(StayFocusd is for the Chrome Browser; if you use Firefox, you’ll use Leech Block instead; if you use Safari or Internet Explorer just google ‘leech block for ___’)

If you’re in a hurry to be more productive — just go grab the Pomodoro‘s book for free — and especially the CHEAT SHEET. All you really need to know is in the Cheat Sheet LOL.

When my buddy Jack Sinclair first told me to check out Pomodoro, the timing couldn’t be better. I have 6 or 7 projects going right now and I haven’t really been getting as much done as I’d like. Basically, Pomodoro says “write your to-do list, set an egg timer for 25 minutes, work on a single project for 25 minutes straight with no distractions, take a 3-5 minute break, rinse, repeat”. Simple. Highly Effective.

Oh, and listen, I’m a technology junkie. My kids each have hand me down iPhones. I have more gadgets in the garage than I could sell on ebay. And yet, I find that WRITING the tasks on actual paper works best (or a whiteboard).

Wait… wait… did I just “set an egg timer” a second ago?!? Yup. Pomodoro teaches to use an egg timer. Rather than going to target and buying one, I first installed an app on my iphone that simulates the time and sound… that worked fine. But I wanted something better b/c if I got a text or call it would stop the sound & force an interruption. Enter Rob Toth from IQuitIM.com. Rob’s the creator of this freakin’ awesome Skype Group I’m in … he recommended that I grab Focus Booster and Leech Block (I went and found Stay Focusd for Chrome instead).

Focus Booster basically simulates the egg timer right on your computer – complete with countdown bar and clicking sound. Works great on Mac or PC – and absolutely free. Works like a charm. You can set it to whatever time intervals you want – but I recommend starting with the default 25 minute + 5 minute break (and maybe exercise a bit on the break like I do). Something about the clicking keeps me working, too, btw. And it’s pretty rewarding to keep track of all the Pomodoros I do in a day.

Now, I’ve saved my biggest problem for last… getting sucked into the Facebook. My biggest time stealers are pretty much Facebook, Twitter, and now Pinterest (lol, I just posted about this a few days ago if you’re not familiar.) Leech Block and Stay Focusd will allow you to set websites in your browser (like those 3) and say “I only want to be on these a total of 15 minutes a day … or whatever. Once you hit your quota, you’re blocked from going in.

I think of it as a “Visual Twitter”… my friend Rob Toth called it a “Visual Social Bookmarking Site” (like Stumbleupon or Digg, but more visual). However you want to look at it, Pinterest has really taken off in the last year.

I should’ve known something was up when my non-technical yet very artistic mother asked me “have you heard of pinterest” about 6 months ago. Now, you’ve got to understand – I had to convince my mom to get an iPad because she was afraid it might be too much for her to learn … and then 3 months later she’s asking me about Pinterest… in fact, to further demonstrate her non-techniness, I should tell you that she also joined Facebook for the first time for the sole purpose of being able to use Pinterest. HELLO!

Then a couple months later, my very Savvy Sassy wife, Andrea, also started using (and loving) Pinterest… a couple weeks later she told me to put up a “Pin It” plugin on her wordpress blog. The one that was available didn’t work with her theme. I kind of ignored Pinterest myself (like I did with Twitter at first). I mostly ignored it because it was billed as being “for women”.

When I finally checked the site out a couple weeks ago, I began to understand why it’s become so popular. It’s very addictive to be able to just scroll down a page of pictures and click on the ones that catch my eye. (Hmmm, is that why I called this post “Modern Day Pin-Up Girls”??? Or is it because the Pinterest audience is about 90% female right now?)

So, anyway, I have a few thoughts to share with you… and I’m curious to know what you think?

