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

“We…can strategically train our attention. When it comes to email and the Internet, it’s critical that we do so to give ourselves more time to think more reflectively, creatively, and deeply in an increasingly complex world.” — Tony Schwartz, president and CEO of The Energy Project

“If left unchecked, ‘info-mania’ will damage a worker’s performance by reducing their mental sharpness. This is a very real and widespread phenomenon.” — Glenn Wilson, British psychologist
“When you log on, you feel like you’re in touch with everything that’s going on in the world. But what you really are is out of touch — literally. There is no touching anymore.” — Judith Regan, Regan Books

Would it surprise you to learn that paying too much attention to your email can lower your IQ by as much as 10 points? That’s the conclusion of a recent British study, which suggests that constant connection to the info-world via your handheld, smartphone, or computer can affect you as badly as missing a night’s sleep—and worse than smoking marijuana.

Electronic technology can be a boon to productivity; that’s indisputable. Nowadays, it’s easy to contact just about anyone at the touch of a button. You can accomplish tasks almost anywhere, during what would otherwise be unusable downtime. With access to the Internet, even doing research is a snap, whether you’re sitting in a Starbucks or in your corner office.

The problem is, it’s easy to forget that email, cell phones, Blackberries, iPads and the like are supposed to be tools. You should be using them to maximize your productivity; they shouldn’t be controlling your behavior. But somehow, many of us have gotten to the point where we’re terrified to be disconnected even for a moment, just in case we miss something. When the incoming message alert chimes, we drop what we’re doing to check it, like Pavlov’s dogs drooling when the bell rings. Worse, we’re like dogs on leashes, pulled this way and that whether we like it or not.

To be truly productive, you need to slip your electronic leash.

You have only so much energy, so you can’t waste it on trivial things like answering emails or cell phone texts the moment they appear. You need to be able to focus like a laser beam on your important tasks, without letting distractions yank you away from what really matters. No matter how minor the interruption, it takes time to refocus and get back into the flow, which can’t help but impact your productivity.

Back in 2009, I introduced the concept of Obsessive-Compulsive Social Media Disorder (OCSMD). As the name suggests, OCSMD is associated primarily with compulsively checking Facebook and obsessively tweeting away on Twitter, but I think it’s applicable for electronic media of any kind, including email and texting. Sure, these media may be important to you, even productive in some ways—but you don’t need to check any of them right this minute. This is especially true when doing so interferes with your work or (ironically) with face-to-face social interaction.

Short of completely eschewing this technology, which is no longer a reasonable option, you have to set real, solid strictures on its use. Look, you’re not a machine. You can’t always be on, and you certainly shouldn’t stay connected when you should be recharging. Truly productive people realize the need to get away from work occasionally, to socialize and be human, to take breaks when they need to—even to disconnect from the workaday world for a while and take a vacation. Given enough rest, completely disconnected from your electronics, you can accomplish more when you are connected.

When you refuse to set boundaries to limit your use of electronic technology, then you’re setting yourself up to fail. You may still be able to function, but you’ll never be able to achieve your full potential.

To recapture your productive techno-edge, start small. Disconnect for a half-hour a day first, then stretch it to an hour. At lunchtime, step away from your desk, turn off your Blackberry, and leave the building. Sit in the park. Go out to eat. Visit with a friend. Get to know a colleague better. In other words, do the directly social things that humans have done for 99.9% of our history.

When you’re working, don’t leave your social media sites open just so you can watch things come in, even if you think they may be business-related. Turn off all your message alerts, whether visual or auditory, because they’ll absolutely derail your train of thought. Even if you don’t answer a message immediately, just knowing it’s waiting will inevitably affect your productivity. All you really need to do is check electronic media once or twice a day. Ditto with returning phone calls. Pick a block of time when you can do both efficiently, and stick to it.

Remember that your electronic tools are intended to help you be more productive. That’s it. Ultimately, they’re your servants: so to maintain your productive edge—and your sanity—never, ever let yourself become theirs.

” No one reaches peak performance without being stressed, whether an athlete, an office worker, or a manager.” — Robert Ostermann, American psychologist

“We need to reframe how we look at anxiety. It’s not something to run away from, but something that can be used as productive energy. Fear is the body’s way of preparing for action.” — Robert Rosen, Ph.D., author of Just Enough Anxiety: The Hidden Driver of Business Success

You may think you know what stress is…but do you really?

In the medical sense, stress is your body’s response to any kind of demand or constraint, good or bad. Put that way, it’s obvious that some stressors can be positive and adaptive; that is, they may help you stay healthy, provide a sense of good feeling, or both. Some researchers call such stressors “eustress .”

A good example of eustress is exercise. Though it stresses the body, it ultimately makes you healthier and generates good feelings because of that. Getting a promotion, riding a rollercoaster, having a good cry, or experiencing childbirth can all be forms of eustress.

Distress is any stress deriving from negative situations or implications. But think about it: even distress isn’t always a bad thing. For example: fear of failure, which is definitely a negative stressor, can drive you to study hard for your exams or put in the time necessary to make your next presentation a memorable one. Similarly, fear of being late for work can help you get moving on a slow morning.

In other words, stress and productivity aren’t necessarily enemies. Stress can and does drive productivity; indeed, to some extent stress is necessary for productivity. You’ll never achieve SuperCompetence in the workplace if you don’t think big and set solid deadlines, for example. Working to achieve these things is inevitably stressful. How can it be otherwise, when you’re stretching yourself beyond your old boundaries?

In this sense, stress is your friend. Unless you want to end up just another unremarkable Joe or Jane, you need to put the pressure on and shoulder those responsibilities that drive you toward success. The key is not to let the associated stress overwhelm you, and to disengage (at least for a while) when you see the signs that it’s beginning to.

The Yerkes-Dodson Law
Like it or not, stress is an intrinsic part of the work environment, and a critical element of achievement. Fortunately, it can be harnessed, if you keep in mind that productivity and stress share an inverted “U” shaped relationship. That is, as stress increases, so does productivity…to a certain point. If stress builds beyond that point, the level of productivity drops precipitously. This is known as the Yerkes-Dodson Law, after the psychologists who initially described it back in 1908. (They put it in terms of arousal vs. performance, but the same principle applies.)

So let stress drive you, but don’t let it drive you into the ground. If you can, save your worst stressors for those times of day when your energy level is highest, so you’ll be able to face them head on and face them down. If you ever reach the point where stress has you up against the wall and you can’t take anymore, then you must be willing to stop and take a step sideways.

This is true even if it seems that there’s no time to stop. If you don’t, you’re likely to skate up over the top of that Yerkes-Dodson curve and then down the other side, straight into incompetence and lack of productivity. Isn’t it better to push the reset button on your stress, so that your productivity can reset along with it?

So take at least a little time off and do something soothing, whatever that means to you. Some of us like to visit an art museum, or work in the garden, or cook, or watch mindless television; whatever it takes to recharge your batteries and blow off steam, as long as the recreation itself isn’t stressing. To the body (and to some extent, the mind), all stressors are the same, and they’re cumulative. Therefore, I’d recommend that you avoid drinking, playing violent video games, doing tough puzzles, or any other physical or mental stressor—even if those things are normally relaxing to you.

When you’ve ridden the stressmobile as far as it’ll take you productively, get out and slide back down that curve to the bottom. Enjoy life. Don’t think too hard. Go with the flow for a while…and then, when you’re ready to go back to the grind, you’ll be fresh and open and sparkling with optimism and new ideas.

How is your energy level after work? 

When you work hard all day long and come home exhausted, what is the first thing you want to do? For many people, it’s pick up the remote, sit on the couch, watch television, and just veg out.

Let’s discuss some alternatives, because the less you do, the less energy you are going to have. The more you do the more energy you are going to have. It’s one of life’s cruel ironies. Take exercise for example. The more you exercise, the more energy you have; the less you exercise, the less energy you have. Intuitively, we know this is true, but it is so hard to put into practice.

After you’ve worked hard all day, you come home to more…work.  This is the second shift—the one you don’t get paid to do. You need all the energy you can muster to make dinner, take care of kids, supervise homework, do laundry, clean the house, run errands, and do the myriad chores that make your world go around.

Instead of plopping down on the couch, try these ideas.

1. Don’t drive home. Just drive somewhere else—like to the gym. Sometimes when you are facing an evening of paperwork, bills, or more work after the kids are in bed, the gym could be the best productivity activity you do all day. Sometimes a little bit of exercise keeps your energy level humming through the early evening hours. And how do you feel when you’re done exercising—great!  We always remember how good we feel afterward, but it doesn’t always give us the motivation we need to do it again.

 Or instead of the gym, take a little detour to the park. Do you have a beautiful, open space where you can walk? A track? A path? A loop that you enjoy that gives you energy, that makes you feel good, and gets you out in nature? Or perhaps meet a friend and just ease into your second shift.

