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.
Is your New Years Resolution to learn more about
leadership, have more sales success or just live a more fulfilling life? Now is
a great time to order these special CD Sets, jam-packed with motivation,
inspiration and solid techniques from the nation's top experts to help you move
forward. Order and use coupon code "holidays" to receive a $5 discount on your
order. Click to view boxed
sets and purchase.
NEW Monthly Survey
Here are the top seven responses from
November's poll: Complete this sentence: "I spend way too much time on..."
1. Email.
2. Watching television.
3. Searching the Internet.
4. Procrastinating on starting a difficult task or project.
5. Family concerns during my work day (way too many 9-5 tasks that only I can
do).
6. Scheduling meetings. It's close to impossible to get five or more attendees
that are available at the same time and the same date. I sometimes spend hours
to schedule one meeting.
7. Shifting my tasks forward instead of just getting them done...usually the
boring mundane ones.
"Either you run the day or
the day runs you." In honor of the late Jim Rohn, entrepreneur, author, and
speaker
"Time is like money, the less we have of it to spare the further we make it go."
- Josh Billings
"This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with
it." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
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.
SUPERCOMPETENT KEY #1: ACTIVITY. Activity
demonstrates value and reflects importance.
In this competitive economy, just being able to do your job is no
longer enough.
Competence is simply expected in today's workplaces. But you can't be simplycompetent; you have to be SuperCompetent(TM) to get an edge. Laura
Stack's new book, SuperCompetent: the Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive
Best (Wiley 2010), gives high potentials proven methods to reach peak
performance and achieve breakthrough results.
You'll discover the six keys to unlocking your full potential: Activity,
Availability, Attention, Accessibility, Accountability, and Attitude. The
Productivity Pro®, Laura Stack, gives you a clear and practical system for
achieving Maximum Results in Minimum Time®. By contrasting SuperCompetent(TM)
hero thinking with simply Competent zero thinking, you'll see that transforming
your performance is not about mantras but mindsets.
SuperCompetent will be available in August 2010, just in time for your
fall conference or leadership development program.
When the rubber hits the road, the difference between merely having ability and
being exceptional may be the difference between losing your job and keeping it.
The best workers possess a constant, expansive ability to be good at everything
they do, no matter how general or specific. In this next series of six monthly
newsletter articles, I'll show you how to master the six universal Keys to
workplace success. In this first article, we'll cover the first key: Activity.
SuperCompetent people have an acute sense of direction, in which the
nature of their activities reflects their relative priorities. They're
particularly aware of one thing that escapes most of their colleagues: that
being busy and being productive are two very different things.
You can be busy all day long, running from one brushfire to another, and not
accomplish anything productive at all. True Activity involves knowing your goals
intimately, keeping them constantly in mind, and working toward them in an
efficient way that wastes a minimum of energy and time. SuperCompetent
people aren't hidebound by the old ways of doing things, either; if there's a
possibility of doing something more efficiently, they suggest or implement it.
Here are a few ways to help you fine-tune your workday in the Key of Activity,
keeping things humming along like a well-oiled productivity machine.
1. Know exactly why you work hard and what you're trying to achieve. You
can't be very productive if you don't know what you're working for. Plan out
your goals and dreams, and work toward achieving them. Learn what makes you
tick, own your destiny, and keep focused on your mission.
2. Know what to do, when to do it, and why. Take initiative and do what
needs to be done when it needs to be done. Don't just work on projects in the
order they come across your desk; learn to structure your time and processes
effectively, or others will out-compete you.
3. Create systems to perform tasks more efficiently, so you can leave the
office on time. Too often, we're gulled into working harder than we should
by stuff that was supposed to make our lives easier. Step forward and create or
suggest more efficient ways of doing things, so that you can take back your
time.
4. Regularly rest and recharge your batteries, so that you can be productive
and creative when you return to work. For heaven's sake, you're not a robot.
Take a break when you need to! As long as you don't become a slacker, taking
time off can be one of the healthiest, most productive things you can do.
5. Do the day's most profitable and valuable tasks first. Instead of
taking care of piddling brushfire issues, learn to delegate. Put the most
important tasks at the top of your list, and work through them first--then do all
the rest, if you have time. It's not a sin to let unimportant tasks go.
At the end of the day, all that matters is results--and results are measured by
productivity. That means you need to be very sure that your time is not only
accounted for, but has real value.
Productivity, in its most meaningful sense, is all about reaching high-value
goals in every area of your life, often in the shortest amount of time (but not
always, such as spending time with loved ones). Nobody cares how many things you
crossed off your list. Nobody cares how busy you were last week if key projects
are falling through the cracks.
Only results matter, so strive to get the most value out of every day. Grab your
dreams and get going!
Make it a productive day!(TM)
(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!
Q: Laura, when will I be able to purchase a copy of your newest book
SuperCompetent?
A: Thanks for asking! You can sign up on Amazon to be notified when SuperCompetent:
The Six Keys to Perform at Your Productive Best (Wiley, 2010) is available
at Amazon. Scheduled
release is currently August 18, 2010, but I'll keep everyone informed here.
Letters to the Editor (or her assistant, in
this case)
Becca,
I am enjoying the webinar series very much and getting a lot of useful &
immediately applicable information from it. I knew I would (being familiar with
Laura's books), which is why I talked my boss into buying it for me. I'll have
to thank him again for his investment.
Making Teams Work was really power packed and a kick to compare my team's
personalities (including my own). Eye-opening when applied to past traumas and a
great tool for some upcoming projects.
Please tell Laura THANKS!
Bye for now,
Teri
Book Laura
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.
