The Paul Minors Podcast: Productivity, Business & Self-Improvement
By Paul Minors
The Paul Minors Podcast: Productivity, Business & Self-ImprovementMar 29, 2020
PMP #244: How you can "get back time"?
Time is the most important asset we have. It’s the asset we all have equal amounts of, regardless of location, income, race or gender. Time represents true equality. If there’s a meaning to life, in my view, it is to use your time as best you can (however you choose to define this).
Let’s be realistic. You can’t get back time and save it for later. You can only get back time and put it to use on other things. There are 24 hours in the day, 7 days a week, and 52 weeks in a year. Some of this time you’ll put to good use and some of it will go to waste. So when I say ‘how can you get back some time’, what I really mean is ‘how can I get time back from wasteful activities and put it to better use?’.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/244
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #243: Ask yourself this question to boost your productivity
I love simple productivity tricks; quick and easy things you can do to be more productive and organised.
In this post, I’d like to share the one question I ask myself to be more productive. This is a question I subconsciously ask myself dozens of times a day. This question helps me to identify what I need to work on next. It keeps me track and on time and helps me to avoid ever dropping the ball on a project.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/243
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #242: How I get clients
I often get asked about how I find clients. My philosophy is simple:
Go to where your ideal clients are and be helpful
Following this philosophy means I never have to do any cold outreach to get clients. Everyone I work with comes to me. This is great because it means more of my time can be spent on working with clients and delivering value instead of finding clients in the first place. Not to mention, cold outreach isn’t very fun!
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/242
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #241: How do you measure productivity?
We all want to be more productive. We all want to get more done and achieve our goals as fast as possible. And there are loads of tools, techniques, habits and strategies we can use to try and improve our productivity. But how do you know if it’s actually working? When you set up a new project management tool, or start meditating in the morning, how do you know if these changes are helping? How do you measure productivity?
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/241
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #240: Why my business is on a 'Bitcoin Standard'
If you’ve followed me for a while, you may know that Bitcoin is a topic I’m very interested in. I haven’t talked about this much on my blog or podcast but today I thought I’d change that and take you behind the scenes on how I store the money in my business.
I’d like to share why I’m now running my business on a ‘Bitcoin Standard’, what that means and the rationale behind the decision. As this is a topic I don’t cover a lot, please share your feedback in the comments below and let me know if this is something you’d like me to write more about.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/240
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #239: Be careful of ‘free’ tools
It’s very common for tools and services to offer a ‘free’ tier or to give away their product entirely for free. As a customer, this sounds great, right? You can start using it for free and pay later if you need to unlock more features.
But I hear all the time from customers and clients who have been caught out after signing up for what they thought was a free tool, only to learn it’s not entirely free or they’re forced to pay later.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t use free tools. Only that there are a few things to consider when signing up for free tools and services.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/239
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #238: 5 Questions to help you beat overwhelm
Feeling overwhelmed and having ‘too much to do’ is a common problem people ask me about. Most of us have a lot going on; work projects, meetings, study, friends, family, social commitments and household chores. When all of these things add up, it’s easy to feel anxious and like you have too much on the go at once.
Whenever I feel stressed out and overwhelmed, I like to plan and organise as much as I can. That way, even though I have a lot to do, having a plan makes me feel like I’m on top of everything because now I have the means to get everything done.
Here are 5 questions to help you plan better so you can overcome that stressed out, overwhelming feeling.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/238
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #237: What's on your 'not-to-do' list for 2022?
It’s the time of year where most people are setting goals and resolutions for the next 12 months. Having a plan of where you want to be and what you’d like to achieve over the next year is great. But equally important is deciding what NOT to do this year.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/237
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #236: Minor Updates: December-2021
Welcome to episode 4 of Minor Updates. In this video, I share some updates on what I've been up to over the last few months. Enjoy!
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/236
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #235: A detailed summary of how I spent my time in 2021
In 2019 and 2020, I shared a breakdown of how I spent my time for that year. It’s always an interesting exercise and it’s useful for me to analyse how I’m using my time differently year over year. Understanding how your time is being spent is one of the best things you can do to make better choices and plan more effectively in the future. So, without further ado, here’s my analysis for 2021.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/235
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #234: How to plan your time based on energy
There are all sorts of techniques we can use and considerations to make when planning our time; how urgent is the work, what needs to be done first, how long do you need?
