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

HOW TO SAY NO WITHOUT SAYING NO: REFUSING REQUESTS WITH TACT AND GRACE

1. Try to negotiate.
When someone asks us to do something, when do we assume they mean they need it? We assume they mean now. But that’s not always the case. Instead of doing a task immediately, try to negotiate. Can you extend the deadline a bit? Just ask, “Do you need that today? Or would Monday be okay?” You will often be pleasantly surprised.

2. Simplify.
Can you reduce the scope of the task? Asking, “At what level of detail does this need to be done? Does it need to be to the second decimal place or can I just round a little bit?” Find out in advance.

3. Communicate.
Simply be honest about what’s on your plate. Saying “Here’s a list of all the things I’m working on in priority order. Where would you say this one falls?”
When you manager gives you a task, you can give an estimation of the deadline and the due date that you can have it returned.

4. Reduce quality.
What do I mean by reduce quality? It involves asking if the task can be done at 85% rather than 100% perfect. Ask what level of perfection is required here? Do you need me to spend two hours crossing every T and dotting every I? If so, I’m happy to do that. Or do you simply want me to get it out the door in five minutes?

5. Delegate.
Usually you’re the delegee. But you could try to get someone else to help you. You could form a committee. You can call in some temporary help. You could outsource it. So ask specifically, “Can I get help on this? Or do you want me to do this myself?”

6. Streamline.
Do it a little more efficiently. Can you change the process? Ask, “Can we skinny this down a bit? Rather than doing this report once a month that takes me four hours, can I do an executive summary once a quarter? That would only take me two hours.” Much more efficient.

7. See what can be eliminated.
Have you ever asked yourself the question, “What would happen if this just didn’t get done?” What a great productivity concept! “If I didn’t do this at all, would anybody notice?” Great question. If the answer is no, see if your manager would let you skip it.

8. Get creative.
How else could you meet this request? Figure out an alternative way to get the result, other than the way it was originally outlined. Say, “You know, it might be more efficient if I had access to your calendar, rather than sending you an e-mail every time I want to put a phone call on your calendar.”
Your manager can grant you Editor permissions for her calendar, so you can schedule appointments directly for her.

9. Can you try partial delivery?
Ask the requestor, “Can I do a piece now and a piece later? I complete this portion immediately and give you the rest next week, if that’s okay?” Meet the immediate need and work on the rest when it’s not pressing.

10. Redirect.
Send the task elsewhere if it truly doesn’t belong on your plate. If your boss has a computer problem, rather than crawling along on the floor checking wires, tell her, “That request actually goes through IT. I’ll make sure they know about this problem and schedule a time for it to be fixed.”
The point is to take as much as possible off her plate. Getting it handled doesn’t mean that you have to do it.

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

GO OVER AND ABOVE WHAT’S EXPECTED: BECOME AN INDISPENSIBLE ASSISTANT

1. Identify tasks you are capable of taking over.
Provide a list of tasks to your manager that you believe you are capable of doing. Start with the decisions your manager makes most frequently and repetitively. If she doesn’t like creating PowerPoint presentations or answering her email, maybe that’s something you can pick up for her. Anything she particularly dislikes is a great candidate for you. Doing her expense reports at the end of each trip might be a great way to help out.

Take a look at recurring matters that she handles over and over again. Maybe she is a writer and constantly has to post articles to different blogs. You could learn how to do it and take over any time-consuming details. For example, when I create a video, uploading it on YouTube takes time. Having my assistant take that over for me has been a huge blessing.

Be observant. If there are piles of paper all over her office, coming in and offering a little organizing advice or assistance might be helpful. Or perhaps you can attend a meeting in her place. Perhaps you could type up the meeting notes. If you are comfortable with the content, may you could actually sit in and allow her to work.

Use opportunities like these to use and reinforce your creative talents. Your manager may have no idea that you’re an expert in a particular software package or know a great way to improve a process. You have to speak up with suggestions for improvement.

2. Manage the manager.
The second strategy that I want to share on becoming an indispensible assistant is to manage the manager. That’s right – actually be the manager of your manager. Have a discussion about how you can help your manager be more efficient in scheduling or running her calendar:

Is there a way that we can color code your appointments, so that I know exactly where you are or at which facility? Are you at your office? Are you in your home office? Are you on travel? Is this a phone call?
Do you prefer to have back-to-back meetings or would you rather have me spread them out? How much time in between would you like? Can I sort and process your email?
What about lunch preferences? When you take a client out to lunch, where would you like me to schedule you, depending on the time of the day?
Perhaps you want me to check your voicemail for you and take messages or answer the ones that I know the response for?
Each day I could print out your task list, you could update it and write updates by hand, and each day, I’ll enter the data and print you a fresh copy.

Look into all the ways you’re sharing information and figure out how you can help her manage better, individually and collectively.

3. Have a checklist handy.
The last strategy in becoming an indispensible assistant is to provide a checklist of frequently-needed tasks a few days or weeks prior to a meeting. Have her check off items that are needed either before or after.
For example:

Will you need a rental car? Do you want me to make airline reservations for this trip? How about driving directions? Are you going to need to get from the airport to the hotel to the meeting location and back?
If you’re having a breakfast meeting, where should I schedule it?
Do you have certain notes that you want me to include in this file? Do you need some documents typed up before you go? What copies do you need? Do you need a PowerPoint presentation? Perhaps you need some notes transcribed.
What can I do for you to help you ultimately be the most prepared you can be before you head off on this trip?

I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to open my briefcase, get out my travel file, refer to our checklist, and know with 100% certainty that my assistant has everything lined up. Traveling is much less frustrating and less stressful when I arrive.

Hopefully these three tips will help you become an indispensible assistant.

