Productivity Archives - Page 20 of 32

25 Ways to be Jazzed about Productivity

May 10, 2007 by Liz

Jazzed Yeah!

Ben started a writing project on productivity. I had to get productive to even particpate in it. I might have had too much on my desk. I think I might have missed it. Kim asked me to tell about productivity. She even said that sometimes she got mean about it — no, no, not really, well, at least it didn’t seem so. She’s the Kim who is desparately escaping adulthood with Jason.

Still, I can’t let the concept of productivity sit there. So here are 25 ways to get Jazzed about productivity.

Get up early when no one’s around. Nothing’s more fun than working without interruption.

Look out the window to greet the day with a few minutes for yoursef before you begin. Then you’ll be ready to dig in.

Clean off your desk before you start working. If you haven’t done for a while, clean your computer screen too.

Make sure that the tools you use often through the day are close to you.

Make to do list. Divide according to what you can move most quickly to get someone else working too.

Review your calendar for deadlines you have meet. Determine what has be done and how much time you have to do it. Plan for when and how and include breaks.

If the work takes longer than the time you have, find the work that anyone can do and let anyone do it. Don’t ask for help — delegate. Find a partner, a pal, or an apprentice who wants to learn what you do. Barter their services.

Don’t multitask. Research shows it’s not productive.

Choose a task and a move it forward one small step. Then decide if you’ll move it two.

Choose appointed times during the day to answer email. Every two hours might do.

When an email or other tpiece of paper bearing a task comes your way. Assign it to a pile — Do it. Delegate it. OR Dump it. If you set it aside, you’ll only have to pick up and go through thinking about it again. That last pile is the waste basket.

When you are interrupted, learn to say, “Do you mind if I take a minute to finish this?” Then do. Having to start up again will steal the time that it take for you to find your place again.

Before you make call, know what the outcome is that you want and know how much time you allot yourself. Then at the beginning of the call share the time limit with the person on the other end.

Know the job and routine of the person or persons you are working with. Understand how your work and decisions impact theirs. That will avoid making work for them, which would, inevitably, make work for you.

Take a break for 3 or 4 minutes every hour to walk around, giving yourself a change of view.

Ask a child to solve a problem for you. Better yet have 10 year old organize your supplies.

Start in the middle of a hard task. Usually we know what the middle of anything we want to do will be. It’s the beginning and end that confuse us.

Organize a large document by laying all of the pieces of it on the floor and literally looking at it while standing above it with a top-down view.

Quit thinking poor. Buy the tools you need. Get the best quality you can afford. For those tools you use every day calculate how many pennies per day it will cost you. Then calculate how much time you will save by using the new tool.

Pick one hour a day that you will not take any outside interruptions — no email, IM, or telephone calls. The hour after lunch is good. Clean your desk before the hour begins and place a task that requires focus on it. Ready for when the hour begins.

Have a routine for writing that suits the time of day that you write well and get the least interruptions.

As you begin each task, allot a time to it — how long it will take you to do it. If you find yourself falling far behind at the half-way mark, stop to re-evaluate your understanding of the task.

Do a sample for every new job and every new task to ensure that what you heard is what folks really want.

Learn to say “no,’ when you don’t have time. If you can’t say “no,” at least schedule requests for a time when your schedule will allow them.

Leave one task at the end of the day about 20 minutes from finished. That way when you begin the next day, you’ll be able to accomplish something quickly and start on a roll.

Whew! 25 ways to get jazzed about productivity. Some a little and some are much larger. Every one of them will have its own impact in your life. Choose the ones that work for you. Leave the rest on the proverbial table. A proverbial person just might come along. That proverbial person might find that those you left are exactly the right fit for a problem he or she has been staring at for months.

What gets you jazzed about productivity. . . Ilker, Daniel, Jason, Singhania, Katiebird?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Myers-Briggs: Vacation and Work with your PJs

January 18, 2007 by Liz

Last in the Series:

Two Groups — Two Vacations

Armed with our individual Myers-Briggs Type Indicator results, the seminar leader divided the 25 of us into two groups, one group on each side of the room. We didn’t know how the groups were decided. We only knew that we were assigned a task.

“Plan a vacation together,” she said. Then she allowed us a block of time to do so.

The two groups jumped on the task with enthusiasm. This was much more fun than a day at the office. At the office, we worked together as a department, so a group vacation was easy to imagine. I remember looking around at my group that day, thinking This is the group I would want to vacation with. How did she know that?

When the time was up, two vacations had been planned. They sounded something like this.

Group 1 had decided to go to Europe. They knew exactly which countries they would visit. They named who would be in charge of airline and hotel reservations. They knew the city in which they would meet to officially begin the trip. They planned how many days they would spend in each location in Europe and exactly what sights they would see. They knew how much free time they would have for shopping and by what transportation they would travel from every point A to every point B.
Group 2 had decided to go to Taos, New Mexico and from there to the Bahamas for a total of three weeks. However, if anyone got to Taos and wanted to stay, no one was under obligation to go further. The schedule and entertainment in each location was a pile of enticing possibilities.

Both groups were delighted with our plans.

