Are You Overdue for a Weekly Review

December 1, 2017Leave a comment

overtop-desk-photo When did you last do a complete weekly review? Work life moves fast, so it is important to take time to reflect on what has happened and what is coming soon. The weekly review is a valuable opportunity to tidy up loose ends, assess progress, and prepare for the upcoming week and months ahead. It allows for a refocusing of attention onto the things that matter instead of the latest and loudest.

A few tips for a successful weekly review:

Schedule it for the last day of your work week in order to enter your weekend with a clear head.
Block out 1-2 hours. Close the door and ask your colleagues to honor this time of solitude.
Get clear – Process any last minute items that have found their way into your inbox and do a quick mind sweep to empty out anything found only in your head to get it into your system
Get current – Tidy up your action folders, identity outstanding waiting for items, review your calendar going two weeks back and then as far forward as necessary.
Get creative – Review your someday/maybe folder for new projects to trigger, peruse your read/review pile, and reflect on the higher horizons of focus to gain perspective on your work.

To modify an old saying, a weekly review today keeps workplace stress away. Try it and experience the difference it makes.

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

November 7, 20171 Comment

The basic idea of organizing is to get rid of stuff you don’t need, and then place the items to keep in an appropriate spot out of the way where they can be found again when needed. However, mental attachments to our belongings can trick us into retaining items long past their usefulness or value, which leads to clutter and confusion.

mariekondo In her best-selling book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo created a systematic approach to organizing home and office spaces that can be quickly implemented by anyone. While most people read the book for the nuts and bolts of how to organize a closet or drawer, the book shares a deeper Zen-like philosophy which resonates beyond the mere allocation of our stuff. Marie calls it the KonMari Method™. From her web site:

The KonMari Method™ is a way of life and a state of mind that encourages cherishing the things that spark joy in people’s lives.

Belongings are acknowledged for their service and thanked before being let go of, if they no longer spark joy.

People are drawn to this philosophy not only due to its effectiveness, but also because it places great importance on being mindful, introspective, and optimistic.

See more at her web site Konmari.com and check out the book from your library.

Are You Micromanaging Your Mind?

October 31, 2017Leave a comment

One of the greatest challenges in setting up a new organizational system is the transition to trusting it. Yet it is hard to trust a new system until it has proven itself. This is often a Catch 22 that tends to result in the return to old habits and systems davidallen .

In his most recent blog post, David Allen highlights this challenge.

“If you don’t fully trust your personal systems, you are likely to be dedicating inappropriate and unnecessary mental attention to details and content, often with a resultant negative emotional component. You’ll feel pulled, overwhelmed, and often like you’re close to losing control.

“But you can’t trust your system until it’s trust-worthy. When is that? When you know you have captured all your commitments, clarified what you’re intending to do about them, decided the actions you need to take about them, and have parked reminders of those actions in places that you know you’ll look, where and when you need to.”

Read the full blog post at GettingThingsDone.com.

Discipline Over Default

October 18, 2017Leave a comment

brianknight The quest for greater efficiency and productivity in our work is a noble endeavor. However, in every quest there is an obstacle in the way of success. In this case, it is our own unconscious default behavior that sabotages our best efforts at change and keeps us stuck at square one.

In a recent blog post, Brian Kight of Focus 3 describes the difference between a disciplined way of thinking versus a default way and how adopting the former can help you achieve your goals.

“Discipline over default means thinking and acting discipline-driven rather than default-driven, a core practice of our training. The unfortunate fact is that most people behave default-driven and don’t even realize it. Choosing to be discipline-driven over default-driven isn’t a one-time decision, it’s an everyday decision. … Default is the enemy of discipline. It’s the self-perpetuating chasm between you and your goals, and that should frustrate you.”

Read the rest of the Focus 3 blog post to learn more about how engage in a more discipline-driven approach to work and life.

Bad Choices

October 4, 2017Leave a comment

The word “algorithm” has a mysterious quality to it, as if only someone with an advanced degree in mathematics on computer science can understand its meaning. However, an algorithm is actually a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations. In fact, we use algorithms every day to make decisions in life, but we just don’t know it.

