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

My QVC segment aired live on 1/8/08 at approximately 8:20 EST.

Tune in on Thursday, January 8, 2009 at 7:00 AM EST to QVC and watch Laura Stack LIVE as she sells her Productivity Pro(R) Day-Timer(R)!  Or if you miss the show, go to www.QVC.com and watch it on-line.

John discusses an interview he had with Laura Stack The Productivity Pro®, Inc. on her 6-D email approach.

“Imagine this; you are deep in thought, tackling an important project, you are in the zone – then…’ding’…the echoing sound of your email inbox, that’s right, you’ve got mail.  Your thought process screeches to a hault, your mind shifts, you think ‘nah, I’ll check it later’, but what if it’s important?  What if it is crucial information?  Or, what if it’s an amazing discount offer from your favorite online retailer…?  Doesn’t matter, you’ve now lost focus on the task at hand and reach for the mouse.  How many times does this occur throughout your day?  I bet it happens often enough, that if you added up all of the diversion of time wasted you could calculate that into money lost…”

Read more…The 6 D’s to having your inbox make you money

With the holiday season right around the corner, NOW is a great time to do some purging in the office and at home.  December is a big month for donating used materials, household items and clothing—not only because of the holiday spirit of giving—but because December 31 is the last day of the year to get in your tax-deductible donations!  With this in mind, do you really want to spend your precious holiday time frantically cleaning out your closets, office and basement, instead of spending it with family and friends?

So start now!  Do just a bit at a time so as not to become overwhelmed, but still in time to get it all done well before the end of the year.  Pick one place to start like your office or your bedroom closet, or your kitchen cupboards.  Really take stock of what is there.  If it hasn’t been worn, used or otherwise useful in the past year but is still in good condition it will surely benefit someone else.  Call your local ARC, Salvation Army, DAV or similar organization and find out if they pick up at your home.  This can save you the time and hassle of putting everything in your car and getting it someplace.  They will give you a date and you simply place it all in bags or boxes on your front porch and VOILA!  It’s gone!  Over the next couple of weeks try spending just 15 minutes at a time in each area. You’ll be amazed at how much you get done, how much you find to donate, and how good you’ll feel when you have less clutter, more space and have done something to help another person.  Get it done before the holiday season starts and you’ll have more time to spend with loved ones!

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

I’m the Day-Timers community expert on productivity.  So I asked them to put a brief survey on the Day-Timers Web site, asking, “When you think of something that you need to do, what do you usually do?”  In this day and age of technology, the surprising answer was overwhelmingly “Write it down.”  To date, 55% of respondents chose this option over others.  This demonstrates that even with Blackberries, Outlook, cell phones and web based to-do lists, we still need and use paper and planners. 

Picture this…you’ve dutifully put all of your information, appointments, phone numbers etc. into your Outlook and synced the information with your handy-dandy Blackberry.  All is well. You hop on a plane for a business trip, Blackberry in hand.  You’ve arrived at the Miami airport and whipped out your electronic device.  The problem is, you forgot to charge it and the battery is dead.  What is the client’s phone number?  What was your hotel confirmation number…and was that appointment at 2:00 pm or 3:00 pm?  The beauty of a paper planner is that paper doesn’t crash.  Better yet, it’s much easier to jot down a note on a daily to-do list than pull out your handheld, turn it on, click around, and type a note on that tiny keypad with all those little drop-down boxes.  A Day-Timer is a tried and true tool that won’t let you down.  Try my own line of Productivity Pro® branded Day-Timer for handheld users.  Even if you write things down temporarily, you can always enter the data when you’re back at your computer.  Much easier than tapping.  And it’s much more organized than having little scraps of paper and sticky notes all over the place because it’s too difficult to use your handheld for data entry.

Don’t get me wrong, I think technology is terrific.  I use it on a daily basis, but I won’t be caught anytime soon without my Day-Timer.  It only takes one crash or glitch to realize how useful paper can be.

(C) 2008 Laura Stack.  All rights reserved.  www.TheProductivityPro.com

Keynote speaker, productivity trainer, author, spokesperson

It’s back to school time!  With three kids in elementary and middle school, this is a New Year of sorts for parents.  Here are some tips to help you stay sane and productive:

Back-to-the-Future. The first step in moving forward with back-to-school resolutions is to take a look back. What were the situations from the previous school year that could use improvement? Did your child often miss the bus? Did they have a hard time making the honor roll or even passing grades? Was everyone too busy to sit down for dinner together? Once you figure out what areas need improvement, it will help set goals for the upcoming year.

