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

I’m the Day-Timers community expert on productivity.  So I asked them to put a brief survey on the Day-Timers Web site, asking, “When you think of something that you need to do, what do you usually do?”  In this day and age of technology, the surprising answer was overwhelmingly “Write it down.”  To date, 55% of respondents chose this option over others.  This demonstrates that even with Blackberries, Outlook, cell phones and web based to-do lists, we still need and use paper and planners. 

Picture this…you’ve dutifully put all of your information, appointments, phone numbers etc. into your Outlook and synced the information with your handy-dandy Blackberry.  All is well. You hop on a plane for a business trip, Blackberry in hand.  You’ve arrived at the Miami airport and whipped out your electronic device.  The problem is, you forgot to charge it and the battery is dead.  What is the client’s phone number?  What was your hotel confirmation number…and was that appointment at 2:00 pm or 3:00 pm?  The beauty of a paper planner is that paper doesn’t crash.  Better yet, it’s much easier to jot down a note on a daily to-do list than pull out your handheld, turn it on, click around, and type a note on that tiny keypad with all those little drop-down boxes.  A Day-Timer is a tried and true tool that won’t let you down.  Try my own line of Productivity Pro® branded Day-Timer for handheld users.  Even if you write things down temporarily, you can always enter the data when you’re back at your computer.  Much easier than tapping.  And it’s much more organized than having little scraps of paper and sticky notes all over the place because it’s too difficult to use your handheld for data entry.

Don’t get me wrong, I think technology is terrific.  I use it on a daily basis, but I won’t be caught anytime soon without my Day-Timer.  It only takes one crash or glitch to realize how useful paper can be.

(C) 2008 Laura Stack.  All rights reserved.  www.TheProductivityPro.com

Keynote speaker, productivity trainer, author, spokesperson

Do productive people always have their dream jobs?  No.  Are you more productive when you enjoy what you’re doing and are happy in your work?  Yes. 

So do you find your work fulfilling?  Or are you just going through the motions to pay the bills?  What if you’re in a job that is a springboard to the next one?  That’s fine.  There’s a difference between everyday annoyances and unsettling, deep malcontent.  Life’s too short to keep a job that makes your stomach hurt.  As they say, do what you love, and the money will follow. 

How do you know if you’re in your dream job?
• Make a list of your dreams.  You may have only one; you may have several.  Some may be really big.  Some may be small.  “I want to make jewelry and sell it online.”  “I want to be a meteorologist.”  “I want to start my own pension consulting business.”
• Make a list of your passions.  What do you love?  Singing?  Playing guitar?  Photography?  Is there a dream job in there somewhere?
• Make a list of your core values.  Is it important to you to have ample time to enjoy life?  Is it important to you to be helping others through your work, no matter how many hours of the week it takes??
• Make a list of what you’re naturally good at and love to do.  Teaching people how to play tennis?  Working with animals?  De-cluttering homes and offices?  Cooking French cuisine?  Is there a dream job in there somewhere? 

Now why don’t you do it?  Perhaps you’re afraid you won’t make any money.  Perhaps you’re afraid to leave a high-paying job in search of a more fulfilling one.  Perhaps you’re afraid you’ll fail.  Whatever the reason, fear is a really energy drain.  It will paralyze you, lock you up, and keep you in the status quo.  If you are to find your purpose and experience the flow, you will have to muster the courage to fight it off.

Happiness is not all about money.  You could have a BMW, a home with 4 bathrooms, your kids attend the best schools that money can buy, and your wife looks like a supermodel.  But perhaps you’re still unhappy, and you can’t figure out why.

As Stuart Goldsmith says in his book The Seven Secrets of Success, “Becoming wealthy has little to do with buying a bunch of silly toys.  You have to be a very sad individual if this is the limit of your imagination.  How much champagne can you drink?  How many Rolexes do you need?  How big a wardrobe of clothes will satisfy you? This is all junk.  They are toys—harmless baubles to amuse us for five minutes.  Attaining these toys is not the purpose of a noble life.” He adds, “. . . Happiness comes from leading a worthwhile life and producing something of quality and value.  Sitting around in a mansion and staring at your Porsche will not make you happy.” 

It’s quite normal and understandable for people to want a lot of money.  Having a lot of money, especially in a capitalistic society, is equivalent to having plenty.  This is an instinctive, evolutionary drive.  Of course you don’t want to have to walk 20 miles with your Neanderthal club in hand to find a food source.  But in a capitalistic society such as ours that’s brimming with shiny things, this perfectly reasonable drive morphs into greed.  And before you know it, we equate money and things with happiness.     

