It’s frustrating to want to print from a website when the formatting doesn’t work. It’s inefficient to try to copy and paste into another document to print. I found a useful little tool on the web that makes it easy to print from websites, so I wanted to share it with all of you! Check out PrintFriendly when you need to print from a website. It allows you to see a preview of how your printed page would look, and also allows you to print as a PDF. Just enter in the url you want to print from:

Click “Print Preview” to see what your page will look like, then select Print or PDF and you’re all set!

Increases efficiency, saves ink, and saves time. Very handy!

Related posts:

1. Increasing Productivity: Productivity Minute Video: Create a Process to Simplify the Task
2. Increasing Productivity: Five Things to Do at Work Every Day to Boost Productivity

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R) discusses the use of technology and how to keep it from controlling your time. (C) 2011 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved. http://www.TheProductivityPro.com

Related posts:

1. Productivity Minute Video: No Nosing In on Family Time
2. Productivity Minute Video: Working on Mundane Tasks
3. Productivity Minute Video: How Do You Know When You Are Being Productive

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R) discusses the importance of getting things done at work so your family time is not compromised.

(C) 2011 Laura Stack, All Rights Reserved http://www.TheProductivityPro.com

Related posts:

1. Productivity Minute Video: Get a Move on and Make a Decision
2. Productivity Minute Video: Working on Mundane Tasks
3. Productivity Minute Video: How Do You Know When You Are Being 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 related posts.

No related posts.

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

No related posts.

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.

No related posts.

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.

No related posts.

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

No related posts.

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!

No related posts.