Category Archives: Coaching

Coaching

How to create nested section groups in OneNote – Videos

Video

I learned recently you can create nested section groups in OneNote and this has made a huge change in how I’m organizing my notebooks and content. Watch these videos to see how to create nested section groups in OneNote 2016 and OneNote for Windows 10.

OneNote 2016 – Nested Section Groups

OneNote for Windows 10 – Nested Section Groups

Let me know in the comments how you plan to put nested section groups to use!

Coaching

ProductivityCast Episode 91 – Should you do what you love as a career?

This episode the guys (I missed out on this one unfortunately) tackle whether you should make a career out of what you love.

For years we’ve heard the old saying, “if you love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life.” Just as much though we all know that’s not true. No matter how much you love what you do there will be parts of it you don’t love and just have to be done.

The concern I’ve always had for people, and asked many times when the topic arises, is are you willing to attach the stress of your livelihood to this thing you love? While it makes the good days better, will the bad days taint the passion you have? It’s a tough decision to be sure.

During the show we also talk about finding passion in the work you do, the challenge of hating your work, and the worst enemy of productivity…apathy.

Give it a listen and let me know what you think about doing what you love as a career.

The AI Researcher: From Information Overload to Active Knowledge Synthesis (Part 2) – ProductivityCast

In this episode, we continue our discussion of the AI-Powered Professional by returning to the AI Researcher persona. Picking up from the prior conversation (episode 149) on information overload and information toxicity, Ray, Augusto, and Francis explore how AI can help professionals move from traditional search toward more collaborative research, synthesis, comparison, and knowledge discovery. They discuss deep research tools, source verification, using multiple AI systems to challenge each other, Google NotebookLM as a grounded research workspace, AI-assisted book reading and writing, proactive information discovery, and the importance of treating AI research outputs as drafts or hypotheses that still require human judgment. (If you’re reading this in a podcast directory/app, please visit https://productivitycast.net/150 for clickable links and the full show notes and transcript of this cast.) Enjoy! Give us feedback! And, thanks for listening! If you'd like to continue discussing The AI Researcher: From Information Overload to Active Knowledge Synthesis (Part 2) from this episode, please click here to leave a comment down below (this jumps you to the bottom of the post). In this Cast | The AI Researcher: From Information Overload to Active Knowledge Synthesis (Part 2) Ray Sidney-Smith Augusto Pinaud Art Gelwicks Francis Wade Show Notes | The AI Researcher: From Information Overload to Active Knowledge Synthesis (Part 2) Resources we mention, including links to them, will be provided here. Please listen to the episode for context. ResearchGate Google Search Google Scholar Academia.edu ChatGPT Claude Google Gemini DeepSeek Google NotebookLM Google Alerts Feedly Feedly Pro Zapier Evernote Evernote AI Raw Text Transcript Raw, unedited and machine-produced text transcript so there may be substantial errors, but you can search for specific points in the episode to jump to, or to reference back to at a later date and time, by keywords or key phrases. The time coding is mm:ss (e.g., 0:04 starts at 4 seconds into the cast’s audio). Read More Voiceover Artist | 00:00 Are you ready to manage your work and personal world better to live a more fulfilling, productive life? Then you've come to the right place. Welcome to ProductivityCast, the weekly show about all things personal productivity. Here are your hosts, Ray Sidney Smith and Augusto Pinault with Frances Wade and Art Gelwix. Ray Sidney Smith | 00:19 Welcome back, everybody, to ProductivityCast, the weekly show about all things personal productivity. I'm Ray Sidney Smith. Augusto Pinaud | 00:25 I am Augusto Pinaud. Francis Wade | 00:26 And I'm Francis Wade. Ray Sidney Smith | 00:28 Welcome, gentlemen, and welcome to our listeners to this continuation of our discussion on the AI-powered professional. In our last conversation, we were really defining the problem around information overload and many of the issues that the modern professional or knowledge worker really deals with as it relates to all of the information. In our lives today. And what we wanted to do in this episode is continue that conversation. And talk through really how to take the sometimes overwhelming amount of information, but the treasure trove of information that we have every day coming into our world and really utilizing it in productive ways. I think that today, Thanks to AI, we no longer need to think about the concept of a search engine. We need to really think about this from the perspective of it being a collaborative engine and there is this kind of reality that it could be considered an answer engine, a research engine, all of these kinds of ways in which we can coin it. There are lots of different use cases today. We're particularly focusing in on the research And these more sophisticated AI tools can now perform tasks previously reserved for a research assistant or for you to take intensive manual effort to produce. And so let's talk through some of the ways in which you're utilizing AI for research purposes. And let's think through perhaps some of the pitfalls that people fall into as they're trying to use AI for research. Francis Wade | 02:12 I've been in a whole different world as a result of deep research in the last year. I remember before It was available. I used to do… Research via looking for documents like ResearchGate, I can search for a PDF using Google. I could search Google Scholar. You could go to academia.edu and What it would give back to me, these different sources, is Stuff that was close to what I was looking for, but not exactly what I was looking for. Matter of fact, it was often not close at all because I would have a specific question. And I'm trying to get a specific question answered. But I have to find somebody who actually answered that question in a document. Or maybe a book or in something. And usually I'd be looking for an academic source. And usually I wouldn't find anything.  So that's just, The game I would play was would be hunt and never find and that was 50%, 75% because I'd be looking for Esoteric stuff. Today, however, I have at my fingertips multiple A few different subscriptions to deep research and chat GPT does it for free up to a particular limit. And I can ask a very specific question. And to my shock, I can receive a plausible reply to my question Right. Pulls from credible sources for the most part. In the beginning, it When it first came out, they would pull from hallucinated sources, which was pain in the neck. But today… They've gotten to the point where They give credible… Specific answers to my very specific questions.  So my research has just multiplied by, it's hard to even compare what it was like No, Versal, what it was like before. Because I do so much of it now. It's really been a game changer.  So that's at the high level. The game is completely different for me right now. See you next year. Ray Sidney Smith | 04:15 And it will be different in a year from now even. More so. As the technology gets better. Francis Wade | 04:21 – I've told people that different parts of my work. Have undergone more change in the last year than in the last decade. 30 years before that, 20 years? And this is certainly one era that is completely different. Augusto Pinaud | 04:37 Sometimes digging and research in a topic and sometimes more than the papers, find the books. What is the book that, okay, I read this book. Now, What other… Go. Into this line and with books go on the opposite line.  Sometimes it's not only The papers, it's the one to give a more… Book rented? What books? Hey, I'm dealing into… And sometimes once I want to deal or work or research into this particular idea, Bye. Where can I find those books? Because you think, okay, I want to get, how do you get granular and now fast? But then now how do you find those book, those authors, who are the authors who I'm researching this, the same areas that I'm research, it doesn't matter if they're agreeing or disagreeing with you, but how you find them, that was a labor Of love. A lot of times, to find those books and to find those authors.  And then after that, then you needed to start Figure out which one was good, which one was bad. That job? One from weeks to hours. And you in hours can get a list that is better than what I was able to produce in months. This gets very interesting, the issue. Who's this? The expectations that now the people have. Because for what you're describing, similar to mine, it's not only get the information, now that just you were able to get to the sources pass through. But the other part of the process is still, you need to still read it, still download them, still digest them, still trying to connect those dots. That is still takes the same amount of time, but then First part, it's fantastic. The issue I see with this is I find a lot of people who think that find the sources is enough. And find the sources is just a step one of X number of steps to be able to get to the next conclusion. Ray Sidney Smith | 06:47 So I think about AI in a research context, when I say this is an AI researcher, Bye. That AI can still hallucinate. I know Francis is a little more, maybe more trusting than I am when it comes to these tools. But I've found ways to revalidate information even after it has pulled research And again, I Preface this always with everything I do with AI, I presume to be a first draft when it puts it out. And so I'm reviewing everything as though an intern handed it to me and it's an intern's work product.  So I need to make sure that it is correct. So we were all on the same page there. I think there are certain areas where AI is really good right now and where it will get better. I think that the deep research functions within all of the major tools that AI chat bots are pretty good right now.  So you have this deep research function in Claude Gemini, and ChatGPT. Personally, I've found that Gemini's does the best. I'm not sure why, but I just feel like it gets the most right when you prompt it correctly. And I don't like the verbosity around the deep research that Google puts out, but it's fine. It gets the data right, which is what I care about most. And that's one piece, which is you have this complex question and you need it to go out there and scour lots of sources and come back to you with an answer. And you don't know what the sources are. And I think in that sense, it can go ahead and find sources and then go ahead and do that analysis and synthesis that is really complex and therefore laborious and make it simpler.  Though Concern I always have with folks is that We're a little too trusting. So I'm going to, again, underscore the point that even after it does this research,…
  1. The AI Researcher: From Information Overload to Active Knowledge Synthesis (Part 2)
  2. The AI Researcher: From Information Overload to Active Knowledge Synthesis (Part 1)
  3. The AI Assistant: Automating Administrative Friction and “Shadow Work”, Part 2
  4. The AI Assistant: Automating Administrative Friction and “Shadow Work”
  5. What Does Perspective Mean in GTD?
Coaching