• Amazingly, very few marketers have found out about Pinterest yet.
  Now that it’s a top 100 Alexa site and top 10 Social Networking site according to Hitwise, that’s bound to change.
• If you have a business and sell product, you can pin your coolest products up, put a price-ribbon diagonally across the picture, and link back to your website for quick purchase. (SWEET).
• You can even sell stuff that’s not yours. Some people are already pinning up pictures of a product and then linking back to it on Amazon though their affiliate link. Smart. (I’ve heard Amazon is working best for this… books, products, etc.. not-so-much for other affiliate programs. But whatevs.. try what you know – don’t over do it).
• Whenever I start off on something like Pinterest or Twitter or Facebook… it always starts off as manageable. Then it grows to “too many things I’m following” .. right now, I haven’t followed enough b/c I’ll go look at the Pins twice a day and quickly get down to ones I’ve already seen.
• As of today, Jan 22, 2012, they have about 6.6 million users and 620,000 likes on their Facebook Page. Also, according to Quantcast, they have about 1.9 million users a month (prob not unique users) and 16 million page views with 78% of the users being considered an addict.
• Tons of clone sites out there already too. Although clones often don’t do as well as the original, this is very much worth watching as a trend. The layout is very eye catching and addicting and has some other uses I can think of for some other verticals. So, if you’re an entrepreneur who likes building on existing trends rather than getting all the arrows to the back like the pioneers — you should be paying heavy attention to Pinterest.
• It’s skewed “very female”, however I see no reason why men won’t love it, too. So, probably a big growth opportunity there. Plus, it’s just at the beginning of it’s viral growth curve.

Bottom line: If you’re a marketer, you owe it to yourself to really check Pinterest out. I’m sure there will be plenty of Pinterest Plugins and Marketing tools that allow you to leverage the growing power of Pinterest.

Your thoughts and comments are welcome below.

The last few months, I was focusing primarily on my “Tribal Marketing Chieftain” role at Level 5. (A mix of affiliate marketing and viral marketing.) Between the holidays and some new product creation at the company, I’ve had time to come up for air a bit and all of a sudden OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND!

So far this year, I’ve been handed 4 new projects and have one renewed focal point myself. The new projects are all pretty much copywriting and marketing consulting for a variety of different products. A couple webinars, a bunch of emails, and my favorite: optimizing sales funnels. (Hmm, in second thought, my *favorite* thing to do is probably creating videos… but none of that is on the table right now.)

My primary personal business focal point is to get YourInstantSite.com updated and a couple new info products released that will serve as front-ends to YIS. Of course, this becomes another case of “the shoemaker wears no shoes” since my time involvement on this gets pushed to the back of the line.

Meanwhile, in just the last week, I’ve met an off-the-chart brilliant 25 year old with patents and ideas spanning from the internet to nanotech… we’ve been talking about how we can work together *and* an old friend from a top ad agency whom I’ve stayed in good contact with has reached out to me and got me thinking about what working inside a billion dollar ad agency might be like.

I’ve heard a lot of things said about the year 2012 and what it’s supposed to bring. If the world’s gonna blow itself up… well, then there’s not much I can personally do about it. If it’s making a shift in consciousness…. cool, I’m willing to open my mind a bit more. My favorite though is really this idea that 2012 is the “year of power”. That’s something I can choose to grab a hold of and do something with.

Oh, and if ya can’t tell, I’ve also been doing a little bit of a dive into personal development & spirituality. I’ve been introduced to a number of really incredible paradigms over the last few months and exploring how they might resonate and “work” for me. (Could have something to do with all these opportunities falling on my lap this month… could just be dumb luck. I’m consciously choosing the latter – as I find it more empowering to think there might be some ‘there’ out there, if ya know what I mean.)

Ah well, I think that’s it for today.

How about you? What’s on your mind?

This is one of the easiest and most powerful ways to get unstuck in any part of your life!!

For more great teachings, watch the free webinar from Brian Dulaney at http://bit.ly/level5wave

Great info on the age-old question re: Law of Attraction versus ACTION. Love it.

If you like this, you’ll love the free webinar that Brian puts on.

Check it out here: http://badasswoowoo.com

Anyway, she handed me this and I thought I would share it with you.

