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

“If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be the greatest prodigality.” — Benjamin Franklin

Ben Franklin had it right. Of all the resources available to us, time is certainly the most precious. Unlike office supplies or even money, it’s impossible to get more; there’s no box marked “Time” in the supply closet where you can grab a spare minute or two. Once time is spent, it’s gone, and there’s no getting it back

And yet, we invariably waste it.

Look: you can’t afford to waste time at work. A firm grasp of time management is absolutely crucial if you want to succeed…although the truth is, when you manage time, you’re really managing yourself. You need to buckle down and control you.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the eight biggest self-inflicted time-wasters in modern business, so you can know what you need to avoid the most.

Time Waster #1: The Internet The Internet has to be the single worst productivity thief in the modern business era. Like many technological advances, the Internet is a two-edged sword. It’s useful, and it can and has built fortunes—but it’s also a siren that lures workers to waste time. In recent surveys, workers admitted to spending an average of two hours per workday online. Close that browser!

Time Waster #2: Socializing We all want a workplace where people get along and enjoy spending time together. However, too often we’re chatting when we should be working. That’s fine for lunchtime and breaks, but otherwise you should be at your desk. You should especially avoid chattering outside someone’s office or cubicle, because then you’re not just wasting your time, you’re distracting someone else.

Time Waster #3: Personal Communications These days, there are so many ways of getting interrupted by personal messages: IMs, texting, email, telephone. You know the remedy: turn off your cell phone, don’t check your personal email, and end any personal calls on the company line as quickly as possible.

Time Waster #4: Personal Business This time waster ties in with the above, but goes much farther. I’ve known people to balance their checkbooks or sort out their mortgage applications while at work. I think that people do these things at work because they can’t find any other time to do them: we’re working so long and hard these days that by the time we’re home, we’re exhausted. That doesn’t make it kosher, however. Keep personal business at home.

Time Waster #5: Smoking Some workers have a ready-made excuse for wasting time: they’re smokers. This is fine if you smoke only during your breaks or at lunch; but dedicated smokers often take a few minutes here and there to nurse their addiction. Given the fact that most employers don’t make this easy anymore, it can take 10 minutes or more to get to the designated smoking area, smoke a cigarette, and get back to work. That can add up to half an hour of wasted time per workday. The solution? Learn to control that habit.

Time Waster #6: Arriving Late/Leaving Early This one’s self-explanatory. Many of us pare a few minutes off the day here and there, and some of us make a habit of it. It may not seem like much, but get this: if you’re late or leave early an average of ten minutes a day, that adds up to a week’s paid vacation over the course of a year. Yow! Better start setting that alarm earlier.

Time Waster #7: Job-hunting There are jobs in which it’s necessary to spend company time maintaining your resume, but in most circumstances, it’s a big no-no. Yet many of us spend appreciable amounts of work-time keeping our CVs up-to-date, drafting cover letters, and even emailing resumes to prospective employers. Again, this is something better done at home.

Time Waster #8: Spacing Out It’s easy to sit at your desk, stare at your computer, and pretend to work. Many employees spend an appreciable portion of the day spacing out, either because they’re bored, lack challenges, or dislike their jobs. Snap out of it.

The Bottom Line The solution to all of these time-wasters is simply stated: “Stop it!” Of course, that’s easier said than done, and may require considerable discipline. If you identify one of more of these time-wasters in your daily routine, here’s my recommendation: choose the worst one, research how to fix it, and put what you’ve learned in play. Once you have a handle on that time-waster, move to another. I think you’ll be surprised at how much productive time you’ll free up over the long run.

How to Spend More Time with Your Family
(Even When You’re Fantastically Busy)

“It’s all about quality of life, and finding a happy balance between work and friends and family.” — Philip Green, British billionaire.

Why are you working so hard?

If you’re like most of us, family is one of the biggest reasons: you want to provide a good life for the people you love. Which makes it all very ironic, since working long hours keeps you away from your family…the very people you’re working so hard to provide for. It’s a vicious circle.

Remember that old song “Cat’s in the Cradle,” where the busy father missed out on his son growing up because he was too busy working…only to have the tables turned when he retired? It’s not just a song. Things like that happen every day in the real world.

The lesson here? Just this: the best thing you can spend on the people you love is time.

