Laura Stack - The Productivity Pro, Time Management, Getting Things Done, How to Be More Productive

Put a new spin on laundry

How do you keep up with your laundry?  I just heard from a reader who puts a load in before she goes to bed, throws it in the dryer on the way out the door to work, and uses the "touch up" feature when she gets home before folding.  By doing this every day, she always keeps up with her laundry.  She also recommended safety pinning socks together the minute she takes them off (she has a little basket in her closet), so she never has to search for and match socks.  What little tricks do you have for staying on top of the skivvies?

Pre-made shopping list

Ever want to buy healthy food at the supermarket, but you didn't have time to look in your recipe books and can't think of what to buy?  Get tired of writing the same basic items---eggs, bread, milk---on your list again and again?  Keep your kitchen well stocked by hanging a pre-printed shopping list on your fridge.  Print a stack of copies at the Self magazine site.  Stick one to your fridge each week and check off things as you run low on various items.  Then use the list to trigger your thoughts on buying healthy foods for lunches and dinners for the week.

Keeping Your Energy Up During the Day

I asked my newsletter readers "What do you do to keep your energy up during the day?" and received the following replies.  Please comment if you have a tip to add!

---

Hi, I do little 'sprints' through out the day, especially if I am feeling tired. I will get up & run in place or walk quickly around the house for 5-10 minutes (I work at home) it gives me just enough of energy bursts to keep me going. Thanks, Misty

Misty Kenner- creativity coach

www.pictureperfectscrapbookco.com

---

I live in the

Midwest

. I work for a larger company in a smaller town.  I am fortunate that the parking lot at work is not that large. When I feel tired, during my lunch break I will go out to the car (truck), recline the seat and catch a short "catnap".  15-20 minutes does it for me.  I know that some folks feel they need 1-2 hours to feel rested. 

Another tip I read someplace was to drink a caffeinated beverage, then take a short nap.  I takes that long for the caffeine to get into your system and take effect. So you benefit from the nap and you have the caffeine buzz to keep you going.  It has worked for me, my son lives a 1000 miles away.  Sometime when we go to visit my wife and I will drive through the night.  I have tried it a few time, it seems to work well for me. 

Mark Keehr    

---

I realize this won’t work for a lot of people but I work out on my lunch hour.

I am up at 5 to get myself and two small children ready.  My 5-year old son gets dropped off at a sitter to go to school while my 2-year old daughter rides with me on the 45-minute commute to get dropped off at preschool at 7:20 so I can get to work by 7:30.  Then at 4:30 it’s hit the highway time to get sissy picked up and then hightail it home to get brother picked up before 5:30.  Rush home to get supper fixed – get homework done - get the kids in the tub – go clean up the kitchen - start a load of laundry – finish the bath - read a story – finish the laundry - fall into bed to do it all over again.  I was always complaining I didn’t have time to work out until I finally just decided something had to be done.  Our park district has a full fitness center (at a very reasonable rate) just 5 minutes from work so I can hop over there – work out for about 40 minutes and rush back to work.  I feel so much more energized in the afternoons – I have also lost 46 pounds out of 100 to boot!

I also try to eat healthy fruit snacks and yogurts in the afternoons to keep my blood sugar up.

Charyle Smith

---

The best way for me to stay up, maintain a good attitude and fee energized all day is:

I begin my day at 4:15 am with a 2.5 mile run/walk on my treadmill, with some meditation and prayer along the way.  After a quick shower I dress for the work day, have my coffee, vitamins and a light breakfast of dry cereal and or cheese toast.  During my 30 minute drive to work I use this time to meditate again and have short breath prayers.  All of this ensures that I am wide awake when I get to the office and ready to face the day and my co-workers.  I also try to get in some form of physical exercise each evening to relive the day’s stress.  I try to keep to this same schedule on days off as well as week ends. 

