins is like plotting out a map for a treasure hunt. The most successful investors start their days with a plan, investing hours into activities that align closely with their personal missions and visions for the future.

Divide your ledger into categories:

• Necessities: Sleep, work, and self-care form the foundation.
• Relationships: Allocate time for friends and family.
• Personal Growth: Invest in learning and hobbies.
• Leisure: Reserve coins for rest and enjoyment.

 

Avoid Impulse Spending

Impulse spending with money leads to buyer’s remorse. The same goes for time. Beware of thieves masquerading as harmless pleasures, like excessive screen time or unproductive multitasking, which can strip your day of its golden potential. These thieves can pickpocket your golden coins without you even noticing.

Invest for Compound Interest

Certain time expenditures yield compound interest. For example, an hour spent learning a new skill can lead to enhanced career opportunities, deeper fulfillment, and even monetary gain down the road. Exercise is another investment with compound benefits, promoting mental and physical health that pays dividends in quality of life and longevity.

Balance Your Portfolio

The adage ‘do not put all your eggs in one basket’ holds true for your golden coins. A balanced life portfolio might mean dividing your coins among career advancement, family time, self-improvement, and recreational activities that revitalize you. Neglect one area, and your life’s wealth diminishes.

Audit Your Investments

Regularly reflect on where your coins are being spent. At day’s end, as the final coin slips from your grasp into the abyss of time, ask yourself if you’ve inched closer to who you want to be, to the life you want to lead.

Embrace Every Coin As An Opportunity

Entertain the notion that each day and each coin carry immense opportunity. Invest them in the mundane job with an attitude that transforms toil into craftsmanship. Spin laughter from the thread of everyday life. Find moments that make your heart race – in joy, in love, in the exhilaration of discovering something new about the world or yourself.

Conclusion

So I ask you, as Captain Time, a guardian of life’s most valuable currency, how will you invest your 24 golden coins tomorrow? Will you scatter them to the winds of distraction, or will you be a shrewd investor, amassing a fortune not of coin, but of lived experience, joy, and achievement?

Remember, the mint of time never ceases to print. You will receive your 24 golden coins with the dawn of each new day. Invest them wisely, and the wealth you accumulate will be of the kind no earthly bank can hold – a life richly lived.

  Contact me, “Captain Time” for help to invest your time wisely.

The post Invest Your Time Wisely: 24 Golden Coins appeared first on Time Management Training.

When people ask what I do and I tell them I am a time management coach, one of the first questions they ask me is “Why time management? What got you into that?”   My answer is that it all started with a simple Christmas gift…  

Many years ago, I worked in middle management at a large bank. One Christmas, my manager gave me a lovely red leather bound Day-Timer with my initials engraved on it.

My first thought was, “What a lovely gift.” My second thought was “Wait, is he insinuating I’m not organized?” But, in truth, I think it was just meant as a lovely gift.

As I put the Day-Timer pages together in the binder and started using it, I was blown away by the level of thought that had been put into the system.

Not only were there places for my appointments and to-do lists, but also sections to record expenses, meeting notes, client notes, and even goal setting.

Here, in a binder no bigger than a hardcover book, was a tool that transformed my work and my life.

But that was only the beginning…

Energized by this new level of thinking, I became obsessed with learning about time management. I read every time management book I could lay my hands on, listened to productivity audio training during my daily commute, explored the common productivity systems, and implemented them for my own work.

Because I was in management, I started passing on what I had learned, providing training for my teams.

Eventually, I became self-employed in the marketing field. But, after years of teaching digital marketing, I wanted a change. I had always kept learning to master time management for myself and I taught it to my marketing clients, but I decided to pivot and embrace teaching productivity and time management full-time.

So the concept of “Captain Time” emerged from the chaos. When I tested the name and branding, my clients and colleagues loved it, and “Captain Time” was born.

The time hat came later, but that is another story…

The post Captain Time’s Origin Story appeared first on Time Management Training.

Sunk cost fallacy, a term derived from economics, is a powerful psychological mechanism that affects our decisions and productivity. This fallacy is the erroneous belief that past investments should influence the decision about where to devote current resources. This leads to poor decision-making and can significantly compromise your productivity.

Understanding The Sunk Cost Fallacy

The sunk cost fallacy comprises two critical ideas. Firstly, a ‘sunk cost’ refers to an investment that cannot be recovered once it’s made. It could be anything like time, energy, or capital. The ‘fallacy’ part is the incorrect reasoning that further investment is justified because the resources already invested would be lost otherwise.

When you let past losses dictate the future course of action instead of looking at what outcome would yield the most return (or the least loss), you’re caught in the sunk cost fallacy.