OneNote Tip for Android – Creating Shortcuts

If you’re an Android user (sorry iOS) you can press and hold on the OneNote icon on your phone to pop up a list of the quick actions available for the app.

But that’s not the tip. The tip is that if you press and hold on the double line to the right of the shortcut on the menu you can create a shortcut to that entry. Press, hold, and drag from the menu to a space on the desktop to create the shortcut so it looks like below:

This is a great way to put shortcuts where you need them.

Coaching

Notion Tip of the Week – Roadmap Template

Notion is known for the number of templates out there not only from Notion but from the Notion user community as well. This week I want to highlight one from Notion called the Roadmap Template.

If you’re familiar with Agile methodologies of software development the Roadmap template is a great way to kick start using Notion for planning and sprint management. Providing cards, epics, sprints, and structures for capturing user stories and requirements you can use it as is or customize it to your heart’s content. Just add a new page, select Templates, and look under Product Management.

If you found this useful and would like more recommendations for Notion Templates, please click the Like button below and we’ll get right on it!

Coaching, Strategy, Techniques

Maintaining Focus

Maintaining focus on the work at hand is one of the most critical keys to being productive on a daily basis. Even as someone with a daily focus on productivity improvement both professionally and personally, it is impossible to not have times when grand plans go off the rails.  In most cases you expect to learn from those mistakes, but in some cases the mistakes just seem to come back again and again.  I’m willing to admit to the most common recurring mistake I run into in my systems…a lack of focus. 

What should I be doing now? 

Executing the right things at the right times in the right ways is a great approach to being productive when it’s applied consistently. Where things go off the rails is when there are too many things in motion and you fail to focus on the work at hand. Most everyone has multiple things going on at one time. Balancing the work while still maintaining forward momentum can be an effort even greater than the work itself. 

Keeping everything on track 

Let’s take a common situation for me.  I’ll need to write an article, update newsletter content, think yet again (and unsuccessfully) plan a new podcast episode, all while giving priority to billable work for my clients. While I’m on billable work it’s not difficult to focus since there’s an inherent incentive in getting those tasks done. It’s the other work that struggles from a lack of focus. Balancing writing, podcasting, promoting, and general administration fragments focus and results in some, but not nearly enough, getting done. 

How to battle a lack of focus 

There are a number of techniques you can use to encourage focus. The Pomodoro technique of time sprints help some people (not so much me but I’ve seen it work for others.) Checklists, Kanban task boards, and workflows all can help. I’ve found one thing that works for me on a fairly consistent basis. When I can feel my focus drifting I ask, “What should I be doing that creates the greatest long term value for me?” This doesn’t preclude the “necessary evil” tasks. The purpose is to help get back to being productive right away rather than spending time completely resetting. 