Sunday - The Law of Pure Potentiality

Om Bhavam Namah - I am absolute existence. Cultivate silence / Commune with nature / Practice non-judgement

Monday - The Law of Giving and Receiving Om Vardhanam Namah - I am the nourisher of the universe and the universe nourishes me. Offer a gift / Acknowledge the giftst / Intention of circulating love

Tuesday - The Law of Karma Om Kriyam Namah - My actions are aligned with universal laws. Witness your choices / Consider the consequences / Listen to your body

Wednesday - The Law of Least Effort Om Daksham Namah - My actions achieve maxium benefit with minimal effort. Practice acceptance /Take responsibility / Be open to all points of view

Thursday - The Law of Intention and Desire Om Ritam Namah - My intentions and desires are supported by the universe. Set clear intentions / Trust the outcome / Practice present moment awareness

Friday - The Law of Detachment Om Anandham Namah - My actions are blissfully free from attachment to outcome. Commit to detachment / Embrace uncertainty / Step into the field of all possibilities

Saturday - The Law of Dharma Om Varunam Namah - My life is in harmony with cosmic law. Discover your higher self / Express your unique talents / Ask: How can I help? How can I serve myself and others?

Years ago, I remember talking to my brother about his smoking. Back then, he somehow justified ‘not quitting’ to himself with “because I have kids”. It’s too hard because I have kids.

I said, “Man, you should use those kids as a REASON to quit smoking.. not an excuse.”

This actually became a mantra for me when I had my own kids. It took a couple of years of parenthood to really remember it though. It most applies for us when we think of travelling outside the country with them. We see most people use their kids as an excuse, “Oh, we’re going to wait till the kids are out of the house and then do that.”; while we use it as a reason “we want our children to understand and experience different people, places, and cultures as part of their childhood learning experience”.

“Use ‘em as a reason instead of an excuse” does not have to be as grandiose as our “world travel” example above. It can be as simple as really ANYTHING you want to do for yourself. Getting to the gym, reading a book, painting, snowboarding, and on and on. Just because you have children doesn’t mean you’re dead or dying. Do all the things you’d love to do anyway.

And think about it for a moment – what horrible energy to put out there… “my kids are holding me back from doing what I love”. Bullshit. Let them be the REASON that you do what you love – if for nothing else, just the simple example of showing THEM to do what THEY love in life.

Next time you find yourself saying “oh, I can’t do that because I have kids”, check yourself. Is that the real excuse you want to give yourself. I suggest you swap it out for “ya know what, screw it, I’m going to find a way to do this… BECAUSE I have kids… because I want them to see mommy actually doing something important for herself”.

Do this simple switch just one time, and it very well could improve your life and your children’s lives forever.

Leave it out in the open air for another 24 hours and it returns to it’s original form.

This got me to thinking about the hard shell that many of us put around ourselves. Years of being out in the open literally “harden” us and we forget all about our gooey inside (your life’s purpose).

The idea of “sitting in vinegar” for a little while probably doesn’t appeal to you – especially when you’re actually doing it. But when you get through that experience, you actually come out of it bouncy for the first time in years.

Happily though, as humans, there’s other ways to soften our shells.

How do you soften yours?

When you put your expectations of how someone else will behave onto them and they don’t fulfill your expectations, you tend to get really upset over this.

I think this is the ROOT of many many many relationship issues.

A good sign that you’re doing this is when you find yourself saying (or yelling) “he should have _____” or “I can’t believe she didn’t _____”. Fill in the blank with whatever you want … ‘send me a thank you note’, ‘apologize’, ‘pick up her clothes from the ground’, ‘bring his wallet’, etc etc and on and on.

I see so many people putting themselves through so much anguish because of what they perceived that some OTHER PERSON “should have” done. (It’s usually underscored by an attitude of “well, I would have done xyz” or “my mother always said to behave in this way in that situation” or something similar).

I notice this the most in other people. Of course, up until now, it’s been more difficult to notice it in myself. I’m throwing my gauntlet down for myself right now. Recognizing it in others is the first step.