How to Make Easy Video Intros

I’m going to share the secret of making professional looking videos in only a few minutes: Animoto (<– affiliate link).  I;ve been using the business version of Animoto for the last year.  It is an extremely easy way to make a whole bunch of great video slideshows and intros.  That’s what I’ve been using for my videos.  Here are some examples below:

In order to do what I do legally, you need to buy the business version.  It’s a bit expensive, but I think it’s worth it.  But, I want to list the pros and cons:

• Pros of the business version.
  • Very fast and easy to make videos.
  • You get 100+ royalty free music choices.
  • Hi-def videos when you need them.
• Cons
  • It’s a bit expensive.
  • The videos tend to look the same after a while.
  • People who use Animoto know that you are using an Animoto video.

Overall, I definitely recommend the service.  But listen to my podcast for a more opinionated view of the web application.

Royalty-Free Music

When it comes to music that you can use for your podcast, you get what you pay for.  If you are looking for free music, they tend to not be very good.  I bought my podcast intro music from Music Bakery.  Each track runs about $50.  There are other sites like Jamendo and Smartsound that run about the same.  But the music is great quality and help you to build your brand.  The downside is that other people may use the same songs (listen to the podcast to find out who else uses my intro).

Hope these answers help! If anyone has a question, give me a call on my 24/7 voicemail line at 714-643-5301.  Your questions and feedback make this blog and podcast to keep going!

Other posts that you may enjoy:

1. 001 Productive Catholic Podcast: Networking and Productivity
2. 003 PC Podcast: Autofocus for Catholics
3. 006 PC Podcast: Getting Things Done with The Daily Saint

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© Dean Soto for Productive Catholic , 2010. | SOTO9438 | Read the article at the blog! | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: audio, easy video, intros, mass media, media technology, music, podcast, podcast production, podcasts, secret, secrets, technology, video, voicemail, web software

Thankfully, Mike agreed to an interview on the Productive Catholic Podcast. Let me tell you, I am seriously in awe of how much this guy gets done. Not only does he find the time to spark a Catholic reformation and leadership revolution within a school of hundreds of kids, he manages to care for his family, and maintain his blog on a regular basis. It’s no doubt that he knows how to be effective.

In the podcast we talk about how he utilizes a hybrid form of GTD. While he uses an electronic means to keep track of tasks, he spends some time every morning planning his day in order to build a productivity anchor.

We also talk about how working smarter, not harder, is something that everyone should be striving for.  Just working for the sake of working is not what leads to holiness, but working effectively, setting boundaries, and finding the best way of doing things is something God wants.

Lastly, one very interesting discussion was on leadership, and how it is a skill that is extremely important to every Catholic.  Being a true leader involves inspiring others to be better in every way possible – that includes work.  The church needs more leaders that can teach others the value of being effective.  Currently, work is dominated by the secular and by secular leaders.  Of course, not everything secular is bad, but if we want to spark a Catholic reformation of work, leaders need to teach younger generations how to become successful and make a difference in the working world for Christ!

For more of The Daily Saint, visit his blog!  Also check out his podcast on iTunes!  You won’t regret it!

Other posts that you may enjoy:

1. 001 Productive Catholic Podcast: Networking and Productivity
2. 004 PC Podcast: Effectively Working and Studying with JR Duboc
3. 003 PC Podcast: Autofocus for Catholics

Get your free mini-guide: Three Ways to Triple your Efficiency at Work!

© Dean Soto for Productive Catholic , 2010. | SOTO9438 | Read the article at the blog! | 15 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Business, catholic, catholic church, catholic reformation, christianity, leadership, management, mike st. pierre, podcast, politics, Productivity, saints, skill

We discuss how a father, husband, and Catholic managed to become an entrepreneur and create a valuable service to parishes and catholic organizations around the world. FlockNote allows parishes to reach their parishioners is ways that they never could before. Each member of the parish can choose how they want to be communicated to, and leaders can easily organize events and disseminate news. There is a whole host of other capabilities, too.

We also talk about time management and how Matt chooses what is important. Although there are countless opportunities to support the Church and also new creative ventures, he finds a way to weed out those things that may not be valuable to his overall goals. If you would like to find out more about Matt and the work that he is doing, check him out at Fallible Blogma. It was a blast to have him on the show, and I hope he finds to to come on again.

