The Three Rhythms of Workflow – Getting and Staying in the Groove

It’s been a rock and roll day here at QuietSpacing(R) central.  Monday’s always are … for most of us.  Between all the things I shoved into this week from last week, the things everyone else shoved into this week, and the collective exigencies that popped up over the weekend, it’s a wonder Monday ever ends!

I felt myself ease into the groove right way, first reviewing the landscape of the day, then triaging all the e-mails that had arrived overnight.  The collective pulse rose as people started calling and the activity level all around me increased.  Soon, I was responding to client and employee requests for my attention, while I also re-scripted a presentation I wanted to record for the web. 

The middle of the day heaved over and as the afternoon drew out in front of me, I found myself contending with several technical issues.  By mid-afternoon it was time to get a number of things done out of the office, so into the world I went.  The relative quiet of the outside world was a welcome relief to the mounting pressure building in the office.  E-mails weren’t quite as urgent as keeping my eyes on the road and phone calls were taken more selectively.

With the errands complete, I returned to the office for a final triage before heading out into the drizzle for a run. 

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QuickTip: 4 Ways to Minimize Interruptions and Distractions

We are bombarded by interruptions and distractions all day long. They affect our focus and cause us to lose time getting back up to speed. If we can increase our productivity by just six minutes each day, we’ll increase our productivity by 24 hours each year. That’s three days of production this year over last![…]

When, exactly, is ASAP?

Our 24×7 world has a rash … a rash of ASAP. It’s highly contagious and seems to strike from the top of the organizational chart and move down. Everyone has been afflicted by this rash and most have inflicted it on others. By Any Other Name Identifying the ASAP rash is not hard. Here is a list[…]

QuickTip: Are You LIFO or FIFO?

While talking with a client last week, it occurred to me that the accounting concepts of LIFO and FIFO are a perfect way to distinguish between the way we historically processed our stuff and the way we currently process our stuff. (“Stuff” includes all the inputs that stream into our lives throughout the day.) My observation is that[…]

Five Ways to Reduce Interruptions and Get More Done

Today’s work world is riddled with productivity saboteurs.  You know what I’m talking about.  You’re just getting some real traction on a big project that requires your full attention when someone knocks on your door.  Oh, they “just need a minute” of your time, but that minute totally derails your productivity!  In fact, it can take[…]

QuickTip: Manufacturing Time – A Two-Fer

Running from meeting to meeting and phone call to phone call is very stressful and it can be very unproductive. This is often an area I work with clients on and what follows are some ideas on how to make your day both less stressful and more productive. (Note, if you aren’t in a position[…]

QuickTip: Fixing The Pavlovian E-mail Twitch

Email has reduced us to the level of salivating dogs.  Whether we are in the office, at home, or in the line at the grocery store, we are obsessed with checking our e-mail.  Ask yourself, when was the last time you went 20 minutes without checking your e-mail or without thinking about checking your e-mail[…]

Six Tips To Higher E-mail Productivity

This is a short segment of a presentation I recently delivered on how to improve your e-mail productivity. The topics covered include: Turning off your new e-mail alerts. Batch processing your e-mail. Subject line naming conventions. One subject per e-mail. Reducing the use of Reply All. Drag & Drop functionality. I hope you find something[…]

5 Ways To Create A More Productive Workspace

Whether you work in an office, at home or on the road, it’s often difficult to get what needs doing done.  That’s because we are all bombarded by interruptions and distractions – self-imposed and from without – no matter where we try to work.  Interruptions and distractions chip away at our focus and it’s focus that best facilitates productivity[…]

QuickTip: Use "Reply To" When Someone Else Is Handling Details

Just enjoying a lovely fall afternoon stuck in the office porting data from my recently-failed laptop (backlight went black two days ago) to my new Toshiba netbook.  I’m excited to see where this technology is right now and I didn’t want to drop real money on a high-end laptop until Windows 7 is out (and[…]