Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), discusses how you can get more done by saying "no". (C) 2010 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved. … [Read more...]
Getting Things Done: Saying No Allows You to Say Yes: Productivity Minute Video
Posted on 06/07/2010 by ·
Don’t Buy Laura Stack’s New Book!
Posted on 06/04/2010 by ·
I'm thrilled to announce the publication of my newest book, SuperCompetent: The Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best (John Wiley & Sons), on August 9, 2010. This work culminates my 18 years of studying the art and science of personal productivity and describes the six behaviors high-achieving employees demonstrate over their lower-performing peers. However, DON'T buy it! Yes, that's right--don't buy it--until August 9. If you purchase the book on August 9 from any online or retail bookstore and forward your receipt to [email protected], you'll receive bonus gifts from several speaking colleagues, such as Mark Sanborn, Roxanne Emmerich, Terri Sjodin, and: · Dianna Booher is providing a free eBook Write to the Point. Dianna Booher teaches you to write clear, … [Read more...]
Office Productivity: Go Over and Above What’s Expected: Become and Indispensible Assistant
Posted on 06/04/2010 by ·
GO OVER AND ABOVE WHAT’S EXPECTED: BECOME AN INDISPENSIBLE ASSISTANT 1. Identify tasks you are capable of taking over. Provide a list of tasks to your manager that you believe you are capable of doing. Start with the decisions your manager makes most frequently and repetitively. If she doesn’t like creating PowerPoint presentations or answering her email, maybe that’s something you can pick up for her. Anything she particularly dislikes is a great candidate for you. Doing her expense reports at the end of each trip might be a great way to help out. Take a look at recurring matters that she handles over and over again. Maybe she is a writer and constantly has to post articles to different blogs. You could learn how to do it and take over any time-consuming details. For example, when I … [Read more...]
Time Management: Getting People Out of Your Office Quickly
Posted on 06/01/2010 by ·
Getting People Out of Your Office Quickly 1. Always choose to visit a colleague, if given a choice. When scheduling a meeting, you’ll have to decide where to hold the conversation: your office or mine? During a face-to-face conversation, it’s always better to go to them. Why? You can leave! If someone’s in your office in your comfortable guest chair, “feet up,” so to speak, it’s much harder to get them out of your office than to walk yourself out of their office. 2. Be honest. If they say, “Got a minute?” and you don’t, you can say, “Actually, I have my back up against the wall right now on a deadline. If it’s okay with you, can I call you back at 3:00?” And actually let them see you type the appointment in your calendar. They walk out feeling like I have an appointment! It lets them … [Read more...]
Business Productivity: Concentrating On Your Work
Posted on 05/27/2010 by ·
CONCENTRATING ON YOUR WORK: MAINTAIN FOCUS IN AN ENVIRONMENT OF DISTRACTION 1. Modify your office set up. Is your office set up for maximum productivity or maximum distraction? Turn away from the door. Block your view with a plant or a computer monitor, so that as people walk by, you are not tempted to look up. If you do, you’ll catch the eye of someone wandering by, and they will strike up a conversation. You can ask for office changes. If you have glass on one side of your office wall, you can ask for blinds to be installed, so you can close them when trying to concentrate. If your cubicle walls are too low or half walls, you can request higher partitions. If you happen to work right outside of the elevators or in a high-traffic area, people might think that you are the receptionist … [Read more...]
SUPERCOMPETENT Key #4: ACCOUNTABILITY
Posted on 05/24/2010 by ·
SUPERCOMPETENT™ Key #4: ACCOUNTABILITY This month’s article correlates to the fifth key in my newest book SuperCompetent: The Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best (Wiley), to be released on August 9: ACCOUNTABILITY. EDITOR’S NOTE: Please don’t order my book yet! I’ll soon be announcing a very special BUY day on Amazon and B&N, where ordering will get you hundreds of dollars in free bonus gifts! Accountability recognizes that "the buck stops here." SuperCompetent people mean what they say and say what they mean. They're authentic, and other people know this and appreciate them for it—and also for their refusal to blame others when unforeseen circumstances trip them up. Their intense focus on their values is borne out in their demeanor and their sense of personal … [Read more...]
Productivity Minute Video: Prevent Crisis By Planning in Advance: Time Management
Posted on 05/13/2010 by ·
Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R) discusses advanced planning. (C) 2010 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved … [Read more...]
An Automatic Time Tracker for Professionals
Posted on 05/12/2010 by ·
Looking for a better way to keep track of your time, log hours for various clients, or see where time is being wasted? You'll want to check out Chrometa's Automatic Time Tracker. Chrometa automatically records the time while you work — both on and off the PC. You'll discover previously undocumented billable time, save time on billing reconciliation, and improve personal productivity. Once your time is automatically captured, you can categorize your time quickly and easily by client or project. Use smart alerts to remind you to log time away from the PC such as meetings or phone calls. And easily export the data into Microsoft Excel. If you're serious about boosting your personal productivity, and getting paid for every second you work, Chrometa is THE ideal time management … [Read more...]
Workplace Productivity: Tips for Maximum Enjoyment as an Administrative Assistant
Posted on 05/10/2010 by ·
1. Don’t take personalities personally. I have heard many stories from admins whose boss was a grouchy type of person, who say to me, “Oh, he doesn’t like me. We just don’t get along.” When the boss gets a promotion she thought, “I’m going to be left behind.” He said, “Are you kidding? I can’t do anything without you.” Do not think that just because someone is in a bad mood that it reflects on you, or if someone has a crotchety personality that s/he doesn’t like you. Always be your capable, competent, positive self. 2. Change your focus. Focus on the 175 things that you did right today, not the one thing that you did wrong. So many people get upset when they make a little mistake. They made a typo in a letter or sent an email to the wrong person or copied someone they shouldn’t have. … [Read more...]
Local piggybacking training tours with Laura Stack coming to your area
Posted on 05/06/2010 by ·
If you or someone in your company or organization occasionally brings in outside speakers for training or meetings, please keep reading. As the economy turns around, we are finding training hasn't yet returned to 2006-2008 levels, budgets are still suppressed, and attendees can't get out of their offices for a full day of training. So after successful pilots in Sioux Falls, SD, and Tampa, FL, we think we've stumbled on a solution: we are playing MATCHMAKER. Rather than flying out to work with a single company, we will help you find someone in your area to split the costs. Here's how it will work. I will book a two-day tour in select cities based upon interest. We will use the same discounted in-state "piggybacking" rates we use for Colorado. Four companies will each get a half-day … [Read more...]