Talk to your children. Whether your school-age children are in elementary school or high school, talk to them about areas they would like to see change, both personally and within the family. Their insight into what areas need improvement may differ from their parents.  Discussing the differing goals will help to bring every person in the family on the same page.  Buy-in on goals from all members of the family encourages success.

Small steps. Having a student go from straight C’s to straight A’s may be asking too much. The same is true for wanting to have a family who never eats dinner together suddenly sit down at the table five nights a week. Success comes from breaking each resolution into small but achievable steps. Set up weekly goals for each person in the family in order to overcome barriers and create small achievements. Adding steps each week will insure a slow incremental achievement of the main goal.

Make a plan. Assess each resolution and make a list of what changes need to come in to play to have a successful outcome. A child who has not been known for good grades may need to have a tutor. In order to help avoid detention for being tardy, have a back-up plan for your student to take responsibility for making their lunch and setting out their clothing the night before. Move dinner back to 6:30 instead of 5:30 to make sure everyone is able to be there. Having a list of solutions for the resolutions gives everyone a roadmap about how they will reach success.

Coordinate. One of the main challenges with having family resolutions is time. While one parent is working late, another may be taking one of the kids to soccer practice, while the oldest child is at band rehearsal. Posting a calendar with weekly schedules for each person in the household will help everyone keep track of everyone else. This can help the children to know that the parents have early meetings on certain days; so being on time to the bus is a necessity. And parents can keep track of when and where the children’s extracurricular activities are taking place. It is also beneficial to provide each person in the family with a DayTimer planner. This will help keep the kids responsible for their own time and keep everyone organized.

Smile.  Stay light-hearted about the changes.  You can always start over at anytime.  And don’t forget, there’s another chance to create resolutions coming right around the corner.

© 2008 Laura Stack.  Laura Stack is a personal productivity expert, author, and professional speaker who helps busy workers Leave the Office Earlier® with Maximum Results in Minimum Time®.  She is the president of The Productivity Pro®, Inc., a time management training firm specializing in productivity improvement in high-stress organizations.  Since 1992, Laura has presented keynotes and seminars on improving output, lowering stress, and saving time in today’s workplaces.  She is the bestselling author of three works published by Broadway Books: The Exhaustion Cure (2008), Find More Time (2006) and Leave the Office Earlier (2004).  Laura is a spokesperson for Microsoft, 3M, and Day-Timers®, Inc and has been featured on the CBS Early Show, CNN, and the New York Times. Her clients include Cisco Systems, Sunoco, KPMG, Nationwide, and 3M.  To have Laura speak at your next event, call 303-471-7401.  Visit www.TheProductivityPro.com to sign up for her free monthly productivity newsletter.

Today we feature guest columnist Monica Ricci.  If you enjoy this article, I recommend you subscribe to her blog’s feed: Monica Ricci’s Your Life: Organized. 

Closing The Loops

Several months ago, a thought whizzed through my head and it was “Life is a series of getting things out and putting them away.”  This is what I call “closing the loops”. If you think of a loop, maybe you picture a circle or an oval. All smooooth and sexy, the curves…

of a loop will never hurt you and the curvy shape is easy on your eyes. No, there’s nothing about a closed loop that hurts!

Now, contrast a nice smooth, wonderful closed loop with an open loop. Open loops are all those little things unfinished that you left for yourself to deal with “later”. The remnants of breakfast from this morning that you never put into the dishwasher, the stack of mail you never processed, or the shoes you dropped by the front door, the appointment you haven’t written into your calendar yet… They’re all examples of open loops. The bummer about open loops is that rather than being all nice and round, the ends are exposed and they’re barbs! Like snakes with sharp teeth, they bite you as you walk through your house. Mess here. Ow. Stack of papers there. Ow. Crumbs and dirty bowls on the counter. Ow. That’s treacherous stuff and I don’t have to tell you, it sucks the life out of you day after day. So how do you close the loops?

Simple. When you get something out, put it away. When you make sandwich, put away the ingredients before you eat it. When you process the mail, throw out the junk and move action items to the same spot every day. Basically, closing the loops is simply becoming aware of what you’re doing in the moment and choosing to follow through with whatever you start.

Follow through. Finish. Close your loops. It only takes milliseconds and it will make your life, your house, and your outlook a whole lot happier.

Look around you, at work and home. Do you feel overjoyed or annoyed? Your environment affects your moods, attitudes, emotions, and energy level. What things sap your energy? You need to figure out ways to reduce, eliminate, or change your environment, so that it lifts you up rather than brings you down. These tidbits might help.