K Meekins CPS

Delegate when someone else can do it better and faster and cheaper

I recently visited my grandparents (ages 81 and 86) and discovered a treasure trove of old family photographs.  Especially precious were the ones of my mother as a little girl (none of which she had seen before) and my great-grandmother, whom I vaguely recall visiting before she passed away.  With seven children, my grandparents had no idea how they were going to split them up after they passed, since many were one-of-a-kind.  My easy answer was to scan them, save them as .jpg files, and make CDs for each of my six uncles and my mother.  So I packed my precious cargo in my suitcase and headed home.  Then it hit me…what exactly did I get myself into?  I counted the photos: 282.  I quickly realized the huge time commitment and realized I was of course able to handle this task but shouldn’t handle this task.  I pulled up my favorite freelance-for-hire site: www.elance.com.  I posted my project requirements and received 18 bids on my project, ranging anywhere from $.25 to $1.00 per scan.  I awarded the project to a woman who took the time to email me directly, tell me about her scanner, offered to complete a couple of test scans at different resolutions to test what printed best, etc.  She quoted me $.75 per scan, which was higher than some of the bids, but she suggested an enhancement to my project specs: upload the scans to a photo site as well, so my relatives could order their own prints directly, and I wouldn’t have to send them CDs myself.  Even better!  Less time for me.  Bottom line: if you’re overburdened, you might not be delegating properly.  If you try to do too many jobs at once, it’s like spinning china plates on sticks: the longer you keep it up, the greater the odds of a crash.  The great philosopher Virgil said long ago, “We are all not capable of everything.”  Never do anything that can be done just as well by someone who is paid less.  If there is another person who can handle something you’re doing, stop doing it.  If someone can do the job 80% as well as you can, let that person do it!  We mistakenly believe only we can do it correctly.  Be open to new, innovative ways of tackling projects, and you will be pleased with the results.  And you can focus your time on higher-value activities.

Email OCD Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

According to a report from Basex, the average "knowledge worker" — someone who is part of the growing information economy — loses 2.1 hours a day to interruptions. If those workers make an average of $21 an hour, that adds up to $588 billion a year — more than the gross domestic product of

Argentina

. See http://blogs.abcnews.com/scienceandsociety/2006/01/frazzing.html

Then another article http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Technology/story?id=1549972 goes on to say, “Other companies, such as Ambient Devices, say keep it simple. You shouldn't have to open your e-mail whenever an icon pops up on your screen. A glance should tell if the new message is important to you, much the way you glance at a clock.”

Actually, that’s a *really* bad idea.  Even glancing at an email starts your mind a-wandering, and there aren’t too many people who are disciplined enough not to open it if the subject line and sender looks even remotely more interesting than what they’re working on.  If you have the luxury of having two screens (which boosts productivity by 30%), keep one dedicated to your communications functions, and mute the sound and blank the screen when you’re trying to concentrate on a project.  Bring a kitchen timer from home, set it for an hour, and dare yourself not to check email until the timer goes off.  If you can’t, you officially have email OCD.  If you only have one monitor, either close your email program completely, or if you have to have it open to check your calendar, don’t keep your in-box up. 

Better yet, go under Tools, Options, Email Options, Advanced Email Options and turn off all the global alerts, noises, envelopes, and pop-ups when you get an email, so you won’t be tempted to check it.  Then go into your Rules and set a specific sound to play when you do get a message from a particular person such as your boss.  That way, your ears will hear the cue, but your eyes won’t go to the pop-up and distract your thoughts.  You can complete the sentence you’re working on before checking the message.

My Favorite Way to Use Outlook Notes as Category Lists

I wanted to share my favorite Palm trick (I use MS Outlook and a Treo 700p). 

I was frustrated by being in the grocery store and not having my list with me.  Then a friend would tell me her experience at a great restaurant, and darn if I couldn't remember the name when my husband asked where we should eat.  We'd be at the video store and couldn't remember the name of the funny DVD my dad suggested. 

So, I created a Note in Outlook for each of these categories:

1.      Books to read

2.      Groceries to buy (even though “go to grocery store” may be a task, this list contains the individual items I need to remember to buy)

3.      Shopping to do (a list of things I need to remember to get when I’m running errands)

4.      Honey-do’s for John

5.      Gift ideas (one for each person)

6.      Meagan’s friends (I can never remember their names)

7.      Johnny’s friends

8.      James’ friends

9.      Neighbors (who lives where, kids, pets, etc.)

10.  Passwords (I know I’m not supposed to do this!)

11.  Combination locks (so I can take the sticker off)

12.  Babysitters (so many to keep track of)

13.  Errands to run

14.  Girl Scouts (copied from roster)

15.  Soccer (roster)

16.  Bus stop info

17.  Teachers (all the info handy on my kids’ teachers all in one place)

18.  Restaurants to visit

19.  Videos to rent

20.  Master task list

As I think of things to add to my lists, I open the appropriate Note and type it out.  When you close a Note, it automatically saves.  When I sync, they are loaded in the Memos in my Palm.  Wherever I am, I can then glance at my Palm and see the grocery list, video list, restaurant list, etc.  Think of them like electronic Post-it notes.  I love Memos on my Palm!

I'd love to hear from anyone on your Notes: how do you use them I haven't listed here?