Letting work intrude on family time should be the exception, never the rule. You need to be unplugged sometimes—not just for your health, but because your family, especially your kids, need you to be there. So if you don’t want to look back on your home life with regrets, then it’s time to make a bigger hole labeled “FAMILY TIME” in your schedule, and to build all kinds of barriers around that time to keep it sacred.

Here are a few basic concepts to help you get your priorities straight:

• Organize your schedule, and stick to it.
• Focus fully on your family during family time. Turn off your personal electronics, including the TV, computer, and cell phone.
• Don’t fall for the “quality time” shtick. The quality of the time you spend with your family does matter—but so does the quantity. An hour of quality time isn’t going to make up for ten hours when you should have been there but weren’t. And incidentally, “quality time” is not synonymous with “spending money on your kids.” What your family really wants is your attention, not your cash.

Once you’ve got those concepts solidly in place, start working toward ways to give more of yourself to your family. Here are some ideas that pop quickly to mind:

• Rearrange your work schedule. If you want to see your kids off to school, schedule your workday to start a bit later than normal. If you’d rather be there when they get home so you can enjoy the whole evening together, start earlier.
• Do training over the Internet. Instead of being gone for days at a time for seminars and training sessions, attend webinars online. It’s still a relatively new option, but the technology is growing by leaps and bounds.
• Telecommute. See above. If you don’t have to squander time driving across town when you could be communing with family, why should you?
• Hire household help. If your free time is limited, you shouldn’t have to spend it waxing the floor. If you can afford to, hire someone else to do it.
• Have a sit-down meal together. This is a wonderful option that has become rare in this busy era. Turn off the TV and get some face-time with the family. If the family is just you and your spouse, I recommend the occasional candlelight dinner.
• Combine business travel with vacation. When you can, bring your spouse and kids along when you travel for work. Even if you can’t be with them the whole time, you’ll be together most of the time, and they can have some fun exploring when you’re working.
• Limit your kids’ extracurricular activity. I’ve got this theory that parents who try to stuff their kids’ schedules full are subconsciously preparing them for the business world. But if you do that, they won’t be around for family time. Instead of sending them off to Little League or ballet every single evening, keep them at home sometimes so you can enjoy each others’ company.

Now, I realize that not all these ideas are possible or even practical for everyone. But they offer a place to start, at least, if you’re really serious about spending more time with the family—and you should be.

I’d love to hear your ideas on the subject, so feel free to drop me a line!

“To succeed in life you need things like talent, diligence, persistence, skills, hard work and maybe a little luck. You can achieve great things—but in order to do so you have to do a lot more than just think about them.” — Paul Sloane, author of The Innovative Leader.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave since 2006, you’ve certainly heard of The Secret. This popular philosophy, as outlined in a self-help book of the same name, purports to relate the true secret of success in all aspects of life. According to author Rhonda Byrne, it’s all about optimistic thinking and a faith in abundance; that is, a belief that the Universe will provide for you through a Law of Attraction, assuming you keep believing in whatever it is you really want.

The Secret has been widely interpreted, by supporters and critics alike, to mean that all you have to do is wish really hard for good things to happen, and they will. Naturally, this has resulted in a cynical knee-jerk reaction from those who refuse to believe in fairy tales. To be fair to Ms. Byrne, I believe that her thesis has been willfully misinterpreted by many of her readers. At its root, I think, The Secret is really a reminder of the value of positive thinking and self-belief in creating success. There’s nothing wrong with either; in fact, they’re necessary ingredients to any success.

But let’s face it: you can’t hope things into existence just by thinking good thoughts about them.

True productivity requires action. That action may take a variety of forms, but usually it means getting up and energetically doing whatever needs to be done to get from Point A to Point B. You have to jump into your work with both feet, facing the problems that lie between you and your goals and dealing with them in a proactive way. If you’ve got to get a series of reports done by the end of the month, sitting around feeling positive that the Universe will provide and your reports will somehow get done, regardless of what you do, is a recipe for disaster. As the saying goes, motion always beats meditation—assuming you’ve already done your homework and thought about all the possible outcomes.

I think you need to realize from the beginning that the Universe has already provided for you—and what it has provided is you. So use your intelligence, energy, and problem-solving skills to grab hold of any tools available, and use them to get the job done. And always, always, keep your eyes open to the possibilities!