I highly recommend taking a look at using flockNote for your parish or organization.  With the money that you spend on one snail mail shot to your parishioners, you could send unlimited messages to people in the way that they’d like to receive it.  It is a fantastic way to keep everyone connected, informed, and in your community.

Are you looking to help the Church by putting your talents to good use?  Or maybe you have a question on how to find the time to get important things done in your life?  If so, leave me voicemail on the feedback line.  I’d love to here about what you have going on and what you are doing to make a difference.

Other posts that you may enjoy:

1. 001 Productive Catholic Podcast: Networking and Productivity
2. 006 PC Podcast: Getting Things Done with The Daily Saint
3. Help the Church by Tithing Smarter

Get your free mini-guide: Three Ways to Triple your Efficiency at Work!

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Post tags: catholic, catholic church, catholic organizations, catholic social media, christian theology, christianity, communicate, ecclesiology, matt warner, organization, parish, parishes, social media, stay connected

Carlos, a seminarian from Edmonton, Canada, asked if I could give him some resources that he could use to organize his time and tasks more efficiently.  Rather than bog him down with long winded articles from my site (ha!) I shot him three resources that I believe are key to finding a way to better organize your time.

• Inbox Zero - an effective way to handle email (mentioned in the podcast).
• Getting Things Done
• Autofocus

In  the interview with J.R., we discuss why GTD is the productivity method of choice for this French Catholic.  The surprising thing is that, although he is an advocate for GTD, he is very honest in relaying that it took him about 2 years to fully implement it into a habit.  Forming productive habits is necessary in order to perform extraordinary work.  It’s just like prayer, unless you form the habit it’s unlikely that you will excel spiritually.

We also talk about how being productive and efficient with your work is actually very much inline with Church Teaching.  In fact, J.R. notes that David Allen‘s (creator of GTD) ideas about work come very close to the philosophy of JPII in regards to sanctity and purpose through labor (see his encyclical on human work.  very cool stuff).  Work makes you holy, but working as efficiently and effectively as possible (using that noggin of yours) makes you even holier.

Overall, this is an exciting interview that you won’t want to miss.  I’d love to hear your questions and feedback for either me or J.R.!  Leave me a voicemail 24/7 at 714-643-5301.

Other posts that you may enjoy:

1. 006 PC Podcast: Getting Things Done with The Daily Saint
2. 003 PC Podcast: Autofocus for Catholics
3. 001 Productive Catholic Podcast: Networking and Productivity

Get your free mini-guide: Three Ways to Triple your Efficiency at Work!

© Dean Soto for Productive Catholic , 2010. | SOTO9438 | Read the article at the blog! | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: balance, calendar, catholic balance, catholic life, catholic work, doctoral studies, explaining, getting things done, GTD, habits, human behavior, inbox zero, jr, management, managing, personal development, pope john paul ii, purpose, religion, religious habit, study, studying, task manager

Now, I know what you are going to say, “what is Autofocus?”  Well, you are just going to have to listen to the podcast to find out.  So rather than tell you what it is and how to use it, I figured that I’d give you a little taste of how Autofocus has benefited me over the time I’ve used it.

Stress

The first and foremost benefit of using Autofocus is the drastic reduction in stress.  Personally, purging everything from my mind and putting onto paper in an actionable format is a life-saver.  Unlike GTD, I know where all of my tasks are at all times, and I know that I’ll never miss a task because I am constantly scanning over my list.

Creativity

Unlike other productivity methods, Autofocus really lends itself to creativity.  In fact, my new podcast would not exist had it not been for Autofocus.  Putting together a Podcast is a big ordeal, and Autofocus makes it a lot easier to handle in addition to all of the other things that you are doing.

Simplicity

I have a feeling that I am ADHD.  That being the case, the simpler things are, the more likely I am going to stick with them and find them useful.  Autofocus doesn’t require a planner or any fancy tools.  In fact, you can use it with just about anything.  That’s why I love it so much.  Not to mention, I don’t need to spend an hour setting it everyday.  It’s good-to-go right from the start.

