The Woody Allen School of Productivity: 

 

1. Change Slows You Down. 

 

2. Don't Look Back. 

 

3. Just Keep Swinging. 

 

4. Have a Life. 

 

5. Watch Your Margins. 

 

6. Keep Extra Cooks Out of the Kitchen. 

 

7. Don't Micro-manage. 

 

8. Fix it Quick. 

 

 

Fast Company shared these 6 tips for daily productivity. 

We love #2: define your top three most important tasks to complete everyday! 

 

1. Drink a glass of water when you wake up. Your body loses water while you sleep, so you’re naturally dehydrated in the morning. A glass of water when you wake helps start your day fresh. When do you drink your first glass of water each day?

 

2. Define your top 3. Every morning Mike asks himself, “What are the top three most important tasks that I will complete today?” He prioritizes his day accordingly and doesn’t sleep until the Top 3 are complete. What’s your "Top 3" today?

 

3. The 50/10 Rule. Solo-task and do more faster by working in 50/10 increments. Use a timer to work for 50 minutes on only one important task with 10 minute breaks in between. Mike spends his 10 minutes getting away from his desk, going outside, calling friends, meditating, or grabbing a glass of water. What’s your most important task for the next 50 minutes?

 

4. Move and sweat daily. Regular movement keeps us healthy and alert. It boosts energy and mood, and relieves stress. Most mornings you’ll find Mike in a CrossFit or a yoga class. How will you sweat today?

 

5. Express gratitude. Gratitude fosters happiness, which is why Mike keeps a gratitude journal. Every morning, he writes out at least five things he’s thankful for. In times of stress, he’ll pause and reflect on 10 things he’s grateful for. What are you grateful for today?

 

6. Reflect daily. Bring closure to your day through 10 minutes of reflection. Mike asks himself, “What went well?” and “What needs improvement?” So... what went well today? How can you do more of it?

 

 

You don't want to do the work, but the work must get done! 

Fancy Hands customers are busy people, and they’ve simplified their lives by using our service. 

Our assistants handle those annoying little to-dos that pile up so easily.

Check out some recent requests that our clients asked their Fancy Hands assistants to tackle. 

REQUEST: 

Looking for some place within 1 mile from me.  

Need to buy it today or tomorrow.

RESPONSE: 

They have a men's full length lab-coat available for $21.98. 

I called to confirm, and they have a medium in stock. 

I’ve listed the address, phone number, and hours of operation below. 

Regards, 

Angela S. 

TASK #2: ARRANGE EXCHANGE OF BROKEN ITEM   

REQUEST: 

Here are the details of what the error message is…

Can they send me a new one? Or can I exchange it at a Nike store here in NYC?

RESPONSE: 

That’s located at 21 Mercer Street, New York, NY 10013. 

The store phone number is 1-212-226-5433. 

Just bring the old one along with a valid ID. 

Your reference number with is 121114-016623. 

If you have any questions, just let me know!

- Michelle J.

REQUEST: 

I have a head cold that I can't seem to shake. 

Here’s the phone number.  I’m a new patient. 

 

RESPONSE: 

I called and spoke with Ashley. She entered you into the system. 

You will be seeing Dr. Jamie Morrison.

Regards,

Joanna F.

REQUEST: 

http://www.inktalks.com/people/speakers 

http://www.inktalks.com/people/staff

Send back to me links to their Twitter profiles. 

RESPONSE: 

Best,

Julie B.

TASK #5: MAKE A PLAYLIST  

REQUEST: 

starting with the earliest one I posted, of all my "for NAME" videos from India.

Call the playlist "Video Requests in India 2011".

RESPONSE:

All the best, 

Katie S. 

REQUEST: 

Specifically I am most interested in any paintings that they have been involved with the sale of.

RESPONSE: 

Please find the attached articles that mention your requested art dealers below. 

Regards,

Mandie S.

Dave makes everything pretty at Fancy Hands. He not only designed the website, but he played a major role in making our offices feel inviting and fun. 

 

He rarely arrives at work empty handed. He loves to bring art and cheap beer in to share with the team. He's on a mission to find the worst, cheapest beer in all the land.

 

WHAT IS YOUR WORST QUALITY? 

 

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST RISK YOU'VE EVER TAKEN? 

 

WHAT'S THE MOST MEMORABLE REQUEST YOU'VE SEEN FROM A CUSTOMER?

 

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE REQUEST TO GIVE TO OUR FANCY HANDS ASSISTANTS?

New York's got a lot of great restaurants but I hate calling around to get reservations.  I like to have our assistants hash out the details, and I just show up when it's time. 

 

WHAT FOOD DO YOU HATE? 

 

WHO IS YOUR SPIRIT ANIMAL?