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

Getting People Out of Your Office Quickly

1. Always choose to visit a colleague, if given a choice.
When scheduling a meeting, you’ll have to decide where to hold the conversation: your office or mine? During a face-to-face conversation, it’s always better to go to them.

Why? You can leave! If someone’s in your office in your comfortable guest chair, “feet up,” so to speak, it’s much harder to get them out of your office than to walk yourself out of their office.

2. Be honest.
If they say, “Got a minute?” and you don’t, you can say, “Actually, I have my back up against the wall right now on a deadline. If it’s okay with you, can I call you back at 3:00?” And actually let them see you type the appointment in your calendar. They walk out feeling like I have an appointment! It lets them feel that they’ve been heard, but you didn’t take on the interruption right then.

3. Deflect low priority interruptions with alternate scheduling.
In our quest to be helpful and to provide great customer service to our coworkers, we are always willing to jump in and complete whatever is asked us of, regardless of what else is on our plates.
You can’t always do things in the order they appear. Some things aren’t that important right now. It’s okay to say, “That meeting’s in three weeks. Would it be okay if we connected the week prior?” By deflecting requests that aren’t mission-critical at the moment, you keep your attention focused on the critical things.

4. Use verbal tactics and body language.
When someone is in your office, do you ever have a problem getting them to leave? They’re still there chatting away and can’t take a hint. Try these verbal tactics.
Sometimes it helps by talking in past tense, such as, “It was nice having talked with you.” Or tou can try to summarize your conversation and the action items. You can even try some body language cues like turning back to email or shuffling papers. But what if the visitor still doesn’t get it?

5. You’re going to have to be assertive.
There comes a point when you can’t get someone to leave your office, you need to smile pleasantly, and say, “You’re going to have to excuse me now.” And keep smiling and don’t make excuses. There is nothing wrong with communicating, “I need to get back to work.” Because sometimes, honestly, people don’t get it. They will say, “Oh! Sorry!” and jump up and walk out. Just smile and wave.

6. Put a clock strategically behind you on the back wall.
When you are talking with a visitor, you can casually turn around and glance at the clock on the wall behind you. It’s perceived as rude to look at your watch, but when you quickly turn and glance at the clock on the wall, guess where they look? It’s a subtle, psychological cue that says, “Okay, we are on a deadline here. I think we need to get moving.”

7. Practice the “slow stroll.”
If the person still doesn’t get it, you could actually get up and walk out of your own office. Have you ever tried this? It really works! Keep a pile of copying on the side of your desk or something that needs to be delivered.

If the person does not stop talking, get up, tap them on the shoulder, say, “Come with me while I make these copies” or “Come with while I get a cup of coffee,” and walk right out of your office. Guess what? They will follow you! Hey, if they’re going to talk, you may as well get something done.

8. Get creative with your chairs.
Several people have told me they keep a pile of papers or folders in their guest chair. When people walk in, there is nowhere to sit, so they stay standing. Because they are standing, they can’t get comfortable. If they are not comfortable, they will leave.

If you want someone to sit down, you can actually move the pile of paper and offer them a seat. But, if not, hopefully they’ll get out sooner.

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.

SUPERCOMPETENT™ Key #4: ACCOUNTABILITY

This month’s article correlates to the fifth key in my newest book SuperCompetent: The Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best (Wiley), to be released on August 9: ACCOUNTABILITY.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Please don’t order my book yet! I’ll soon be announcing a very special BUY day on Amazon and B&N, where ordering will get you hundreds of dollars in free bonus gifts!

Accountability recognizes that “the buck stops here.”

SuperCompetent people mean what they say and say what they mean. They’re authentic, and other people know this and appreciate them for it—and also for their refusal to blame others when unforeseen circumstances trip them up. Their intense focus on their values is borne out in their demeanor and their sense of personal responsibility.

Accountability involves your commitment to yourself and others. It’s about the promises we make to the people who rely on us—and to ourselves. It’s about consistently hitting goals, meeting deadlines, fulfilling promises, and committing to teamwork.

The truly Accountable understand that in almost every circumstance, they’re responsible for who they are and where they are.

A high level of self discipline and Accountability can be achieved by consistently practicing the following precepts:

1. Take personal responsibility for handling your time and productivity. Never lay the blame on anyone else. Unless you live in a totalitarian state or are an indentured servant (unlikely), then when it comes to productivity, it’s all up to you. If something or someone gets in your way, it’s your duty to go around.

2. When a process seems unusually long and inefficient, do what you can to make it easier for everyone. Just because something’s been done a certain way for a long time doesn’t mean it’s the best way to do it now. If you find a problem, step forward and fix it if you can—or offer a solution if you can’t.

3. Rather than waste even small amounts of productive time, get right to work. Breaks are necessary, but don’t overindulge in them. Self-discipline is important in any field of endeavor. Without it, deadlines get missed, you feel guilty—and guilt sucks the energy right out of you. Or you get fired. Or both.

4. When you have all the information you need to proceed, make decisions immediately. You have to make critical decisions quickly whenever it’s necessary and you’re empowered to do so. Don’t let worry or social inertia slow you down, because motion beats meditation every time if you have all the data you need.

5. Understand the difference between being busy and being productive. Don’t let little tasks keep you from getting things done. Most of us spend too much time tending to minor issues that other people can handle more cheaply and efficiently, and never have enough time to do all the really important tasks.

The SuperCompetent take charge of their own productivity because, ultimately, they realize that it all comes down to them. They accept the blame when it’s due, not just the credit.

They also do all they can to make things work better for themselves and others, and make every effort to become comfortable with making decisions, without letting the possible negative consequences paralyze them.

Personal responsibility is easy to observe in people who have it. Make sure people can observe it in you.

