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Friday Productivity Tip — Get Some Silence

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Quiet the Chatter

Today when you’re trying to get that last minute work done, and someone comes in to “shoot the breeze,” “talk your leg off,” “chatter like chimp,” or be a “bird in a box.” You might try this.

  • Look up from what you are working.
  • Slowly glance left and right, as if to be sure no one is watching you.
  • Quietly invite your visitor to come close to view your computer screen.
  • Then click this link and say, “Isn’t this the coolest thing you’ve ever seen?”

Then just stay silent and stare at the screen. As a bigger treat, you might offer your headphones so that your guest might listen even more silently.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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Friday Productivity: The Monkey Rule

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Not Just for Fridays

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Problems don’t only happen on Fridays. It only seems like more of them do. That’s probably because what we’re looking for is a clean desk and a walk out to the weekend.

Instead what often happens is that folks stop by to hand us an issue that “just can’t wait,” and suddenly a Friday seems like it is piling higher and higher in front of that door that says ESCAPE.

Here ‘s a rule I use to keep control of my Fridays, Thursdays, Wednesdays — actually every day — come to think of it. [Read more…]

Ideas in Your Refrigerator

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You Know You’re Procrastinating When . . .

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. . . cleaning the refrigerator takes on a new and miraculous sense of urgency with a heavenly glow.

Go ahead give in and do it, but don’t lose to procrastination. Turn that refrigerator chore into an exploration for ideas. Here are three things you might think about.

  • What is your customer experience of the products that you are tossing out? Can you use those experiences to seed an article for your blog?
  • Refrigerators are filled with products. How do the companies who make those products promote them? Can you twist any of their ideas into ways to promote your business or your blog?
  • Is there a brand in there you are attached to? What do you value about that brand? Can you put your feelings into words? How can you use that brand value you feel to strengthen your personal brand and the brand experience people have when they meet you?

Procrastination just became an idea session, and on top of that you’ve cleaned your refrigerator! That’s productivity where you could have been doing what I’ve done — standing in front of an open refrigerator door thinking about how the light goes on and off.

Bet you can think of more ideas to find inside of that Big Box. How about sharing some with us?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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More ideas in the Idea Bank category and in Writing Power, Thinking Outside the Box, Customer Think, and Brand You Series on the SUCCESSFUL SERIES PAGE

Start in the Middle 2: Middle Idea Bank

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Some word associations to jog new ideas . . .

Try connecting one of these terms to something it wouldn’t usually be connected with.

Phrases that Use the Word Middle

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Middle Man . . . Middle Atlantic . . . Magic Middle . . . Middle Ground . . . Middle School . . . Middle English . . . Malcolm in the Middle . . . Middle-Earth . . . Middle East . . . Middle Pillar . . . Middle Temple . . . Middle West . . . The Mighty Middle . . . In the Middle . . . Stuck in the Middle . . . Middle of Nowhere . . . Middle of the Road . . . Middle Years . . . The Middle Passage . . . The Middle Colonies . . . Middle Start . . . Middle Appalachians . . . Middle Age . . . Voices from the Middle . . . Middle America . . . Middle-age Spread . . . Middle Rhine Valley . . . Middle Class . . . Middle Manager . . . Middle Name . . . The Middle Ear . . . Middle C . . . Middle Jurassic

Synonyms for Middle

average . . . central . . . center . . . centre . . . equidistant . . . eye . . . halfway . . . heart . . . hub . . . in-between . . . inner . . . intermediate . . . intervening . . . junior high . . . mediate . . . medium . . . mid . . . midriff . . . midsection . . . midstream . . . midway . . . on the fence . . . uncertain

If you think of more, please add them in the comments . . .

Ideas and enthusiasm are contagious!

Thanks!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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Finding Ideas Outside the Box
Don’t Hunt IDEAS — Be an Idea Magnet
Got the Idea. Now What Do I Do with It?