Summary

Autofocus rocks!  I’ve seen a huge increase in productivity and creativity as a result of using the system.

As always, I would love to hear from you.  Leave me your questions and feedback on the feedback line at 714-643-5301.  Make sure you plug your podcast or blog in the message!

Other posts that you may enjoy:

1. 001 Productive Catholic Podcast: Networking and Productivity
2. 002 PC Podcast: Getting Things Done for Catholics
3. 004 PC Podcast: Effectively Working and Studying with JR Duboc

Get your free mini-guide: Three Ways to Triple your Efficiency at Work!

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Post tags: autofocus, GTD, podcast, Productivity, task management, time management, Work

I give a quick summary of what GTD is, and how it is different from the tradition priority driven productivity methods out there.  I talk about how the GTD workflow (you can see a great chart of it here) is extremely powerful and how it allows you to move all of the stuff that’s in your mind into an external and actionable format.  The workflow lets you know what tasks require your attention, when you need to take action on them, or if you even need to do them at all.

I also discuss how there are so many electronic tools that allow you to implement GTD, and there are web-based tools that are made specifically for individual and group use of the method.  Some of these applications include Microsoft Outlook 2007, Things, and Producteev.

Of course, I can’t sing the praises of the method the whole show.  There are a number of cons that are associated with GTD to include its complexity, the fact that it is extremely difficult to stay with it for long periods of time, and that some people just don’t need it.

Overall GTD is a great tool to help you to manage the day-to-day tasks and projects that come at you.  It gives you a means to remove the stressful stuff that is floating in your mind and turn them into actionable tasks.  While it may not be the method that I use anymore, I highly recommend it!

If you have a question, or just a comment, please don’t hesitate to leave a voice-mail on the feedback line at 714-643-5301.

Other posts that you may enjoy:

1. 003 PC Podcast: Autofocus for Catholics
2. 004 PC Podcast: Effectively Working and Studying with JR Duboc
3. 001 Productive Catholic Podcast: Networking and Productivity

Get your free mini-guide: Three Ways to Triple your Efficiency at Work!

© Dean Soto for Productive Catholic , 2010. | SOTO9438 | Read the article at the blog! | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

I also mention a few sites on interest in these episode.  The first is True Manhood by Dave Dinuzzo, a great blog on manly purity.  Next is Matthew Warner’s site Fallible Blogma, a great social commentray blog from a Catholic perspective.  Lastly, I talk about The Daily Saint, a fantastic Catholic productivity blog done by Mike St. Pierre.  I highly recommend his site, and I even play a little snippet from his podcast. (Maybe I can get him for an interview soon?)

For those that are new to Productive Catholic, I give an overview of the purpose of the site.  Namely not just work as a means to holiness, but efficient valuable work as a means to holiness.  I also touch briefly on tithing your talents and just how valuable your time is.

Since productivity is at the heart of this blog, I give you my top 3 productivity methods: Getting Things Done, Autofocus, and Franklin-Covey.  Which of these are what I use now?  Well, you’ll just have to listen to find out, and why!

Lastly, what makes this blog and everything about it so exciting is your comments, questions, and feedback.  If you have any of those, please leave me a voicemail at 714-643-5301 and you’ll get to hear your voice on the podcast!

Other posts that you may enjoy:

1. 006 PC Podcast: Getting Things Done with The Daily Saint
2. 003 PC Podcast: Autofocus for Catholics
3. 005 PC Podcast: Interview with Matthew Warner from flockNote

Get your free mini-guide: Three Ways to Triple your Efficiency at Work!

© Dean Soto for Productive Catholic , 2010. | SOTO9438 | Read the article at the blog! | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: batchbook, career, catholic, catholicism, gist, podcast, Productive Catholic, Productivity, social networking

I was thinking back the other day about all the crazy changes my wife and I went through since we got married: moving house and country four times, changing jobs, adapting to new cultures and languages, getting involved in various parishes and churches, starting a teacher training and a PhD…gosh, they say change is good, and it is, but they forgot to mention how stressful it is! Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely happy about the final outcomes of all these changes, but man was it was tough sometimes. It was challenging, because it meant thinking about so many things at the same time. That’s where my need for a better productivity system came. That’s why I’m writing on this blog today.

