We are a quick fix society.
We want immediate action.
We expect immediate results.
When we don’t get them, we complain. Often, we get upset.
Then we quit and move on to something else.
Too many people flit from one activity or goal to the next.
They want immediate gratification whether it is a simple task or a long-range goal.
Unfortunately, that’s not how life works. It’s not how you win.
To accomplish great things, you have to put in the work.
And then you have to put in more.
“Those who win are the ones who keep going, long after everyone else has given up and gone home.”
Most people are starters and stoppers.
They love to start new things, and then they hang it up just as quickly.
(Whether it is a new skill, a new workout program, or even a new job.)
Instead, you need to be a starter and a finisher.
Why do you quit?
Because things are… Too hard? Too much work? Too much discomfort?
You have to be willing to go through, around, and over the obstacles in your way.
To paraphrase one of my mentors Randy Pausch…
The brick walls are there to make you show how badly you want something.
They’re there to keep out the other people.
Simply put, winners do the things that losers are not willing to do.
Winners put in the work. They do the practice. They have the discipline.
The others? They let the walls keep them out.
They quit too soon, often within site of the goal line.
They think that is good enough.
Those that “don’t give up,” know another secret.
In many of life’s most important things… there is no clear finish line.
You keep going. You keep doing the right thing.
And you keep winning… long after others have given up.
Question: Do you give up too early? What are you doing that you need to stick with?

Email has gotten out of control.
Doubt it?
Your employees are spending up to half of their day on it.
What can we do to bring this productivity monster under control?
(Hint: We may have to go rogue on this one.)
Email is here to stay.
Despite our best efforts, it isn’t going anywhere.
Like the fax machine, we will still be using it in the year 2491.
I previously spelled out TMN’s 9 Laws of Work Email.
Today, I want to propose some radial ways to think differently about email.
After all, email has been superseded by new social tools and communications but it still seems to be stuck, well, in the 90s. (Not to say that there aren’t some positive email uses.)
So, how can we radically change corporate email to restore productivity to our workplace?
I have proposed 9 “rules” below to do just that. However, I want to preface them with the idea that they do not have to be hard and fast limits. Especially, if that helps us leave our comfort zones…
In fact, maybe emails should be flagged based on policy and reviewed similarly to expense report violations.
“Which costs a company more… a lunch expense overage or a rogue email that calls a meeting with 11 people?”
So, if we want to radically change email and how it works… what should we do?
Email is a sacred cow.
Some people love it. Especially those who abuse it.
However, here are some tough ideas on how to challenge email’s power in the workplace…
9 Rogue Rules to Fix Corporate Email
Some of these may seem extreme.
Are they too radical? Or are we just clinging to our comfort zones?
Some companies are eliminating email altogether.
You have to wonder why we spend so much time on it.
So, let’s close the email and get some work done.
Is email a time waster in your company? How would your fix it?

Why do we put off the things that we say are the most important?
Why doesn’t our most crucial task get done? Or the thing that we have been meaning to do for months?
Eventually things catch up to us. Either there are consequences. Or we simply miss the opportunity to do them.
Whether it is playing with the kids. Starting a new career. Or simply telling someone we care about them.
Don’t put off the important things. You may not get another chance.
There is never enough time to do it all.
Stop putting these things off today.
Do what you need to do. And what you have been meaning to do.
You might not get another chance.
Question: What’s on your list? What are you putting off?

We often think about the speed of our lives.
How much we are hurrying…
How fast we can do that…
How busy we are…
However, we don’t often think about the momentum behind all that motion.
Stop and consider your own.
Do you know in which direction it is taking you?
More importantly, how much effort would you need to change your course?
Momentum is a very powerful force.
One that you cannot ignore.
It is the force that brings successful people to even more success.
And it is also the force that continues a downward spiral into self-destruction.
“Momentum can take you over the top of the hill or into the ditch below.”
The simple truth is that momentum keeps us going.
It can carry you to victory. Or lead to your defeat.
The question is, “Is your momentum taking you in the right direction?”
When an object has momentum, it will continue in the direction it is headed.
It is the same with our lives.
“Newton’s 1st Law of Physics states that an object in motion will continue in that motion until acted upon by a force.”
If you are headed in a positive direction with healthy habits, you will tend to stay in that direction.
On the other hand, if you are practicing bad habits, you will continue down that dark path.
The phenomenon of momentum also explains why it is so hard to begin new things.
If you aren’t moving, you don’t have any momentum.
That’s why starting is always the hardest part.
You have to get up and start that goal. Begin that task. And build momentum.
Your momentum can lift you to success.
Or it can bring you down to ruin.
Ensure sure your momentum is taking you in the direction you want.
If not, you have to take action.
It requires effort to change the course of a body in motion.
After all, Newton proved that many years ago.
Which direction is your momentum taking you?

I have some news for you.
2012 is here.
Well, just about.
Only 19 days left until the New Year.
For many, this is the last full week of work before holiday vacations.
Are you ready for 2012?
You may be surprised that 2012 is so close.
New Year’s has a way of sneaking up on us.
“You are sitting comfortably in September, and before you know it, it’s the middle of December.”
However, there is still time to finish up 2011. But, you need to act fast.
What do you need to do?
At work? At home?
It’s time to make a list of the things that you need to complete before the end of the year.
Get Ready for 2012
It’s not too early to start preparing for 2012.
It will be here before you can finish preparing for that holiday party.
Here are 12 Things You Need To Do Before 2012 Arrives:
2011 is almost done.
It’s time to finish those 2011 todo lists.
It’s also time to get ready for 2012.
Take action today and start mapping out your goals.
What do you need to finish before the end of the year? What are your goals for the New Year?

It has been a great year at TMN.
I want to thank you for your support.
Looking back, I am truly amazed at some of the events from this year.
Some of the highlights:
What was your favorite TMN post of 2011?
Here were the top posts by traffic:
Here’s what is already on my map for 2012:
Best wishes in 2012!

As the year winds down, many find themselves looking forward to the New Year.
They are hoping that it will be better than the current one.
They are setting goals and make resolutions about what they will accomplish in the coming year.
What about you?
Have you planned for the coming year?
Have you made your resolutions yet?
And here is the tough question… “Are they the same goals you set last year?”
I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions.
You don’t need to wait until the New Year to set goals and take action. (See why you should “Just Do It Now.”)
Studies have shown that 80% of people fall off their resolutions within 30 days.
Are your goals the same every year?
I bet I can name several of your goals…
- Get in shape/lose weight
- Get your finances in order/eliminate your debt
- Get a better job/change careers
- Spend more time with your family
- Learn something new
Do these sound familiar? Why haven’t you accomplished them?
After all, you said you were going to do them last year.
How about this year?
I have previously written about why you won’t reach your goals.
This year, let’s make them stick.
Here are 5 tips to help you when setting your goals:
Are you looking at a new year with the same goals?
If you don’t take action, I can tell you where you’ll be in a year.
In the same spot you are in now.
This year, don’t just think about the same goals.
Instead, think about what you are going to do differently.
Do you have the same goals this year as last?
PS – Want to join others that are going to stick with their goals in 2012?
Sign up to be notified about the new TMN Community. A group of us are going to set and share our goals for the New Year. Join us here.

We get ready to do something.
And then we hesitate.
We stop.
We do something else.
We do anything else.
Sounds familiar?
Today, just do.
We often put down small tasks that should take just a minute.
- It will only take me a minute to put this away… I’ll do it later.
- It is a small job to clean this up… I’ll get it to later.
- I have to respond to this… but I’ll put it off.
However,when you put down a few of these tasks, they pile up quickly.
Suddenly, you have an entire garage to clean out.
Or an inbox with hundreds (or thousands!) of emails.
Some people say, “I’ll do this later.”
Those who succeed are the ones who just do.
It is easy to not take action.
It requires discipline to do the things that are often right in front of us.
Do Something… Anything… But, do it now.
Here’s the secret…
Just do it now.
Now Beats Later.
Sometimes you just need to do.
Action begets action.
Just Do It Now.
Period.
What do you need to do now?

As the year ends, I want to give recognition to the best productivity tools of the past year.
So, today’s post is about Time Management Ninja’s favorite tools of 2011.
You may have heard me talk about some of these previously. And there are a couple that I have kept to myself until now.
These are the tools that were in my arsenal this year.
Hopefully, you will add a few of these to yours.
![]()
Wunderlist is the best todo list out there.
It works on almost all devices out there. It syncs effortlessly between all of your platforms. It has sharable lists.
And of course, it is deadly simple.
None of the bloat that hampers other todo lists.
You can read my previous reviews of Wunderlist here and here.
Go get Wunderlist (Free).

My email client of choice is Sparrow for Mac.
I think it is the best lightweight email client out there.
Read my previous review here.
It is fast, powerful, and productive.
Get Sparrow from the Mac App Store. (.99 – There is also a free lite version to try it out.)

Want the most productive calendar out there?
Want to add that conference date for next year to your calendar in mere seconds?
You have to try Fantastical. It is that good.
Fantastical sits in your menu bar and springs to life when you need it. It has some of the best event text recognition I have seen. It interprets your input to immediately place your event on your calendar.
Get Fantastical from the Mac App Store. (.99)
I have been remiss in doing a full review of Fantastical. I will remedy that soon.

Here is a well-kept secret.
I have been using Workflowy for the past few months.
It is like having an endless notebook in the cloud. You can take notes, make lists, or write outlines.
It is fast, slick, and a great way to get your thoughts out-of-your-head. And you can then access it from anywhere.
If you like note apps and are looking for a cloud-accessible solution, look no further than Workflowy.
Check out Workflowy. (Free)

Save time and effort, and be safer at the same time!
I use LastPass to manage all my passwords. (See my review here.)
It also helps me generate complex passwords and remembers them so that I do not have to.
The best part is that I can access my passwords from the cloud no matter where I am.
They recently added Goggle Authenticator support for 2-factor authentication. Because you can’t be too secure.
Get LastPass today. (Free and Premium)
![]()
If there is one tool that has changed how I use social media in 2011, it is Buffer.
Simply put, Buffer is the quickest way to tweet or post to Facebook.
Get the Chrome extension and start using it today. You can even do it from your mobile. And from Twitter itself!
Here is the magic formula… you add things to your queue and Buffer tweets/posts them at preset prime times that you have set up.
It’s really handy when I am working at 4AM and want to queue up top content for my readers to see later in the day.
It takes seconds to use and has saved me a lot of time and effort in my social media workflow.
I recently added Buffer to the share options on TMN. (See the new Buffer button in the share area…)
Joel and Leo have proven what a small team with a great idea can produce!
Go get Buffer. (Free and Premium)

I have previously written about the productivity benefits of having a journal.
Day One is my journal of choice. I have it on my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook. It stays secure and perfectly in sync.
Day One can even prompt you at regular intervals to remind you to add to your journal.
If you need one journal app, this is it.
Get Day One for Mac here. (.99)
Or try Day One for iPhone/iPad. (.99)

Clarify is one of the latest additions to my productivity toolkit.
It is a screen capture app specifically designed to make instruction sets.
Ever need to quickly explain to a teammate how to do something inside an app?
Or do you want to demonstrate a specific feature to someone via email?
Clarify helps you construct PDF instructions in mere minutes.
I was amazed to see how quickly you can construct a document.
The app is well designed and the simplicity is impressive.
Get Clarify in the App store. (.95 – You can also get a free trial.)

Don’t bother with any other tablets.
I don’t care if they cost or have “Fire” in their name, you are wasting your time and money.
I won’t even try to convince you otherwise.
Instead, here is an actual conversation I overheard in Costco one day in front of a competitor’s display.
Two young kids were talking about the tablet that was on display:
Kid 1, “Is that an iPad?”
Kid 2, “No, that is a tablet made by some ‘other’ company. That’s not what you want!”
Enough said.
These were the best tools of the past year.
I hope my recommendations will aid you in improving your productivity.
I am excited to see what new technology comes along in 2012 to improve and simplfy our lives.
What was your favorite productivity technology of 2011? What would you add to the list?
(Note: Some of the above links above are affiliate links.)

Like most, you probably don’t like new things that you can’t control.
You prefer to be in your comfort zone.
However, to learn new things we have to leave our comfort zones.
To grow, we have to go through periods of change and times of vulnerability.
Are you comfortable?
Or better yet, are you too comfortable?
We are hard-wired to stay in our comfort zones and to resist change.
The problem is that when we get too comfortable, we get stagnant.
We stop learning. We don’t grow.
We don’t experience new things. We don’t get better results.
“If you do what you have always done…
You’re going to get what you’ve always gotten.”
Are you satisfied with getting the same results?
If not, it’s time to get motivated.
It’s time to get uncomfortable.
Where have you gotten comfortable?
You can name at least one area of your life where you have gotten too complacent.
You have settled with the status quo. You may not be happy, but you are not doing anything about it.
You are just sitting there. Watching time go by and your condition stay the same.
It’s like sitting in the mud. And you don’t get out because it’s just too much effort.
Really? Does that make sense?
Here are 5 Things You Are Too Comfortable With…
As we head into the New Year, ask yourself, “Am I too comfortable?”
Ask, “What do I want to accomplish?”
Then, make a decision to leave your comfort zone.
Don’t sit there any longer.
Don’t settle anymore.
And of course, don’t be comfortable.
What do you need to leave your comfort zone to achieve?
PS – Want to join others that are going to get uncomfortable in 2012?
Sign up to be notified about the new TMN Community. A bunch of us are going to get uncomfortable together and share our goals for the New Year. Join us here.