I don’t know about you, but I have always liked a good challenge. Doing something that stretches the bounds of my competency puts me on the edge and freaks me out a bit — just enough to force me to grow and expand my possibilities. Read More »
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Karen Leland
Bio:Karen Leland is a passionate foodie, mixed media photography artist and freelance writer. The best selling author of six books, she is also the President of Sterling Marketing and Consulting Group which helps authors, entrepreneurs and small business owners build their brands through pr and social media.
Over the past 25 years Karen has been an executive coach, workshop leader and keynote speaker to Fortune 500 companies including American Express, AT&T, Oracle and Marriott Hotels.
Karen is co-author of the bestselling book Time Management In An Instant: 60 Ways to Make the Most of Your Day and Watercooler Wisdom: How Smart People Prosper in the Face of Conflict, Pressure and Change.
In her capacity as a freelance journalist Karen has written for such publications as the San Francisco Chronicle, Women’s Day, Self, The Los Angeles Times, Entrepreneur, Hemispheres, and many others.
She is a regular contributor to media and has appeared on over 100 radio and television programs including: The Oprah Show, CNN, ABC View By The Bay, Good Day New York, Bloomberg and many more.
Karen provides expert quotes on the topics of time management and productivity to a wide variety of publications including The New York Times, Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, Pink Magazine, Fortune, Kiplinger and others.
To keep her own work-lifestyle balance she enjoys cooking, photography and belting out show tunes to any of her friends who will listen.
My Focus
Productivity, Time management, Business
Recent Posts
Late last year, I moved from my outside office and into my home office full-time. After almost twenty years, I went from taking a twenty-minute commute to a big, fancy building to walking down the stairs and into my well-appointed back room office. Read More »
I am besieged by the age-old problem of both not having enough time to do what I want with Twitter and getting lost in its maze of messages. For some productivity enlightenment on this topic, I turned to the founder of The Blog Squad, Denise Wakeman. Read More »
The most productive people I know are the ones who recognize that true productivity is not measured by the amount of stuff they get done, but by getting done the things that have the most meaning to them and doing them in a satisfying way. Read More »
Now that spring is in full swing, it’s time to take on that honored tradition of spring cleaning. Yes, that means opening your desk drawers, confronting your supply closet and cleaning out your pencil cup. Read More »
Are you tired, worn out, overworked? Apparently, so many of us are that a major U.S./Canadian initiative called Take Back Your Time has been formed to challenge the epidemic of overwork, over-scheduling and time famine that now threatens our health and relationships. Read More »
On Tuesday, I left my desk and made the short, yet scenic, drive from Marin County into San Francisco. I went into the city to meet a client — an editor I’d been working with mostly via email for the past six months. Read More »
More Must Reads
Sleepless nights, it seems, are becoming a regular gig. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, about 60 million Americans suffer from insomnia each year. And that sleeplessness can have a devastating impact on our productivity. Read More »
Years ago, I worked with a woman who scared me silly. What I found the most frightening was the way she would cheat, control, charm and cajole to get what she wanted, and she had to be the center of attention at all times as well. Read More »
I have encountered executives who were balls of fire mid-morning, but turned into stone by 4 p.m.; I’ve coached creative types who rocked the house in the early a.m. but were slackers at lunchtime; and I’ve seen consultants whose best work got done after dinner. Read More »
I will never forget the vice president pulling me aside and saying, “We need to talk.” As I listened to his concerns, I kept raising my objections and saying, “But that’s not us, that is some other company with a similar name.” Read More »
Every December, I sit down to write my business plan for the upcoming year. Invariably, however, the lure of pumpkin pie and the continuous playing of Christmas music take me off track. I find that I’m just too distracted to seriously focus on the business planning … Read More »
“If I had a gun, I’d shoot myself,” I scribble on the note I pass to my friend Chester. “If I had a gun, I’d shoot them,” he scribbles back. It is, without doubt, one of the single worst presentations I have ever had to sit … Read More »
Constant interruptions can kill your concentration and put a crimp in your productivity. And according to recent research, you are probably suffering the tyranny of interruptions much more often than you realize. Read More »
At first glance, my office looks like a neat and tidy den of well-organized supplies, electronic equipment and an in-control inbox. So much so that visitors to my work area often blurt out an astonished, “Does your office always look like this, or did you clean … Read More »
About six months ago I was asked to submit a proposal on a branding project for a multi-national company. I, along with several of my colleagues, put in at least week’s worth of preparation time, sat in on countless conferences calls and finally flew to … Read More »
Sure you want to lose 20 pounds, and earn twice as much money. But it makes sense to pursue some productivity-enhancing pledges as well. Here are five good goals, ranging from internal auditing to spreading your goodwill. Read More »
I’m sorry, lo siento, prastee meenya pozhalosta, and mea culpa. Please don’t hate me, but I had to do it. I know you are probably sick of the subject, but no self-respecting time management/productivity expert could get away with not writing about New Year’s resolutions … Read More »
If you’re in a dilemma about what to get or what to give on the tech front this holiday season, check out this list of productivity-enhancing presents. They’re all solid choices, but won’t break the bank. Read More »
I can’t wait for 2009 to be over. I can only think of one other year (early 20s: bad marriage, even worse divorce) that was as stressful, distressing, scary and plain old difficult as this one has been. Over the course of the year, I … Read More »
I hate to be late. If I’m driving to a business meeting and get stuck in traffic, I whip myself into a frenzy, imagining the person on the other end checking their watch every two minutes and cursing me for having such little regard for … Read More »
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah and Good Kwanza. With Turkey Day stuffed behind us, the holiday season is off to a running start, and the official office parties are soon to follow. For many people, the stress of these corporate celebrations is that they require us … Read More »
Once just the purview of cheesy late-night infomercials (“buy now and get this beautiful set of six steak knives at no extra charge”), free has taken on a life of its own in the new economy. Even the prestigious and pricey New York Times … Read More »
Last year, I attended a professional workshop where the instructor asked us to write out our worst habit. Unfortunately, more than one answer flooded my brain, and I had to seriously consider which to choose. In the end, I decided that my most unabashed, shameless and … Read More »
“If I’m going to feel lousy, I may as well go into the office and get some work done.” “I’ve got so much to do; I can’t afford not to go in.” “It’s just a little cough.” At one time or another, probably all of us have uttered these … Read More »
A whole generation of web workers has been raised on the idea that the more activities you can do at one time, the more of a productivity superstar you are. But is the ability to juggle Facebooking a friend; scanning an email; texting on your cell … Read More »
Even the most efficient of web workers may occasionally feel overwhelmed by the nitty-gritty details of running a freelance business or the more-to-do-with-fewer-resources stress of working for a company. In either case, when you find yourself in the thick of things, there’s help available in a new … Read More »
Unfortunately, in the age of viral marketing, computer viruses are part of the package. Read More »
According to one new study from DiGiorno, 45 percent of the country’s workers say they’re taking shorter and/or fewer lunch breaks than they did a year ago. More than a third say they pass on their lunch break, thanks to an increasing workload. Read More »
According to one poll conducted by About.com , over a third of respondents avoid going home because of the overwhelming mess Read More »
Editor’s note: With this post, we welcome Karen Leland, our new Productivity Superstar columnist, to the WebWorkerDaily team. Karen is the bestselling author of six books, including the recent “Time Management In An Instant: 60 Ways to Make the Most of Your Day,” and is … Read More »
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