How The Sunk Cost Fallacy Impacts Your Productivity

The sunk cost fallacy can have a significant impact on individual and organizational productivity. It usurps valuable time and resources that could be better spent elsewhere, resulting in the ineffective allocation of those resources.

For example, you may persist with a project because of the time you’ve already devoted to it, despite clear signs that it will not meet objectives. Or, you might procrastinate on abandoning a long-term strategy that isn’t working because of the investment already made. And therein lies the paradox; you continue to invest in something unproductive to not “waste” the investments already made, while essentially wasting more resources.

An example of this might be investing a lot of time into college or university courses and then finding that you don’t like or aren’t suited to the career you are taking training for. But you don’t want to waste all that time, money, and energy you spent on university, so you decide to suck it up and continue.

Or you might have launched a business, sunk a lot of time and money into it, and then found it didn’t provide the income or satisfaction you were looking for, but you just don’t feel you can walk away because of all the time, energy and money you sunk into the business.

So you keep adding more time, energy, and money – throwing good money after bad (another fallacy) in the hopes that you can “fix” what is wrong and not lose your investment.

Breaking Free from the Sunk Cost Fallacy

So how do we know if we have fallen into the sunk fallacy? How do we break free of this fallacy?

“Don’t cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it”
– Aubrey De Graf

Be Aware

First, educate and train yourself (and your team if applicable) to understand the nature of sunk costs and how they can affect decisions. Awareness is the first step to creating a strategy for combating this kind of bias.

Separate Past and Future

Second, make an effort to disconnect the past from the future. Consider current conditions and future benefits when making decisions, regardless of past actions. This can help to create a mindset that values future outcomes over past investments.

Use Cost-Benefit Analysis

Finally, a practical way to combat the sunk cost fallacy is to use a cost-benefit analysis when faced with decision-making. This method forces you to weigh the potential future benefits against the costs.

By focusing your resources on shoring up past activities, you run the risk of missing opportunities in the present and future.

Conclusion

Don’t let the sunk cost fallacy rob you of your productivity. By focusing on future outcomes and understanding the pitfalls of this cognitive trap, you can improve your decision-making ability and enhance productivity. Remember, it’s not about what you’ve already spent, but what you can gain moving forward and investing your time, energy, and money wisely.

Need help deciding to let go of past endeavors and embracing your future? Check out my time management coaching program – I’d love to help you.

The post Sunk Cost Fallacy: The Psychological Bias That’s Killing Your Productivity appeared first on Time Management Training.

Many people wax nostalgic about their so-called “glory days”. For many, it seems to have been high school or university or some time long in the past. But were these real glory days, or are we just guilty of remembering the good parts and skipping the bad times?

Are our glory days only a nostalgic past thing? Or, if we make a few changes and change our perspective, could our glory days be right now?

Perhaps you were the sports star, the big man on campus (BMOC), the prom queen, the head cheerleader, the It Girl, dazzled everyone with your academic prowess, and had lots of dating successes.

That is not my story…😏

I am going to share parts of my personal journey here, but of course, your experience might be very different.

Let’s look at my decades from high school to now to see where my glory days might live.

Elementary School

While I loved school and enjoyed classes, there was a lot of bullying and I was socially very awkward. I was the youngest in my class so I was physically behind my classmates and was usually the last one picked for sports teams.

My parents didn’t have a lot of money. We were always well-fed and loved, but didn’t have the shiny toys and things my classmates and cousins had.

Overall, I had a happy childhood with many fond memories, but I wouldn’t consider these years the “best” years of my life.

Junior/Senior High School – Glory Days, right?

Junior/Senior high school was a little better than elementary school. The bullying mainly stopped and I had better relationships with my classmates since most of us had known each other all our school years.

Rather than being picked on for my academic success, I helped tutor some people and discovered I enjoyed teaching others – a skill that would be with me my whole life.

Physically I caught up with my peers and started winning medals at track events and was on several junior and high school teams.

And shockingly, I discovered girls!

Academic success, sports success, and girls – Wow, this sounds like my glory days, right?

Not so fast. I was still in my teens, so still living at home so not fully connected to what to do with my life.

And, will girls excited me, I was still painfully shy. Looking back at this time with what I know now, I now see several girls were interested in me, but I lacked the confidence to ask them out.

So I had a very limited dating life and wasn’t fully my own person yet. Some great memories but not my best decade yet.

The Roaring 20’s

No, I didn’t live through the 1920’s but a lot happened while I was in my 20’s.

Became an adult, lived on my own, and then had an early marriage, and kids. I explored careers first in retail, and then in banking. I experienced rapid promotions.

Relationship, kids, and rapid career advancement – sounds like glory days, right?

Not quite. My relationship was struggling, I was working long hours and really hadn’t come into my own yet.

Transformational 30’s

In my 30’s everything changed. My relationship ended, so I was free to date again, this time with a lot more confidence than in high school.

