Print this articleThis weekend take a vacation at home. Go visit a site, destination, or other special place that you would usually wait to see until you have visitors from out of town. And, think of the places that people for other states or countries travel to that is close you – those are places I'm talking about.
This weekend we are going to see fireworks at nearby Longwood Gardens. Some of the friends we're taking live in our town and haven't been to Longwood in the last decade or more. Yet, when we're there we hear as many foreign language speakers as we do English speakers. That means that people from around the world make Longwood Gardens their destination and make the effort to travel to it. It's a big deal. And, it's a 20 minute drive for us.
Shelly always waits for her sister to visit to go to her favorite restaurant, Teca. Her boyfriend could give her a great surprise by taking her there this weekend (or make the reservation this weekend and plan for a few weeks down the road!) What a great way to delight someone!
What little vacation can you take close to home this weekend?
The way to make sure that you do the things that are really impactful is to put them on your calendar. Steven Covey is the famous author of The 7 Habits Series of books and he makes this point succinctly in the quote above. When you are scheduled for the things that are really important and let the less important thing take only the 'extra' time you have, you are on the road to feeling in control, productive, and being successful.
The opposite of scheduling your priorities is letting other people take your time, reacting to the emergency of the moment (found when you checked your email no doubt), and loosing site of what you're responsible to do. This usually is accompanied by stress, overwhelm, and working overtime.
Kim has an appointment with her assistant every morning at 8:15am without fail. They look at the day ahead and coordinate the things that should be done and must be done. They look at the days ahead and begin preparation for meetings and projects due soon. By scheduling this appointment every morning Kim & Allen (the assistant) stay on top of everything and are usually calm, cool, and collected.
Back in my days at Hewlett-Packard a department head, Tom, would take time at the end of the week to write a quick list of accomplishments. He had his List Making on his calendar and rarely missed those 15 minutes with his career planning. That list allowed him to sell himself into a number of positions that advanced his career quickly. His priority to keep his career front & center by making an appointment with himself paid big dividends.
What are you allowing to take over your schedule? What would you schedule and protect to reach the ends your have as goals?
Using address labels and address stamps is a quick, inexpensive, and clever way to streamline completing forms.
When handed the clipboard to update his information at the doctors' office Joe walked to a seat and a minute later was back at the welcome desk. The receptionist looked up and said, "Back already?" "Yep, ready to go," replied Joe. "How'd you do that so fast?" the receptionist asked. "My secret weapon," said Joe with a grin.
Joe completed the contact information by opening his wallet, taking out a self-stick address label, and applying it to the form. That move took a few seconds. Then Joe concentrated on the questions on the form completing them swiftly and he jumped ahead of the other 3 people who were printing their name, address, zip, etc. with pen. The bonus to Joe's address label trick was that the label is easy to read so they get his information easily & correctly!
Whether you're completing a form at the doctors' office, addressing an envelope, or filling in almost any other type of form, use address labels and stamps! Carry a few labels in your wallet. And, for goodness sake, do not worry about the address information being right on the address line! Everyone will appreciate the clear print of address labels. You might want to get a set made that includes your telephone number to have even more complete information with you in a snap.
In his monthly newsletter, Balancing Act®, Alan Weiss writes succinctly about being organized and going overboard with order. Here is his article in full:
Regimen or compulsion?
My bias is that we need to organize parts of our lives that are important. This varies in its significance.
I suppose if someone knows where to find something quickly, that's the point, no matter how bad the clutter may appear to an observer But I don't want my surgeon asking no one in particular, "Where did I leave that clamp?"
Creating a regimen around an exercise schedule, or work responsibilities, or family obligations, or civic and social commitments, enables most people to be more efficient and, ironically enough, more flexible. (In common parlance: multi-tasking.)
But an excessive regimen can become a compulsion, which is the height of inflexibility and at the margins of a behavioral disorder. (OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder, refers to an obsession with an idea and a compulsion about behavior.)
I've met people who have decided to remove all fats from their foods, to the extent that they concoct strange replacements, the pursuit consumes their social lives, and, to me, they look far more unhealthy than if they allowed a moderate amount of fat to enter their systems.
Exercise is a great regimen, for mind and body, but the people I see running in rain, snow, fog, and other hazardous conditions I think are more compulsive than smart. Wouldn't a treadmill suffice for that day? And would your health be drastically affected if you skipped one day? I work out three times a week with a personal trainer, but I don't beat myself up when I can't get there because of other commitments. Nor do I compensate for it through some forced exercise. (The trainer beats me up enough for the both of us.)
We've seen people whose desks are beyond orderly—the pencils must be the same length and aligned perfectly, the phone pad squared against the phone. We recognize that as "over the edge." But there are also subtle routines which also form compulsions which we too easily overlook.
An orderly life is sensible, but a compulsive one is not. Even "order" makes little sense when you sacrifice value for the sake of order. I've seen restrictions placed on guests, pets, and even children to the extent that I wonder why the guests, pets, and children were included to begin with. (I knew a woman so fastidious about her Mercedes that her husband, who bought the care for her, was forbidden to drive it.)
In many cases, I love my ducks in a row. But there are times when I just run through the bushes, because it seems like fun. And, interestingly enough, the ducks on my pond have yet to line themselves up in a row.
©2008 Alan Weiss
Do you move documents from email attachments to your folders regularly? If so, I have a streamlined operation to do this for you. As often happens, I learned something accidentally today and I love the shortcut. So here it is for you.
When you have documents to move from an email attachment to a folder there are three options.
