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

While we commend you for setting proper boundaries and not getting caught in digital quicksand, here’s a little digest so you can catch-up with Laura all in one place … what WILL you do with the extra time YOU have?

Productivity Pro® Blog

Leaders: Get More Done Through Others! How Micromanagement Can Kill Productivity & Creativity

Productivity Minute Video: Procrastination – Can We Talk About This Later?

SuperCompetent Speaking: How to Cram LOTS of Information in Limited Time

During Which Period of the Day DO YOU Feel Most Productive?

Facebook Fan Page

Laura Stack > I’m pleased to be featured with fellow National Speakers Association board member and legendary speaker Brian Tracy in the Success Magazine Audio Series “Boost Your Productivity.”

Laura Stack > You cannot do it all. The sooner you come to terms with this fact, the better off you will be.

Laura Stack > 10 Traits of Highly Productive People …which traits have you acquired?

Laura Stack > To remain consistently optimistic, learn to reframe challenges, change, and adversity as opportunities.

Laura Stack > Most people fail to recognize opportunity knocking because it comes in the form of hard work and commitment. The speaking profession is no exception…looking forward to being with my colleagues at NSA 2011!

Laura Stack > Time management is about making the most of the hours you have, not magically finding more.

Laura Stack > Be willing to reinvent yourself when your work environment changes. It may not be fun, but it is

necessary. What adaptation could YOU make today?

Laura Stack > Please enjoy these Organizing Freebies!

Laura Stack > The ONLY true failure is a failure to learn. Look over each failure, learn from it, and adjust for the future.

Twitter Feed

@laurastack :: Bosses, the employees who treat your business as if it were their own are the ones you want to hang on to.

@merylhooker :: In honor of @neenjames and @laurastack, I’m proud to announce my InBox is EMPTY. No, please. Hold you applause. #productivity

@laurastack :: Take personal responsibility for handling your time & productivity. Never lay the blame on anyone else.

@laurastack :: Someone’s bad mood or crotchety personality isn’t a reflection on you, always be your capable, competent, positive self!

@laurastack @turbosaleslady :: It’s so true! It just flew 20+ hours to get to Singapore and wrote a speech, an article, and a new MP3 program!

@laurastack :: These days, the novelty of speaking in person can go a long way toward building productive relationships.

@laurastack :: Successful individuals fail often, but instead of dwelling on it, they get up quickly and move on.

@laurastack :: Just because something has been done a certain way for years does not make it the best way to do it.

@laurastack :: “Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out” ~Robert Collier

@laurastack :: Refuse requests when appropriate; learn how to say no graciously. Remember, your time is limited.

@MeganWBrown :: Just wrote my personal mission statement. What a powerful activity. Starting tomorrow, it is central to my life. Thanks @laurastack!!

@laurastack :: Try not to micromanage subordinates. Trust them to do their jobs without constant oversight.

@laurastack :: Quit expecting things to just happen without action. You have to WORK.

“The business of the United States is business.” — Calvin Coolidge and several other American presidents

“Last year continued to show the effects of the weak economy. The amount of time spent watching T.V. and other nonproductive activities remains extraordinarily high.” — Alan Krueger, American economist, in response to the 2010 American Time Use Study.

“On an average day, 20 percent of men did housework — such as cleaning or doing laundry — compared with 49 percent of women.” — Citation from the 2010 American Time Use Study.

On June 22, 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the results of its annual American Time Use Survey (ATUS) for 2010. A yearly tradition since 2003, ATUS offers a fascinating glimpse into the ways that Americans spend an average day. This time around, the results derived from interviews with 13,200 individuals, representing a cross-section of the American public. Among other things, the data provide an interesting perspective on workplace productivity, so let’s take a quick look.

The most interesting statistic (from a productivity perspective, at least) is the average amount of time Americans spent at work: three hours and 58 minutes per workday, down six minutes from 2009 and 30 minutes from 2007. The press has seized upon this figure, with some observers charging that we’ve become a nation of slackers. However, these commentators have misinterpreted the data, confusing an average across the board for the average for the employed.

The raw figures actually reflect the fact that ATUS covers a representative sample of all types of individuals from age 15 and up, not just employed adults. Many of the people surveyed were unemployed or employed part-time, so of course they would drag the average number of work-hours down. The decrease in the average time worked appears to represent not increased laziness but increased unemployment, which suggests that the recession worsened during 2010—no matter what any other metrics may have suggested.

A closer look at the statistical breakdown shows that employed individuals actually spent an average of 7 hours, 50 minutes working on weekdays, with work-related activities bringing that up to a solid 8.23 hours. Add to that an average of 5.45 hours per weekend day (5.64 with work-related activities) and it’s clear that working Americans aren’t the slackers we’re sometimes made out to be. About 82 percent of the employed worked on an average weekday, with 35 percent working weekends. This reflects how individual workweeks are structured, and hasn’t really changed in the past year.