Single, in my 30’s, dating regularly – sounds amazing right?

Not quite. I ended up living 5 hours drive away from my children and launched some businesses that failed and then moved from job to job.

While the dating was fun at times, none of the relationships lasted and I am not a person who just wants to date for the fun of it.

The 30’s weren’t my best decade.

Fierce 40’s

In my 40’s things started looking up. I met my wife, Terry who I have been with for 23 years.

My confidence and skills were improving, but still struggling on the business front.

Also, I hadn’t taken care of my fitness levels, was carrying a lot of extra weight and my health suffered.

So some great things, but facing some challenges.

Flourishing 50’s

In my 50’s things were looking up. Great relationship, grandchildren, travel, and more business success. I started to exercise and take care of my body more and felt a lot better despite some health issues.

My Glory Days: The Sensational 60’s

And now we come to my 60’s in the present day. My business is flourishing, my relationship is amazing, I am meeting new friends, I have interesting hobbies, and I have puppies!

My life is comfortable and gives me great joy and laughter every day.

In truth, my “glory days” are in the present – right now.

Don’t spend your time pining for some perceived “glory days” in your past. Instead, create your own glory days right now, in the present.

If you would like help to create your own glory days in the present, check out my time management coaching program.

 

The post Your Glory Days May Be Right Now: Could This Be YOUR Time? appeared first on Time Management Training.

Let’s talk about reading vs writing.

I’ve always been a prolific reader and I speed read. But I’ve never counted exactly how many books I read in a year. I was curious to put a number on my reading, so in Dec 2022, I decided to count all the books I read and finished in 2023, starting on January 1, 2023, and going until Dec 31, 2023.

At the end of the year – the number was in. I had read 614 books. That didn’t include books I started but didn’t finish because they weren’t to my taste.

What did I read? Mainly science fiction and fantasy, but also a lot of business-related books.

I love reading books and I think it is appalling that, according to one poll, as many as 50% of Americans didn’t read a book last year.

To me, book reading is more beneficial than watching TV. But, in addition to reading all these books, I also do watch some TV and YouTube of course.

This huge number of books led me to start thinking about my personal media consumption.

Was I missing an opportunity here? What about reading vs. writing? Could I be writing more instead of reading and watching TV and YouTube?

Like many people, I have had the usual daydreams about what I would do if I won big at the lottery and never had to work again. I have the usual ideas of traveling the world, but the one thought that really resonates with me is that if I didn’t have to work, I would like to write books.

Now, I already do a LOT of writing. I continually write articles for myself and my clients, but this is different than writing books.

I have written and published one book, “Stop Wasting Time.” Writing this book was an amazing experience. It has helped my business and gives me an affordable resource to help people who may not have the budget for my time management coaching. I do plan on writing more productivity books, but my secret desire isn’t to write more non-fiction books.

I am a big science fiction and fantasy fan and I have a lot of story ideas in these genres in my head. I have jotted down ideas and outlines, and even mind-mapped stories. I have written a few short stories and even started a few pages for novels, but I have never finished writing a whole fiction novel.

I started to wonder, what if I reduced my screen time and reading for a few hours each week, and invested that time into writing my first fiction book? Instead of waiting to retire or win the lottery, why not start writing these books now?

I have learned by implementing an exercise program for myself how powerful some dedicated hours each week can be to reach your goals.

So I decided to take some of my screen and reading time and reinvest that time into writing my fiction novels.

Now, In 2024, I no longer count how many books I read. Instead, I am counting how many words I write.

In 2023, I read 614 books – in 2024, I am going to write 1!

If you would like to be on my mailing list to learn about my upcoming fantasy and science fiction book releases, subscribe at the link below.

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The post Reading vs Writing: After Reading 614 Books, it is Time to Turn the Page appeared first on Time Management Training.

Greetings fellow productivity seekers. Captain Time here from my Chrono Cavern. As a time management expert, I constantly seek ways to boost my productivity. After rigorous testing and real-life uses, I’ve settled on my personal 10 best productivity tools that I will be using to optimize my processes, automate, and achieve even more amazing levels of productivity in 2024.

Some of the links shown here are affiliate links so I appreciate your supporting my channel and content creation by following the links when you try any of these productivity apps. But I NEVER recommend an app only for affiliate commissions – these are apps I use every day personally to take my productivity to the next level!

These productivity apps aren’t in any particular order – I use all of them every week.

One of the most interesting things about these tools is that at the beginning of 2023, I was using almost no AI, but now 8 out of 10 of these powerful tools incorporate artificial intelligence, greatly enhancing their capabilities. AI has come into its own in 2023 leading into 2024.

1. CopyAI

I use the power of artificial intelligence to help generate content with CopyAI. I use CopyAI to brainstorm content ideas, create headlines, create articles, outline scripts, write sales letters, brainstorm business networking introductions, create marketing plans, and a lot more.

