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

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), shares the Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best at the GROW 2011 conference in Dayton, OH.

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” — Traditional saying.

“The better a man is, the more mistakes he will make, for the more new things he will try. I would never promote to a top-level job a man who was not making mistakes… otherwise he is sure to be mediocre.” — Peter Drucker, Austrian management consultant and social ecologist.

“Remember, you only have to succeed the last time.” — Brian Tracy, Canadian self-help guru.

In the modern business world, failure is often made out to be something glorious, a virtue that almost inevitably leads to success in the long run. Oft-cited examples include Edison’s 1,000+ unsuccessful attempts to invent the light bulb before hitting on the right solution, and Bill Gates’ unsuccessful first computer business. We’re told, again and again, to fail forward, to fail as fast as possible, to dare to fail, because it makes us smarter and better in the long run.

So it was rather disconcerting—and oddly refreshing—to run across a recent working paper from Harvard Business School that takes the opposite tack: “Performance Persistence in Entrepreneurship,” by Paul Gompers, Anna Kovner, Josh Lerner, and David Sharfstein. The authors scrutinized a large sample of venture capital-backed IPOs, and discovered that brand new entrepreneurs succeeded about as often as those who’d tried before and failed (18% vs. 20%, respectively). The most successful entrepreneurs were those who had already succeeded: serial entrepreneurs, as they called them. But even serial entrepreneurs succeeded only about 30% of the time.

At the risk of oversimplification, Gompers et al. basically pointed out that statistically, failure does not necessarily result in eventual success—a rather common-sense “no duh” conclusion, frankly. Furthermore, the authors admitted that they looked at a relatively narrow business segment, and that they failed to control for a number of factors which might skew the results. So normally, I’d take something like this with a grain of salt.

However, the HBS working paper is noteworthy for the fact that it actually tests the assumption that failure is positive in the long run. Commentators who have written about the paper are quick to point out that there’s no real scholarly work that proves that failure is good for the entrepreneurial soul; we just assume that it is. On the other hand, now there’s research that suggests that failure isn’t necessarily helpful in the long run.

Still, I’m not convinced that this means a whole lot. While I do believe that you should focus on things that you’re good at, I also believe that failure can be helpful in defining the things that you’re bad at, and that you should never do again—so that you don’t waste time on such things. In general, then, I would argue that the concept that failure can help you in the long run is in fact a truism, something which doesn’t really require scholarly proof.

Now, a true scientist would howl at the very idea that anecdotal evidence could ever prove a point, but let’s be honest here: the anecdotal evidence that failure can contribute to success further down the road is simply overwhelming. Notice the qualifier in there: failure can help you succeed. It won’t do so automatically. Failure does not anoint you with the oil of future success. I feel that some of my colleagues have gone a little too far in suggesting that it does…or in outright saying so.

There’s nothing special about failure itself; it’s what you do with failure that matters. The real message here is that you’ve got to be willing to risk failure. Don’t be afraid of it. It’s just another opportunity to learn, and in most cases, it’s not permanent. Learning a lesson from what you’ve done wrong allows you to rise phoenix-like from the ashes, to take another grab at the brass ring. Maybe you’ll get it this time; maybe you won’t. But if not, don’t take the failure itself too personally, because that kills your confidence and destroys your chances to learn. You must make every effort to take something instructive away from your failure, or you’ve just wasted your time.

So to answer the question posed by this blog’s title—of course you should learn from failure! The working paper by Gompers et al. is interesting, but while their sample was substantial, the scope of the study was limited—and I don’t think the results apply to most real world situations. The truth is, as long as you can survive a failure, there’s almost always some tidbit to be pulled from the wreckage and taken to heart. There even may be a few intact bricks—e.g., successful aspects or ideas within the broader failure—that can be used to build a new edifice. At the very least, failure can teach you some emotional lesson that you can move forward with, once you’ve put the failure itself behind you.

I’m not going to tell you that there’s no such thing as a failure; of course there is. But you shouldn’t ignore failure, refusing to learn anything, and hope to luck into success. Failure to learn from failure will inevitably lead to more failure, in a vicious downward spiral. Refuse to allow that to happen to you!

I was reading an article in Information Week appropriately titled, “Eaten by the Email Monster.” http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2006/08/eaten_by_the_em.html

It links to several useful articles on how to handle information overload. I thought I’d add my thoughts on how to efficiently process email: the 6-D Information Management System™:

1. DISCARD = Delete it

2. DELEGATE = Forward it

3. DO = Reply immediately if it will take you three minutes or less

4. DATE = Needs work but not now. The key is to somehow get it out of your in-box. Pick one favorite method and try to be consistent, so you don’t confuse your brain about what you did with that email. Options:

* Move to a process folder called “Action” or something similar.

