As a manager, it’s important you recognize the important days for your team. Today is one of those days. It’s Mother’s Day here in the US. If you have folks who are mothers, or who have mothers, why not celebrate the day! It doesn’t have to cost a lot, and it can be super effective!
5 Ways to Celebrate Mother’s Day Cheap

Send a note home to your employees’ children, thanking them for sharing their mom with us.
Send a note home to your employees’ spouse, thanking them for their help balancing raising the children so your employee can contribute to your team’s …read more

Today’s the day that folks in most of the US “spring forward” and get an hour less sleep – and hopefully an hour MORE daylight in their day. I could sure use more daylight. The coldness of winter definitely depresses me.
Now that I get an hour more of daylight, I’ll get an hour more of productive time in my day. Getting up at 6 AM doesn’t feel quite as bad knowing there’ll be some sunshine sometime in the day.
What’s a manager to do with an extra hour of productivity?
LOTS of things!

5 things to do with an extra hour of …read more

Info, info, info, info, info, info, info, info….everywhere but not a drop to think?
Are you bobbing, almost drowning, in a sea of information?
Take this article, why are you reading it? Don’t go away just yet, I have my own simple answer at the end.
We have reached the point where the productivity experts are just adding to that sea of information with their habits, tips, and endless suggestions about how to cope with our terrible information plight.

According to a recent article in msnbc a majority of workers feel overwhelmed by a deluge of data:

7 out of 10 office workers in the United States …read more

“It’s better to train your people and have them leave than it is to not train them and they stay or they don’t get training and they leave.” – Phil Gerbyshak
OK, so it’s no shock I’m a HUGE proponent of training. I write at 3 blogs frequently (Slacker Manager obviously, Make It Great! and Joyful Jubilant Learning), attend as many conferences as I (and my day job) can afford, subscribe to about 300 blogs, 1 great podcast, and read as many books as I can, as often as I can.
In recent conversations with many other smart managers, we had a …read more

Are you traveling this holiday season and thinking you may not have enough room in your bag for all the gifts you’re sharing with family and friends?Check out Monica Ricci’s fantastic travel hack: stuffing your dress shoes inside your sneakers. Monica warns this may not be suitable for those with really expensive dress shoes, though I would argue if your dress shoes cost you so much you need to carry them packed extra specially this holiday season, and you don’t have the room in your carry on for the 2 pairs of shoes, that you just may want to check your bags.Or get …read more

Have you ticked your boss off and don’t know what to do? Oh yes you have, that’s why you’re here.
Thankfully, Brad Isaac shares his best tips in 5 Ways to Disarm a Grumpy Boss:
It is Monday Morning. You walk into work and your boss is grumpy. What do you do? Do you skulk off to your cubicle? Do you turn around and go home – to later call in sick? A grumpy boss can suck all the air out of a room. He or she can cause worry among the staff and lead to an overall negative work environment if …read more

Are you making a bundle?  
 
Of course making a bundle of cash may be quite helpful but today’s post is on bundling our work and activities together for increased efficiency. 
Do we allow our work to scatter over the day and avoid the efficiencies of making bundles? For example, think about gathering wood for a fire. If you get a bundle it is easy to handle and carry but when the wood is in individual pieces we may drop pieces or have to go back a few times to bring the wood to the fire.
Ignite your productivity with bundles. Our phone companies and …read more

Are you ready to grab GEMO and go with it?
This September, I have accelerated my accomplishments on a lot of projects and new initatives because I found GEMO.
 
GEMO is an acronym for Good Enough, Move On. It helps avoid perfectionism, dithering, delays, and other productivity traps and snarls.
Here is how you practice it. You work at something, you begin to run out of steam or you know more needs to be done but there are other projects and things that need to be done so you say, GEMO. You move on and you know you can come back to it and improve it later.
It can also …read more

Are you asking the most important question about how to use your time in the present moment?
In the 1990’s, I conducted courses and groups at the University of Manitoba on overcoming procrastination. I used a variety of approaches to help people overcome procrastination, including time management.
This was before the age of Getting Things Done and was when the most popular time management book was How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life by Alan Lakein. This book is a classic, selling over 3 million copies. I highly recommend this short yet powerful book.
During the 8 session course I always …read more

Where does your weekend go?
Are you a Saturday Slacker? Or a Sunday Slacker?
I encourage you to look at how you spend your weekend.

Do you use the weekend to get away from work – rest and recovery?
Do you use the weekend to work?
Does the nature of your work change on the weekend?
Is your weekend planned or is it mostly spontaneous?

This weekend, don’t change how you spend your time but simply notice how you spend your time. Many of us operate with schedules all week and use the weekend to be more unscheduled. Take stock of your weekend with an unschedule.
The unschedule:
The …read more