Category: Efficiency & Productivity

Overcoming the Forgetting Curve

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Take a moment to remember the last time you attended a seminar or training class. Whether it was last week or a month ago, I am guessing that unless you took extensive notes most of the information from the class is now forgotten. Does that mean you are a bad student or have a faulty memory? No, it just means you are on the downward slope of the Forgetting Curve.

Lindsey Ellefson, editor for the website Lifehacker, wrote an article that shared ways to overcome the Forgetting Curve. First, she described what is meant by this phenomenon.

It seems like common sense that the longer you go without retrieving a memory, the harder it is to retrieve—but it wasn’t always one of those things we simply knew to be true. In the 1880s, German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus studied the phenomenon and published his findings, giving the world the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve. The curve is a simple graphic demonstrating how information is lost over time, but it proved that time-related forgetting is real (and has been reaffirmed by further study since).

Photo by Craig Adderley on Pexels.com

Is it inevitable to forget? Not entirely. There are specific practices that can be done to overcome the Forgetting Curve. The first is a simple approach called Spaced Repetition.

Basically, you need to study the material multiple times, giving yourself space between each review. The amount of time you go without studying the material depends largely on how well you’re already remembering it, which means the longer you review, the longer the periods between each review should be. Reviewing your class notes for a difficult class should be done more frequently than reviewing the notes for a class where you really get the concepts, for instance.

To learn more about ways to overcome the Forgetting Curve, please read the rest of the article on the Lifehacker website.

David Allen – Principles that Make Teams Work

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How do highly productive teams come about? Are there underlying ideas that make them successful?

In their new book, Team, David Allen and cowriter Edward Lamont explore how GTD can be used to improve teamwork. They start with looking at the underlying principles, which they consider akin to fundamental laws, that allow for productive work amongst team members. (pg. 66) David and Edward identify five specific principles (pg. 67):

  • Clarity
  • Sufficient Trust
  • Open Communication
  • Learning
  • Diversity

To understand these principles, it is helpful to explore one in more detail. Starting with clarity, David and Edward break down why it this principle is important.

A team needs clarity on purpose and direction. A team is defined by its purpose and most effectively operates using well-defined standards and processes. … without it, there is confusion about who’s responsible for what and who needs to be informed about it, as well as the risk of double work and eating up the attention of people who don’t need to know. Implicit here is clarity of ownership. There always needs to be one person to go to, inside or outside the organization, when clarity is needed on a problem or situation that involves the team. (pg. 68)

David and Edward also believe that clarity is important for the psychological health of the team. For them, clarity provides clear knowledge of the team’s current situation.

One of the big wins in terms of clarity is knowing – and accepting – how much the team is already trying to do, and having some view on whether it is humanly possible to achieve it. (pg. 69)

Pick up a copy of Team to learn more about clarity and the other four principles of teamwork.

The Super Productivity Stack

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What are the optimum conditions for worthwhile productivity?

Studies of how people build success in reaching their goals and getting things done have found that a state of “Flow” is often involved. In an article on his website, Darius Foroux shares a brief discussion of the concept.

In my experience, you do your best work when you’re in a good mood and you’re focused. You can also look at it as being a state of “Flow,” which is a term the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined in a book with the same title. It’s one of the best tools for productivity.

It’s that state of mind where you’re completely immersed in the task at hand and you lose track of time. You simply feel a deep sense of focus and satisfaction at being productive. 

Many people experience “Flow” accidentally when they happen upon a project they enjoy doing. However, it is possible to create conditions to enhance the probability of “Flow” appearing. Foroux mentions several factors that help, the first two are:

  1. Start your day with purpose: Begin each morning by setting a clear intention for what you want to achieve. This clarity will drive your actions and keep you focused.
  2. Simplify your workspace: A clutter-free environment leads to a clutter-free mind. Organize your workspace to foster creativity and productivity.

Foroux recommends partnering a state of “Flow” with a specific strategy known as Pomodoro. It is a way of structuring time by spending 25 minutes on a specific work and then taking a 5 minute break and then repeating throughout the day. He believes this is the key to success.

What makes both Pomodoro and Flowtime work well is the fact that they make you work with full concentration so you can finish your tasks quickly.

The goal is to divide your tasks into periods where you can fully concentrate. So you can do your work faster.

Read the entire article on Foroux’s website and see if this approach works for you.

Scintillating Subject Lines

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In January 2024, I presented a new webinar called Effective Email Etiquette. It was designed to highlight best practices for all aspects of email communications. In this post I’ll look back at the tips on how to make effective subject lines.

Photo by Mikhail Nilov on Pexels.com

A well-crafted subject line is crucial for getting your email noticed and read. To that end, there are simple rules to follow regarding subject lines.

