A holistic approach to increasing your get-up and go, from the productivity expert whose previous books showed people how to Find More Time and Leave the Office Earlier. If you want to be productive but are just too tired all the time, you need to read this book! Laura Stack combines invaluable insights and practical advice in this guide to becoming more energetic and more productive in every area of life. Stack describes the factors that contribute to low energy (the "energy bandits") and explains how to reduce their effects and build up or renew sources of positive force (with "energy boosters").
Find More Time. You can't add more hours to the day, but Laura will help you make the most of the time you have and get things done. Available now from Amazon.com.
Leave the Office Earlier, Laura shows you how you CAN get more done than you ever thought possible and still get home to your real life sooner.Available now from Amazon.com.
NEW! Streaming online learning library of Microsoft Outlook videos! Ten one-hour modules available for 2003 or 2007--includes detailed workbook with screen shots and step-by-step instructions!
Normally $39 each module. Special through December 2009: ALL TEN modules for $319. Use code ALLTEN in coupon code. Pick Outlook 2003 or 2007.
NEW Monthly Poll
Answers to last month's poll: What is the one thing you want to do and haven't been able to get to it? We received 5 responses:
1. Get a grip on paperwork.
2. I would like to scan all of my family photos into the computer as a backup in case of fire. It would also help to post them on my website, so I could share them with other long-distance relatives
3. Develop the discipline to read 1/2 hour a day of professional literature.
4. Update my resume.
5. My weekly review.
Words of Wisdom
"We continue to shape our personality all our life." -- Albert Camus
"We know what a person thinks not when he tells us what he thinks, but by his actions." -- Isaac Bashevis Singer
"If you create an act, you create a habit. If you create a habit, you create a character. If you create a character, you create a destiny." -- Andre Maurois
Where in the World
is Laura?
If you're interested in bringing Laura to your organization to present a training seminar for your employees on the day prior or the day after one of these engagements below, please contact John Stack for special "piggyback" pricing.
The 12 Dysfunctional Personal Productivity Personalities
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.
I've written often about how important it is to get a handle on your own personal productivity personality, but it's important that you don't stop there. After all, most of us depend on others at some point in our day and the individual work styles and attitudes of those around us can have a huge impact on our own ability to get things done.
That's why I put together a list of the 12 dysfunctional personal productivity personalities. Hopefully this list will help you smile (rather than cringe) the next time a coworker's bad habits start to drive you up the wall. I've also included some thoughts on how to deal with each of these pesky personalities.
So here they are, in no particular order:
1. Scrappers. The scrapper's desk look like a modern art exhibit, covered in scraps of paper and sticky notes. They write important notes on whatever is close at hand, whether it's a fast food receipt or the back of an envelope (a scrapper's favorite).
Handling the scrapper: You can't force scrappers to adopt a comprehensive planning system or put all of those little scraps into Outlook or a BlackBerry (although you could try to coach them). What you can do is make sure that items pertaining to your work don't get lost in the shuffle. Send follow-up e-mails detailing key meeting take-aways, check in before important deadlines, and never fail to follow up on a delegated task.
2. Pilers. Pilers have a lot in common with scrappers, except it is generally much more difficult to navigate your way through the piler's office. They keep everything and file nothing. There will be boxes on the floor and every inch of desk space will be occupied by stacks of paper, generally piled up to the point that an archeologist could use them to figure out what the piler has been working on for the last five years.
Handling the piler: The best thing you can do for the piler is simple: don't add anything to the piles. Chances are that any document, book, or report that you put in the piler's hands is going to end up in heap someplace, where it is probably as good as gone. Never hand your only hard copy over to a piler unless you are ready to kiss it goodbye. Also, be sure to set clear deadlines. Their idea of giving something a high priority is placing it on their (generally largest) "immediate attention" stack. Don't ask them to do something "right away," ask them to do it by a specific date.
(C) Copyright 2009 Laura Stack. All rights reserved.
Ask the Expert
What is your most pressing productivity challenge? Ask Laura your question about a tricky situation, and she will answer in a future newsletter edition! Click here to submit your question.
Hello Laura,
I have been receiving your daily tips for some time now and they are excellent help. I have a question for you but couldn't fit it all on the website question box!
I'm a reasonably organized person, 19 years old, and a sales & marketing manager for a 10 staff Australian company. I've watched your intro video on the website & noticed the section where you talk about having a "fast track life"! I definitely have this problem. I'm always very busy but this is hindering my enjoyment of life & I'm not getting far overall. I try & enjoy time at home but can only think of what I should be doing to get somewhere, & the things I didn't do that day!! How do you suggest that I break out of this?
Have Laura speak to your company, conference or organization. How do you know if Laura would be perfect for your next event, meeting, or training? View the "Laura Stack Is Perfect For This Group" fact sheet.
