Personal productivity is such a broad field of study and encompasses so many topics of discussion! The catalog of seminars I currently offer lists 21 courses, all related to personal productivity. I could literally talk for two weeks non-stop about everything I’ve learned in the past 14 years of full-time study on how to improve personal productivity. So I thought it would be helpful to suggest a framework in which to discuss and study the various components. In order to be productive, you have to: 1. Set yourself up for success. You have to do a lot of things before you can dream of being productive. You must put systems in place and maintain those systems. They are the enablers; the supports upon which your … [Read more...]
What is productivity?
In the August edition of my monthly newsletter, I posed the question to my readers: What does productivity mean to you? In other words, how do you know when you’re being productive? I thought you would be interested in some of the responses I received, which I’ll post here. If you have another one to add, leave your comment here, and I’ll send you a free eBook to thank you for your time (make sure to leave your email address). ________________________________________ Dear Laura, Productivity means that I am able to work, to network, and to accomplish the goals set by my boss and not feel any undue stress in the process. I feel very goal oriented and goal focused on productivity days. My sense of accomplishment is an elated feeling that carries me into the next day of work. Sincerely, … [Read more...]
Keys to manage a busy life
Read an article called Keys to manage a busy life by Amanda Cuda (who also happened to interview me for this article and featured my new book). I like the lessons learned from the woman in her case study, "With so much going on, Winter has learned to organize and prioritize just so she can stay on top of her life. For instance, she's let go of housework, hiring someone to clean the house every other week. Working at home allows her to be available if her daughter needs her." I recently realized the value of having a housekeeper. No, I'm not lazy. Yes, it can be expensive. It costs me now $100 every other week. But think about how much you drop going out to eat or buying clothes or on entertainment. You just have to decide where your priorities are. Because after work, whereas … [Read more...]
Motivating Your Burned-Out Employees
I'm reading an article by David Javitch at MSNBC who suggests that dealing with bored employees is a management problem and should be handled through accurate job descriptions and job enlargement. Although I believe he presents some valid points, he doesn't look at the subject from a personal productivity standpoint. This should be a two-pronged attack, as there is a LOT an individual can do to take the initiative and work productively despite boredom. For example, I don’t like entering credit card receipts into QuickBooks. It would be really easy for it to stack up for a month. When it comes time to pay bills and balance the books, I can suddenly discover five or six other urgent things requiring my attention. Unfortunately, not all of our jobs thrill us. Even tedious, boring tasks … [Read more...]
What is the best time management system?
Everyone has a different time management system, a way of tracking appointments and to-dos. Some use paper systems; some use electronic; and some use a combination of the two (what I call “hybrid” methods).I’m frequently asked what time management system is best. The simple answer is there is no “correct” time management system. You must always ask yourself how your system is working for you. I can say, however, that whatever time management system you end up using, you need to make sure it meets the HUG criteria: H—Handy: I call people who don’t keep their time management systems handy “scrappers.” They are easily identifiable by all the little scraps of paper everywhere: envelopes, sticky notes, even matchbook covers. That’s because they don’t carry their system with them to … [Read more...]
Planning and scheduling your day
Here it is! You've been asking me for a way of scheduling your day realistically and making sure you can get your high-priority tasks done with the amount of controllable time available. Your time is probably very fragmented, and much of it is uncontrollable. The best starting place to improve your use of time is to determine the extent to which you control the time available to you. No one has total control over a daily schedule. Someone or something will always make demands on you. But nearly everyone has more control over their time than they realize. Even during structured “working hours,” there are opportunities to select which tasks or activities to handle. Most people have about 2.5 hours discretionary time. The goal is to control 25-50% of your day. Hopefully, the ideas … [Read more...]
Test drive Microsoft Office 2007
http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/beta/testdrive.mspx?showIntro=n Just for my readers...a FREE test drive of the new Microsoft Office 2007! This is BETA, but you are live in the applications. Test the new versions of Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook, and many more! The tutorials provide lots of new ways to work in Office 2007. You can explore the new versions of Office in this fully functional Test Drive environment. Try this before downloading the new beta versions to your computer. Most other support applications like ACT or Quickbooks aren't ready for 2007, and you don't want to hose your mission-critical business systems. So try it---no risk---in your browser instead. … [Read more...]
Time Log Activity
If you ever come to the end of the work day, throw up your hands, and exclaim "What happened?!!" you might need to get a grip on your time. But it's hard to make adjustments in your time management behaviors if you don't know where the time even went. If your days go by in a blur, and you don't feel you've accomplished anything significant, you might want to track your time. I've placed a time log template, instructions, and analysis directions on my site at https://theproductivitypro.com/FreeStuff/Time_Log.doc. Perhaps with a little data, you can tweak your routines and see some improvement. … [Read more...]
Setting up a reference filing system for your home
I'm often asked about my personal organization at home, usually around where I keep paperwork, how to organize it, what to call the files, how long to keep it, etc. So I've typed up an outline of my personal filing cabinet at my house, so you can get a sense of how it's laid out. I file by groups of files, not by A-Z. So each title in CAPITAL letters on the left is the name of the category, and the indented names are filed behind that. It's https://theproductivitypro.com/pdfs/reference_file_system.pdf. Enjoy! … [Read more...]
Paper versus electronic time management systems
If you want to test out whether you are more of a "paper" person or an "electronic" person, I have a test at https://theproductivitypro.com/FreeStuff/TEST_paperORelectronic.xlt that will run a macro and give you a score and a recommendation. … [Read more...]
