Power of 3 in Sedona
July 28, 2010 by
Filed under Articles, business building, marketing plan, media, Power of 3, strategies
These three International Marketing Mentors: Debbie Allen, Marie O’Riordan and Tracy Repchuk are on fire.
What Is Our Addiction to Being Connected teaching us?
July 22, 2010 by
Filed under ADD, Articles, balance, being connected, increase productivity, Northeast Productivity Bootcamp, relationships
Email, Procrastination, Productivity
July 21, 2010 by
Filed under Articles, email, increase productivity, overwhelm, procrastination, spam filter, time management
Time management is a key discipline for running any business. It’s so easy to get pulled into doing the easy tasks or the quick tasks first. From there, it’s a small step to letting things become a crisis before you handle them. One of the first places we get bogged down is with email.
We are all on email overload. Even with spam filters and junk mail folders, we get far more email than anyone has time to read or respond to. Letting prime business hours be consumed with email is a clear sign of procrastination, avoidance and even resistance to working on the day’s TODO list.
Use the following strategies to manage time, get organized, and keep digital messages from crowding out important tasks that need to get done.
Email vs. Telephone
Email and the telephone (or IM) are not always interchangeable. There’s a simple rule about when to use email and when to use the telephone. Use email to share information or distribute information. Use the telephone if you seek an answer, a decision or a discussion.
Limit Messages
The fewer email messages that come in, the fewer you have to deal with.
- Set e-mail software filters for messages you want to receive, but don’t need to read right away. They will automatically be archived or moved to a folder you designate. To set up a filter in MS Outlook, go to “Rules and Alerts”. In the Tools menu; in Gmail, click “Settings” (at the top right of your screen), then the “Filters” tab.
- Mark unwanted e-mails as spam. Future messages from the same sender will go directly to your junk-mail folder. Don’t read them there either.
- Use a hosted e-mail-filtering program to limit access to your inbox. Programs, such as ChoiceMail, automatically approve e-mails from only the senders you know and trust. They include: SpamEater Pro, CA Anti-Spam Plus, SPAMfighter, ChoiceMail One, Spam Killer, Spam buster, SpamNet, Spam Agent, iHateSpam, MailWasher Pro. Unapproved senders are blocked. Here’s a review of some of them..
Manage Messages You Do Receive
- Resist opening e-mails first thing in the morning. This is a reactive, not a pro-active way to start the day. Your priority list comes first.
- Don’t allow others to set your agenda. Set a schedule to attend to e-mail. A schedule that works for many people is a half-hour before lunch and a half-hour before you leave for the day.
- Turn off the e-mail notification function. This was the key for me regaining control of my work day. That ping (aka: You Have Mail) for each new message as it arrives suggests immediacy. By turning off that function, you control it and your time. You become more productive, just be completing tasks before you look at email again.
- Limit follow-up e-mails. Create a subject line that lets the recipient know exactly what your message is about. Re: Re: Re: doesn’t tell your recipient anything. Take the time to give them a hint, or even the whole message, in the Subject line.
- Respond to any e-mail that requires a brief response as soon as you open it. Don’t put it off to re-read later. (Same rule for snail mail too).
- Mark e-mails that require an action. You’ll be able to quickly find the action items later on.
- Empty your inbox every day. Set the goal that your day ends only when your inbox is empty. When you do, people quickly learn that they’ll get an answer before you leave the office. It adds closure to the day and helps you clarify your priority list of actions for the next day too.
Managing email, on your computer, on your blackberry or any other device, takes discipline and consistent habits. The result is more time for money making activities or more time for fun because you are no longer on overwhelm.
Kerri Salls
Breakthrough Enterprise
P.S. In the Productivity Bootcamp, we teach you the right and wrong ways to use email and your email system to make the best use of your valuable time.
Procrastination – it’s a problem
July 20, 2010 by
Filed under Articles, avoiding, delaying, postponing, procrastinating, procrastination
Procrastination.
They simply don’t do what they know they need and may even want to do.
They keep putting things off. They keep delaying, postponing, escaping. They keep procrastinating — even when they actually know what to do.”
On his website, Joe’s conclusion is “the secret is clear: the more action you take, the more results you get.”
If you’d like to know more about it, email me for the Fact Sheet.
For a free report, signup at Breakthrough Enterprise.
Multitasking: Bad for the Soul
July 17, 2010 by
Filed under Articles, multi-task, multi-tasking, multitask
Complacency is Death
July 9, 2010 by
Filed under Articles, complacency, economic recovery, reinvent your business, reinvigorate your business
Join this teleseminar on Thursday, July 15, 2010 4:00pm ET.
