These days, telecommuting (a.k.a. telework) is simpler and more cost-effective than ever before—which means that many office workers can pursue their careers without setting foot in a traditional office, except when absolutely necessary. Although some businesses still resist this option, others have begun to embrace it in a serious way. As overhead and transportation costs continue to rise, and other benefits pile up, there's little doubt that this trend will accelerate. That being the case, you may very well end up working from home at some point, whether you initiate the change or your company does. Thus, it pays to learn how to create the most productive home office environment possible. In this article, I'll outline the basics. Set Up Your Workplace One of the nicest things … [Read more...]
Personal Productivity and Your To-Do List
"My to-do list is so long that it doesn't have an end; it has an event horizon." -- Craig Bruce, Canadian Software Engineer. "According to USA Today, an astonishing 95 percent of companies don't share their strategies with employees." -- Joel Garfinkle, American inspirational speaker. Efficient time management requires the establishment of a dependable routine. The modern office worker can tap a variety of tools when constructing such a productivity framework, with the simple to-do list arguably the most important tool in the chest. But this begs a question: What rules do you apply to determine what goes onto your daily to-do list in the first place? In other words, how do you decide what you should be working on each day? This question goes to the very heart of personal … [Read more...]
Assertiveness and Direct Communication: Your Wording is a Critical Productivity Tool
One of the factors that sets human beings apart from the rest of Creation—that has, in fact, helped make us the dominant species on this planet—is our ability to communicate in great detail, with a minimum of confusion and unproductive "noise." That said, it's amazing how easy it is to fail to communicate properly. The annals of history are replete with episodes of poor communication (or a complete lack thereof) that led to widespread misery and pain. On a lesser scale, individuals and businesses have to deal with miscommunication issues every single day; and in the workplace, such issues can have a severe impact not just on individual productivity, but on the overall bottom line. Even when the lines of communication are wide open, you can fail to communicate if you use the wrong words … [Read more...]
Tracking Down People For Follow-Ups, Answers, Reminders: Creating An Effective Babysitting System
Modern business protocols often require high levels of teamwork in order to achieve the company's goals. More than ever, workers interact like cogs in a machine, and most of us have to mesh with lots of other cogs in order to get our work done. Fair enough, assuming everything runs smoothly. But as we all know, human beings don't always work together with mechanical efficiency. Occasionally, things get caught up in the metaphorical gears, causing work to slow—or even stop. This might happen, for instance, if someone doesn't get a piece of information to you when you need it. Similarly, if a supplier can't provide a certain part or computer program, you may be stuck waiting. And if a project needs approval to proceed, and you don't have it, then find yourself at someone else's mercy. If … [Read more...]
Dealing With Distractions and Interruptions: Strategies for Staying Focused on Important Tasks
More than ever, modern workers are bedeviled by distractions and interruptions that pull us away from the key activities of our jobs. If it's not your noisy office-mates, it's the siren song of the Internet, or an over-fascination with email. Therefore, it's imperative that you learn to trim your activities down to the few things that are truly important, so you can actually get your job done and become both the envy of your peers and the apple of your boss's eye. Proper focus requires discipline and mastery to achieve, like any other skill. In this article, I'll help you get started in your quest to wield your focus like a blade, stripping away the things that keep you from getting your work done on time and under budget. Let's start with one of the worse culprits: your … [Read more...]
Productivity Minute Video: Down Time Does Not Have to Be Wasted Time
Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R) talks about using down times to catch up on tasks. (C) 2011 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved https://theproductivitypro.com … [Read more...]
Work Life Balance: Planning for Chaotic Transition Periods: Productivity Minute Video
Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), discusses how planning ahead can make transition time easier. (C) 2011 Laura Stack, All Rights Reserved https://theproductivitypro.com … [Read more...]
Productivity Minute Video: Organize Your Children’s Items
Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), shares tips on keeping your children's items organized. (C) 2010 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved. www.TheProductivityPro.com … [Read more...]
Meeting Nightmare Contest from Doodle
I've talked before about Doodle, the great online scheduling tool. They are having a fun contest through November 12 "Meeting Nightmare Contest: Tell us about your worst scheduling experience and you could win a Samsung Galaxy and other nice prizes, and I get to be a judge! Get your submission in for your chance for great prizes. … [Read more...]
Office Productivity: Can Ambient Sound Make You More Productive?
“The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach.” -- Henry Beston, writer and naturalist "Ambient Music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting." Brian Eno, musician "You are one-third as productive in open-plan offices as in quiet rooms. If you have to work in space like that, carry headphones with you with a soothing ambient sound like birdsong, put them on, and your productivity goes back up to triple what it would be." -- Julian Treasure, Chair of The Sound Agency We all know how difficult it can be to concentrate when it's noisy. But that begs a question: what exactly qualifies as … [Read more...]