Make it a productive day! (TM)

(C) Copyright 2009 Laura Stack. All rights reserved.

Meetings can absolutely eat up your day if you let them. Ever seen the Dilbert cartoon about preliminary pre-meeting meetings? Does it feel like you’re stuck in that Dilbert cartoon and can’t get anything effective done? Well, you don’t have to take it anymore! Keep these things in mind when dealing with time-stealing meetings. 

Refuse Face-to-Face Meetings When Unnecessary
Determine if you really need to meet in person. How many times have you attended a meeting and asked yourself, “Why am I here?” Hopefully, by now you’ve started protecting your time from every person who wants a piece of it. If my clients want to meet in person, I charge a consulting fee. For telephone calls, no charge. Ninety percent of the time, a conference call will suffice. Extra travel time and expenses are involved when meeting in person, so avoid it unless dialogue and brainstorming are required. 

Do not accept a meeting invitation if the requestor can’t state in one sentence the exact reason you’re meeting. For example:

 ·        To inform our department of changes in the holiday pay policy.

·        To sell management on our division’s plan to automate payroll processing.

·        To brainstorm the best way to resolve the association’s budget deficit.

·        To determine realistic sales goals for each region for next year.

·        To discuss the critical skills required for successful performance as a first-level supervisor.

Cancel Meetings
Meetings can be important; they allow for the exchange of ideas and play an important role in the dynamics of the workplace. But not all meetings have the same value. With a limited number of hours in the day, you need to pick and choose when a meeting is appropriate and when it isn’t. Always think twice before calling a meeting. If you have the flexibility to choose, you should always think twice about agreeing to attend one, too. If you feel like a good deal of your day is wasted by meetings, consider the following:

 Is the meeting simply to exchange information? If so, an email might do the trick just as well, and save everyone a lot of time.
Is there travel involved? An elevator ride is one thing; real travel is quite another. Whether the meeting will include attendees from across town or across the country, always stop and consider whether a conference call or webinar meetup might be just as effective (I use www.gotomeeting.com).  Sometimes the face-to-face is critical. Other times, it just doesn’t matter, so why waste travel time?
What’s your role? Maybe your place could be taken by an assistant who can take good notes. Just make sure that if decisions need to be made, whoever’s taking your place is capable of filling in for you. Others will be annoyed if your absence turns into an inconvenience for them.
If you do need to be there personally, find out exactly what’s needed of you. If only one item on a two-hour agenda involves you, perhaps you can handle that matter first and leave the meeting early. Or ask what time to show. Spending half of your day in meetings waiting for your agenda item can be a frustrating time-waster.
 

Limit Attendees
More is not merrier. Think through who really needs to be there. Don’t worry about hurting someone’s feelings if they aren’t included. If you simply want to keep a stakeholder or player in the loop, select them as “optional,” instead of “required.” Always assume that higher-ups have much more profitable things to do than sit in your meeting. Think about how much people are paid, and ask if your meeting is worth an hour of their pay PLUS what they otherwise could have been doing if they weren’t stuck there. Only invite people if they have a direct contribution to make to the meeting objective, and the desired decisions would not be able to be made without them. If their presence is only required for ten minutes, give them the first ten minutes, and then allow them to graciously depart.

Multiply Your Hands
Have meeting requests and responses go to your delegate (if you have one), not to you. Don’t wade through all the responses; that’s why you have an assistant. In Outlook, under Tools, Options, Delegates, select “Send meeting requests and responses only to my delegates, not to me.” Brilliant.

Avoid Meetings on Fridays
Many departments and teams decide as an informal policy to schedule meetings Monday-Thursday if at all possible. Too many people try to take long weekends or duck out early, making scheduling and rescheduling a nightmare on Fridays, plus you’ll end up with a lot of no-shows. I try to leave Fridays open for personal appointments. I find if I put a doctor’s appointment in between business meetings, something always happens to derail one or the other. It’s hard to get my mind switched between different realms in any case.

Distribute Your Agenda Early
Always send or request an agenda and include it in the text portion of the appointment, or include it as an attachment. A basic agenda should include a statement of purpose, any logistical considerations, the decisions to be made, a list of the topics to discuss (in priority order), who’s responsible for that item, and how long you’re allotting for each one. Ask participants if they have any changes to the agenda items to let you know in advance of the meeting, so you can make adjustments if necessary. Once you get into the meeting, follow the agenda diligently, so you can ensure all points are covered, decisions are made, and the objective is achieved.

Set Your Meeting’s Length Yourself
Don’t let Outlook pick the length of your meeting; the default is one hour, so that’s how much time people normally schedule meetings. Instead, match the length of the meeting to the purpose. If you’ve done an agenda and you’ve determined you’ll only need forty minutes, then manually change the invitation and schedule for that. Otherwise, time will expand to fill the amount of time available. If you’ve promised folks you’ll be out of there quickly, people tend to work toward that goal. If there’s slack time, more socializing will naturally occur, and an hour will definitely get used. Some people try to build in “buffer” time; don’t cave to this habit. I purposefully under-schedule and announce the goal at the beginning, so everyone is actively moving forward.

 Use Online Scheduling for Outside Parties
According to an international research of online scheduler Doodle, professionals spend 5 hours a week with setting up meetings alone (see 1st International Study on Scheduling Trends 2009 http://www.doodle.com/about/mediareleases/survey.html).  Doodle.com is an online polling tool to find a good day/time for participants to meet, especially helpful when they don’t work at your company. I particularly like the Outlook plugin. It provides an online display of optional meeting times allows all participants to indicate their preferred times and enables the organizer to choose the final slot. Done. There is no toggling between participants’ calendars and no inefficient email chains—obtaining the availability of external parties is made effortless. By engaging participants, Doodle makes scheduling transparent and very flexible, regardless of whether they use online or offline calendars, paper planners, or no system at all.

