Leave the Office Earlier- The Productivity Pro® Shows You How to Do More in Less Time…and Feel Great About It- By Laura Stack, MBA, CSP
One of America’s leading productivity experts reveals her ten simple keys to getting organized, working smarter, and enjoying a more relaxing new life
(PRWEB) May 13, 2004 -- Burning the midnight oil is harmful to employees and
employers. But deadlines loom, e-mails pile up, and meetings drag on. The next
thing you know, you’ve put in another thirteen-hour day, and still feel like
you’ll never catch up. Getting to the heart of why we experience these
log-jams—and revealing how to abolish them once and for all—acclaimed
productivity expert Laura Stack shares her proven ten-step solution in her new
book, Leave the Office Earlier: The Productivity Pro® Shows You How to Do More
in Less Time … and Feel Great About It (Broadway Books; May 4, 2004; Trade
Paperback Original; $12.95).
While productivity in the U.S. has recently
soared to new heights, these gains have come at a high cost: employees—fearful
of layoffs, forced by “downsizing” to get more done with fewer people, and
expected to churn out work at warp speed—are suffering, and not always silently.
American workers are stressed to epidemic proportions, with 44 percent of
respondents to a 2003 workplace survey by CIGNA behavioral health saying that
their jobs were more stressful today than a year ago, and 45 percent reporting
that they had either considered leaving their jobs in the past year, have left
their job, or plan to do so soon.
For all those who believe that working
endless days is the necessary price of success (or simply job security) in
today’s demanding workplace, Stack has a vitally important message: “Working
harder and faster is a battle you will never win, because you will always have
more things to do than time to do it. You could work all day, every day, and
still never finish your work. The problem isn’t time shortage; it’s time usage.
It doesn’t matter how long you work; it’s how you work. Indeed, a twelve-hour
day can be more unproductive than a six-day day.”
In Leave the Office
Earlier, Stack shows how to achieve spectacular results at work without
sacrificing one’s personal life, happiness, and health on the altar of
professional expectations. The book has inspiring anecdotes, quizzes,
checklists, and graphics that enable readers to first measure and then increase
their personal productivity. Using the word “productive” itself as a foundation,
she spells-out the ten factors that will help people leave the office earlier,
with less stress, and more to show for it:
-Preparation relates to goal
setting, planning, and scheduling. The toughest part of setting goals is turning
the lofty, long-term goals into actionable tasks you can work on today. Using
your personal mission statement to guide you, create personal and professional
long-term goals, break them down into short-term objectives and project plans,
create monthly task lists, and then determine daily activities. You will only
achieve your long-term objectives if you consistently focus on the correct daily
priorities.
-Reduction relates to the obstacles that waste your time
during the day, called “speed bumps.” Once you have determined what you want to
achieve, many things can get in your way and ruin your best-laid plans. By
eliminating these speed bumps, you create the space to accomplish important
tasks. Speed bumps may include crisis, interruptions, overload, meetings, and
improper delegation.
-Order relates to your level of organization and how
well you control the paper, email, and other information into and out of your
office. Order is your ability to find what you want, when you want it. Getting
rid of clutter is more than just being efficient, more than being more
productive on a daily basis, 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.
-Discipline relates to
your ability to maintain consistent, productive behavior. Sure, everyone has an
“off” day. If you are self-disciplined, however, you exhibit consistent focus in
your day-to-day work, even if you don’t feel like it. It means taking advantage
of your prime time, being flexible, not procrastinating, and distinguishing
between high standards and unrealistic expectations.
-Unease relates to
your stress levels. According to a recent study by the Xerox and Harris
Interactive, most people in America work more than sixty hours a week, and over
33 percent work on weekends. The “faster, cheaper, do more with nothing”
approach has created a workplace in which workers are always in high gear. This
work style reduces productivity and increases stress. Problems with time
commitments, chronic worrying, interpersonal conflicts, and demanding
friendships are all things that can sap your energy. Once you identify the
stress challenges in your life, you can identify possible ways to eliminate
them.
