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

http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/beta/testdrive.mspx?showIntro=n

Just for my readers…a FREE test drive of the new Microsoft Office 2007!  This is BETA, but you are live in the applications.  Test the new versions of Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook, and many more! The tutorials provide lots of new ways to work in Office 2007.  You can explore the new versions of Office in this fully functional Test Drive environment.  Try this before downloading the new beta versions to your computer.  Most other support applications like ACT or Quickbooks aren’t ready for 2007, and you don’t want to hose your mission-critical business systems.  So try it—no risk—in your browser instead.

Tweet This Post

Great news!  The American Time Use Survey (ATUS) 2005 results were just announced today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)  Check out the BLS website at http://www.bls.gov/tus/home.htm.  The public use data files and data dictionaries are also available for downloading from the same website.

For those of you who are paying attention, I haven’t posted in a while…thanks for your notes…yes, I’ve been on vacation!  But I’ve been doing a lot of reading, so watch for a slew of postings in the next few days. 

Tweet This Post

If you ever come to the end of the work day, throw up your hands, and exclaim "What happened?!!" you might need to get a grip on your time.  But it’s hard to make adjustments in your time management behaviors if you don’t know where the time even went.  If your days go by in a blur, and you don’t feel you’ve accomplished anything significant, you might want to track your time.  I’ve placed a time log template, instructions, and analysis directions on my site at http://www.theproductivitypro.com/FreeStuff/Time_Log.doc.  Perhaps with a little data, you can tweak your routines and see some improvement.

Tweet This Post

I’m often asked about my personal organization at home, usually around where I keep paperwork, how to organize it, what to call the files, how long to keep it, etc.  So I’ve typed up an outline of my personal filing cabinet at my house, so you can get a sense of how it’s laid out.  I file by groups of files, not by A-Z.  So each title in CAPITAL letters on the left is the name of the category, and the indented names are filed behind that.  It’s http://www.theproductivitypro.com/PDFs/reference_file_system.pdf.  Enjoy!

Tweet This Post

If you want to test out whether you are more of a "paper" person or an "electronic" person, I have a test at http://www.theproductivitypro.com/FreeStuff/TEST_paperORelectronic.xlt that will run a macro and give you a score and a recommendation.

Tweet This Post

I’m mulling about my monitor.  I was reading an article at online.wsj.com/articles/talking_tech about a research study done by Microsoft’s Center for Information Work, which looks at the way office workers use computers.  They found that with three monitors per worker, productivity jumped NINE PERCENT.  That’s unreal.  Nine percent might not seem like a lot to you, but it’s getting to the point where it’s really hard to squeeze a few extra productivity points out of workers, so that’s a very large amount.  When you look at the stock market trading floor, you see multiple monitors everywhere—that group has already realized it’s required to see all that information.

Perhaps I wouldn’t have three monitors, but I’m seriously considering adding a second.  It seems like I need one computer for communications and one for work.  I usually have at least five applications/documents going at once, and I’m having to constantly switch between them.  I could use one to monitor my calendar/email/IM/blogs and one for my customer database, Word, PowerPoint, etc.  Hmmm…as long as I had the ability to turn off one monitor…it would prevent "multi-tasking" when I’m trying to concentrate on a document.  Windows XP supports using multiple monitors and has the Dualview feature built in. Dualview lets you add a separate monitor to your laptop and view different programs on each display, so I know it could be done.

I’m curious to hear from any of you who have two monitors.  What’s been your experience?

Tweet This Post

This is a GREAT article from Dan Broidy at InfoWorld.com on cell phone etiquette.  http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/00/05/26/000526opwireless.html

I’m posting it because I just had a conversation with my assistant about this very issue today.  She only works part-time a few hours on Mon, Wed, Fri.  When she comes to wor, she shares my office, which isn’t the best arrangement, but I work from home.  My husband John has the second office, so, well, there you have it.  Like anyone, she gets personal phone calls at work on her cell phone.  I frankly don’t really care when people call her.  She’s very diligent and works hard, so it doesn’t bother me that she answers her cell phone.  What *does* bother me is having her carry on her personal phone conversations a few feet away from me.  She’s been working for me for a year and a half now, and I can’t believe I haven’t said anything so far, but today I had to speak up.  She talked with her lawn guy for five minutes, then her son for five minutes, so I had been sitting at my computer for a total of ten minutes, completely unable to think, much less work.  It’s nearly impossible to type an email when someone is talking a few feet away.  Not that I’m trying to listen to her personal conversations…it’s simply unavoidable.  So I broke down when she got off the phone and told her I didn’t mind her taking the calls…but she needed to go out in the kitchen from now on.  She looked at me a little blankly, and I explained my loss of productivity to her, and she understood…but I think she’s still shaking her head a bit.  A thus the need for cell phone rules of the road: most people simply don’t get it.  They aren’t trying to be rude and don’t know it’s bothering you.  It’s your responsibility to open your mouth and say something when your time is being impacted!

Tweet This Post

I just got fed up.  My Treo 600 wasn’t connecting to my email server unless it had a really full battery charge.  Which wasn’t a problem IF I remembered to plug it in every night.  Until a few days ago, when I forgot, and I was out and about on appointments and couldn’t get my messages.  I’d been putting up with this for several weeks, because the battery is internal and can’t easily be replaced.  So I just bought the new Treo 700p and am so jazzed!  I can watch tv, view Web sites easily, use my new bluetooth ear piece, and take really great pictures and videos.  Why didn’t I do this sooner?  Then I started looking around and wondering what else I’ve been tolerating that’s irritating or otherwise slowing me down. 

My printer!  Ugh!  I was using a Samsung laser printer that worked well but had to "warm up" every time I hit print.  So I couldn’t take it off the printer immediately, so I would start doing another activity, then would have to go back to the printer.  Multi-tasking terror!  So my trusty husband and COO John bought me the HP LaserJet 2420 and MAN does that thing spit out the paper FAST with NO warming up.  I am super psyched. 

My mouse! My "ergonomically correct" mouse is too big for my hand.  My thumb starts to ache aftera few hours, because I actually have to grasp the left side, rather than just laying my hand over the top.  I got a new mouse and am feeling grand!

Now I’ve been busy looking around my environment and figuring out what other tolerations are keeping me from becoming productive.  I’m wondering what things are keeping YOU from being productive?  What irritates you?  What are you tolerating?  Besides people (ha! but so true) what inanimate objects are sapping your productivity?  My chair, for example.  My back starts to ache by the end of the day.  You know what? I’m leaving the office early…right this very second…and I’m going to get a better chair. I’ll let you know what I got.

Here’s to eliminating tolerations!

Tweet This Post

What do you surround yourself with to make you feel productive?  I have an "I love me" wall with degrees, certificates, awards, etc., to remind myself that I am living up to a lot of expectations.  I keep a wall calendar to remind me that my job is to keep it full with speaking engagements.  I have photos of my family, husband, and children, to remind me that a lot of people are depending upon me.  I keep my dog and cat running around in my office to remind me to play.  And my newest environmental addition…two Siamese fighting fish (a.k.a. betta fish)…no fancy filtration systems needed. Just watching them swim around on my desk relaxes me and knowing I get to feed them gives me another good reason to look forward to coming to work.  The glass partition separating them keeps them from destroying each other, reminding me to maintain an assertive edge!  I’d love to hear what keepsakes, toys, plants, reminders, etc., you keep around to help you be productive!

Tweet This Post