Allow Enough Breaks
Provide at least one break for every hour and 15 minutes, max. Let attendees know at the outset what to expect. If you keep rambling on, and they aren’t sure when they’ll get a bio break, they’ll just start getting up randomly and sneaking out. Clearly state at the beginning, “We’ll meet from now until 10:00, and then we’ll break until 10:10,” etc. If you’re meeting over a lunch hour, it’s also common courtesy to provide food.

 Be Considerate of Those in Other Time Zones
If you’re in the Pacific Time zone, and some of your meeting participants are calling in from the East, a 2:00 meeting puts them into departure time. Realize that people may have childcare commitments at the end of the day; an afternoon meeting (or vice versa for early mornings on the West Coast) can severely inconvenience folks and reduce the odds of attendance.

Strike a Balance on Scheduling
If you schedule a meeting too far out, you’ll get a bunch of cancellations and requests to reschedule as you get closer—or you’ll just get trumped by someone higher up. If you wait to schedule a meeting until the last minute, it’s hard to find a block of time when most people are readily available. So it’s best to schedule 2-3 weeks in advance. Anything sooner or further off than that is fraught with scheduling challenges and conflicts.

Immediately Inform the Meeting Leader of Conflicts
If you have a change in your calendar but don’t want to “rock the boat,” you inconvenience more people the longer you wait. It takes effort to work schedules around appointments, so as soon as you know, raise the flag. The chair can determine if they can make it without you or if the meeting should be moved.

Confirm Everything
I’ve often shown up for a meeting but the other person “forgot.” You’d like to think all adults are responsible and will do what they say they’ll do, but it’s always better to dash off a quick email: “Looking forward to seeing you on (date) at (time) at (location). Let me know if something comes up.” I don’t make people confirm that things are correct; I ask them to let me know if there’s a change. Also make sure you get directions and map it out well in advance of trying to run out the door. I look at my calendar for the next day before I leave work and make sure I’m ready to roll on everything. Confirm with attendees, too, when it’s your meeting. Open the original meeting request, select Actions, and then New Message to Attendees.

Journal Your Meeting Notes
Many people don’t know how to use the Journal feature in Outlook, or even what it’s for. If you’ve ever accidentally clicked it, you’ll get a pop-up box that asks you if you’re SURE you want to turn on the Journal. Most people freak out and click NO. Next time, click YES. Open a new Journal entry, select Meeting in the Type dropdown, type up your meeting notes, put in the day/time of the meeting, indicate in the Contacts field the people at the meeting, and select a Category for the meeting name or project. When you pull up a Contact and click the Activities tab, you’ll be able to see the Journal entries (notes) from every meeting you’ve ever had with that person. You can also pull up your Journal entries by Category to review meeting notes as far back as you’d like. OR give your notes to your assistant, have him type them up in the text field of the original meeting notice, save, and send a message to attendees (under Actions).

Get Tough
Here are three questions you should ask yourself whenever you schedule a meeting:
 

Do we really need all these people? Make sure you aren’t inviting anyone who doesn’t need to have a seat at the table. Not only does it make scheduling more difficult, but you’ll either (a) waste their time or (b) bend over backwards to accommodate someone who isn’t going to show up anyway.
Can we keep people in the loop without inviting them to every meeting? Some meetings are full of wallflowers who need to know what’s going on but don’t necessarily need to contribute. Publishing meeting minutes or distributing essential information electronically can save time and shorten the attendee list. Also, take a look to see if some work areas are sending multiple representatives. By choosing a single designee from each area, you can make sure everyone is represented without having everyone in the room.
Do we need to meet at all? This is a question you should ask about EVERY meeting, not just the hard-to-schedule ones. Any meeting that doesn’t have a clear objective (if not a formal agenda) should be on the chopping block.
(C) 2010 Laura Stack. All rights reserved. http://www.TheProductivityPro.com

Everyone has a productivity personality. It’s the collection of strengths, weaknesses, and day-to-day habits that come together to determine how a person works best.

I’ve written often about how important it is to get a handle on your own personal productivity personality, but it’s important that you don’t stop there. After all, most of us depend on others at some point in our day and the individual work styles and attitudes of those around us can have a huge impact on our own ability to get things done.

That’s why I put together a list of the 12 dysfunctional personal productivity personalities. Hopefully this list will help you smile (rather than cringe) the next time a coworker’s bad habits start to drive you up the wall. I’ve also included some thoughts on how to deal with each of these pesky personalities.

So here they are, in no particular order:

1. Scrappers. The scrapper’s desk look like a modern art exhibit, covered in scraps of paper and sticky notes. They write important notes on whatever is close at hand, whether it’s a fast food receipt or the back of an envelope (a scrapper’s favorite).

Handling the scrapper: You can’t force scrappers to adopt a comprehensive planning system or put all of those little scraps into Outlook or a BlackBerry (although you could try to coach them). What you can do is make sure that items pertaining to your work don’t get lost in the shuffle. Send follow-up e-mails detailing key meeting take-aways, check in before important deadlines, and never fail to follow up on a delegated task.

2. Pilers. Pilers have a lot in common with scrappers, except it is generally much more difficult to navigate your way through the piler’s office. They keep everything and file nothing. There will be boxes on the floor and every inch of desk space will be occupied by stacks of paper, generally piled up to the point that an archeologist could use them to figure out what the piler has been working on for the last five years.

