I tell you now I have neither shed tears nor lost a moment’s sleep over this crash.  Even during the relatively long file restoration process (in the Age of Immediate, 7 hours is an eternity), I was somewhat inconvenienced – at best.

There’s a link to MOZY.com in the Resources section of the sidebar.  The best way to safeguard your information is to schedule automatic backups.  Although the first 2GB are free, they are quickly used up, especially if you include lots of music and image files.  To take full advantage of MOZY.com’s generosity, you may consider only backing up files that are “irreplaceable” or very hard to find again.

My New Year’s wish for you is that you’ll treat yourself to the gift of digital peace of mind and subscribe to an online backup service.   After all, productivity starts with not wasting your time in the first place.

Wishing you a productive and meaningful New year!

This is potentially the most impactful 1 hour and 16 minutes you will experience today, or even this week or month.  Hopefully, it will mold the way you consider the value of your time, and of time management.

Just click on this blog entry’s title to view the video.  Or, download the MP3 and listen to it at a better time.

I’d like to empower you by telling you that not procrastinating is entirely a matter of decision.  That is to say, procrastination is a result of indecision, more than anything else. Fear, fatigue, perfectionism, disorganization, poor time management, discomfort, and distractions make decision making even harder, but the bottom line is adopting a mind over matter attitude is your first step towards success.  You are in charge.

People do who don’t procrastinate are usually great at intellectualizers. They instinctively pave over excuses with practical solutions, and so quickly they don’t even know they’re doing it.   But, for many people this is a conscious process.  I don’t believe that people who don’t procrastinate don’t experience fear, fatigue, perfectionism, disorganization, discomfort, and distractions.  However, they don’t let these things stand in their way.

Coaching is a great vehicle for help in decision making. Rather than analyse your fears and challenges, coaching works with your self-awareness to develop decision-making steps that are right for you.

Until now!  I’m pretty sure the only easier way than this is chuck the papers in the trash and not bother at all.

And a big “thank you!” the nice folks at Shoeboxed, Evernote and Pixily for producing such awesome YouTube how-to’s.

Don’t know where to start or how to go about using Evernote in a way that fits your work?

ARoundTuit Organizing Virtual Services are available nation-wide to get you going!

Contact me today to find out why everyone is raving about Evernote!

Yes, even a productivity evangalist has her challenges. I dislike burocracy and paperwork as much as anyone else.  A small but growing pile taunted me at my desk. So I moved to another room.

Unfortunately, my conscience follows me everywhere. I know I have to fill out those forms.  And not just one page.  We’re talking projects.

This week, I decided to take the bull by the horns.  I used Toodledo to set goals and plan tasks related to a couple of projects that I’d been avoiding for months.

I also looked at my Vision Board and decided it was high time to put life and business goals in Toodledo, using the sub-goal and task capabilities to prioritize and organize my work ahead.

Let’s face it: with no destination and no map, we spend a lot of time wasting time.  I doubt there are very many accomplished people out there who got there without diligent planning.

Bottom line: I invested a little over one hour in planning, and it’s already paid off in spades.  I went from not knowing where to begin to having a plan, and taking daily steps towards my goals.

If you’ve not yet tried Toodledo, don’t worry.  You can start small  - with a goal as simple as “pay bills” or “follow-up with prospect ABC”.  Give me a call if you could use a hand making sense of that never-ending flurry of sticky-note to-do lists.  ARoundTuit Productivity Coaching is available nation wide.

MOST COMMON PAPERWORK WORK FLOW

This cartoon pretty much says it all for many people.  The more information we have coming our way, the harder it is to deal with.

That’s because the brain can only focus on a few things at a time.  Like your computer, when your brain is overloaded, it shuts down (i.e. give up making decisions and pile up papers to process “later”).

How did things get so bad?

Some information clutter occurs naturally when it simply comes in faster than we can process it.

However, many people simply don’t have a decision-making system in place for dealing with information influx.  It’s this paralysis that leads to paper-covered desks, credenzas and floors.  And lots of workplace stress.

When I work with clients suffering from information overload, I first teach them how determine information goals.

What is it good for?

Will I need it later?

Can I get it again easily if I need it?

The truth is that unless you are involved in an archiving, evidence or research-based profession, most of what crosses your desk or inbox can be disgarded.

Imagine that-

Call me if you need help.  These services are available nation wide via ARoundTuit Virtual Coaching.