In badchoices his recent book, Bad Choices: How Algorithms can Help you Think Smarter and Live Happier, author Ali Almossawi cleverly and playful employs basic logic to solve real world daily task problems such as organizing socks, quickly finding your size in a rack of clothes, knowing when to visit the store for supplies, and solve a maze. Almossawi states:

“It is my hope that this book impresses on you the ability to better think about decisions throughout your life and better understand what trade offs they come with. … Much like critical thinking, algorithmic thinking is a highly capable tool that has the potential to impact behavior for the better.”

Pick up a copy of Bad Choices at your local library.

Going the Distance to Mind Like Water

September 22, 2017Leave a comment

(Sorry for the delay in postings due to Hurricane Irma.)

gtdcover Let’s be blunt, your head is a crappy office space. In the moment, it can be very seductive to believe that you can remember anything that comes across your plate. In practice, our minds drop important items regularly. That is why a system that takes the burden of remembering off your mind is very important. In a recent blog post, David Allen reflects on this point:

There is a light-year of difference between a system that has merely a lot of our stuff objectified, and one that has 100%. Few people have experienced what I’m talking about, because there are few people who have ever gotten to a 100% empty head—absolutely every project, action item, and potential commitment we have made with ourselves and others externalized in an easily reviewable format.

Read the rest of the post at the GTD Blog.

5 Signs You’re Getting Better at GTD

August 28, 2017Leave a comment

The game of productivity and efficiency work can sometimes be hard to score. As this is a skill to be mastered, it is helpful to identify key stages of progress in order to feel a sense of achievement. In a recent blog post, Coach Kelly Forrister identified five key markers of a proficient GTD practice.

1. It feels weird to keep stuff on your mind
Capturing what has your attention is a key practice with GTD. Getting better at GTD means you are capturing what’s on your mind when it shows up, moment-by-moment and keeping something ON your mind, well, it just feels weird.

Read the other four signs on the Getting Things Done web site.

Why is there stuff on my chair?

August 22, 2017Leave a comment

Have you ever come back to your desk to discover that someone left a note on your chair? I am sure most office workers regularly encounter this situation. I believe the reason people leave notes on their colleague’s chairs is that they do not trust that person’s inbox.

messy-chair The inbox is designed to capture new information and works best when new input is regularly processed and organized. Once an inbox fills with clutter, new input quickly gets lost. People see that messy inbox as a graveyard and avoid it like a real one. Therefore, they will find ways around the dysfunctional inbox and a favorite option is to use the chair. They assume that the person will see it before they sit down!

To avoid having your colleagues turn your chair into an inbox, try working the one on your desk more efficiently. Clean it out every 24-48 hours to stay fresh for new input. Be warned, some people are now programmed to bypass even a clean inbox and automatically go for the chair. When this happens to me, I tell that colleague that I will sit on the item, literally and figuratively. Then I politely point them to my inbox and ask that they place it there instead for timely processing. It keeps the chair much more comfortable that way.

New Guidelines on Passwords

August 15, 2017Leave a comment

Passwords are an unfortunate reality of our online lives. With the average person having multiple accounts for everything from email, credit cards, shopping sites, and more, and each one requiring a different password to protect it. In the past, the guidelines for passwords instructed people to string together complex sets of characters that were often hard to remember on the assumption that it would be more secure. However, new research shows otherwise. A recent NPR story explains why:

“The traditional guidance is actually producing passwords that are easy for bad guys and hard for legitimate users,” says Paul Grassi, senior standards and technology adviser at NIST, who led the new revision of guidelines.

The organization suggests keeping passwords simple, long and memorable. Phrases, lowercase letters and typical English words work well, Grassi tells NPR’s Audie Cornish. Experts no longer suggest special characters and a mixture of lower and uppercase letters. And passwords never need to expire.”

Read the full article on the NPR web site. Then create a new project titled “simplify my passwords” to start making better, safer passwords for yourself.

Efficient Librarian

Exploring the Intersection of Efficiency and Librarianship

Category: Efficiency & Productivity