 2.  Stop feeling guilty when you take care of yourself or when you work out. Some people feel guilty if things are not going absolutely perfectly in all the lives of the people they love. They want to give their time and attention and energy to everything and everyone but themselves. If you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t have the ability to take care of others.

 3.  Find something you enjoy.  Move. Do not think of exercise as something you have to do, but something that will get you going, rather than sitting on the couch and letting your energy drain even further, falling asleep in front of the television and being exhausted by 8:00. What do you like to do?  Jump on your kids’ trampoline. Shoot some hoops out in the driveway. Practice Yoga? Find a sense of fun in your play that so many people are lacking.

 Bottom line: You must make time for yourself at the end of your workday. Renewed energy will give you a boost of productivity when you finally do get home and get to work, yet again.

 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.   To have Laura speak at your next event, call 303-471-7401 or visit www.TheProductivityPro.com to sign up for her free monthly productivity newsletter.

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R) discusses advanced planning. (C) 2010 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved

Must you do it all yourself? Not necessarily. Laura Stack talks about the value of outsourcing certain tasks to free up more of your time. (c) 2010 Laura Stack www.theproductivitypro.com

Everyone has stress! But is yours the good kind or bad kind? Positive stress can create improved productivity levels, but negative stress can cause performance to decline. Learn to diagnose your stress levels and determine the proper balance in your life.

Laura Stack shares ideas on how to boost your productivity during the day by sleeping better at night and provides some tips on how to do it.  Watch video below.

(C) 2009 Laura Stack.  All right reserved.

http://www.TheProductivityPro.com

Welcome to guest blogger Karen Leland, who interviewed me for an article for Woman’s Day and who authored Time Management In An Instant: 60 Ways to Make the Most of Your Day.

Breaking Out of the Comfort Zone

In my office, on my desk, I have a plain white coffee cup that has written on it in simple black letters, “’Do one thing every day that scares you’—Eleanor Roosevelt.”

As I stare down the barrel of another year filled with hope, possibilities, challenges, and change, I think about what living the cup’s motto really means in practice. ?
It’s all too easy to stay in the same routine year after year, doing the same things, thinking the same thoughts, eating the same foods, doing the same job and engaging in the same hobbies. Relatively nothing new learned or risked. No standing on the cliff looking over the edge and thinking, “What am I going to do?” or “What have I done?” or “What the hell have I gotten myself into?”

The feeling of jumping out of your comfort zone so that a free-form anxiety grabs hold in the stomach and won’t let go. A lump in the throat that sits sedated like a cat sleeping on a hot spot where the sun comes in through the window in an otherwise dark and cold room. Then again, there are comfort zones and there are comfort zones. Among the risks that I won’t be taking this year are:

1. Climbing Mount Everest. First of all, it’s cold, really cold. Bone-chilling, long-underwear, ski-pants, parka-jacket, gloves-under-mittens cold. Secondly, there is the altitude, which, as I understand from hearing stories from people who actually are crazy enough to climb Everest, packs a real wallop to the head and stomach causing blinding headaches and constant nausea.

If this were not enough, consider those ice caverns or cracks or whatever they are called that at least once a year (if not more often) some climber falls into, descending to the bottomless pit of frozen blue, never to be seen or heard from again. The other members of the climbing team don’t even try to rescue the guy, but just place a bandana on a stick, plunk it into the ground in memoriam next to the site of their fallen comrade and place a cell phone call back home to the wife.

All this for the chance to freeze to death once you reach the top and are caught in a blinding snowstorm with sub-zero temperatures that descend in the wink of a cloud’s eye. No, thank you.

2. Sky dive. Do I even need to explain this one?

3. Wear a prairie skirt with Birkenstocks and white socks. If you’re reaction to this is why not? Go immediately to your television set and Tivo TLC’s fun fashion makeover show What Not To Wear – all will become abundantly clear.

These are the things I won’t be doing to stretch beyond my comfort zone in 2009, but there are plenty of ways I plan to make scary (good scary) part of my everyday life in the coming year.

Of course, from this vantage point this is an easy plan to make, but in the hurly burly head-long rush into life, I may have a bad day or two and be tempted to say no, even when I ought to say yes, or yes when I should be saying no. No worries. Just in case, I have my coffee cup to remind me to break out of my comfort zone and do one thing every day that scares me.