Well, I’d like to add one more consideration to the mix:
How much energy do you have?
Depending on your energy and how much effort you can apply to your work, this will help you decide what you should work on.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » paulminors.com/234
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #233: Optimising for easy
This week, I’d like to expand on an idea I started talking about last week where I discussed prioritising efficiency over growth.
I was recently interviewed for the Adil Amarsi Unplugged Podcast and on the show, we talked about growing your business and income. I shared my philosophy on growth which I actually picked up from Paul Jarvis. I told Adil that right now, I’m more attracted to the idea of working less compared to earning more. It’s not that I don't care about growth or money but it’s not the end goal. Put another way, I simply want my business to be as ‘easy’ as possible.
What do I mean by that?
Given the choice, I’d rather work on projects or with clients that are easier to deal with. The way I see it, we’re fortunate in that right now we have enough work to keep ourselves busy, so let's optimise for what’s easy. That way, we can deliver projects quicker, not only making our lives easier but also allowing us to service more clients compared to taking on larger, more difficult projects.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » paulminors.com/233
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #232: 5 Things I’ve changed my mind on
We live in a very opinionated world where it’s easier than ever to share your stance on a topic. But sometimes we get nervous about changing our opinions at the risk of sounding flakey; going back on your own words may come across as weak or even unintelligent.
Personally, I don’t have an issue with changing my mind about something. I’m happy to be proven wrong and form a new opinion. I’m even happy to just change my mind about how I view a topic for no reason. This is something that’s only become more frequent with age and experience. How I view and run my business now is quite different from when I was getting started.
So, here are some examples of things I’ve changed my mind about in the last few years.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/232
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #231: Time blocking my colleague's calendar
If you’ve read my blog for a while, you’ve probably heard me talk about time blocking before. This is a technique I’ve been following since 2010 to schedule time on my calendar to work on specific tasks and projects.
While I think it’s a very powerful technique and one of the best methods you can use to plan out your work, not everyone finds this technique easy to adopt.
My colleague, Warwick, is a good example. Since he started working with me full-time in early 2021, we’ve been doing an end-of-week review where we run down our list of clients and plan what needs to be done next for each one. Warwick would then schedule time on his calendar for this work. While he was good at making his initial plan when it came to updating his calendar and making time for new work that comes in during the week, he started to fall behind and his calendar quickly became out of date.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/231
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #230: A healthy relationship with social media
My opinion of social media apps has changed in the last few years. Like a lot of people, I got on Facebook and Twitter around 2007 and I joined Instagram pretty early in 2010. And it’s interesting to have watched public opinion towards apps like Facebook change over the last decade. Facebook used to be liked and enjoyed by almost everyone. Now, more and more people are leaving the app as the company fails in its handling of certain issues e.g. moderating misinformation, user privacy, its impact on democracy and as per last weeks whistleblower, its prioritisation of profit over user wellbeing.
There are pros and cons to using every social media channel. I’ve been thinking more and more about my relationship with social media and I’ve questioned whether I should delete my accounts multiple times.
I’ve concluded that I can continue to use social media if I have a healthy relationship with it. This means getting what I need from each service with as little effort and loss in productivity as possible. So, how do you cultivate a healthy relationship with social media?
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/230
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #229: How I deal with conflict
Conflict is something we all have to deal with. We can do our absolute best to try and avoid conflict but like death and taxes, it is inevitable.
I view any kind of conflict as a massive waste of time; time you could be spending on more productive, not to mention, more enjoyable things.
Conflict is also a source of easily avoidable stress. Even after the conflict has been resolved, the tension hangs around and we feel peeved off for the rest of the day.
Given that conflict wastes our time and causes stress, my goal is to avoid conflict as much as possible. And when it can’t be avoided, my goal is to move on and find a resolution as soon as I can. Here are my thoughts on how best to do that…
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/229
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #228: How to choose the right tools
One of the things I get asked about the most is which tools to use and for what purpose. Whether you’re looking for a task management system, sales CRM, online scheduler or email automation tool, there are loads of products out there and a lot of them overlap in terms of functionality.
