How to Get Everything on Your To Do List Done

I'm a big time planner. I even schedule lunches and breaks, otherwise I get so busy with work, I simply forget to eat and rest.

Using my iPhone, I tried out Apple's Reminder's app that comes built-in to my mobile device. I didn't find it all that practical, or useful.

It wasn't very configurable, and it's kind of bland. Which is surprising coming from a company where design is usually so well thought out.

Then I stumbled upon Wunderlist -- an amazing -- repeat -- amazing -- task managing app, available for most mobile devices, and it has a web interface for using on a PC or a Mac.

With Wunderlist, I can create different lists, from everything for daily to-do's, to specific one-off tasks.

Wunderlist On the Desktop

And within each primary task, I can create sub-tasks, so those of you -- like me -- that feel a sense of accomplishment from checking off numerous items will get your reward.

The best thing about Wunderlist, aside from it being a FREE app, is it's simplicity.

Simply open the sliding panel if it isn't already expanded, to display your lists, and those the program creates for you by default -- called "Smart Lists." These Smart Lists automatically populate with the tasks you set by type, for example "Today" shows you all the items you've created that are due today.

You can create your own lists, add tasks to these lists, prioritize them, create due dates, even set reminder alarms via push, email or desktop notification.

My favorite feature is that Wunderlist syncs my lists across all my devices using the cloud, so it doesn't matter if I'm in front of my work or home PC, on the road with my iPhone, or anywhere for that matter -- I'll still get reminded of my to do's and be able to check them off as I complete them.

Wunderlist Mobile App

Wunderlist is clean and very easy to use -- the learning curve for me was less than the time it takes to order a pizza.

You can customize the background, the notifications and the names of the lists, as well, to make it fit your own personal preferences.

If you're like me, and get satisfaction from checking off items from a to do list, Wunderlist is worth a try.

Follow this link to get a FREE month of their Pro version: https://wunderli.st/1ZPL1j

Can We Talk? It's the Biggest Problem Facing All Businesses

Can we talk?

Comedic legend Joan Rivers is known for her brash one-liners, but perhaps she's known most for her famed catch-phrase: "can we talk?"

When I was a kid, I had a handful of jobs in call centres where all we did was talk. Well, sort of -- they crammed us into a giant room, with paper thin cubicles barely wide enough for you to sit in without bumping elbows with those on either side. In between calls, supervisors would run up and down the narrow rows, yelling: "no talking to your neighbors! Just keep dialing."

It was like being in a school classroom, and having the teacher slap your wrist for passing notes to the cute girl in the corner.

Over the years, I've learned that the most successful teams, departments and ultimately companies, are the ones where everyone talks freely to everyone else.

Lack of communications is the single biggest problem affecting every company I have ever worked with and for.

Passing a note to the cute girl in class.

Makes sense, because although we think "company" equals "big faceless entity" in reality all a company really is, is a collection of people.

And the only way to get that collection of people to work together for the good of the company, is to have those people talk.

Talk isn't a distraction as the supervisors in that call centre wrongly believe. Talk brings ideas together, allows people to discuss problems, and work out solutions.

Though talking also creates politics, in-fighting, envy, suspicion, angst, and other negative things to the office.

Which is why many don't talk in the first place -- they FEAR the possible ramifications of their openness.

Communications in business is the biggest challenge
for all companies.

Seems like a paradox, on one hand people don't talk enough to each other in the world of work. On the other, talking openly can bring about more problems, simply by the very act of sharing what goes on in our heads.

It's not a true paradox, in that we can't ever solve this.

It's a two-fold solution, both from the top -- down.

Leadership within the company must first set out to create a corporate culture of inclusion, openness, honesty, and trust. From the president on down, every leader within the company must buy-into the concepts of good, honest and open communications.

And the second part, also stems from the leaders of the company -- hiring practices. Don't just hire people that can do the job, hire people that fit into an open, honest and trusting environment. 

In order for any corporate culture to work, you have to be careful to only bring into that environment people that fit into that corporate culture.

Often it comes down to hiring the right people
for the corporate culture.

All too often I've seen people brought into a company that just don't fit in. And in some cases, I've felt I was that person that didn't fit in too.

It's one thing to be able to do the job, but if everyone at the company is dancing to the tune of a different drummer, it's not a good fit.

It's up to a company's leadership team to develop the corporate culture which fits their leadership style, while creating an environment where communications is not only encouraged, it's mandatory.

And through the creation of that corporate culture of mandatory communications, you determine at the outset the key characteristics your staff must have, to ensure the continuation of that communications-friendly corporate culture.

And of course, as with all good companies, those in charge lead by example, demonstrating how talking to each other really is the best way to do business.

So You Want to Start Your Own Business? What's Stopping You? Maybe This...

What's holding you back from becoming an entrepreneur?

So many people tell me: "one day, one day, Jordan, I'm going to start my own business."

Why not today? Because "one day" never seems to come.

We are indoctrinated into society, thinking the normal way of life is to go to school, get an education, and then get a job.

And that was a decent way of life for most, up until the past decade or so, when jobs -- good jobs with real benefits, job security and a decent wage -- disappeared.

Yet for most of us, we still hold on to outdated beliefs, thinking we got our education, so finding that good job won't be hard. Everyone can find work.

Looking for work these days is like picking through stale leftovers. Big businesses continually cut costs by axing good jobs, and replacing them with project-based hourly temporary contracted gigs.

The biggest thing holding people back from being their own boss is this misconception from days long since gone. 

For those that were lucky enough to get -- and still have -- a decent good job -- fear is the next big stumbling block to entrepreneurship. 

Everyone knows someone looking for work.

Years ago, I started going to meetups to grow my social network. When you first meet someone new, one of the most common questions you ask, or are asked, is: "what do you do?"

We tie so much of our identities to what we do for a living, it has become another stigma in society -- because if you don't work, you don't exist.

When I first started going to these meetup events, everyone had a job. Now, more than half -- I'd even guess over 70 percent -- are unemployed or underemployed.

Big business has cleaned house to the point where: "I'm in between jobs," has been replaced with the more direct: "I'm looking for work," as a standard response to: "what do you do?"

So those who have a decent job, and see their colleagues, friends, even family members, be let go, and replaced with temporary contractors, they fear leaving their decent job to make their own way in the world.

But that fear works two-fold, not only do they fear leaving, they are in constant flux, fearing that they will be next -- that one day they will be replaced by a temporary contractor.

Fear is a funny thing, in a so unfunny way.

Science tells us fear is a natural instinctive response we all have as human beings, to preserve and safeguard our lives. The fight or flight instinct -- our fear response -- kept our ancestors from being eaten by a bear, keeps our kids from sticking their tongues to frozen street poles (or not!), and keeps us from quitting our secure day jobs.

However, the later isn't so much a fight or flight response, as it is in our heads.

And this brings us to the biggest roadblock to entrepreneurship -- our own attitudes, mindsets, and ways of thinking.

Anyone can be an entrepreneur.

Anyone.

Your boss, your best friend, your ex, even you.

However, the first step in any journey requires you to open up your mind, and make that first step.

If you tell yourself: "I can't do this, this is crazy!" Then you never will be an entrepreneur, or do anything else that you think is crazy.

However, if you put all doubts on hold, take a deep breath, and take that one giant leap, you'll be on your way to conquering crazy, overcoming fear, and learning that our society's misconceptions of going to school to land a decent job are false.

Congratulations! You are ever closer to making your own way in the world, rather than depending on others to constantly employ you.

Because there is no greater dependency in life, than having to depend on someone else to write your paycheque.