time management

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Stop Procrastinating And Improve Your Fortunes

April 13 | meeting and event management | staff

We all know what it’s like to procrastinate, and for some of us, it’s become something of a way of life. But that can be changed, according to author Heidi Grant Halvorson in an article from Smart Blog on Leadership.

Halvorson outlines three strategies that can help you to stop procrastinating at work:

Stop relying on willpower. Willpower is limited. Acknowledge that your willpower may not always be up to the challenge of getting you to do things that are difficult, tedious, or anxiety-provoking. Instead, use “if-then” planning to get the job done.
Scare your pants off. Adopt a “prevention focus” regarding the project you are working on. Studies show that prevention-minded people almost never procrastinate — it keeps them awake at night, terrified of what will happen if they slack off. When you are focused on avoiding loss, it becomes clear that the only way out of danger is to take immediate action.
Don’t label yourself. Never underestimate the power of labeling. Studies have shown that once a person is given a trait label such as “generous,” “shy” or “creative” they begin behaving in a manner consistent with that label — even if they have rarely done so in the past.

Read the full article at Smart Blog on Leadership.

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Live Life Like a Sprinter, Not Like A Marathoner

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October 12 | meeting and event planning resources | staff

Darko at Freelance Folder has a great post for those of you struggling (like me) with your productivity. The solution, says Darko, is NOT to manage your time but rather to manage your energy. And the basic principal to start with is to live life like a sprinter, not a marathoner.

What’s the difference between a sprinter and a marathoner? As a sprinter, you run for a specific period of time and then take a rest. You then start running again fresh. If you’re a marathoner, you don’t take any breaks, but just run for a long period of time and reach your final target (some marathoners don’t make it) and are very exhausted.

The basic principle of managing your energy is to work for a specific period of time (anywhere between 45 and 90 minutes) and then take a break (usually 1/3 of the time you were working, so if you work for 45 minutes your break would be 15 minutes).

While you’re working, forget about multitasking and interruptions. If you get frequent phone calls, turn off your phone. Eliminate potential interruptions. These things can interrupt your workflow. Also, while you’re resting, don’t check your email. That’s not resting.

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TimeBridge: The 45-Minute Meeting Movement

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May 20 | small business resources | staff

TimeBridge, the makers of a web application that makes it easy to schedule and lead great meetings, has organized a movement to make meetings shorter, both on the calendar and in the room.

The 45 Minute Meeting advocates making all meetings 45 minutes in length, with the goal of saving 25% of meeting time, and redirecting the time saved toward other projects and generally improved productivity. The company has even gone so far as to change the default meeting setting on its web application to 45 minutes.

In addition to putting together its own “5 Rules of the 45 Minute Meeting”, TimeBridge has asked Twitter users to write how they’ll trim down their meetings, and posted some of their suggestions.

TimeBridge’s “5 Rules of the 45 Minute Meeting”:

Plan ahead: Develop a clear purpose and agenda with estimated minutes for each item. Deliver an agenda far ahead of the meeting so participants can prepare and participate. Let others contribute to the agenda.
Cull the attendee list: If attendees do not have actions or direct oversight they don’t need to attend the meeting. The bigger the meeting the more likely the time-suck. Send meeting notes to those who need to know about the meeting but don’t need to be there.
Stay tuned in: Phones off, laptops closed (except for the note-taker).
Manage the clock: Call out, reign-in or punish the meeting jokesters, complainers and timewasters. Make sure you’re not allowing the first agenda item to consume the entire meeting.
Give ownership: Assign owners to all bullets or action items. Make sure to summarize the actions at the end of the meeting.

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Time Management Resources: Managing Your CC Mail

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January 25 | small business resources | staff

If you’re the point person for a busy event, you probably get a lot of e-mail.

Some of that e-mail is really important. And some of it is … well … not so important.

Most of that e-mail that is not so important may be arriving in your inbox in the form of CC or “carbon copy” e-mail.

The general rule of thumb on CC e-mail is that it is simply for your information — no action is required. That seems simple enough. But mixed in amongst more pressing e-mail CC mail can easily become a major productivity block.

If you receive a lot of CC e-mail and you’re having difficulty managing it, this tip from organizing expert Georgina Forrest may help.

She suggests creating a message rule that diverts messages where your address shows up in the CC field to another folder. You then have the option to check them when you have down time. Note: You can find the the “rule” option in the Tools menu on Microsoft Outlook or in the Mail “Preferences” tab in Apple mail.

For more time saving tips, visit the “Resources” section on Georgina’s site or follow her on Twitter @smartwerks

Tagged time management