You are here: Home / Archives for Productivity

Productivity

October 17, 2011 By 2 Comments

By Mike Reeves-McMillan -

Productivity. Why do we care about it so much?

One of the reasons may be that it used to be easy to measure.

When the Western world was becoming more and more an industrial world, when we were still the best there was at making things, one way for a company to make more money than its competitors was to increase productivity. If the factory down the road made 15 widgets an hour, and you could figure out how to make 18 widgets an hour of the same quality, all else being equal, you were going to win.

Of course, in a postindustrial service and knowledge economy, nobody really knows how to measure productivity any more. If I can produce a thousand lines of code a day, and Bob in the next cubicle can produce 800, that doesn’t mean I’m a 25% better programmer than Bob. My code may be full of bugs, it may miss the point of the requirement, it may be harder to maintain than Bob’s lean, elegant program.

So it’s hard to measure productivity when people are doing complex, human things that a machine can’t do. Which offers us an opportunity, because when you only measure productivity, you end up treating humans like machines. (And we can look back on the 20th century and see how well that turned out.)

Here are five things, then, that are better than productivity, and more important for you to work on. If you get these right, for yourself or your business, the productivity will more or less take care of itself.

1. Adaptability and Flexibility

Adaptability is doing things, in each situation, that are helpful for that situation. One of the reasons I spend so much time on my blog writing about personal development techniques is that having a wide range of techniques available to use helps you to be adaptable.

Have you ever met someone who’s inexperienced at their job, and has only one technique that they use in every situation? Beginning therapists are especially prone to this. Even if the technique they know is completely inappropriate and unhelpful, they’ll use it anyway – because they don’t have an alternative.

Being adaptable is a combination of three things:

  • Knowing multiple ways to work,
  • Having the experience, the wisdom, and the situational awareness to choose the right one at the right time, and
  • Having the confidence to use it.

How to be more adaptable

As a Registered Hypnotherapist, I’m required to do a certain amount of continuing education every year. One huge benefit of that is that I’m constantly learning, from experienced people in my profession, new techniques and new ways of looking at the challenges that my clients bring to me.

The best way I know to build your adaptability is to learn and then practice. Learn new techniques, new perspectives and new strategies from multiple teachers, and try them out. Pay attention and notice the outcomes.

What will you do today to build your adaptability?

2. Awareness

I mentioned awareness just now. Awareness of your own strengths, weaknesses, goals and values, and preferred ways of working is essential if you’re going to be successful. So is awareness of those factors in the people you work with.

Finally, the ability to be aware of and analyze each situation as itself, and not what it reminds you of is what allows you to use those multiple, flexible, adaptable strategies and techniques to meet your challenges in the best possible way.

How to be more aware

Awareness comes from paying attention and thinking about what you observe.

One of my greatest tools to help me with awareness is blogging, to be honest. Because I’m committed to writing regularly about personal development, I’m always looking for material, and my own life is the nearest to hand (though I learn a lot from my friends and family as well, of course).

When I observe something, I ask myself, “What lesson can I draw from that?” And then I write it down. It cultivates a mindset of awareness.

What will you do today to build your awareness?

3. Growth

Growth is something that economists talk about a lot. But they have a limited view of it which, in my opinion, has led us to some bad outcomes.

Growth isn’t just about getting bigger, doing more, making more, having larger profits, or employing more people. When we see cells in a human body taking this kind of approach to growth, at the expense of the cells around them and in a way that throws the whole out of balance, we call it “cancer”.

Growth is about development, unfolding, and extending. It can be just as much about depth and inner reorganization to better align with your values, goals and strengths as it is about increasing any outwardly measurable number.

How to grow

To be honest, awareness leads to growth pretty much inevitably – as long as you’re committed to acting on what you perceive and know how to do so.

If you don’t know how to change, find out. Because sitting with an awareness that you want to be different and not doing anything about it is a recipe for great unhappiness.

Look for some techniques of personal growth. Find some that are simple, that don’t have a complicated ideology or jargon that you have to wade through first, and that have proven success in real life. Then practice them consistently, and you will grow.