There’s an old joke about a little old lady caught in a flood. A fellow in a car drives up to rescue her, and she refuses to go with him, saying, “No, son, the Lord will provide for me.” Later, a man arrives in a rowboat to rescue her; nope, the Lord will provide. Later, as she sits on her roof, she refuses rescue by a helicopter, saying, “The Lord will provide.”

An hour later, she drowns.

When she reaches the Pearly Gates, she’s livid. She flies into St. Peter with, “I believed in you! I kept telling everyone the Lord would provide, and He let me drown!”

St. Peter looks at her strangely and says, “What are you talking about, lady? God provided you with a car, a boat, and a helicopter!”

The point here is that you have to recognize the tools the Universe has provided, and make use of them. Don’t close your eyes to reality.

In my opinion, the true idea underlying The Secret is that if you think positively enough, and open yourself up to all the possibilities available, then you’ll find a way to accomplish whatever it is you want to accomplish. You will solve the problem, not magical thinking. In this universe, you’re not going to grow wings just because you really want to fly. It’s stupid to expect that. But if you think about a problem enough, knowing that it can be solved, then you just might sit down and invent something that lets you fly…or, you may devise a way to save up the money so that you can take flying lessons, and eventually buy your own LearJet.

If you combine that positive visualization with positive action, the productivity that results will bring you the things that you want. If you just lie there and dream, you’re wasting your time and talent…and nothing productive will ever get done.

“Quantifying the gap between exemplary and average employees demonstrates the tremendous potential for organizations to increase the performance of their workforces.” —Tom Gilbert, author of Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance

In the last four blog entries, I’ve explained my new Productivity Management Matrix in considerable detail. This metric compares levels of employee engagement and performance against one another, organizing workers into four broad categories: Campers, Cheerleaders, Defectors, and Productives.

But as within any categorization system, not everyone fits neatly. For example, what if someone is just plain average on both fronts? What if both their performance and engagement levels, taken together, fall right smack in the middle of all four quadrants—on the crossbar where they come together?

Thus was born the concept of the Chameleon: the supremely average worker, a person who is so malleable and flexible that they can easily morph into any of the other categories. Such people do exist; we’ve all known them. So let’s look at what you should do when you find one on your team.

How to Spot a Chameleon
Identifying a Chameleon is no easy task, since by definition they’re good at hiding. Your best way of ferreting out a Chameleon is to watch them long-term. Admittedly, this is difficult, since you can’t afford to focus your attention on just a few individuals; but do what you can.

Ideally, a Chameleon will become visible when they shift, however temporarily, into one of the primary quadrants. You might notice, for example, that someone you had tentatively assessed as a Camper suddenly becomes more productive through no input of yours, sliding over into the Defector camp. Six weeks later, they may display both high productivity and high engagement—and you may think you’ve got a newly-fledged Productive on your hands.

But don’t let them fool you. You’re more likely to be looking at a Chameleon, who for reasons of their own is bouncing around their natural state of being right there in the middle. Can’t have that!

How a Chameleon Can Impact Your Team
If a Chameleon can manage to stay right in the average middle-of-the-road, they might be of average impact: indifferent, but not necessarily bad. They’ll never shine as a SuperCompetent, but they won’t drag you down, either.

But most Chameleons don’t stay precisely in one place. This makes them confusing, since you never know where they’re going to be on a particular day, week, or month. Their impact depends on their mood: if they’re a kind-of Productive right now, they’re an excellent influence on other team members…but they can suck all the life out of a team if they slip down into low-engagement territory.

Even if such a Chameleon’s behavior averages out over time, you’re not going to end up with a positive. You see, if no one can ever be sure how that Chameleon is going to behave, then the resultant confusion will just cause stress—which will certainly result in negative effects.

How to Handle a Chameleon
Since a Chameleon is already in the middle, it ought to be fairly straightforward to move them toward Productivity. Now, if they’re a moving target, as many Chameleons are, you have to stabilize them first—because all this bouncing around is detrimental to the team. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter where you stabilize them, because at least they’ll be stuck in one place long enough to work with.

How to Coach the Chameleon
I think you have to take low engagement as the Chameleon’s baseline and work from there, even if some do show the occasional flash of high engagement. That is, treat them as you would a Camper or Defector, with a few modifications. Approach them and lay it all out there. Tell them that you can’t get a handle on them—that you know they’re capable of good work, because you’ve seen it, but their inability to rise above the dull average is hurting everyone. If their behavior is erratic, bring that to the fore, too.