  1. Be Clear and Specific: Clearly convey the purpose or main topic of your email. Avoid ambiguity to ensure the recipient understands the content. Aim for brevity to make it easy for the recipient to quickly grasp the essence of the email. Most people receive numerous emails, so concise subject lines are more likely to be read.
  2. Use Action Words: Incorporate action verbs that prompt the recipient to take a specific action or convey a sense of urgency. If there’s a time-sensitive element to your email, mention it in the subject line. However, be honest and avoid overusing urgency, as it can lead to fatigue.
  3. Personalize When Possible: Include the recipient’s name or reference specific details related to your relationship or previous interactions. Personalization makes email stand out and feel more relevant to the recipient.
  4. Highlight Benefits or Value: If your email offers value or benefits to the recipient, mention this in the subject line. Conveying the value of the email can increase the likelihood of it being opened.
  5. Be Mindful of Tone: Match the tone of your subject line to the nature of the email and your relationship with the recipient. Avoid overly formal or informal language unless it aligns with the context. Writing in all caps or using excessive punctuation can make your email appear unprofessional or overly urgent. Use proper capitalization and punctuation for a polished look.
  6. Consider Mobile Users: Many people check emails on mobile devices, so ensure your subject line is mobile-friendly and not too long.

Remember that an effective subject line can significantly impact the success of your email communication by having it more likely to be opened. Therefore, it is well worth the effort to put in an eye-catching subject line.

To see all of the effective email tips, please read the article accompanying the webinar.

David Allen’s New Book – Team

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The GTD methodology has been out in the world for over 25 years. Millions of people have used it to better organize their work and get more done. However, one challenge people often face is being the only person in their office applying GTD. It can be hard to keep up a successful system when everyone else is doing their work less productively. Aside from trying to get everyone to commit to it personally, can it be scaled to teams?

David Allen and co-writer Edward Lamont believe that it can, with their new book, Team: Getting Things Done with Others. As shared on the book jacket:

By building on the effectiveness of what GTD does for individuals, Team will offer a better way of working in an organization, while simultaneously nourishing a culture that allows individuals’ skills to flourish. Using case studies from some of the world’s largest and most successful companies, Team shows how leaders have employed the principles of team productivity to improve communication, enable effective execution, and reduce stress on team members. These principles are increasingly important in the post-pandemic workplace, where the very nature of how people work together has changed so dramatically.

Over the next few months, I will share teachings from Team. Today I’ll start with a tease of their discussion of moving from one person to a group, which involves a different approach to work.

At a team level, we see the equivalent of “mind like water” to be something we’ve come to describe as “healthy high performance.” This is a way of working together that is not just able to keep pace with, or outrun, the competition, but to do it in a way that is sustainable – fun, even – over the longer term.

With this approach they are aiming to share ways for teams to be successful both in terms of their work goals and also to be healthy in mind, body, and spirit. Stay tuned over the next few months to learn the specific techniques to achieve it.

If you don’t want to wait, get your copy of Team: Getting Things Done with Others and read ahead.

How to Organize a Shared Workspace

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As a fan of GTD, I have been able to organize my personal workspace to match my work style. Having a private office helps me keep control. However, many office workers are stuck in shared workspace situations. While they can control their own immediate spot, the common areas seem to be an unruly land. Is it possible to organize a shared workspace?

Francesca Stracuzzi recently mapped out a way to do so in five steps on the KonMari website. The first step is to take stock of your office’s current state.

“Many desks are overloaded, and both paper and digital archives are not functional, making it difficult to find documents and files,” she says. “A messy and disorganized desk generates stress, anxiety and demotivation, and, in the midst of that chaos, it also reduces our ability to make decisions. I am convinced that space affects our emotions and conditions our performance, so freeing the desk means lightening the mind and working with more serenity and clarity.”

Photo by Marc Mueller on Pexels.com

The next step is to get support from leadership.

“In my work experience, I have seen that the management of space, particularly offices and desks, is left to individual workers,” says Francesca. This may seem logical, but it often leads to a snowball effect, wherein one messy desk turns into many. 

Instead, Francesca recommends encouraging a different perspective within the team, including management, that focuses on how getting organized can benefit the whole team.

By framing the idea of a team organization project to leadership this way, you’ll have an easier time getting them to sign off on the project.  

To learn more about the steps to organizing a shared workspace, including the final three steps, please visit the KonMari website.

The Second-Worst Task List App

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How do you keep track of your tasks?

There are many different ways to remember all the items you need to do, whether it be in an electronic format, paper-based, or a hybrid of both. According to John Forrister, associate of David Allen, there is one method that is the worst way of all – your mind! As he wrote in a recent blog post called The Second-Worst Task List App:

If there is a second-worst task list app, there must be a first-worst, right? Yes — it’s your mind. It’s really good at many things, but managing your task list is not one of them. You know that already. You wouldn’t be reading this without already having a calendar and some version of a task list. 

