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...]
What color scheme is best for personal productivity: decorating your office for productivity
Find More Time to Socialize: 8 Time-Savers for a Better Social Life
Here's a great article in Fitness Magazine.com on how to make time for your friends and family without getting overscheduled. Oh, wait! I'm quoted in it. :-) Enjoy! … [Read more...]
Do allergies reduce productivity?
Now here's a pharmeceutical company selling non-drowsy allergy medication that came up with the 2007 Reactine Quality of Life Report and the impact allergies have on sufferers of the condition. Highlights from the report include: - Allergic and Unbearable. Three out of four Canadians with allergies say symptoms increase irritability and fatigue, and 55 per cent claim reduced productivity (housework; on-the-job, academia). - It's not in Your Head: And this doesn't come as a surprise to health experts. This season 71 per cent of health professionals agree allergies can regularly or often affect a person's … [Read more...]
Stop Being Late: Time Management for Tardy People
Here's a nice article on 5 Ways to Stop Being Late. Made me start thinking about punctuality. A quiet amusement of mine is to watch the expression of people who arrive late for my time management seminars. Tail between the legs, these people shuffle in sheepishly mumbling something about traffic, while their friends tease, “How can you be late for a time management class?” The number one complaint I receive from managers who hire me to coach their staff on performance is something around “the inability to meet deadlines, is always late, is constantly running behind, or he/she forgot.” There are actually three types of people I see: 1. “Late” people are typically perpetually late, for everything. 2. “On time” … [Read more...]
How Does Clothing Affect Personal Productivity and Energy?
Not only can Western society’s work ethic be rigid, but so can our clothing. There’s a reason that casual Friday was invented—it’s because we finally followed our intuition that uncomfortable clothing restricts our energy flow! In the 70’s movie Tootsie, Dustin Hoffman dresses up as a woman to get a job. While he’s donning women’s apparel he says something akin to, “Who’s the misogynist bastard who invented high heels?!” In my opinion, high heels and bras are tangible proof of evil. Wearing high heels on a regular basis can cause serious foot problems such as hammertoes, bunions, corns, calluses, Achilles problems, growth of nerve tissue called neuromas, and even stress fractures.[i] And that’s just your feet! High heels also cause knee … [Read more...]
Employee perks: complaining in first class
I love sitting in first class on an airplane. By policy, I travel coach to my speaking engagements. Occasionally, I will earn enough upgrade certificates in my mileage program to upgrade myself to first class, even though I’m only paying for a coach ticket. I feel blessed each time I get to sit there and would expect others feel the same way. But today I had a seatmate who complained about everything—the seats, the food, and the lack of choices on the menu. Excuse me? A lack of choices? The people in coach are jealous that you even have food! And this guy’s complaining about sitting in first class. Are you that way? Are you complaining in first class? I give training seminars at an accounting firm in Denver that has received the … [Read more...]
Increasing your stamina, endurance, and energy at your desk
Can you maintain your productivity all day? Even if you do start out the day with plenty of zest, you may eventually feel that energy slipping away. You can be zipping along just fine, then—Boom!—you hit what sports enthusiasts call "The Wall." How well you handle your energy budget will determine whether you break through the Wall and move on to the rest of your day—or just bounce off and slog through the mental mud. There's no magic pill to help you increase your endurance or skyrocket your stamina. If you Google “increase your stamina” and “increase your endurance,” you'll keep coming upon exercise tips (at least you will once you get past all the ads for vitamins and, yes, magic pills). There's a good reason for that. Much of your ability to make it through the … [Read more...]
Time management and chronic pain
It’s very hard to do much of anything when you’re in pain. Chronic pain can really sap your energy. I’m guilty of putting up with too much pain, deciding “that’s just the way it is; nothing I can do about it.” I’ve been in a few car accidents over the years—including one major one in which I fractured my back at 20 years old. I’ve dealt with whiplash (and corresponding problems with my cervical spine) and a compression fracture between my shoulder blades (and corresponding problems with my thoracic spine). I went through a lot of physical therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture, and injections to try to cure the pain, and many treatments were helpful, but nothing completely resolved my pain. So basically I endure a dull ache in my back. I often have the … [Read more...]
Workaholism: a well-defined addiction
I wrote recently about an article from the Christian Science Monitor, in which a reporter interviewed me about "Extreme Jobs," people who work 80+ hour workweeks. I received an email from someone who read my post, miffed that I could judge someone, as "I did not know her." Of course I don't know her and can't judge her personally...I'm sure she's a very nice person, gives to the poor, and rescues puppies...and the only thing I (and anyone else for that matter) can observe is behavior. Working seven days a week, 11 hours a day (not including time at home working) is workaholism, pure and simple (heck, even God rested on the seventh day). It's been studied, researched, and rehashed, and just because it’s been re-titled an “extreme job” doesn’t mean it’s anything new. It's … [Read more...]
Time Management in Hawaii?
I've been on vacation from my blog while on vacation in Hawaii (Big Island). It was the first time in five years my husband and I took a vacation, sans kids, for more than a few days. We were gone eight wonderful days, and it really stretched my mind and rested my soul. First off, I the leisurely pace of Hawaii is of coure much different than the snap-snap hustle bustle of Denver. Relaxation was the mantra, which was usually wonderful, except when practiced by employees who are supposed to be in customer service roles. It took over an hour for the bellman to retrieve our luggage! Instead of taking our rental car, we would take nice long walks to the Starbucks down the road from our hotel. Here's a picture of the beautiful Birds of Paradise lining the walkway: We stayed at a … [Read more...]