To Break out of your comfort zone, try the following:

- Say yes to something you have always wanted to do, but been afraid to try for fear of failure, rejection or embarrassment.
- Say no to “a sure thing,” where you have the security of knowing the outcome but no passion for its pursuit.
- Say yes to a creative challenge, even if (at least for the moment) it does not carry a big financial reward.
- Say no to something you really don’t want to do, but are doing anyway out of guilt, fear or shame.

Karen Leland is author of the recently released book Time Management In An Instant: 60 Ways to Make the Most of Your Day and co-founder of Sterling Consulting Group. For questions or comments visit her work-life balance site.

When was the last time you had a really relaxing holiday?  I don’t mean that peaceful thirty-minute aftermath that follows a successful dinner party or the kids’ gift-opening extravaganza.  I mean a holiday that is relaxing, from beginning to end.  That includes travel, dinner preparations, and shopping.  All it will take is a little organization and advance planning.  Here are some tips to get you started.

Plan your travel now.  Need to be out of town to see family or friends?  If you haven’t already made arrangements, make it a priority.  Especially if you plan to fly, the best deals disappear fast.  Get online and start shopping around as soon as you know where you need to be and when.  Once the arrangements are made, start getting things squared away with work.  Whether you need to request time off, reschedule a recurring meeting, or just let your employees know that you’ll be gone, do it as soon as possible.  Depending on where you work, getting holiday time off can be competitive.  Especially in this case, the early bird tends to get the worm.

Mark your calendar. Sit down with your Day-Timer® and plan backwards.  If you want your holiday cards to go out on December 20, when would you need to buy the cards, get the stamps, write the newsletter insert (if you do one), and start addressing in order to make that happen?  Think backwards through the entire process and write the individual steps down on the to-do list for each date.  Same with your holiday meal, gift shopping, and tree decorating.  When would you like to be done, what are all the steps, when would each need to start, and write them down.

Make a budget.  Unless you’ve got more money that you know what to do with, it is easy for the holiday season to turn into a financial headache.  Ninety-nine percent of that stress can be eliminated by thinking ahead and making a budget.  Financial sanity doesn’t come from having a ton of money; it comes from spending it wisely.  Decide how much you’re going to spend and stick to it.  Letting yourself creep over your budget probably isn’t going to make you a hero in the gift department, but it might cost you a gray hair or two when it comes time to sort out the holiday bills.  How many times have you charged expensive items and spent five months paying for them?  See if you can break tradition this year by drawing names or just sending cards.  Tell the people you’re not buying for that you’ve pared down your gift list out of necessity and ask them not to buy for you as well. 

Avoid the shopping marathon.  Unless you really do enjoy the “shop ‘till you drop” marathon mall sessions, skip the all-day shopping trips.  If you start now (or better yet, six months ago), you’ll be amazed at how much you can get done by picking up an item here and there while you’re running your everyday errands.  The secret is to sit down, make a list of the people you need to shop for, and keep it with you.  Ideally, your list will include one or two gift options for each person, too.  Keep your list with you and cross off a few people every week.  Also keep your eye out for stocking stuffers and similar small items.  And as for that whole Black Friday thing – if you don’t enjoy it, skip it!  Unless shopping is in your blood, the money you’ll save probably isn’t worth the aggravation.

Wrap as you go.  Don’t put all of your wrapping off until the last minute.  As you pick things up, go ahead and wrap them as soon as you get a chance.  Wrap a couple extras for a guest who shows up unexpectedly and gives you a gift.  It helps to have a dedicated wrapping area cornered off that is well-stocked with all the essentials – wrapping paper, scissors, gift tags, tape, etc.  The easier you make it for yourself, the more likely you are to get it done.

Simplify, simplify.  No matter how cool your friends and family might play it, you are NOT the only one who gets stressed out around the holidays.  If the stress of preparations is getting out of hand, don’t be afraid to propose a simplified pot-luck dinner instead of a more elaborate affair or a gift exchange instead of shopping for everyone individually.  Even if you just try this approach with a small group of friends or extended family, it’ll be at least a small relief for everyone involved.  When it comes to reducing you holiday workload, every little bit helps.

Make friends with the Internet.  More and more shoppers are finally taking the plunge and skipping the traditional brick and mortar stores completely.  Internet shopping has come a long way in the last few years and you might be surprised at how simple it has gotten.  You can easily compare prices and can generally find good deals on shipping that will guarantee arrival in plenty of time for the big day.

