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

Social networking is all the rage today.  Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace – the list goes on.  It seems like everyone has one or more of these services, but how many people are thinking about how it can affect them professionally?  And how does it affect your productivity?

In terms of your professional image, there have been many news stories and articles about people getting fired or not getting hired for jobs because of the things they post on their profiles.  In one of my time management seminars, a participant told me she didn’t hire an applicant because she researched his social sites and saw that he “wanted to do as little as possible for as much money as possible.”  If you want to keep your social networking just "between friends," pay close attention to the privacy settings on sites like Facebook and MySpace.  The safest bet is to assume that anything on the internet can be fair game; however, you can minimize your risk by making your profiles private or "friends only."  Be careful what you write and post, even when making comments on others’ pages.  Think about whether you want what you’re about to say in the virtual public record for all time. 

That said, social networking can be a useful tool in developing relationships and marketing yourself.  I’m using LinkedIn to build relationships and network for new business.  I already have over 250 connections and many recommendations.  However, keeping up with your networks can becoming all-consuming and almost addictive.  I know several people who admit to being Twitterholics or check their pages on different sites continually throughout the day, which has far-reaching productivity implications.  If all day you sift through information on websites, read your blog postings, keep up with all your social networks, and wade around in your email in-box, when are you actually going to get your WORK done?  I check my social sites once each day and only after all my key priorities for the day are completed (generally in the afternoon).  I suggest you set some appropriate boundaries around your usage of social networking and then apply some good old-fashioned discipline to make yourself stick to them.

© 2008 Laura Stack.  All rights reserved.

www.TheProductivityPro.com

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I will be on QVC between January 1 and January 8, 2009, selling my new Productivity Pro(R) branded Day-Timer.  In preparation, I’m conducting a brief survey about the to-do list habits of the typical person.  When you think of something you need to do, what do you usually do?  Please visit the survey on my LinkedIn page and respond to one of five choices.  Thank you for your assistance!

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Working long hours and feeling like you aren’t accomplishing enough? Are you ready to learn to be more productive?  Laura Stack is presenting her flagship productivity class at a rare public seminar in Denver on Tuesday, December 9, 2008!

Here is your opportunity to learn from The Productivity Pro® herself.  Get the tools you need to become more productive at work so that you can achieve Maximum Results in Minimum Time® and Leave the Office Earlier®!

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Ever had an argument with a colleague about the commas in a sentence like the following?   The battery pack gives you several options:  6 hours, 4 hours, 3 hours and 40 minutes, 2 hours and 45 minutes.  Is that four options or five options?  A comma before the last and makes it clear.   But do you ALWAYS need a comma before that last and?  Answer:  No, the serial comma is optional.  But you’re always safe to use it for clarity sake—as illustrated in the “battery-pack” sentence.

Here are a couple tips to prevent grammar gaffes and save you a few minutes in reaching for a reference book:

• The assure/insure/ensure dilemma:  (All three words mean to give a guarantee—but they aren’t interchangeable.) Use assure only when you’re referring to someone talking or writing.  Use insure only when you’re talking about a monetary payment.  Use ensure for all other situations.
• Myself or me?  Wrong:  For prompt payment, send the invoice to Kerry or myself.  Right:  For prompt payment, send the invoice to Kerry or me.   Never use myself unless I or me is already used in the sentence; it’s used to add emphasis to those words.  (Example:  I told him myself.)
• To Capitalize or Not?   Think “brand name” or generic.  If the word under consideration is the brand name of something, capitalize it.  If not, don’t.  Example:  He works at Universal as a vice president.  He works at my company as a vice president.  Vice President Jim Tuttle works in my department.

Need more help?  Booher’s Rules for Business Grammar: 101 Fast and Easy Ways to Correct the Most Common Errors  (McGraw-Hill) by Dianna Booher provides 101 more entertaining, brief chapters (most 1-2 pages) that focus on the common mistakes heard every day on the job.  The “memory tricks” at the end of each chapter solidify the rule for the next time and the next, saving you valuable look-up time!

(Another tip:  If you want to check for a skills gap in this area first, you can take a free online assessment at www.howsyourgrammar.com.)

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With all the US Presidential election behind us, regardless of your political persuasion, let’s talk about the big message of the Obama campaign: change.  If you want to become more productive, you’ll have to be willing to make changes and create new, positive habits and leave old habits behind.  It is easy to become set in our ways and continue doing things the way we’ve always done them because, well, it’s how we’ve always done them.  I’ll take a line from Dr. Phil and ask “How’s that working for you?”  Content, satisfied people are not apt to make changes.  After all, if everything is going along swimmingly, what’s to change?  But people and organizations must continue to change for things to improve.  If your relationship with your significant other never changed, it would never grow stronger over the years.  If organizations didn’t change, the buggy whip industry would have died if it didn’t become the transportation industry.  If the company you work for doesn’t change, you should be very, very worried.

How do we get ourselves in the mindset where we are ready for change?  People are ready for change when the pain of not making a change outweighs the stress of actually taking the action to change.  Some people just naturally are go-getters and constantly seek ways of being more productive while most people need a little more motivation to change.  If you’re the latter, take some time to think about why you want to change.  I talked before about finding your “why.”  Once you’ve done that, it’s time to actually take the steps to make changes.

Don’t try to change EVERYTHING right now.  Pick a couple of things to work on over the next 21 days.  Make a concerted effort each day related to that habit you want to break or create and in just three short weeks, turn around and look at how far you’ve come.  Each time you take a step in the right direction, it will become easier to do more and eventually be as productive as you desire to be.

(C) 2008 Laura Stack.  www.TheProductivityPro.com

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It’s only logical that the healthier you are, the more productive you can be.  Think about it – the last time you were ill, how much work did you really get done?  It is so easy today to neglect ourselves because we are “too busy” or “too tired.”  We’re coming up on that busy holiday time of the year where everyone seems harried and has too much to do.  The holiday season doesn’t have to be a drain.  Now is the time to take steps to keep yourself healthy!

1. Get enough sleep!  I know, easier said than done – but it is important!

2. Get your flu shot.  No, it isn’t fun, but neither is the flu. 

3. Don’t neglect your exercise routine.  It is easy during the holiday season to skip over your regular workouts.  Try to stick to your routine, and you’ll feel better!

4. Treat yourself but don’t overindulge.  It’s not easy to say no to pumpkin pie and mom’s specialty side-dishes.  Have some (it’s okay)…in moderation.

5. Say “No.”  There are invitations galore, requests for assistance, volunteer time and all sorts of demands on your time time during the holidays.  Do the things that give you joy and help your community, but again…in moderation.  Don’t neglect yourself and your family for the sake of something “good.”

You can keep up your energy levels throughout the holidays and not end up in burnout on January 1st!  If you haven’t yet, check out my latest book, The Exhaustion Cure.  You’ll find all sorts of ideas on how to stay healthy and energetic!

(C) 2008 Laura Stack.  www.TheProductivityPro.com

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