What will you do today to nurture and sustain your own growth?

4. Meaning and Purpose

The science of the 20th century decided that meaning and purpose couldn’t be measured, so they weren’t important (or even real).

Now the science of the 21st century is confirming what experience has shown us: A life lived with meaning and purpose makes a huge difference to our wellbeing. Lacking meaning and purpose, we lack a direction for growth, a way of making sense of the world, or a basis for choosing the best way. We also get mentally, physically, spiritually and socially unwell.

How to find meaning and purpose

Meaning and purpose are personal. You can’t live out someone else’s. So self-insight is one of the essentials for finding them.

What are you good at? What do you love to do? In what situations do you feel most alive? If you woke up tomorrow and it was your ideal day, what would you spend it doing?

Take a few online tests. Dr Martin Seligman, the famous happiness researcher, has a great collection on his Authentic Happiness website. They’re free, and taking them contributes to his research, as well as giving you insight into yourself and your own meaning and purpose in life.

What will you do today to find meaning and purpose?

5. Autonomy

Autonomy is different from independence. Independence is going it alone. Autonomy is having a say in the direction your life is taking – being able to translate your meaning and purpose into action.

And it’s entirely possible to have autonomy without independence. As a member of a team, you’re not independent, but you can be autonomous. In my day job, I do a lot of project work. My favourite projects are the ones like I’m on at the moment, where everyone is experienced enough, and trusts each other enough, that there’s a high degree of autonomy in how I get my work done. My immediate boss has said, in as many words, “I trust you, you take care of it how you want.”

How to be more autonomous

People who demonstrate flexibility, insight, personal growth, and purpose are likely to receive more autonomy just in the nature of things. But even if you work in an organization where those qualities aren’t valued, and where autonomy is not on the table, you can find areas of your life – even areas of your work – where you can take more autonomy for yourself, just by having those qualities.

Flexibility obviously sets you up with more autonomy straight away. You have more than one path to the outcome, and you can choose the one you think will give the best result.

If you have insight, you can choose to react differently to the same situation. If you’re experiencing personal growth, you will choose to react differently. And if you’re finding meaning and purpose in your life, you’ll inevitably start to make choices in line with that meaning and purpose. You’ll be making your choices for a reason that extends beyond the immediate moment and your mood at the time, and that, in itself, gives you autonomy.

What will you do today to increase your autonomy?

How to be happy

By the way, all these qualities – flexibility, insight, personal growth, meaning and purpose, and autonomy – will make you happier. Not every moment of every day, and you’ll certainly face greater challenges as you pursue them, but over the long term and in general, your life will be richer and more fulfilling.

And that has mere productivity beat all to hell, if you ask me.

Mike Reeves-McMillan trains ordinary people to be heroes at How to Be Amazing. You can pick up his ebook on How to be Happy when you join his site (it’s free).

Filed Under: Self Improvement Tagged With: , ,

7 Steps to Forgiveness

February 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment

By Kristin Robertson -

Did you know that forgiveness is good for you?

The process of forgiveness has been shown to have both psychological and physical benefits to the person who is doing the forgiving. Shocking, isn’t it? You may have heard the old axiom, “Holding a grudge is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”

Now, thanks to recent research conducted by venerable psychologists, there is clinical proof that non-forgiveness is bad for you. Dr. Fred Luskin, in his book called Forgive for Good: A Proven Prescription for Health and Happiness notes that the results of his and other scientific studies show that “People who are taught to forgive become less angry, more hopeful, less depressed, less anxious, less stressed, more confident, and they learn to like themselves more.” (p. 78)

Would you like to have less anger, depression and stress in your life? Would you like to be more confident and like yourself more? Forgiveness is an answer.

Although I admire many of Dr. Luskin’s techniques for teaching forgiveness, I’d like to offer my own “Seven Steps to Forgiveness” in a nutshell in this article.

Some preliminary words: Forgiveness is a process, not an event.

