Have you ever considered that your biggest obstacle to finding more time might be YOU? The way you react to the world may be the reason you stay overwhelmed. To fix this you need to look at your behavior, habits, and choices, and then figure out which ones to adjust in order to support your desired direction in life. Here are a few tips that can help you do just that. 1. Control perfectionism. Realize that some things are good enough as they are. Instead of worrying about making things perfect, learn to leave well enough alone. Obsessing over small details can be deadly to your productivity. 2. Refuse requests when appropriate. You don't have to say "yes" to everything, whether that involves accepting extra work or baking brownies for a kid's party. Set boundaries about what … [Read more...]
How to Concentrate: Act Like a Postage Stamp and Stick To It!
Nowadays, so many things compete for your attention in the workplace that it can be hard to concentrate on what's important. If you need to improve your ability to stay on target and focus on the task at hand, implement the tips outlined below. 1. Set up your office for maximum productivity and minimum distractions. You need privacy to concentrate and discuss sensitive issues. Don't just take what you're given; reorganize it into a configuration that works best for you. 2. Avoid wasting time by daydreaming. Daydreaming can be a real productivity bandit -- but as long as you don't use it to procrastinate, it can be very helpful. Harness its creative powers, and use it for thinking time that can lead to productive ideas. 3. Remember things more easily. Busy people need good memory … [Read more...]
Discipline and Self-Control: You Can Be Your Own Worst Productivity Enemy
Discipline is your ability to maintain consistent, productive behavior. To maximize your productivity, you need to learn to do what must be done, and to exercise restraint over your own impulses, emotions, and desires. If you're self-disciplined, you exhibit consistent focus in your daily work -- even when you don't feel like it. Try these tactics to keep you on track during the day. 1. Know your natural energy cycle and work effectively during peak times. We all have a natural time during the day when we feel up (prime time) and a natural time when we feel down (down time). Knowing both your prime and down times and knowing how to handle them is an important productivity enhancer. 2. Control perfectionism. Realize that some things are good enough as they are. If you suffer from the … [Read more...]
Eliminate interruptions for better concentration
Interruptions abound—a co-worker drops by to chat, the phone rings, and your boss sends you an email to handle something, pronto—all at the same time. With a flurry of activity, you respond to these various demands. All prove to be low priority, and an hour later, you return to your initial task, your energy waning. You decide you’ll work on the project in the afternoon, when your energy picks up again. Of course, after lunch, there’s some crisis, and after fielding a volley of phone calls and unscheduled visits from co-workers, the day ends, and the project is yet again unfinished. You’ve lost your momentum. Much like your car has to work harder to accelerate from a complete stop, so does your brain. Although interruptions are a normal (and … [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...]
What color scheme is best for personal productivity: decorating your office for productivity
Investigate the link between color and worker productivity, and you'll keep coming across the name of Dr. Nancy Kwallek, Director of the Interior Design program at the University of Texas at Austin's School of Architecture. In a recent study, she had workers do mundane clerical tasks in offices with several different color schemes and discovered that white is absolutely the worst color for productivity—at first. After being exposed to an all-white environment for a while, most workers adjusted just fine. For those who could screen out their environment from the beginning, however, bright colors were more effective, since they seem to stimulate people in general. Those more easily distracted by the environment did better in rooms painted a cooler color, like blue-green. Ultimately, however, … [Read more...]
Self-discipline and time management
When you promise someone you will complete a task by a certain timeframe, do you do it? Or does the deadline slip past once again, with you muttering to yourself, “Stupid! What is wrong with you?” Now you aren’t able to focus on anything, always aware of this dark cloud hanging over your head. Guilt sucks the energy right out of you! Instead, decide today that you are going to be a person of your word. Are you reliable? Can people count on you to do what you say you're going to do? Do you have integrity and keep the deadlines you promise? What's others' perception of you? Do you live out what you affirm? Do you do what you complain about in others? What things do people "jokingly" say about you and your … [Read more...]
Handling interruptions: scheduling time for drop-in visitors
Schedule your interruptions. Perhaps one of the reasons you’re being interrupted so frequently is you’re never around and available. This is especially true of people who travel for a living or spent most of the day wrapped up in meetings. It’s understandable that you’ll be pounced upon by your assistant when you suddenly emerge, and she’s been waiting to ask you some questions for two days. Here are some ways you can actually plan for and around interruptions: · Schedule regular check-in times. If you have an assistant, you’ll want to set up a regular time (or several times) each day or week to touch base. Have your assistant “save up” all questions he or she has and ask them all at once during your regularly scheduled … [Read more...]
Improving Your Concentration Span
Rinoa posts, “Could you post something about improving your concentration span? I know the reason why I procrastinate is because I know I won't be able to concentrate long enough to finish the task. Please help.” Inability to concentrate comes from three main sources: 1. Technology 2. People 3. Your brain 1. TECHNOLOGY. First, you must disable your global email alerts, so you don’t receive a notification for every garbage email coming into your in-box but still be able to receive an alert for “important” people. Turn off your global desktop alerts in Outlook: Under the Tools menu Select Options In the Preferences Tab, select Email options In the Email Options dialog box, … [Read more...]
Music, iPods, and Productivity
I was mentioned in the USA Today on 3/23 in a story called "Music hath charms for some workers — others it annoys" http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/gear/2006-03-23-ipod-work_x.htm My quote was (as is usual) taken a bit out of context. When I said "I'm all for it," I was referring specifically to people who say they can concentrate while music is playing in their ears (look at your average teenager, listening to music, IMing with friends, watching tv, and doing homework at the same time). Just because you can concentrate don't mean others can. At work, you definitely should follow iPod etiquette and not blast your music through your computer's speakers or portable iPod speakers. When you use your earbuds, make sure it's soft enough that you … [Read more...]