1 – You right click on the attached document and on 'save as' in the box that opens. Then you select the folder to store it and hit return.
2 – Some of us double click on the document, pdf or other type of attachment to open it with the related application. Then we File Save from the original program. Then we select the folder to store it and hit return. This is by far the longest route to storing attachments.
3 – You can drag and drop an attachment to a folder in an explore window. (This is the shortcut) note: This operation uses an explore window, not internet explorer.
With the email with the attached document open, open explore. The quickest way I know to open an explore window is hold down the windows key (also labeled start key on some keyboards) and tap the E key.
Left click – hold the left mouse button down – over the document(s) you want to move.
Drag and drop the document in the folder where you want to place the document.
Release the left mouse button and viola – it's done.
The picture below shows this operation. Double click on it to see a full-screen version.
Philadelphia Magazine has an annual issue recognizing excellence among local entities. This year Organizers Inc., the parent company of the Productivity Café is honored as The Best Of. Thank you to those who nominated me and those who put us at the top of the charts. Read about us on page 174.
During a week at a beach house we broke out a couple of games that we hadn't played in years. Cribbage, putting a puzzle together, and speed Uno filled the time and allowed us to create some good and loud memories. We laughed. We 'trash talked' the other players. We played for prizes.
There's a good reason so many games have become classics â they're fun, playing them distracts and entertains the players, many games can be enjoyed by a broad range of ages, and they're fun (I know I said that already⦠you might have forgotten how fun they areâ¦)
This weekend pull out a game that you have shelved for years, persuade some of your friends to 'play along', and enjoy making new memories together.
Terry picked up the phone and quickly dialed the Private Client Services rep, Mark, and got his 
voicemail. Terry's message was brief and direct – "This is Terry Boyd returning your call. I appreciate your quick response to my request for those documents. They arrived on Monday. Thank you for offering to explore how you could help me in my role as trustee. I have been using XXX Services for over 20 years and will be staying with them. I am not a prospect or future client. Thanks Again." Click
Did Terry do Mark a favor?
Was Terry short or abrupt?
If Terry is a man would you answer the question above differently than if Terry is a woman?
If it were you leaving that message how many times or ways would you say "Good Bye?" Thanks again, have a good week, keep up the good work, good bye?
Tactfully and clearly stating your full and true message in a direct manner is a skill that will help you be productive. Your productivity is aided by curtailing endless pursuits by customer service people, sales people, or people who will ask you to do something you don't want to or won't do.
Agree?
Disagree?
Where could use such direct, firm, and truthful communication?
David Allen advocates the weekly review - and he's had a book on the NYT best seller list for a couple of years. However, for some of us the Hagerty Review might be a better way to review our work and plan for future success.
The Hagerty Review has us stop and look at what's going on in our work and realm of responsibilities. Then we summarize it in a report. This report is sent to our manager and retained, of course, for our own reference. The very slick (and smart) thing about sending it to our manager is that it involves him or her in our success while keeping us on our path to success.
Since we at the Productivity Cafe like to be streamlined and standardized like lean operations of Toyota manufacturing, there is a standard report form to the Hagerty Weekly Review. Here are the elements of the report.
- Progress I made this week.
- Professional goals involved in my work this week.
- Obstacles I encountered this week and how I over came them.
- I could use help from [insert manager's name] to:
- Priorities for next week (top 3-5)
- A co-worker or someone who positively impacted my work this week
That's it. Simple and to the point the Hagerty Review will help you and your manager keep on track. Create a document with just these categories. Name it: My Weekly Review Blank Form. Complete it during your CEO time each Friday. Send it to your boss, save a copy, review it on Monday and when you're writing your annual review.
From a psychological motivation point of view, simply committing to this summary each week will heighten your awareness of how you're spending your time and the results you're moving toward or achieving. You will stay on course toward the goals you've set because you keep your eye on them. Yes, it is still difficult to stop and take stock of your activities. Yet, the payoff is manyfold. When will you have your next CEO time and try the Hagerty Review?
Do you recognize the time that you're motoring along 'doing your job' and you lose track of time because you're enjoying it so much? You're using your skills, knowledge and experience to make things happen. You clearly see the path that you're on and the destination you're moving toward with a project, thought, communication or other activity. You forget to eat until someone invites you to join them for lunch. You use your dnd (do not disturb) button on your phone and enjoy gaining momentum as you get in the zone of the thing that your mind is doing.
What part of your job causes this focus and pleasure?
How can you do more of that?
This an especially pressing question if you don't enjoy the whole 'package' of going to work. Focus on those things that are easy to get wrapped up doing and do one of two things, or do both. Design an evolution of your job to include more of the things you passionately enjoy. Propose it to your manager. NOTE: when presenting it to your manager focus on what the benefit are for him, the team, and the company. Sure, this is your dream job, or moving toward your dream job, but that should be a small justification for your proposal to her.
Second, look around your company and other companies for positions that 'require' more of what your favorite functions are. If you like leadership positions such as project management or meeting facilitation, look for positions that have a lot of that activity.
If it's individual contribution that makes you smile more when you're at work. Define that and how you can find more of it - in your job, altered responsibilities, or new responsibilities.
There is no reason to stay in a job you don't enjoy entirely for a length of time. It might be required that you endure this imbalance of good parts and bad parts. It's up to you to develop what you're doing and what you'll do in the future to be more of the good parts. Imagine waking up and anticipating going to work because of the things you'll accomplish and activities you'll engage in. That'll be productive for everyone. Go for it!