* For emails that require action, move (NOT drag, which creates a copy) them to Tasks (or drag to the to-do icon in Lotus) by right-clicking the message and selecting Move to Folder, and then Tasks. A new Task automatically opens and inserts the email into the text portion of the message, which can now be replied to right out of the task). This physically removes the email from your in-box, not just create a copy.

* For time-sensitive emails (meetings or appointments), follow the same procedure above, but select Calendar after you Move to Folder, which will open a new calendar item and automatically move the email message to the text portion of the window.

* If you’d rather work with a paper copy, print the email and file it in your tickler folder. Create a personal folder called @Tickler and drag email there that requires follow-up. When the paper copy (trigger) comes up in your tickler file, you know the original is in your @Tickler folder. That will save you from having to retype the email message when you respond to it.

* Copy the email into the contact’s record in your contact management software (such as ACT or Goldmine) and schedule an activity to follow up.

* Set an email reminder (NOT a calendar reminder or Task reminder) by right-clicking in the flag area (NOT setting a flag) and selecting Add Reminder. Fill in the day and time you want the reminder on the email, and move the email to the proper project folder. You will get a reminder when the email isn’t in your in-box (Outlook 2003).

* Forward it back to yourself, select Options, and check “Don’t deliver before,” fill in a date and send. Delete original.

* Drag to the proper email personal folder, and write a to-do on your paper planning as a cross-reference to remember to do it.

5. DRAWER = If no action is required, but you’d like to keep the email for reference, create a personal folder for the project or reference type and drag the email to the correct folder. Or you could create a Word or other word processing document and save it on your hard drive.

6. DETER = Unsubscribe from email lists and tell your friends to stop sending you their “joke of the day”! Or use the Office Assistant (under “Tools”) or other Rules to automatically moving email from particular people to certain folders (or just delete it then).

I hope this helps! Force yourself to do one of the 6 D’s every singe time you look at a new email. All the email in your in-box will be new, and you will stop re-reading messages over and over. Do a major processing spree like this at least three times a day, but do NOT check them as they are coming in. Turn off the global alerts, set Rules to play for important people, and control your OCD trigger-happy email finger!

Clarity in workplace communication is highly important in any format, and these days, more and more business is conducted through email. Therefore, it’s beneficial to learn how to maximize the content of your email messages, while minimizing the possibility of confusion.

You should start with an informative, keyword-rich subject line that grabs the reader’s attention. Don’t leave the subject line blank, and don’t be vague or non-specific; on the other hand, don’t overuse exclamation points or capital letters. Either might lead an inattentive recipient to think your email is spam, resulting in it getting deleted—something that might range in consequence from minor to disastrous. If you’re replying to an existing email, don’t change the subject line unless you must. Otherwise, the recipient may not realize it’s a reply to their original email, and they might miss or delete it.

Unlike face-to-face or even telephone conversations, with email there’s no tone of voice or body language to help you convey your message. You really do have to say exactly what you mean in order to get your point across. In the body of the email itself, be concise and don’t use vague language. Make sure you have exactly the right word, and use simple terms that are difficult to mistake. Give the email some thought before you even start typing, so you can organize your points and choose your words carefully.

When you do start typing, make your points efficiently and one at a time, wrap it up, and end it. Provide only enough information to communicate the issue, and write in a natural style without being stilted or ceremonial. You can be informal if communicating to someone you work with regularly, but you should avoid using slang, emoticons, or texting abbreviations .

Finally, be sure to conduct an edit and run it through spell-check before you send it; people don’t expect perfection out of email, but they do expect professionalism. Typos can cause confusion, and in some cases they can cause the recipient to take you less seriously than they should; and again, both problems can damage productivity. So get the email as right as you can without falling into the perfectionism trap.

Please join me on August 31 for a special audio conference through the Workplace Training Center. The topic is HR’s Strategic Role in Improving Workforce Productivity: Working with Your Managers to Create High-Performing Employees
Employees are expected to be competent. But the really successful employees are SUPER competent—the ones that companies fight to get, fight to keep, nurture and develop, and see as future leaders in their business growth. How do you know who the “A” players are?

HR professionals are in a unique position to work with managers to identify productive employees and help them become even greater performers. Using a model that assesses engagement and performance of each employee, HR professionals can work with managers on improving individual employee productivity.

Sign up today to hear some of the best advice, tips and techniques from The Productivity Pro Laura Stack, best known for the business classic Leave the Office Earlier,as well as other titles, such as SuperCompetent: The Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best and What to Do When There’s Too Much to Do (coming out in April 2012).

Learning Objectives:
•Do you know how to increase headcount without increasing salary expense?
•Manage the 2 critical dimensions of productivity impact
•Find out what factors impact an employee’s experience and ability to perform
•Uncover the 5 productivity personalities your employees will exhibit
•Help employees perform at higher levels and foster an environment of excellence
•Discover 6 keys to gaining peak performance from your employees

Sign up today at: http://www.workplacetrainingcenter.com/Prod-2656.aspx.

