Archive for the Productivity Category
6 Easy to Apply Tips to Giving an Effective Presentation
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Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Julie Bradlow.
Back in the 1980’s, it was common for interviewers to ask the now-cliched question: “What’s your greatest weakness?” The first time someone asked me this, I immediately quipped, “Chocolate.” While that was, and still is, true, I later learned that one is supposed to describe a former weakness that one has made over into a strength.
So here is the story of my former greatest weakness – difficulty with public speaking.
When a former boss, who was slowly going blind, wrote on my annual review that my presentation skills needed work, both I and the company I worked for took it seriously. For the following several months, I was assigned to report at my department’s weekly lunch meeting on new developments. Week after week, I had to give these reports. I read. I outlined. I sweated. I paced my office, giving my talks out loud to the four walls. And slowly, I got better. The last talk I gave – this past January, over 20 years later – I spoke for 45 minutes with nothing but four pages of notes, and got a standing ovation. And that made me very happy.
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Timeboxing To Avoid Procrastination
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Jon Rhodes
Timeboxing is a clever little technique that I have been intuitively using for years before I even knew it had name. It is great for helping those who are working for themselves to avoid procrastination and get things done.
In a nutshell, it is giving yourself a deadline in which to complete a task, then doing it to the best you can with the time you have available. Here is an example of how I use this technique with my daughter to encourage her to tidy her room.
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10 Feng Shui Ways To Make Office Life Better
Editor’s note: this is a guest post from Michael Schnippering of Feng Shui at Work.
Feng Shui helps with a variety of different problems. It can even help with problems in the business. They give many tips on how to make a business successful and stay successful.
For example, Andrew was a small business owner who complained about having lost his level of concentration. “It all started quickly after I moved into his new office,” Andrew said. His desk was split by two different magnetic chi fields resulting in migraines. His loss of concentration was caused by Andrew not sitting in one of his supporting directions. We moved his desk according to the principles of Feng Shui, and shortly after Andrew felt relief from the negative effects which had impacted his energies before.
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How to Do Business with Different Personality Types
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Lisa H. (aka RunningBear) of Getting to Zen
If you charge for your work, then you know the dilemma between charging hourly versus charging by the project. There are arguments for and against both. For example, if you charge by the project, you could end up doing a lot more work than the project is worth and if you charge by the hour, you many lose clients to the variability of the cost. Knowing the personality type of the persons you are working with can not only help you in deciding how to charge for your efforts but make your working relationships a whole lot smoother.
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Why You Need a Pre-Emptive Strike Against Interruptions
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Barry Demp of Demp Coaching
In the military, rather than waiting passively for the enemy to attack, you attack first – this is called a pre-emptive strike.
The pre-emptive strike isn’t just useful in the military, though: it’s also a powerful technique that I use with my coaching clients in the business world.
You may have certain high-maintenance employees and co-workers who tend to interrupt a lot and ruin your momentum. Maybe you get a phone call, or they pop into your office – however the interruption comes, it breaks your flow. This is when a pre-emptive strike is warranted.
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Effective Communication in the Land of Endless Emails
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Kenneth McCall is director of IT for storage.com.
I love email. It gives me a running record of who said what when. I can write a very business-like email even late at night or early in the morning – look how late he’s working, impressive! I can give bad news gently without having to actually face the person. I get to use passive-aggressive smiley faces. Guess you’ll have that report for me tomorrow instead of today since it’s already 5:30? 
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How to Focus Your Thoughts and Accomplish Great Work
You may notice that it’s easier to enjoy a certain situation when in a good mood. You aren’t affected by problems as easily. This occurs because your focus is on something that keeps you happy.
Standing in line behind two young women, probably in their early twenties, at the grocery store and they were complaining about their boyfriends. Their groceries were on the conveyer belt waiting to be wrung up. They had bananas, a mango, strawberries, two types of cheeses and crackers. It looked like they were going to eat an amazing snack. They weren’t excited about this wonderful meal they were soon to make, but only worried about their awful boyfriends.
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What do you base your decisions on, money or happiness?
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Kole McRae of Office Buddha
I used to be a door to door salesman. I would get up around 6am to spend a 10 hour day selling phone services to people who didn’t really need them. I hated the job and dreaded each morning (I got no days off) but for some strange reason I just kept on doing it.
The money was pretty good. It covered rent and food and it let me go out and have fun whenever I felt like it. I reasoned that I only had to do it for a few years and then I could take a 2 year break and just live off my savings. So things sucked right now, the future would rock.
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4 Tips to Help You Stay Happy, Present and Productive at Work
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Lisa of Lisa of Getting to Zen
Have you ever driven to work only to not remember how you got there? You know the route you took, however you cannot remember a single detail along the way. It was like your brain shut off and you went on autopilot-you were there, but you were not there. This happens to us when we are not present. Not being present can cause us to miss out on so much of what is going on in the moment. It puts us in a past or future time which either has already existed or not existed yet.
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Chest Clearing Club – Turds, Arch nemesis and Jerks
The winter is a time for reflection.
I used to be a very bi-polar and unhappy person. It’s why I started writing. I needed to release the crappy thoughts sitting on me like a big stinky turd, so I could move on to projects I enjoyed.
There was nothing medically wrong with me. I was just me.
It’s actually been a beautiful ride so far. I realize this after many hours of yoga, meditation and journaling. My ability to reframe a difficult situation has helped me improve my happiness by leaps and bounds.
I remember the time my first boss called me a monkey. It was a slap in the face. I literally felt the sting of pain when I heard those words.
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