Ask them what they think they need in order to settle down and move toward high-engagement, and be willing to give it to them (within reason). Possibly they’ve been having health or family problems that you can help fix, with counseling if nothing else; maybe they just need to know that you care, and that they have opportunities for advancement if they’re willing to apply themselves. Show them how you’re going to work toward moving them forward, complete with milestones to track their progress. Once they’ve settled down, you can determine which quadrant they fit into, and then use the methods I’ve discussed in the previous entries in this series to steer them where you want them to go.

In Conclusion…While I do believe that nearly all employees fit comfortably within the Productivity Management Matrix, a small but noticeable percentage will cluster around the middle: that is, they’ll be so-so in both engagement and performance. The boring ones sitting in one place are easy to work with, whereas the erratic ones are more of a challenge. You can’t easily assess someone who keeps bouncing around, so you’ve got to do what you can to stabilize them. Only then can you pick them up and take them where you want them to go, using the methods I’ve outlined in this and my previous Productivity Management Matrix blogs.

“When employees and employers, even coworkers, have a commitment to one another, everyone benefits.” — Donald Trump

“You can lead an employee to water, but if you find one who knows a better path to the water, shut up and get a bucket.” —business writer Dale Dauten.

Last but far from least, let’s take a look at the ultimate employee category in my Productivity Management Matrix: the Productives. These are the extraordinary people who manage to combine high engagement with high performance in a synergistic way that makes them the superstars of just about any organization.

How to Spot a Productive
Productives are the employees you wish everyone could be. The combine a firm sense of engagement with high performance, making life easier for everyone else on the team—which usually makes them easy to identify. Just look for the pleasant individual who loves their job and turns in stellar results, usually on time and under budget.

But be careful here. Not all Productives are loudly gung-ho about the company…which makes it easy to misclassify a quiet Productive as a Defector. Some people just don’t show a lot of emotion, and if they’re not especially social, it can be hard to determine their allegiance. This requires you to put your eagle-eyed management skills into play to determine how the quiet, high-performance employee actually feels.

How a Productive Can Impact Your Team
Productives are good news all around. They don’t complain much, because they enjoy their jobs, and you rarely have to worry about the quality of their work, because it’s generally high. You can count on Productives to get the job done, so they tend to get all the critical assignments. If a team is comprised primarily of Productives, then it works like a well-oiled machine with a minimum of oversight.

Ironically, the Productive’s industriousness can cause minor negative issues. Some of your problem employees may sneer at Productives for being suck-ups or for making them “look bad,” since Productives are often found happily doing their jobs, and doing them well. But you shouldn’t care what the problem employees think, unless they’re dragging down performance and engagement in other employees.

How to Handle a Productive
Treat a Productive with kid gloves, because they’re worth their weight in gold. First of all, don’t overload them with work. Just because they’re good at their jobs doesn’t mean they can do it all; and if you give them too much to do, their performance will certainly suffer. Worse, too much stress and exhaustion can hurt the morale of even the finest Productive, turning them toward the Dark Side…that is, toward the Defector quadrant.

Being the highly-engaged individuals that they are, Productives may not let you know if their workload gets a little heavier than they like, so keep an eye out for signs that they’re struggling. If it seems they are, approach them and ask them whether you need to rebalance their workload. Gently pressure them to be honest with you.

How to Coach the Productive
While you don’t want to spoil a Productive, you should try to give them whatever they need to keep them happy. That won’t necessarily be more money. A Productive often just needs to know that they’re valued, and that they have the opportunity to advance in your organization. This is where your coaching should turn toward career enrichment, in which you take a direct hand in helping one of these high-caliber individuals move up in the organization.

In its simplest form, this might involve classes and training in the specific elements of the workplace that the Productive is interested in or aspires to. You can also start assigning new, unfamiliar tasks to the Productive, so that they can acquire new job experiences as they move forward. A particularly effective technique that they might enjoy is called “job shadowing.” This practice allows the Productive to walk through the workday with a competent worker in the position they’re interested in. They don’t do any of the work themselves, but they do have the opportunity to experience the work environment and watch a pro in action.

Ultimately, just knowing they have the opportunity to rise in the organization, and that you’re doing all you can to help, will keep most Productives happy. Eventually, they may move up; or they may not. That should be their choice. Just don’t try to hold them in one place, or you could lose them.