People ask me about the difference between Asana, and Monday, Pipedrive and Hubspot, Zapier and Integromat. Or they ask whether they even need a sales CRM if a tool like Monday or Asana can be customised to operate like one.
The answer isn’t always obvious but here are a few things to consider when evaluating different tools.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/228
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #227: A better way to grow
Most businesses want to grow revenue each year. So the business creates new products, conducts marketing campaigns and does everything it can to increase sales. But this isn’t the only way to grow.
Instead of focusing on revenue, growth can also be achieved by improving efficiency.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/227
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #226: How do I avoid doing this ever again?
Last week I was talking to a client about how to save time during the day and I found myself sharing a common tip:
Whenever you find yourself doing a repetitive task, ask yourself:
“How do I avoid doing this ever again?”
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/226
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #225: Minor Updates September 2021
Welcome to episode 4 of Minor Updates. In this episode, I share some updates on what I've been up to over the last few months. Enjoy!
If you'd rather watch the video or if you'd like to get the links of the stuff I mentioned, check out the show notes here » https://paulminors.com/225
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #224: The results of my personality test
Last week, my wife Hayley shared a personality test with me and we went through a series of questions to work out what type of person I am. Here are the results and my thoughts on whether I think they’re accurate or not.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/224
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #223: How to balance being ‘reactive’ and ‘proactive’
Last Friday, my colleague, Warwick, and I were doing our weekly review where we go through all the clients we’re working with and we prioritise his workload for the upcoming week. During the conversation, he asked me how to deal with ‘urgent’ requests that he gets via email. These are seemingly important tasks that need to be dealt with pretty quickly and put you into a reactive work mode.
If you’re not careful, it’s very easy to react without thinking to these ‘urgent' requests and this takes your time and attention away from your planned, ‘proactive’, work.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/223
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #222: Automation Tools (Part 2)
If you haven’t already, check out part 1 of this series all about how to get started with automation where I discuss the mindset, benefits and how to start thinking about automation.
Once you’ve thought about some of the processes or tasks that you’d like to automate, it’s time to start creating the actual workflows that can do the work for you.
When it comes to automation, there’s no shortage of tools and services to choose from. There’s no one ‘best’ tool. The tool you should use will largely depend on the nature of what you’re trying to do. In this episode, I’m going to explain some of the tools I use to automate my business and I've linked to resources that will help you get started with each one.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/222
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #221: How to get started with automation (Part 1)
One of the most effective ways of saving time and getting more done is to automate the repetitive parts of your work. By using technology to actually DO parts of your job, not only do you save time but you increase the accuracy of certain processes by removing the potential for human error to occur. As my business has grown, I’ve automated as much as I can and it’s extremely satisfying when things seamlessly happen around you.
If you’ve never done any automation before, stick with me and I’ll help you get started. In this post, I’m going to share some tips on how to get started with automation. And in part 2 (coming next week) I’ll be talking more about my favourite automation tools.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/221
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #220: 5 tricks to instantly stop procrastinating
Procrastination; the enemy of progress. We’ve all been in that situation where we intend to work on a task or project but can’t muster up the willpower to do the work. Even just making a start seems like a daunting task as you look at what feels like a mountain of work.
Before you know it, you’re scrolling through Twitter, watching YouTube, checking email (again) and doing just about anything besides the actual thing you need to do.
With that in mind, here are 5 tricks to help you overcome procrastination and make progress on your work.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/220
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #219: My favourite music for getting in 'the zone'
There’s nothing quite like that feeling of being in the zone; that place of flow and focus where you do your best work. If you’ve watched Disney Pixar’s Soul, it shows “the zone” as this generally joyful place between the conscious and unconscious world where you find yourself when you’re completely focussed on your craft or work.
One of the ways I’m able to find this focus and enter ‘the zone’ is by listening to music. When you’ve got a good pair of headphones on and the right music playing, it’s amazing how much more focussed you can be.
With that in mind, I’d like to share the music I like to listen to when doing my work. Most of the music I like to listen to is instrumental. If there are lyrics, I find it harder to concentrate when you have another voice in your head. And I use Apple Music as my player of choice but I’ve included links to Spotify alternatives where possible.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/219
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #218: How much free advice should I give out
You’ve probably heard about the importance of providing value to potential customers before they purchase. By providing value first, you build trust and credibility that helps leads to eventually justify paying for your product or service.
