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How Much Time Will It Take? How to Estimate Task Duration

Posted on 06/03/2013 by ·

"Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law." -- Douglas Hofstadter, American professor of cognitive science. "Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." -- Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States. Workplace productivity springs heavily from one's skill at time management—although it’s not the only thing that determines productivity. Time management really boils down to self management. After all, how can you actually manage time itself, when we all get the same fixed amount? You can’t be so good at it that you create a 30-hour day for yourself. Therefore, your ability to estimate a task's duration becomes crucial when setting your schedule. Estimates come easiest … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Productivity · Tagged:

Serving Two Masters: Dividing Your Attention Without Diluting Your Efforts

Posted on 05/29/2013 by ·

"I have eight different bosses right now... So that means that when I make a mistake, I have eight different people coming by to tell me about it." -- Peter Gibbons in the Mike Judge film Office Space, as portrayed by Ron Livingston. "The President has only 190 million bosses. The Vice President has 190 million and one." -- Hubert H. Humphrey, 38th Vice President of the Unites States. While very few of us have suffered the fate of Office Space's Peter Gibbons (with his eight oblivious supervisors), working for multiple bosses within the same company has become a fairly commonplace situation nowadays as matrixed organizations consolidate, shrink, and reorganize. Often these situations last just a few weeks or months; however, sometimes they become permanent. Administrative professionals … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Productivity · Tagged:

The Sweet Spot: How and When to Schedule Productive Meetings

Posted on 05/28/2013 by ·

"If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be 'meetings.'." -- Dave Barry, American humorist. "Maybe meetings have become a life-form capable of calling themselves and reproducing via human hosts." -- Scott Adams, American cartoonist (Dilbert). Nowhere in the business arena does the absolutely necessary collide with the potentially wasteful more often than in meetings. Few terms have given American workers more reason to shudder, with the possible exception of "downsizing"—and at least that's over quickly. All kidding aside, meetings remain more necessary than not. While you can diminish their frequency by taking advantage of technology and informal chats, you can't eliminate them … [Read more...]

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Uncomfortable Productivity: Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone for Maximum Effect

Posted on 05/22/2013 by ·

"People who never make mistakes never make anything else either." -- Adrian Savage, Anglo-American business writer. "The comfort zone is the great enemy to creativity; moving beyond it necessitates intuition, which in turn configures new perspectives and conquers fears." -- Dan Stevens, British actor. Comfort may be nice when snuggling into bed, but in the workplace it leads to laziness, complacency, and stagnation. To get ahead (much less retain your current place in the line-up), you need to get on the ball and regularly step outside your Comfort Zone. If you don't make what some of my colleagues call "Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals" and enthusiastically reach for the brass ring as it comes around, you'll soon develop an aversion to risk—a crutch that limits both productivity and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Performance · Tagged: ,

The Magic Touch: What’s Your Special Productivity Talent?

Posted on 05/21/2013 by ·

"Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see." -- Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher. "I don't have a lot of respect for talent. Talent is genetic. It's what you do with it that counts. " -- Martin Ritt, American actor and film director. While I've always emphasized competence, persistence, and hard work over talent, I'll readily admit that talent does exist. We all have a few things we do well without struggling, whether because of personality, genetics, environment, education, or some unique combination of these and other factors. The talent rule holds as true in the productivity field as in any other aspect of life. Right off the bat, you may be the best multiple-project juggler in the company; a natural at focusing; a genius at tweaking … [Read more...]

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Patching Productivity Holes: New Thinking About Handling Productivity Weaknesses

Posted on 05/17/2013 by ·

"Man is most free when his tools are proportionate to his needs." -- Soetsu Yanagi, Japanese philosopher. "Simplicity boils down to two steps: Identify the essential. Eliminate the rest." -- Leo Babauta, American blogger and journalist. In 1900, Lord Kelvin reportedly declared during an address to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, "There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement." Just five years later, Albert Einstein burst onto the scene with a unique theoretical approach that helped firmly establish the precarious new field of study we now call quantum physics, and we're still exploring its ramifications today. The lesson here? Just because we've studied a field intensely for a century or more doesn't … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Productivity · Tagged:

Managing UP: Maximizing Efficiency for Your Boss’s Sake

Posted on 05/15/2013 by ·

"Hire people who are better than you are, then leave them to get on with it . . . Look for people who will aim for the remarkable, who will not settle for the routine." -- David Ogilvy, British advertizing executive; often called The Father of Advertising. Most people regard management as overseeing and directing the work of subordinates: giving orders, delegating tasks, providing guidance, and making sure everyone consistently produces quality output. Of course, that is a fair textbook definition. But management doesn't always flow downhill—great employees manage UP as well. In recent years, the theme has become an increasingly popular one in management circles. Basically, managing up hinges on actions that make life easier for both the boss and the employee, offsetting the boss's bad … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership & Teamwork · Tagged:

Breaking Parkinson’s Law: Six Ways to Deliberately Constrain Your Workflow

Posted on 05/13/2013 by ·

"I might as well put some action in my life/Breaking the law, breaking the law..." -- Judas Priest, British heavy metal band. "[Parkinson's Law] is the magic of the imminent deadline… The end product of the shorter deadline is almost inevitably of equal or higher quality due to greater focus." -- Timothy Ferriss, author of The Four Hour Work Week In an essay published in the The Economist in 1955, British historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson formulated his most famous axiom: "Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." Though originally applied humorously, Parkinson's Law hits uncomfortably close to the mark. You can apply it to everything from committees to finance to corporate structure—and people have. I believe it's especially applicable to personal productivity. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Personal Productivity · Tagged: ,

Go, Speed Racer, Go! How to Think Faster on Your Feet

Posted on 05/08/2013 by ·

"A horse never runs so fast as when he has other horses to catch up and outpace." -- Ovid, ancient Roman poet. "Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything." -- Wyatt Earp, Old West gunfighter and lawman. As a professional speaker, I’m frequently faced with questions I haven’t been asked before and must think quickly on my feet. Or suppose you’re the team expert on Boxlets, your company's proprietary spreadsheet program. If your boss needs a quick fact or a doubtful customer starts grilling you on why he should buy Boxlets and not Lotus 1-2-3, you'll require the capacity to think fast and produce accurate answers. If you feel like your brain doesn’t move as quickly as you need it to, here’s what I’ve found has helped me make it THINK faster: 1. Take care of yourself. This should always come … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Time Management · Tagged: ,

Welcome Change to the Family: Helping Your Team Embrace the New

Posted on 05/06/2013 by ·

"If you have always done it that way, it's probably wrong." -- Charles Kettering, American inventor and former head of research at General Motors. "The only completely consistent people are dead." -- Aldous Huxley, British writer As surely as hair grows and flowers bloom, change will come rolling through your organization today, tomorrow, and always. Trying to resist it would be like trying to hold back the ocean. That didn't work for King Canute, and it won't work for you. Instead, take advantage of change: catch the wave, hang ten, and use its energy to your advantage. Admittedly, that may prove easier said than done. But you can use that argument for almost anything. You can also blame someone else when change leaves damage in its wake because you did nothing. You can actively resist … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Productivity · Tagged: ,