The 3rd annual Salary.com "Wasting Time Survey" for 2007 reports that the average employee wastes 1.7 hours of a typical 8.5 hour work day. Salary.com reports that figure is down from the 2.09 hours wasted per day in 2005. The #1 culprit of wasted time? Internet use at 34.7%. Followed by socializing with co-workers (20.3%) and conducting personal business (17.0%). Over 63 percent of respondents admitted to wasting time at work. The 20-29 year olds waste almost twice as much time (2.1 hours) compared to 40-49 year olds (1.4 hours). Keep in mind this does not take into account how much work people are doing at home and on weekends, however. What, do you think people aren't conducting business while at home? Of course they are! In my opinion, they might be asking the wrong … [Read more...]
How to Look Like a Workaholic in a 40-Hour Workweek
In a perfect world, we would be judged solely on our results, regardless of what others thought about how or when we got our work done. The good news is that this type of “results only” mentality is catching on. Some companies and managers are beginning to realize that there are better ways to manage performance than by counting hours at the office. Organizations are responding to the changing needs of workers everywhere by offering arrangements such as flex-time and telecommuting. The bad news is that, like it or not, corporate mentality is what it is. The 40-hour week is not just an expectation; it’s the minimum, especially for salaried professionals. Self-proclaimed workaholics advertise their twelve hour days like a badge of honor and wouldn’t be caught dead leaving the office … [Read more...]
4 Principles to Keep Your Space Neat and Tidy
There is a distinction between being “neat” and being “organized.” For example, the Denver Water Board, one of my clients, brought me to organize a “National Clean off Your Desk Day” (yes, there is such a day!) contest. This “holiday” always falls on the second Monday of January each year. We had three categories: most organized, most improved, and messiest office. I took “before” photos of each person’s office. Next, I gave a seminar on getting organized and putting systems in place. Contestants had one week to get organized. Then I took an “after” photo. We posted the “before” and “after” photos on the employee cafeteria wall, and employees voted on the “most improved.” I, however, was the sole judge of the “most organized” and “messiest office” categories. I went to the office of a … [Read more...]
Finishing what you start
My 4th of July gift for you: I received this from a friend who knows how much I preach about finishing what you start: "During these crazy days when we're going one hundred miles per hour and stress levels are soaring, I had to stop and tell myself that Laura Stack told me I need some inner peace. I discovered that the way to achieve it is to finish all of the things I have started. I looked around my house to see things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this morning I finished off a bottle of merlot, a bottle of white zinfandel, a bottle of Bailey’s, a bottle of Jack Daniel’s, a package of Oreos, the remainder of both my Prozac and Valium prescriptions, the rest of the cheesecake, some saltine crackers, and a half box of chocolates. You have … [Read more...]
American Time Use Survey 2006: no wonder women are so tired!
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the results of its annual American Time Use Survey for 2006 on June 28, 2007, which is actually conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. You can sift through all the data files and accompanying documentation, but let me save you some time and summarize some interesting results. Of full-time workers, men work 8.4 hours a day on average, while women work 7.7. But 52 percent of women cleaned each day, while only 20 percent of men clean each day. 65 percent of women cook each day and only 37 percent of men. Men average 5.7 hours of leisure a day, and women average 4.9 hours. Women spend 1.2 hours a day caring for children, while men spend .4 hours. Men spent more time watching television and participating in … [Read more...]
Reduce the noise
Feeling overwhelmed? Try this little experiment---turn off your computer volume. Your psyche is constantly bombarded with all the little clicks and dings your computer makes when it performs the smallest operation—simply decide you don’t need it! You only need the volume turned up if you’re watching a file with sound, such as a video. You will be completely amazed at how much more calmness you exude and how much peace of mind you feel if you try this! Encourage your co-workers to turn off their computer volume as well, to minimize the overall background noise in your office. This is especially helpful if you work in an open-space office with several cubicles. To further reduce noise in your life, trying driving with your radio off. You don’t have … [Read more...]
Break Larger Projects into Smaller Tasks
Let’s say this is your to-do list for a Saturday: • Water plants • Pay the mortgage bill • Buy new reading group book • Return socks to Wal-Mart • Put up new border in James’ room Which of the five things will you most likely have accomplished during the day? If you’re like most people, you’ve completed everything but the last—the one you’ve had on your list for five months. Most people are inclined to knock off the little items first, rarely getting to the bottom of the list and getting the “big” things done. Why? “Put up new border in James’ room” is too big. So is “Get photo albums arranged.” So is “Get balloon down stuck in eighteen-foot high ceiling fan.” Each involves multiple steps. If you don’t break them down, you will not be able to systematically crack at them. You … [Read more...]
Running productive teleconferences
Your marketing team is based in Chicago, and you work from your home office in Denver, and the salespeople work from remote field sites all over the globe. You need to connect voice-to-voice to discuss next quarter’s sales efforts and don’t have the budget to travel to a central location. It takes a great deal of energy attempting to connect with each person individually. Teleconference, to the rescue! Teleconferences can be a great way to connect virtual teams from around the world. They are less expensive than face-to-face meetings, often take less time, and allow teams to communicate more informally, ask questions, and solve problems better than through email. Holding one should be a no-brainer. What can be so hard about a group of people … [Read more...]
Gartner: The 40-Hour Workweek Era Is Ending
Here we go again: another report showing us how much technology is going to save us time and reduce the American workweek. Didn't we hear this 20 years ago? How we would all have so much extra time on our hands due to technological improvements? That's just like the "paperless office," which of course is a joke, since we generate much more paper now than before the advent of the computer. A Gartner research report released on May 30 says that by 2015, workers will be working 20 hours instead of 40. It argues that workers are seeking a more fulfilling life balance and employers better catch on if they want to retain good employees. They sort of forget to consider that many people consider working an ecomomic reality and can't afford to drop … [Read more...]
Save hours of time every day: Stop watching so much television!
One primary television-watching energy drain is late night shows. Given our hectic schedules with running in the door to make dinner, running out the door to take the kids to soccer practice, and then running home to finally get the kids in bed, we literally have no time left for ourselves. We quite reasonably crave a little relaxation time, but all we have the energy to do is plop on the couch and turn on the tube. We tell ourselves, “I’ll only watch for 15 minutes, then go to bed.” But those alpha waves start humming, and Letterman is downright hilarious, and before you know it, 15 minutes have turned into two hours. So you get to bed by 12:30 a.m., and you have to wake up at 6 a.m. This pattern serves you a triple wallop. First, you’re going to … [Read more...]
