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

One primary television-watching energy drain is late night shows.  Given our hectic schedules with running in the door to make dinner, running out the door to take the kids to soccer practice, and then running home to finally get the kids in bed, we literally have no time left for ourselves.  We quite reasonably crave a little relaxation time, but all we have the energy to do is plop on the couch and turn on the tube.  We tell ourselves, “I’ll only watch for 15 minutes, then go to bed.”  But those alpha waves start humming, and Letterman is downright hilarious, and before you know it, 15 minutes have turned into two hours.  So you get to bed by 12:30 a.m., and you have to wake up at 6 a.m.  This pattern serves you a triple wallop.

First, you’re going to sleep after midnight.  The earlier you go to bed, the more supercharged your adrenal glands will be.  Your adrenal glands sit atop your kidneys, and they play a huge role in your energy level.  The adrenal glands manufacture adrenaline, cortisol, and DHEA.  Cortisol is helpful, but too much is stressful.  Cortisol stimulates the liver to convert amino acids to glucose and mobilizes fatty acids in the blood, both of which provide us with energy.  Too much cortisol—caused by sleep deprivation—increases blood sugar and the risk for hypertension, high cholesterol, and heart disease.  Getting plenty of sleep, however, increases DHEA production, which keeps cortisol levels in check.  DHEA also lowers LDL, or bad, cholesterol; increases muscle mass; lowers percentage of body fat; and improves energy, sleep, and mental clarity.  Even sleeping in the next morning doesn’t restore your adrenals as going to bed well before midnight does.[i] 

Second, you’ve deprived yourself of hours of sleep!  And sleep deprivation doubles your risk for obesity.  Professor Francesco Cappuccio at the University of Warwick Medical School studied data regarding 28,000 children and 15,000 adults.  He found that sleep deprivation increases appetite through hormonal changes; lack of sleep increases production of ghrelin, an appetite stimulant, and reduces production of leptin, an appetite suppressant.[ii]  Bottom line: not getting enough sleep can actually make you fat! 

Third, the human sleep cycle runs in increments of 90 minutes.  If you only get 5 ½ hours of sleep, you’ve lopped off your sleep cycle right in the middle, which is why you feel lethargic.  In other words, sleep cycles are usually complete at 1½ hours, 3 hours, 4½ hours, 6 hours, and 7½ hours.  The extra one-half hour to reach eight hours is to allow for falling asleep.  That’s why sometimes you feel refreshed if you awaken before your alarm goes off; but if you fall back asleep, you may feel super groggy when the alarm finally does go off. 

Sleep is when your brain and muscles restore themselves.  It is as necessary as eating, exercising, and going to the bathroom.  Yet so many Americans deprive themselves of this basic need by watching too much TV.  Would you want someone to take away your plate before you’re finished eating?  People who are tired can’t effectively deal with life’s little everyday stressors, and stress can cause insomnia, creating a vicious cycle of low energy. 

I’m the proud founder of national Leave the Office Earlier day, named after my book of the same title, and the movement to tighten efficiency in the office in order to work fewer hours and get a life.  This holiday is listed in Chase’s Annual Events,and we are celebrating the 3rd annual event on June 1, 2007 this year.  Normally it’s June 2 (my birthday), but that date fell on a Saturday this year, so it was moved up one day.  It asks participants to only work an 8-hour day and is intended to focus workers on improving their personal productivity.  It’s an opportunity for people to change work patterns, adjust priorities, and to discover how much more productive they can be in an eight-hour workday (sorry, no playing hooky or leaving early than you’re supposed to allowed).  If you’d like to in the event, you can register and receive a free ten-day eCourse on How to Leave the Office Earlier.  Here’s an electronic media kit you can use to promote the day in your workplace and get others to commit to working 8 hours, which includes a letter to your boss, a press release, articles, and a workplace flyer.

Investigate the link between color and worker productivity, and you’ll keep coming across the name of Dr. Nancy Kwallek, Director of the Interior Design program at the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Architecture. In a recent study, she had workers do mundane clerical tasks in offices with several different color schemes and discovered that white is absolutely the worst color for productivity—at first. After being exposed to an all-white environment for a while, most workers adjusted just fine. For those who could screen out their environment from the beginning, however, bright colors were more effective, since they seem to stimulate people in general. Those more easily distracted by the environment did better in rooms painted a cooler color, like blue-green. Ultimately, however, the most effective color scheme was a mix of the two: blue-green over soft red, separated by wood paneling (wainscoting). 

Here’s a great article in Fitness Magazine.com on how to make time for your friends and family without getting overscheduled.  Oh, wait!  I’m quoted in it.  :-)  Enjoy!

I recommend subscribing to Steve Pavlina’s blog.  He recently posted two fun articles on 33 Rules to Boost Your Productivity volumes 1 and 2 (66 total).

