When expressing your opinion, it’s common to start each thought with “I think…” instead of making a real statement.

If you’re writing it, you’re thinking it. We get it. All this does is make you sound uncertain, and discourage firm stances.

Kick this habit quickly by programming your computer’s text expansion program to replace the word “think” with “I DO NOT THINK, I KNOW.”

Need a text expander?

1. Windows: ActiveWords
2. Mac: TextExpander
3. Linux: Snippits

(If you ever genuinely need to type the word ‘think’ you can type ‘thik’ and go back and add the ‘n’ which won’t trigger the text expansion.)

(Photo by tealeaves.)

“Group items in your refrigerator by type, labeling shelves so family members know where items belong. When it’s time to shop, you can clearly see what you need.” — Real Simple (April 2009)

Is that so?

If you have an egg shelf, and it’s empty, I can see how that would signal “buy eggs.” But will a half-full produce drawer say “apples”? Oranges? Zucchini? What if I really need bananas?

This is a fairly typical tip. It sounds lovely, and I’m sure the author thought she was quite clever when she wrote it. But I’d also bet a lot of money that the author has no such labels in her own refrigerator.

The Internet abounds with lists of tips, and they are reportedly a strong way to drive traffic to a website. I’d like to encourage you to stop reading tips like these, and more importantly, take great care not to share any yourself.

Reading such “tips” not only takes up your valuable time, but it likely causes your Type-A personality a great deal of stress. Suggesting that you label your fridge may seem innocent enough, until we whip out the label maker and actually try to do it. (Please don’t try. It’s impossible, unless you intend to eat the same exact food in the same exact quantities every single day for as long as you own your fridge.)

Destructively Vapid Tips

Then there’s tips like these:

Eat more spinach.

On its face, good advice. But how do you eat more spinach? More that what? What’s the baseline amount of spinach? How much more? Why spinach — could I eat something else? In fact, could I get the same benefits by eating less of a different food? Can I eat too much spinach? For how long do I need to eat more spinach? How will I remember this calculation for the next 50 years?

Ultimately, these tips are not only empty suggestions of questionable merit, but they’re triggers for us to go on multi-day organizing binges trying to implement their advice. Eating more spinach sounds good, and you want to do it, but with zero guidance and action plans, all the tipster really did was tease you and take you on a lengthy wild goose chase. You’ll end up with a fridge full of spinach and a pile of spinach-related research notes in your inbox, at the expense of tending to your real responsibilities.

In my Type-A eyes, a responsible writer will present concrete action steps and facts to accompany their suggestions. Don’t make trite admonitions to “get more sleep” or “relax” — one cannot just go do that, and you know it.

If you’re a writer, you should be keeping a refresher list that you review before editing each piece. Please consider adding the following questions to your refresher list. (Or, if you see another writer sharing vapid tips, email them a link to this article!)

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Sharing a Tip

• Have I actually done this?
  Does it really work, or does it just sound like a good idea? If the latter, make a plan to actually try the tip out personally.
• How would I go about implementing this tip right now?
  If your first inclination is to do research or make a project list, then your original writing is not thorough enough. Do the research and write the task list out, but then incorporate that information into your piece.
• Is this the best approach?
  Your suggestion might lead to reaching the right goal, but are you reasonably certain there isn’t a faster, cheaper, or otherwise better way to achieve the same (or better) end result?

(Photo by Brett L..)

My favorite source of news is @BreakingNews on Twitter, which provides the latest news from around the world on topics as diverse as American Idol to terrorist attacks in the Middle East — all in digestible 140-character bites.

I’ve been following this account since it first started, and they are consistently accurate (at least, as much as can be expected with developing news stories) and incredibly timely. I’ve come to count on them as my first notification of any news story, and they are one of the few accounts I have SMS notifications turned on for.

Most impressively, they have multiple international correspondents who man their news desk 24/7, so you’ll get a worldwide perspective no matter what time it is.

If you like to be in the loop, try following @BreakingNews.

For a future post on naps, we want to hear your best Type-A advice for taking successful naps.

Please consider the following questions and leave your answers in the comments. We’ll compile your suggestions, test them out, and include them in a future post.

Do you ever take naps?
Do you nap every day, or only on occasion?
Are naps refreshing or energy-sapping?
When’s the best time to nap?
How long should a nap be?
What helps you fall asleep at the start of a nap?
How do you wake up from naps?

(Photo by flygraphix.)

There’s a better way. Once you watch this video, you’ll never fold a t-shirt the same way again:

Yes, it’s in Japanese. The words aren’t important… just watch what she does.

(Photo by jelene.)

Few things are more routine than our daily (or twice-daily) showers. So why not put a new spin on it?

Try showering with your eyes closed. That’s totally closed — no peeking!

Keeping your eyes closed will allow your other senses to kick into gear and force you to approach this seemingly-mundane task in a whole new way. This is a great way to change up your day and relax, all at the same time.

This exercise may sound silly, but it’s actually suggested by scientists to stimulate your brain and improve mental clarity! Figuring out where the shampoo bottle is (or how to shave your legs without missing a spot) without being able to look allows your mind to flex its problem-solving muscles.

(Photo by Norma*iriz*.)

– Lorena O’English (@loenglish) via Twitter

Marina’s answer:

While some people use the two words interchangeably, they do mean two different (though related) things.

Productivity refers to the quantity of accomplishment within a given timeframe.

Let’s take Roseanne, a widget-cranker. Roseanne cranks out 8,000 units during her eight-hour workday. 8,000 units in eight hours (or 1,000 units per hour) is Roseanne’s productivity level.

Efficiency, on the other hand, refers to how many resources — time, money, energy — are exerted for one unit of productivity.

Jackie is another widget cranker. She can crank out 10,000 units in eight hours, which means it takes her less time than Roseanne to crank one widget. Jackie is therefore more efficient than Roseanne.

On a more macro level, one widget plant would be more efficient than another if they could crank out the same number of widgets at a lower cost than their competitor.

While increasing efficiency provides many benefits, maximizing efficiency should not be the sole goal of any life or business. Efficiency must be balanced with other goals, including respecting human rights (slave labor is, in theory, more efficient than paid labor, but immoral and therefore not an end anyone should seek!)

Once you’ve read a book, what do you do with it?

Do you put it back on the shelf? Sell it on Amazon? Donate it to the library? Give it to a friend? Throw it out?

I’d love to hear what you do (and your reasons for it) in the comments. I might use your feedback in a future best practices post.

(Photo by Arria Belli.)

Type-As like to think big, and few things are more ambitious than 101 goals in 1,001 days.

The 101 Goals in 1,001 Days project started at Day Zero, and the idea is deceptively simple: list out 101 specific goals, and set out to accomplish them within the next 1,001 days.

Goals can cover anything you want, from finishing Proust’s In Search of Lost Time to getting married to visiting all seven continents to finally finding that perfect pair of sunglasses. The only criteria is that it’s something you can accomplish within the next 1,001 days.

I run a sister blog, 101 Goals in 1,001 Days, where you can find the 101 Goals Getting Started Guide and a new example action plan every single day.

If you want to see what kinds of goals others are working towards, I keep a master list of 101 Goals in 1,001 Days lists.

Here’s a 101 Goals Brainstorming Worksheet to get you started.

Sometimes — typically when reviewing services — I’ll post similar articles on both sites, with the one here focusing on personal efficiency and the one there focusing business efficiency.