Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), discusses a vital part of managing your time: the importance of vacation time as it relates to being productive. (C) 2011 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved. https://theproductivitypro.com … [Read more...]
Managing Your Time: Laura’s Latest Book
Posted on 11/09/2011 by ·
Need some guidance on managing your time when there is simply too much to do? My new book, What to Do When There's Too Much to Do: Reduce Tasks, Increase Results, and Save 90 Minutes a Day (Berrett-Koehler) is already available for pre-order on Amazon, and the pub date isn't officially until July 2! http://amzn.to/tZ7kAP … [Read more...]
Telecommuting: Creating a Productive Home Working Environment
Posted on 11/05/2011 by ·
These days, telecommuting (a.k.a. telework) is simpler and more cost-effective than ever before—which means that many office workers can pursue their careers without setting foot in a traditional office, except when absolutely necessary. Although some businesses still resist this option, others have begun to embrace it in a serious way. As overhead and transportation costs continue to rise, and other benefits pile up, there's little doubt that this trend will accelerate. That being the case, you may very well end up working from home at some point, whether you initiate the change or your company does. Thus, it pays to learn how to create the most productive home office environment possible. In this article, I'll outline the basics. Set Up Your Workplace One of the nicest things … [Read more...]
Time Management at Work: Wasted Time?
Posted on 10/26/2011 by ·
How much time is wasted at work in your experience? I just read a recent article at SmartCompany which talked about a recent study by Ernst & Young. The study indicates that 18% of time at work could be considered unproductive. That it a lot of time that could be spent creating value! Some of the items the 2500 respondents referred to as time wasters are: Internal administration, red tape and meetings Waiting for IT systems Jobs needing to be redone Some time wasters are beyond an employee's control, but some of that wasted time could potentially be used in other ways. Would love to hear how you handle seemingly unavoidable time wasters in your day. … [Read more...]
A Fun Little Tool for Increasing Productivity
Posted on 10/20/2011 by ·
It's frustrating to want to print from a website when the formatting doesn't work. It's inefficient to try to copy and paste into another document to print. I found a useful little tool on the web that makes it easy to print from websites, so I wanted to share it with all of you! Check out PrintFriendly when you need to print from a website. It allows you to see a preview of how your printed page would look, and also allows you to print as a PDF. Just enter in the url you want to print from: Click "Print Preview" to see what your page will look like, then select Print or PDF and you're all set! Increases efficiency, saves ink, and saves time. Very … [Read more...]
Personal Productivity and Your To-Do List
Posted on 10/17/2011 by ·
"My to-do list is so long that it doesn't have an end; it has an event horizon." -- Craig Bruce, Canadian Software Engineer. "According to USA Today, an astonishing 95 percent of companies don't share their strategies with employees." -- Joel Garfinkle, American inspirational speaker. Efficient time management requires the establishment of a dependable routine. The modern office worker can tap a variety of tools when constructing such a productivity framework, with the simple to-do list arguably the most important tool in the chest. But this begs a question: What rules do you apply to determine what goes onto your daily to-do list in the first place? In other words, how do you decide what you should be working on each day? This question goes to the very heart of personal … [Read more...]
Time Management Skills: The Fine Art of Putting Things Off
Posted on 10/14/2011 by ·
Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R) shares time management skills: tips on getting to those unpleasant tasks we've put off. (C) 2011 Laura Stack, All Rights Reserved https://theproductivitypro.com … [Read more...]
Email and Productivity at Work
Posted on 10/06/2011 by ·
"I don't check my e-mail, it checks me to see if I'm still there." -- Ian Pattison, poll respondent, Canada "I never switch it off, and I also have a self-imposed policy of responding immediately if I'm sitting at my desk, however busy I am. " -- Wayne Andrews, poll respondent, United Arab Emirates "I like getting email. It is a diversion from a tough job or from a boring task. Stopping every now and then to answer email is like taking a break. If one appears to be a time waster, it gets postponed for later. " -- Lester Stephenson, poll respondent, USA As a productivity consultant, one of my chief concerns is what most of us mistakenly call "time management." Obviously, time comes in preset amounts for everyone and we use it up whether we like it or not, so we can't truly manage or … [Read more...]
Time Management Skills: The Art of Self-Discipline
Posted on 09/27/2011 by ·
Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R) talks about how self-discipline affects our productivity. (C) 2011 Laura Stack, All Rights Reserved https://theproductivitypro.com … [Read more...]
Lessons in Retention for TM practitioners
Posted on 09/23/2011 by ·
Lessons in Retention for TM practitioners By Carlos Botero, VP of HR, DIRECTV From the September 8, 2011 meeting of the CO New Talent Management Network (www.contmn.com), at the DIRECTV facility at 161 Inverness Drive West in Englewood, as written by Laura Stack. Under the leadership of Carlos Botero, who took over as VP of HR in July 2008, DIRECTV is on track for a 24% employee churn in 2011, down from a high of 110% in 2008. How was this accomplished? Here are my key take-aways from his presentation on employee retention. 1. "Great talent follows great talent." Procedures can only take you to a certain percent of turnover, and then you rely on the hearts of your employees. If it’s a great place to work, their buddies ask them, "Hey, can you get me a job?" 2. "If you … [Read more...]
