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

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SOCIAL MEDIA UN-PRODUCTIVITY – HOW TO AVOID ADDICTION

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Make it a productive day! ™

© 2010 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved

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Looking for a better way to keep track of your time, log hours for various clients, or see where time is being wasted? You’ll want to check out Chrometa’s Automatic Time Tracker.

Chrometa automatically records the time while you work — both on and off the PC. You’ll discover previously undocumented billable time, save time on billing reconciliation, and improve personal productivity.

Once your time is automatically captured, you can categorize your time quickly and easily by client or project. Use smart alerts to remind you to log time away from the PC such as meetings or phone calls. And easily export the data into Microsoft Excel.

If you’re serious about boosting your personal productivity, and getting paid for every second you work, Chrometa is THE ideal time management software for you. You can use it free for 30 days – we highly recommend you download Chrometa’s Time Tracker now, and regain control of your time today.

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Intercall recently published the 2010 study on Technology In the Workplace. The findings of the study make it clear that today’s workers are feeling the pinch of tough economic times and increased pressure to do more with less and stay connected to the office even in off hours.

Almost half of American workers who use technology at work believe that in this economy they must produce more even though they have fewer resources. Twenty-five percent of American workers feel their job security “is partially dependent on their supervisor seeing they are connected to work even after hours.”

Even with the increased workloads, Americans do see technology as a key part of productivity in the workplace. Job satisfaction increases when companies provide technology tools to help workers do more in less time and most workers believe technology does help them be more productive on the job.

Find more on the 2010 Technology In the Workplace study here.

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Is being tied to technology controlling your time? Do you have to answer every cell phone call right away? Laura Stack talks about the interruptions that technology use brings and how to not be controlled by them. (C) 2010 Laura Stack www.theproductivitypro.com

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With email being such a huge productivity drain right now, I created a brand-new online video learning library to conduct Microsoft Outlook training virtually. (I am a Microsoft Certified Application Specialist in Outlook.)  The series includes ten 1-hour modules of online self-paced training. You can watch these streaming videos from the privacy of your own office, from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection. Each flash video includes a detailed workbook with screen shots, so you can repeat on your Outlook.

Microsoft online video learning library with Laura Stack:

Module 1: Customizing Your Outlook
Module 2: Inbox/Outbox/Sent Items/Drafts
Module 3: Tasks
Module 4: Calendar
Module 5: Notes and Journal
Module 6: Contacts
Module 7: Time Savers
Module 8: Advanced E-mail Tricks
Module 9: Email Communication
Module 10: Workflow

Click here for detailed course outlines and to purchase: http://www.theproductivitypro.com/s_outlook-virtual-training-products.html

Each module is regularly $39, but we are offering the entire library of ten videos at a discount for $349 per person.  You will be an expert in Outlook when you’re done with the training series!

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The Productivity Pro(R), Inc. is delighted to announce that Laura Stack has received the Microsoft Certified Application Specialist (MCAS) in Outlook 2007 credential.  A Microsoft Business Certification shows employers that you have the technical skills to solve real-world problems by using advanced features of Microsoft Office programs.  Not only did she pass, but the test administrator remarked that Laura’s test results were the closest to a perfect score she had ever seen on the exam. The Microsoft Certified Application Specialist (MCAS) credential is a globally recognized standard that validates skills with using the 2007 Microsoft Office system and meets the demand for the most up-to-date skills on the latest technologies from Microsoft.  Candidates who successfully complete the program by passing a certification exam prove that they meet globally recognized performance standards and are able to work productively and efficiently.

NOW you can attend Outlook training with Laura Stack from the privacy of your own office!  The Productivity Pro(R), Inc. has an online video library available with ten 1-hour modules taught by Laura Stack, each covering a different aspect of Outlook in-depth.  Each class is accompanied by a detailed workbook with screenshots and step-by-step instructions.  To learn from this NEW MCAS in Outlook, visit http://www.theproductivitypro.com/s_outlook-virtual-training-products.html to receive the passwords.

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Our first virtual Microsoft Outlook webinar series was such a huge success that we’re doing it again! The new series begins May 22, 2009 with Microsoft Certified Specialist Laura Stack.

I’m going to present 10 modules covering various aspects of Outlook, step-by-step. This isn’t just computer training. It’s real-world, reality-based workflow processing that helps you actually be MORE productive with Outlook, instead of wasting hours every day playing with it. I will share my desktop and show my computer screen LIVE using my actual Microsoft Outlook software. This is not PowerPoint! It is a real-time demonstration. Even you Outlook experts will be shocked by what you don’t know you don’t know!

Each webinar is very affordable at $39 per person. If you attend all ten, the price is discounted to $349 per person. If for some reason you miss the class—don’t worry—the recording will be sent to you after each session, so you don’t have to attend “live.” You will also receive a workbook to accompany each webinar, with detailed screen shots, so you can duplicate what I do in the seminar.

We are using www.gotowebinar.com that uses either your phone or VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), so you listen right from your own computer speakers via your Internet connection.

If you want to project the seminar in your conference room, just call us at 303-471-7401 and tell us how many people are attending your meeting, and we’ll manually charge your credit card $39 per person.There are different sessions for 2003 and 2007 users, so please check the times carefully when you register. The 2003 series will be held at 11:00 Pacific/12:00 Mountain/1:00 Central/2:00 eastern. The 2007 series will be held at 1:00 pacific/2:00 mountain/3:00 central/4:00 eastern.

You are welcome to email your specific questions prior to each webinar to Laura@TheProductivityPro.com. We look forward to seeing you online!

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Technology has given us so many options when it comes to keeping track of our to-do lists—Smartphones, web-based applications, desktop applications, PDAs—but figuring out the best system for you can be a real challenge (and a frustrating one at that). 

Interestingly enough, even with all the technology out there, informal research (mine and others’) still shows that when push comes to shove, most people still fall back on good old-fashioned paper. In fact, a lifehack.org survey shows that not only do most people use a paper to-do list, but that paper is more than twice as popular as any other method listed! 

Why is that?

Because we’re human.

Life doesn’t always happen when you’re sitting in front of your computer. We sit in meetings. We leave the office and go home. We travel. And no matter how attached we are to our Treos and Blackberries or how sophisticated the technology becomes, most people simply don’t like making lists or taking notes while squinting at a tiny screen or getting thumb cramps trying to punch in line after line of text.

The bottom line is that handhelds are great for portability and storing reference information, but they’re just not configured for extensive note-taking. That’s why so many handheld users end up being the most disorganized and messy of us all. Without a paper planner, the inevitable to-do lists and reminders end up scattered all over the place on sticky notes and little scraps of paper. Without a “home” for it all, these notes become disorganized, lost, and useless. 

So what’s the solution? Let’s look at some of the most popular approaches to organizing your to-do lists (and your life) and see if we can come up with a solution that uniquely suits you.

Paper Planners. Interestingly enough, people who use paper planners exclusively are often the most well organized of us all. Paper planners allow you to have your system available at all time, combine your personal and professional lives, see an instant view of your schedule, and keep manageable to-do lists. In the over 100 training seminars and speeches I give ever year, I’ve met countless numbers of people who tell me how they abandoned their trusty paper systems in search of hip “paperless” PDA methods—just to become so disorganized that they reverted back to paper.

However, for all the advantages, there are challenges with using a paper planner only. With hundreds of contacts, it’s often impractical to keep track of everyone on paper. Other workers in your organization can’t check your calendar for availability if you’re not on the system. Your assistant can’t schedule appointments for you easily without worry of double booking. And you can’t access your email from the road on paper.

Desktop software. Desktop computer software—such as like Outlook, Lotus, and GroupWise—is great. It allows you to manage your contacts, calendar, and to-do lists in one place without having to work with a pocket-sized interface. 

In fact, desktop software is absolutely perfect—assuming that you never leave your desk—ever. But you do have to go home. And then when you think of something you need to do at work, you have to make a note. And the scrapping begins. You probably have meetings. If someone says, “Let’s meet again next Thursday. What’s your schedule?” Your very unprofessional response is “Uh, I don’t know. It’s on my calendar back at my desk.” If you appear so out of control, why would anyone trust you with something more important?

Business (and life) has a tendency to happen on its own terms, so it is important to have a system in place for gathering things like notes, appointments, and contact information, at least until you get back to your desk. I always recommend that everyone have some sort of paper system to supplement whatever they are doing electronically. A spiral notebook is disorganized due to the rigid binding: notes, to-do’s, phone numbers, and random information is all mixed together, forcing you to go back and re-read, re-write, and re-organize. You must constantly review old pages to determine what isn’t done. Spiral notebooks become a blur of cross-outs and scribbles due to non-flexibility. That’s why I designed The Productivity Pro® DayTimer® with rings, so the pages could be moved around. You could also print your Outlook calendars and carry them around with you. Or you could sync to a PDA. I personally hate tapping on the screen all the time. Don’t get me wrong—I love my PDA (I use a Mogul by Sprint)—but really only for email, texting, phone calls, and contact management. I prefer to see a big-picture view of my schedule and things to do on my trusty paper system. I just don’t feel creative when I’m not putting pen to paper, and a centralized system beats scraps paper every time!

Web-based applications. As it becomes easier and easier to find an internet connection when you need one, Web-based applications can be a great organizational tool. Whether you use the Web simply to access your calendar or are set up to remotely access your entire PC, it is nice to be able to get what you need from any computer with an internet connection.

Especially if you travel often, using Web-based software comes in handy where traditional desktop software might break down. You don’t need to get to your computer; you just need to get to a computer. 

However, Web-based software has the same problem as desktop software—it isn’t always going to be at your fingertips. That’s why, just like with a desktop application, you’ll still need a paper supplement. 

