Productive Magazine - Issue II

In December I posted about a new Internet magazine called Productive. It was a new online magazine written by proponents of the Getting Things Done, "GTD" philosophy for work productivity. The first issue had some good articles and tips on, well, getting things done, how to plan, and make the best use of your time. To read the post with link to Productive issue I, click HERE. Issue II is now available online.

As appraisers, many who are solo-professionals, productivity is a very important component of our daily life and existence. If we are not productive in running our business, be it financial management, marketing, networking, client management, appraisal theory and methodology, report writing, inspecting and general business acumen, we will not be a successful as we would like, and perhaps even fail. Appraisers have to be able to plan and be productive.

I have a tendency to take assignments and perform the inspection, and then put off the research and report writing. Staying organized and focused certainly helps. When I do complete an assignment I typically say to myself, that was not too bad, I should have completed this earlier.

In any event, Issue II of Productive includes the following article topics:

• New Year's Resolutions
• The art of saying No
• How to optimize your life and claim a couple of hours a week back
• Setting SMART goals
• Mind- mapping
• Working in groups
• GTD and mind mapping

Here is an excerpt from the Goal Setting article by Dustin Wax.

One reason goal-setting is so daunting is because we don’t know how to set good goals. We set vague, unspecified, open-ended goals – goals we hope to get around to “someday”, “eventually”, “when inspiration strikes”, “when I have more time”. These words and phrases need to be banished from your goal-setting vocabulary. What you need are crisp, clear, specific goals.

SMART goals.

The idea of the SMART goal was conceived by a business psychologist named George Doran. SMART is an acronym, standing for goals that are:

• Specific,
• Measurable,
• Achievable,
• Relevant, and
• Time-bound

Let’s look at these elements one by one.

S – Specific – Set goals with specific outcomes. Avoid loose language. Ex: “Lose 10 pounds.”

M – Measurable – Set concrete goals that you can keep track of – and keep track of them!

A – Achievable – Set realistic goals that you’re prepared to pursue. Losing 20 pounds this year is reasonable. 50 pounds is pushing it. 200 pounds in a year is almost impossible – and when you fail to meet it, you’ll feel bad about yourself.

R – Relevant – Set goals that matter to you, that will have a positive effect in your life.

T – Time-bound – Give yourself a deadline to create a sense of urgency and keep you focused on the task at hand. Ex: “Follow my doctor’s diet and exercise three times a week to lose 10 pounds by March 31st.” A bad goal – but the kind we are most comfortable committing to – is something like “Spend more time with family.” That’s a dumb goal – more time than what? How will you know if you’re spending more time with your family? How much more? When should you spend more time with your family – tomorrow? next week? someday? What should you be doing with them, and how often?


The PDF Productive magazine is a free download, and it does have some useful content for those that use and perhaps more importantly require guidelines and processes for accomplishing tasks. I recommend you take a look and see if some of the artifices might be of use.

To read the magazine, click HERE. It is a large file, so give your computer time to download and open.