LSC's E-tip for August 2008

Living Simply E-tip: Drop the Dead Weight
If you belong to some organization but you’re not really participating, quit for now. You’ll shed the guilt that comes from a sense of unfulfilled commitments and feel better about it, especially if you’re heart’s not in it. If you are interested but don’t have the time to engage fully, you can rejoin in the future.



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E-tip Archives

Here are some archive productivity tips from LSC's Casey Moore:

Living Simply E-tip: Add an Hour to Your Day
Turn off the TV one hour earlier than you normally do. Use the time to do something you love. Try this for two weeks and you’ll feel happier and more fulfilled.

Living Simply E-tip: Keep a TEMP folder in My Docs
If you create documents that you need just for a short time, you can simplify your filing system by keeping them in a TEMP folder in your My Docs. Periodically purge the older files out of that folder to keep it lean. Examples: pdfs that you create to send as secure attachments (keep the original Word or whatever doc in its folder) or receipts for online purchases (keep until the item arrives).

Living Simply E-tip: Manage Your Work-Related Reading
Scan the table of contents to see if any article is of interest. Rip out the articles that you want and recycle the rest. Keep the articles where you’re likely to read them, e.g., in a folder that you take to lunch, at home, etc.

Living Simply E-tip: Don't Always Be a "Yes" Person
If you say "yes" to one thing, you automatically say "no" to something else. Taking on others' responsibilities means that you put your own needs at risk. "Yes, I'll do that" may mean you'll have to say "no" to sleep, exercise, time alone or time with loved ones. Sometimes it's worth it; sometimes it's not--but you should know what's really at stake.

Living Simply E-tip: Take a Walk!
All exercise gets more oxygen and glucose to your brain. Walking might get more oxygen and glucose there because your legs need them less than in other forms of exercise.  As the website below shows, walking really might clear your mind! http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/exercise.html#physicalexercise


Living Simply E-tip: Set Calendar Reminders as All-Day Events
If you need to make a call or do a task on a certain day but not at a certain time, schedule it as an all-day event with a reminder on your calendar. (Scheduling it as an appointment when it really doesn't need to be at a certain time and it won't take a full half-hour just clutters your calendar and makes it less trustworthy.)


Write Down the Dates on Your Papers
Write dates on all your papers--including the year. It's amazing how quickly one year melts into the next. If you don't write the full date, it's hard to determine what happened when as you search through old files.


Make Sure Your Task List Has Next Actions
To radically improve your productivity, take a look at your task list today (or at your weekly review Friday). Make sure that it contains only Next Actions--not projects or third-step-down-the-line actions. Group all of your Waiting For (Others to Do) items so that they don't clutter YOUR action list. It makes a difference.


Practice Imperfection
Perfectionism is a common productivity-buster for hard-driving Type A's. Here's one antidote: practice imperfection. Don't correct a typo in your to-do list. Allow yourself only 2 revisions of that document, etc. Deliberately making small, IRRELEVANT mistakes is good practice. Spend your extra time on important activities instead.


Establish Deadlines When You Delegate
Most of us work under the gun and are deadline-driven. Your direct-reports are no different. If you don't establish a realistic deadline for you assignments when you give them, they will get pushed behind everything that does have a deadline. That might be too late.


Set the Stage for Getting Things Done
Is your chair the correct height? Do your wrists, hands and arms feel comfortable as you use your keyboard? Do you have enough light? Is your computer monitor a comfortable distance from your face and at a comfortable angle? Minor, even subconcious, irritants create low-level stress and impede productivity. Fix them!


Make Down-Time Productive
Is summer distracting you from your work? Make your down time productive by engaging in necessary but rote activities. Do some filing, enter some info into your contact database, clear your in-box, etc. Sometimes a mental break helps you get back on track more quickly. Do only things that must be done, though!


Get Your House in Order
If your office is organized and systematized but your home is not, the imbalance may lead you (subconsciously) to spend more time at work than necessary or desired. The solution? Get your house in order one drawer, shelf and pile at a time. The results will help clear your mind, too.


Annotate Your Receipts Right Away
As soon as you receive any business-related receipt, immediately jot a note on it saying what it was for (e.g., "lunch with client X") to make expense reports and taxes easier. This tip especially helps individuals who work from home by clearly separating work from personal.


Create and Stick to Your "Don't Do" List
Productivity usually means doing MORE. Sometimes, though, you can increase your productivity by doing less. Create a "Don't Do" list for yourself. Identify your favorite time-wasters and commit to abstaining from them one day at a time. See how much time you free up!

Here are a few examples:
* Don't re-write that document for the fourth time.
* Don't over-format documents.
* Don't start doing "research" on the Internet without some alarm to keep you from losing hours on end.
* Don't check email until you finish the task you're currently working on.


Retrain Serial Interrupters
Do you have a serial interrupter in your life--someone who calls you or drops by several times a day to ask a quick question or share a quick story? Don't despair. YOU have the power to change this behavior. Ask the interrupters to keep a list of things they want to run by you. Only when they have a few items should they give you a call. And remind them when they forget. You deserve the peace!


Preventing Interruptions at Times Is Key
When you need to work on something that requires concentration, protect yourself from interruptions. Turn off your email alarm. Put your phone on voicemail and shut the door. You may need to go to a different room or offsite. It's not only OK to ensure that you get your work done--it's NECESSARY. Treat your time with this work as if it were an appointment with a person.


Get Ready for Tomorrow Tonight
Decrease your stress by preparing at night for the next day's work. Scan your calendar, set out the clothes you'll wear, prepare a lunch and put all the items you must bring beside your car keys. You'll arrive at work feeling more relaxed and prepared--which will translate into into greater efficiency during the day.


Use a Don't Do List
Productivity always seems to be about doing MORE. Sometimes, though, you can increase your productivity by doing less. Create a "Don't Do" list for yourself. Identify your favorite time-wasters and commit to abstaining from them one day at a time. See how much time you free up.


Negotiate Gift-Giving Early
Early December (or late November) is the time to negotiate gift-giving with family (nuclear and extended) and friends. If in recent years you (or your spouse) have been buying for 20 people, maybe this year you could draw names and only buy for a few. It saves time (if not money!) and hassle. It also helps remind everyone of the true meaning of the season. The less you stress, the more effective you can be.


Just Relax!
Chronic stress--the perception that you are overloaded--affects your DNA, effectively aging your cells (source: the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology). It increases cardiovascular risk factors as well.
Meditation is one anecdote and it's simple to learn. Just take a few minutes each day to focus on your breath, let go of your thoughts and just BE. This respite improves your perspective, helping you make better decisions about what to do with your time. Try it today!


Write Down Your Goals
A Harvard study found that the 3% of the population that writes their goals earn 10 times what the 83% who have no written goals earn. Writing your goals pays dividends! It's the first but crucial step towards achieving them. Take some time this week to clarify your professional and personal goals if you have not already.


Track Your Ideas
Keep a list of ideas that you may want to put into action (a trip, a marketing strategy, etc.) so that you can consciously decide whether or not to pursue them. If you don't make that decision consciously, the ideas will clutter your mind and may even make you feel guilty subconsciously, as though you'd made obligations you hadn't kept. The next time you go to file a piece of paper, STOP. Do you have to keep this for legal or policy reasons? If not, what's the likelihood that you'll need to look at it again in the next 6 months? If it's low, let don't keep it.


Create a notebook with master to-do lists. -- One list: EVERY project, no matter how small. -- One list: EVERY action item associated with each project. -- One list: EVERY dream project or idea. Review your lists regularly and cross out what you complete.
Your productivity and clarity will soar.