Typically, I manage email accounts with the tools provided by the email service I'm using, Gmail or Outlook. The tools they supply, though not extraordinary, serve me very well and with customized settings, filters, flags, labels and rules I am able to manage email accounts efficiently and productively. My clients like the simple solid look of their accounts and the fact that their systems are lean and very flexible. Working this way allows me to have a nice tight control on

My goal in recent years had always been to use my calendar for appointments and meetings only. I now realize just how narrow a focus that was. Mike Vardy of The Productivityist has shown me the value of applying themes to my calendars and now my calendar is a more comprehensive tool in my kit. In a nutshell, themes are reminders of where your focus should be at any given time. I started small (as I like to do) and applied a theme to each work day of the week. I chose 5 thing

Don't be disappointed if you're not set up for 2017 just yet. If you need more time to research a tool, to clean up 2016, or to do the actual work to implement the tool, take the time to do the work but don't let time run away from you either. Sometimes the best approach is to just do it! Implement the tool you've been looking at ... take a test drive. My advice to you would be that if you are going to take a bit more time to set yourself up, be sure to keep your current syst

It's day 5 of the new year and I've bought my 2017 paper agenda and my new journal, my emails from 2016 have been filed & archived, my electronic agenda has been reviewed & cleaned up as have Evernote and Todoist. The basics are in place so I can move forward, maintaining inbox zero with a solid well-run calendar. My approach to email and calendar management has always been to keep it simple. I have had great success keeping my clients' systems basic so they can maintain the

It's 10:00 am on January 1, 2017 and I've sat down to think about the year ahead, what it means to me and what I want to accomplish. Why do I wait until January 1 to put my New Year's resolutions to paper? For me the first day of every year spells out a new beginning. I wake up on this day, renewed, optimistic and feeling like the new year is mine for the taking; all my baggage and bad habits are back in 2016 ... Gone. Bye bye. I make only three New Year's resolutions. I make