Renew YOUR Business for Success in the Economic Recovery
What you cannot do is sit on your laurels expecting everything to go back to normal. Indeed, complacency is death. The ‘new’ normal hasn’t been defined yet.
Time Wasters to Eradicate
July 8, 2010 by
Filed under Articles, increase productivity, interruptions, meetings, productivity, time, time waster, wasting time
- Standing in line to register at an event.
Instead:register ahead of time, show your receipt and pick up your name tag to get in to the event. - Paying dues live at an association event. It’s just not a good use of your time on site.
Instead: Join or renew your membership online. - Manually sorting junk mail.
Instead: let someone else do this or better, send a postcard with to get your address off those lists. - Manually sorting SPAM in your email.
Instead: Set rules so you never have to see those messages. - Automated telephone systems that send you to an extension that never picks up.
Instead: Ask for a live person/stay on the line for a live person. - Those ’2 minute’ interruptions that take 20 minutes.
Instead: train everyone around you and on your team when you are available for interruptions/2 minute questions/etc. and when you are not. - Quick 3 minute phone calls that put you on hold for 20 minutes waiting for the next available operator. Instead: Use their online live chat feature. It’s always a quicker response.
- Service providers (utilities, electricians, plumbers, repairmen) who require you to wait for them for a 4 hour or all day on a weekday so they can do 10-15 minutes of work.
Instead: Seek out providers who have a better handle on their scheduled workload and can schedule you accordingly. - Meetings just because they’re scheduled.
Instead: Hold meetings based on an agenda, as needed. - Not starting meetings on time. It’s inconsiderate to those people who make a point of being on time. Instead: Regardless of how many people show up at the start time, start the meeting. Others will quickly learn to show up on time. It’s a better use of everyone’s time.
And the corollary is: Not adjourning meetings when the business is done. Too often people think they have to keep everyone for the full alotted time.
Instead: When your business is done, adjourn the meeting.
For more productivity and business process ideas and tips, go here.
Work Smarter, Not Harder
July 7, 2010 by
Filed under Articles, cheat sheets, clutter, effective, efficient, goals, productivity, switch-tasking, vacation, workaholic
This list isn’t original with me, but certainly bears repeating to help us all improve as we strive to work smarter and not harder. The list came from ITBusinessEdge. The productivity comments are mine.
1. Don’t spend all day on your email - Turn off automatic email receive. You are in control of email. Don’t let it control or consume you.
2. Limit the time spent surfing – Surfing the web is wasted time.
3. Communicate visually – In this age of information overload, visuals are easier to absorb and retained longer.
4. Set specific goals for the day – Use your 6 Most Important Things List
5. Work in time slots – Chunk your work to minimize switch-tasking.
6. Place a time limit on meetings – Standing meetings don’t have to consume the full allotted time just because it’s scheduled and blocked out. When you set time limits on your meetings, everyone is more focused and you get more done.
7. Clear your desk of clutter - Organizing your desk helps you organize your day and your brain doesn’t have to ‘remember’ where each document/report/tool is.
8. Use the right equipment – You’ve heard this before about hammers and screwdrivers. The same is true for having the right equipment in your office. If your mouse is broken or the scanner does not work or the print driver on your computer does not recognize your printer – get them fixed/replaced. Unless you are the tech person in your office, these tasks should be assigned to someone and off your plate.
9. Use quick reference sheets – Use or create cheat sheets, procedures, process documents for everything that needs to be done more than once, on a schedule or in a repeatable format.
10.Limit work hours and take vacation time - More and more research is coming out showing that employees (even business owners) who limit the number of hours they work each day and take regular vacations, are actually more efficient and more effective than their workaholic peers.
Kerri Salls
Breakthrough Enterprise
P.S. For more productivity tips you can apply now, get my report: Jumpstart Your Productivity at Breakthrough Enterprise.
Two More Strategic No Cost Ways to Increase Your Productivity Fast
July 2, 2010 by
Filed under Articles, focus on important tasks, focus on strategic tasks, increase productivity, most profitable activities, most valuable activities, time management
- Identify your two most profitable money-making activities. They may be what you love about your business, they may be what you do best.
- Increase the scheduled time you focus on those two activities.
Most executive and business owners don’t even spend 50% of their time on those activities! Once you recognize where you need to spend your time and why, you can choose your priorities to get the most important things done first. As Stephen Covey says: “First Things First”.
Kerri
Breakthrough Enterprise
P.S. Request your own copy of my report Jumpstart Your Productivity for more ideas you can implement now.