Handling the piler: The best thing you can do for the piler is simple: don’t add anything to the piles. Chances are that any document, book, or report that you put in the piler’s hands is going to end up in heap someplace, where it is probably as good as gone. Never hand your only hard copy over to a piler unless you are ready to kiss it goodbye. Also, be sure to set clear deadlines. Their idea of giving something a high priority is placing it on their (generally largest) “immediate attention” stack. Don’t ask them to do something “right away,” ask them to do it by a specific date.

3. Multi-taskers. Multi-taskers always have a thousand things going on at once and generally take pride in it. They flit from task to task, getting many things started but few things completed. And they often appear frazzled, overwhelmed, and scattered.

Handling the multi-tasker: Always use caution when working with a multi-tasker. He or she will rarely admit that they don’t have the capacity to take on another task and can easily become distracted by competing priorities. Always double-check, very directly, with multi-taskers to make sure that they can and will do what is expected in an agreed-upon timeframe.

4. Interrupters. “Gotta minute?” It’s practically the interrupter’s catch phrase. They will constantly show up at your desk, interrupting your day and derailing your train of thought. Their interruptions are sometimes trivial and sometimes relevant, but almost always ill-timed.

Handling the interrupter: You have to be honest on this one. If someone asks if you have a minute, don’t be afraid to tell them you don’t. The more cautiously you guard your own time, the more others will begin thinking twice before asking for it needlessly. A polite response to an interruption is to simply point out that no, you don’t have any time right now but would be happy to meet later in the day if needed. Beyond that, a simple “Do Not Disturb” sign can go a long way – just don’t abuse it.

5. Procrastinators. Some people seem clinically incapable of doing anything before the last possible moment. They start things with just enough time to squeeze them in before the deadline. You’ll also notice that procrastinators tend to put off high-value (often challenging) tasks in favor of more pleasant, less critical ones.

Handling the procrastinator: Don’t let a procrastinator drag your project team down. The best way to get out ahead of a procrastinator is to plan in advance and evaluate results on an ongoing basis, not just when the work is done. If your procrastinator is expected to deliver a weekly progress report, they’ll be more likely to stay on track. Of course, you should probably steer clear immediately before your meeting. That will be crunch time.

6. Socializers. Socializers waste inordinate amounts of time chatting with coworkers and keeping up with the personal lives of everyone at the office. They’re great at planning the company party, but tend to fall short in other ways.

Handling the socializer: Socializers do what they do because they get something out of it – interaction, stress relief, distraction from work, whatever. If you don’t have anything along those lines to offer, they’ll lost interest in you pretty quickly. You just need to be sure not to play along. If you’re in the habit of nodding your head and smiling while others talk your ear off, then you are part of the problem. Politely point out that you are trying to keep your day on track and need to get back to what you were doing.

7. Meeting addicts. Some people apparently just love to call meetings. Maybe they really enjoy the setting and the interaction or maybe it honestly has never occurred to them that it is possible to get things done without putting half the department around a conference table. Either way, the result is a lot of time wasted by everyone involved.

Handling the meeting addict: First of all, don’t be afraid to decline a meeting when it’s appropriate to do so. Simply state that you don’t feel your presence is needed and ask that you be kept in the loop on any important outcomes that might affect your work. Second, don’t be afraid to suggest an alternative to a meeting. When you get the request, simply call the organizer to ask if the matter could be handled by e-mail or conference call. In fact, you might be able to resolve the issue on the spot and save everyone a lot of time and disruption.

8. Crisis creators. We’ve all been there. A lack of planning by one person leads to a crisis for everyone else. Even minor issues are exaggerated into a full-blown disaster and everyone involved ends up feeling stressed and drained as a result. Crisis creators seem to always be fighting fires and coworkers are often dragged into the fray.

Handling the crisis creator: Unfortunately, we often have to step in and help fight fires even if they aren’t our fault. If a certain individual is constantly working in crisis mode, it is important that you don’t play into the drama. Keep a cool head and don’t get overly stressed. Then, once the crisis is resolved, insist on a debriefing meeting to figure out what went wrong. Once crisis creators realize that problems aren’t going to be forgotten once the crisis is over, they’ll be more inclined to stay out of trouble in the first place.

9. E-mailers. They send an e-mail for everything. It doesn’t matter how simple or how complicated an issue is, an e-mail message is the answer. They never use the phone, they never walk across the hall to deliver a ten-word message, and they usually LOVE the “Reply All” button.

Handling the e-mailer: Usually you won’t have much luck influencing the e-mail habits of a colleague, although you can specifically request the recipients do NOT Reply to All but respond to you directly instead. What you CAN do is set clear expectations concerning your own use of e-mail. If you only check your messages a few times each day, tell people that so they don’t expect you to treat Outlook like an instant messaging service. People are generally pragmatic about things and if e-mail isn’t a good way to get a response from you, they’ll stop using it for everything.

10. Packrats. Packrats have never thrown anything away in their professional lives. They don’t worry about the company’s records retention policy, because they retain everything, no matter what. They are often overwhelmed by their own treasure trove of obsolete documents, but will come in handy if you ever need to take a look at the final report from that project that was cancelled in 1986.

Handling the packrat: Packrats are sometimes highly organized creatures, but are often more worried about the thickness of their project files than they are about what’s inside. Never trust a packrat to manage priorities or to take away the key points from any given interaction. Be direct about what you need from them so you don’t end up with a ton of unnecessary research or extraneous background information. Just the facts, please.

11. Perfectionists. By insisting on doing everything perfectly, perfectionists generally fail to accomplish much at all. They can never finish, because it “can always be better.” They work hard, but complete little. Perfectionists keep meticulous meeting notes, promise the world during planning sessions, and often seem to crack up just as the project is coming together.

Handling the perfectionist: When you are working with a perfectionist, it’s a good idea to plan for frequent touch points throughout the project. Rather than expecting to reconvene at the end, schedule several synch-up meetings along the way. Define the level of expectation and the exact deliverables. This will help keep the perfectionist working in manageable (if imperfect) chunks and also give the person a chance to dazzle you with little presentations throughout the project. Perfectionists just love that.

12. Workaholics. The workaholic works an 80 hour week and never misses an opportunity to remind you of it. Puzzling, though, is the fact that they seem to accomplish less than others working half the hours. The workaholic typically has no boundaries between work and home life.

Handling the workaholic: Remember that to a workaholic, “end of day” does not mean five o’clock. Usually, it means “before tomorrow.” When you are expecting something from a workaholic, keep in mind that you will likely see an e-mail roll in at 10:45 p.m. Also remember that there is no sense of urgency to a workaholic. Since they plan to be working into the evening anyway, they tend to waste time during normal business hours. You can subtlety nudge them in your direction by saying things such as “I’d like to have that by three o’clock so that I can be out the door on time tonight.”

I have no doubt that at least a few of these 12 dysfunctional productivity personalities will have you smiling and thinking of someone you work with. But also keep in mind that each of us has a little of one or more of these personalities in us as well. So as we work to deal better with our chronically troublesome coworkers, we should also be willing to improve on our own little areas of personal dysfunction. Now THAT is productivity improvement!

What dysfunctional personality styles would you add?

Make it a productive day! ™

(C) Copyright 2009 Laura Stack. All rights reserved. http://www.TheProductivityPro.com

The latest issue of Productive! Magazine features Laura Stack’s article “I spend waaaaaay too much time on…” The digital magazine has already exceeded 6,000 downloads. Visit Productive! Magazine online at www.productivemagazine.com for your free digital subscription filled with great articles and tips on being more productive. Laura’s featured article talks about time managment, what some of the biggest timewasters are, and how to avoid them. Enjoy!

We all want to do our part to help the environment. But if you can give the Earth a break and increase your productivity at the same time, that’s a real no-brainer!  Luckily, a lot of the things you can do to help sustain the planet can help sustain your productivity as well.  Read on for tips on how to green-size your life and get more done at the same time.

Use less paper.  About 80 percent of papers that are filed are never referenced again.  What a waste! A good solution? File less.  An even better solution?  Produce less paper to begin with.  That doesn’t mean you have to constantly inconvenience yourself or feel guilty about ever sheet that comes off the printer.  It just means you should think twice before you hit “print.” Do you really need a paper copy of that e-mail message or status report?

Why you’ll get more done: The less paper you allow into your day, the less time you’ll spend managing it.  I’m talking about filing things, shuffling them around, and tearing through the heaps to find what you need. Keeping less paper means you’ll have an easier time finding the things that really matter and also eliminate some of the stress that inevitably comes from stacks of paper clutter.     

Give your PC (and yourself) a rest.  When was the last time you gave your PC a break?  Letting it sit with the screensaver on doesn’t count.  I mean actually shutting it down, all the way.  The next time you finish working for the day, turn your computer off (black screen, no blinking lights).  You’ll save energy and let the machine cool down for the night.   

Why you’ll get more done:  Shutting down your PC at the end of the day not only saves electricity, but it can also work wonders for your personal energy level.  It’s easy enough to leave a computer untouched at the office, but I’ll bet your home computer is buzzing away whenever someone is nearby.  This leads to technological burnout.  You’re constantly checking e-mail.  Mindlessly surfing the web.  Compulsively scanning social networking sites.  The next thing you know it’s deep into the night and you never really took time to unwind.  Shutting the computer down means you’ll be less likely to plop down in front of it for “just a minute” and more likely to accomplish things around the house, spend time relaxing with family, or go get some exercise. 

Drive smart.  Does it ever feel like you’re losing time every day running errands or zipping around from appointment to appointment?  If you think ahead, you might be able to consolidate all those quick trips into one or two longer outings, especially if you can batch them together based on where in town you need to go.  Also consider making your regular commute outside of rush hour.  You’ll travel the same distance in a shorter time and pollute less along the way.

Why you’ll get more done:  Driving smarter isn’t just going to save gas, money, and harmful emissions, but it’s also going to save you time.  Planning ahead and spending less time running around or stuck in traffic will do nothing but add precious productive minutes (or hours!) to your day. 

Recycle and declutter.  Don’t you always feel better after getting rid of stuff?  It doesn’t matter if you’re at home or the office, getting rid of clutter is always a liberating experience.  Tackle problem areas one at a time by identifying clutter and dividing it into “storage,” “trash,” and “recycling” piles.  Recycling can mean sending junk to a traditional recycling facility or simply passing items along to those who can make better use of them than you can.  Sites like www.freecycle.org can help you find a good home for your unused stuff and local schools and libraries often have a need for any extra office supplies you may have lying around.

Why you’ll get more done: Getting rid of clutter is just plain good for your state of mind, which is good for overall productivity.   On top of that, getting rid of clutter will have the same effect as getting rid of paper – less junk to sort through, fewer storage hassles, and more space to live and work. 

Travel less.  Lots of companies learned this lesson from the recession, but there’s an environmental impact as well.  Is all of your business travel necessary?  Think about the trips you take, whether they’re across town or across the county.  Would it be possible to get the work done remotely?  Technology allows us to accomplish an awful lot from afar, from conference calls to complete virtual presentations.  If you can manage to stay in town in a few instances where you’d usually pack up the car or hop on an airplane, you’ll be doing Mother Nature and yourself a favor.

Why you’ll get more done: Business trips can eat a lot of time.  Sometimes you’ll literally need to spend days on the road for the sake of engaging in a few hours of productive activity once you’re there.  Sure you can get work done on the go, but it isn’t the same as being close to home base.  Skipping an out-of-town trip or two can free you up to make a serious dent in your workload. 

