The Productivity Pro® Blog by Laura Stack - Time Management, Getting Things Done, How to Be More Productive

For years, I’ve heard employees in my productivity seminars complaining about their IT departments.  Some of these complaints I believe have valid justifications, and I stick up for IT:

COMPLAINT: IT won’t let them load personal software.

JUSTIFIED! Doing so would create a staffing nightmare as workers seek help on non-supported applications.  Could also create security concerns and open the door to system viruses.

COMPLAINT: IT restricts access to certain Internet sites

JUSTIFIED! I can’t think of a good reason why employees would need to watch X-rated videos at work.

COMPLAINT: IT doesn’t upgrade their operating systems and software to the newest version for years after the release.

JUSTIFIED! You don’t need new technology for the sake of new technology.  There must be a cost-benefit analysis to determine if the new features will boost performance and productivity, commensure to the level of staff support IT is able to provide.

BUT many of the things IT does are ridiculous and I just don’t understand.  For example:

COMPLAINT: IT has removed my desktop printer, and I have to walk down the hall to the printer.

NOT JUSTIFIED! This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard of in a while.  Holy cow, I print continually.  Even electronic/PDA/Blackberry types still have piles of paper all over their desks.  It’s crazy to think about how much people make per hour times the number of employees in an organization, all walking down the hall to the shared printer, where of course they’re likely to stumble into Chatty Suzy, who wants to tell you about her nightcrawlers.  You get to the printer—CRAP!—it didn’t print out, someone took it, it’s not what I thought, margins are cut off, etc., BACK to the office to print again.  I don’t care squat about how hard it is to service all those printers.  Get a contractor to handle it.  Printers are cheap.  The cost of not having a printer on the desk top of every employee is a huge productivity and profitability drain.

COMPLAINT: My company won’t purchase a Blackberry/Treo/Smartphone for me to use. 

NOT JUSTIFIED: I know most people would be far more productive if they had instant access to their email, calendar, and contacts from anywhere.  I feel so sorry for people who are forced to print out their Outlook info, schlep it home, write on it manually, carry it back to work, and update it again, just to keep things organized.  Employees tend to stay connected at home if they have a device.  I tell people who complain about their companies not buying them a Blackberry to suck it up and buy one themselves!  But then at http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/home/News.asp?id=39533&cid=5 a consortium of CIOs actually came up with some "best practices" for managing PDAs. They suggest "Don’t allow the connection of privately owned PDAs to your corporate network. There will also be an issue with having proper back-ups and generally adhering to standards."  So you’re actually suggesting that people who dip into their own pockets to buy a device to aid their productivity and increase the profitability of the organization shouldn’t be allowed to do so?  Hello IT!!  Why don’t you get with all the managers and mandate they buy people one who want one, so people don’t have to connect with a privately-owned device?  You are out of touch with the business reality of what many workers are dealing with.

COMPLAINT: I’m not allowed to load personal information on my Outlook.

NOT JUSTIFIED!  People don’t simply turn off their private lives when they walk through your doors, and they don’t stop thinking about work at home, either.  You can’t have it both ways!  Do you actually expect for them to maintain two completely unrelated systems, rending their time management ability totally useless?  If your system doesn’t incorporate both your personal and professional lives, you are setting yourself up for conflicts and inefficiencies, which will ultimately affect a worker’s performance on the job.  This artcicle suggests IT should "Establish clear policies on PDA use, targeting items such as business versus personal use, playing games, downloading inappropriate material or using it to share family pictures."  Get a clue!!!  Do you think people are robots?  That they’re going to come to work and not think about their families again?  Socializing and water cooler chat are important for relationship building and is not simply a waste of time.  Connecting with co-workers on a personal level builds trust and comraderie that’s essential in building the support you need to get things done quickly.

COMPLAINT: My company makes me carry a Blackberry to check my email, but they said the phone service is too expensive, so I have to use a different cell phone, and I’m still required to wear my pager for emergencies?

JUSTIFICATION: None necessary, you can figure this one out on your own the first time you see some poor sap with three different devices strapped to his/her waist.

DO I HEAR AN ‘AMEN’?

I’m reading an article in PC Magazine June 6, 2006 edition, that makes me pause.  Think your portable external hard drive backups will save you if your computer crashes?  But what happens if a disaster wipes out your entire ofice?  Better move duplicates of your critical data over the Internet to remote servers.  One of the big excuses for not backing up to an off-site storage location is "it’s too expensive," followed by a close second, "it’s too much of a pain."  Now both of those excuses are gone with Mozy Remote Backup, which offers 2GB of secure off-site storage for FREE. You’ll pay more for additional storage, but you really only need to save your mission-critical data and important files with these services.  I backup my QuickBooks, ACT, training courseware, and book files each week.  Mozy won the PC Magazine Editor’s Choice award, so you should feel comfortable in selecting the service.  Tell it what files to protect and run your backup.  It saves all new and changed files and keeps previous versions for 30 days in case a file gets corrupted. go.pcmag.com/mozyremote16

You have a sink full of dishes, three loads of laundry, 17 bills to pay, you’re not sure how many e-mails to answer, a big stack of novels you’d love to read, and zero — count them — ZERO minutes of free time.  “Where does the time go?” you lament. Here are some ideas to get you started on your quest to have a life:

1.      Reduce waiting time. If your doctor or meetings always run late, plan ahead.  Make good use of this time and carry note cards, bills and magazines in your tote.