 

WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?

 

 

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THE 16 YEAR OLD VERSION OF YOURSELF?

 

"...delivering service so WOW that I have to write about it here."

Ann Smarty just called us "one of the most promising startups on the globe"! 

She knows what she's talking about, obviously - check out her last name!

Read about it here. 

One of the most popular questions that we’re asked is, 

You bet your Fancy Hands we can. 

Our assistants are all based in America, but we work for clients worldwide, as long as we can get the job done in English. 

Recently, for one of our Australian customers, an assistant got three quotes for a car repair, then scheduled an appointment to have the work done.  

In Germany, a Fancy Hands assistant ordered and shipped a toy that one of our clients wanted for her daughter. 

For a Canadian client, an assistant got estimates for a family portrait session and then booked an appointment with the selected photographer. 

An assistant compiled a list of sightseeing suggestions for an Austrian customer who was hosting out-of-town visitors that weekend. 

A client living in Hong Kong asked for research on climate change. 

A New Zealand couple asked their Fancy Hands assistant to find party venues for them. 

 

And in the UK, a customer asked us to find her a doctor close to her ‘flat’. 

Oh, right…Madonna’s not British anymore…they sent her back to the states, and she stopped using that fake accent. 

Ah well. Cheerio!

She says we 'get' it. We're glad she 'gets' us. 

It made us dance. 

Your Fancy Hands assistants are an amazing group of people. Based all over the United States, they’re a wide variety of moms, dads, students, artists, and geeks.

We asked some of our assistants to share the most memorable request they’ve ever completed for a Fancy Hands customer and, together, we took a trip down memory lane.

We had a customer who lost a dog.  We worked on a number of requests related to finding him, and guess what…we did! - Allen L. 

I found destinations in Europe for an awesome bachelor party that involved guests from all over the world. - Caroline R. 

Someone asked me to calculate the circumference of the earth in centimeters. – Reuben P. 

I researched a vasectomy for an interested client…there was a video involved…I’ve never forgotten that one! - Mandie S.

I looked for carpet cleaners in New York. It brought me back to the time when I lived there. –Evangelina R.

I once answered a request to call a gentleman's mother (who was a volunteer summer school teacher) and encourage her to continue because her contribution was invaluable. In looking for quotes to use, I found nothing that conveyed his description of her service, so I chose to write her a poem just for her. He later sent me a thank you telling me that she called him crying because she loved it so much, and she wanted to know who the author was. I emailed him a copy to which he replied, “your kindness had no measure today. Thank you for all you did.” I will always remember that task. - Tina C. 

I was asked to call a girl's mother at work and deliver a 'singing telegram.' I created an original, pretty wacky rendition of the “Happy Birthday” song and sang my heart out. It was fun! - Tasha S.

I negotiated a press pass for a client to go to the Running of the Bulls in Spain.  - Shauna L. 

Assistants for Everyone. Do what you love. We'll do the rest. 

Fancy Hands and GTD go together like David Allen and label makers. We're the perfect compliment to GTD implementations whether you follow the system religiously, or opt to use just some of its techniques.

In "Getting Things Done," David Allen talks about creating a "mind like water" by capturing everything you need to do in an Inbox, then going back and making sense of it later. When it's time to sort through your inbox, you figure out your "next actions," creating projects, delegating, scheduling, and (in some cases) actually getting things done.

In an ideal system, you have a collection of (next) actions that need to get done. Then you get into the zone, crank out email, make calls, and check things off your list. 

Even in the most ideal GTD solution, your list of actions invariably contains a lot of stuff that you need to do personally. But often, your list contains things that anyone can do. That's where Fancy Hands comes in. 

When scanning your actions, take an extra second and think: do I really need to do this, or does it just need to get done? When you find something that can be done by anyone (like "set a meeting with Jane," or "find pricing options for a new scanner"), send it to us and move it to your "Waiting list." 

We work really well with the standard GTD implementation, but this suggestion proactively includes Fancy Hands in the process. Fancy Hands can help ensure that you're getting the most done on your important tasks and not spinning your wheels over the little things.

Read what our customers are saying about us on Twitter here. 

WHAT ARE YOU GOOD AT? 

WHAT IS YOUR WORST QUALITY? 

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST RISK YOU'VE EVER TAKEN? 

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE REQUEST TO GIVE TO OUR FANCY HANDS ASSISTANTS?

WHAT FOOD DO YOU HATE? 

WHAT FOOD DO YOU LOVE? 

SOCIAL MEDIA?

WHO IS YOUR SPIRIT ANIMAL?

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE SONG ON THE COMPANY SONOS?

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THE 16 YEAR OLD VERSION OF YOURSELF?