Laura Stack: The Productivity Pro (R)

Leave the Office Earlier
a news"E"letter from The Productivity Pro - Laura Stack

Number 78 :: November 2005

Home :: Archive

In This Issue ::
Message from Laura: New book available on Amazon!
Feature Article: Take Shortcuts to Get Common Tasks Done More Quickly
Laura in the News
Time Tips and Traps
Letters to the Editor
Hot Links
Words of Wisdom
Featured Educational Resource: Three Powerful Programs
Where in the World is Laura?
Subscribe
Copyright & Reprint Information
Contact Laura

In Leave the Office Earlier, Leave the Office EarlierLaura shows you how you CAN get more done than you ever thought possible and still get home to your real life sooner.

The New York Times calls Leave the Office Earlier, "...the best of the bunch."

The Library Journal, New York, NY named Leave the Office Earlier one of the "Best Business Books 2004"...

Order this indispensable tool for the overworked and time challenged at Amazon.com and receive 20% off its retail price.

More of The Productivity Pro's Resources


Laura in the News

Finding a balance: Flexible work hours also appealing to men
Seattle Times - United States
... say no? It is, according to Laura Stack, president of The Productivity Pro, an international consulting firm based in Denver. "Be ...

WORK WEEK: E-mail overload - Winning the battle
9NEWS.com - Denver,CO,USA
Laura Stack, a productivity pro and author of Leave the Office Earlier, has developed a system to manage the process of dealing with e-mail. ...


Words of Wisdom

"Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." — Arthur Godfrey

"The pursuit of excellence is gratifying and healthy; the pursuit of perfection is frustrating, neurotic, and a terrible waste of time." — Anonymous

"Perhaps Hell is nothing more than an enormous conference of those who, with little or nothing to say, take an eternity to say it." — Dudley C. Stone


Where in the World
is Laura?

November
15::Denver, CO
17::Houston, TX
18 - 22::Phoenix, AZ
22 - 25::tbd, TBD
29::Denver, CO

December
1::MA, Boston
2::Denver, CO
5::Denver, CO
7::Las Vegas, NV
8::Las Vegas, NV
9 - 14::Anaheim, CA
24 - 31::Denver, CO

2006
January

4 - 5::Indianapolis, IN
5 - 8::Tucson, AZ
18::Highlands Ranch, CO
19::Denver, CO
25::Denver, CO
26::Denver, CO
27::Austin, TX

February
6::Denver, CO
8 - 12::Arlington, VA
16::Denver, CA
27 - 28::Scottsdale, AZ

March
8::Denver, CO
25 - 30::FL, Orlando
27::Orlando, FL

April
2 - 5::Dallas, TX
3::Scottsdale, AZ
18::Denver, CO

May
4::CO, Denver
9::Columbus, OH
12 - 13::San Antonio, TX
17::Pittsburgh, PA
23::Scottsdale, AZ
23::NY, Albany
24 - 25::NY, Albany

Visit Laura's Calendar On-line for her complete availability.


Subscription Information

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Contact Laura:
Phone: 303-471-7401
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.TheProductivityPro.com
Feature Article

Take Shortcuts to Get Common Tasks Done More Quickly

Contrary to popular belief, you don't need more hours in the day—but you'd have more time if you got things done more quickly. Like you, I'm faced with too many things to do and not enough time to do them. So I've tried a lot of ways to streamline and simplify my life. Some of these shortcuts haven't worked, like trying to put on mascara on the way to church on Sunday morning while my husband (it seems) hits every pothole in the road. But many work well.

Here are some of my favorite tried-and-true shortcuts to help you shave time off tasks without skimping on quality results:

Buy java pods. It's no secret that I love coffee. But I hate preparing the coffee. Grinding it. Measuring it. Pouring water. Cleaning the pot. What a pain! And buying coffee at Starbucks every day gets expensive, money I'd rather be spending on other services. I recently discovered, quite by accident, the Melitta One:One. I was surfing the Internet for a Christmas present for my husband and ended up buying this for myself instead. This nifty little appliance uses "pods" that I pop in. Pre-measured, pre-ground, clean. The water reserve holds enough for my entire morning coffee dose. Then I just toss the entire pod and it's ready for the next day.

Keep an ongoing shopping list. I get a supply of shopping list pads with a magnet on the top and bottom, so it doesn't move around. Every time I think of something I need and it's not already on my master chart, it goes on the list. My family members also know: "If it's not on the list, it doesn't exist." Nice little rhyming phrase even a ten-year old can remember. Whoever uses the last of anything is responsible for checking the list and writing it down.