When you get down to it, greensizing is just a matter of paying a little more attention to the habits that you wouldn’t usually give a second thought. Often, productivity is the same way.  I hope you’ll join me in thinking twice and finding simple ways to conserve not only precious resources but valuable time as well.  The planet will thank you and you’ll get more done.  That’s what I call a win-win.

Make it a productive day! ™

(C) Copyright 2009 Laura Stack.  All rights reserved.  www.TheProductivityPro.com

I asked readers to fill in the blank on our last monthly survey and received some great responses.  There were tons of interesting answers, but it didn’t take long to start seeing some patterns.  Read on for the seven most common responses (and what you can do about them).

1. E-mail.  Let’s face it.  E-mail can be a phenomenal productivity tool, but it will eat your day alive if you let it.  Lots of people complain that their overflowing inbox is beyond their control, but here are three steps you CAN take to start getting a handle on it right away:

Do you keep one eye on your inbox all day long?  What does that do to your productivity?  If you drop everything and attend to every e-mail that comes in throughout the day, you are derailing your productivity, over and over again.  Not only do you waste whatever time it takes for you to read, ignore, or act on a given e-mail message, but it also takes time to refocus your attention on whatever you were doing prior to the interruption.  Try to close Outlook completely while you work on other tasks, if you simply can’t resist looking.  Also turn off your alerts, so the envelope in the system tray doesn’t constantly remind you there’s email waiting. 

For a previous blog posting I wrote on how to process email using my 6D method, go to http://www.theproductivitypro.com/blog/2006/08/how-to-process-email-and-deal-with-information-overload/

2. Watching television.  Why is it that we can spend all day scrounging for extra minutes and then head home only to flush countless hours down the drain watching television?  Television (even bad television) can be extremely habit forming and one show can very easily lead to another, turning your half-hour escape into an entire evening wasted.

Take a quick inventory of the last few TV shows you watched.  Think about how many you thought about in advance and then sat down to enjoy.  Now think about how many you ended up watching just because they were on.  Pick a few shows that you really enjoy and watch them each week.  If you have TiVo or a DVR, that’s even better.  Watch on your own time and skip the commercials.  Then shut the TV off and go about your business!

3.  Searching the Internet.  The Internet is a bottomless pit of information…some useful and some not-so-useful.  It’s much too easy to sit down to do one thing (pay a bill, look up an address) and end up wasting time on something else entirely (reading news stories, checking your social networking profiles).

If meandering around the web is relaxing for you—that’s fine—just make sure you do it at an appropriate time and place that doesn’t interfere with work or family time.  Otherwise, treat the Internet like any other tool: use it when you need it and put it away when you’re done.  Once you’ve got what you came for, close the window and move on.

4. Procrastinating on starting a difficult task or project.  Occasionally, things don’t get done because we just can’t seem to get the ball rolling.  Sometimes the task or project giving us a hard time is completely within our control, but we just don’t make it happen.  Whether the task is intimidating, time-consuming, or simply unpleasant, the solution is often the same: break it down into manageable chunks.

Forget waiting for a “block of time.” That no longer exists. Instead of viewing the task as one huge project, break it down into manageable chunks you can schedule over a period of a week or two. A twenty-hour project can be seen as ten two-hour tasks. Getting it down on paper can help you see how to best approach the project. The key is to do something to move toward completion. If you need to focus without interruption, it’s best to not work in your office.  If you can take one large task and break it into many smaller ones, it’ll be much easier to get things going.  Rather than feeling like you have to tackle some monumental project all at once, you can just look at your bite-sized first step and get started right away.

5. Handling family concerns during my work day.  Life happens.  And it isn’t always convenient.  Some things can only be arranged during the week from 9:00 to 5:00.  Fortunately, companies are starting to realize that it’s in their best interest to assist employees attempting to manage their lives during the day rather than standing in the way.  That can mean anything from allowing workers to access the Internet for incidental personal use to offering flexible schedules to accommodate personal appointments.

Talk to your boss, your peers, and your staff about finding opportunities for flexibility within the workday.  If employees don’t feel like they have to accomplish a million things during five lunch hours a week, they’ll be more productive during the rest of the day.  Do whatever you can to promote a strong, reasonable work-life balance at your organization.     

6. Scheduling meetings.  Do you find that it’s close to impossible to get five or more attendees that are available at the same time and the same date?  When key players are overbooked, it can take hours just to schedule a single a meeting.  Here are three questions you should ask yourself whenever you schedule a meeting:

a. Do we really need all these people?  Make sure you aren’t inviting anyone that doesn’t need to have a seat at the table.  Not only does it make scheduling  more difficult, but you’ll either (A) waste their time or (B) bend over backwards to accommodate someone who isn’t going to show up anyway.
b. Can we keep people in the loop without inviting them to every meeting?  Some meetings are full of wallflowers that need to know what’s going on but don’t necessarily need to contribute.  Publishing meeting minutes or distributing essential information electronically can save time and shorten the attendee list.  Also take a look to see if some work areas are sending multiple representatives.  By choosing a single designee from each area, you can make sure everyone is represented without having everyone in the room.  ?
c. Do we need to meet at all?  This is a question we should ask about EVERY meeting, not just the hard-to-schedule ones.  Any meeting that doesn’t have a clear objective (if not a formal agenda) should be on the chopping block.