After the AI has given me the ideas, I can move them into CopyAI’s editor to polish them up and add my own ideas.

Most of my work now starts with my brainstorming partner – CopyAI.

Grab CopyAI here.

2. TextBlaze

As the name suggests, Text Blaze lets you blaze through your typing tasks. This tool can be used as a browser extension for Chrome or as a Windows app. Text Blaze helps you create and manage snippets of frequently used text and then insert them anywhere with just a few keystrokes.

You can use Text Blaze’s AI to create your snippets of text for you.

I use TextBlaze for automating my business networking follow-up, sales letters, proposals, support replies, documents, and a LOT of other automation tasks..

TextBlaze probably saves me at least 6 hours of work EVERY week.

Grab TextBlaze here.

See Garland’s TextBlaze Review here.

3. Notion

Notion is a powerful, all-in-one workspace concept. I like to think of Notion as the love child of Database and Wiki.

I use Notion for task management, content planning, and for creating online courses and templates for my clients and students. Notion is also now, AI-enabled.

With Notion, you can create your own personal productivity system – or contact me and I can create a productivity system for you.

Grab Notion here.

See Garland’s Notion videos here:

• Task Management using Notion
• Notion for Content Planning
• Notion for Time Blocking
• Notion for Process Documentation

4. Google Calendar

Google Calendar is my go-to app for anything calendar-related. It shows all my appointments and I have a shared calendar with my wife so we know each other’s schedule.

Google Calendar gives me advance warning when my next coaching appointment, coffee meeting, or Zoom call is due.

I also use Google Calendar to teach my clients and students how to increase their productivity using time blocking. The great thing about Google Calendar is that it integrates with so many other tools, increasing its functionality greatly.

See Garland’s Time Blocking using Google Calendar video.

5. Book Like a Boss

Book Like a Boss makes scheduling meetings effortless. This all-in-one booking platform allows you to schedule appointments, sell your services, manage your portfolio, and much more.

Book Like a Boss integrates with my Zoom and Google Calendar accounts so I can just send my coaching clients or networking contacts a link and they can book a coaching session or discovery call with me directly on my Google Calendar. BLAB also creates the Zoom link for the call as well.

Grab Book Like a Boss here.

6. Canva

I use Canva for creating graphics, marketing materials, YouTube thumbnails, and even basic video editing. Canva’s templates and AI for graphics AND writing have had a major impact on how much time it takes me to get my videos out on my Time Tips YouTube Channel so I am expecting to be able to double or triple my video output this year by using Canva!

The thumbnail for this video was created in a few minutes. using a Canva template.

Grab Canva here.

7. MailerLite

Email marketing in 2024 is STILL one of the most powerful digital marketing methods because people still check their email inbox every day.

My favorite email marketing app is MailerLite. MailerLite can automate email campaigns, helping you extend reach and engagement while saving valuable time.

Grab MailerLite here.

See my MailerLite review video here.

8. Beautiful AI

Each week, I create presentations for my workshops, speaking engagements, training sessions, and my YouTube channel. I use Beautiful AI to design stunning slides in no time. It uses AI and great presentation slide templates to create visually striking presentations, freeing me to focus on my message.

Grab Beautiful AI here.

9. UpNote

A good note-taking app is an essential part of a productive workflow. UpNote is my favorite note-taking platform. It has a minimal interface, making it easy to use, but with powerful note-taking and sharing features. I use it for all my notes and for my personal knowledge base.

Grab UpNote.

• Watch Garland’s UpNote Review video
• Watch Garland’s Personal Knowledge Base using UpNote video

10. Less Annoying CRM

When you run a business, you need a way to keep track of clients, contacts, and prospects.

Business networking has become a pivotal part of my marketing strategy in 2023 and I will be expanding my efforts in this field in 2024. Business networking is a key source of both clients and the services I need to scale my business and make it more successful.

To manage your clients and prospects, you need a customer relationship management system – CRM for short. As the name suggests, Less Annoying CRM offers a straightforward, easy-to-use customer relationship management system for a low monthly fee. It centralizes customer interactions and data, ensuring you never miss a beat in nurturing your customer relationships.

Grab Less Annoying CRM here.

10 Best Productivity Apps 2024 Summary

Behind each of these applications is the promise of saving time, reducing stress, and improving your workflow. They are, in Captain Time’s view, my undisputed personal productivity achievers for the coming year. Embrace these apps in your day-to-day routine and watch as 2024 turns out to be your most productive year yet!

Need productivity app training on these or other apps you use? Reach out and I would be happy to help.

The post Best Productivity Apps for 2024: Captain Time’s Productivity Gold appeared first on Time Management Training.