Today is National Leave the Office Earlier Day! To get you out on time today, some last-minute reminders: 1. When you leave tonight, make sure you've identified the top 2-3 things you absolutely must accomplish before you leave the office Friday. Do those first! 2. Turn off your email alerts and only handle email 2-3 times tomorrow. Go to Tools, Options, Preferences tab, Email options, advanced email options, and uncheck the four boxes under when new items arrive in my in-box. 3. Be disciplined about the length of your socializing. Tell your colleagues about the day and that you are committed to only working 8 hours today instead of your usual 9-12. 4. Stay off non-work related Internet sites, just for the day. You can do it! The average worker spends 3.6 hours a week … [Read more...]
It’s not Leave Work Early Day!!
This is a sure way to bug me. My holiday gets slaughtered all the time. Here's a radio station actually hosting an event at a bar at 3:00 tomorrow, June 2, and encouraging people to attend, because after all, it's National Leave Work Early Day. http://www.krystal93.com/ Arrgh! Not that I mind the bar. I really like martinis and frozen margaritas! But this is the stuff that gives productivity a bad rap. Let's set the record straight: National Leave the Office Earlier Day does NOT encourage people to play hookey. Rather, it encourages people to be more productive during the day, managing their time better, and eliminate time wasters, with the goal of leaving earlier than the normal 10-12 hour day workers often log. Through better productivity, you CAN get down to eight hours, … [Read more...]
Win Laura Stack’s new book
Win Laura Stack’s new book; Learn how to “Find More Time” If you’re like most people, you probably never seem to find enough time – in the office or at home – to accomplish everything you hope to in a day. The problem, says internationally recognized productivity expert Laura Stack, isn’t a shortage of time; it’s how we choose to use the time we do have. “Productivity is my passion and obsession,” says Stack, whose Denver-based business uses the moniker The Productivity Pro. “I see how productivity tips such as those I share through my consulting practice, public speaking and writing can make a difference in people’s lives. And that spurs me to learn more about the topic and to share examples of what others are doing to fulfill their life’s dreams. It’s what makes me a voracious … [Read more...]
When are IT pros going to stop sabotaging worker productivity?
For years, I've heard employees in my productivity seminars complaining about their IT departments. Some of these complaints I believe have valid justifications, and I stick up for IT: COMPLAINT: IT won't let them load personal software. JUSTIFIED! Doing so would create a staffing nightmare as workers seek help on non-supported applications. Could also create security concerns and open the door to system viruses. COMPLAINT: IT restricts access to certain Internet sites JUSTIFIED! I can't think of a good reason why employees would need to watch X-rated videos at work. COMPLAINT: IT doesn't upgrade their operating systems and software to the newest version for years after the release. JUSTIFIED! You don't need new technology for the sake of new technology. There must … [Read more...]
No More Excuses for not backing up! Mozy Remote Backup
I'm reading an article in PC Magazine June 6, 2006 edition, that makes me pause. Think your portable external hard drive backups will save you if your computer crashes? But what happens if a disaster wipes out your entire ofice? Better move duplicates of your critical data over the Internet to remote servers. One of the big excuses for not backing up to an off-site storage location is "it's too expensive," followed by a close second, "it's too much of a pain." Now both of those excuses are gone with Mozy Remote Backup, which offers 2GB of secure off-site storage for FREE. You'll pay more for additional storage, but you really only need to save your mission-critical data and important files with these services. I backup my QuickBooks, … [Read more...]
10 Ways to Find More Time for Your Life
You have a sink full of dishes, three loads of laundry, 17 bills to pay, you’re not sure how many e-mails to answer, a big stack of novels you’d love to read, and zero — count them — ZERO minutes of free time. “Where does the time go?” you lament. Here are some ideas to get you started on your quest to have a life: 1. Reduce waiting time. If your doctor or meetings always run late, plan ahead. Make good use of this time and carry note cards, bills and magazines in your tote. 2. Limit your television watching. Sensible limits may relieve guilt from overindulging, while freeing up time for more worthwhile pursuits. TIVO or tape your favorite shows and skip the commercials. 3. Say no to … [Read more...]
Gauging the productivity of your staff
A reporter asked me, "What's the best way to gauge employee productivity in a small business?" A: 1) Focus on results. Give people specific goals and projects, and evaluate whether they achieve the objective on time and within budget. 2) As you grow, don't oversee everyone yourself. Put other management levels in between you and workers. 3) Have employees submit a weekly activity report, so you can assess whether they have completed a reasonable amount of work that week. 4) Monitor their work. I had an employee who was supposedly working a 40-hour week, when I checked the phone company logs, it turned out he was working for another company on the side and only working 20 hours a week. Don't be blind and assume even your "star" employee is giving you his/her best. … [Read more...]
Research confirms IM is bad for productivity
http://interruptions.net/literature/Speier-ICIS97-p21-speier.pdf This is an academic paper, so you probably won't want to read the entire thing, but the results of the research have interesting implications for "organizational electronic mail systems that have been implemented to enhance productivity." I've always said that workers should disable the global alerts in Outlook that notify them every time a new message is received. Now this study confirms how bad desktop alerts are on concentration and productivity! The findings from this research suggest that instant notification features be disabled in order to avoid exacerbating the number of interruptions knowledge workers receive. Go to Tools, Options, Preferences tab, Email options, advanced email options, … [Read more...]
Organizing Your Parents’ and Grandparents’ Stuff Before They Die!
Oh my goodness. I just spent three days in San Antonio with my grandparents going through old photo albums, packets of God-knows-how-old photos, and envelopes with miscellaneous scraps. I HIGHLY recommend you take on this sort of project BEFORE your grandparents or parents die. I'm not even half-way done! I can't imagine how people can go through someone's things after they're are deceased and try to figure this out! Has anyone had this happen? "Who's this?" "Uhhhh...I think that's the neighbor's kid in Panama...1967 or so." "Who's this?" "Hmmmm...oh yeah! That was the lady who drew mom's blood in the hospital in 1996!" And so on. Right into the trash went those photos. My plan of … [Read more...]
Why Should You Care About Productivity?
I've had several people email me in the last few days about the U.S. productivity figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics a few weeks ago. Great news. 3.2% increase in the first quarter. But not quite where we were in 2002-2003 with levels over 4%. One quarter in 2003 had over 8%! That's when we were all working like dogs, when everyone was afraid of losing their jobs, before employees screamed "enough"! But still it's absolutely amazing that we can sustain this level of productivity. Fundamentally, why should you care? Well, why does your organization care about productivity? In order to be successful, your organization must both make money and save money. To make money, it must find and keep customers. To save money, … [Read more...]
