Find More Time to Socialize: 8 Time-Savers for a Better Social Life

Here's a great article in Fitness Magazine.com on how to make time for your friends and family without getting overscheduled.  Oh, wait!  I'm quoted in it.  :-)  Enjoy! … [Read more...]

66 Rules to Boost Personal Productivity — Steve Pavlina

I recommend subscribing to Steve Pavlina's blog.  He recently posted two fun articles on 33 Rules to Boost Your Productivity volumes 1 and 2 (66 total). His first tip "Nuke it" gives you a flavor of the list.  (I call this one "Purposeful Abandonment"---it's an essential productivity tool---always asking yourself, "If I didn't do this at all, would anyone notice?")  There isn't really any new thinking here (it's a compilation of common tips in book report style he's titled something different), but it's a good summary.  Not all of his tips will work for you, of course, but approach it like a cafeteria: take what you like and leave the rest. … [Read more...]

Do allergies reduce productivity?

Now here's a pharmeceutical company selling non-drowsy allergy medication that came up with the 2007 Reactine Quality of Life Report and the impact allergies have on sufferers of the condition.  Highlights from the report include:     -   Allergic and Unbearable. Three out of four Canadians with allergies        say symptoms increase irritability and fatigue, and 55 per cent claim        reduced productivity (housework; on-the-job, academia).    -   It's not in Your Head: And this doesn't come as a surprise to health        experts. This season 71 per cent of health professionals agree        allergies can regularly or often affect a person's … [Read more...]

Stop Being Late: Time Management for Tardy People

Here's a nice article on 5 Ways to Stop Being Late.  Made me start thinking about punctuality.  A quiet amusement of mine is to watch the expression of people who arrive late for my time management seminars. Tail between the legs, these people shuffle in sheepishly mumbling something about traffic, while their friends tease, “How can you be late for a time management class?” The number one complaint I receive from managers who hire me to coach their staff on performance is something around “the inability to meet deadlines, is always late, is constantly running behind, or he/she forgot.” There are actually three types of people I see: 1.      “Late” people are typically perpetually late, for everything.  2.      “On time” … [Read more...]

The Top 50 Productivity Blogs

Check out this great resource of the Top 50 Productivity Blogs.  Leo is a smart guy (I'm on his list).  :-) … [Read more...]

Japanese organization helps men leave the office earlier

An article called "Japanese Housewives Win Right to Share of Ex-Husbands' Pensions" describes a new law now in effect in Japan to allow Japanese women to take half of a man's pension following divorce, women are filing in droves.  In response, a new organization was established called Japan Aisaika -- the Devoted Husband Organization -- to urge men to leave the office earlier and change the way they behave at home.  The group encourages husbands to stop being such workaholics, pay more attention to their families, and when they retire, become more independent and stop hanging around the house so much, which creates "husband at home stress syndrome" in women who have been used to their workaholic husbands never being home.  Finally!  A law that … [Read more...]

How Does Clothing Affect Personal Productivity and Energy?

Not only can Western society’s work ethic be rigid, but so can our clothing.  There’s a reason that casual Friday was invented—it’s because we finally followed our intuition that uncomfortable clothing restricts our energy flow!  In the 70’s movie Tootsie, Dustin Hoffman dresses up as a woman to get a job.  While he’s donning women’s apparel he says something akin to, “Who’s the misogynist bastard who invented high heels?!”  In my opinion, high heels and bras are tangible proof of evil.  Wearing high heels on a regular basis can cause serious foot problems such as hammertoes, bunions, corns, calluses, Achilles problems, growth of nerve tissue called neuromas, and even stress fractures.[i]  And that’s just your feet!  High heels also cause knee … [Read more...]

Workstation design: creative or unprofessional?

I'm quoted in the Alabama Press-Register in an article by Kaija Wilkinson called "Express Yourself," discussing productivity in office cublicles or "workstations" as they are called today.  She discusses how neat they should be, configuration, use of personal items, and design.  Pretty good article.  I come across as a bit of a neat freak, so I wanted to provide some additional commentary on why I think it's a good idea to maintain a neat workstation. Order is your ability to sort, filter, and process information effectively. It’s also your ability to FIND what you want, when you want it. It’s how tidy your work areas look, inside and out. I believe a messy office is a career detriment. I can’t tell you how many negative comments I hear, such as, … [Read more...]

The Crackberry: A Corporate Noose or Time Leveraging Tool: Time Management and Blackberries

I enjoyed this post about how to be more productive with your Crackberry, I mean Blackberry. Especially true is Nakagawa's comment, "...the people who are the most productive don’t seem to have them."  I'm sure you have your beefs about Blackberry usage in your organization (or by your spouse, for that matter).  If you were king or queen of the world, what "rules" would you create about Blackberry usage?  In addition to the 10 the author lists, I'll add the following from personal experience: 1.  Do not pretend you are listening to someone by brainlessly mumbling "uh-huh" while you are answering an email on your Crackberry. 2.  Pay attention to the presenter during training sessions rather than using the time as your personal … [Read more...]

Controlled by your computer

I just read this quote by Lewis Eigen, uttered in 1961, which is even more profound today than it was then: "The workers and professionals of the world will soon be divided into two distinct groups. Those who will control computers and those who will be controlled by computers. It would be best for you to be in the former group." A 2001 survey sponsored by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and conducted by Harris Interactive shows that the increased use of technology such as cell phones, beepers, email, and computers has had a tremendous impact on the feelings of overwork in America. The four out of ten employees who use technology often or very often for their jobs during typical non-work hours more frequently feel overworked. About one-fifth of employees in the study said they often or … [Read more...]