Letters to the Editor
Hi Laura,
I DEFINITELY agree with your video (http://tinyurl.com/yf3btmn)! Yes, it is a waste of time and like you said it rewards the NEW customers, but says nothing about existing ones. Welcome to the real world. Check out the specials with Comcast (for internet, cable or phone service) or Weight Watchers and you will find their discounts are ONLY for new customers.
But now it's time to thank YOU. The three ideas you listed on your website that helped me the most were to organize my purse, organize my computer files, and add an electronic signature to my email. I can now restore my purse to order in about 10 minutes because I have a category for each pocket.
My computer files are reachable in about 2 minutes because I use the same categories all the time and make new ones when there are enough items to put in it or it's a new subject.
The electronic signature makes emailing easy to look professional. While I don't use Outlook, I read your ideas and try to make them work for me.
I do live by my Excel files. I list our bills and amounts for each pay period; it's like taking roll in school--I know when a creditor is late! I also balance my checkbook using Excel (Help>Checkbook). The formula comes up and it can be plugged in to the file. I use this to manage 4 accounts right now with a 5th one to come soon.
All of this has allowed me to manage our finances and survive the deaths of 4 immediate family members (2 moms, 1 brother, 1 uncle) and more recently the loss of my husband's job.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!
Karen
Time Tips and Tricks Offered by Subscribers
To be featured in this section of our newsletter and get a free eBook with our thanks, send your productivity tip or trick to Becca@TheProductivityPro.com with "Tips and Tricks contribution" in the subject line.
1. Be a Trend Spotter. When determining your target audience, you certainly want to consider trends. A trend can create an entire market, such as the trend toward both parents working outside the home led directly to an explosion of products and services. A trend can even serve as one of the factors you use to define your target market. Keep you eyes and ears open to what is happening around you both locally and globally. Searching through Twitter trending topics, with a hash tag (#) and your subject will pull up exactly what you are thinking about and need help with. Change happens all the time. Your job is to become and astute and savvy detective who can sift through and separate that passing fancy from the next important long-lived trend. Susan Friedmann's latest book, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Target Marketing" is full of clever, practical, and easy-to-use strategies to help you get your message out to the right people, at the right time, and in the right place. Buy it today at Amazon and get a Super Bonus Pack of free stuff worth hundreds of dollars.
2. Prevent meeting scheduling madness. One task that's preventing people from being more productive is scheduling meetings, and I wanted to tell you about a scheduling tool called Doodle (http://www.doodle.com) that's been created to help reclaim time and put an end to the endless back and forth communication that has become normal when scheduling a meeting. Registration isn't required to use the basic free service, so getting started is quick and easy. To schedule an event, you just select some dates and times and let the participants specify what works best for them. With a quick look, you'll see everyone's availability and be able to make a final decision that satisfies the entire group. Doodle is used worldwide by more than three million people per month, and features like Outlook and Facebook integration help all of these users in their quest to gain victory over meetings.
3. My colleague Randy Pennington has just released a new book with a timeless message about achieving enduring success as a leader, On My Honor, I Will: The Journey to INTEGRITY-DRIVEN® Leadership. This book shows anyone -- front line leader, CEO, parent, and community leaders -- how to influence others through a leadership style that models integrity, honor, and duty. Pennington combines his extensive experience with examples from the best of America's distinguished leaders in business, government, and communities. Here is a book that says a leader's true strength is not in his or her position, intellect, or determination. The leader's who inspire and challenge us to be and deliver our very best are distinguished by a reputation for integrity, duty, service, and honor. This is the perfect book for everyone who wants to learn how to earn respect, credibility, commitment, and trust as a leader. And, Randy Pennington is offering a gift to say thank you for helping him spread the word that integrity in leadership matters. Go to http://www.onmyhonorbook.net and click on the button that says Gift with Purchase.
Join me on November 16, 2009 for my webinar on Maximizing Your Productivity with Technology: How to Use the Latest Tools, Templates, and Tricks. We've become dependent upon computers, email, voicemail, the Internet, Blackberries, PDAs, cell phones, and pagers. These devices connect us to the world of work. Today, you must be technologically savvy. Technology can undoubtedly improve your productivity, but it can make you LESS productive if you're not careful. This seminar discusses how to use the latest technologies to your advantage, without letting technology take advantage of you. Only $29 per person! (You can still buy the discounted package of all ten: you'll get a link to the recording of those that have past. Click here for more information and to register.
Join me and my new sponsor, Office Depot, along with Day-Timer, for a complimentary webinar on December 15, 2009. Do you find yourself continually racing against time? Do you feel that you have so much to do that it's difficult to get anything done? Managing time effectively is the key to managing your individual performance. Time management is much more complicated than making a list and checking things off. Learn how to set priorities and focus on what's truly important, plan and schedule your day, and organize your time management system. Attend this special webinar with Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro®, and you'll learn how to achieve Maximum Results in Minimum Time®. Get your work done efficiently and leave the office earlier! Click here to register now.
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