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

ACCO Brands, a leader in office products through industry- leading brands such as Swingline, GBC, Day-Timer, Quartet, Wilson Jones and Kensington among others is scouring the country in search of Everyday Heroes.  What is an Everyday Hero?  It’s a person who knows how to use his/her office tools to make things run smoothly; a person to whom everyone turns to pull it all together in a pinch; an individual who quietly gets the job done – often without being recognized. Everyday Heroes can enter the contest now at accoheroes.com.  ACCO Brands will award a grand prize of $1,000 redeemable at office product dealers to one winner in each of three categories – business, home/home office and school. 

Often, the hustle and bustle of everyday life overshadows difference-making contributions or small wins. Everyday Heroes might experience these obstacles from time to time:

• Received a scattered pile of documents and asked to pull it all together for the big presentation.  Oh, and it needs to be bound by the end of the day.
• The school open house is just around the corner and the organizer has the flu. So the art teacher, who always lends a hand, helps the classes put the finishing touches on their display boards and handouts.
• Closed a client deal while juggling the kids’ doctor’s appointment and grocery shopping. 

 

If this all sounds familiar, people can visit accoheroes.com to submit a brief explanation or suggest an unrecognized hero enter the contest. Those who haven’t discovered their inner hero can visit accoheroes.com to read helpful topics and solutions to quickly become one, or take a fun quiz to find out what type of hero they are.

            “ACCO Brands products and solutions help everyday heroes keep it all together.  Yet, the people who are relied upon to get the job done right, often go unrecognized,” said Kellie Glueck, marketing director at ACCO Brands. “The contest will help shine a light on these valuable heroes and their achievements.”

 How to Enter the Contest

Entering the ACCO Brands Everyday Heroes contest is easy. Submit a brief explanation of 150 words or less describing what makes them an Everyday Hero at the office, home/home office or school. Entrants can upload a photo as well to make their story more personal.  Entries must be submitted before October 31, 2010 at 5 p.m. CDT.

Voting by the public will begin November 1, 2010 and will remain open through November 30, 2010 at 5 p.m. CDT to determine five finalists in each category.  A panel of judges will select one grand prize winner in each category.  The grand prize winners will receive $1,000 in office products redeemable at office products dealers nationwide, and the runners-up will receive an ACCO Brands gift basket valued at more than $400.  ACCO Brands will announce the winners by December 15, 2010.  People should vote often since the top 10 most frequent voters will receive the same ACCO Brands gift basket as the runners-up.

To join our community of Everyday Heroes, make sure to follow ACCO Brands at facebook.com/accoheroes and twitter.com/accoheroes. For more information on the Everyday Heroes contest, or for complete official rules, visit accoheroes.com. All submissions become the property of ACCO Brands Corporation.

Laura Stack is now presenting a weekly series, The Productivity Minute, on Denver’s Channel 7 News. Each week she’ll share great tips and tricks on how to be more productive at work and at home.
View her introduction to the series:

Special thanks to The Denver Channel for inviting us to be a part of their show. Be sure to tune in for future episodes!

Top Ten Tips for a More Organized 2011!
By Laura Stack, MBA, CSP

There will always be more things to do than time to do it. Working longer isn’t going to save you. (I’d bet you’ve never gone to sleep at the end of a long day with everything on your to-do list completed.) To counter this never-ending battle, you’ll need to learn to be more efficient and get your work done in less time. If you can figure out how to be more productive during the day and achieve greater results in less time, you can leave the office earlier and get a life.

Learn how to use your software. One of the many ways professionals waste time during the day is with Microsoft Outlook (or whatever email software you use). I estimate people waste 30 minutes to 2 hours a day with incorrect or inefficient information management systems. Sometimes it’s a simple matter of not understanding what Outlook is capable of doing (Journaling, Notes, Customized Contact Forms, Task Tracking, etc.). As a Microsoft Certified Application Specialist (MCAS) in Outlook, I estimate most people only understand and use 10-20% of Outlook’s capabilities.

The Inbox is not a to-do list. Pull the action from the email and move it to the correct location. Do NOT simply flag the email, which simply leaves it in the inbox.

1. Right-click on the email.

2. Select “Move to Folder” from the short cut menu.

3. Select Tasks from the list if it’s a “to-do” item or Calendar if it has a specific time.

4. Click OK.

5. This will activate a task properties window.

6. Update all of the information accordingly. Use the “Start Date” to indicate when you want the task to appear on your To-Do Bar.

