This is hysterical. Have you ever been sitting in a boring meeting, wishing you had a reason to excuse yourself? Or on a disasterous blind date, looking for an escape? Before a potentially draining engagement, visit PopularityDialer.com. Schedule a free call to your cell phone at a designated time and specify a conversation: boss, cousin in need, friend, etc. The recording actually pauses for your end of the conversation. You'll be out of there in no time. … [Read more...]
Eliminate interruptions for better concentration
Posted on 11/06/2007 by ·
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...]
Handling vendor phone solicitation with a magic mailbox
Posted on 10/25/2007 by ·
A seminar participant shared a great trick she uses for those pesky salespeople who won't take "no" for an answer: << We had an extension set up that goes directly to voice mail so when I get a sales call asking for my boss (I can always tell it’s a sales call), I just say one moment (they think they are getting through), and they are immediately directed to our message that states “Thank you for calling (XXX) Medical Corporation. If you would like to mail us information regarding your company, our address is… or, if you prefer to fax your information, our fax number is… Thank you for calling…" I love it!! They may call me back but….they go right back into my magic mailbox. It works great because I don’t have to waste my time getting them off the … [Read more...]
Being Productive While Working Out of a Suitcase
Posted on 08/14/2007 by ·
Not everyone has the natural ability to live out of a suitcase or do business from a laptop bag. However, with a little practice, you can learn how to make the most of your travel time. It’s amazing what you can get done when you put some miles between yourself and the usual distractions of everyday life.So how do you make the most of your time away? Here are some tips that work for me. I hope a few of them will help you become as efficient when you’re away from the office as you are when you’re there.Pack efficiently. It all starts with being organized and thinking ahead. Did you ever stay up half the night packing and spend an entire trip frustrated, exhausted, and wondering what it is you forgot? Don’t let it happen again. It’s pretty rare that a trip will pop up at the last minute, but … [Read more...]
Addicted to Email
Posted on 08/06/2007 by ·
I have a friend who jokes there are always three people in her bed: herself, her husband, and her Blackberry. I was in California last week on vacation with my family and witnessed people typing away on their Blackberries while at Disneyland, with their children tugging at their pants legs, asking to go see Cinderella. I was presenting a seminar yesterday, and one participant kept looking up to say, "Would you repeat that"? not because I wasn't clear, but because she wasn't paying attention to me---you got it---checking her email during class. Examples abound but the bottom line is Americans are addicted to email. Slaves to the Send/Receive button, countless workers sit at their desks, waiting for the next Desktop Alert, beep, cursor change, envelope in … [Read more...]
2007 Wasting Time Survey from Salary.com
Posted on 07/31/2007 by ·
The 3rd annual Salary.com "Wasting Time Survey" for 2007 reports that the average employee wastes 1.7 hours of a typical 8.5 hour work day. Salary.com reports that figure is down from the 2.09 hours wasted per day in 2005. The #1 culprit of wasted time? Internet use at 34.7%. Followed by socializing with co-workers (20.3%) and conducting personal business (17.0%). Over 63 percent of respondents admitted to wasting time at work. The 20-29 year olds waste almost twice as much time (2.1 hours) compared to 40-49 year olds (1.4 hours). Keep in mind this does not take into account how much work people are doing at home and on weekends, however. What, do you think people aren't conducting business while at home? Of course they are! In my opinion, they might be asking the wrong … [Read more...]
Reduce the noise
Posted on 06/25/2007 by ·
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...]
Running productive teleconferences
Posted on 06/12/2007 by ·
Your marketing team is based in Chicago, and you work from your home office in Denver, and the salespeople work from remote field sites all over the globe. You need to connect voice-to-voice to discuss next quarter’s sales efforts and don’t have the budget to travel to a central location. It takes a great deal of energy attempting to connect with each person individually. Teleconference, to the rescue! Teleconferences can be a great way to connect virtual teams from around the world. They are less expensive than face-to-face meetings, often take less time, and allow teams to communicate more informally, ask questions, and solve problems better than through email. Holding one should be a no-brainer. What can be so hard about a group of people … [Read more...]
The Crackberry: A Corporate Noose or Time Leveraging Tool: Time Management and Blackberries
Posted on 03/02/2007 by ·
I enjoyed this post about how to be more productive with your Crackberry, I mean Blackberry. Especially true is Nakagawa's comment, "...the people who are the most productive don’t seem to have them." I'm sure you have your beefs about Blackberry usage in your organization (or by your spouse, for that matter). If you were king or queen of the world, what "rules" would you create about Blackberry usage? In addition to the 10 the author lists, I'll add the following from personal experience: 1. Do not pretend you are listening to someone by brainlessly mumbling "uh-huh" while you are answering an email on your Crackberry. 2. Pay attention to the presenter during training sessions rather than using the time as your personal … [Read more...]
Control Your Technology…Don’t Let It Control You
Posted on 02/15/2007 by ·
Today’s children spend an average of 15 hours a week watching television, playing video games, and surfing the Internet. Is there any wonder why childhood obesity has risen at alarming rates? Laptops, PDAs, pagers, cell phones…the technological devices that were supposed to make our lives simpler are taking away our lives. We’re working harder to keep up with our own inventions. The “always available” nature of technology wreaks havoc in some people’s personal lives. The price of being available 24-7 is the loss of time for loved ones, reflection, relaxation, and spiritual growth. It’s time we asserted control over technology and used it to enhance our lives, rather than robbing our lives of sacred time. Limit your television watching. When I was a child, I was allowed to watch two … [Read more...]