But it’s not money in and of itself that makes us happy.  It’s the freedom that money provides that opens a big, wide door to the land of happiness.  In other words, if we’re not living hand to mouth, we have the time to pursue what we truly love—whether that’s writing a novel, volunteering full-time for a homeless shelter, or having time to watch the sun set every single evening. 

How much did you spend on your most recently acquired boast-worthy possession?  What if you were to that same amount of money and donate it to a charity that feeds the hungry?  Can you picture the poverty-stricken child whose face lights up when she receives a week’s worth of hot meals?  Which brings you more happiness, the possession, or the child with a full stomach? 

How do you like to make the world a better place?  Helping people overcome illness?  Working with the mentally handicapped?  Teaching people how to exercise? 

If I looked at the way you spend your time, would I be able to tell what’s important in your life?  The majority of people spend far too much time working and not enough time with their loved ones.  Then they arrive home and have no energy left to devote to their spouse or children.  They take the day’s problems out on the people they love—the entire reason they’re working in the first place.  You say your family is important to you.  Can people tell you value them by the way you spend your time?  You say your significant other is the most important thing in the world.  How much time have you spent spending time with them versus spending time working?  You say your spirituality is important, but how much time do you spend praying, reading, meditating, attending services, volunteering, or whatever reflects your beliefs?  Is it merely an outside facade?  Say and do the same thing.  Be congruent.  Or just stop saying it and be yourself.  To be in alignment with your values, what you say and what you do should be the same.

Bottom line: Adjust your career and your life balance so your time reflects what matters to you most.  Put some metrics on your priorities.  Companies measure their results, and you should measure yours.  Spending time with my family is my greatest pleasure in life.  Work is just my hobby.  I only want to be out of town five nights per month.  I want to eat dinner at home 25 days per month.  I want to take six weeks of vacation each year.  I work no more than 45 hours per week, although I could easily work 100.  Keeping track of my behavior each month makes me accountable; I know immediately whether my schedule is meshing with my priorities and my values.  These figures are in front of me as a constant reminder of what I’m trying to accomplish with my life. 

Assess how you’re spending your time.  What are you doing with it?  Watching TV?  Flipping through magazines?  What would you rather be doing?  What are your metrics going to be?  What do you want your epitaph to say?  “He had a well-mowed lawn.”  “There wasn’t one speck of dust in her house.”  “His Porsche was really shiny.” 

Do.  Don’t dream.
© 2008 Laura Stack.  Laura Stack is a personal productivity expert, author, and professional speaker who helps busy workers Leave the Office Earlier® with Maximum Results in Minimum Time®.  She is the president of The Productivity Pro®, Inc., a time management training firm specializing in productivity improvement in high-stress organizations.  Since 1992, Laura has presented keynotes and seminars on improving output, lowering stress, and saving time in today’s workplaces.  She is the bestselling author of three works published by Broadway Books: The Exhaustion Cure (2008), Find More Time (2006) and Leave the Office Earlier (2004).  Laura is a spokesperson for Microsoft, 3M, and Day-Timers®, Inc and has been featured on the CBS Early Show, CNN, and the New York Times. Her clients include Cisco Systems, Sunoco, KPMG, Nationwide, and 3M.  To have Laura speak at your next event, call 303-471-7401.  Visit www.TheProductivityPro.com to sign up for her free monthly productivity newsletter.

It’s back to school time!  With three kids in elementary and middle school, this is a New Year of sorts for parents.  Here are some tips to help you stay sane and productive:

Back-to-the-Future. The first step in moving forward with back-to-school resolutions is to take a look back. What were the situations from the previous school year that could use improvement? Did your child often miss the bus? Did they have a hard time making the honor roll or even passing grades? Was everyone too busy to sit down for dinner together? Once you figure out what areas need improvement, it will help set goals for the upcoming year.

Talk to your children. Whether your school-age children are in elementary school or high school, talk to them about areas they would like to see change, both personally and within the family. Their insight into what areas need improvement may differ from their parents.  Discussing the differing goals will help to bring every person in the family on the same page.  Buy-in on goals from all members of the family encourages success.

Small steps. Having a student go from straight C’s to straight A’s may be asking too much. The same is true for wanting to have a family who never eats dinner together suddenly sit down at the table five nights a week. Success comes from breaking each resolution into small but achievable steps. Set up weekly goals for each person in the family in order to overcome barriers and create small achievements. Adding steps each week will insure a slow incremental achievement of the main goal.

Make a plan. Assess each resolution and make a list of what changes need to come in to play to have a successful outcome. A child who has not been known for good grades may need to have a tutor. In order to help avoid detention for being tardy, have a back-up plan for your student to take responsibility for making their lunch and setting out their clothing the night before. Move dinner back to 6:30 instead of 5:30 to make sure everyone is able to be there. Having a list of solutions for the resolutions gives everyone a roadmap about how they will reach success.