In Conclusion…In a perfect world, everyone would be a Productive. In the real world, the Productive is the model of the ideal employee, the paragon that all other workers should aspire to be. When you find a Productive (or when you’re trying to help someone rise to the Productive level), handle them with care. Give them what they need and want, so they can grow into their full potential.

Build your organization around your true Productives. These people act as the hub that keeps everything from flying apart—the very foundation upon which you erect a successful business team. If you can help them remain happy and dynamic, they’ll make your organization skyrocket into the stratosphere.

“I consider it the highest compliment when my employees go out and start their own companies in competition with me. I always send them a plant to wish them well. Of course, it’s a cactus.” —Norm Brodsky, entrepreneur and author.

“The actively disengaged employees are the “cave dwellers.” They’re “Consistently Against Virtually Everything.” They’re not just unhappy at work; they’re busy acting out their unhappiness. Every day, actively disengaged workers undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish.” — Curt Coffman, author of First Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently

If you’ve been reading my blog recently, you’re no doubt familiar with my Productivity Management Matrix , a method by which I categorize employees based on two factors: performance and engagement.

Admittedly, this is a simplification of a complex issue, but it does bring the issue down to brass tacks. I’ve identified four categories that I believe comprise nearly all the employees in any organization: Campers, Cheerleaders, Defectors, and Productives. Not all employees fit comfortably into the Matrix, but the vast majority do.

So far I’ve discussed how to recognize and deal with Campers and Cheerleaders. Now let’s take a look at the Dour Defectors.

Defectors are highly productive, but for one reason or another, they just can’t seem to engage with their work. Maybe they’re dealing with personal issues that inhibit engagement; they may dislike the company or their co-workers; they may resent authority; or they could simply be bored out of their skulls. Whatever the cause, if they get what they consider to be a better offer, they’ll jump ship in an instant.

How to Spot a Defector
The results-oriented performance that characterizes a Defector distinguishes them from their polar opposite, the Cheerleader, and their disengaged compatriot, the Camper—and it makes them much harder to identify than either, especially if they keep their heads down and just focus on their work.

To identify the quiet Defector, you have to look for little things like attitude and behavior. Do they seem satisfied? Do they act annoyed when you give them a task? Do they come off as aloof or distant? Do they miss work or skip meetings regularly?

None of these are smoking guns, but if you see a pattern, then you should become concerned. And of course, if you find out that they’re circulating their resumé among your competitors, that’s a dead giveaway!

How a Defector Can Impact Your Team
A Defector’s negativity can quickly erode the engagement and performance of other employees, especially if the Defector starts badmouthing the organization—as so many do. Even if they’re able to keep their tongues in check, it’s often pretty obvious to their teammates that given the chance, they’ll go AWOL. That attitude can become infectious. If there’s no obvious reason for the Defector’s lack of engagement, other employees might wonder what the Defector knows that they don’t…and this can cause them to worry, which may affect their performances.

Defectors can also be unreliable, because they just don’t care enough about their team to be there whenever they’re needed. It’s easy to miss a meeting or just not show up for work when you really don’t expect to be in your job much longer.

How to Handle a Defector
The goal with any Defector is get them to engage with their team and with the company in general, so that they can morph into one of those office wonders known as the Productive (of which more anon). If nothing else, you don’t want them to head for those alleged greener pastures, taking all that wonderful productivity with them. As annoying as they are, a Defector can be difficult and costly to replace.

So it’s in your best interests to do what you can to hang onto a Defector—assuming their cynicism isn’t much more than skin deep. If you find that they’re one of those unhappy people who can’t be satisfied anywhere, then you have to make a choice. If they’re quiet about their unhappiness and you really need their results, then you may want to keep things as they are. If they’re hurting the team environment and refuse to shape up, fire them.

How to Coach the Defector
Don’t try anything superficial, glib, or subtle with a Defector. Be frank and straightforward. Tell them you value their productivity, but realize they’re not happy. Make it clear that their disaffection is hurting both them and the team, and sound them out as to why they’re so difficult to work with.

The problem might be surprisingly easy to fix. Maybe they just don’t realize that they’re affecting other people with their disinterest, in which case all they need is a little attitude adjustment. Or it might sting their pride to learn that they’re considered a problem child, resulting in them shaping up just to prove that they can. If they’re dissatisfied about a particular issue, address that. Engaging them could be as simple as offering better opportunities for advancement, providing better equipment, or coaching them to a better understanding of the company’s goals.