We all had to live through stressful moments like that, where there seems to be no time for anything. However, I learned over time to embrace these times of change, and take them as opportunities. As it turns out, those moments are actually ideal to stop for a moment and re-think about our lives, not just about that new house and how the commuting thing is going to work with the new job, but to actually think about what our living space is, what work really represent for us.
These are the time when we think about “getting a system” to “be more efficient”, but they also can be the very moment when we can ask “why”?
These are the moments of chaos we can embrace to challenge assumptions and build a better life for ourselves and the people around us. These are the moment to buy a new filofax or try a spanking new iPhone to see if that’s going to finally work for us as a productivity tool, and these are also the moments to pray and ask the Lord to guide us in uncertain and sometimes outright scary moments.

Why we Should Keep our Productivity and Organization Skills Sharp: Staying In Touch with What Really Matters

These changes, these decisions we made to change our lives, what are they for? More importantly, who are they for? If you took the time to think about that, you’ll find the right productivity system, the best tools for you (that unique you, the real you, not the one that your boss or others might want you to be), simply because you know exactly what you want out of it. And if you know what you want, you’ll know what you need.
If the change was imposed on you through bad circumstances such as health or the economy (we live in very difficult times, especially for young people), this might be the perfect moment to make the best you’ve ever made of a bad moment. That’s what true success is all about: not avoiding failure and problems, but rising from them and being grateful for what we actually have. Hang in there, and learn to appreciate what is beautiful about you and your life before doing anything else: your family, your friends, your passion. Then, pray and think back to what your really want, what you really need, maybe that thing you never had the time to do before “it” happened. And then, do it. It will be hard, but you will find your way through it, if you know who you are, if you know what success, real success, means to you.

And here is the big secret, my friends: once you know where to go, a productivity system is only a compass to guide you there, so that you never, ever stop looking at what really, truly matters to you. And as Catholics, we believe that what truly matters to you, your profound desire, is actually God calling you to be great, for His glory. We think it’s so important, we even have a name for it: vocation. It comes from the latin “voce”, the voice.
Lets’s start listening.

Other posts that you may enjoy:

1. 001 Productive Catholic Podcast: Networking and Productivity
2. 003 PC Podcast: Autofocus for Catholics
3. Share Your Productivity with Producteev

Get your free mini-guide: Three Ways to Triple your Efficiency at Work!

© Dean Soto for Productive Catholic , 2010. | SOTO9438 | Read the article at the blog! | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Productivity, productivity hacks, vocation, Worship

Being productive starts with focus, and achieving focus means beating procrastination. To stay out of distraction I need to do everything I can to eliminate thoughts that might steer me away from the task at hand. This is trickier than it sounds, but it mostly starts by writing down everything I have to do and think about to achieve my goals in some sort of system. Personally, I’m a big fan of Getting Things Done (GTD), but I understand why this system might seem overwhelming to some, and it doesn’t really matter anyway: just get some sort of system. Whatever works for you.

Whatever your system, though, storing things to remember for future reference is simple enough, but in my experience, many people get it wrong when the time comes to write a to-do list. This is why simple to-do lists don’t work (at least for men). Not only do they give us an insufficient idea of the priorities and deadlines, they also very often lack the necessary precision to tell us where to start, what to do here and now. For priorities, you can use contexts (a different list for things to do at home, on the computer, in the week-end, etc.) For deadlines, you’ve got a calendar. For the bit on precision, read on.

So what’s a task anyway?

In the context of a GTD system, to-do lists are essentially made of “next actions”, ie. the smallest next physical, measurable step you can take to make a given project move forward. It might be a phone call or an email to send, a page to write, and excel sheet to complete,etc. It’s best if it’s measurable in time, and achievable in one sitting.

I like to use this approach, because it really breaks down my projects in small, less scary steps, and when I open my to-do list I immediately have a list of things I can do right now, without too much thinking about the greater picture. The strategic thinking part has been done by my former self, therefore I know these things will get me forward in one project or another, because I planned it all while reviewing my system. Yes, I ‘review a system’. I am kind of a control freak, especially when it comes to managing my time. I defend my time and attention like a lion: they are precious gifts from God. But I digress.

