Why Your Next Job May be Self-Employment

Choosing self-employment part-time or full-timeMore Americans than ever are becoming “free agents” and choosing self employment part time or full time, according to a recent report by Kelly Services (with a hat tip to ere.net).

Over the last three years, the number of self-employed Americans has skyrocketed from 26% to 44%.

So why the big move to leave the 9 to 5 for the life of a freelancer, consultant, entrepreneur or contractor? [Read more…]

Living to Your Full Potential – A Personal Growth Lesson from the Farm

Reach your full potentialOne of my biggest lessons in personal growth and how to reach your full potential came from an apple, of all things.

I grew up living next-door to my grandparents’ fruit farm.  They grew cherries, peaches, grapes, blueberries, pears, plums, apples, and more.

One day, my grandfather shared with me the amazing power and potential contained within one solitary apple.  It was a lesson that stayed with me for life.

At the time, I hadn’t really thought much about the apple.

For all I knew, an apple was just a piece of fruit that could be consumed – all except for the seed-laden core, which I would just throw in the garbage.

My grandfather explained that if I planted that apple’s six seeds in the ground, I could grow six apple trees that, when mature, would produce anywhere from 150-250 apples each (depending upon the variety of apple tree).  [Read more…]

My GTD Brain Dump

David Allen says his book, Getting Things Done, is all about the art of stress-free productivity.  In it, he shares some great tips and concepts for achieving greater work-life balance.

One thing I read in Getting Things Done, which really struck me, is his concept of the “brain dump.”  Allen says that we shouldn’t be carrying around dozens of things in our brain that we need to do, want to do, wish we would have done, etc.

Instead of cluttering our brain with this stuff, we should write them all down somewhere – on paper, in the computer, wherever – categorize them, and then plan a regular time to review the list and decide what things should be worked on, and when.

I’ve started to do this brain dump over the last two weeks – trying to get stuff out of my head, and onto a spreadsheet.   [Read more…]

Streamlining My Life & Work the GTD Way

In my journey toward greater work-life balance, I’ve discovered that one of the best things I can do to stay balanced is to stay uncluttered.

My GTD inbox is, well...a box!

Easier said than done at times. Because I travel a lot, attend a lot of meetings and conferences, take a lot of notes, and then let the notes pile up before doing something with them.

I’m working on implementing more of the Getting Things Done (GTD) model of productivity, popularized by David Allen in his book, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity.

He suggests a single in-box for all your incoming stuff…and then a regularly scheduled time when you go through the inbox and process (do something with) each item.  You might act on it now, delegate it, put it in another file for review later, etc. [Read more…]

Productivity Tip: Increase Your Learning by Increasing Playback Speed

Screenshot of the "48 Days to the Work You Love" podcast at double (2x) speed.

I’m always on the look-out for personal growth and productivity tips that will help me increase my personal productivity and accelerate the achievement of my goals.

One tip I stumbled upon last year is to increase the playback speed of podcasts that I listen to on my iPhone.

At the time, I had never noticed that you could listen to a podcast (or music) at different speeds.

But then I found that you could listen at half speed (1/2x), full speed (1x), and double speed (2x).

You just have to click the little box in the upper right-hand corner of the iPod player from 1x (the default) to 2x.

So, I started listening to podcasts at double speed and was amazed by what happened: [Read more…]

Do You Feel Challenged at Work?

How satisfied and challenged are you in your work?  Do you feel like your job has meaning?  Like you’re making a difference?

I recently attended the Global Leadership Summit videocast.  And as I said in a previous post, it’s an annual opportunity for me to re-charge my personal leadership “batteries.”

Bill Hybels founded the Global Leadership Summit, and he’s also the founding and senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois.

work life balance, fulfillment at workBill kicked off the first session of the Global Leadership Summit and began his talk by asking, “What is your current level of challenge in your work?”  He suggested three basic levels of challenge: [Read more…]