Coordinate. One of the main challenges with having family resolutions is time. While one parent is working late, another may be taking one of the kids to soccer practice, while the oldest child is at band rehearsal. Posting a calendar with weekly schedules for each person in the household will help everyone keep track of everyone else. This can help the children to know that the parents have early meetings on certain days; so being on time to the bus is a necessity. And parents can keep track of when and where the children’s extracurricular activities are taking place. It is also beneficial to provide each person in the family with a DayTimer planner. This will help keep the kids responsible for their own time and keep everyone organized.

Smile.  Stay light-hearted about the changes.  You can always start over at anytime.  And don’t forget, there’s another chance to create resolutions coming right around the corner.

© 2008 Laura Stack.  Laura Stack is a personal productivity expert, author, and professional speaker who helps busy workers Leave the Office Earlier® with Maximum Results in Minimum Time®.  She is the president of The Productivity Pro®, Inc., a time management training firm specializing in productivity improvement in high-stress organizations.  Since 1992, Laura has presented keynotes and seminars on improving output, lowering stress, and saving time in today’s workplaces.  She is the bestselling author of three works published by Broadway Books: The Exhaustion Cure (2008), Find More Time (2006) and Leave the Office Earlier (2004).  Laura is a spokesperson for Microsoft, 3M, and Day-Timers®, Inc and has been featured on the CBS Early Show, CNN, and the New York Times. Her clients include Cisco Systems, Sunoco, KPMG, Nationwide, and 3M.  To have Laura speak at your next event, call 303-471-7401.  Visit www.TheProductivityPro.com to sign up for her free monthly productivity newsletter.

Today I feature an article by guest columnist Rosa Say and her blog Managing With Aloha Coaching.  If you enjoy the article below, I suggest you subscribe to her blog.

If I am hard pressed to recommend one and only one tool as THE most essential one in every manager’s tool kit, there is no question for me what it will be.

It is the very first tool I teach new supervisors (and any struggling manager) to use;
No matter the industry they are in.
No matter the country they are in.

Whether they are new to their positions or seasoned pros.
Whether they have just one employee or thousands.

Whenever it is calm, and they are caught up.
Whenever it is frenetic and crazy, and they can’t see that light at the end of the tunnel.

Pretty much no matter what the circumstances are.
And get this – even more than my beloved Daily 5 Minutes®.

The One Tool that every manager must work with, and work with daily, is this:
A simple list kept easily and best with pencil and an 8×10 sheet of paper folded into three columns.

This is not just any list, but a very special one.

It is the list that will endear every manager to every employee, every boss, every supplier or vendor partner, and every customer.

It is the list that can single-handedly reinvent a manager’s reputation, as it simultaneously functions as that manager’s best training and coaching architect.

At the top of this list is its name, and right beneath that, as the headings of its three columns, are all the instructions managers will need.

This magic manager’s list is called, THE FOLLOW-UP I NEED TO COMPLETE.

Those headings of its three columns are,

1. What I must Do to Honor my Word
2. Who I need to Follow-up with, and By When
3. Why it is so Important to Them, and thus, to Me.

When management is a calling (as it should only be) managers work more for other people than they do for themselves. The work they do for others IS the work they do for themselves, for when they elevate the human condition, improving it as it aches to be improved, they are most fulfilled in the work they are most needed for, discovering that being a manager can be the most satisfying and rewarding work that exists.

When employees cry out to me that their managers “don’t know what they are doing,”
or “are never around when we need them”
or “are too poorly trained; it’s like we have a revolving door of management trainees here”
or “don’t really care about us”
or “always seem to be working on the wrong things at the wrong times”
or “said they’d take care of it, but we all know what that means”
… the complaining and whining goes on and on… nine times out of ten I will discover that the manager they are referring to has lost all credibility due to a horrible lack of follow-through. They may start with the best of intentions in very sincere conversations, but they have no reliable system for finishing well, and they are not held accountable.

On the other hand, the managers with exceptional follow-through are referred to as “the great ones.”

A key point is that great managers don’t necessarily do all the work and tasks involved; what they do is orchestrate them well, and they keep work flowing, moving all road-blocks out of the way, human and otherwise. They work to remove any obstacles or adversity (or excuses and yeah-buts) and they communicate to everyone involved about status and progress consistently and reliably.

If you are a manager, is that what you do?

Let’s talk a bit more about those three columns;

1. What I must Do to Honor my Word

This column is described this way because a conversation with someone is likely to be what will trigger the entry you are making. What did you agree to follow-up on? This column will teach managers to “eat an elephant one bite at a time.” A common reason good intentions will fall apart is because we’ll make promises that are way, way too big for us to keep. Using this list over time, managers learn to work from conversation to next conversation and tear issues, problems, and projects into doable baby steps. Then the following column becomes a simple status-check conversation of “Here’s where we are now, what should we work on as our next steps, and how much time will that need?”