The GTD way might not work for everyone, and that level of precision probably seems like unnecessary hassle. But making tasks precise and actionable is extremely useful, because it allows you to get on with your work as soon as you fire up your task list, confident that what you do now is getting your current projects forward without re-organising all your life in the back of your head at the same time (cognitive overload is bad for productivity, my friend. It’s the source of all stress). It’s a healthy separation of high-level organisation activities from the actual work, so you can actually do things well, just on time. So, whatever system you have, try to break it down to basics.

Breaking it down, and defining the outcomes of your tasks: make something now

So how do we go about breaking down a project (however big or small: a project might range from subscribing to a gym to completing a PhD)? Well, this brings us back to our idea of actionable next actions, doable in one sitting, and measurable in time.

In addition, one question you might ask yourself is: “what’s the outcome?”. What do I get from completing this actions, and when can I tick that to-do list item? Is it when I’ve written a paper, produced a mind-map about that thing I’m trying to learn, obtained an agreement with a colleague? It can be whatever suits you, but try to make sure some concrete thing, some artefact, will come out of it. I use that so I feel guilty for not producing that artefact. And I’ll know what to do about it if I couldn’t produce it: either just get on with the task and make it, or refine the task, generally by splitting it in several parts.

The zen of to-do lists

Hopefully, these ideas will help build a better to-do list, and to separate the moment when you figure out what to do on each project and the moment when you actually do something. The ‘strategic thinking moment’ might be every morning, twice a day, or just once a week depending on the information load you have to sustain (I try to eliminate from that workload everything that isn’t absolutely essential, so I only do it once a week, usually on sunday afternoons or monday mornings). The “doing something” part, well… that’s you life. Experience it to the full.

Make the smart decisions now , so you don’t have to panic about it later. Build a better to-do list.

Other posts that you may enjoy:

1. Simple To-Do Lists Don’t Work (At Least for Men)
2. Coping with stressful changes, your vocation, and the real reason why you need a productivity system
3. Share Your Productivity with Producteev

Get your free mini-guide: Three Ways to Triple your Efficiency at Work!

© Dean Soto for Productive Catholic , 2010. | SOTO9438 | Read the article at the blog! | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: GTD, lists, productivity hacks, tasks, to do, todo

Good Old Catholic Guilt

Most people in the west hate guilt.  It’s a word that is often associated with knuckle slapping nuns and Sunday sermons about hell.  But guilt is often a great motivator.  Think about the times when you are most productive; isn’t it when something really important is almost due and if you don’t get it done other people will suffer?  Well, that isn’t just a coincidence, God made us that way for a reason.  However, rather than delve into a philosophic discourse on why we do things better when we are riddled with guilt, I’d rather explain how your can use guilt to your advantage.

Three steps to guilt-full productivity

Using guilt to power the way that you get things done can be a very uncomfortable, but powerful process.  It’s uncomfortable because you will no longer have the opportunity to flake out, and it’s powerful because you will do anything within your power not to fail in the sight of others. The good part though is that it’s easy to get things started in 3 easy steps.

1. The next time you need to get something done, rather than just writing it down in a task list, think of a feasible date that the task can be accomplished.
2. Once you’ve decided on an end date, find someone with some authority or stake in the goal that you plan to accomplish.
3. Send them an email (or call them) letting them know that you will complete the task on that specific date.

Easy peasy, lemon squeazy.

An example please?

Just to give you an idea of how you can use this system, imagine that you have a hard time waking up for Mass.  Rather than fail over and over again, volunteer to be a lector.  The guilt of knowing that there will be an entire congregation that is suffering because you can’t get your lazy butt out of bed is better than any alarm clock.

Has anyone ever used this tactic successfully?  Let me know in the comments!

Other posts that you may enjoy:

1. Change Your Mindset with the Concrete Goals Tracker
2. Use Google Calendar to Power your Task Managment
3. Simple To-Do Lists Don’t Work (At Least for Men)

Get your free mini-guide: Three Ways to Triple your Efficiency at Work!

© Dean Soto for Productive Catholic , 2010. | SOTO9438 | Read the article at the blog! | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: coaching, goals, guilt, Productivity, setting goals