ORANGE STAR BLOG
Subscribe to Fresh Squeezed, essential ideas on branding, marketing and growing a small business.
Subscribe to Fresh Squeezed, essential ideas on branding, marketing and growing a small business.
Efficiency, effectiveness and the need for more slack
In a world of constant distractions and the need to be efficient, we lose sight of what is truly important — effectiveness.Efficiency and effectiveness are not the same things. Being effective does not lie in being efficient.You can be efficient without being effective, and you can be effective without being efficient. It often comes down to having…
Make sure an important task is done correctly every single time
Want to make sure an important task is done correctly every single time? Create a checklist “Creating a checklist is enormously valuable for two reasons. First, checklisting will help you define a system for a process that hasn’t yet been formalized-once the checklist has been created, it’s easier to see how to improve or Automate…
Bad Decisions: How Scarcity Trap Affects Our Thinking
When it comes to making decisions, being in a state of scarcity can trap people into making bad choices.This is because when people are focused on meeting their urgent needs, they are less able to focus on anything else.While it is possible to reduce the impact of mistakes caused by scarcity, it is important to…
Yo’ data is yo’ life — back up your backup
Can you put a price on your data, photos, and notes?If you lost them all, how much would you be willing to pay to get them back?My friend David once told me “Yo’ data is yo’ life”… Back up your backup.Have at least one physical backup (I use Apple’s Time Machine + and an external…
Treat all email responses like SMS text messages
Inbox ZERO?! Pffft! Mine is more like Inbox 8,675,309. If your inbox is constantly overflowing and you can’t seem to keep up with responding to emails, then the 5 sentence rule is for you! This personal policy dictates that all email responses — no matter the recipient or subject — will be five sentences or…
Feynman’s 7 “Tricks” for Evaluating Information
We are drowning in information. Most of that information is irrelevant. If only we could sort what matters from what doesn’t.The good news is, you can.In his FS.blog, Shane Parrish shares how to Find the Signal in the Noise. “A large part of wisdom is knowing what to ignore. A large part of expertise is knowing where…
Write a manual for the magic
So, you finally ripped the proverbial saran wrap off your brain and had a breakthrough as to how to do something, or do something better. Congrats! 🎉Wouldn’t it be great to have a step-by-step guide on how to do the thing you just discovered?Write yourself a manual for the magic!You might be thinking, “I’ll just…
Easily automate downloading email attachments
If you don’t have systems to keep your files organized, important documents get lost. And Searching through Gmail for stuff just plain sucks.Zapier can simplify your email and file management by automatically saving your email attachments to Google Drive or Dropbox for safekeeping. Whenever you get a new email in Gmail with an attachment, the…
What if it’s easier than you think?
How many times have you made something super complicated in your mind and then procrastinated doing it? Then when you finally force yourself to take action, you marvel at how simple and easy it actually was. As a professional, I strive to provide elegantly simple solutions to complex problems. Also, I am a master at…
Unsubscribe — a quick tip
Do you feel overwhelmed by the number of emails in your inbox? I sure do.Are you subscribed to too many newsletters and mailing lists? Yep, me too.Unsubscribing from these sources can be a huge relief.Here’s a quick tip:Open your email and do a search for the word “Unsubscribe.” This will show you every email in your inbox…