1. Clear the clutter. This requires effort and can be time-consuming, but the real reason people dread clearing clutter is emotional attachment — and because you no idea how to organize what you keep. Focus first on the areas of the home that are most important to your health and vitality, especially the bedroom.

2. Thin out the incoming stream. We all have a constant stream of mail and new possessions coming into our lives. If you don’t develop a regular habit of thinning it out as it walks through the door, it’ll pile up and zap your energy in no time.

3. Create space with the right layout and equipment.  If you get buried in clutter simply because you don’t know where to put things, learn to make creative use of the space you have — including vertical space.

4. Learn to live more simply. Instead of piling on new possessions until you just have to many, stop buying and take a hard look at what you have. Don’t equate material possessions with wealth or happiness, or — worse yet — self worth. 

5. Get rid of it. If you don’t learn how to get rid of things, you’ll be overwhelmed with your possessions. Unworn clothing, unwanted gifts, ancient paperwork — get rid of it.  If you haven’t used it in two years, ditch it.

6. Accentuate the positive. Separate the trash from the treasure. You don’t need to keep unwanted gifts simply because they’re gifts. And don’t be afraid to get rid of things that are dragging you down with emotional baggage: there’s a reason women burn photographs of their old boyfriends. 

7. Keep your office desk organized. No, a clean desk isn’t the sign of a simple mind: it’s the sign of an efficient, energetic mind! The more space there is, the less crowded your energy is. File rather than pile, and gather up those sticky notes!

8. Make a list of the home improvement projects you want to accomplish.  Nagging, incomplete projects not only create clutter, they also drag your mood down because another thing on your to-do list is staring you in the face. Dispatch routine tasks as soon as possible, and work to get the others off your calendar.

Clearing away clutter may seem like too much work, but you need to learn how to do it effectively for your own benefit. Once you cut down on the clutter in your life, you can move on to more productive levels of emotion and energy that put you ahead of the game.

© 2008 Laura Stack.  Laura Stack is a personal productivity expert, author, and professional speaker who helps busy workers Leave the Office Earlier® with Maximum Results in Minimum Time™. She is the president of The Productivity Pro®, Inc., a time management training firm specializing in productivity improvement in high-stress organizations.  Since 1992, Laura has presented keynotes and seminars on improving output, lowering stress, and saving time in today’s workplaces.  She is the bestselling author of three works published by Broadway Books: The Exhaustion Cure (2008), Find More Time (2006) and Leave the Office Earlier (2004).  Laura is a spokesperson for Microsoft, 3M, and Day-Timers®, Inc and has been featured on the CBS Early Show, CNN, and the New York Times. Her clients include Cisco Systems, Sunoco, KPMG, Nationwide, and 3M.  To have Laura speak at your next event, call 303-471-7401.  Visit www.TheProductivityPro.com to sign up for her free monthly productivity newsletter.

These days, most of us use handheld technology in all aspects of our daily lives, blurring the boundaries between work and home. Has this made you feel more overworked and less energized? If so, you need to learn how to break free from technology, turn it off regularly, stop letting it control you, and unplug in ways that boost your energy. Let’s chat about your electronic habits, and about how to regain control.

1. Plan your screen time and stick to it. It’s unnatural to focus on a computer or TV screen for hours on end instead of interacting with people. Yet this is precisely what most people do — and the subsequent feelings of social isolation and depression can be quite damaging to your energy level.

2. Put your life first. Don’t let technology eat up your free time; technology exists to simplify your life, not to complicate it. It’s up to you to keep it in check. A good start is to turn off all electronics an hour before bedtime.

3. Keep your electronic in-box empty. Slash through the electronic detritus to maximize your efficiency, and therefore your energy level. If you let your voicemail and email inboxes get overcrowded, important communications might fell through the cracks, straining a friend’s or client’s trust in you.

4. Get your computer organized. Too much computer clutter can drain your energy just by forcing you to hunt for things that should be easy to find. Delete old files, reorganize folders, and give files names that make their contents obvious at a glance.

5. Turn off your technology when you’re on personal time. You can’t recharge your personal energies if you’re always working. Once the workday is over, make yourself electronically scarce.

6. Avoid Obsessive Compulsive Technology Disorder. You don’t need to check your email constantly. Doing so is forces your brain to start/stop/start/stop constantly, which requires a huge amount of mental energy. Instead, turn off the technological distractions so you can get work done.

7. Just say no to instant messaging.  Instant messaging is a great way to stay in contact, but too much of it steals time and energy you need for other work. Don’t be afraid to turn on the “DO NOT DISTURB” feature when you want to focus on a task that requires your complete concentration.