Productively yours,

Laura

Creating a productive environment

What do you surround yourself with to make you feel productive?  I have an "I love me" wall with degrees, certificates, awards, etc., to remind myself that I am living up to a lot of expectations.  I keep a wall calendar to remind me that my job is to keep it full with speaking engagements.  I have photos of my family, husband, and children, to remind me that a lot of people are depending upon me.  I keep my dog and cat running around in my office to remind me to play.  And my newest environmental addition...two Siamese fighting fish (a.k.a. betta fish)...no fancy filtration systems needed. Just watching them swim around on my desk relaxes me and knowing I get to feed them gives me another good reason to look forward to coming to work.  The glass partition separating them keeps them from destroying each other, reminding me to maintain an assertive edge!  I'd love to hear what keepsakes, toys, plants, reminders, etc., you keep around to help you be productive!

How to be productive on the 3rd of July

I was reading about a survey by Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. of 100 human resource executives, which found 56 percent said they would have normal office hours on Monday, citing the global nature of their businesses. Many people took the day off, turning it into a 4-day weekend.  Those that are left in the office wish they weren't.  So how to you get some last-minute pre-holiday productivity?  Roll in giant recycling and trash bins and stage a paper-tossing contest between departments.  Have employees clean out their filing cabinets, and whoever gets rid of the most paper in weight (adjusted to % based on the # of people in the department) gets a pizza party at lunch and leaves early.  Of course, buy everyone pizza and let everyone go early, but you'll at least get folks to get something accomplished!

National Leave the Office Earlier Day

Today is National Leave the Office Earlier Day!  To get you out on time today, some last-minute reminders:

1. When you leave tonight, make sure you've identified the top 2-3 things you absolutely must accomplish before you leave the office Friday.  Do those first!

2. Turn off your email alerts and only handle email 2-3 times tomorrow.  Go to Tools, Options, Preferences tab, Email options, advanced email options, and uncheck the four boxes under when new items arrive in my in-box.

3. Be disciplined about the length of your socializing.  Tell your colleagues about the day and that you are committed to only working 8 hours today instead of your usual 9-12.

4. Stay off non-work related Internet sites, just for the day.  You can do it!  The average worker spends 3.6 hours a week surfing non-work related sites, so that will save you some time right there.

Since you'll be busy working tomorrow, you will not hear from me.  So I'm attaching some free goodies a day early to thank you for participating and encourage you to keep on trekking the productivity trail.  I'm also giving you the password to my article bank at http://www.theproductivitypro.com/mediaroom/Laura-Stack-Media-Articles.htm ---shhhhh---it's 'productivitypro.'  Have fun!

Warmly,

Laura

P.S.  Watch for my newest book in bookstores June 13!  Buy it from Amazon.com June 13 only, forward me your receipt, and I'll send you some other free stuff.  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0767922026/qid=1141425861/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-0341048-7344903?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Procedure to install a newsreader and subscribe to a blog

I’ll share a simple procedure to install an RSS newsreader, so you can subscribe to blogs and news feeds and receive them direct to your desktop!  No more corporate firewalls to worry about!  No more newsletters going into your spam folder!  You receive exactly what you want to see.  This is the productivity wave of the future, so you may as well figure it out, and I’ll make it easy for you:

1.      Download the free Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1.

2.      Run a Windows Update http://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us 

3.      Select Custom

4.      Select Optional Software updates

5.      Select the option to install .NET Framework 1.1 or 2.0

6.      Restart your computer as required.

7.      Go to www.rssreader.com 

8.      Click the Download button on the left side.  You have already completed step 1.

9.      Click the Download button next to rssreader.exe.

10.  In the file download dialog box, click Run.

11.  Follow the instructions to install RssReader and restart as required.  Now you’re ready to subscribe to feeds!

12.  Go to http://theproductivitypro.typepad.com/the_productivity_pro/ 

13.  In the right column, RIGHT-CLICK on “Subscribe to this blog’s feed”

14.  Select “Copy Shortcut”

15.  Start RssReader by double-clicking the icon now in your system tray (lower right-hand corner of your screen)

16.  Click the big green + to Add New Feed

17.  In the pop-up box that says “Enter the URL of the feed,” right-click and select Paste.  This will insert the URL from my blog’s feed.

18.  Click OK

19.  Follow steps 11-17 above to add as many news feeds as you want!

20.  Select Tools, Options to set the timing of how often you want to be notified of a new posting on one of your blogs, feeds, etc.  I have mine set to daily. 

When a new post is added to one of your feeds, you’ll get a pop-up window and an alert (I have mine set to a doorbell).  You simply double-click the RssReader icon and view the new postings.