In Conclusion…Defectors are expensive to replace, so you need to deal with them as soon as you realize you have a problem. A motivated Defector might not jump into the Productive category right away, but if they learn to value their job as much as they value their own performance, they’ll certainly start working in that direction. Give a Defector a little time and attention, and they may just end up becoming one of your best employees.

I recently ran across this article full of tips on staying productive when you are unemployed. The article shares general ideas, as well as ideas in the areas of education, your job search, finances, networking and more. Maybe its not a bad idea to consider schools online when unemployed. Visit 100 Inspiring Productivity Ideas for the Unemployed to read the article.

Make it a productive day!

Summer’s over and it’s time to get back to school! This gives you an opportunity to set some goals with your kids.

Many people think of January 1 as the New Year. However, I think the back-to-school season is a much better time to get some perspective on kids’ lives and what we’d like to change in the coming school year.

What are some of the objectives you have, both for yourself and your children? How can you as a parent help them learn to be more productive and help them achieve success? One of the best gifts that you can give your children is the opportunity to grow and to learn. You have to help coach them, counsel them, encourage them, and sometimes discipline them.

Before school begins, take the opportunity to sit down and have a family meeting. What are some things that your family wants to accomplish? What does each child want to accomplish? Maybe you’d like to spend more time together eating as a family. Perhaps you want to go on a vacation this year. Maybe your child wants to be more involved in more activities or try a different sport. Maybe the homework grades weren’t quite as good as they should be.

If you know, for example, that homework skills are sliding, decide to help you child get on top of that! To see a change in that area, what would need to happen? Do you need to get a child a tutor? Do she need to go in early to get extra help from the teacher?

As adults, looking back, what habits did you form that have impacted you as an adult? What formative behaviors will be critical to your children as adults? Did you procrastinate a lot on term papers, and now you find yourself doing that with work assignments?

Encourage your children when you see these behaviors that you know will impact them later. Tell them, “It’s the start of a brand new year. Let’s look at those long-term papers and projects together. Let’s break them down. Let’s create some milestones. How can you be proactive and plan those various deadlines so that when those items are due, you’re going to be stress-free?”

Use this as an opportunity to make a fresh start. Take a deep breath and figure out how you can be a good role model to your children and help them be as productive as they can be.

To find out more about The Productivity Pro®, Inc. or have Laura Stack speak at an upcoming meeting or event, please visit at www.theproductivitypro.com.

Make it a productive day! ™

© 2010 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved.

SOCIAL MEDIA UN-PRODUCTIVITY – HOW TO AVOID ADDICTION

I’ve coined the term Obsessive Compulsive Social Media Disorder. Do you have it?

Many people confess, “Facebook is my secret addiction. I’m obsessed! I don’t really know how to cure it, but I spend hours every day on Facebook, plus LinkedIn, Twitter, and all my other social media sites. I’ve not yet been able to monetize the results of this activity and am not really sure whether I am getting any business off of it.”

It’s a common complaint. You absolutely need to have a presence in social media and spend time doing it; however, it can be a huge productivity drain if you are not careful.

Here are a few tips to make it more manageable and more productive:

1. Do not leave your Twitter feed open and observe posts in real time.

There are a lot of 3rd party tools to help you sort through all the clutter and pay attention to the posts you really care about. I use www.tweetdeck.com and turn off all the alerts. The last thing you want when you’re trying to concentrate on an important document is for alerts to sound and text boxes to be pop up all over the place, distracting you from what you’re trying to work on. Use a tool that will help you consolidate all the information, keep up with favorite people and search terms, and reply to direct messages.

2. Get as much automatic linkage as you can get.

For example, each day I post the Productivity Pro Tip of the Day to Twitter. I don’t post these manually. I went to hootsuite.com, loaded 365 tips for the next year, where automatically, every day at 8:15 a.m., hootsuite posts that day’s tip to Twitter.

That automatically posts to my Facebook and LinkedIn. Everything has a dual purpose. You want to be able to post in one place and have it show up on another. When I post an article or video on my blog, it’s automatically cross-posted on my Facebook fan page.

3. Try to limit how many times a day you check your profiles.

See if you can get yourself down to checking/posting three times a day: morning, noon, and afternoon. I only check twice. I check once about 10:00 and once about 3:00. You have to figure out what the formula is for you, but always being on and never having more than a four-minute block at any one time to do your work is truly going to sabotage your results. Your goal with social media is to achieve maximum results in minimum time.