-Concentration relates to your ability to focus on the task at
hand. So many things compete for attention in the workplace that it’s often very
difficult to stay on target. For example, daydreaming, re-reading the same
paragraph over and over, and multi-tasking are big concentration culprits. It’s
important to capture distracting thoughts, so you don’t forget them, but equally
important not to let distractions dictate your day. So stop checking email as it
comes in and schedule future appointments for drop-in visitors.
-Time
Mastery relates to your skill at managing your activities. Without good time
management, you can experience negative consequences such as missed deadlines,
late nights, stress, crises, and overload. Positive self-management brings the
rewards of recognition, results, free time, clarity, and focus. Creating
document templates, using shortcuts, and consolidating calendars are important
time skills. You must also know how to work with people with different time
styles, eliminate bottlenecks, take advantage of down time, and save time in
bits and pieces.
-Information Management relates to your technological
savvy. Your ability to work productively with your computer, email, voicemail,
the Internet, Blackberry, PDA, cell phone, and pager…the list goes on and on…is
an increasingly important skill. Technology can undoubtedly improve your
productivity, but it can make you less productive if you’re not careful. Use the
latest technologies to your advantage, without letting technology take advantage
of you. Get off mailing lists, use “filters” for your email, narrow your web
searches, take the time to learn how to use your software correctly, and
eliminate hardcopy faxes.
-Vitality relates to physiological factors and
self-care habits that affect your ability to work productively. Recent studies
have revealed that we have the potential to dramatically affect our productivity
by paying closer attention to our health. We eat too much, drink too much, don’t
exercise enough, work too much, and don’t sleep enough. Bottom line: When you
feel good, you can accomplish more. Feel great in the office through simple
exercises and stretches, adequate lighting, comfort, and noise reduction
techniques.
-Equilibrium relates to your work and family balance. Proper
balance is tough to achieve, because employees have a real commitment to their
jobs and to their families. It’s important to allocate your time according to
your values and the top priorities in your life. Once you’ve created a personal
mission statement, you can assess if you’re spending your time in ways
consistent with your values. Set boundaries, stop thinking about work, and enjoy
your personal time. After all, we are working to live, not living to
work.
“Improved productivity affects all areas of your life, and good
organizational skills go a long way in diminishing chaos in your life in
general,” says Stack. “You will find the time to do the things that matter to
you and spend time to support self-stated goals.”
An empowering and
accessible guide that provides a blueprint for achieving peak performance in
less time, LEAVE THE OFFICE EARLIER will be an invaluable resource for the
millions of people in America who have forgotten what it’s like to have a free
weeknight or weekend, who long to win back their lives.
Leave the Office Earlier
The Productivity Pro® Shows You How to Do More
in Less Time …
and Feel Great About It
by Laura Stack, MBA,
CSP
Published by Broadway Books
Publication Date: May 4, 2004
Trade
Paperback Original; $12.95
ISBN #: 0-7679-1626-3
About the
Author
Laura Stack, M.B.A, C.S.P. is the “Productivity Pro”® and the
president of a time management consulting firm in Denver, Colorado that caters
to high-stress industries. Since 1987, thousands of people have benefited from
her cutting-edge keynotes and seminars on personal productivity, managing
multiple priorities, balancing work and family, getting organized, and reducing
stress.
Laura has been awarded the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP)
designation, the highest earned designation given by the National Speakers
Association, held by less than 10% of all professional speakers worldwide. She
is on the Board of Directors of the National Speakers Association.
With a
client base that includes Time Warner, IBM, Coca-Cola, Lockheed Martin, Coors
Brewing Company, Wells Fargo, VISA, and a multitude of associations and
government agencies, she delivers more than one hundred presentations a year.
She lives with her husband and three children in Denver, Colorado.
For
more information, please visit Laura’s Web site at www.theproductivitypro.com.
To schedule an interview
with Laura Stack, contact Marc Winter at 212-782-9077 or e-mail protected from
spam bots
Contact: Marc Winter
212-782-9077
e-mail protected from
spam bots
# # #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/5/prweb125473.htm