Email, voicemail, and conference calls have revolutionized how we communicate in corporate America and around the globe. In today’s fast-paced business environment, companies depend on technology to link virtual teams across cities, states, and countries. Yet most companies don’t provide training on how to productively communicate with these resources. Whenever I find myself on the receiving end of an email volley, in which an email has repeatedly gone back and forth, I will simply pick up the phone and end it right there. Some people don’t put enough thought into which technology they will select to effectively communicate their message. For any given purpose, one channel (or medium) will be more effective than another. (C) 2009 Laura Stack. All rights … [Read more...]
The Productivity Minute #8: Channels of Communication and Unproductive Email
Textmarks Tip of the Week
Did you know that you can subscribe my "Tip of the Week" via text messaging through TextMarks? Get a productivity tip each week by signing up here: Get your own at TextMarks! … [Read more...]
Go on a Low-Information Diet and Improve Your Efficiency!
Pretty much anybody you ask will tell you they’re pressed for time. There just aren’t enough hours to get it all done, yadda yadda yadda. So we prioritize, streamline, and simplify. You can improve your efficiency until you’re blue in the face, not to mention very tightly wound, but you still aren’t addressing one of the biggest time and energy wasters in your day: incoming information. As my 13-year-old daughter, Meagan, would text on her phone: “TMI” (translation: Too Much Information). If the 21st century has brought us anything, it is WAY too much information. You can watch several channels full of cable news 24 hours a day. You can surf the internet on any topic until you can’t see straight. Most people could heat their home with the amount of junk mail they receive on a continuous … [Read more...]
Watch Laura Stack sell The Productivity Pro Day-Timer on QVC
My QVC segment aired live on 1/8/08 at approximately 8:20 EST. … [Read more...]
Laura Stack appears on QVC
Tune in on Thursday, January 8, 2009 at 7:00 AM EST to QVC and watch Laura Stack LIVE as she sells her Productivity Pro(R) Day-Timer(R)! Or if you miss the show, go to www.QVC.com and watch it on-line. … [Read more...]
Business efficiency: The Importance of Productivity During Down Times
https://theproductivitypro.com/newsletters/num115Dec2008.htm visit for full newsletter Importance of Productivity during Down Times In the summer of 1900... • The average life expectancy in the United States was 47. • A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost $11, which was an incredible sum because the average American made .22 cents an hour, or about $400 per year. • Most women only washed their hair once a month and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo. • Only 6% of all Americans had graduated from high school. • Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at corner drugstores. • There were about 230 reported murders in the US annually. Amazing what a century will change. Amazing what a few months will change. Growth ends, recession sets in, the … [Read more...]
Social Media – What, Why – And How To Be Productive
Like it or not, social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are here to stay – and it isn’t just kid stuff anymore. In fact, businesses and individuals worldwide keep finding interesting ways to use social networks and other interactive online media to do some pretty amazing things – from building their brands to getting to know their customers. Where do you stand in this new phase of the internet revolution, which many techies are calling “Web 2.0”? Perhaps you avoided it altogether…or you’re an addict…or you’re somewhere in between. Like most technology, social networks and other social media tools are great resources but lousy masters. You could spend all day hopping around to different sites, updating your information, and connecting with people all over the … [Read more...]