“The early bird gets the worm.” — Traditional Western proverb.

“By getting up early in the morning, one also gets more time at his disposal for work as compared to late-risers. Scholar and thinkers get up early in the morning and contemplate.” — Rig Veda, Hindu sacred verses.

You’ve got to admire those night owls—the co-workers who stay well past quitting time to get their work done, displaying an impressive level of productivity in the process. But if you don’t fit that mold, there’s no reason to let them hog all the glory. You can hit the ground running as the sun comes up, and get a head start by burning the daylight equivalent of their midnight oil.

Your goal here is to get into the office before your co-workers do, so you’ll have that quiet, pristine time all to yourself before the world fills up with noise and distraction. Here’s how to do it.

Prior Preparation
One way to get a quick start on the day is to prepare for the next morning before you head out the door every evening. You’ll find that planning ahead makes life a lot easier (if less exciting) than making it up as you go along.

First, put away everything that doesn’t live on your desk. This limits distracting clutter, and makes it easier to find what you need later on. Then spend some time putting together your to-do list for the next day. Consider each task in detail, deciding where it fits on your list and assigning priority as you go. Remember to schedule the tougher, more important tasks for the time of day when your productive energy peaks. For most of us that’s early in the morning, but you may be an exception; in any case, just be sure you tackle those tough items when you’re feeling your best.

Next, gather the materials you need to jump right into your tasks. Have them ready and waiting so you can grab and go when you get to your desk in the morning. Don’t assume that something is where you left it last time; check, so you’re not unpleasantly surprised when you reach for it.

The Night Before
Before you hit the hay, get your mind right. You need to get a good night’s rest before you dive into the next day, so clear out the cerebral clutter first: identify what you know you’ve completed, so you can cross it off your mental list and it won’t bother you subconsciously. As for what’s on your plate for tomorrow, just be aware of what’s in store but don’t dwell on it. At most, touch on it lightly; you’ve already made your to-do list and done your hard thinking.

Speaking of sleep, do your best to get a good night’s worth. Avoid caffeinated drinks and heavy or sugary foods before you go to bed, and don’t stay up too late. You can’t hit the ground running if you’re groggy.

In the Morning
Needless to say, you’ll need to start getting up significantly earlier than you’re used to, assuming you want to arrive an hour or so before your fellow employees. Now, you don’t have to jump straight to rising an hour earlier; you can start with fifteen minutes or half an hour, and work your way up. It won’t take long to reset your personal clock.

However, realize that you’re probably going to want to get up more than an hour earlier, because there are other things you can try to get yourself moving—and some of them take time that you’ll have to make if you’re not doing them already.

For example: if praying or meditation isn’t already a part of your morning ritual, consider trying it, to get your day on track. It doesn’t hurt to think about the day’s schedule a bit as well. You may want to follow that up with some light exercise before you hit the shower.

Next, have a good breakfast. Even if you’re never particularly hungry in the morning, force yourself to eat. You’ve heard it a thousand times, but breakfast really is the day’s most important meal. It takes a serious amount of fuel to get you started and keep you running until lunchtime, especially if you’re going in earlier than usual.

Many of us lose time in the morning by driving ourselves to work; unfortunately, about all you can reasonably do during personal drive time is think. That’s nothing to sneeze at, but if you’re able to participate in a ride-share or public transportation, you can also get started on your to-do list while someone else takes care of the driving. You may not be able to tackle one of your big tasks in its entirety—that would depend on the length of your commute—but at least you’ll have a head start. And who knows? You may actually get to cross something off your list before you even arrive at the office.

In Early, Out Early
Studies have repeatedly shown that people who go in to work an hour or so early get more done in that time than they do in any other hour of the day. If you face the day head-on this way, you can go home when you’re supposed to—and you’ll get to enjoy the rest of your life, an advantage you’ll have over many of those poor, hardworking night owls.

“Ill habits gather by unseen degrees/As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas.” — John Dryden, English poet (Absalom and Achitophel, 1681)

Have you updated your NOT-to-do list lately?

Most of us are pretty good about compiling daily to-do lists to guide our workflow, and there’s no denying that those lists are vital for maximizing productivity. However, in many ways, a list of things you refuse to do is just as important.

A not-to-do list doesn’t have to be fancy. You simply start by writing down the time-stealing behaviors that you prefer not to take part in; then you review and revise your list periodically, to make sure you don’t accidentally slip into habits that damage your productivity and keep you at work too long.

Obviously, not-to-do lists will vary from person to person, based on what’s applicable to a particular workplace and what each individual considers impractical or illogical for them to take part in. But there are certain activities that everyone is wise to avoid, and in this article, I’ll discuss four.