2.      Limit your television watching.  Sensible limits may relieve guilt from overindulging, while freeing up time for more worthwhile pursuits. TIVO or tape your favorite shows and skip the commercials.

3.      Say no to yourself. If you’re not excited about attending a social function, then don’t go! Stay home and relax. Or if you planned to go grocery shopping, but the sun is shining and you’d rather be in your garden, it’s perfectly fine to change your mind and do your shopping tomorrow.

4.      Cut down on cleaning. Keep cleaner within reach and spray the shower before getting out. Wipe the sink after each use. If you’re inclined to make the bed, pull up the quilt before you get out of it. Use washable throw rugs with rubber backs in heavy traffic areas. Change filters on the heating/cooling system frequently to cut down on dust.

5.      Batch tasks when you can. It takes longer to do small administrative tasks one at a time. Instead practice “saving up” these items. Put all your copies in a “to be copied” project file; your filing in a “to be filed” bin; etc. Pick a regular day and time to handle all these tasks at once.

6.      Don’t put things down “just for now.” Temporary places too often become permanent places. Put something away while it’s in your hand rather than allowing large piles to accumulate.

7.      Reduce time at the store. Use catalogues – or store websites – which will gift-wrap and mail presents for you. Buy gourmet gifts from an online bakery or specialty store to have on hand when you attend parties – nuts, jams, teas and candies make excellent gifts.

8.      Hire it out. You can get the kid down the street to mow your lawn for $20. Now think about hiring out housekeeping, laundry, cooking and other tasks you don’t enjoy or need to do.

9.      Change your pace. If you normally do your grocery shopping on Saturday, pick a weeknight to go instead. The stores are much less crowded on Wednesday evening than Saturday afternoon. The desire to get home after work, instead of feeling like you have all day, will keep you clipping down the aisles.

10.  Focus on simple pleasures. When your day’s work is done, make time for yourself. Relaxation doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. A bubble bath or really good cup of coffee can be as satisfying (and less time consuming) than a spa visit or fancy restaurant. Yes, extravagant occasions are nice but when you focus on simple pleasures, you’ll get more for less, in less time, more often.

A reporter asked me, "What’s the best way to gauge employee productivity in a small business?"

A: 1) Focus on results. Give people specific goals and projects, and evaluate whether they achieve the objective on time and within budget.

2) As you grow, don’t oversee everyone yourself. Put other management levels in between you and workers.

3) Have employees submit a weekly activity report, so you can assess whether they have completed a reasonable amount of work that week.

4) Monitor their work. I had an employee who was supposedly working a 40-hour week, when I checked the phone company logs, it turned out he was working for another company on the side and only working 20 hours a week. Don’t be blind and assume even your "star" employee is giving you his/her best. I had another employee who was saying negative things about our company on myspace.com. Be tech savvy, know how to monitor what sites are visited, web postings, etc.

5) Keep a list of all passwords: phone, email, computer, etc. Let employees know they are company property, are not private, and will be monitored. Employees will be less likely to waste time.

http://interruptions.net/literature/Speier-ICIS97-p21-speier.pdf

This is an academic paper, so you probably won’t want to read the entire thing, but the results of the research have interesting implications for "organizational electronic mail systems that have been implemented to enhance productivity."  I’ve always said that workers should disable the global alerts in Outlook that notify them every time a new message is received.  Now this study confirms how bad desktop alerts are on concentration and productivity!  The findings from this research suggest that instant notification features be disabled in order to avoid exacerbating the number of interruptions knowledge workers receive.

Go to Tools, Options, Preferences tab, Email options, advanced email options, and uncheck the four boxes under when new items arrive in my in-box.

Oh my goodness.  I just spent three days in San Antonio with my grandparents going through old photo albums, packets of God-knows-how-old photos, and envelopes with miscellaneous scraps.  I HIGHLY recommend you take on this sort of project BEFORE your grandparents or parents die.  I’m not even half-way done!  I can’t imagine how people can go through someone’s things after they’re are deceased and try to figure this out!  Has anyone had this happen?  "Who’s this?"  "Uhhhh…I think that’s the neighbor’s kid in Panama…1967 or so."  "Who’s this?"  "Hmmmm…oh yeah! That was the lady who drew mom’s blood in the hospital in 1996!" And so on.  Right into the trash went those photos.  My plan of attack was to make piles for my grandparents’ seven children, plus their friends and relatives, 15 piles in all.  If the photo was clearly of one of them, it would go in that pile.  If the photo was one-of-a-kind and priceless or had several people in the photo, I’d put it in a "to be scanned" pile, which I’ll send to each uncle/aunt in the photo.  It’s quite a project.  I’d love to know how you attacked a similar project and made your way through the piles of stuff from years and years and years…

I’ve had several people email me in the last few days about the U.S. productivity figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics a few weeks ago.  Great news.  3.2% increase in the first quarter.  But not quite where we were in 2002-2003 with levels over 4%.  One quarter in 2003 had over 8%!  That’s when we were all working like dogs, when everyone was afraid of losing their jobs, before employees screamed "enough"!