7. Click the “Save and Close” button.

8. Make sure your TaskPad (2003) or To-Do Bar (2007/2010) sorts by Start Date, not Due Date.

File email in your existing folder system. You already have a folder system on your hard drive or a shared drive. Rather than keeping a different list of personal folders in your Outlook, save emails in your existing folders to keep reference items together. Just as you would save a Word document or PowerPoint show, you can save email as a file. While viewing the email:

1. Under the File menu, select Save As.

2. Navigate to the correct folder on your hard or shared drive.

3. Change the file name, if desired.

4. In the Save as Type dropdown menu, select Outlook Message Format (*.msg).

5. Click Save.

6. When you double-click the Outlook icon, the email will open within your Outlook software, just as if it were in the inbox.

Automate manual actions. Use Outlook’s Rules; they help you manage your e-mail messages by performing actions on messages that match a specific set of conditions. After you create a rule, Outlook applies it when a message arrives in your Inbox or when you send a message. Spend some time playing with the Rules Wizard to explore all the cool things you can do, such as forwarding to a list, automatically deleting mail from certain people, printing, moving messages where you’re cc’d into a specified folder, or moving messages with certain words in the subject field to a folder.

1. On the Tools menu, click Rules and Alerts.

2. Click New Rule.

3. Make sure the “Start creating a rule from a template” button is selected.

4. Follow the Wizard.

Keep your notes on your Contacts up to date. Keep notes for every client contact in a contact management system of some sort: ACT, Salesforce.com, Outlook, etc. If you have Outlook, this feature is called the Journal, which is a little-known, powerful feature rarely used by immensely helpful for salespeople to document client history: conversations, phone calls, and meetings. Create a New Journal Entry, tag it to the Contact, type out the contents of the meeting. You can now view a Contact’s Journal entries from years ago. If you share your Journal and Contacts, anyone on your time can see your notes and client activity if you’re out.

Create a travel plan. When you do have to fly for business, you’ll usually have a pretty good idea of how much downtime you’ll have during your trip, so set some goals for your travel time before you leave. How long is the flight each way? How long will you be alone in your hotel room in the evening? Know what you want to accomplish during various parts of your trip. It isn’t set in stone—it’s just a guide. When you sit down in your airplane seat, you should know exactly what to do next. Maybe there’s a report you want to read or a proposal you want to write. Be ready to dive right in. Until I can turn on my computer, I generally do light reading as I catch my breath and get settled. I might even do a Sudoku puzzle. Then I get right to it. I never turn on the television in my hotel, since a quiet hotel room is a great place to bang out work.

Embrace the Smartphone. You don’t need to become a full-fledged Crackberry addict to enjoy the benefits of a smartphone. It shouldn’t hijack your life, but it can be a useful tool while you’re riding in a taxi or sitting at the gate. Use your downtime to keep up with email; it’s comforting to know it isn’t piling up while you’re away. A smart phone can also help you stay on top of things back at the office without playing phone tag and leaving voicemails all over the place.

Simplify with a docking station. Do you find yourself transferring files between a desktop computer and your laptop when you need to travel or bring work home? This was one of my biggest frustrations and time-wasters for many years. Unless your work requires some serious computer resources, you can probably stop using the desktop machine altogether. A docking station will allow you to keep your nice big monitor and full-size keyboard, but still be able to pop your computer out of the dock, slip it into your laptop bag, and have all your files in one place. It’s the best of both worlds.

Be determined to complete a task in less time. Sometimes we’re so busy looking for an extra thirty minutes to complete a task we don’t realize it could be done in ten. Make sure you aren’t over-researching, over-analyzing, or just plain over-thinking what you’re trying to do. Some fish will grow to fit the size of their tank, and tasks will do the same thing. If Step One of writing a report is always an hour of banging your head against the blank computer screen, it becomes the norm. Don’t fall into this trap. Evaluate your tasks and challenge yourself to get them done more quickly. If you had to have the report written by the end of the day instead of the end of the week, you would find a way to get it done. Tight deadlines don’t leave much time for banging your head on the computer. When a crisis pops up, rise to the challenge. Apply the same “never say die” attitude to your more routine tasks, and you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish. Focus, focus, focus. Give yourself ten minutes to concentrate on the task at hand. Once you commit your full energy to getting it done, you’ll be amazed at how things start zipping along.