Stop Gossiping
Some workplace socializing is necessary, because it helps you connect with your fellow co-workers, lets you enjoy work a little more, and can enhance your productivity in the long run. However, chatting with your buddies should stop short of discussing other people behind their backs.

Airing someone’s personal business for entertainment reasons is never going to help you accomplish anything, and spreading negativity or criticism is downright hurtful. Give it up; work isn’t a soap opera, nor should it be. If your company doesn’t have a no-gossip policy, create your own and stick to it.

Stop Complaining
We all have things in our lives we’re unhappy about, but complaining about them accomplishes very little; as with gossiping, all it does is spread negativity, and who needs more of that? In particular, you should avoid complaining about the amount of money you make, and how dissatisfied you may be with your job or co-workers.

Instead of moaning about life, readjust your attitude. If you’re disgruntled about things that you can’t change, learn to accept them and move on. If you find yourself complaining about things that you can change, then by all means, try to. In either case, do your best to remove the reasons for your complaints.

Letting yourself suffer just so you can complain about how the world has wronged you doesn’t just waste your time, it wastes everyone else’s. And besides—do other people beside your friends really need to know about your personal problems? If you’re looking for attention, there are more constructive ways to get it.

Stop Trying to Be a Machine
As much as some of us might like to think otherwise, we’re not machines. No matter how spectacular you are, you can only grind along at maximum focus for so long before you get tired and mistakes start creeping into your work…and then your productivity drops like a rock. While you shouldn’t take breaks too often, you do need to pull back occasionally so you can recharge and revitalize your creativity. You always do your best work when you’re well-rested.

Meal breaks are also important. You need to eat something every six hours or so, if only to keep your blood sugar levels high enough to avoid becoming fuzzyheaded. So don’t skip lunch, and don’t just scarf down a sandwich at your desk, either: get away for a few minutes, since by then you’ll probably need the change of pace and scenery to help you stay sharp.

Finally, don’t skip your macro-breaks, either. You need to take your weekends, holidays, and vacations as often as possible, so you can be rested and ready when work-time rolls around again.

Stop Multitasking
Multitasking is all the rage nowadays, but I happen to think that it’s the scourge of the modern office. The human brain can handle just a few things at a time, because we’ve only got so much “cognitive currency” to spend. Your mind’s trying to process all kinds of external stimuli already, so when you consciously try to do too many things at once, you literally spread yourself thin. Add in all the distractions that you have to deal with, from the sound of the rain on the windows to the photocopier chugging away across the hall to your chatty co-workers, and your efficiency begins to fall off sharply.

The worst thing about multitasking, I think, is that it fools you into thinking you’re getting a lot more done. But you’re not: you’re dividing your attention too finely. If you go too far, you’ll end up like one of those computers that assigns every single task a tiny, equal time-slice, and then takes forever to get any one task done. In computer parlance this is called “thrashing,” and I’ve seen it many times in human beings as well. If you really want to produce, focus tightly on one task at a time, and get it off your plate before moving on to the next task on your list.

Going Cold Turkey
The four items I’ve listed here are just a few of the egregious workplace habits that can rob you of productivity if you let them. These habits are sneaky: either their negative effects are easy to miss, or they fool you into thinking that they’re helping you be more productive. If you keep them up, though, you’re not going to get ahead; you’ll just end up slipping farther behind.

So for your productivity’s sake, I recommend that you sit down and seriously ask yourself if you’re guilty of any of these bad habits. If you are, then go cold turkey on each one. It may be hard, but you’ll be more productive in the long run—and that’s what really matters.

So many of my readers are HR professionals, so I like to keep an eye out for technologies and tips on how to improve productivity in that area. Moblie technologies for specific industries are exploding on the market today, and HR apps can be very useful for busy professionals.

As the HR Analyst at Software Advice, Kyle Lagunas regularly writes HR software reviews on his blog. Recently, he highlighted a few of his favorite mobile apps for HR professionals so I wanted to share his article with you.

Please let me know if you’ve tried any of these apps and let me know what you think!

Human Resources Goes Mobile: Highlighting Top HR Apps

According to a recent CareerBuilder study, clutter could be costing you quite a bit! More than a quarter of employers said they are less likely to promote someone who has a messy work space. A large percentage of employers also feel that having paper piles on desks gives them a more negative impression of those workers.

Surpisingly, a third of workers admit to having hoarding tendencies with 13% saying they have files which are more than five years old. If you’re facing challenges with office clutter, we’ve got help for you! Spend an hour with me on my pre-recorded webinar “Organize Your Office and Your Life: Survive Information Overload and Clear the Clutter.” You’ll learn expert tips on keeping the clutter at bay so that you have more time to tackle that to-do list!

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R) discusses the use of technology and how to keep it from controlling your time. (C) 2011 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved. http://www.TheProductivityPro.com