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Category Archive: Productivity

10 Ways To Be More Productive

Posted by on February 19, 2018

I am a high D personality that likes to get things done. So over the years when things get tough, I tend to just work harder and try to push through it. Now I have come to realize that sometimes taking a walk in the middle of the day may be the most productive thing I could do. Smarter not harder is the game changer and Liz Ryan has an excellent post:

“The biggest problem with workplace productivity is mental. We think about productivity all wrong. We think that if we can tick three or five more items off our To Do list, we’re really doing a great job! We measure, value and reward the wrong things.

We praise people who work the fastest, instead of the people who work the smartest. That’s a big mistake!”

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Important Steps To Improve Daily Productivity

Posted by on January 10, 2018

I have been leading long enough to have gone through at least 5 different major approaches to time management and productivity. It all started with simple lists, then prioritization using planners and now technology drives almost everything. Probably the greatest help for me today is to block some open time in my daily schedule to allow for new inputs and unforeseen opportunities. This Forbes post represents some great tips:

“Productivity is an ever elusive concept to me. I often feel guilty for not doing more, but I know I have to give myself time to find and master the techniques that work for me. I think what it really boils down to: trial and error.”

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Why You Get Distracted At Work

Posted by on September 25, 2017

I used to love multi-tasking because it felt like I was getting so much done. That is because I falsely believed that activity equals productivity. I now totally reject that idea, unless I am working on the most administrative tasks of the day. Anything else demands blocked time for deep and sustained work. This Michael Hyatt post is great:

“It’s hard to maintain your focus in an office. With so many meetings to attend, drop-ins by coworkers, calls, emails, and countless other interruptions, it can seem like a miracle that anything ever gets done. But do you know who the biggest culprit often is when it comes to sabotaging your productivity with distractions? Look in the mirror.”

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How To Work Smarter Not Harder

Posted by on September 18, 2017

I always get caught with the tension of spending time learning some new technology that will help me and the reality of needing immediate results. However, after making the commitment to becoming proficient with some personal project management software my life is significantly more productive. I am not interested in just doing the wrong things faster and this Fast Company post hits all the issues:

“Possibly no piece of productivity advice is more well-worn than the adage, “Work smarter, not harder.” Of course, the directive points to the fact that it’s not how many hours you put in at your desk that matters—it’s how you spend your time there. In other words, get results faster and you won’t be spending so many late nights at the office.”

But what does it really mean to work smarter?

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Why Highly Productive People Use "Time Blocking"

Posted by on April 26, 2017

The movement toward multitasking felt like progress but in reality it was the worst possible thing for overall productivity . Yes, during some times of the day I still use it but the game changer for me was the idea of blocking times for work that requires a deep dive without several interruptions. This post by Abby Lawson is excellent:

“Would you like to learn the secret to becoming insanely productive? Productivity and organization go hand-in-hand. When we get busy or face times of stress, it’s easy to let things slide. And before you know it, your desk and habits are in disarray. “Time blocking” is a method that just might help you avoid those moments of chaos, and keep your mind and office clear.”

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What To Do When You Are Stuck

Posted by on March 17, 2017

When some people face dramatic change, they choose to live in denial as if this is not really happening to me. On the other extreme, others know the change is real to the point of becoming emotionally depressed about their new state of life.

The common sometimes fatal result of both of these mindsets is the paralysis of inactivity. We don’t want to get out of bed, go to work or even talk with anyone.

We must, as Jim Collins said of effective leadership in Good to Great, be willing to confront the brutal facts that sometimes I cannot return to my life the way it used to be.

I must assume personal responsibility to change myself first and start leading myself by making good daily decisions before my life can begin to turn around in different direction. The only way to do that is to do what you can with what you have right where you are and do it today with all your heart.

Change always produces movement. If we let it, this movement can be downward and very destructive. The only way to stop this negative cycle is to start doing the simple things that you are able to do right now that will allow you to accomplish something good today.

You must get on offense and use the power of the momentum produced by activity to turn your life in a new positive direction. You must take some risk today by raising your sails and doing the clear things you know need to be done before you can ever feel the movement produced by the wind taking you to a better place.

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How To Escape The Procrastination Doom Loop

Posted by on December 5, 2016

I have come to believe that time management is a flawed concept. The real issue is the ability to set daily priorities and the willingness to change the plan based on better opportunities. However, I still find myself at times stalled and not really knowing why I am not making progress. This Forbes post was helpful:

“When you imagine a highly productive person, you likely think of someone who focuses effortlessly on the job and never succumbs to procrastination. You know, the type who can sit on the ground in a subway station with their laptop and still manage to get more done in an hour than you would in a day at the library.”

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4 Simple Ways To Manage Your Inbox

Posted by on October 21, 2016

Everyone knows that getting the important things done each and every day and walking away from everything else is the secret to success. We all have to process tremendous amounts of information all the time and there are so many things we simply cannot fit into an already loaded schedule.

Sometimes we take relatively simple concepts and make them too complicated. This is my conviction about the subject of personal productivity. When something hits my “inbox”, regardless of its source: email, cell phone, mail, interruptions, there are only four possible things I am going to do.

DELETE—If it is not important, I immediately kill it as fast as possible.

DELAY—If if is not urgent that it be done now, I file it for later.

DELEGATE—If it is something someone else can do as well or better than I can, they own it.

DO—If the first three options do not work, then it has to fit into my daily plan.

I will admit this is a very simple process with the exception of one phrase: IS IT IMPORTANT?

Technology and productivity may increase your efficiency but they cannot tell you if what you are doing should be done at all. Only your character and core values personally and professionally can do that.

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How To Decide Every Day What’s Next?

Posted by on September 16, 2016

This phrase became the mantra on the award winning series The West Wing. After every serious issue that had to be dealt with no matter how long the conversation or difficult the task the president would always ask what’s next?

That is a very good question that all of us have to answer each and every day regardless of whether we realize it or not. Inherent within the question is the intention to find the most important things on our must do list and place them at the top.

Most of us allocate a considerable amount of time to plan our weeks and certainly each individual day with pre-determined goals and priorities. However, in today’s wired culture we are constantly receiving new information throughout the day that must be processed.

David Allen is recognized as one of the nation’s leading experts on time management and personal productivity. In his book Getting Things Done he list four key criteria about processing new information that help him to answer the what’s next question:

Context—A few actions can be done anywhere but most require a specific location or having some productivity tool at hand, such as a phone or a computer. These are the first factors that limit your choices about what you can do in the moment.
Time available—When do you have to do something else? Having a meeting in five minutes would prevent doing many actions that require more time.
Energy available—How much energy do you have? Some actions you have to do require a reservoir of fresh, creative mental energy while others need more physical horsepower.
Priority—Given your context, time, and energy available, what actions will give you the highest payoff? This is where you need to access your intuition and begin to rely on your judgment call in the moment.

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12 Habits Of The Most Productive People

Posted by on March 9, 2016

I am constantly reading and doing research to find any new way or tool to improve my personal productivity. After all, when you set your goals but you are not able to achieve them because you have no margin you have failed. This post from Fast Company reminds me of several key tactics that have helped me over the years along with a few new ideas:

“High performance starts with a mind-set that translates into things that you do. Once you’ve got the mind-set, you will have the behaviors, and then it will turn into action. Everyone can become a high performer,” Rulkens says. They know these 12 things.

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