Author: Eric

At one time or another, every writer has had “writer’s block.” For some reason, we can’t think of anything to write. But I don’t think this phenomenon is restricted to writers. Sometimes people get “life block.” They know what they’re doing isn’t working for them, but they don’t know what they want to do and… Continue reading Writer’s Block (and Life Block)

Do you get nervous when you have to perform, when all eyes will be on you? We all do. But there’s really no reason to be. Most of the time, when have to do a speech or presentation or performance of some sort, our audience is usually relatively small. Most of the people we know… Continue reading Performance Anxiety

Wordle: Wordle is a word game that took social media by storm in early 2022. I love the game—as Jay Bavishi said on Twitter, it has given people a non-heavy reason to check in with friends and family every day in these heavy times, while sometimes claiming intellectual superiority over them.

Having a short memory is helpful in sports. If you don’t, mistakes can linger and influence future performance. Golf is a great example. It’s very much a mental game, and if we focus on a mistake we made on the last hole, we’re likely to repeat it. But if you can put the past behind… Continue reading A Short Memory

Looking for a good gift idea? Why not give people the gift of time? Instead of giving them another item that they’ll have to find a place for, you could give them something that will save them some time, like a free housekeeping session or one free week of lawn maintenance. Or you could give… Continue reading The Gift of Time

My sister and I dread gift-giving occasions like birthdays or Christmas because my Mom inevitably starts asking three to four months ahead of time what we want. The problem is that I need to come up with low-cost items that I’d like to have, but if I want something, especially something inexpensive, I tend to… Continue reading Gift Lists

The last five percent of a project can sometimes take as long as the first 95 percent. It’s at least as difficult and it’s the part we dread the most. That’s why it’s the part we’re most likely to procrastinate on. But you have to close the loop in order to finish off a project.… Continue reading Projects

It’s simply impossible to live a long life and not acquire a lot of junk. Purge Log (or Junk Journal): When you’re purging, record your progress. Have a purge log, and make a list of what you do each day to get organized and get rid of. Include a list or a description of the… Continue reading Purging

You already know this stuff While I tried to avoid quoting a lot of time management books in this book, I did include a lot of quotes that you’ve probably heard before: Time is Money Less is More That was intentional. It shows that you already know this stuff. Most of the ideas I included… Continue reading *** FINAL THOUGHTS ***

A Few More Tips To save time writing this final chapter, I decided to offer 10 people $10 each for their best time-saving tip. Here’s what they told me: For me, the biggest thing is to do stuff while you’re doing other stuff. Like throw a load of clothes in the washer and program the… Continue reading *** SOLICITED ADVICE ***

I had a real estate professor in college who had never owned a piece of property. To me (and others in the class), she didn’t really seem qualified to teach the course. In the same way, it would be hypocritical of me to write a book about time management and getting organized if I didn’t… Continue reading *** HOW I DID IT ***

Need to add some text about what life will be like once readers have organized their physical space, digital space, mental space, and their time. Create the vision.

How do you know when you’re done? What does a task look like when it’s complete? When is it safe to mark it off the list? Often, closing the loop, finishing those final couple steps, seems to be the most difficult. But don’t neglect this part of the task. Until it’s 100% complete, it will… Continue reading When are you done?

Keep your foot on the gas. If you are able to scrape together the extra money for a vacation or to pay off debt, don’t slow down when you’ve accomplished that short-term goal. Keep it up until you are financially free. Once you are, you will have more control over your schedule – and your… Continue reading Keep Your Foot on the Gas

We’ve already said that time is money, but let’s talk for a minute about the time value of money.   Einstein once said that the most powerful force in the universe is compound interest. Invest money, earn interest on that money, and then let it ride. That way, you earn interest on top of interest.… Continue reading The Time Value of Money

One example of an industry that can give you recurring income is insurance. That’s what I do. And yes, I understand that it doesn’t sound very exciting, but it’s better than you might think, and most people who work in the industry tend to stay in the industry. I am not suggesting that you make… Continue reading Insurance for Recurring Income

The best way to become financially free is to never get into debt in the first place. Live below your means – we’ve all heard this advice, but most people do not live by it, at least when they’re starting off. They get a credit card, run up debt, and now must trade time for… Continue reading Advice for young people

I am a super proud graduate of The University of Texas at Austin. I have very fond memories of my college years and wouldn’t trade them for the world. I sincerely believe that my time spent in Austin helped me become the person that I am today. That said, with the amount of time it… Continue reading Is college a waste of time (and money)?

Another possibility is to get a side gig, and it may be the best option for those who are tied to a job that they won’t allow the time flexibility they would like. Eventually, if you do it right, maybe your side hustle can become your only hustle. If you get a side hustle, it… Continue reading Get a side hustle

This brings us to another one of our success principles – upgrade. When things break, or before they break if we’re really on the ball, we can upgrade them to a better model instead of simply replacing them with something similar. If you drop your phone in the toilet, you can upgrade to a phone… Continue reading Upgrade

Autopilot, work from anywhere

Having an “external hard drive” so you don’t have to remember what you need to do is great, but it’s even easier if you don’t have to think about those to-do items at all. What if they’re just automatically done for you? For some tasks, that’s entirely possible. Perhaps the best example is auto-draft for… Continue reading Automate

My grandpa used to say “a half a tank of gas will set just as well on the top of the tank as it will on the bottom.” He rarely let his tank fall below the half-way point. Think about the things you use regularly. If you don’t plan on changing your favorite brands anytime… Continue reading Buy it before you need it

Even though we live in a digital world now, there are still a lot of books out there, and they have a way of piling up. Do you have a bookshelf? If not, you might consider getting one.

Do you hoard papers? A lot of people do; you’re not the only one. But isn’t that a weird thing to do in a digital world? As somebody who hoards papers myself, I will not lecture you or tell you’ll never need 99 percent of them. But I can help you get control of that… Continue reading Papers

Steve Jobs black shirt, Mark Zuckerberg gray shirt, school uniforms You don’t have to spend time thinking about what to wear if you have plenty of things to wear and they’re easy to find. They’re easy to find if you eliminate the things you don’t like to wear. They’re easy to find if everything has… Continue reading Clothes

Plan a “get rid of old stuff” dinner. While this may sound awful, it can actually be a lot of fun. Just pretend you’re on one of those cooking shows where they give you a few random ingredients and you have to come up with something delicious. The weirder the combination of ingredients, the more… Continue reading Food

Houses get messy. And they get dirty. Those are two different things. Messy just means that stuff is out of place. Dirty means that there’s actual filth that needs to be cleaned up, usually with the help of vacuums and chemicals. Houses should definitely be cleaned frequently. That may be something you choose to do… Continue reading Cleaning the House

Write a book. How? By putting your memories on paper. This is actually a great way to capture all those sentimental memories so you can look back on them later. And it’ll help you get rid of the actual things that are currently serving as placeholders for those memories. Timeline – puts everything in perspective.… Continue reading “Remember that time…”