Free trials and samples are easy. But for coaches and consultants, it’s tricky working out how much free advice to give out without cannibalising your business. The fear is that if you give out too much advice, people won’t need to pay you for your service.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/218
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #217: 30 Life - Lessons learned before turning 30
Yesterday I turned 30. When you have a significant birthday like this it’s natural to look back on how you’ve grown over the years. Heading into my 30s, I’m pleased with where I’m at in life. When I turned 20, I was still at University and had the goal of running my own business. In my early 20s, I had a couple of great jobs which allowed me to learn a lot and develop as an individual. In 2014 I started my blog and began learning about how to make money online by selling my expertise. In 2016, when I was 25, I managed to take my side business full-time and went travelling with my wife. From there my business has grown to the point where I can comfortably support my wife and our son. So I’m pleased to say I’ve achieved what I wanted to in my 20s.
Looking back, I thought it would be fun to share 30 things I’ve learned over the years that have helped me along the way. Of course, I still have a lot to learn and am looking forward to seeing how I continue to grow in my 30s.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/217
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #216: The One Habit That Helps You Build Other Habits
Forming a new habit can be tough. Whether you’re trying to build a habit related to fitness, personal finances, business or personal well-being, forcing yourself to stop your old methods and start a new habit can feel weird at first. It takes time before the new habit becomes part of your routine and starts to feel normal.
Looking back at some of the habits I’ve adopted, there’s one habit that I’ve adopted that’s helped me when forming other new habits. And it’s this:
Tracking.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » paulminors.com/216
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #215: 6 phrases to remove from your vocabulary
We all have various expressions and turns of phrase that we rely on to make a point and communicate our intentions. However, in this day and age, it’s easier than ever for messages to be misconstrued and taken out of content. Or, if we’re not careful, certain words and phrases can weaken our point and undermine the message entirely.
Whether you’re writing an email or talking in person, here are a few phrases and words I’ve tried to remove from my vocabulary, that you should as well.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/215
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #214: Improvement requires short - term pain
We all like to improve on what we’re doing and how we do things. Whether that’s improving a process in your business, learning a new skill at work or the way you take notes in a class. But the improvement often comes with an adjustment period where it takes time to become accustomed to the change before you can enjoy the benefits. This is why making improvements to the way you work can be challenging. And even though your current process may be slower, doing things the way you’ve always done them is simply easier.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » paulminors.com/214
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #213: How I've maximised productivity on the Mac
Out of the box, the Mac is a great piece of kit, but with a few tweaks and some useful apps, you can turn your Mac into an incredibly productive machine.
In this episode, I’d like to list some of the tools and tweaks I’ve made to supercharge my productivity while using the Mac. If you’re a Mac user, I highly recommend spending some time learning about each of these tools. I can say with confidence that tools like these genuinely help me to save time so I can get my work done faster meaning I can handle a larger capacity of clients and go home earlier if I want.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/213
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #212: How to keep your productivity system simple
If you want to be more organised and effective at managing your time, the key is simplicity. People often come to me for help because their systems are overly complicated and hard to manage. They tell me they spend more time maintaining their system than they do actually doing important work.
As I’ve created and shared videos and blog posts, people often tell me how organised my systems appear to be. There’s no real secret other than I try to make things as simple as possible.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/212
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #211: The realities of earning a passive income
Passive income is often portrayed as the holy grail of earning money online; make money while you sleep, sounds good right? But before you quit your job to embark on the passive income lifestyle, I thought I’d share a few realities you may want to be aware of.