John then postulates on what would be the second worst way to keep track of your tasks. With this question he not referencing a specific app or piece of software. Instead, he is looking at the systematic process that many people use accidentally.

For several reasons, my nomination for the second-worst task list app is an inbox with stuff that’s been there more than 48 hours. I use the email inbox as an example here, but you can probably apply this reasoning to other places where your inputs show up and need to be clarified.

He then proceeds to list reasons why an email inbox is unproductive as a task reminder. Two reasons include:

1. You need to keep rereading at least the subject lines of the first screen of emails, which uses your valuable time inefficiently. If there’s more than one screen, you are likely scrolling into the past fairly often, to scan those older emails.

2. You may be opening, rereading, then closing the emails to remind yourself what they’re about.

How do we keep our inbox from becoming a default bad task manager? Read the rest of the blog post to find out!

CC or BCC – That is the Question!

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Remember back to the last time you typed a very important work email. When the moment arrived to send it to multiple people, a problem arose. Most of the recipients are only being notified of the message as a courtesy and no action was required from them. Do you CC them or BCC them? That is the eternal question?

Back in January I presented a webinar about Effective Email Etiquette. One of the topics I touched on was when it is more appropriate to use CC over BCC. For a refresher, the difference between the two is that CC means all recipients know that person was copied. The BCC is a blind copy and only that person knows they have been copied.

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich on Pexels.com

When is it best to CC a recipient?

  1. For Informational Purposes: CC is commonly used when you want to keep someone in the loop or inform them about the content of the email without requiring their direct action. It allows additional recipients to be aware of the conversation or information exchange.
  2. When Multiple Parties Need to Be Informed: Use CC when there are multiple individuals or teams that need to be aware of the communication but may not need to actively participate.
  3. To Keep a Record: CC can be used to keep a record of the communication for someone who may not be directly involved but needs to be aware of the conversation for documentation purposes.
  4. To Include a Supervisor or Manager: If you are communicating with a colleague and want to keep their supervisor or manager informed, CC can be an appropriate option.

When it is best BCC a recipient?

  1. For Privacy and Confidentiality: BCC is used when you want to protect the privacy of recipients by concealing their email addresses from others on the list. It is often used in mass emails to protect the privacy of recipients.
  2. To Avoid Reply All Confusion: If you are sending an email to a large group and want to avoid cluttering inboxes with unnecessary replies, you can use BCC to hide the recipient list.
  3. When Introducing New Contacts: If you are introducing someone to a group or connecting people who may not know each other, using BCC can maintain privacy while facilitating introductions.
  4. For Sensitive Matters: When discussing sensitive or confidential matters and ensure that recipients do not see each other’s email addresses, BCC can be a useful tool.

As you consider whether to CC or BCC, there are some important considerations to consider:

  1. Ethical Use: Use CC and BCC ethically and responsibly. Avoid using BCC to hide information that should be transparent or to deceive recipients.
  2. Recipient Expectations: Be mindful of recipient expectations. Some people may be sensitive about being CCed on emails, so use discretion.
  3. Company Policies: Some organizations may have specific policies about the use of CC and BCC. Familiarize yourself with your company’s guidelines.
  4. Replying and Forwarding: Note that when recipients reply to an email, everyone in the CC list will see the reply. BCC recipients, however, will not be able to see each other’s replies.

To learn more about effective email etiquette, please read the full text of the webinar on the Efficient Librarian website.

The Secrets to Storing Your Photos

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How many photos do you have on your mobile device?

For many people, photos take up the enormous amounts of memory space on their phones. With most of us having a smart phone for over a decade, that means thousands and thousands of pictures are stored at our fingertips. Given how easy it is to take a photo (or dozens of photos) to remember an event or meeting, the challenge becomes keeping track of these important visual artifacts.

Tiago Forte, creator of Building a Second Brain, has thought about this problem. His solution is detailed in a recent blog post called The Ultimate Guide to Storing, Managing, and Enjoying Your Photos. He starts by discussing how NOT to store your photos.

Let’s clarify first where photos should NOT go: Your notes app is not the right place to store photos or videos because it’s not made to handle large-sized media (which would generally slow it down). 

I keep my photos in Google Photos which means they’re always securely stored in the cloud. 

Since I take the majority of my photos on my phone (which is probably true for most people), they’re automatically uploaded and backed up via the Google Photos app. 

He moves on to tackle the question of how to organize photos. Surprisingly, this is not as difficult as it first appears.

The good news is: You don’t really need to because Google Photos automatically organizes your photos for you in various ways. 

By default, you’ll view your photos in an infinite timeline organized by date with the oldest ones at the bottom and the newest ones at the top. 

However, Tiago soon moves away from the mechanics of storing photos to a more meaningful puzzle.

Now, the question remains: What should you do with all the photos you’re taking? How can they add beauty and meaning to your life instead of just sitting around on a server somewhere? 

To learn the answer to that question, please read the rest of his post.