The Productivity PRO!® news"E"letter

“The Productivity PRO!”^® news"E"letter

Number 35, April 2002

By Laura M. Stack, MBA, CSP (Certified Speaking Professional)

“The Productivity PRO!”^®

“The Productivity PRO!”® news"E"letter is a monthly electronic newsletter distributed to our clients, human resource personnel, and colleagues. Laura Stack helps people leave the office earlier, with less stress, and more to show for it!

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MESSAGE: As a trainer, I always try to practice what I preach. So when I wrote last month’s column on procrastination, I had to look hard at a project I’ve been procrastinating on…for 10 years…writing my book! So I took some action. Last weekend, I attended a Writing Lab and fleshed out the idea for my book. I even met an agent who is interested in the concept. Then I got really excited and registered for the Maui Writers Conference over Labor Day weekend! So here it is: a public commitment. I’m going to have my book written and ready to sell to a publisher by August 28. It’s called, “The Productivity Quotient: Leave Work Earlier, Get More Done, and Feel Good About It!” I’m looking for 10 volunteers who want to receive an advance copy in exchange for taking the 100-point productivity assessment and reviewing the draft for me. Takers? Email your name Laura@LauraStack.com.

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IN THIS ISSUE:

* Article: “The Organized Person: Nature vs. Nurture”

* “The Productivity PRO®” answers your questions!

* Time Tips and Traps

* Words of Wisdom

* Featured Program: “eCommunication: Virtual Communication in the Digital Age”

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ARTICLE: “The Organized Person: Nature vs. Nurture”

One of the questions I’m frequently asked is, “Are you born with the gift of organization, or do you pick it up from watching your parents?” Half believe you’re born with it. If you don’t happen to get the genetic “gene,” you’re out of luck.

My father swears I’ve always been organized. Even as a young girl, I had “systems.” My stuffed animals lived on my bed in a very specific order during the day and on my toy box in another very specific order at night. I never left the house without making my bed. I actually folded and put my clothes away. I had a precise order in which I got dressed, brushed my teeth, and combed my hair. Always in exactly the same sequence. Every time. Genetic? No way. My brothers were slobs. In fact, my mother made them keep their bedroom doors shut, so that their messes wouldn’t bother anyone. So the genetic test fails.

Perhaps, then, it’s environmental. My mother was a very organized person and kept detailed grocery lists and a budget book. But she could never throw anything away. She washed and reused Ziploc bags. She used a teabag over and over again, until no color came out of it. I can just picture that shriveled little teabag on the stovetop.

My father was also a huge packrat. He’s a retired Air Force Colonel, so I moved frequently during childhood. I remember certain boxes that dad had that moved from house to house to house. He never opened them. He just kept putting a moving sticker on top of the other moving stickers and carrying it along. I recall asking, “Dad, why don’t you just put that box out for the garbage collectors instead of moving it? You’ve never opened it!” His response was, “I can’t! There might be something valuable in there!” If you have no idea what’s in the box and have never looked for the item, how can it be valuable?

He saved baby food jars from when we were infants and meticulously labeled each jar with the type of bolt, nail, screw…or 3-inch piece of string. He kept them all in drawers in a huge wooden workbench. He never used some of the items he kept…hey, but at least he had it if he needed it. In college, my microwave timer broke. My dad repaired it with a bathroom timer he had kept…for 15 years. He said, “See! I knew that would come in handy some day!”

I, however, am the queen of tossing. If I haven’t used it in a year, I give it to charity. So it can’t be environmental, because I never picked up those packrat tendencies from my parents.

Truly, being organized is neither genetic nor environmental. Perhaps it’s a combination of many things. I believe, however, that’s it’s definitely learned. It’s a skill that can be taught, just like riding a bike. I honestly believe anyone can become organized with the proper training. Over the years, I’ve recognized that not everyone can and should organize the same way. Getting organized is a process of trial and error and persistence.

I know this to be true for myself. Even though I exhibited a tendency toward being organized as a child, I was completely at a loss when I had my first “office” job. I had no idea what to do with all the paper, magazines, files, and project information littering my desk. You’re simply not born with a genetic predisposition toward labeling and classifying files. I had to be taught.

I took my first “time management and organizing” type class in 1988. I was so excited by what I learned, and it so transformed my productivity, that my career from that point on was devoted to the science of productivity. I wanted to change other people’s lives in the same way mine had been changed. Through organization, I found:

· Freedom from chaos,

· More flexibility and creativity,

· Higher productivity,

· Lowered stress levels, and

· Less expense of money, time, and overall resources

Being organized will give you more control over your life and time. But getting rid of clutter is more than just being efficient, more than being more productive on a daily basis, and more than a way to lower stress. Being organized is a key way to find the time and the self-control to start achieving more of the things you want to do. I assure you that digging out from under and staying on top of the clutter in your life is possible. If I could do it, so can you. And the bonus—once you know how and have your systems set up, it is actually easier to be organized than to be disorganized!

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THE PRODUCTIVITY PRO® ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS!

Thank you for the TWO questions I got for this new column. I’ll need more questions, or I’ll have to discontinue this column after next month! ;) So email your question to me at Laura@LauraStack.com.

· What is your greatest time management challenge?

· What organizational difficulties do you face?

· What is the biggest waste of time in your work?

· What keeps you from being as productive as you know you could be each day?

· What is the #1 thing that negatively impacts your effectiveness?

· What stresses you out the most?

Q: Brenda W. writes, “I'm one of those visual people that have to have my work in front of me. So, my desk always looks a fright but I know exactly where I am on what projects. When all is said and done, I file it away. Is this a bad thing?”

A: Denver Water Board, one of my clients, brought me in one year to organize a “National Clean Off Your Desk Day” (yes, there is such a day!) contest. This “holiday” always falls on the second Monday of January each year. We had three categories: most organized, most improved, and messiest office. I took “before” photos of each person’s office; then I gave a seminar. I gave contestants one week to get organized; then I took an “after” photo. We posted the “before” and “after” photos on the employee cafeteria wall, and employees voted on the “most improved.”

I, however, was the sole judge of the “most organized” and “messiest office” categories. I went to the office of a woman who was competing for the “most organized” office. Wow! There were no papers on her desk, or anywhere for that matter. Files were out of sight, and everything looked neat and tidy. I remember thinking, “Is this the right office? Does anyone work here?

I walked over to her overhead bin and opened it…and a pile of papers came crashing down upon me! She had simply taken her piles of papers and stuffed them into cabinets and files. Her co-workers peeked in and began to tell on her. “She’s really not like that!” She just cleaned up for the contest!” Cleaned up? The title is for the “most organized,” not the “tidiest” office. There’s a big difference, isn’t there? If you can’t find what you want, when you want it, in 30 seconds or less, you’re not organized.

Next I went to take a photo of a gentleman’s office submitted for “messiest office.” The funny thing was that this guy didn’t even know he was playing! He was surprised to see me and even more surprised when I told him why I was there. “You mean you didn’t nominate yourself?” I asked. “No, it’s probably Judy…she’s always telling me to clean up!”

This office was incredible…incredibly chaotic, that is. Paper was everywhere…on the floor, on the table, and on the credenza. He even had a floor-to-ceiling bookcase with no books, just piles of paper in rows. I’m thinking, “How in the world can he find anything in this mess?” Just then, a co-worker walked in and asked him if he had the old financials on the Mesa Water Table project from 1998. Amazingly, he went to the bookcase, paused, and extracted the desired document!

So, let me ask you…is it possible that the second “messy” office could actually be more organized than the first “neat” office? Of course! The gentleman actually had a system that allowed him to find what he wants when he wants it. On this account, I would say that “a desk that always looks a fright” isn’t inherently wrong.

“Neat” does not necessarily equal “organized.” Let’s say, for example, that someone you care about is coming to your home or office, and your desk or dining room table is so full and has been for so long, you don’t even remember what the surface looks like. You sweep your arm across the surface, dumping all the contents into a container, throwing it under the bed, in the closet. You have neat, yes, but do you have organized? Of course not. You could be a very neat, disorganized person.

