Productivity Bulletin: 12/19/2014
- How millennial stack up to the generations before them:
But the financial outlook is also bleaker than their 1980s counterparts: The are much more likely to live with a parent, be unemployed (though they are more likely to have a postsecondary degree), and have lower salaries than any of the previously surveyed generations.
http://io9.com/how-millennials-stack-up-to-the-generations-before-them-1666809424
- Staying motivated when you are the boss:
1. Read Daily (read books that inspire you)
2. Write down your goals frequently
3. Work On One Task Related to Your “Big Goal” Daily
4. Create a bucket lists of tasks (not a task list, but stuff you need to get to eventually)
5. The 5 minute rule (find something you can knock out in 5 minutes to make you feed accomplished)
6. Work in intervals (no more than 90 minute blocks)http://theselfemployed.com/office/6-ways-to-stay-motivated-when-youre-the-boss/ - Multiply your time today to get done tomorrow:
You multiply your time by giving yourself the emotional permission to spend time on things today that create more time tomorrow.You don’t just think, “what are the most important things I have to get done today or this week?” Instead, you ask the question, “what are the things that I could do today that would free up more time tomorrow?”
- Going on an information diet (yeah I get the irony here)
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-craft-an-information-diet-that-actually-works-1669958197 - Important tasks at work: Take notes (Vince!)
https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-most-important-thing-youre-not-doing-at-work-and-how-to-get-started - Building better one-on-one sessions:
https://popforms.com/30-minutes-one-on-one/Sample questions:
When was the last time you felt really challenged at work?
Who is your favorite coworker and why?
What did you want to be when you grew up?
Tell me about your greatest accomplishment while working here.
Is there anything you need in order to perform your job better?
What parts of the business would you like to be more involved in or learn about?
What’s the most fun you’ve had while working here? - Common Mistakes that can derail any negotiation:
1. Too many options
2. Falling for the bluff
3. Playing games and bluffing yourself
4. Dwelling on sunk costs and spent timehttp://lifehacker.com/four-common-mistakes-that-can-derail-any-negotiation-1668899157
Productivity Bulletin: 11/28/2014
Happy Black Friday readers – go buy something and help the economy, but when you are done – here is something educational.
- Increase employee satisfaction by recognizing hard work
The obvious first two incentives are monetary and paid time off. These are also some of the most expensive for the company and usually are reserved for the highest achievers on a managerial or sales force, or are distributed evenly across a company that is showing stellar lateral performance. While this kind of incentive is great at riling up a storm on the sales floor or in the bullpen: if a company uses this too much, it could suffer huge financial loss after a while…
- Productive people never have “free time”
Productive people are never “free.” They don’t have 15 minutes on their lunch break to “have a quick call.” They don’t “kill time”—a terrible phrase. You can always put a window of time to good use if you work for it. Productive people schedule their priorities—not always their time, but always their priorities. When they don’t have something to do, they find something to do.
http://lifehacker.com/productive-people-are-never-free-1661375021
- Kick @$$ at work:
This isn’t the best example in the article, but it is something to consider and reflect upon (seriously, read this article):Remember names: At one job interview, the interviewer introduced himself and then announced that he was going to ‘ask me a bunch of tough technical questions.’ He did and I aced it. I was thrilled with my performance. He then announced that he had one more question for me. My smug self thought, ‘Throw it at me! I just killed all the other ones. Here is what it was:
What is my name?
I didn’t have a clue what his name was and felt like a complete idiot.
Productivity Bulletin: 11/21/2014
- Leave your desk at lunch:
The same point I just made in #1 is doubly true for creativity. Have you ever experienced the phenomenon of having some of your greatest ideas while in the shower? Do you think you are alone in that? You’re not. When you “free yourself up” as you do in the shower or while taking a break from your work, your brain is suddenly “free” to consider new, fresh ideas that can potentially solve the problems that were plaguing you while you were so vigorously pondering the issue. Letting your mind wander a bit over lunch can lead to new ideas and new inspiration.
- Time Assets vs. Time Debts
Good post on managing your time and identifying things that drag us down from being productive.
http://jamesclear.com/time-assets - 6 questions to ask to learn about a company’s culture:
Maybe your interviewer will mention off-site brainstorming meetings, clubs meant to help develop employees’ skills or even the company softball team. “But if they skirt this question, that tells you a lot about their culture… or lack thereof,” Cochran says.
http://lifehacker.com/six-questions-you-should-ask-to-learn-about-a-companys-1658633604
- Don’t just invent something, fix a problem:
http://99u.com/workbook/34987/dont-just-invent-something-fix-something - As we try to develop better relationships with our customers, I like this pamphlet approach for the upper levels:
http://www.seanogle.com/entrepreneurship/pamphlet-principle - Allow people choices when creating change:
Allow People Decisions. Change cannot happen to people. It needs to happen with people. Change must be co-created. Everyone should have some say in how the change is implemented. It is their job and their life. Let them have an element of control. If you keep lines of communication open for suggestions, you will hear lots of good ideas from the people who need to make the change happen. Use those ideas because it will build more engagement in the process. Create the change together.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20141030174822-11290604-3-ways-to-motivate-change
PS: On in the case with my son, provide the perception of choice… - Warren Buffet on Goals: (If it isn’t the most important, avoid at all costs)
But the story nevertheless resonates because it promotes a truth that I think is vital to remember in our current networked age: spending time on lower priority goals, even though they’re helpful and generate value, can leave you worse off than if you had avoided them all together.