Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R) discusses the importance of adequate rest and how it relates to productivity. (C) 2010 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved. … [Read more...]
Meeting Nightmare Contest from Doodle
Posted on 10/26/2010 by ·
I've talked before about Doodle, the great online scheduling tool. They are having a fun contest through November 12 "Meeting Nightmare Contest: Tell us about your worst scheduling experience and you could win a Samsung Galaxy and other nice prizes, and I get to be a judge! Get your submission in for your chance for great prizes. … [Read more...]
Office Productivity: Can Ambient Sound Make You More Productive?
Posted on 10/25/2010 by ·
“The three great elemental sounds in nature are the sound of rain, the sound of wind in a primeval wood, and the sound of outer ocean on a beach.” -- Henry Beston, writer and naturalist "Ambient Music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting." Brian Eno, musician "You are one-third as productive in open-plan offices as in quiet rooms. If you have to work in space like that, carry headphones with you with a soothing ambient sound like birdsong, put them on, and your productivity goes back up to triple what it would be." -- Julian Treasure, Chair of The Sound Agency We all know how difficult it can be to concentrate when it's noisy. But that begs a question: what exactly qualifies as … [Read more...]
Productivity Minute Video: How to Organize A Room
Posted on 10/22/2010 by ·
Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), shares tips on room organization. (C) 2010 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved … [Read more...]
Increasing Productivity Video: Use Emergency Boosters to Change A Bad Mood
Posted on 10/20/2010 by ·
Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), shares tips on boosting your mood so you can get more done. (C) 2010 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved. www.TheProductivity Pro.com … [Read more...]
“The Secret” from a Productivity Standpoint
Posted on 10/18/2010 by ·
"To succeed in life you need things like talent, diligence, persistence, skills, hard work and maybe a little luck. You can achieve great things—but in order to do so you have to do a lot more than just think about them." -- Paul Sloane, author of The Innovative Leader. Unless you've been living in a cave since 2006, you've certainly heard of The Secret. This popular philosophy, as outlined in a self-help book of the same name, purports to relate the true secret of success in all aspects of life. According to author Rhonda Byrne, it’s all about optimistic thinking and a faith in abundance; that is, a belief that the Universe will provide for you through a Law of Attraction, assuming you keep believing in whatever it is you really want. The Secret has been widely interpreted, by … [Read more...]
Productivity Minute Video: Get Things Done Without Doing it Yourself
Posted on 10/15/2010 by ·
Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), gives tips on conquering the to-do list without doing it all yourself. (C) 2010 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved. www.theproductivitypro.com … [Read more...]
Business Productivity: Micromanagement
Posted on 10/12/2010 by ·
Know what'll kill employee engagement deader than a doorknob? Micromanaging. Even if you start out with an office full of bright, innovative people, looking over their shoulders and correcting them every step of the way will eventually grind them down. Before long, you'll have a collection of disengaged grumblers who either can't wait to get out from under your thumb, or who just hunker down and don’t do anything, in hopes that it'll soon be over. That's because when you micromanage someone, you're practically shouting in their ear: "You're incompetent! I can't trust you to do the tiniest thing right!" Now, how would that make you feel? If you're a micromanager, you may not realize it; you may just think you're detail-oriented and want to be sure that your employee does everything … [Read more...]
Productivity Management: The Crafty Chameleon
Posted on 10/08/2010 by ·
"Quantifying the gap between exemplary and average employees demonstrates the tremendous potential for organizations to increase the performance of their workforces." —Tom Gilbert, author of Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance In the last four blog entries, I've explained my new Productivity Management Matrix in considerable detail. This metric compares levels of employee engagement and performance against one another, organizing workers into four broad categories: Campers, Cheerleaders, Defectors, and Productives. But as within any categorization system, not everyone fits neatly. For example, what if someone is just plain average on both fronts? What if both their performance and engagement levels, taken together, fall right smack in the middle of all four quadrants—on the … [Read more...]
Time Management: Productivity Minute Video: Match Your Tasks to Your Energy Level
Posted on 10/06/2010 by ·
Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), discusses matching your tasks to your energy level throughout the day. Know your own rhythms and plan your work around them. (c) 2010 Laura Stack - All Rights Reserved www.TheProductivityPro.com … [Read more...]