Handheld devices. By this I basically mean anything that fits in your pocket—a PDA, Treo, Blackberry, Smartphone, whatever. When handhelds started catching on, many were probably thinking that our organization problems were solved. After all, we could finally have the best of both worlds—technology and portability.

Unfortunately, most of us quickly found that however sophisticated an electronic device could become, they still didn’t quite cut it. The task list isn’t user-friendly. Even if you understand categories well enough and can sort your list, the devices max out at usually 15 categories. And nobody wants to scribble with a stylus or furiously thumb-type their way through a meeting or conversation, and you look like a dork. (I gave myself a painful condition called “Blackberry Thumb” from attempting it.) And even if you do get all of the information entered properly, tiny navigation screens and tinier font sizes just don’t quite cut it.

Handheld devices are great when you need to enter a new contact’s information on the fly or check to see if your schedule is open two Thursday’s from now, but they still can’t do the job of simple pen and paper when it comes to writing notes and creating lists.

The Solution—a Hybrid method! It’s getting harder and harder to find people that don’t use some form of electronic organizing tool, but even the most tech-savvy tend to fall back on paper for some tasks. If you’re listening to a voice mail on your phone, what are you doing? Writing down the message. Bingo. You need a paper planner. When you’re talking to the Hertz customer service agent on the phone, and he asks for your Gold number, what are you doing? Trying not to hang up on the person while you mumble, “Uh, hang on, it’s in my…phone.” Bingo. You need a paper planner. You’re sitting in a meeting talking with your biggest client. What are you doing? Typing notes with your thumbs while attempting to listen? I doubt it. Again…you need a paper planner…one place that will consolidate your lists, reference information, and notes.

I became so frustrated watching people struggle with finding an effective way to use their hand-held organizers in the real world that I teamed up with Day-Timers, Inc. to create a paper system that is specifically designed for users of hand-held organizers (although it works just as well for those without handhelds).

The Productivity Pro® DayTimer® planner has monthly calendar tabs but no time slots on the daily pages (you probably keep that sort of information on your computer or handheld). This gives you a large, easy-to-manage writing space for your notes, lists, and those pesky to-dos that always seem to be slipping through the cracks otherwise. (Visit www.daytimer.com/productivity to check out the planner.) It also has tools to help with things like long-range planning and ongoing lists—things that don’t always have an intuitive home within electronic organizers. If you’re more curious exactly how it works, get a sneak peak of the planner directions and features and benefits. It allows instantly-accessible paper that allows you to follow my mantra: if you think it, ink it! ™

Beginning May 10, there will be a 20% coupon off the purchase of a bundle: my smooth black Nappa leather binder, storage case, and one-year of neutral, dated pages and inserts (start date July 2008) at www.daytimer.com/laurastack (click “Laura’s products”). Guys, don’t worry—no frills—I designed this with you in mind. Hopefully this will help you create a time management system that exactly meets your needs. I can’t wait to hear what you think!

Make it a productive day! ™

Listen on…

(C) 2009 Laura Stack. www.TheProductivityPro.com

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Announcing The Productivity Pro® Microsoft Outlook virtual training series! Attend “live” training with Laura Stack, a Microsoft Certified Specialist in Outlook, from the privacy of your home or office.

I’m going to present ten modules covering various aspects of Outlook step-by-step. This isn’t just computer training. It’s real-world, reality-based workflow processing that helps you actually be MORE productive with Outlook, instead of wasting hours every day playing with it. I estimate most people know 10-20% of the capacities of Outlook. Even if you think you’re an “expert,” you’ll be shocked by what you don’t know you don’t know.

I’m making each one-hour webinar very affordable at $39 per person. If you attend all ten, the price is discounted to $349 per person. If for some reason you miss the class, don’t worry. The recording will be available for two weeks after the session, and each person will receive a detailed PDF workbook to accompany each webinar, with detailed screen shots, so you can duplicate what I do in the seminar.

NOTE: This is a one-person license, so you can’t have someone watch over your shoulder or forward the URL to others. If you want to project the seminar in your conference room, just call us at 303-471-7401 and tell us how many people are attending, and we’ll manually charge your credit card $39 per person. We use the honor system—only you will know if you cheat.

There is nothing to download. As long as you have access to the Internet and sound from your speakers, you can attend. You don’t dial in via phone, as this platform features VOIP (voice over internet protocol), and you listen right from your own computer. I DO recommend you purchase an inexpensive USB headset (such as the Logitech ClearChat Comfort for around $40) that plugs right into your USB and offers great sound quality and privacy from your office neighbors.

TIMES

I will offer different sessions for 2003 and 2007 users, so make sure to sign up for the right seminar. The 2003 series will be held at 11:00 Pacific/12:00 Mountain/1:00 Central/2:00 eastern. The 2007 series will be held at 1:00 pacific/2:00 mountain/3:00 central/4:00 eastern.

Click here to view the list of dates and topics.

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