Services | Matthew Cornell - Personal Productivity Specialist

Following are my most commonly requested consulting services. In addition, I offer customized consulting tailored to your needs, or the needs of your office or group.

One-on-one desk-side consulting

Because getting started with a new system can be daunting, I offer one-on-one desk-side consulting, the most effective way to get you to a new level of relaxed control. We work one-on-one at your desk, collecting, processing, and organizing all of your "stuff" into a new system that we build from scratch, based on your needs. The process takes between 1/2 day to two full days, depending on your situation. Note that clients often ask me to take them through the process at both work and home.

At the end you will have:

Collected and processed all of your "stuff" - every possible source of work for you, including papers, emails, voice mails, thoughts, ideas, post-its, etc,
Created a 100% complete inventory of all your commitments, projects, "someday/maybes," and delegated items,
Learned the comphrehensiv decision-making process for dealing with every possible item that comes into your life, giving it enough thought (but no more than necessary), then letting it go until the appropriate time,
Created a reminder system that works for you, letting you make the best moment-by-moment choices of how to spend your precious time,
Organized your loose papers into a simple but air-tight filing system,
Done a complete "mind dump," capturing every idea, thought, and concern into your system, and
Got control of your email, getting your INBOX empty.

Extended Individual Coaching

Once you've learned the essentials of thriving in the face of too much to do, clients often have me back for for extended personal support. Via in-person and telecoaching we work together to significantly improve your self-management habits and deepen your practice, all in the context of fast-moving challenges and large projects. Typical durations are three or more months.

Team Consulting

Like the one-on-one consulting, but for workgroups, I meet with teams to get them up-and-running as a group. We combine group learning and activities with individual desk-side consulting to provide a focused opportunity for achieving new levels of relaxed control.

Personal Productivity Workshops

For larger groups I offer workshops ranging from one to six hours. This economical and interactive format allows participants to learn and apply the concepts using plenty of hands-on exercises. I combine lively short lectures with activities at the individual, small group, and large group levels.

Presentations and Guest Speaking

For information about presentations and guest speaking please email me or call.


	Services Following are my most commonly requested consulting services. In addition, I offer customized consulting tailored to your needs, or the needs of your office or group. One-on-one desk-side consulting Because getting started with a new system can be daunting, I offer one-on-one desk-side consulting, the most effective way to get you to a new level of relaxed control. We work one-on-one at your desk, collecting, processing, and organizing all of your "stuff" into a new system that we build from scratch, based on your needs. The process takes between 1/2 day to two full days, depending on your situation. Note that clients often ask me to take them through the process at both work and home. At the end you will have: Collected and processed all of your "stuff" - every possible source of work for you, including papers, emails, voice mails, thoughts, ideas, post-its, etc, Created a 100% complete inventory of all your commitments, projects, "someday/maybes," and delegated items, Learned the comphrehensiv decision-making process for dealing with every possible item that comes into your life, giving it enough thought (but no more than necessary), then letting it go until the appropriate time, Created a reminder system that works for you, letting you make the best moment-by-moment choices of how to spend your precious time, Organized your loose papers into a simple but air-tight filing system, Done a complete "mind dump," capturing every idea, thought, and concern into your system, and Got control of your email, getting your INBOX empty. Extended Individual Coaching Once you've learned the essentials of thriving in the face of too much to do, clients often have me back for for extended personal support. Via in-person and telecoaching we work together to significantly improve your self-management habits and deepen your practice, all in the context of fast-moving challenges and large projects. Typical durations are three or more months. Team Consulting Like the one-on-one consulting, but for workgroups, I meet with teams to get them up-and-running as a group. We combine group learning and activities with individual desk-side consulting to provide a focused opportunity for achieving new levels of relaxed control. Personal Productivity Workshops For larger groups I offer workshops ranging from one to six hours. This economical and interactive format allows participants to learn and apply the concepts using plenty of hands-on exercises. I combine lively short lectures with activities at the individual, small group, and large group levels. Presentations and Guest Speaking For information about presentations and guest speaking please email me or call.	Client news: I had the great pleasure of working with David McLaughlin, professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at University of Massachusetts Amherst. David directs CASA, the center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere, a prestigious National Science Foundation Engineering Center. Blog updates: The Uber productivity site 43 Folders has featured my personal productivity article on Best practices for administrative assistants. Client news: A big thanks to the smarties at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for a great series of workshops. It's always fun to be back, and as a bonus I got to see a Shuttle launch :-) Blog updates: My article A dozen small ways to get productivity improvements to stick in an organization was picked up by the major productivity site lifehack.org. Client news: Dr. Hauschka Skin Care had a very interesting FastCompany write-up: Can't Buy Me Love. Academic productivity interview: I was pleased to be asked some insightful questions around the unique productivity challenges faculty face by the Academic Productivity blog's readers. Read my answers here. Product news: I'm in the middle of writing The Personal Productivity Field Guide - my handbook that answers the most common questions clients ask about being effective, from interruptions to meetings to just plain too much to do. Stay tuned... Client news: I was pleased to be included as an option for recipients of UMass Amherst's ambitious Mellon Mutual Mentoring Initiative (more here). Blog updates: Mike Pierre over at mega productivity site Lifehack/ was kind enough to call me the "Brainiac Dad" in his Productivity Family Tree. I'm in great company including Laura Stack (author of Leave the Office Earlier) and Mark Sanborn (author of The Fred Factor). Workshops: I'm always improving my workshops, with the latest addition being a two-month email series for participants. These follow up messages sustain and deepen their practice through tips, case studies, and implementation ideas.