Cartoon used with permission from Dave Walker and The Cartoon Blog.  Thanks, Dave!

Now, I don’t believe for a minute that a worker with inadequate productivity skills, but who is very happy, will get more done than a skilled, moderately happy worker.  Unhappy is another story: even highly skilled employees who are unhappy/dissatisfied, angry or depressed will likely not be highly productive.

So the big question is not whether or not happiness counts towards productivity, but how to bring about more happiness at work, and thereby increase productivity:

Minimize paper clutter by going digital. No business is too small to merit the convenience, financial savings and legal safeguards of digital document management.  Going “paperless” with the proper software, makes the “lost” and “misfiled” into words of the past.   Space, time, energy, environment and money are all to be gained.

“Cool-ify” the office environment. More and more business are providing lounge areas with snacks, flat-screen tv’s and Wii games for their hard working employees.  Casual socializing can be great for morale, when we’re not constantly sacrificing non-work time with their families and hobbies (builds resentment).   On-site goodies make that possible.

Give employees enough space, but not too much. Ideally, if you’re cramped, you can rent more space.  Otherwise, one way to do so is to allow occasional off-site work.  Paradoxically, too much space can be just as bad, since it creates an energy void in the office.

I could write a book about this, but I don’t have to, since Alexander already did.  It’s called “Happy Hour is 9-5″, and you can read it for free here.

Have a happy and productive day!

]]> http://aroundtuitorganizing.com/2009/08/the-ultimate-workplace-productivity-tool/feed/ 0 http://aroundtuitorganizing.com/2009/08/humor-increases-productivity-at-work/ http://aroundtuitorganizing.com/2009/08/humor-increases-productivity-at-work/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:50:50 +0000 organizerlauren http://aroundtuitorganizing.com/?p=1148

U.S. Employees Agree: A Good Laugh Can Increase Workplace Productivity

Two recent studies reveal humor may have a positive impact on the corporate bottom line. Researchers at Penn State University (PSU) and Silly Slammers are both confirming what employees have been saying for years: Laughter is essential to a healthy and productive workplace.

“It’s long been argued that a good sense of humor is a key communication tool that can bring about group cohesion and commitment, thus facilitating good performance,” says John J. Sosik, a management professor at PSU’s Great Valley graduate school and co-author of one study. “But until now, humor’s effects have largely been untested. This study gives us some evidence of these effects that, in the past, were just hunches.”

Sosik’s study is entitled “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Bottom Line,” and it examines the effects of leadership behavior and humor style on both individual and unit performance. “The pattern of results indicates that the style of humor exhibited by a leader had a positive impact on unit performance. These preliminary results suggest that how leaders influence their direct reports with respect to humor style may be one of a number of factors that contribute to bottom-line performance,” explains Sosik.

The study finds that managers who had adopted a “transformational” leadership style – a management style research has shown to promote the highest levels of employee and overall organizational performance – use humor most often. “This is an exciting finding,” Sosik says. “Humor juxtaposes two seemingly opposite concepts. As a result, employees are able to visualize concepts they might not have otherwise considered, thus creating new ideas and potentially an improved bottom line. In short, this suggests that a leader’s use of humor may help shape a creative and efficacious work force.”

A national workplace survey conducted by Gibson Greetings, a greeting-card company, and Silly Slammers, makers of hand-sized bean bags “with attitude,” has also demonstrated a link between humor and productivity. The survey was conducted by Wirthlin Worldwide, an international consumer research firm, and reveals a full 90 percent of participants believe humor in the workplace helps relieve stress. Further, 60 percent believe they would be more productive if their employers encouraged the use of humor.

“The results of this survey confirm what we’ve suspected all along, and that is people want to have fun while they’re working,” says Frank O’Connell, chairman, president and CEO of Gibson Greetings, Inc.

The results also show today’s employees could really use a good laugh. An overwhelming majority of survey participants describe their jobs as very to moderately stressful, with a mere 10 percent describing their jobs as completely stress-free. Men and women find their jobs equally stressful, but older participants (those over 55) report higher levels of stress than their younger counterparts. Finally, location seems to play a role in workplace tension, with employees in the Midwest reporting the highest job-related stress levels, followed by workers in South.

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Monday 8/24/09 and Tuesday 8/25/09 strips poke fun at productivity software.  Now back to work with you!