8. Match the message to the medium. Use the right means of communication for a particular message. Sometimes email is the most efficient way to communicate with a particular person; sometimes it’s better to pick up the phone.

Electronic devices are supposed to make your life easier, not more stressful. If they’ve begun to dominate your life — including your time off — step back and decide whether all that stress is worth the reward. It may be time to shed some of that technology, or at least to put it back in its place.

© 2008 Laura Stack.  Laura Stack is a personal productivity expert, author, and professional speaker who helps busy workers Leave the Office Earlier® with Maximum Results in Minimum Time™. She is the president of The Productivity Pro®, Inc., a time management training firm specializing in productivity improvement in high-stress organizations.  Since 1992, Laura has presented keynotes and seminars on improving output, lowering stress, and saving time in today’s workplaces.  She is the bestselling author of three works published by Broadway Books: The Exhaustion Cure (2008), Find More Time (2006) and Leave the Office Earlier (2004).  Laura is a spokesperson for Microsoft, 3M, and Day-Timers®, Inc and has been featured on the CBS Early Show, CNN, and the New York Times. Her clients include Cisco Systems, Sunoco, KPMG, Nationwide, and 3M.  To have Laura speak at your next event, call 303-471-7401.  Visit www.TheProductivityPro.com to sign up for her free monthly productivity newsletter.

In the military, your job or position is known as your Post. Even if you’re not in the military, a well-defined Post is an important pillar of personal productivity. When you do your job well, other things in your life fall into place more smoothly. When this pillar is weak, your personal responsibilities seem to get in the way of life. Try these tips for defining and handling your life responsibilities.

1. Hire out tasks requiring a level of expertise you don’t have. You don’t have to do everything yourself, especially when there are people available who can do it better for a price. You can outsource just about anything these days.

2. Hire out simple chores to helpers. Most people don’t have the time to work full-time and do all the housework too — so don’t hesitate to hire it out if you need to. In most cases, such services are worth far more to us than anything else we might have spent the money on.

3. Have goods delivered to avoid unnecessary time at the store. You can still get milk, groceries, and dry cleaning delivered in most areas, and online shopping for other things works great if you’ve got any mail service at all.

4. Complete shopping efficiently. Little things add up. Plan the most efficient route to get your shopping done, pick up your pace, create a shopping chart, buy in bulk, and don’t try clothes on in the store. It’s often more trouble than it’s worth.

5. Run errands efficiently. Instead of trying to do it all on your day off, divide up your chores and do one or two every evening. If you can’t, try to consolidate your errands so you can get them done with the minimum of fuss, or take care of a particular errand whenever you happen to drive by on the way to somewhere else.

6. Function effectively as the social, child, and family coordinator. Be sure to plan time with your friends and extended family, and coordinate your social activities, because your significant other (especially if he’s a guy) might not.

7. Do routine chores on a regular basis. Be sure to keep up with all the boring tasks that keep your household humming along smoothly. For example, keep your house clean, mow the lawn, pay your bills, or do whatever your Post requires.

8. Conduct preventive maintenance on your home. It may not be required every day, but preventative maintenance will help keep your life together. Keep an eye on your kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and laundry room especially, and make sure certain items get fixed or replaced regularly.

9. Prepare meals quickly and systematically. Take advantage of meal plans, cooking services, and school lunch programs to cut down on the time you have to spend in the kitchen.

10. Expect family members to do their fair share of the housework. To protect your sanity, it’s imperative to develop an understanding with your partner and kids about how you’ll divide household chores. Emphasize fairness and responsibility.

You may not be in the military, but you have your own well-defined Post and set of responsibilities, both inside and outside the home. So should everyone else in your family, right down to the youngest kid. If you and yours can’t do it all, don’t hesitate to hire people to help. Letting day-to-day tasks, chores, errands, and responsibilities overwhelm you is the first step on the path to the loony bin.

© 2008 Laura Stack.  Laura Stack is a personal productivity expert, professional speaker, and author who helps busy workers Leave the Office Earlier® with Maximum Results in Minimum Time™. She is the president of The Productivity Pro®, Inc., a time management training company in Denver, Colorado, that caters to high-stress industries. Laura’s newest productivity book, The Exhaustion Cure (Broadway Books), hits bookstores in May 2008.  Laura is a spokesperson for Microsoft, 3M, and Day-Timers®, Inc and has been featured on the CBS Early Show, CNN, and the New York Times. Her clients include Cisco, Sunoco, KPMG, Nationwide, and MolsonCoors.  Contact her at www.TheProductivityPro.com.