To add some context for new readers, my business currently generates revenue in a few different ways. Primarily from providing consulting services but also from digital product sales, affiliate marketing, sponsorships and ad revenue. Some of these revenue streams require more effort than others. While I get some revenue without having to do anything afterwards (e.g. affiliate income), every revenue stream requires effort to create and maintain.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » paulminors.com/211
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #210: Why priority labels don’t work (and a better way to prioritise your tasks)
A lot of task management tools give you the option to assign high, medium or low priority status to a task. Personally, I find this pointless and I’ve never liked assigning a priority to a task. In this episode, I explain why.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/210
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #209: How I decided to hire my first full-time contractor
On my recent episode of Minor Updates, I shared that I’ve now hired my friend Warwick as a full-time contractor within my business. I’ve been working as a solo-operator since I started my business in 2015 so this is a pretty significant change to how I work. Many of the people who follow my work are freelancers or consultants, like me. So I decided to share how I went about making this decision in case you’ve ever considered doing something similar.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/209
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #208: Life Profitability With Adii Pienaar
I was recently contacted by the author, Adii Pienaar, wanting to share his new book all about 'life profitability'. As someone who prioritises building a business that supports the lifestyle you want, this concept of 'life profitability' really got my attention!
Adii mentioned that he'd been in contact with one of my online business heroes, Paul Jarvis. You might remember that I interviewed Paul on the podcast all about his book 'Company of One' and building a business that doesn't prioritise growth. This was all the convincing I needed so I decided to get Adii on the podcast to chat about his ideas!
Adii is a family man, entrepreneur, writer, runner and wine-drinker from Cape Town, South Africa. He was the co-founder of WooCommerce which he sold to Automattic in 2013. He then co-founded the conversion rate optimisation agency, Conversio, which he later sold to Campaign Monitor in 2019. And now he's working on an email marketing platform, CM Commerce.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/208
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #207: Minor Updates: March-2021
Welcome to episode 3 of Minor Updates. In this video, I share some updates on what I've been up to in the first quarter of 2021. Enjoy!
Linked and resources mentioned in this video
- This is the eufyCam 2C 2-Cam Kit that we set up at the front door and back garden.
- Check out Ark and Sea where you can purchase a t-shirt that funds the removal of 1kg of plastic from the ocean.
- Currently reading Ready Player Two.
- Here's the Material Dock from Studio Neat that I now have on my side-table.
- Here's where we did the knife making course in Clevedon, Auckland.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/207
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #206: Tips to get less email
Email continues to be one of the main time-sucks for the average knowledge worker. Every morning I’m greeted by about 20-30 new messages. This is a lot less than some people and I still have to schedule time each morning to process my inbox.
In the past, I’ve shared some tips on how to save time on email. In this week’s post, I’d like to drill down into one point in particular, how to get less email.
Because if you can reduce the volume of email coming in, this makes processing your inbox a lot quicker.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/206
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #205: What are the fixed costs on your time?
Tell me if this sounds familiar – When you plan your time, do you ever over-commit and run out of time to do your work? Especially when it comes to doing deep work that generates results but requires real focus. It’s so easy to say, “I’m going to spend the day working on X” only to get bogged down with other admin tasks and distractions.
I’ve been caught out by this more than a few times…
It’s easy to start your week with good intentions to be proactive and do meaningful work. But often we get pulled into a more reactive mode as urgent tasks and last-minute stuff comes up.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/205
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #204: Why I like to 'Float' once a month
About 6 months ago I started ‘Floating’ on a regular basis. Floating is where you lie in a tank of warm, salty water in pitch dark and absolute silence. The high-density of the saline solution makes you feel weightless and the absence of light and sound eliminates all distractions. This is known as ‘sensory deprivation’.
What’s the point in all this?
When you eliminate all senses this supports deep relaxation, stress relief, and even creative thinking.
I did my first float a number of years ago just to give it a try really. But lately, I’ve been floating once a month and have come to really enjoy the benefits.
In this episode, I’d like to share my experience with floating and if you’ve never tried it before, I’d highly recommend treating yourself to at least one session to see if it’s something you can benefit from.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » paulminors.com/204
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #203: How I decide whether to use a new tool
It seems like every day there’s a new tool coming out that supposedly helps you to get more done and be more efficient. And if we’re not careful, shiny object syndrome tempts us to try these new tools because we feel like that’s the answer to better productivity. In reality, the tools we use really aren’t as important as the principles and HOW we actually use the tool.
That said, whenever I’m tempted by a new tool or app, I think through the decision very carefully.