Vacation and Work with your PJs (and other letters)

All of my work life, I’ve run into people who believed that everyone thinks the same way, should do things the same way — the industrial revolution was run on that exact premise.

I use the vacation planning story above to bring home the point that we don’t think alike. Want more proof?

Think about when your vacation starts. Does it start when you leave work on the last day before? . . . or when you leave for the airport or when you get in the car? . . . or does it not start until you’ve arrived and settled in? If your answer is different from that of your vacation companion, there could be conflict without understanding.

If my companions’ vacation starts before mine does, it’s irritating. He’s playing. I’m still trying to get to where my vacation begins.

If we care about how others think when we plan, we can get the best effect with the least stress and conflict. Hey, who doesn’t prefer a smile to getting yelled at? Though everyone is able to work in all eight modes, we have more fuel when we can go with our natural preferences.

Here are some ways to manage a team to their strengths and preferences.

E/I — Let the Extroverts network and investigate at the conference. Ask the Introverts to gather what’s happening and report back. Extroverts remember that folks who say nothing don’t necessarily agree. Introverts keep in mind that not sharing thoughts can be confused with withholding information.
N/S — The Intuitives are great at innovation. The Sensors can make sure the execution is flawless. Intuitives who know themselves value the grounding that Sensors can offer. Sensors of the same maturity know that intuitive detail often fills in what’s missing from the empirical data.
T/F — Have a Thinker evaluate a competitor’s product. Then have a Feeler tell whether customers will buy it. Feelers with experience realize that when a Thinker says “You’re not going to do THAT, are you?” the Thinker is being generous with information. Thinkers with experience understand that Feelers hear with the filter of emotion and nuance. Both groups do well when they connect head and heart as they speak and listen.
P/J — Ask Perceivers to brainstorm a list of ideas and steps in a process. Then let the Judgers build the schedule and detail the action plan. Perceivers can use Judgers to know when too many options are pinning them down or stopping progress. Judgers can use Perceivers to gain fluency and flexibility with ideas and processes.

We work counter to our preferences every day, and we do well. But it wears us out. It makes us tired and cranky, and strains relationships. When we do what we’re good at, work is fun; we’re enthusiastic; and we’re exponentially more passionate and productive. Which do you think is better for us, for the customers, and for the work?

On that Myers-Briggs day, the Ps “went to Taos.” The Js “went to Europe.” We all had fun planning in our homogenous groups.

How would you get a team of both Ps and Js to plan a vacation that worked?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
If you think I can help with your business, your brand or your blog, check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

Other resources
Keirsey.com They carried on the research.
Google Directory for Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Type Logic Resources and software

Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as a Personal Productivity Tool

January 15, 2007 by Liz

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

A conversation started this weekend about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. I promised to continue it, but before I do, some background might help. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator outlines our preferences for four categories of focus:

Favorite World: Introvert or Extrovert — Do you prefer to focus on your inner world, or do you prefer to focus on the outer world?

Information: Sensing or Intuitiion — Do you prefer to focus on basic information, or do you prefer to focus on adding value and interpretation?

Decisions: Thinking or Feeling — Do you prefer to focus on logic and consistency first, or do you prefer to focus first on people and circumstances?

Structure: Judging or Perceiving — Do you prefer to get things decided and to closure, or do you prefer to keep room for new information and possibilities?

All of us can do all eight. The indicator only points to our preferences — where we go first and where we would rather focus.

Finding our preferences adds to our self-awareness. It’s one more way to help manage our life and our business. If we know our preferences, we can keep our energy up and our stress level down — making opportunities for things we prefer does just that.

An introvert, who has a day of meetings, can schedule private time to regroup. An extrovert, who has a day of paperwork to get through, can schedule in a break to touch base with clients or colleagues.

More energy and less stress just by using what we know about ourselves. That makes the Myers-Briggs a personal productivity tool.

How might you change your work day based only on what you know about you?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Related articles
WhoÃ¢â¬â¢s Talking about the Myers Briggs Tonight?

Other resources
If you want to seriously take the MBTI, the Myers & Briggs Foundation recommends Capt.org. It’s US$150 via email. If you want a taste of what the test measures, you might go to Humanmetrics. com
Keirsey.com They carried on the research.
Google Directory for Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Type Logic Resources and software

Four Days Make a Long First Week . . .

January 5, 2007 by Liz

It’s a priniciple of the work universe. Four-day work weeks alter the time-space continuum. How does a week seem so long and confusing when there is one day less to do that it? This week, I thought Monday was Tuesday. . . .

It’s Friday and I wish I was on a tropical beach . . . or taking a nap.

Still I usually do better at adjusting to changes than I have to this particular four-day week. It took me until Thursday to lose that “I’ve been on holiday” feeling.

Wait a minute, that’s the problem.

This wasn’t my usual four-day work week thing. The stakes were raised exponentially by the fact that it’s the VERY FIRST week back to work of 2007. No wonder, I don’t know where I am. I’m back to normal working days again. Normal isn’t my usual state. Even when things are normal, I’m a little off balance — hmmph not that anyone, who never met me, might notice.

The hardest week of the year — the week after the holidays — is over!