Hold an efficiency meeting. We all know we can be more productive. When I ask salespeople, “What would you need to change about yourself in order to be more productive and increase sales?” everyone knows the answer. When I ask, “What would need to change in the office in order for you to be more productive?” everyone knows the answer. However, most salespeople and their teams rarely take the time to discuss these issues and formulate solutions. If you haven’t had an “efficiency meeting” in a while, get it on your schedule. Vent your frustrations. Try different methods. Blow up a process. Get help when you need it. All of this effort will pay off handsomely in the way of increased client acquisition.

Wishing you a Happy, Prosperous, and Productive 2011!

** To purchase online video tutorials on the above Outlook functions, please visit http://www.theproductivitypro.com/s_outlook-virtual-training-products.htm.

Since 1992, Laura Stack has presented keynotes and seminars that help leaders, teams, and individuals achieve Maximum Result in Minimum Time®. As the President of The Productivity Pro®, Inc., she has implemented productivity-improvement programs at companies such as Wal-Mart, Cisco Systems, and Bank of America, as well as government agencies and national associations. She is the bestselling author of four books and has been a spokesperson for Microsoft, 3M, Xerox, and Office Depot. Laura is the 2011-2012 president of the National Speakers Association and the creator of The Productivity Pro® planner by Day-Timer. To have Laura speak at your next event, visit www.TheProductivityPro.com.

Watch this episode and learn why you have sticky notes all over your office.  Figure out what sticky notes are good for and not good for.  What do you do when you think of something you need to do?

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

Did you know that you can subscribe my “Tip of the Week” via text messaging through TextMarks?  Get a productivity tip each week by signing up here:

Get your own at TextMarks!

How do you keep up with your laundry?  I just heard from a reader who puts a load in before she goes to bed, throws it in the dryer on the way out the door to work, and uses the "touch up" feature when she gets home before folding.  By doing this every day, she always keeps up with her laundry.  She also recommended safety pinning socks together the minute she takes them off (she has a little basket in her closet), so she never has to search for and match socks.  What little tricks do you have for staying on top of the skivvies?

Ever want to buy healthy food at the supermarket, but you didn’t have time to look in your recipe books and can’t think of what to buy?  Get tired of writing the same basic items—eggs, bread, milk—on your list again and again?  Keep your kitchen well stocked by hanging a pre-printed shopping list on your fridge.  Print a stack of copies at the Self magazine site.  Stick one to your fridge each week and check off things as you run low on various items.  Then use the list to trigger your thoughts on buying healthy foods for lunches and dinners for the week.

I asked my newsletter readers "What do you do to keep your energy up during the day?" and received the following replies.  Please comment if you have a tip to add!

Hi, I do little ‘sprints’ through out the day, especially if I am feeling tired. I will get up & run in place or walk quickly around the house for 5-10 minutes (I work at home) it gives me just enough of energy bursts to keep me going. Thanks, Misty

Misty Kenner- creativity coach

www.pictureperfectscrapbookco.com

I live in the

Midwest

. I work for a larger company in a smaller town.  I am fortunate that the parking lot at work is not that large. When I feel tired, during my lunch break I will go out to the car (truck), recline the seat and catch a short "catnap".  15-20 minutes does it for me.  I know that some folks feel they need 1-2 hours to feel rested. 

Another tip I read someplace was to drink a caffeinated beverage, then take a short nap.  I takes that long for the caffeine to get into your system and take effect. So you benefit from the nap and you have the caffeine buzz to keep you going.  It has worked for me, my son lives a 1000 miles away.  Sometime when we go to visit my wife and I will drive through the night.  I have tried it a few time, it seems to work well for me. 

Mark Keehr    

I realize this won’t work for a lot of people but I work out on my lunch hour.

I am up at 5 to get myself and two small children ready.  My 5-year old son gets dropped off at a sitter to go to school while my 2-year old daughter rides with me on the 45-minute commute to get dropped off at preschool at 7:20 so I can get to work by 7:30.  Then at 4:30 it’s hit the highway time to get sissy picked up and then hightail it home to get brother picked up before 5:30.  Rush home to get supper fixed – get homework done – get the kids in the tub – go clean up the kitchen – start a load of laundry – finish the bath – read a story – finish the laundry – fall into bed to do it all over again.  I was always complaining I didn’t have time to work out until I finally just decided something had to be done.  Our park district has a full fitness center (at a very reasonable rate) just 5 minutes from work so I can hop over there – work out for about 40 minutes and rush back to work.  I feel so much more energized in the afternoons – I have also lost 46 pounds out of 100 to boot!

