About Matt Heinz

Matt Heinz, a frequent guest contributor to GeekWire, is president of Heinz Marketing, a Redmond-based sales & marketing firm. You can connect with Matt via email, Twitter, LinkedIn or his blog.

Five simple steps to get your workweek and task list back under control

Flickr photo via Courtney Dirks

Good intentions don’t always lead to effective execution.  And how you plan your workweek on a Sunday evening or Monday morning rarely reflects how things actually take shape. You may start Monday morning with a tight to-do list, a clear desk and Inbox Zero.  But then other people show up.  Start building your list of… Read More…

Ask the Productivity Geek: 6 questions, 6 answers

Productivity1--People-Push-Wor-8157402

Editor’s Note: This is the first installment in a periodic column where we’ve asked Matt Heinz, who has been writing an occasional column on productivity for GeekWire, to answer questions on topics related to productivity, work/life balance and time management practices.  If you have questions, email Matt directly or leave them in the comments below. When taking… Read More…

New Years Resolutions: 11 ways to increase your productivity in 2013

2013-1

We have a specific, measurable set of objectives to drive our business in the New Year, plus I’ve developed with my wife a set of goals for our family in 2013. The 11 resolutions below sit somewhere in the middle. Most are work-related, but together they represent an effort to work smarter and more efficiently,… Read More…

How to keep your big business from acting like a startup

startup

Much has been written — including my last column on GeekWire —about why it’s important for new businesses and startups to keep from acting like big companies. But that doesn’t mean the startup environment is a model of efficiency and productivity. There are, in fact, several common startup characteristics that big companies should avoid to increase their… Read More…

How to keep your startup from acting like a big company

bigcompany-Let-Me-See---931002

The kind of big-company behavior we all hate – bureaucracy, slow decision-making, politics, stifled innovation – doesn’t just happen at big companies. It creeps into new businesses as well, with just a handful of people. If you don’t actively watch for it, proactively keep it out, and eject it immediately when you see the first… Read More…

7 ways to get other people to read for you

Photo Kevin Lim

Want to read more, but just don’t have the time? Let someone else read for you! It’s not crazy. There are a number of tools, most online and many for free, where someone else does the “heavy lifting” of reading everything, summarizing what’s most important and prescient for you. In just a few minutes, you… Read More…

Nine ways to make your morning more productive

Are you a snooze button type of person? Photo via Bigstock

How often does your morning live up to expectations? If you’re like me, you go to bed at night expecting great things and great progress by 10:00 a.m. Unfortunately, three snooze buttons later, with two different shades of blue socks on, the gym bag forgotten at home, rushing to your first meeting and already behind… Read More…

11 key tips to stay productive while on the go

Productivity1--People-Push-Wor-8157402

It’s hard enough to stay productive in the office or at your desk – with your full array of resources, hardware and professional creature comforts surrounding you. But when you’re away from your normal workplace – traveling on business, across town in meetings, or anytime you’re working while mobile – there are plenty of best… Read More…

Eliminating meetings: 8 ways to tackle the biggest time-waster in your business

Meeting2

You’ve heard it (or probably said it) many times before: “I can’t wait to get out of all these meetings so I can actually get some work done!” Meetings are critical to most organizations, but the vast majority of meetings you attend on a regular basis are too long, unfocused, unnecessary, or otherwise wasting your… Read More…

Productivity Porn: How to achieve ‘inbox zero’ in 60 minutes or less

inboxzero

Whether you perpetually have hundreds if not thousands of emails in your inbox, or you’re coming back from a long weekend or true, “unplugged” extended vacation, you have a problem.  It’s not realistic to declare “email bankruptcy” and start from scratch, but the last thing you want to do is waste your entire first day… Read More…

Productivity Porn: 7 tricks for beating procrastination

procrastinate-featured- bigstock_Procrastination_29308502

We procrastinate for a variety of reasons.  Fear.  Intimidation.  Laziness.  Distractions.  All reasonable obstacles.  But if you’re prioritized your tasks and projects correctly, the work still needs to get done. I’ve found that procrastination can be the single-largest hurdle keeping individuals at all levels from being more productive and getting more done. It’s a silent… Read More…

Productivity Porn: 7 ways to achieve work/life balance

worklifebigstock-featuredWork_Life_Balance_22389074

Productivity too often can become more than a means to an end.  If left unchecked, being more productive can simply make you feel compelled to fill additional time with more work.  That’s a fine outcome if you need to (or want to) get more done.  But balance – time away from work – is equally… Read More…

Productivity Porn: 7 tips to make yourself more efficient right now

clock-alarm3

You’re busy and don’t have time to read a lengthy intro (especially in a piece about productivity).  So let’s get right to it. Plenty of productivity gurus recommend an entire, complicated system to get yourself organized and working optimally. And in this series, we’ll get to many of those ideas and best practices. First, however, give… Read More…

An introduction to productivity porn: How to be lazy, productive & successful

Success473188

Some of the most successful and productive people I know are lazy. They’ll tell you so. David Allen, author of Getting Things Done and the godfather of productivity. Lazy. He will tell you this at the beginning of his seminar. Seth Godin, who writes daily blog posts and has published four hundred books and continues to… Read More…

15 New Year Resolutions for Entrepreneurs

resolution-newyear1

I’m sure by now your 2012 plan, budget and professional objectives are baked and ready to go. Ideally, some of those objectives are reflected in your personal goals and New Year Resolutions as well. But for those still writing goals and resolutions, as well as the rest of you, here are several collected from business… Read More…

11 holiday gift ideas for geeks and entrepreneurs

aquanotes1

Sure, you could give a nice bottle of wine or Scotch.  But for the entrepreneur, geek or start-up junkie in your life (peer, colleague, family member or otherwise), consider something more relevant this year that can, even in a small way, help them professionally in 2012. The following eleven ideas are listed in relative order… Read More…

The Startup’s Guide to Bootstrapping Marketing

Photo via Wonderferret

Twelve years ago, marketing was a primary recipient of the mountains of cash thrown at start-ups in an effort to grow fast.  But over the past two to three years, I don’t see many new businesses that couldn’t bootstrap their marketing in their formative months or years. This thought alone will make many a startup… Read More…

The dying art of offline relationship building (Why I’m playing golf today)

Via Flickr

Guest Commentary: I have a ton of work to do today. But I’m spending most of my day on the golf course instead. Today is the annual Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) golf tournament, and it’s an all-day affair. Pitch and putt contest in the morning, mid-day round of 18 holes, late afternoon meal and… Read More…