Employed men worked an average of 8.2 hours on weekdays, with women averaging 7.8 hours. Overall, women tended to work 41 fewer minutes per workday than men. This is apparently due to the fact that women are more likely to work part-time, since they continue to be the primary familial caregivers and housekeepers. Only 20% of the men surveyed reported doing housework on the average day, for example, while 49% of women did. Similarly, women were half again more likely to take care of another household member on any given day than men were (30% vs. 20%).

So: where’s the lost work-time going? That’s difficult to say, though some observers are quick to assign it to the sleep and leisure categories. However, while both are currently higher than pre-recession numbers, there’s virtually no difference between the 2009 and 2010 averages for sleep-time, and Americans actually spent less time on leisure in 2010 than they did in 2009. In fact, the only basic survey category to increase significantly from 2009 was the catch-all “Other activities, not elsewhere classified”, which rose about seven minutes from .24 to .35 hours.

The average time spent sleeping remains steady at 8 hours, 40 minutes per day (8.67 hours), with women spending slightly longer asleep (8 hours, 46 minutes) than men (8 hours, 34 minutes). The sleep average for weekdays is 8.38 hours, about 90 seconds longer than 2009; for weekends, it’s 9.34 hours.

Average time devoted to leisure activities has dropped from 5.25 to 5.18 hours per day, with men again leading the pack (5.57 hours vs. 4.82 hours for women). Watching TV took up the lion’s share of this category, at 2.73 hours (2 hours, 43 minutes). People were more likely to watch TV on the weekends than on weekdays, but they still racked up 2 hours, 31 minutes daily during the workweek. While that’s an increase of 5.4 minutes over 2007 levels, it’s a decrease of 5.6 minutes since 2009.

What all these rather dry statistics boil down to is this: Americans are slightly less productive as a whole than we were last year, continuing a trend observable since 2007. It’s clear that the decline is due to increased unemployment rather than slacking, since the average numbers do include both the employed and unemployed. A closer examination of the data shows that the average employed American is as productive as ever.

And despite the assertion by some that we’re using our lost work-time to sleep and play rather than better ourselves (which would be an understandable reaction to the pressures of the recession, if true), we’re actually sleeping about as long as we did last year, and playing a bit less. The actual fate of that lost six minutes per day remains unclear.

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), talks about multi-tasking and why it doesn’t work. (C) 2011 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved. http://www.TheProductivityPro.com

Terrific aticle today by Mark Sanborn: Are You Part of the Larger Conversation? http://www.marksanborn.com/blog/are-you-part-of-the-larger-conversation/. Worth reading!

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), talks about saying “no” so that you have more time. (C) 2011 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved. http://www.TheProductivityPro.com

Wanted to share a recent interview with Meeting Genius. We chatted a bit about my latest book, SuperCompetent and discussed the speaking business. Read the interview here:
http://www.meetinggeniusblog.com/2011/07/interview-with-laura-stack-productivity.html

Is giving presentations a part of your job?

One of the biggest constraints you face when making any presentation is a limited amount of time to get your point across. This is true whether you’re the keynote speaker for a convention and have a solid hour to speak, or you’re pitching your proposed budget to the Board of Directors and are lucky to get ten minutes.

Get tips from my latest “SuperCompetent Speaking” article at Training Magazine online: How to Cram Lots of Information into Limited Time.

Join us on Monday, July 25 at 11:00 AM Mountain for the next webinar in our Microsoft Outlook 2010 series!

Outlook 2010: Time Savers and Efficiency Boosters

Automatic Email Notification, Creating Rules, Rules Wizard, New Item Shortcut, Send/Receive Times, Create Templates for Common Responses, Outlook Template for Letters, AutoSearches, Quickly Jump Around within Outlook, Keyboard Shortcuts, Take a Poll and Tally Results, Specify Which Address Book Opens First, Find Messages with Lightning Speed, Add Groups and Shortcuts in the Folder List, Create a New Toolbar with Favorite Buttons, Add Your Own Menu with Your Favorite Commands.

Join us for this one-hour module for $39, or purchase the entire 12-part series for only $349.

Learn more and place your order today at:
http://www.theproductivitypro.com/s_outlook-virtual-training_1210.html

Had to share these great photos a client sent after our training session. They purchased the Productivity Pro(R) Planner from Day-Timer, got rid of the sticky notes and now have organized to-do lists!

Before using the Productivity Pro(R) Planner

and now:

No more sticky notes!

We would love to see your before/after photos or pictures of your newly organized planners and spaces. What changes have made you more productive? Send your stories to editor@TheProductivityPro.com!

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), shares tips on overcoming procrastination. (C) 2011 Laura Stack, All Rights Reserved http://www.theproductivitypro.com