Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen. -- John Steinbeck My father had a saying he used to repeat often. He always carried around one of those little Mead spiral notebooks, which he liked to call "his brain," and whenever an idea would strike him he'd write it down and say, "If you think it, ink it!" That used to just drive me crazy…but Dad was absolutely right. You can't depend on your meat brain to remember everything, especially when you're in the middle of another task. Nor is it a good idea to drop the task you're working on and go haring off after the new idea. Oh, you can do that, but if make a habit of it you'll never finish anything—and your productivity will be shot to heck. So when you have a random thought … [Read more...]
Larry Chiang’s 3-Step Blogging Process
I met Larry Chiang of Duck9.com at the National Speakers Association conference this week---smart young man---brimming with ideas and enthusiasm. I liked his formula for blogging called 1-2-3: 1: Have 1 focus 2: Post 2 pictures 3: Write 3 paragraphs It was fascinating to watch him give out his cell phone number at the beginning of the talk (650-283-8008) and encourage us to use it to send him questions. While he was talking, he intermittently checked it and responded. You could sense the difference in ages, as some were aghast by this behavior, but I thought it was authentic and engaging. … [Read more...]
Top 50 Productivity Blogs to Watch in 2010
We're excited to be included among the terrific blogs on Evan Carmichael's "The Entrepreneur Blog" list of top productivity blogs to watch in 2010! The list includes great blogs in the areas of business, personal, technology lifestyle and more. Check it out! … [Read more...]
Increasing Productivity: Reducing Your Reading Pile: Productivity Minute Video
Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R) shares tips and tricks on reducing the reading pile and keeping it under control. (c) 2010 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved … [Read more...]
Free Webinar Sponsored by Day-Timer(R) – SuperCompetent
In partnership with our sponsor, Day-Timer(R), please join Laura Stack for a complimentary webinar based on her newest book, SuperCompetent: The Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best (Wiley, August 9, 2010). https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/178545971 This work culminates Laura's 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. all of us must learn to be competent—and not Simply Competent—but SuperCompetent(R). In this competitive economy, just being able to do your job is no longer enough. Competence is expected; you’ve got to be SuperCompetent(R) to get an edge. Whether you’re an employee, an entrepreneur, a team leader, or all of the above, SuperCompetent … [Read more...]
Getting Things Done: Saying No Allows You to Say Yes: Productivity Minute Video
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...]
Office Productivity: Go Over and Above What’s Expected: Become and Indispensible Assistant
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...]
Workplace Productivity: Tips for Maximum Enjoyment as an Administrative Assistant
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...]
Workplace Productivity: Your First To-Do of the Day
What’s the first thing you do when you begin your day? What do you literally do when you sit down to begin working? Many people do the “beverage ritual.” They get all their beverages just right and their snacks all lined up and settled. Maybe they do a little bit of checking on blog postings to see what's come in and of course visit Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Next they check e-mail and get sucked into that vortex for a couple of hours. Now what time is it? Lunchtime! How do you feel after lunch? Probably pretty low energy. What do you feel like working on? Nothing. At least nothing that requires a very high level of energy and focus. I would suggest instead that you think very carefully about the leading activity of your day, because it's going to set you up for success or … [Read more...]
No Time Like Now To Get Organized
How do you get more out of your busy day? Most of us have at least one area of disorganization which seems to hold us back from being at our most productive. How do we address those areas? Here is a link to one of the Productivity Minutes on Denver's Channel 7 News. See here: No Time Like Now To Get Organized. … [Read more...]