Recently I was tempted to sign up for Basecamp’s new email service [Hey]. And this got me thinking about the process of signing up to a new tool and how I go about making the decision. Basically, I conduct a simple cost/benefit analysis to determine whether the effort of switching is worth the hassle. Here are some of the things I think about...
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/203
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #201: Productivity is simple (but not always easy)
If you want to be more productive, it’s pretty simple… A lot of books, courses and other resources show you how to build these elaborate systems that help you to be more organised, prioritise your work and plan your time. The reality is, if you want to get more done, it’s quite simple…
You need to be disciplined and show up to do important work that matters. That’s it.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/201
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #200: What I learned recording 200 podcasts
Today I’m recording my 200th podcast episode. I started my podcast back in 2015 when I was still working full-time and I was trying to "make it" creating content and starting an internet business.
A lot has changed in that time but the podcast is one thing that’s remained pretty consistent. While the podcast numbers remain pretty steady, I enjoy showing up each week and sharing a thought or idea that may benefit a few people.
For this episode, I’d like to share a few of the lessons I’ve learned over the course of recording 200 episodes. Enjoy!
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » paulminors.com/200
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #199: 5 Core principles of organisation
Last week I emailed my newsletter list to learn more about the kinds of things people want to learn about in 2021. And one of the most popular topics that kept coming up is organisation.
With so many tools available to us know, if you’re not careful, keeping track of what you’re doing and all your ‘stuff’ can be challenging.
In the future I’m sure I’ll be doing a deep dive into this topic and specific tools. For now, I wanted to start by outlining some principles that you can apply to different areas of your life. So if you need to be more organised at work, home, digitally or using an analog system, these principles will work.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » paulminors.com/199
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #198: Macro Happiness
Over the holidays I was listening to an episode of Simon Sinek’s podcast, A Bit of Optimism. And in an interview with Derren Brown, Derren gets you to think about happiness as a verb, something you do, rather than as a noun, something you have.
And as I was listening I had one of those moments where the penny dropped and I suddenly realised, of course, you can’t be happy all the time. And yet, as we go through life, we’re lead to believe that if you’re not happy, something must be wrong. We’re taught that happiness is something we need to find and hang on to for as long as possible.
But this is completely unrealistic… You can’t be happy all the time and to think otherwise is setting yourself up for failure.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/198
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #197: Minor Updates: December 2020
Welcome to episode number 2 of Minor Updates. After recording my first update video a few months ago, I received really positive feedback and people seemed to really enjoy the more informal updates I shared.
I decided to close out the year with another update to share some of the things I've been working on and stuff I'm thinking about for 2021.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » paulminors.com/197
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #196: A detailed summary of how I spent my time in 2020
Last year I published a summary of how I spent my time in 2019. It was a fascinating exercise and I received positive feedback on the analysis. Understanding how your time is being spent is one of the best things you can do to make better choices and plan more effectively in the future. So, I thought it would be worth repeating this exercise again this year.
NOTE: This analysis covers the period from January 1st to December 7th. So, although the year isn’t over, it gives me a pretty good idea of how I’ve spent my time this year.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/196
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #195: How I'm winding down for the year
The end of the year is fast approaching and when you look back and think about everything that’s happened this year, it’s crazy how fast the time has gone by!
As the end of the year approaches, I’m starting to think about how I want to finish off the year and prepare for 2021.
This is what I’ve got planned so far…
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » https://paulminors.com/195
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo
PMP #194: 8 Tips for hosting better zoom calls
Even before 2020, I was already spending a lot of time on Zoom. Being a virtual consultant from New Zealand where 95% of my clients are overseas, it’s an app that gets a lot of usage from me.
Then 2020 happened and everyone started working remotely and using Zoom to host family get-togethers, gym classes or to catch up with friends while on lockdown.
According to Timing, I’ve spent 266 hours on Zoom this year. And I’m pretty sure this is under-reporting as it only counts active time (i.e. if I’m screen sharing, it’s Timing counts the active app).
Needless to say, I’ve learned a thing or two about hosting video calls on Zoom. And in this post, I’d like to share some of the tips I’ve picked up along the way so you can host better calls.
Show notes (please leave me a comment with your questions and feedback) » paulminors.com/194
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Intro/Outro Music: "Synthia" by Scott & Brendo