2. Who I need to Follow-up with, and By When

This may seem obvious, but in my investigations of trip-ups that have occurred, I am amazed at how many times a manager did follow up, but never reported back to the person they’d made their commitment to. Their reputation and credibility has gotten marred by a bad assumption that “the results will speak for themselves.” Well, not really, and not always. In fact, the norm is that they seldom do. This column also helps cure avoidance behavior; if you didn’t get something done yet, just honestly say so and make a new agreement. Don’t just hope the other person will forget about it; trust me, they probably won’t, and the next column helps you understand why.

3. Why it is so Important to Them, and thus, to Me

This column is a teacher called “Empathy Practice,” one whom all managers need to spend more time with. For us to help people best, we need to see a problem or issue in the way that they see it, and since we can’t usually “walk a day in [their] shoes” the best way to understand their point of view is to key in on why an issue is important to them. I coach managers to work with people without robbing others of the engagement, satisfaction, and growth of doing their work for them – the mantra we speak of is “Do with, not for.” There is a balance to be achieved, that this column helps us understand one person at a time.

Management is a situational art. Coaches like me try to help with certain things, and we can provide tools and tips that shorten the learning curve, however a manager’s best teachers, bar none, are their employees and the other people they work with and are committed to. This is the same reason The Daily Five Minutes® works so well: All you need to know about you can find out from the people you work with side by side, day in and day out.

Managers get trained on the job in the flow of the work they are responsible for. When they follow-through consistently, they excel because they deliver well; they exceed expectations. Their word is believed and trusted.

So take this from me; the 1 best list that every manager must work with says THE FOLLOW-UP I NEED TO COMPLETE at the top, and has those three columns. What they write on it, and how consistently they work through it day by day will determine that manager’s success. Just ask their employees.

Today I’m pleased to feature a guest blogger and fellow productivity consultant, Matthew Cornell.  He has interviewed me in the past and featured me on his blog.  I’ve been following his good work and musings on productivity and wholeheartedly recommend you subscribe to his feed.

by Matthew Cornell: Three Indecisiveness Phrases:

I’d like to tell you about three phrases you and I use that actually mean the opposite, and, when used improperly, hurt productivity and weaken your mind (Gasp!) Fear not, I’ll also share the only times they are OK to use. And I’ll start with a biggie.

“Let me think about it”
This is a classic in being indecisive. Situation: Have you ever been asked for something or had an offer made to you and you answered “Let me think about it”? Typically what this answer really means is “The answer is no, but I don’t want to disappoint you so I’m going to pretend to think about it.” Implied in this is “…and I hope you forget to bring it up again.” Nasty!

In this case, you’re is using the phrase as a crutch, and it has a cost:

It’s going to dog you until it’s resolved.

You’re misleading someone and wasting their time; it’s disrespectful.

You’re training yourself to be indirect and less decisive.
What you’re really doing trading is clarity for a temporary reprieve in disappointing someone. It’s a bad practice. If you know the answer, train yourself to be direct (but sensitive) and get closure right then. If you want to leave the bridge open, fine, but not if you really don’t want to discuss the issue again.

That said, this phrase does have a few specific productive uses:

You need to collect more information. However, ask yourself whether this is an excuse to put off deciding. It’s frequently better to make a decision early on, with less than 100% of possible information, than to strive for perfection. Most decisions can be mitigated later.

You need to clear or verify it with someone else. In this case, commit to a specific date to get back to them, no longer than a few days.

Germination: You really might have to let it germinate. The blogosphere is rife with creativity stories around the subconscious, and hey – who am I to take away your productive shower time But be honest about whether you really need to sit on it.

Here are a few rules if you do decide to defer:

Only one defer allowed per person. Think of it as a rare coupon you don’t want to squander.

Make your decision time bound: Limit how much you’re willing to spend on it, and don’t make it too big – one hour max, say.

Commit to a decision by a specific date (no longer than a week), and tell it to them. Then keep your word.

“Let’s get together sometime”
This really means “I’m not interested (or mildly interested), but not enough to follow through.” The solution here is simple: Pick a date. I found myself weaseling out last week. I really did want to get together with a friend and peer, but I was having a weak moment and used the phrase. It felt weird. Thank goodness she called me on it and said “Let’s set a date. how about next Monday at lunch time?”

A common variation: “We’ll be in touch” – sadly not uncommon when applying for a job or sending an unwanted proposal. Please, put me out of my misery and get it over with! (I’m told companies sometimes get so inundated with resumes that they make it easier on themselves by not sending “sorry” letters. I don’t respect this practice. Disclaimer: I’ve never been in the hiring role.)

“Interesting”
This is a true classic, and often means “That’s really uninteresting” and/or “I disagree but don’t want to get into it with you.” To be fair, this can also mean “I don’t understand or agree, but I’m willing to think about it.” Also, it rally depends on the tone.

Instead of saying this, try getting into question asking mode and being genuinely curious. (For more, see How to help people, step 1.)

(An example: I once sent a resume to a company, waited a few weeks, heard nothing, then called the hiring person. She said “We got your resume. It was … interesting.” Her tone made me think “We thought your use of crayons for the resume was innovative.” Not getting hired worked out much better, BTW.)

Others?
Do you have any favorites? A few others:

“Send me a brochure” (“I’m not interested, but I won’t say so.”)

“That’s something” (“I have no idea what to do with this gift.”)

“She’s not here right now” (“She’s here, but she doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“Thank you for sharing” (“That was wildly inappropriate. Save it for you psychiatrist.”

Time is money.  Guess which group of people utters this phrase most frequently?  Commissioned salespeople.  Hands down.  It’s almost a rite of passage that you can’t be a salesperson unless you rinse and repeat daily.  Salespeople know how to turn time into money: spend a majority of time on selling activity, namely generating leads, business development, and follow-up.  Simple.  What makes it so hard?  All the non-selling activities that need to be done. 

I believe many salespeople have lost sight of the value of their time.  They run for coffee, socialize with friends, check the latest blog postings, schedule personal appointments, surf the web…all which tends to increase when a sale is made…as if now they can relax a bit. 

As a salesperson, if you really want to get clear about if the activity you’re currently working on is worth your time, figure out how much your time is worth.  Then you can objectively ask, “Is what I’m working on right this minute generating the sales goals and income targets I’ve set for myself?”

So let’s do a little bit of math. 

1. How much do you want to earn this year? (Ex: $80K)
2. If you’re lucky enough to have a base, subtract that out to get your target earnings. (Ex: $80K – $10K = $70K)
3. To realize those target earnings, how much would you have to sell to achieve it with your commission structure?  (Ex: at 7% commission, you’d have to sell $1M)
4. How many weeks do you work after you subtract out vacation? (Ex: 52 weeks minus 2 weeks of vacation = 50 weeks)
5. Divide your annual sales goal by the number of weeks you’ll work to arrive at your weekly sales goal. (Ex: $1M / 50 = $20K)
6. Divide that by the number of days you work each week to get your daily sales goal.  (Ex: $20K/5 = $4K)
7. IF you could meet that goal each day, how much would an hour of your time be worth?  Divide your target earnings from #2 by #4 to reach your weekly income target. (Ex: $70K / 50 = $1400)
8. Find your daily income target by dividing by the number of days you work each week. (Ex: $1,400 / 5 = $280)
9. Figure out your hourly income target by dividing that figure by how many hours you work each day (Ex: $280 / 8 = $35).?
10. Lastly, determine your to-the-minute rate by dividing by 60 (Ex: $35 / 60 = $.58). 

Now you start to ask yourself the tough questions.  If time is truly worth money, is what you’re doing this minute worth $.58?  Is five minutes of your current activity worth $2.91?  If an hour goes by, did you produce $35 of value?  If someone were watching, would they reach into their pocket and pay you $35 for what you just produced?  My hope is that by tying the clock to your pocketbook, you might be more aware of the time…and money…that slips by when wasted.

© 2008 Laura Stack.  Laura Stack is a personal productivity expert, author, and professional speaker who helps busy workers Leave the Office Earlier® with Maximum Results in Minimum Time®.  She is the president of The Productivity Pro®, Inc., a time management training firm specializing in productivity improvement in high-stress organizations.  Since 1992, Laura has presented keynotes and seminars on improving output, lowering stress, and saving time in today’s workplaces.  She is the bestselling author of three works published by Broadway Books: The Exhaustion Cure (2008), Find More Time (2006) and Leave the Office Earlier (2004).  Laura is a spokesperson for Microsoft, 3M, and Day-Timers®, Inc and has been featured on the CBS Early Show, CNN, and the New York Times. Her clients include Cisco Systems, Sunoco, KPMG, Nationwide, and 3M.  To have Laura speak at your next event, call 303-471-7401. 

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I’ve worked full-time from my home since 1992 and can’t imagine doing it any other way. Whether you work full time out of your home, occasionally telecommute, catch up on work in the evening, or run a household, you need some sort of dedicated “office” space in your home. Offices can serve as the family computer center, a place to do paperwork, and the occasional work-at-home office.

The first big question is where to locate your home office. Until the last few years, most builders didn’t catch on to the popularity of a built-in home office. If you have a computer, you probably need more than an antique writing desk in the living room. But if you only use your “office” to pay bills, write letters, and return phone calls, you can get away with a corner of the kitchen.

In most homes, extra space is difficult to come by, so you’ll need to get creative. I’ve seen people attempt to use a hallway, part of a bedroom, and even a closet. However, it’s difficult to work while children are running around you, you see your bed and think about napping, or when it’s too cramped. So I’ve always commandeered the “formal” dining room or living room—no one ever used it anyway—so it’s wasted space. Or perhaps you can steal the guest room.

Set yourself up for success. If you are going to be working from your home full-time, use this checklist to ensure you’re set up for success and maximum productivity:
• Where will you set up your home office?
• How will you modify the space to meet your needs?
• Can you lock the door? Can you lock the windows?
• Do you have sufficient lighting for that area?
• What office supplies you will need?
• Where are the electrical sockets located? Will you need additional power sources?
• Do you have enough storage space, such as a file cabinet, bookcases, credenza, closets, etc.?
• Where you will store back-up disks? Is the storage area safe from fire, flooding, etc.?
• If your home office is in the basement, and if the basement tends to get damp, do you have a de-humidifier?
• Do you have a personal computer that you already use at home? Will you need different software or upgrade the RAM? Will others need to stop using it for personal purposes?
• Do you have sufficient office equipment for your home office?
• Do you have a desk? Is it large enough to do office work?
• Do you need to have a modem installed on your home computer?
• Are there sufficient phone jacks in the area you’ve designated for your home office?
• Do you need a separate fax line, Internet line, and business line?
• Do you have voice mail or an answering machine?
• Do you have a smoke detector in your home office area?
• Do you have a fire extinguisher located hear your home office?

Regardless of whether you work full-time from home or a few times each month, your home office has some common requirements:

Furniture and storage
• A professional office desk and worktable
• Sturdy filing cabinets and drawer space for files. Invest in quality pieces that won’t fall apart.
• An ergonomically correct chair
• Bookcases or shelves to hold binders, trays, phone books, and reference manuals
• Stackable storage units that maximize your space vertically
• Large garbage can
• Supply caddy/accessories
• Stackable trays for “in” and “out” boxes
• A large, standing document sorter with slots for envelopes, fax paper, letterhead, etc., that fits under your desk for easy access.

Computer and peripherals
• A computer with lots of RAM, a large hard drive, and a DVD burner
• External back-up system (like www.godaddy.com or an external drive)
• DSL or cable or satellite Internet connection (no dial-up)
• High-security remote access to your offsite office computer (like www.GoToMyPC.com)
• USB hub such as Linksys 2.0, which has seven easy access ports to plug in your keyboard, iPod, PDA docking station, digital camera, USB flash drive, etc.

Software
• Spam filter, such as www.mcaffe.com
• Internet security and virus protection, such as www.norton.com
• Integrated contact management, such as ACT (my favorite) or Goldmine
• Fax within the computer, such as WinFax Pro
• Postage, such as www.stamps.com, Pitney Bowes Postage Meters, or www.dhl.com
• Accounting, such as QuickBooks Pro for business or Quicken for home only
• Email software, such as Microsoft Outlook
• Calendar, such as Microsoft Outlook, or a paper planner, such as www.daytimer.com/laurastack

Other technology and equipment for people who work at home
• A separate business phone line and fax line if you conduct business from home so your clients don’t get voice mail saying, “You’ve reached the Smith residence.”
• Wireless headset (I use GN Netcom plus receiver lift)
• Cell phone and PDA, which can be separate, but optimally a SmartPhone, which includes PDA and email access
• Pager or text pager (only if you’re required to carry one)
• High-quality laser printer, copy machine, and scanner (separately or all-in-one)
• Telephone with voice mail

Who knows…setting up a clean, organized, productive office space at home might allow you to consider more work-at-home or other home-based business opportunities.

© 2008 Laura Stack.  All rights reserved.  Laura Stack is a personal productivity expert, author, and professional speaker who helps busy workers Leave the Office Earlier® with Maximum Results in Minimum Time®.  She is the president of The Productivity Pro®, Inc., a time management training firm specializing in productivity improvement in high-stress organizations.  Since 1992, Laura has presented keynotes and seminars on improving output, lowering stress, and saving time in today’s workplaces.  She is the bestselling author of three works published by Broadway Books: The Exhaustion Cure (2008), Find More Time (2006) and Leave the Office Earlier (2004).  Laura is a spokesperson for Microsoft, 3M, and Day-Timers®, Inc and has been featured on the CBS Early Show, CNN, and the New York Times. Her clients include Cisco Systems, Sunoco, KPMG, Nationwide, and 3M.  To have Laura speak at your next event, call 303-471-7401. 

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Look around you, at work and home. Do you feel overjoyed or annoyed? Your environment affects your moods, attitudes, emotions, and energy level. What things sap your energy? You need to figure out ways to reduce, eliminate, or change your environment, so that it lifts you up rather than brings you down. These tidbits might help.

1. Clear the clutter. This requires effort and can be time-consuming, but the real reason people dread clearing clutter is emotional attachment — and because you no idea how to organize what you keep. Focus first on the areas of the home that are most important to your health and vitality, especially the bedroom.

2. Thin out the incoming stream. We all have a constant stream of mail and new possessions coming into our lives. If you don’t develop a regular habit of thinning it out as it walks through the door, it’ll pile up and zap your energy in no time.

3. Create space with the right layout and equipment.  If you get buried in clutter simply because you don’t know where to put things, learn to make creative use of the space you have — including vertical space.

4. Learn to live more simply. Instead of piling on new possessions until you just have to many, stop buying and take a hard look at what you have. Don’t equate material possessions with wealth or happiness, or — worse yet — self worth. 

5. Get rid of it. If you don’t learn how to get rid of things, you’ll be overwhelmed with your possessions. Unworn clothing, unwanted gifts, ancient paperwork — get rid of it.  If you haven’t used it in two years, ditch it.

6. Accentuate the positive. Separate the trash from the treasure. You don’t need to keep unwanted gifts simply because they’re gifts. And don’t be afraid to get rid of things that are dragging you down with emotional baggage: there’s a reason women burn photographs of their old boyfriends. 

7. Keep your office desk organized. No, a clean desk isn’t the sign of a simple mind: it’s the sign of an efficient, energetic mind! The more space there is, the less crowded your energy is. File rather than pile, and gather up those sticky notes!

8. Make a list of the home improvement projects you want to accomplish.  Nagging, incomplete projects not only create clutter, they also drag your mood down because another thing on your to-do list is staring you in the face. Dispatch routine tasks as soon as possible, and work to get the others off your calendar.

Clearing away clutter may seem like too much work, but you need to learn how to do it effectively for your own benefit. Once you cut down on the clutter in your life, you can move on to more productive levels of emotion and energy that put you ahead of the game.

© 2008 Laura Stack.  Laura Stack is a personal productivity expert, author, and professional speaker who helps busy workers Leave the Office Earlier® with Maximum Results in Minimum Time™. She is the president of The Productivity Pro®, Inc., a time management training firm specializing in productivity improvement in high-stress organizations.  Since 1992, Laura has presented keynotes and seminars on improving output, lowering stress, and saving time in today’s workplaces.  She is the bestselling author of three works published by Broadway Books: The Exhaustion Cure (2008), Find More Time (2006) and Leave the Office Earlier (2004).  Laura is a spokesperson for Microsoft, 3M, and Day-Timers®, Inc and has been featured on the CBS Early Show, CNN, and the New York Times. Her clients include Cisco Systems, Sunoco, KPMG, Nationwide, and 3M.  To have Laura speak at your next event, call 303-471-7401.  Visit www.TheProductivityPro.com to sign up for her free monthly productivity newsletter.

The workplace is full of energy drains, even for people who work at home. You get caught up in the routine, and lo and behold, hours have passed — and you’ve expended precious energy without much return. If this sounds like your work life, maybe you ought to try a few of these prescriptions.

1. Speak up when you have too much on your plate.  If you’re overworked, you’ll eventually hit a point where your personal energy falls to nil and nothing gets done. Do what you can to streamline your work processes, negotiate deadline extensions, simplify your tasks, and delegate in order to get things done.

2. Be unavailable. That’s right. When someone says, “Do you have a minute?” it’s okay to say, “Not right now.” You don’t have to be rude or impolite, but you do have to be honest. Get over wanting to feel needed, or you’ll have no end of work.

3. Prepare to have a great meeting.  As vehicles for communication, meetings can be extremely valuable mechanisms for disseminating vision, crafting strategic plans, and developing responses to challenges and opportunities — so be ready for them. The productivity of any meeting starts before the meeting begins.

4. Create a meeting code of conduct. Chaotic, over-long meetings can leave you frustrated and with minimal energy. The next time you attend a meeting, request the opportunity to lead an exercise aimed at making the meeting more productive and less draining.

5. Schedule your interruptions. If your co-workers are constantly interrupting your flow of work, set up regular check-in times, or block out interruptible times when you can sit down and talk — and make yourself unavailable otherwise.

6. Challenge the status quo. If you find yourself following energy-wasting company rules you see no purpose for, ask why. The answer may simply be “Because that’s the way we’ve always done it.” If a policy’s senseless and you make enough fuss about it, you may be able to change things. 

7. Argue for the tools and equipment you need. There’s no reason you should have to make do with a shared printer down the hall. If you argue intelligently for the tools you require to be more productive, you just might get them.

8. Become more efficient and get things done faster.  Find ways to handle repetitive tasks more quickly, and look at how you can eliminate redundancy in your workplace. If you can lower your standards or take shortcuts without hurting your work quality — well, what are you waiting for?

Take a little time to figure out how to keep your typical distractions at bay, and prevent even minor disruptions and disturbances. If you want maintain your energy and get things done, learn to create situations that are suited to concentrated, focused work without interruptions. You can do this by eliminating your excuses, building barriers, creating preventive assertions, and challenging your own thinking.

© 2008 Laura Stack.  Laura Stack is a personal productivity expert, author, and professional speaker who helps busy workers Leave the Office Earlier® with Maximum Results in Minimum Time™. She is the president of The Productivity Pro®, Inc., a time management training firm specializing in productivity improvement in high-stress organizations.  Since 1992, Laura has presented keynotes and seminars on improving output, lowering stress, and saving time in today’s workplaces.  She is the bestselling author of three works published by Broadway Books: The Exhaustion Cure (2008), Find More Time (2006) and Leave the Office Earlier (2004).  Laura is a spokesperson for Microsoft, 3M, and Day-Timers®, Inc and has been featured on the CBS Early Show, CNN, and the New York Times. Her clients include Cisco Systems, Sunoco, KPMG, Nationwide, and 3M.  To have Laura speak at your next event, call 303-471-7401.  Visit www.TheProductivityPro.com to sign up for her free monthly productivity newsletter.

Are you following your mission in life, or do you feel disconnected from what you want to do, believe in, and value? Are other people defining who you are? The more your time is organized around your values, the more energy you gain from your activities. Here are a few ideas that can help you stay “on flow.”

1. Figure out who you want to be and what you want to do.  Many of us ignore our dreams in the interest of providing for our families, or because we think we don’t deserve them — but all that does is leave us unhappy and listless. If this describes you, spend some time deciding what you want to do and be.

2. Take a good, long look at your career choices. Are you happy? Do you find your work fulfilling? Or are you just going through the motions to pay the bills? If the answer to the last question is “Yes,” reconsider your career.

3. Don’t equate material success with achieving dreams. Money can’t buy happiness. If you have everything you ever wanted and you’re still unhappy, maybe it’s because you’ve sacrificed your dreams for money. Reconsider your options, and figure out how you can make the world a better place.

4. Don’t let your obligations prevent you from pursuing your dreams. Your dreams didn’t cease to exist the day your kids were born. Sure, you’re here to encourage their dreams and help them attain them, but not to abandon yours in the meantime. Trying to achieve your own dreams sends your kids a healthy message about life and how to live it. 

5. Spend time on what’s most important to you. Put some metrics on your priorities. If family, health, and spirituality are important to you, don’t throw them over in favor of work. Balance your life to reflect what matters to you most.

6. Cultivate faith in a higher power. If you find solace in believing in God, Allah, or Prana, embrace that satisfaction; however, you don’t have to subscribe to a particular faith to be a spiritual person, or to benefit from a daily dose of energy from your spiritual practice of choice. 

7. Avoid people who shatter your dreams. Don’t try to be what people expect you to be, and never, ever listen to people who put down your dreams. Instead, believe in yourself and work hard to attain what you want out of life.

8. Claim your dream.  Stop being all talk and no action. Grab a piece of paper and a pen. Without overanalyzing, act straight from your gut and finish this sentence:  I am a ______________.  Then do what you need to to make that dream a reality.

The key to purpose and energy is flow. Anything short of flow, and you spend lots of energy being restless and irritated. When what you believe and what you do are in alignment, you’ll experience higher satisfaction in everyday life. Stop ignoring your dreams!

© 2008 Laura Stack.  Laura Stack is a personal productivity expert, author, and professional speaker who helps busy workers Leave the Office Earlier® with Maximum Results in Minimum Time™. She is the president of The Productivity Pro®, Inc., a time management training firm specializing in productivity improvement in high-stress organizations.  Since 1992, Laura has presented keynotes and seminars on improving output, lowering stress, and saving time in today’s workplaces.  She is the bestselling author of three works published by Broadway Books: The Exhaustion Cure (2008), Find More Time (2006) and Leave the Office Earlier (2004).  Laura is a spokesperson for Microsoft, 3M, and Day-Timers®, Inc and has been featured on the CBS Early Show, CNN, and the New York Times. Her clients include Cisco Systems, Sunoco, KPMG, Nationwide, and 3M.  To have Laura speak at your next event, call 303-471-7401.  Visit www.TheProductivityPro.com to sign up for her free monthly productivity newsletter.