What are the potential downsides to having a cluttered office? First, it could possibly be a fire hazard. Secondly, no one else knows your system. If you’re on vacation, or sick, or out of town on business, it’s extremely frustrating for people who are attempting to cover for you to wade through your junk. Third, it’s emotionally draining. It’s very difficult to focus on the work in front of you, if you’re constantly reminded about everything else that’s undone. Fourth, your system is reliant upon your memory. It’s very taxing to have your system in your mind, instead of letting your system take care of itself. And heaven forbid your memory start to fade! Fifth, what if someone moves one of your piles, or puts something on it? I had a client just about have a heart attack because her assistant “organized” her while she was out of town.

Lastly and most importantly, what are the perceptions of people with messy offices? I believe a messy office is a career detriment. I can’t tell you how many negative comments I hear, such as, “Joan’s office and her work are so sloppy.” People equate messy desks with messy work. Not fair, I know, but that’s the reality. My HR clients have flat-out told me, “I’d promote someone with a tidy office over someone with a messy office any day.”

An organized desk also sends an important message to other people: I’ve got it together. Visualize your desk in your mind. What does it “say” to others? That you are overwhelmed by work? That you are disorganized and therefore not too competent? That you obviously have trouble making decisions, since you can’t decide what to do with anything? Maybe I shouldn’t trust you with anything that requires in-depth decisions. So, the next time someone walks over to your cluttered desk and makes a “joke” about the mess, you might want to listen up. Because regardless of what excuses you might offer, your desk says a great deal. Your newly organized desk will now say that you are professional, competent, decisive, efficient, productive, and in control. No matter what you’ve seen on coffee cups, a clean desk is NOT the sign of an empty mind.

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TIME TIPS AND TRAPS

* I have a carry-on suitcase that’s always packed with toiletries I take on the road. It’ll save you packing and unpacking everything each time you travel.

* Overeating tip: How large is a standard serving (3-4 oz.) of meat? Use this visual cue: It’s roughly the size of a deck of cards or the palm of your hand

* Do you think you watch too much TV? Try this trick: Tape your favorite shows for one week and view them on your own time. The benefits are two-fold. First, you can fast-forward through the commercials. Second, you might discover you don’t even miss certain shows. You may be in the habit of watching simply because the TV’s on. What will you do with an extra hour to yourself?

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WORDS OF WISDOM

"There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the real labor of thinking." --- Thomas Edison

"How do I know what I think, until I hear what I say?" --- E. M. Forster

"Anyone who waits to be struck with a good idea has a long wait coming. If I have a deadline for a column or a television script, I sit down at the typewriter and damn well decide to have an idea." --- Andy Rooney

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FEATURED PROGRAM: “eCommunication: Virtual Communication in the Digital Age”

Business professionals communicate with people from around the world, most of whom they will never meet. That’s the norm in today’s fast-paced, virtual world. In an environment when time is critical and people need to be productive, whether in the office, at home, in a hotel, or around the world, businesses have become dependant on technology for staying in touch. This course will teach you how to communicate effectively via email, voice mail, and conference calls.

Course Objectives

· Virtual Letters: Managing Email

o Reducing Information Overload

o Communication Guidelines

o Etiquette/Protocol/Courtesies

o Managing Your In-Box and Calendar

o Productivity Tips

· Virtual Conversations: Managing Voice Mail

· Virtual Meetings: Managing Conference Calls

· Discuss the Advantages/Disadvantages of Each Method

· Selecting the Best Method of Communication

· Communicating with a Virtual Team

· Managing People You Never See

New client offer: Until May 30, schedule this program on-site at your organization and receive a one-time 20% discount off our regular rates!

Psssst, best-kept secret: forward this newsletter to colleagues whom you think might be interested in having me speak at their organizations or at an association conference. I appreciate your referrals!

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Visit Celebration Presentations on-line at http://www.LauraStack.com

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