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

” Remember self-help tapes? You used to throw them into your car [stereo] or Walkman when you were going on a lengthy trip so you could ‘grow on the go’ and hope to return home all the better for it… Well, podcasts that discuss various aspects of productivity very well could be the evolution of those self-help tapes.” — Mike Vardy, Stepcase Lifehack.

“Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.” — Paul J. Meyer, American motivational speaker.

“None of the world’s problems will have a solution until the world’s individuals become thoroughly self-educated.” — R. Buckminster Fuller, American author, designer, and inventor.

From a productivity standpoint, the relentless march of technology allows for all sorts of new opportunities for self-education. And make no mistake: you have an obligation to constantly hone your personal productivity skills, lest you find yourself suddenly overwhelmed by your workload as it evolves to meet ever-changing workplace conditions.

Fortunately, productivity training can be as simple as sitting around and listening to other people talk—which brings us to the topic of productivity podcasts. Thanks to the magic of the Internet, you can acquire a whole host of these simple audio presentations for free, and with very little effort. Some focus on specific professions, from the creative arts to software development; but many handle general productivity topics, often in gratifying detail. A good podcast can last anywhere from a few minutes to over an hour, making them perfect for filling up your downtime gaps or drive time that you might otherwise waste. Just download them to your MP3 player, and off you go!

A quick Google search will net dozens of these little productivity programs, whereupon the problem becomes which of the many to spend your limited time listening to. Luckily, you’ve got me to round ‘em up for you. In this exciting entry, I’ll give you the scoop on five productivity podcasts I believe you’ll find both enlightening and educational.

43Folders Podcast
Although the entries appear very irregularly and it hasn’t updated in a while, Merlin Mann’s 43Folders podcast is both helpful and fun. But this podcast goes beyond mere infotainment, because while he’s a pleasure to listen to, Mann’s recommendations have a lot of merit—and he uses them personally in his self-described quest to help you “[find] the time and attention to do your best creative work.” If nothing else, Mann’s exuberance can be infectious, stirring you on to greater workplace productivity.

Accidental Creative Podcast
Todd Henry, the author of The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant on a Moment’s Notice, helms this info-packed podcast. Henry posts new episodes about twice a month, and while he doesn’t joke around as much as Merlin Mann, he’s a vibrant speaker, interesting to listen to, and manages to snag some pretty good productivity experts as guest stars. In recent months, Noah Scalin, Michael Bungay Stanier, and Mark McGuinness have made guest appearances.

The Productivity Show
This Australian-based podcast starts from a Getting Things Done perspective, but ranges widely over the entire productivity field. It draws its guests from a variety of endeavors, including popular music, and often focuses on specialty software products designed to boost productivity. There’s a two-year gap between the last two podcasts in the series, but as of August 2011 the host, Tony Goodman, appears to be back in the saddle; and in any case, the archives make for fascinating listening.

Back to Work Podcast
For those who’d like more Merlin Mann (and prefer to get your fixes more regularly), I recommend Back to Work, which Mann hosts with a fellow named Dan Benjamin. These two enjoy great chemistry, and spend their podcasts exploring topics like personal limits, communication, and solving workplace problems in a chatty conversational style. But beware: these ‘casts often last an hour or more, so they don’t lend themselves to filling small pieces of downtime; they require a bit more investment.

Get-It-Done Guy’s Quick and Dirty Tips
Stever Robbin’s brief productivity tidbits offer a sharp contrast to the Back To Work crew’s lengthier discussions. They rarely clock more than five minutes, making them just right for listening to while standing in line at the pharmacy or waiting for the traffic light to change. Robbins comes across as witty and interesting, and his to-the-point, time-saving tips make a lot of sense.

Bottom Line
Aside from staving off boredom, these and other podcasts will keep you thinking and questioning what you already know and do, making them valuable tools for refining your workplace productivity schema. It takes just a minute or two to download the individual ‘casts, and if you’ve got an iPod, you can subscribe to many of them via iTunes. So why not embrace this opportunity to better yourself?

How often do you read an email before handling it? In other words, how many times do you click on an email before it before it’s gone from your inbox? Please vote in my poll. Thanks!

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), gives pointers on managing your time and keeping your schedule under control. (C) 2011 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved. http://www.TheProductivityPro.com

In this month’s newsletter article, Telecommuting: Creating a Productive Home Working Environment, I discussed some ways of keeping your home office productive. Here are a few more thoughts I’d like to share.

Although telecommuting has many advantages, it does have its challenges. One of the greatest lies in getting your family, friends, and neighbors to take your work habits seriously. They may (at least subconsciously) assume that just because you’re home all day, you’re not really working—and so you can do anything for them at any time. Allowing them to continue to think this way will play havoc with your personal productivity, so nip such tendencies in the bud right away.

Let’s look at friends and neighbors first. While some may respect your work schedule, others won’t think twice about interrupting you to chat or ask a favor—something they probably wouldn’t do if you were slaving away in your cubicle over at HQ. When it happens, politely but firmly point out that you’ve set specific work hours for yourself, and that you need to focus on work during that time and can’t afford any interruptions. Make it clear, however, that you welcome their visits at any other time (if in fact you do). While some people may think you’re a jerk, you can live with that if they’ll just leave you alone. Most, however, will get the point and back off graciously.

With family, just sit down with everyone and lay down the law about when, and under what circumstances, they can disturb you. If you don’t, they’re likely to trample down the borders between your work life and home life so badly they’ll cease to exist. The worst culprits here may not be your children, surprisingly, but your significant other. I know one worker who had to give up his first attempt at telecommuting, because his spouse always had chores for him to do and errands for him to run—reasoning that, after all, he had all day to get in his eight hours. That’s a recipe for disaster, and in fact it killed his productivity at work. He ended up going back to his traditional office after a few weeks, so he could get more done.

Many would-be telecommuters actually hurt their own workplace productivity by assuming they can combine telework with child care. This simply doesn’t work in most cases, because both efforts require focus and commitment—and no one can really focus on two things at once, as much as we might want to. If you have young kids at home, even for part of the day, send them to day care or hire someone to look after them, so you can get your work done. Your kids may not understand, but it’s best for everyone involved.

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), discusses a vital part of managing your time: the importance of vacation time as it relates to being productive. (C) 2011 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved. http://www.TheProductivityPro.com

Need some guidance on managing your time when there is simply too much to do? 

 My new book, What to Do When There’s Too Much to Do: Reduce Tasks, Increase Results, and Save 90 Minutes a Day (Berrett-Koehler) is already available for pre-order on Amazon, and the pub date isn’t officially until July 2! http://amzn.to/tZ7kAP

Ready to boost your time management skills?  Join us for the remaining webinars in the 2011 Productivity and Microsoft Outlook series!

November 21, 2011

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Mountain: Telecommuting: Creating a Productive Home Working Environment - $29

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Mountain: Outlook 2010 Module 11 - Email Communication, Team Rules, and Office Protocols - $39

December 16, 2011

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Mountain:  Extreme Job Required: Surviving the 60-Plus Hour Workweek - $29

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Mountain: Outlook 2010 Module 12 – Workflow and Keeping the Inbox Empty - $39

We hope you will join us!

How much time is wasted at work in your experience?  I just read a recent article at SmartCompany which talked about a recent study by Ernst & Young.  The study indicates that 18% of time at work could be considered unproductive.  That it a lot of time that could be spent creating value! Some of the items  the 2500 respondents referred to as time wasters are:

• Internal administration, red tape and meetings
• Waiting for IT systems
• Jobs needing to be redone

Some time wasters are beyond an employee’s control, but some of that wasted time could potentially be used in other ways.  Would love to hear how you handle seemingly unavoidable time wasters in your day.

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!

“My to-do list is so long that it doesn’t have an end; it has an event horizon.” — Craig Bruce, Canadian Software Engineer.

“According to USA Today, an astonishing 95 percent of companies don’t share their strategies with employees.” — Joel Garfinkle, American inspirational speaker.

Efficient time management requires the establishment of a dependable routine. The modern office worker can tap a variety of tools when constructing such a productivity framework, with the simple to-do list arguably the most important tool in the chest. But this begs a question: What rules do you apply to determine what goes onto your daily to-do list in the first place? In other words, how do you decide what you should be working on each day?

This question goes to the very heart of personal productivity. So let’s look at a few factors that can help you determine what to focus your attention on, so you don’t waste time and endanger your career with missteps.

Your Job Requirements
Start by asking yourself, “Why am I here?” What, precisely, did the company hire you to do? Acquire a thorough familiarity with all the requirements of your job—not just the ones published in the job description, but the informal ones as well. The latter do exist in most jobs, and it may take you a while to discover them all. If your job has published performance objectives, learn them by heart—and don’t assume they’ll remain static from year to year or even month to month. They may well evolve as time passes. If you stick to the same set-in-concrete routine, you may end up damaging your workplace productivity.

If you aren’t entirely sure about everything the job requires of you, don’t hesitate to ask your superiors. Try to ask probing questions, to get beyond the “official” requirements and into the nitty-gritty details that HR may not have informed you about when you interviewed for the position.

Another good source of guidance will come during your annual performance reviews, when your boss rates how well you do your job. As necessary, ask him or her to provide pointers to help you refine your personal productivity. Take notes, and make a sincere effort to implement what you’ve learned.

Know Your Company Strategy
Do you have a clear idea of your company’s grand strategy? Studies show that very few rank-and-file workers do; and this is one situation where what you don’t know can definitely hurt you. If your company’s mission is largely a mystery to you, then I suggest you make a deliberate effort to learn it. At the very least, study annual reports and presentations to shareholders and investors. For a more personal touch, make an appointment with your department head, and ask them to make a presentation on the subject to your team.

Once you understand the general corporate strategy, tighten the focus to your department and team in order to clarify the more immediate aspects of the company’s goals. You may discover your boss has specific policies he or she focuses on, while other teams handle different aspects of the overall strategy. In any case, start incorporating what you’ve found into your daily schedule wherever possible.

The Master List
Most of your daily to-do list will consist of tasks funneled to you on a regular basis during meetings, emails, phone calls, and direct verbal communications with your superiors. These are the urgent tasks you need to tend to ASAP to keep your productivity at work moving along smoothly. But while they may rank as important in the short term, you can’t allow them to overwhelm the long-term projects and issues that, while not especially urgent, you must accomplish in order to achieve true workplace success.

This is where the concept of the master to-do list comes in. Think of it as a “brain dump” file containing all the things you want to do eventually, but that you need not take care of right away. Many of the strategic goals of your company, department, and team will end up here, along with “someday” ideas like revamping old workflow systems and inventing new ones, or your intention to learn a new programming language. Your master list keeps your daily list from overflowing into uselessness, and it may consist of dozens or hundreds of entries as a result. Whenever something important comes in that lacks urgency or has no set deadline, add it to the master list.

A master list should be a living, evolving document that guides your long-term workflow; you can’t let it turn into a dead-file for forgotten tasks. To keep it at the top of your mind, review it at least weekly. You can use the Category feature in Outlook or your email program to group like items or projects. Leave time in your schedule for strategic, long-term projects. For example, you might schedule one timeslot a day for working on a project requiring thinking or concentration, or you might find spaces for three a week. Whatever works for you is fine, as long as you keep your master list firmly in mind. When the block of time arrives, turn everything off and resist the urge to check email or open a browser.

The Bottom Line
The average daily to-do list contains a mix of items with different priorities, originating from a variety of sources. By necessity, it will be weighted toward urgent but relatively unimportant items, with a leavening of non-urgent but essential tasks—i.e., the things that count most in the long run. An effective to-do list takes both into account, folds in crisis situations as they occur, and deletes the trivial.

Make absolutely sure that the crises and daily minutiae don’t overwhelm the long-term tasks. Purely reactive busyness will get you nowhere if it’s not underlain and supported by the solid bedrock of job requirements, strategic goals, process maintenance, and other important but non-urgent items. Handling all these proactively, in combination with daily routine, results in honest-to-goodness personal productivity.