Play your cards right.  Many people take one look at that mound of Christmas cards and can suddenly think of three or four other things that require their immediate attention.  We love getting cards but hate the prospect of doing ours.  So we procrastinate until December 22 and pull another 2:00 a.m. shift to get them in the mail by Christmas.  So, I look at my cards as a process.  Breaking the project down into smaller pieces makes it seem more manageable.  You can even begin now!  The first thing I do is create the labels.  Second, I stick them on the envelopes with a return address label and stamp. Next, I write the family newsletter and get it copied onto the special paper.  Finally, I set up an assembly line:  (a) add a salutation to the card such as “Dearest X Family,” (b) sign our names, (c) enclose the newsletter and a picture, and (d) seal the envelope with a sticker.  No licking for me!  If you prefer to hand-write your cards, the trick is to write five each day, starting the day after Thanksgiving.  Take some with you wherever you go, in case you find some free time: at the doctor’s office, waiting for a meeting to begin, or picking your child up from a lesson.

Cheat.  Unless you really enjoy preparing mass quantities of food from scratch, there’s no reason not to take advantage of a short-cut or two.  Particularly when it comes to the dessert menu, there are plenty of quick and easy mixes that can help you shave some serious time off of your meal preparation schedule.  Just go to the grocery store and find a few easy-to-make offerings or buy something from the deli.  For a special touch you can dress your desserts with extra holiday sprinkles or a squiggle of chocolate sauce across the plate for a very restaurant-looking presentation.

Give yourself the gift of time.  How about purchasing a few months of housekeeping instead of clothes?  Purchase a gift certificate to a restaurant so you don’t have to cook.  Have the veterinarian groom your dog instead of doing it yourself, being soaked, and making a mess.  Buy a book on tape to listen to in the car on the way to work.  Purchase a cell phone and eliminate phone tag by forwarding your calls when you leave the office.  Have your groceries delivered once a week for a month (less than the cost of a blouse).  Hire a teenager to do the major cleaning required before houseguests arrive.

Remember your priorities.  Take shortcuts where it really doesn’t matter: buy cookies instead of baking them or barter a task you don’t like for one you do.  I know two women who trade chores at holiday time.  One hates to bake; the other hates to do crafts.  So one woman decorates the other’s home and wraps her presents beautifully; the other does the meal preparation and holiday baking for the other!  Cut out as many social engagements as possible if you want more family time—you can’t go to a school musical when it’s more convenient.  Kids appreciate happy and relaxed parents more than perfect decorations.

Get moving!  However you choose to get a head start on the holiday season, you won’t regret putting in the extra effort early on.  Keep yourself motivated by thinking about how nice it will be to cruise through the end of December stress-free and full of holiday spirit.  You might make a date with yourself to visit the mall on the last weekend before Christmas—just so you can observe the mayhem you successfully avoided by being so productive!

Make it a productive day! ™

(C) Copyright 2008 Laura Stack.  Laura is the president of The Productivity Pro®, Inc. and the bestselling author of Find More Time and Leave the Office Earlier. She presents keynotes and seminars on time management, information overload, and personal productivity.  Contact her at 303-471-7401 or www.TheProductivityPro.com.

With all the US Presidential election behind us, regardless of your political persuasion, let’s talk about the big message of the Obama campaign: change.  If you want to become more productive, you’ll have to be willing to make changes and create new, positive habits and leave old habits behind.  It is easy to become set in our ways and continue doing things the way we’ve always done them because, well, it’s how we’ve always done them.  I’ll take a line from Dr. Phil and ask “How’s that working for you?”  Content, satisfied people are not apt to make changes.  After all, if everything is going along swimmingly, what’s to change?  But people and organizations must continue to change for things to improve.  If your relationship with your significant other never changed, it would never grow stronger over the years.  If organizations didn’t change, the buggy whip industry would have died if it didn’t become the transportation industry.  If the company you work for doesn’t change, you should be very, very worried.

How do we get ourselves in the mindset where we are ready for change?  People are ready for change when the pain of not making a change outweighs the stress of actually taking the action to change.  Some people just naturally are go-getters and constantly seek ways of being more productive while most people need a little more motivation to change.  If you’re the latter, take some time to think about why you want to change.  I talked before about finding your “why.”  Once you’ve done that, it’s time to actually take the steps to make changes.

Don’t try to change EVERYTHING right now.  Pick a couple of things to work on over the next 21 days.  Make a concerted effort each day related to that habit you want to break or create and in just three short weeks, turn around and look at how far you’ve come.  Each time you take a step in the right direction, it will become easier to do more and eventually be as productive as you desire to be.

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