Productive focus is a method not an objective

Striving to develop a productive level of focus is not an objective in of itself but rather a way to improve the execution of tasks and plans by staying on target and moving in the right direction.  Make sure when you achieve focus you’ve already identified the right things on which to focus.

 

How do you maintain focus on your work. Any tips you can share? Tell me about them in the comments. 

Coaching

Holiday Shopping in the Age of Outrage

Are you being naughty or nice?

At some point in our recent history it became acceptable to take whatever possible perceived slight and propel it to a public tirade against all things we don’t agree with.  Whether it’s red coffee cups or Black Thursday shopping the holidays are a perfect target for this false fury on the internet.  Any slight, real or perceived, is now the catalyst for a tweet storm or Yelp review with all the civility of an Archie Bunker diatribe. Why do we allow ourselves to fall into this mode of thinking and what can we do about it?

Salespeople are not out to ruin your holiday.

In the vast majority of cases, salespeople are trying to do their best to help you while making it through the crush of harried, rude customers who live by the mantra, “The Customer is Always Right.” (Personally I think whomever came up with that slogan never actually worked with customers, but that’s just me.) Try imagining dealing with a hundred demanding, complaining, immature kindergartners in an 8-hour day and you start to get the idea what it can be like on the sales floor. Yes, I know there are sales people out there who want nothing to do with their jobs or the customers they are there to assist.  Those are the rare ones and should not be used as an excuse to mistreat or abuse anyone working with the public.

Would your grandmother approve of your behavior?

If you stand back and watch the way some people act during holiday shopping the only thing you can imagine is their grandparents would have been appalled. Failures in common courtesy, decorum, and behavior become passable because they might miss out on the last hoverboard on clearance. How difficult is it to take advantage of the holidays to act the way we should be acting all year long, and recognizing people for showing the common decency and behavior which should be the norm?

You will still be loved even without that “thing”.

For some reason we have gotten into the mindset of, if we fail to deliver on a holiday wish, we will no longer be loved by the recipient. Honestly if that is truly the case you were never loved in the first place. Do your best to give from your heart but don’t attach your happiness to the happiness of another.

“Your” holiday is not more important than “my” holiday.

There are multiple holidays and traditions observed during this time of year, all equally important to the people who observe them.  In none of those holidays is the mandate to diminish, criticize, attack, or downplay any other. (If you think “your” holiday does subscribe to that thinking, you need to do some reading and get educated.) Show respect for the observances of everyone.  You don’t have to prove yours is the best by diminishing another. Also, any time “your” holiday is not given top billing and the genuflection you feel it deserves, it is not an attack on the holiday or the religion.  That’s a self-important, arrogant view that has no place this time (or any time) of year.

Remember the “why”.

Remember why you celebrate your holidays.  Think about how you would explain their importance to a child.  Follow those words carefully even in crowds of bustling shoppers or at 4 a.m. in line on Black Friday. Make the greatest gifts you give this year be to the people you don’t know and may not ever see again. Carry the gifts you receive forward and know that the warmth and caring of the holidays doesn’t come with a receipt, a commercial, or a sales flyer.  It’s time to let your heart grow three sizes.

Some readers will recognize this post from the last two years but based on the current climate and state of our interactions with others I thought it would be worth a reminder. If we allow interactions with others to negatively impact our emotional well being our productivity suffers along with ourselves. Avoid adding more stress to an already stressful time of year by staying on task, being patient, and being productive.

Here are some related articles about productive shopping you may find of interest:

Creating a low effort shopping list with Trello

How Android Wear and Google Keep Saved My Day

What do you think about this topic?  Why not share? Come over to the community and let us hear your ideas. Comment here.

Coaching

Productivity lessons from a whiskey bottle

I spent last evening working on a whiskey bottling line for a local distillery as a volunteer. Not only did I want to support the establishment but I also wanted to experience that type of a working process and see what I could glean. Three things struck me as we hand filled, capped, and labeled 930 bottles in two hours. 

