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Sharon Dale

Sharon Dale is our Productivity Ninja, based in the north of England.

She will be hosting our How to Get Things Done public workshop in Halifax on 31st January

Book your place here (not in Halifax? Click here to see our other How To Get Things Done training)

In this post she explains how she reclaimed time in her busy schedule, by unsubscribing to a host of email newsletters and mailshots.

Since New Year’s Day I have been doing some clearing out.

This is customary for me. Each year I feel the need to make some changes (read improvements) at this time of year.

This year I realised that there are lots of newsletters and marketing email’s which I have subscribed to over time but am no longer reading. What I noticed is that each time I go into my mailbox I automatically delete these and whilst this is not taking up a lot of time, sometimes it steals more attention than it should.

I was reminded this week that there are 168 hours in a week, that is all and it is impossible to create more time. All we can do is make sure that we are giving our attention to the right things.

So I decided it was time to get rid of these attention grabbing, mainly marketing emails about old interests for good. I have gone against type and tried not to worry about recording anything and decided to use my admittedly poor memory and deal with any laggards later on.

Some of these emails are very simple to unsubscribe from, you click on a link at the end of the message and reach a page which generally thanks you for your interest and tells you that you have successfully unsubscribed.

Some ask if you are sure and you have to press a button or another link (do not back out now – press the button!), and yet others require you to remember a login and password that you set up some time ago and this turns into a multiple action project. These are the ones I will deal with, one at a time, probably as part of a post weekly review tidy.

I already feel better; for a few seconds work each time I am incrementally reducing my inbox clutter.

If you would like to learn more about managing your attention and getting things done, get along to my How to Get Things Done workshop in Halifax on Friday (31st Jan 2013)

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Productivity Ninjas at work – Think Productive Ninja, Sharon Dale

Sharon Dale

We’re big fans of Lifehacker here at Think Productive, especially their “How I Work” series

So, we thought we’d do our own version – and introduce you to Ninja, Sharon Dale.

Sharon will be be running our How to Get Things Done workshop in Halifax at the end of this month – details here.

Follow Sharon on Twitter

What would your answers be to these questions? No idea? Need some help?

WHAT HARDWARE DO YOU USE?

A 13″ MacBookPro which will need to be replaced this year after four years of good service. I use this at home with two Samsung screens with a Goldtouch keyboard and a Magic Trackpad.

I have an iPad (3rd generation) which is my constant companion for email, tasks and notes plus entertainment. I use an Apple Bluetooth keyboard with this.

My phone is an iPhone 5 which I also use for ubiquitous capture (see below).

WHAT SOFTWARE DO YOU USE?

I use Evernote to keep electronic reference information in a searchable format which is also accessible from iPad, iPhone, and the web.

I use Parallels in order to run a a couple of PC based software products but much prefer the Mac operating system. I have used and supported PCs since the mid 1990s and so I am very familiar with PC software.

As a team we use Sugar Sync for file sharing

WHAT MOBILE APPS AND TO-DO APPS DO YOU LOVE?

I mentioned ubiquitous capture using my iPhone 5 above.

I use a great little app called Captio which is a very quick way to capture thoughts which then are very quickly transmitted to the email account set up in the options. I also use the camera to remind me of things. It makes my photo stream a bit strange from time to time.

I use Omnifocus for task management, mainly using the iPad version. I also like Readability which I use to save items for later reading.

Away from work I love Spotify so that I can listen to a range of music and Soundhound to identify music that I hear out and about.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PRODUCTIVITY BOOK?

“Making it all Work“ by David Allen which I find a more complete read than “Getting Things Done“, and of course “How to be a Productivity Ninja“.

HOW DO YOU ARRANGE YOUR DESK?

I have a home office which is a narrow room with a great IKEA desk and freedom chair which is really comfortable. I use two screens which make it very easy to work using multiple windows for research.

I have three lovely wooden in-trays, one for home, one for work and one for study.

I use a tickler file which I find invaluable for keeping paperwork safe until I need it.

DO YOU USE ANY PRODUCTIVITY OR TIME-SAVING TRICKS IN YOUR HOME LIFE?

All of our towels and bedding items are the same colour which means that it is much easier when washing them.

I always have an ongoing shopping list on the fridge door which I grab when I leave the house.

All of my socks are the same which means I do not have to pair them.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PRODUCTIVITY TRICK OR TECHNIQUE?

Pomodoros really help focus the mind on whatever you need to get done and get started on those big rocks.

WHAT’S YOUR BIGGEST PRODUCTIVITY STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS?

Strength? I am open to new ideas and incorporate anything useful that I learn into my systems but I don’t change things for the sake of it, only when it is useful; Continual improvement is the key.

Weakness? I am easily distracted but I have learned and developed methods to help me to focus. I think focus is the most important productivity skill.

AWAY FROM WORK, WHAT DO YOU LOVE THE MOST?

I am pretty much a home bird but I do love getting out and seeing places and also taking photos. I don’t do either enough though so one of the changes I am making this year is taking the time when I travel for work to get out there.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PRODUCTIVITY QUOTE?

I like lots of quotes, one of my favourites is: