Productivity Primer

I've found that one of my best tools towards being more productive is my iPod, for the opportunity it affords me to listen to quality Catholic programming while doing household chores.  I've found that time spent listening to Catholic podcasts makes me much more excited about tasks like mopping the kitchen floor or folding laundry.  As we embark on this new CE On Time blog, I wanted to point readers to the excellent Catholic Exchange podcast with John Morales, and particularly highlight the January 5th Episode. Toward the end (last quarter) of the 1/5/07 show, John interviews Catholic life coach Mike St. Pierre (who will be blogging here).  I've learned much from reading Mike's blog, but was very impressed by this particular interview and some of the topics discussed.  Don't have an iPod?  Never fear – you can actually listen online on your computer.  One of the tools I learned from the Morales/St. Pierre interview was Mike's suggestion that we hold a weekly "planning meeting" at some point to review the week ahead in detail.  I've spent time the past two weeks implementing this particular suggestion and have entered both weeks with a much more firm grasp on what I hope to accomplish during the upcoming week.  Applying some GTD principles, it's been helpful to break some of the week's goals into daily tasks.  I've gone back a few times and re-listened to this interview and would recommend it as a great primer for starting the new year.