Little changes can have big impacts 

As the designated bottle capper, I quickly discovered the smallest adjustments to my part of the process could have significant impacts on my workflow and throughput. For example, moving the bottle caps from the box on the floor to the table next to me shortened the distance I had to cover and time I had to expend between bottles.

These kinds of adjustments aren’t perfect though as I soon discovered. The new location lent itself to caps being knocked to the floor causing a distraction with each occurrence. The overall change was positive, but additional adjustments had to be made. 

Don’t feel that you have to put the brakes on everything to make adjustments to your processes. Make evaluations on the fly when possible, determine possible impacts, test and trial when the opportunity is there, and be prepared to make adjustments if your hypothesis was incorrect.  

Mistakes aren’t the end of the world 

During the filling process issues arose that could have caused significant issues to the execution. One of the issues was one of the hoses used to blow air into the empty bottles to clear them of dust kept blowing off its fitting.

Not having secured the hose before bottling began was a mistake that needed correction. For our purposes replacing the hose was enough but if the job was bigger a more permanent fix would have been in order. What is more important is how the mistake was handled than how it occurred. 

Mistakes happen in processes. Unforeseen issue arise. It’s just the nature of the world. Rather than stopping all production and pointing fingers to assign blame, deal with the problem and get back to work.

There will always be time later for analysis, debate, and postmortems. The key for the productive professional is knowing when to stop and knowing when to keep going. 

Each step is a process itself 

In looking at each step in the bottling process (capping doesn’t take much thought so I had some idle mental cycles to put to use) I realized each wasn’t really step but rather a process in and of itself.  

 Watching the person across from me who was responsible to make sure each bottle contained the correct amount of whiskey I counted no less than 12 separate parts to her “step” in the process. If any of those were to go off the rails the entire worksheet would be interrupted.  

For example, late in the process we change to a new pallet of bottles which unbeknownst to anyone we’re slightly thicker than what we had used to that point. That minor change meant the measurements she was using were now off and needed to be calibrated again. Her process hadn’t changed, but it was no longer working correctly. 

Too often we see things as milestones in a line. Proper workstreams need to be viewed as links in a chain, with each link a circular repeating process. Viewed this way you can see how management can often be blind because of the big picture and miss the smaller processes that make all the difference. 

One bottle at a time 

Workstreams and the people executing them need to be understood not only at the high level but lower levels as well. Viewing everything as a finished pallet of bottles causes you to lose the connection to the success that one filled bottle can be. 

Coaching, Techniques

The most productive option on Facebook

Productivity and Facebook don’t go hand in hand and for good reason.  Facebook can be a rabbit hole of immeasurable depth drawing you further and further away from accomplishing things. How do you deal with this? What’s the secret to staying on track and concentrating on things that will help you be productive?

Unfollow

Now many people are hesitant to use the unfollow option in their news feeds because of FOMO (fear of missing out). I’m going to challenge that notion right now. Unfollow is NOT the same as unfriend. Unfollow is basically saying you don’t want to talk about that topic now. Doesn’t mean you’ll never want to do it in the future, you just don’t want to do it as much.

Think about it this way.  We all have friends or relatives we like to be around and interact with, but we also know there are certain topics to not bring up with them for fear of them going off on a tirade or devolving into the verbal battles of last Thanksgiving.  In person how do you deal with this?  You walk away.  Unfollow is the same principle.  It’s not a matter of telling someone to shut up but rather just turning your back on the conversation for your own mental well-being.  The other person can rant, rave, scream, yell, and advocate for the flat-earth theory of alien visitations all they’d like…just not to you.

Being productive on Facebook is less about ticking checkboxes and more about using your most valuable resource (time) to get what you want from the experience. Allowing others to hijack that resource for their own wants and needs devalues your time and empowers them. It’s your time, use it as you want, not as someone else has decided you should.

It’s not me, it’s you

I use the unfollow option liberally. My newsfeed is just that…mine. I don’t have the interest to spend my time reading content that does not positively contribute to my daily life, my family, or my overall well-being (including entertainment). I recommend you do the same. Control your information, manage your time, and be productive (and judicious) about the world as it comes to you.