But still it’s absolutely amazing that we can sustain this level of productivity.  Fundamentally, why should you care?  Well, why does your organization care about  productivity? In order to be successful, your organization must both make money and save money. To make money, it must find and keep customers. To save money, it could reduce benefits, staff or salaries; it could reduce the quality of its products; it could cost costs and expenses. Or it could improve employee productivity.  So improving productivity looks like a pretty good option.

So why should you care about productivity? The main reason is that you don’t get laid off <g>. But seriously the benefit is that by becoming more productive, overworked employees can get the same amount of work done in less time and leave the office earlier. Employees get a life, and organizations get to keep them. The organization doesn’t have to hire as many people when productivity improves, theoretically putting the money back into salaries, resulting in more money for each person.  Not to mention the economy benefits.  Not sure you’re feeling the increase in money part yet, but you will. 

The pendulum is swinging, and retention will once again be the battle cry in a couple years.  Keep up the good work!

You’re staring out your office window…lost in thought about your upcoming dinner party…when you jerk back to reality: “Oops, where was I?” you think, as you look down once again at the report on your desk.  You’ve been daydreaming.

Daydreaming can be a real productivity bandit, especially when you’re supposed to be focusing on a higher-priority project.  Excessive daydreaming can waste precious time that could be better spent on other things. But daydreaming isn’t always bad.  There’s a difference between true daydreaming as the brain’s response to overload or boredom and thinking time that may lead to promising ideas.

How do you ensure daydreaming time is productive time?

Don’t use daydreaming to procrastinate.  Daydreaming can be a good tool for transitioning to a new project during the day.  It gives your brain a chance to change gears.  Figuratively, your mind puts away the file on the last task, takes a break, and gets ready to open a new file and begin work.  However, when you find your mind wandering when you’re supposed to be concentrating on a task, self-discipline is required to stay focused.

Select your designated “daydreaming place.”  Some of my best ideas come to me when I’m flying, when my body and brain are still.  Taking time in a place with no distractions gives your brain the opportunity to discover creative ideas and new solutions to problems.  You may find walking the dog, washing dishes, driving in the car, exercising, or reading the perfect time to develop new processes or plan projects.

Spend an appropriate amount of time.  For the most effective brainstorming, choose a place or activity that takes no less than 15 minutes and no more than 60 minutes.  You want your brain to have time to rummage through the closets of your mind, but not so much time that you’re wasting time unnecessarily.

Approach your daydreaming place with purpose.  Before you go to your daydreaming place, have a problem ready to mull over in your mind.  Without the normal distractions, your brain will be free to explore new possibilities.  By the end of your walk or plane ride, you may have discovered an innovative solution to that issue.

Use paper to capture the results of daydreaming.  By writing down your ideas, you won’t immediately forget them, and you can see them all at one time.  Now you can look for relationships among your thoughts.  Ask questions such as, “What causes X?” “What are the results of X?” “With what things is X related?” “What’s behind this?” “Is this leading anywhere else?” “Who else might be affected?”  I like to use a mind map with clusters of items, details, examples, and lines connecting them.

People don’t often allow themselves the opportunity to think about challenging situations, because they’re going ninety miles an hour all day long.  And our culture and current work ethic doesn’t condone thinking time.  But effective daydreaming can synthesize the volumes of information that flow across your desk, the phone lines, and through your brain every day.

www.theproductivitypro.com

I’m doing some primary research on productive energy.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that fatigue and lack of energy affect more than 14 million people between the ages of 17-69.  Nothing sounds more attractive to you than putting your heads down for a quick nap, and you sleepwalk through the day, fuzzyheaded and lethargic.  People who lack energy can’t work on big projects at work or home without the drive or desire—the oomph—to be productive.  Just think of all the wonderful business and personal goals people could accomplish if they just had the energy to get up and go!

If this sounds like you, I’d like to hear from you!  What saps YOUR energy?  Fill in the blank…"I could be more productive if __________."   Or if you have a great tip to share, let’s hear it!  Go beyond the obvious “get enough sleep, eat better, etc."  People who post a comment of 75 words or more will receive a free eBook from me via email on personal time management.

I received this from a friend who knows how much I preach about finishing what you start:

"During these crazy days when we’re going one hundred miles per hour and stress levels are soaring, I had to stop and tell myself that I need some inner peace.  I discovered that the way to achieve inner peace is to finish all of the things I have started.  I looked around my house to see things I started and hadn’t finished, and before leaving the house this morning I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of White Zinfandel, a bottle of Baileys, a bottle of Jack Daniels, a package of Oreos, the remainder of both my Prozac and Valium prescriptions, the rest of the cheesecake, some saltine crackers and a half box of chocolates. You have no idea how good I feel.  I am passing this on to you because it definitely worked for me, and we could all use more calmness in our lives."