There’s a story of two travelers cruising on the highway:

The passenger says, “I think we’re lost.”

The driver replies, “We are lost, but we’re making great time!”

Productivity is not about doing things faster.  It’s about choosing the right actions (or inactions, sometimes!) to get you where you want to go.  Obviously, the first step is trip planning is to know your destination.

I love helping people get clear on their big picture, by asking how they can be most effective in the different roles they play, at work and at home.  By taking on the habit of exploring possible actions and outcomes, you will be on track to stop chasing after your life, and start leading it.  Imagine that!

If you don’t have these clear in your mind, then just going faster wont help.  You’ll still feel like you’re spinning your wheels.  But, once you have a better sense of the big picture, getting organized and efficient will definitely get you where you want to be sooner.

As a productivity coach, I specialize in helping you get clarity on your own vision, and work together with you to make it happen.  Sound like a plan?  You are one click away from learning more about Productivity That Works.  Go for it!

I’ve been inspired by a long-term relationship into which I have fallen head-first – with an unmerciful winter cold.  Since the start of the month, there has hardly been a night where I haven’t felt like I’m not suffocating from congestion or that I could not actually cough up my toes.  I’ve tried medication, soup, tea, vaporizers and “rest” (but who can rest like this?).  I’m just plain weary.  You get the point – I know you’ve been there yourself.

All this is not enough to cancel everything and stay in bed, yet it is enough to have me staring like a deer into headlights at my computer screen, as it taunts me for another creative endeavor.  Not a chance.

Most people have a time of day during which their energy and creativity run slightly lower.  That’s the best time for routine work and “tidying up” projects.  Going on my fourth week of this seemingly interminable state, what can I do to make the most of my low energy time?

1. Take care of simple routine work that may have been placed on the back burner back when I was shooting creativity fireworks.  Renewed professional associations and subscriptions.  Bought a new printer online.

2. Delegate anything I can to keep the ball rolling. This can mean hiring a virtual assistant to keep my routine admin up to date, or to take care of the holiday mailing which, unfortunately, seems moot by now (mea culpa).

3.  Simply forget about unessential tasks that won’t be delegated. I can’t hire a concierge service to do all the routine personal tasks that normally leave me only slightly dizzy.  The house won’t look spic and spam, we’ll eat rotisserie chicken and bagged salad for as long as it takes, the kids will watch more movies than usual (they won’t mind) and “keep in touch” meetings are whittled down to a bare minimum.

4. Use an out of office message for part of the day, even every day.  Consolidate return correspondence into a time when I’m not seeing double.

With this combination of delegation and self-preservation, my productivity should maintain a forward-moving momentum without sacrificing sanity or well-being.  Do you have a productivity secret?  Please share it with us in the comment space below!

Wishing you healthy, productive and meaningful holidays!

Here’s a great Happiness at Work clip brought to you by REI. Watch and learn!

True happiness is created from the inside-out, in the form of attitude.  Here are some simple actions you can take to increase your workplace happiness quotient by taking charge of how you feel:

1. Start the day smiling

I remember taking the bus to work, years ago in Boston.  A typical dark and wet winter morning, I rode to work standing in the aisle.  A woman sitting in front of me started to peel an orange, and the scent lifted me out of my dismal routine commute.  I smiled and commented how wonderful her orange smelled.  She smiled, and so did the people next to her, in agreement.  All of a sudden, several of us were smiling – over an orange!

Moral of the story: it takes so little to uplift yourself and others. Make a habit out of smiling in the morning, and you set the bar for a positive outlook all day!

2. Stop to breathe

Taking short, regular breaks in work has been clinically proven to improve memory, accuracy, and overall productivity.

You know when you’re overwhelmed, because you misplace items more, get sidetracked more easily, and forget important events.  Ideally, we would all learn to recognize the point before overwhelm. However, even after that point is soon enough to stop and recenter ourselves.

A good way to do this at your desk is by closing your eyes, and taking a 15-30 second break to relax your neck, back and arms, and focus on nothing but that.  You’ll open your eyes surprisingly refreshed, and certainly not far behind in your work.

3. Laugh, or die

If you live in society, if you have job, friends and a family, if you have a body and a mind, you will have challenges and stress.  What allows happy people to rise above it all is that they don’t allow challenges don’t define their lives and who they are.