I also try to eat healthy fruit snacks and yogurts in the afternoons to keep my blood sugar up.

Charyle Smith

The best way for me to stay up, maintain a good attitude and fee energized all day is:

I begin my day at 4:15 am with a 2.5 mile run/walk on my treadmill, with some meditation and prayer along the way.  After a quick shower I dress for the work day, have my coffee, vitamins and a light breakfast of dry cereal and or cheese toast.  During my 30 minute drive to work I use this time to meditate again and have short breath prayers.  All of this ensures that I am wide awake when I get to the office and ready to face the day and my co-workers.  I also try to get in some form of physical exercise each evening to relive the day’s stress.  I try to keep to this same schedule on days off as well as week ends. 

K Meekins CPS

I recently visited my grandparents (ages 81 and 86) and discovered a treasure trove of old family photographs.  Especially precious were the ones of my mother as a little girl (none of which she had seen before) and my great-grandmother, whom I vaguely recall visiting before she passed away.  With seven children, my grandparents had no idea how they were going to split them up after they passed, since many were one-of-a-kind.  My easy answer was to scan them, save them as .jpg files, and make CDs for each of my six uncles and my mother.  So I packed my precious cargo in my suitcase and headed home.  Then it hit me…what exactly did I get myself into?  I counted the photos: 282.  I quickly realized the huge time commitment and realized I was of course able to handle this task but shouldn’t handle this task.  I pulled up my favorite freelance-for-hire site: www.elance.com.  I posted my project requirements and received 18 bids on my project, ranging anywhere from $.25 to $1.00 per scan.  I awarded the project to a woman who took the time to email me directly, tell me about her scanner, offered to complete a couple of test scans at different resolutions to test what printed best, etc.  She quoted me $.75 per scan, which was higher than some of the bids, but she suggested an enhancement to my project specs: upload the scans to a photo site as well, so my relatives could order their own prints directly, and I wouldn’t have to send them CDs myself.  Even better!  Less time for me.  Bottom line: if you’re overburdened, you might not be delegating properly.  If you try to do too many jobs at once, it’s like spinning china plates on sticks: the longer you keep it up, the greater the odds of a crash.  The great philosopher Virgil said long ago, “We are all not capable of everything.”  Never do anything that can be done just as well by someone who is paid less.  If there is another person who can handle something you’re doing, stop doing it.  If someone can do the job 80% as well as you can, let that person do it!  We mistakenly believe only we can do it correctly.  Be open to new, innovative ways of tackling projects, and you will be pleased with the results.  And you can focus your time on higher-value activities.

According to a report from Basex, the average "knowledge worker" — someone who is part of the growing information economy — loses 2.1 hours a day to interruptions. If those workers make an average of $21 an hour, that adds up to $588 billion a year — more than the gross domestic product of

Argentina

. See http://blogs.abcnews.com/scienceandsociety/2006/01/frazzing.html

Then another article http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Technology/story?id=1549972 goes on to say, “Other companies, such as Ambient Devices, say keep it simple. You shouldn’t have to open your e-mail whenever an icon pops up on your screen. A glance should tell if the new message is important to you, much the way you glance at a clock.”

Actually, that’s a *really* bad idea.  Even glancing at an email starts your mind a-wandering, and there aren’t too many people who are disciplined enough not to open it if the subject line and sender looks even remotely more interesting than what they’re working on.  If you have the luxury of having two screens (which boosts productivity by 30%), keep one dedicated to your communications functions, and mute the sound and blank the screen when you’re trying to concentrate on a project.  Bring a kitchen timer from home, set it for an hour, and dare yourself not to check email until the timer goes off.  If you can’t, you officially have email OCD.  If you only have one monitor, either close your email program completely, or if you have to have it open to check your calendar, don’t keep your in-box up. 

Better yet, go under Tools, Options, Email Options, Advanced Email Options and turn off all the global alerts, noises, envelopes, and pop-ups when you get an email, so you won’t be tempted to check it.  Then go into your Rules and set a specific sound to play when you do get a message from a particular person such as your boss.  That way, your ears will hear the cue, but your eyes won’t go to the pop-up and distract your thoughts.  You can complete the sentence you’re working on before checking the message.