Posted July 2, 2009 at 3:44pm
Productivity 101: It's All In Your Head
Do you feel stressed-out? Too much to do? How could you get it all done?
This primer course is the first in a series about productivity. Learn how to reduce stress, improve focus and maker smarter decisions about your work by understanding the psychology of productivity and why it’s a bad idea to keep it all “In Your Head.”
Anyone from Interns, Managers, and Executives can benefit from learning how to harness their mental energy, getting more results out of your work.
- The key change that will unlock mental energy for any project
- Learn why you stress yourself out everyday with not understanding the difference between “Doing” and “Thinking”
- Reduce stress by making better to-do lists and get it out of your head.
- Use the 2 Minute Rule to get better results
- How to think about email
- The best way to make a to-do list
- How to make every meeting more productive & focused
Posted June 30, 2009 at 2:16pm
Posted June 30, 2009 at 1:16pm
Scrumtrilescent: (adjective) a word made up by Will Ferrell’s character on SNL to describe utter perfection that, ironically, is too perfect to describe. “A performance so scrumtrilescent, I can barely move” - Will Ferrell as James Lipton
Posted June 30, 2009 at 10:44am
Getting Things Done is more about Mind-management than Time-management.
— Making it All Work — David Allen
Posted June 29, 2009 at 2:50pm
Question traditional thinking
Hot Chocolate — Long one of the world’s most popular hot drinks, the original beverage was actually enjoyed cold, a mixture of ground cocoa beans, water, wine and chili peppers. After its introduction in Spain, the drink began to be served hot, sweetened and without the peppers. One hundred years later, news of this fabulous new beverage had spread across Europe and to America. (via www.keurig.com )
Posted June 29, 2009 at 12:32pm
Celebrate your next big failure. It’s a great way to learn and way cheaper than college.
Posted June 29, 2009 at 12:02pm
There is no way around it. You absolutely must have fun. Without fun, there is no enthusiasm. Without enthusiasm, there is no energy. Without energy, there are only shades of gray.
— Doug Hall
Posted June 29, 2009 at 10:35am
When is the last time you thanked a small business owner for being crazy enough to run a business?
Posted June 29, 2009 at 12:05am
Scientists watch a long term memory form at the cellular level.
The experiment also revealed some surprising aspects of memory formation, which remains a somewhatmysterious process.
Posted June 27, 2009 at 9:04am
Superman’s secret is to simply avoid kryptonite
I strongly believe that your strengths determine your weaknesses. Personally, I see this as a kind of “Great Equalizer” so that people are in fact, cannot be perfect.
Marcus Buckingham writes about this concept in the bestselling, “Now, Discover Your Strengths.” Buckingham worked for Gallup at the time and was able to research and prove that spending time on your weaknesses is in fact, a big waste of time. The same amount of effort focused on working in your strengths, rather than fiddling with your weaknesses, will bring much faster, more fulfilling results.
”All too often, our natural talents go untapped. From the cradle to the cubicle, we devote more time to fixing our shortcomings than to developing our strengths.” - StrengthFinder 2.0 website
Forget about being “Well-rounded”, you might as well say that you’d like to be all around mediocre. How’s that for a life goal?
Superman knows this well, which is what makes him such a good superhero. Instead of spending time working out in Kryptonite filled gyms, eating kryptonite pellets in his cereal, or making kryptonite-proof super-suits, he simply avoids it altogether. That’s his secret — keeping his distance from his weakness.
How to Avoid Your Weaknesses:
- Learn about your strengths and put them to work. Take the StrengthsFinder 2.0 Test. Created by the Gallup research team mentioned above, StrengthFinder 2.0 is a book created to describe strengths and point out your top 5 out of a the possible 34 available.
- Figure out who you are (and who you are not) by taking a personality test. I like the Myers Briggs, but while the real version costs money, a Free Online Personality Test will point you in the right direction. There are 16 types of personalities and finding the closest 2 will give you insights to both your strengths and weaknesses
- Ask your closest friends to write out a half sheet of your strengths. They can often put things into words better than you can. If you really trust them, ask about your weaknesses too.
- Learn to say No. Even Superman gets asked to do things he shouldn’t try. Don’t think so highly of yourself that you take on tasks that you shouldn’t attempt. Don’t be a pain about it, simply be honest and let people know that you would love to help by using your strengths if possible.
- Get a Team to fill in the gaps. Even superheroes work better in teams. Gather people around you who’s strengths compliment your weaknesses. Beware that opposites attack if you don’t keep the focus on working in your strengths. The goal of a team should be to have everyone working together (and cover each others weaknesses).
Once you start to understand these natural strengths, you’ll soon begin to also appreciate your weaknesses — and avoid your own personal Kryptonite.
Posted June 26, 2009 at 12:08pm
All too often, our natural talents go untapped. From the cradle to the cubicle, we devote more time to fixing our shortcomings than to developing our strengths.
Posted June 26, 2009 at 11:06am
Think Team: 5 Tips for Better Delegating
Delegation can be a difficult skill to learn, but often your tasks cannot be accomplished by yourself. When breaking down your tasks into smaller chunks, often youʼll find that you need to ask someone else for something small to keep the task in motion.
Be a team player, make delegation easier by remembering these 5 tips:
- Ask someone for help. People cannot help unless they know there is a need. The first step is to ask!
- Match the task to the person. Any time a task is delegated, make sure the team member can actually accomplish it. The key to delegating is matching skills with work that needs to be done. If training is needed, will the time involved training pay off? If not, rethink who should be delegated the task.
- Write it down on your list. Delegation doesnʼt mean you are no longer responsible. It only means that the action is being done by someone else who has better skills / resources for the task. Take ownership of the task and donʼt fall into the “Delegate it and forget it” trap.
- Set a timeframe for completion. Never delegate without telling the person when you expect it to be completed. ASAP is a horrible phrase, as it could mean different things to each person. Use specific timeframes that both people agree on.
- Followup with a smile. Consider the fact that someone else just did something for you. That should make you happy, so donʼt be a jerk when you followup.
Small business relies on people — so keep an eye on your team and treat them with respect. Keep in mind, there is always someone else who is better than you in certain areas. Thatʼs the beauty of teamwork! The key is to hire talented people, treat them well, and make them a valuable part of your team.
Posted June 26, 2009 at 10:34am
Listen well and deliver what matters most.
Posted June 25, 2009 at 11:06am