Time stamp your photos. If your camera has a built-in time stamp feature, use it! Then you won't forget the date of the occasion when you go to organize them. If you don't have this feature, make sure your photo envelope or computer file has the date written somewhere on it. On the top of the envelope, I jot down the subjects, occasion, or activities, which is much easier than trying to remember the details later. If I have a minute in the store, I take it one step further and open the envelope and immediately toss any unflattering, unclear, or boring pictures.

Cut down on cleaning. You're in the shower anyway, right? You'd have to get in the shower and run the water to clean it anyway, right? So keep cleaner within easy reach and spray the shower and glass while you're getting out of it! This saves you time when it's time to clean the bathroom. Wipe the bathroom sink after each use. If you're inclined to make the bed, pull up the quilt before you get out of it. Use throw rugs with rubber backs in heavy traffic areas. Change filters on the heating/cooling system frequently to cut down on the amount of house dust.

Don't read the daily newspaper. I use Slate.com to get a daily news update in my email each day. I also like to do a quick scan of CNN.com, I read the Wall Street Journal's "What's News" section, and glance at AssignmentEditor.com, which allows you to access any newspaper in the country. For news, I watch the 30-minute roundup on Fox News. This takes less time in your day than reading the daily paper and keeps you in tune with world events.

Take shortcuts in the kitchen. If you're cooking a nice dinner, it doesn't take much extra work to make extra. Double (or triple) the ingredients and cook a large batch. Freeze some for a future dinner or freeze one portion in individual freezer bags if you're single or only cooking for two. While you're preparing your family's plates, put a portion into a plastic container with a lid so you can take it to work tomorrow. Then, when it's time for lunch, you simply pop it in the microwave and enjoy a hot, nourishing lunch, requiring no additional time on your part. And it saves time driving to fast food restaurants, not to mention extra pounds! (You can save the extra pounds for eating cookies.) The next time you bake, put a cookie sheet covered with dough balls in the freezer. The next day, transfer them to a freezer bag. When the kids come home from school or your wife is craving them, you can pop a few into the oven and have fresh, hot cookies any time! Or you could buy chicken and beef in bulk, marinate it, grill, slice, and freeze it in individual portions. When you get home from work, you can quickly whip up stir-fry, enchiladas, or pasta with vegetables. It might even be wise to invest in a deep freezer so you can buy more when you shop and keep more meals in stock.

Share chauffeur duties. When my daughter played in soccer tournaments, we spent hours driving to practices, games, tournaments, and camps. Families all arrived at once, in our separate minivans and SUVs, a single girl would climb out, we'd watch the game, and then all drive home, caravan style. Wait a minute…what's wrong with this picture? I asked one family to split driving duties. We would pick up and drive to practice, and they would pick up from practice and drive home. That shortcut helped tremendously. We alternated for the games. If it wasn't one parent's turn to drive, but she wanted to see the game anyway, she could relax in the back while the other parent played chauffeur. Our system saved time and gas money—and was a lot more fun.

Don't feel guilty about taking shortcuts! Yes, go ahead and buy pre-washed and pre-cut vegetables. Do you think you'll be more likely to eat a salad when you can toss clean, cut lettuce, carrots, slivered almonds, cheese crumbles, and dried cranberries in a bowl and throw in oil and vinegar? Give yourself permission to spend a couple of extra dollars, save a lot of time, and eat healthier.

Make it a productive day!


Hot Links

Annoyances sap productivity
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette - Fort Wayne,IN,USA
... Equipment. The Pittsburgh-area firm helps companies develop work spaces that maximize employee productivity and comfort levels. "It ...

New handheld devices released
Victorville Daily Press - Victorville,CA,USA
... Bluetooth included. It offers all the extra things that make PDAs vital equipment for business and personal productivity. It features ...

On the phone for hundreds of calls per day Annie Deck-Miller, Business First of Buffalo...


Ask the Expert

Dear Laura,

Here are a few more advantages I have found in going electronic with the Treo:

  • There is a view of appointments by week in Palm (it is very small, I'll give you that).
  • The QWERTY keyboard on my Treo is a fast way to enter notes compared to other methods (but I am with you, writing is faster; we really need electronic audio shorthand or better yet telepathy to handheld).
  • I have downloaded a voice recorder to my Treo with one-button touch controls. This solved my problem of note taking while driving, which I do a lot of. I can save the audio files and name them separately and sync them to my desktop.
  • I use www.efax.com so I can easily send faxes of files on my Treo through email to a fax number as a fax for someone who needs the communication in fax form.
  • I use www.copytalk.com, which allows me to call a number and dictate my mental and paper notes from a meeting. They convert it to type and email it to me. I save the file attached to the contact it ACT. Very nice way to keep detailed notes of clients meetings tied to the client and well organized, which is a good comfort measure in our litigious society.
  • My last and favorite benefit of the Palm is reminders. My paper calendar could not do that, and I would get busy and forget to look at it sometimes. I organize every day with calls, meetings and to-dos and put reminders on them. 5 min for a call, 1 hour for a 1 hour drive, 5 days for moms birthday card, etc. This really helps me keep from dropping thinks through the cracks. It is a real virtual assistant. Plus I use fewer sticky notes!!!
  • I keep and old PDA around for quick functional backup if my primary one breaks or is lost or stolen.

This is just the mobile side of it. When you add in the benefits of using a contact manager/CRM application like ACT! or Goldmine in your business, the benefits are huge. Once a contact is in, it's in, and it is carried through the sales pipeline and used for mailings and emails and phone calls and appointments etc. When converted to a client we use Laserapps to quick fill the client data into all the different applications needed in our business. Then there is the sales reporting!!! Priceless. We save everything electronically. All documents are scanned. When you have all emails, faxes, documents, notes, activities, stored electronically (and triple backed up) you are in high gear for production and keeping your finger on the pulse of your business. We have found the system lets us operate with less office staff. Think about this, hard drives are cheaper than filing cabinets! Another benefit. I can access all my electronic data from any of my multiple offices. Not practical with paper.

Have a great day!

T. Davis

From Laura: Temp, thanks for sharing all these great tips! I love hearing your ideas!


Featured Educational Resource

Three New Powerful Programs on Leadership, Sales and Inspirational Women at a Special Wholesale Offer!

Three New Powerful Programs on Leadership, Sales and Inspirational Women at a Special Wholesale Offer (includes Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, Connie Podesta, Mark Sanborn, Denis Waitley, Sheila Murray Bethel, Laura Stack, Brian Tracy and many more).

We're offering these three new releases at a very special introductory price! Each contains 14 CDs and a DVD, from the top speakers and trainers in the world - today for only $29.99 each (plus free shipping in the US and $15 International) or get the entire package of all three (42 CDs and 3 DVDs) for only $79 (plus free shipping in the US and $15 International).

Get all the details on these three essential success resources here...

Laura Stack: The Productivity Pro (r)
Laura Stack, MBA, CSP
Publisher
Message from Laura

Unbelievably, my newest book Find More Time: How to Get Things Done at Home, Organize Your Life, and Feel Great About It is already available at Amazon! Of course, the ship date isn't until May 9, 2006, but incredibly enough, they have put it on a pre-publication sale! You can order it for a little over ten bucks.

I also have a new audio CD out I co-authored with my mentor, Dianna Booher, CSP, CPAE, and Collette Carlson, also available at Amazon.


Laura''s Demonstration VideoView Laura's Demonstration Video

Time Tips and Traps

›› The reality of air travel these days is long waits, layovers and delayed flights. Instead of munching on the airport food or watching whatever is playing on the terminal televisions, you can squeeze in a workout. You can currently find air terminal health clubs in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami and Chicago. There are also many clubs and fitness facilities that are within a 5- to 30-minute cab ride from just about every airport in America. Most of those clubs have daily rates for those who don't have a club membership. You can find them at airportgyms.com.

-- Submitted by Suze Baez, www.suzebaez.com

(send your time tips to me at [email protected])

›› The PocketMod is a new way to stay organized. If you find PDAs too expensive and cumbersome and organizers too bulky and hard to carry around, this may just be the tool for you. It takes a regular 8.5"x11" piece of paper and turns it into a day planner. With the PocketMod, you can carry around the day's notes, keep them organized in any way you wish, and then easily transfer the notes to your PDA, spreadsheet, or planner. The PocketMod is a small book with guides on each page. These guides or templates, combined with a unique folding style, enable a normal piece of paper to become the ultimate note card. It is hard to describe just how incredibly useful the PocketMod is. It's best that you just dive in and create one at www.pocketmod.com.


Copyright & Reprint Information

© 2005 Laura Stack, MBA, CSP. All rights reserved.

Portions of this newsletter may be reprinted in your organization or association newsletter, provided the following credit line is present:

"Laura M. Stack, MBA, CSP, is "The Productivity PRO!"® and the author of Leave the Office Earlier. She presents keynotes and seminars on time management, information overload, and personal productivity. Contact Laura at 303-471-7401 or Laura@
TheProductivityPro.com
."