Get creative about how you can cure your Obsessive Compulsive Social Media Disorder. Here is to getting rid of the addiction!

To find out more about The Productivity Pro®, Inc. or have Laura Stack speak at an upcoming meeting or event, please visit at www.theproductivitypro.com.

Make it a productive day! ™

© 2010 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved

Protecting Yourself From Drop-In Interruptions

1. Set up a self-help center.
If you have people walking into your office and asking for forms or answers to their questions, create an answer area outside of your office. You could use a document sorter, cabinet, or wall storage.
Every time you’re asked for something, stock it in the self-help center. That way the next time someone comes in and asks for that exact same information, you can say, “Absolutely. It’s out there in the self-help center.” And guess what? Pretty soon people start helping themselves, saving you time.

2. Use an understood signal.
Use an understood signal with the rest of your team that communicates “I am really up against a deadline right now. I would really prefer not to be interrupted. If there’s an emergency, come on in and interrupt me. But I’m trying to get ready for a meeting in 15 minutes.”

This signal could be a Do Not Disturb sign. Maybe police tape across the door. I’ve seen people wear orange armbands or different color hats. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as everyone on the team is familiar with the signal and respects it. Of course you can’t wear your hat all day. You have to abide by the spirit of the signal, but this technique will reduce the amount of interruptions.

3. Set up appointments.
When someone drops in to your office to discuss a client file or an upcoming project, your brain may become completely wrapped up in something totally different. So requesting “Hey, can I call you in thirty minutes? I’ll wrap this up and will be prepared to discuss your project at that time.” That way you can finish what you’re doing, get prepared for the new appointment, and speak intelligently without being rushed.

4. Set aside some down-time with your team.
Get together with your team and agree on certain times of the day to work, such as 9:00 to 10:30 every day. Agree that you won’t drop in on each other, call each other, or hold meetings. We will simply work. Reserve a 90-minute period of time for no interruptions and head-down focus time.

5. Create set office hours.
Block out your calendar and schedule fixed office hours, where you’ll be available for interruptions. In the same way college professors have “office hours,” you could designate times you are ready and available for drop-ins. Outside of those periods, you’re there, but you’re busy working.

For example, my travel agent doesn’t book tickets on Mondays. Guess when we call? Tuesday through Friday. You might think people wouldn’t abide by this, but they will. Come up with your hours, perhaps 9:00-11:00 and 1:00-3:00 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Print out your calendars. Post them where people can see them, and they can sign up for times to come and discuss particular issues with you at that time.

6. Schedule regular check-in times with your manager.
What if your manager is always in meetings or traveling? When she is back in the office, you’re tempted to grab her and rattle off the 17 questions you’ve been saving. Instead, use a log to keep track of all the things you need to discuss. Schedule a set time each week to get together and discuss everything at once. Perhaps it’s going to be at 8:00 AM or 1:00 PM or both. But you know that you’re going to have a period of time that you’ll be able to cover all your questions. That way, rather than interrupting nine times and asking one question each time, you can interrupt one time and ask nine questions.

7. Revise your office configuration.
Consider your office configuration and desk arrangement. If you face a hallway or a busy traffic area, you’ll look up as people walk by. If someone catches your eye, smiles, and says, “How are you?” Boom! You just bought yourself a ten-minute interruption. The better way to face is with your back to the door, so you are less likely to be distracted by those random drive-by visitors.

8. Screen your calls.
Okay, admit it. When the phone rings, how many times have you looked down at the Caller ID, saw who was calling, and let it go to voicemail? We’ve all done that!

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It is often a good idea to use technology when you are working on deadline, or you’re trying to get your manager out the door for a meeting in 15 minutes. It’s a good idea to let that call go.

9. Hide.
That’s right – hide. If you have a pressing deadline and just simply can’t stop getting interrupted, go somewhere people can’t find you. Find an empty conference room or use the office of a coworker who is on vacation. Go down to the cafeteria or the library. If nothing else, pick up your laptop and head off to Starbucks or work from home, where people can’t find you. At least then, you can plow through a project without being interrupted.

To find out more about The Productivity Pro®, Inc. or have Laura Stack speak at an upcoming meeting or event, please visit at www.theproductivitypro.com.
Make it a productive day! ™

© 2010 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved.