The holidays are a time to relax and spend time with family. We reflect on the year just ended and look forward with eager anticipation to the blank canvas that is the year ahead.
To that end, this week’s post is six posts, but they’re all posts you’ve seen before. Or maybe you missed them. They’re the most-viewed, most-shared, and most-loved posts of 2014.
So grab a warm beverage, put on the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas, curl up under a warm blanket, and enjoy.
In order of publication:
- “Get Better Results by Saying No”. We waste a lot of time being pulled off course by our willingness to accept other people’s priorities as our own, no questions asked. I love the closet metaphor Greg McKeown uses in Essentialism: you would never let people stuff their clothes into your closet, so why do you let people fill up your life with their stuff?
- “Six Email Signature Mistakes that Might Send the Wrong Message”. We do a lot of what we do out of habit, plain and simple. We’ve always done it that way, and we started because that’s what we saw others do. Like our email signature. Spend a few minutes reviewing yours and see if there’s room for improvement.
- “One More Thing That Kills Your Productivity”. On my way to a meeting last week, I passed a coworker who was in the same meeting. He was heading the other way, and warned me that I was going to be early for the meeting. I was. On purpose. Are you constantly running around, trying to catch up? Try not to always fit in One More Thing…
- “Don’t Fear Failure”. Failure has a stigma attached to it, like there’s something wrong with us if we try something we’ve never done before and don’t get it right on the first try. We should embrace failure. Not as an acceptable final state, but as a necessary stage of learning and growth.
- “Complete Your Digital Planning System with Evernote”. One of the watershed moments in transitioning to a digital planner was realizing that I didn’t need to find a single app that would do it all, like my trusty Franklin planner did. Find the tools that are best at what they do, and let them work together.
- “Why You Need a Weekly Review”. Take time to regularly review the work you’ve done and plan the work ahead of you. It’s one of the best habits you can develop to get things done. If you’re not sure how to get started, sign up for my free email list and I’ll send you a checklist you can use as a starting point (also free).
There is one more thing…
- “How Long Does it Really Take You to Get to Work?”. I wrote a guest post for TimeManagementNinja.com. It was fun, writing in a different style, and for a different audience. If you don’t know how long it takes you to get to work, you’ll never be there on time. (Read the post to see how far off I was.)
I wish you all the best in the coming year. Go do great things.