His first tip "Nuke it" gives you a flavor of the list.  (I call this one "Purposeful Abandonment"—it’s an essential productivity tool—always asking yourself, "If I didn’t do this at all, would anyone notice?")  There isn’t really any new thinking here (it’s a compilation of common tips in book report style he’s titled something different), but it’s a good summary.  Not all of his tips will work for you, of course, but approach it like a cafeteria: take what you like and leave the rest.

Now here’s a pharmeceutical company selling non-drowsy allergy medication that came up with the 2007 Reactine Quality of Life Report and the impact allergies have on sufferers of the condition.  Highlights from the report include:

    -   Allergic and Unbearable. Three out of four Canadians with allergies
        say symptoms increase irritability and fatigue, and 55 per cent claim
        reduced productivity (housework; on-the-job, academia).

    -   It’s not in Your Head: And this doesn’t come as a surprise to health
        experts. This season 71 per cent of health professionals agree
        allergies can regularly or often affect a person’s quality of life.

    -   Love, Labour & Snoozing. According to the Quality of Life Report,
        allergies permeate all facets of life, including sleep patterns, work
        performance, and even libido.

Although I could crack about salespeople doing anything possible to sell a product and convince people how miserable they are to sell product, I happen to have seasonal allergies.  I’ve been getting allergy shots twice a month for a couple years now.  When the season started this year—nothing—absolutely no symptoms.  Yes, you can medicate and should.  But why not see if you’re a candidate for shots, invest a little bit more time short term, and reap the long-term benefits?  I’ve been medication-free and enjoying the great outdoors.

Geez if all these studies tell us how much our productivity is decreased from allergies, smoking, obesity, watching football, surfing the Internet, being sick, etc., it makes me wonder how they ever find a single worker with "normal" productivity to study!

Here’s a nice article on 5 Ways to Stop Being Late.  Made me start thinking about punctuality.  A quiet amusement of mine is to watch the expression of people who arrive late for my time management seminars. Tail between the legs, these people shuffle in sheepishly mumbling something about traffic, while their friends tease, “How can you be late for a time management class?”

The number one complaint I receive from managers who hire me to coach their staff on performance is something around “the inability to meet deadlines, is always late, is constantly running behind, or he/she forgot.” There are actually three types of people I see:

1.      “Late” people are typically perpetually late, for everything. 

2.      “On time” people typically arrive a minute or two ahead or behind the goal. 

3.      “Early” people are rare and generally arrive early to everything. 

People are much more irritated by lateness than we ever know; it can dampen everything from promotions and raises to friendships. Late people crowd us, physically and mentally, all the time. We all hate the fact that their lateness undoes our schedule and disrupts our day. Showing up late for work or sending something in late, no matter how well done, still means a black mark against you.

I’m an Early, not because I’m so incredibly productive, but because I’ve discovered the benefits in doing so. For one of your productivity goals, I’d like to encourage you to become an Early. Why is it important to be early?

·        You get the first choice of many things.

·        You gain admiration and respect.

·        You are able to relax and not sweat.

·        You get good press and publicity.

·        You get time while waiting to relax or read.

Being an Early makes you look competent and lets others know you can be depended on. Being a Late, however, makes people wonder if you’ll come through this time. You’ll always be bringing up the rear, never totally trusted, no matter how skilled you are. Even if you’re on “on time,” that’s fairly typical…boring? It just doesn’t stand out. It’s okay…just expected…yawn. Don’t be simply “average.”

LATE says, “I can’t make deadlines.”  EARLY says, “I don’t need deadlines.”

LATE says, “I’m out of control.” EARLY says, “I’m in control.”

LATE says, “I can’t look beyond the moment.” EARLY says, “I look ahead.”

So how do you become an Early? It has nothing to do with setting your watch five minutes fast and “fooling” yourself, because psychologically, you know it’s five minutes fast and make up for it anyway. Keep your clocks on the correct time. It’s less about time management and more about planning. In fact, this simple, inexpensive principle will actually prevent 50% or more of your “time management” problems.

Instead of thinking, “I begin speaking at 9:00 AM,” my thoughts are this: “I should plan on arriving at 8:00 AM to set up and get prepared.” Then I have to figure out how long it should take me to get there at eight, not nine! If I do arrive early and have some “free” time, I’m prepared.  I have bills to pay, magazines to peruse, or thank you letters to write. Before you relax each night, have your clothes selected, school papers signed, lunches made, briefcase packed, and schedule outlined.

Best of all, become an Early and you won’t have “deadlines.” They will become unnecessary because you’ve already completed things early. Deadlines were made for people who would not get things done without it. Work for the completion of a project or task, not for the deadline. Deadlines are often irrelevant, because the task gets put off until the deadline when it could have been done much sooner. Telling yourself you’re “more creative under pressure” is just an excuse to procrastinate and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.