That changes everything and I’m changing everything too! I’ll make space this afternoon to put some “new” into my new year. I know exactly what I will do.

I’ll say good-bye to 2006 officially. Toss my old calendar. So long to cards and things left from the holidays sitting around my computer gathering dust.

I’ll get control of 2007. Lay out things that still need to be done. Plan what I’ll do first on Monday and what three most important I pick for my focus.

I’ll set up my command center. Put the things I use most where I use them.

I’ll make a plan for the weekend that gives my brain a break. I’ll walk out the door feeling in control again.

I made it to Friday of the first week of 2007! There’s no stopping me now. I’m ready to change the world again. A celebration is in order. I’ll meet a friend for some coffee, buy a book, and a CD.

Okay so I won’t go to that tropical beach, but a nap or even two just might be in order.

Liz's Signature

New Year’s Resolutions, No! How to Make Positive Changes that Have Meaning and Stick

December 30, 2006 by Liz

Never Made One Yet

The first time I encountered the term, New Year’s Resolution, was in the comic strip, Peanuts, by Charles M. Shultz. I was 8, maybe 9, years old, and Peanuts was the top comic in the Chicago Tribune. As I went through the comic strips that day, making resolutions was a recurring theme in them.

I found the idea of New Year’s Resolutions curious, and I wondered why I’d never heard of them. I sought out the only available expert I knew. I asked my mom.

My mom answered, “Because most folks make resolutions and forget them the very next day. That’s just not how most people change.”

I can still tap into the relief I felt when she said that. My imagination had made this ferocious picture of what a resolution was. I had seen myself climbing into a splintery, wooden shipping crate labeled “FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE WITH NO HOPE OF EVER GETTING OUT.”

Thanks to that conversation about New Year’s Resolutions, I’ve never made made one yet.

New Year’s Resolutions a New Approach

On Open Comment Night December 5th, the subject of New Year’s Resolutions came up. We agreed that they don’t work as a list. Christine Kane explained her approach was to choose a word. Ben took that idea back as the Absolute Best Way and described it on his Instigator Blog.

Boy, I sure like their ideas a lot!

But I need more than that to execute — if I want to make a positive change that will stay with me. So if Ben and Christine don’t mind, I’m going to expand on the spirit of their ideas, knowing they already “get” it.

How to Make Positive Changes that Have Meaning and Stick

Changing habits is hard to do. The hard part is getting the new ones to stick. It’s easier when we approach our habits the way we approach our tasks and our skills — knowing our goal, not taking on too much, and making use of the “do over” rule when we need it.

Here’s how to make your positive changes stick.

Choose one thing to change. One thing done is always better than 12 things started. If you’re working on gratitude, you might narrow it to saying thank you and meaning it. If you’re working on snacking you might replace one snack food with a healthful one or one time that you snack with another activity.

Write your choice down and define it as an objective. I will say thank you out loud and give a brief reason for my gratitude when folks do things simple for me, such as listen to my ideas, and I’ll note their response. Now you know it is that you’re going for and you’ve got a clear objective.

Make it measurable and make a measurement goal that increases. The measure can be simple. It might be how many smiles a day you get. Without a measure though, a goal is easy to lose track of or forget. How will you know if you’re getting better without a measurement?

Check in at the end of the day to see how you did. Record your measurement and compare it to yesterday. Plan for tomorrow, but don’t think about next year — that’s a lifetime away.

Forgive yourself when you slip or have a bad day. Everyone does that. Don’t give up — with that response no one ever would learn to bicycle, skate, or be a leader in any sense. Pick up where you left off, knowing the practice you already have will make the forward momentum that much easier.

Celebrate your successes when you have a great day. When you live up to the change you are going for, let yourself know that by doing something really cool with a friend, taking in a great movie, CD, or book, or whatever else feels like a reward.

When the change is fully a part of you, go on back to choose another positive to add to what you do.

Changing habits is like taking on new skills. We need to make room to learn, see progress, dust off our mistakes, and celebrate our successes. We’ve been doing that since we went to school. It’s what learning is.

Take a word from Christine and Ben, don’t make a resolution. Make a change that is meaningful.

When you make a positive change that sticks, other positive things will happen too. You’ll also be changing the world just a bit.

New Year’s Resolutions. Positive changes in the world. Have you thought about this? The quickest way to change other folks’ behavior is to change our own?

Thank you for that.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

The Mic Is On: Do you Remember the Time When. . .? Whatâs Your Favorite Family Story?

December 26, 2006 by Liz

It’s Like Open Mic Only Different

Here’s how it works.

It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME
The rules are simple — be nice.

There are always first timers and new things to talk about. It’s sort of half “Cheers” part “Friends” and part video game. You don’t know how much fun it is until you try it.

What’s your favorite family story? You have several, don’t you? They are each as different as a snowflake.

We might also talk about

what happened this holiday season that will become a repeated story
our most embarrassing story
stories that make us roll on the floor laughing
how our memories differ from those of our family members

AND THE EVER POPULAR,
Basil the code-writing donkey, and Milton the Skinny Moose.

–ME “Liz” Strauss