Laughter is a tremendously powerful mood-elevator, and an essential element of happiness and productivity.  Practically speaking,  make sure you have people around you with whom you can laugh.  Make a daily habit of taking a break or having lunch with them.  The ripple effect of this happiness extends far beyond the interaction itself, into your productivity and that of the people you interact with.

Wishing you a meaningful, productive and HAPPY day!

What comes to mind when you hear “productivity”?

My best information comes from my clients, and people I speak to casually about my work.  The words “multitasking”, “information overload”,  ”time management”, and “clutter” are all parts of a recurring theme.  Too much coming in, need to increase what goes out.  This, is true.  However, the elements of productivity work together in a way you may not have imagined.

What does all this have to do with cellular biology?

Productivity is like a cell, with complex inter-dependent workings inside.  Both are influenced by a broad range of  internal and external conditions that affect their ability to function.   For an individual, this could be anything from being uncomfortable with the office temperature, to living with ADHD.  In a company, productivity can be enhanced with tools and training, but is also largely a product of culture and morale.

Attention

There are an unlimited number of perfectly common conditions, like a backache or a persistent cough, that affect our ability to attend.  In addition, and far more common that you may realize are chronic conditions such as ADD and learning disabilities, not to mention chronic pain, mild to moderate depression and so forth.  In all cases, it is so important know ourselves and manage whatever conditions we must live with, in order to be able attend to work and, most importantly, life.

Communication

Whether or not, and how we convey information can make or break our productivity. Workplace communication includes detailed, up-to-date job descriptions, and thoughtful directives.  It also includes timely praise and recognition for a job well done.  People may be intelligent, trustworthy and talented, but that does not make them mind-readers!

Organization

Organization is what I call an adapted element of productivity.  There is no “right” or “wrong” way to be organized, although there are some unavoidable basics like using a planner and to-do lists.  Its easy to become desperately frustrated with getting organized. This is because it is human nature to jump to the latest fad, or to whatever seems to work for someone else. The best way to get organized?  Start by taking a close, honest look at your needs versus the functionality of your space and systems.

Motivation

“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink”.  Most people who have the choice will work for a combination of money, meaning and recognition.  Take away any of those motivators, and you may end up with employee who shows up because he or she *has* to.  Needless to say, your most productive employees are inevitably those whose motivation needs are being met.

Productivity Coaching is the cornerstone of ARoundTuit’s Services that Work. Just contact me to arrange a telephone consultation, and find out how we can make productivity work for you.

I also welcome your comments and ideas about these productivity topics.  Please share them in the space below!

As I was skimming the web for inspiration this morning, I was reminded of what I fondly refer to as “the most underrated productivity tool of all”: Happiness.  Most productivity blogs address management of everything from post-its to projects.  Time, paper, email, meetings…  Happiness goes, well, sadly overlooked.

The bottom line of any productivity system is that the users have to be motivated to implement.  And, nothing, but nothing motivates most people like relationship.

Google seems to have cornered the market on workplace happiness.   Check out all the measures (including culture) in place to value creativity and career satisfaction.

Anyone here ever heard of Alexander Kjerulf?  If not, you’ll want to.  He’s made a business out of helping people be happy at work.  Here’s Alex’s workplace productivity theory (click here to read the full article):

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!

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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Will Google Voice be the end of voice mail as we know it?  No more waiting to be in a quiet place, or to have a pen that works to write down messages?  No more struggling to catch just the key information?

Google Voice is the planned upgrade from www.grandcentral.com – Google’s one-stop-shop for Google technology on your mobile phone.  According to the Google Voice website, the app will be available shortly.  If you want to be notified of it’s arrival, just enter your e-mail address on the Google Voice Invite Page.

In the meantime, here’s the article You Have No New Messages – Ever by Slate.com’s Farhad Manjoo, where Manjoo talks about the declining usefulness of voicemail in a world of expanding communication options, at the same time as a desperate need of simplification.

And here’s some Google Voice ammo from the NY Times, “You’ve Got Voicemail, But Do You Care?” about how voice mail has lost it’s faithful following to e-mail, text messaging, and even social media sites like Facebook.

So my question is, with the new technology, and in the interest of increasing office productivity and simplifying communication, are we ready to do away with voice mail?

The jury is still out on that one, probably.  What do you think?  Please comment!