Laura in the News
Pavlov's Dog -
Do You Act Like This? | Growthink
Interestingly, when I recently interviewed productivity expert Laura Stack, she
compared checking email to a Pavlovian response. Basically, applications like
Microsoft Outlook with features like a bell sounding with every new email...
Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA): Speaker Savvy
When webinars work. You are about to plan an education session for your
association members, an on-site meeting at your corporation, or training for
colleagues spread around the country, but you're up against budget cuts and
travel freezes.
To subscribe or unsubscribe, click the link provided on the bottom of a recent newsletter.
If you enjoyed this newsletter, please forward it to interested associates so they may subscribe.
Reprint Information
All Articles (C) 1999-2008 Laura Stack. All rights reserved. This information may not be distributed, sold, publicly presented, or used in any other manner, except as described below.
Permission to reprint all or part of this article in your magazine, e-zine, website, blog, or organization newsletter is hereby GRANTED, provided:
1. The ENTIRE credit line below is present,
2. The website link to www.TheProductivityPro.com is clickable (LIVE), and
3. You send a copy, PDF, link, tearsheet, etc. of the work in which the article is used when published.
This credit line MUST be reprinted in its entirety to use any articles from Laura Stack:
Happy New Year! Announcing all-new educational opportunities with The
Productivity Pro®, Inc., to help this be your most productive year ever:
All-new 2010 monthly productivity webinar series
After the success of our 2009 monthly productivity webinar series, we've decided
to extend the program into 2010 with twelve ALL-NEW programs! If you're still
dealing with training budget cuts and travel freezes, you can bring Laura into
the privacy of your own office for personal productivity training each month!
Increased personal productivity is more important than ever before, especially
if your department has been downsized, and you have more work to do with fewer
people and a lower budget. The webinars will be recorded, so you can still get
the training even if you can't tune in to the "live" meeting. This series very
affordable for everyone, even if you have to pay for it yourself! At just $29
per seminar, you can experience the best productivity ideas from Laura Stack,
The Productivity Pro®. If you purchase the entire series, take off $100 and pay
just $248 for the year. A single-site license is $290, and a multi-site license
is $990.
Browse webinar series topics/dates or register
The Productivity Pro(R) Day-Timer planner 2010 blow-out!
The Productivity Pro®, Inc. Day-Timer refills are on sale for 2010! You are
never going to believe this amazing deal! For a limited time, Day-Timer is
offering my planner for $20.99, which INCLUDES the cover, 2010 master refill
pages, calendar tabs, A-Z individual filing tabs, colored dots, etc.! Take
advantage of this unbelievable offer for you or another time-challenged friend
or colleague. This would be a great gift for the holidays.
View Laura's Day-Timer for the handheld user
New for 2010: Microsoft Outlook 2003 and 2007 virtual training series
Use coupon code "OUT2010" to receive extra free bonuses from Laura Stack.
We know that you spend so much time every day dealing with email and working in
Outlook. Laura is a Microsoft Certified Application Specialist (MCAS) in
Outlook. This training will be real-world, reality-based workflow processing
that helps you be MORE productive with Outlook and save hours every week. Attend
this virtual training "live" from the privacy of your own office. Laura will
present ten one-hour modules covering various aspects of Outlook. This isn't
just computer training. It's not PowerPoint. She will share her desktop and show
her computer screen LIVE using her actual Microsoft Outlook software. Each
webinar is accompanied by a workbook with detailed screen shots and step-by-step
instructions, so you can duplicate what Laura demonstrates when the seminar is
over. Each registration also includes a recording of the entire session! $39 per
webinar or $349 for all ten. Single site and multi-site licenses available.
Review course objectives and register. Use coupon code OUT2010.
Thank you for your support in 2009, and we look forward to helping you boost
your productivity in 2010! Please email me atLaura@TheProductivityPro.com
or call 303-471-7401 if there's anything I can do for you, personally or
professionally.
Wishing you the happiest of holiday seasons, and a prosperous, peaceful,
productive New Year!
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.
Doodle.com is a
great way to schedule meetings for external clients or people who don't work for
your company. Recipients go to your poll, where they indicate which date and
time work best for them, allowing you to immediately see which day to schedule.
There is a nifty Outlook plug-in, so you can create the proposed meeting dates
from within your calendar. Doodle gave me 25 FREEpremium memberships
to their upgraded service account, so you can automatically "bug" people who
haven't replied back with their preferences within a certain period of time. The
first 25 people who email
Becca@TheProductivityPro.com and give their best tip on how to run an
efficient, productive meeting in 100 words or more will get one of the free paid
accounts!
From Sam Silverstein's latest book, No More Excuses: Some people are highly
productive and others are not. The difference between the two groups lies in
accountability. There are five accountabilities that when applied proactively
can turn accountability from a consequence into your competitive advantage:
1. Right things: Be accountable for doing the right things consistently.
This means ethical execution of the activities that will actually support the
goals you have chosen for yourself.
2. New space: Be accountable for managing your space for new
opportunities. This means being willing to step away from things that are
working, even though they may be familiar, to make room for something that may
work better.
3. Process: Be accountable for managing the process when you hit an
obstacle. It is inevitable that you will encounter adversities and setbacks when
you pursue your goals. The question is, how will the adversities and setbacks
affect you? Will they keep you from making creative new approaches to attain
your goal?
4. Expectations: Be accountable for establishing the right expectations.
The targets you set for yourself will have a huge impact on your actual
achievement.
5. Relationships: Be accountable for your relationships and your
contributions to them. Without accountability for supporting and contributing to
relationships, there can be no true leadership, and no effective implementation,
at the group or organizational level, of any of the other accountabilities.
Applying the five accountabilities in your life and in your organization allows
you to create an accountability zone and be more productive. Make accountability
your competitive advantage. For more information, visitwww.NoMoreExcuses.com.