7. Working on fun things instead of boring tasks.  I love that this one made the list because it shows how honest my readers are!  We already talked about failing to get started on tasks because they are large or overwhelming, but what about the small, mundane tasks that you just can’t seem to get motivated to complete?  The best thing you can do is realize that you’ll focus much better on the work that is important to you if you don’t have a bunch of small, less interesting tasks hanging over your head.  One thing to keep in mind?  About 99 percent of the time, those nitpicky tasks are DRAMATICALLY easier and less painful than you think they’re going to be.  Getting started is the hardest part.  If you’re really having trouble, schedule a five-minute appointment with yourself to begin the chore. When the designated time arrives, start working on the task. If you feel like stopping at the end of five minutes, you can stop. The only rule is you must schedule an additional five minutes for tomorrow. When you begin to see some progress, five minutes soon becomes 10, 15, 20…

Make it a productive day! ™

(C) Copyright 2009 Laura Stack.  All rights reserved.  http://www.TheProductivityPro.com

I recently surveyed my readers on the eternal question of productivity: Why is it that some things on your to-do list never get done?  Some great responses rolled in, ranging from the classic (too many interruptions) to the matter-of-fact (I don’t feel like doing it). 

But as diverse as the responses were, it didn’t take long to see certain themes emerge.  Below are the top ten issues at the heart of the problem and some guidance on how to deal with them.

1. You haven’t made the necessary decisions.  Your to-do list should be full of clear, actionable ideas—in other words, things you can actually do.  If you have a vague goal, like “Have a sale,” you’ve still got a lot of thinking to do before you can hit the ground running and make real progress.  Take a minute to figure out exactly what you need to accomplish: What kind of sale?  When will it take place?  What will it promote?  Once the task is more fleshed out, you’ll be more likely to make progress on it.

2. You haven’t talked to the people involved.  Are you worried that you don’t have the necessary support to make your idea happen?  If you need buy-in, go get buy-in.  Chances are that your first step should be to pick up the phone or schedule a meeting.  Even if you don’t get the answers you want, at least you’ll know where you stand.  From there, you can move forward, adjust your strategy, or simply move on.  Wherever the idea ends up, at least it isn’t festering on your list.

3. You haven’t done your homework.  Perhaps you know you need to schedule a teleseminar series, but haven’t gotten around to researching which platforms are available.  Figuring out the mundane logistics is now keeping you from making an important decision.  Carve out some time to do the legwork, or better yet, delegate that part of the task to someone else.  Once you have a better idea of your options, you can focus on the real issue at hand.

4. You’re ignoring your internal clock.  We spend so much time focused on schedules and deadlines that we often forget to pay attention to our body’s natural rhythms.  Yes, your Outlook calendar might say that a block of work will fit perfectly on Wednesday afternoon, but if that places your big task in the middle of a low-energy period of your day, you don’t stand a chance.  Keep your daily energy levels in mind as you plan your day.  Start high-energy projects early if that’s when your concentration is at its best.

5. The task is unpleasant.  The first step is admitting it!  If you’re being honest with yourself, you probably have an item on your list that hasn’t been done simply because the task is unpleasant and you’d rather not do it.  If that’s the case, it’s time to get tough.  Make a decision right now to either do the task, delegate the task, or forget about it altogether.  If you need to do it, stop thinking about it and just get it done.  If it can be delegated effectively, go ahead and make arrangements with someone else.  And if you’re going to eliminate it completely, cross it off your list and for goodness’ sakes move on already!

6. The task is overwhelming.  You don’t know where to start.  Is there an item on your to-do list along the lines of Complete Huge Multifaceted Project XYZ?  No wonder you aren’t making progress!  The task it too big.  Large or complicated projects need to be broken down into manageable chunks or else they’ll always take a back seat to the smaller, more manageable things on your list.  After all, would you rather spend the afternoon completing five smaller items on your list or barely making a dent in one?  By identifying a few key steps, such as “Gather Project documents” and “Outline project scope,” you’ll know exactly what needs to be done next and be less likely to hesitate as you take action.

7. You are plagued with distractions and interruptions.  Seemingly innocent interruptions like checking e-mail, answering the phone, or chatting with coworkers will eat your productivity alive.  And although many of these interruptions aren’t necessarily your fault, managing them is your responsibility.  Identify your time wasters and take immediate steps to correct the problem.  You might need to set regular times each day to check e-mail or close your door to let coworkers know you’re temporarily unavailable.  Not sure where your time is going?  Keep a detailed log for a few days and find out once and for all.

8. You are constantly putting out fires.  Does it seem impossible to achieve any real long-term focus as you jump from one urgent, immediate priority to the next?  Good leaders understand how important it is to make time for true high-value activities, even if they don’t present themselves as urgent, deadline-driven issues.  If you spend every day jumping from one issue to the next, you might help avert disasters, but you won’t ever accomplish anything substantive.  Instead, focus on the cause of all those urgent interruptions.  Do they come from lack of planning, procrastination, or a team that isn’t empowered to handle simple issues on their own?  Once you address the underlying problems, you’ll be able to focus your time and energy where it belongs.

9. The task requires a lot of work for little reward or recognition.  Recognition is nice, but don’t live and die by it.  If the task is worth doing, it is worth doing regardless of whether you will be recognized for the contribution.  If it’s not worth doing (but you have to do it anyway), just get the darn thing done and move on to something more fulfilling.  In the meantime, your paycheck is your reward.

10. You day is overscheduled before you even sit down in the morning.  You schedule time and bend over backwards for everyone else…why don’t you do the same for yourself?  Make appointments with yourself and treat them with the same level of importance as you would a meeting with a client or coworker.  If you know you need three hours to get something done, schedule three hours to get it done.  And I mean really schedule it.  Put it on your calendar, eliminate distractions, and treat the task with the same respect you would a one-on-one meeting with a live person.

So there you have it: ten huge productivity bandits—decide which ones best apply to you.  Be relentless as you kick them to the curb and get those tasks checked off your list!

Make it a productive day! ™

(C) Copyright 2009 Laura Stack.  All rights reserved.