The Productivity Pro

Everyone has a productivity personality. It’s the collection of strengths, weaknesses, and day-to-day habits that come together to determine how a person works best. (C) Copyright 2010 Laura Stack. All rights reserved.

We all want to do our part to help the environment. But if you can give the Earth a break and increase your productivity at the same time, that’s a real no-brainer! Luckily, a lot of the things you can do to help sustain the planet can help sustain your productivity as well. (C) Copyright 2009 Laura Stack. All rights reserved.

Hopefully by now we all get it: this economy is challenging, things are changing, and everyone is looking for ways to do more with less. Unfortunately, as many companies struggle to adjust to this new reality, opportunities are being missed. Often we are so focused on stretching an organization’s financial and other resources that we become less effective in managing our human resources.   (C) Copyright 2009 Laura Stack. All rights reserved.

When it comes to time management, social media can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, it can help you make connections and expand your professional network faster than ever before. On the other hand, you can dump countless hours into social networking sites and see little return on the investment. Here are five things you can start doing right away to help you use social media efficiently and productively. (C) 2009 Laura Stack. www.TheProductivityPro.com

I asked readers to fill in the blank on our last monthly survey and received some great responses. There were tons of interesting answers, but it didn’t take long to start seeing some patterns. (C) 2009 Laura Stack. www.TheProductivityPro.com

One of the trickiest parts of leadership is finding a way to strike a balance between your employees as subordinates and your employees as real, live people.   Managing relationships with the people you work with (and for) is as important to your everyday productivity as it is to your career.   (C) 2009 Laura Stack.  www.TheProductivityPro.com

Technology has given us so many options when it comes to keeping track of our to-do lists—Smartphones, web-based applications, desktop applications, PDAs—but figuring out the best system for you can be a real challenge (and a frustrating one at that).   Interestingly enough, even with all the technology out there, informal research (mine and others’) still shows that when push comes to shove, most people still fall back on good old-fashioned paper.  In fact, a lifehack.org survey shows that not only do most people use a paper to-do list, but that paper is more than twice as popular as any other method listed!   Why is that?   Because we’re human. Listen on... (C) 2009 Laura Stack.  www.TheProductivityPro.com

Personal productivity is one thing. But once you take on leadership responsibilities, productivity is a whole new ball game. Suddenly it is no longer just a matter of being the best you can be, but of bringing out the best in those around you. This can be hard! Priorities compete. Personalities conflict. And let’s face it: some folks just won’t always be as committed as you are to putting in a productive day’s work – bad days happen (even to the best of us).   So how do you go about creating a productive team environment that contributes not only to individual productivity, but also to that of the group as a whole?

We’ve all been there. There’s mail piled up on the corner of your desk. You have 37 unread e-mails. The phone is ringing (not that phone – the other phone). And you’ll be lucky if you can get through three of the fifteen items on your to-do list.   Oh – and you have four hours of meetings ahead of you.   It didn’t used to be this way. The world has changed in the last decade or so. Has your approach to time management changed with it?   If you find yourself stressed out and frustrated every time you try to hunker down and take control of your time, there’s a good chance that’s because you need a new way to think about time management. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to force yourself to work within a system that just isn’t compatible with the pace of your day or the nature of your work.  Just like electronic organizers are perfect for some and others swear by paper planners, even the best time management system will fail if it doesn’t jive with the way you get through each day.    If you’re looking for a productivity system that is compatible with real life, consider 4-A Time Management. By focusing on four key elements of productivity you can create a flexible, customized productivity strategy that is compatible with the fast paced demands of today.   (C) 2009 Laura Stack.  www.TheProductivityPro.com

Times are tough.    That means businesses everywhere are forced to do more with less.  Budgets are being cut.  Headcounts are being reduced.  In many offices across the country, the only thing that isn’t being reduced is the workload.   It all comes down to finding ways to do more with less – more work with fewer people, bigger projects on smaller budgets.   Just remember that, historically, great opportunities have been found in times of great challenge and hardship.  Now, as organizations and as individuals, we all have a (hopefully!) once in a lifetime opportunity to look a global financial crisis in the face and excel in spite of it.   So how do we survive and thrive in an economy that bites back?  It’s time to take the gloves off and get lean and mean in 2009.   (C) 2009 Laura Stack. www.TheProductivityPro.com

The holidays are over, the snow doesn’t seem so pretty anymore, and we’re all ready to see some sunshine again.  This is the time of year when even on those really dreary days it’s important to remember that spring is right around the corner.  If you aren’t careful, it is much too easy to end up in a late winter slump, which can cause good sprits and productivity to go right down the drain.   Take heart!  Long days and beautiful weather will be here again before we know it.  And in the meantime, there’s plenty we can do to get the most out of short winter days and long winter nights.   Listen...   (C) 2009 Laura Stack http://www.TheProductivityPro.com

Let’s forget about 9:00 to 5:00 for a minute. We spend lots of energy making sure that we are efficient and productive during the workday. But what about AFTER the workday? Do you find yourself keeping your nose to the grindstone and working diligently throughout the day only to have it all unravel when you step through the door at home? (C) 2009 Laura Stack.  All rights reserved.  www.TheProductivityPro.com

Pretty much anybody you ask will tell you they’re pressed for time. There just aren’t enough hours to get it all done, yadda yadda yadda.  So we prioritize, streamline, and simplify.  You can improve your efficiency until you’re blue in the face, not to mention very tightly wound, but you still aren’t addressing one of the biggest time and energy wasters in your day: incoming information.  As my 12-year-old daughter, Meagan, would text on her phone: “TMI” (translation: Too Much Information).   If the 21st century has brought us anything, it is WAY too much information. You can watch several channels full of cable news 24 hours a day. You can surf the internet on any topic until you can’t see straight. Most people could heat their home with the amount of junk mail they receive on a continuous basis.  Imagine the time and productivity lost just sorting though it all!   So why not join me and put yourself on a low-information diet? Make this the year that you say “NO MORE!” to the endless onslaught of time-wasting, productivity-eating, stress-inducing STUFF coming at you.   Listen below for a few ideas to get you started.   www.TheProductivityPro.com

To succeed and keep their doors open, companies must make more money but spend less money and create greater results with fewer resources. You could attempt to cut salaries, benefits, staff, costs, or the quality of your products—all poor options. A better choice? Increase employee productivity. If you have 10 people, and you can get them to improve their productivity by 10%, you just effectively added another staff person without increasing salary expense—a much more attractive response.  To do this, your employees need your help.

Like it or not, social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are here to stay – and it isn’t just kid stuff anymore.  In fact, businesses and individuals worldwide keep finding interesting ways to use social networks and other interactive online media to do some pretty amazing things – from building their brands to getting to know their customers. How do you keep it from sabotaging your productivity?