If something or someone has deeply hurt you, you may find it difficult to forgive quickly – although it is possible, and to be able to forgive immediately is my personal goal. Believe me, I am not there yet. You may not even be aware of people or situations that you need to forgive, but their memories may be festering in your cellular tissue, unconsciously depleting your energy and vitality. As you become aware of these issues, practice these steps to lighten your energetic load, clear your heart and live more peacefully, knowing that forgiveness will happen on your own individual time table.

Also, this technique is what works for me today. I reserve the right to amend and change this approach as I learn more! As mentioned before, I intend to get to a point of grace in which I can forgive people and events as they happen. But I know I am not there yet.

Step One: Identify exactly how you feel. Write extensively and expressively about the situation/person/event, sharing your deepest thoughts, emotions and needs. Many spiritual teachers understand the power of writing – it wrests your feelings from the more primitive emotional brain and allows the analytical brain a chance to examine the subject. Both my husband and I keep a journal because it helps rid the psyche of negative emotions. Write until you feel you can write no more.

Step Two: Talk to a trusted friend, partner or adviser about this subject. This is an important step to help you fully identify and acknowledge the emotions, but also to get another person’s perspective on the situation.

Step Three: Consider and write about the situation from the other person’s point of view. What might they have felt? What was going on in their life behind the scenes, as it were? What were their needs? What did you do to contribute to the situation? In my experience, this is a difficult but transformational step.

Step Four: Consider and write about the situation in the third person, as if you are a newspaper journalist writing about it. Include only the discernible facts about the event, only what a neutral third party would have observed if they had been there. This step helps to build perspective.

Step Five: Construct a forgiveness letter to the person who aggrieved you, acknowledging the emotions that person might have felt, their needs and what elements of their background might explain their actions. You do not need to send this letter or talk to the person in order to benefit from this step.

Additionally in this step, consider how you can move from being a victim in this situation to the hero. Forgiving is certainly heroic. In what other ways can you write yourself as the hero/heroine?

Step Six: Decide what actions you will take, whether it is legal action or a conversation with the other person. Remember, forgiveness is not the same as condoning, and there are times in which legal action is needed. However, legal action taken in the spirit of forgiveness will be much less stressful for you than otherwise. Your energy will be clear.

Step Seven: Your brain has been trained to tell your grievance story about this situation every time you think about it or the other person. You need to re-train your brain to rest in forgiveness, you need to stop your negative, blaming or self-blaming thoughts in their tracks. Catch yourself immediately upon thinking of the grievance, take a deep breath and bless the other person and yourself. In this manner you will re-pave the neural pathways in your brain so your habitual thoughts won’t do the blame game like a CD on repeat.

If you like what you’ve read so far, you might check out my book, A Forgiveness Journal, put in on your bedside table, look at it every night before going to bed. Also, you’ll want to sign up for my free monthly newsletter at http://www.brioleadership.com

Kristin is President and Head Coach of Brio Leadership, a coaching, consulting and training firm that helps builds spiritually intelligent individuals and teams so they can live lives of integrity, meaning and fulfillment. She believes that incorporating spiritual intelligence in the workplace is a way to positively transform lives and create highly productive work environments.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kristin_Robertson
http://EzineArticles.com/?7-Steps-to-Forgiveness&id=2203674

Filed Under: Self Improvement Tagged With: , , ,

Leverage Your Best – Forget the Rest

November 15, 2010 By 1 Comment

By Lynn Banis -

We are always talking about improving our weaknesses. Why? So we can have better weaknesses? There is very little chance they will turn into strengths so why not focus on honing our strengths and managing our weaknesses? Most of us are not motivated to do the stuff we are bad at anyway.

We are all wired differently and we all have different gifts. It makes much more sense to focus on the things we are gifted in – that is what we have to give the world. Instead we spend so much time, effort and money on trying to make people something they aren’t. There is a real fallacy in the notion that we can be anything we want to be. That just is not true. I cannot be a professional basketball player if I don’t have the body, the skill set and the right mindset – no matter how much I want it. So lets get real here.

It is time that we celebrate what each individual has and leverage those strengths for the good of everyone. One reason we have teams is so that the different skills can come together to make the whole group better than the individuals in the team. The same is true of families and various other groups. Embracing differences gives each of us something we do not have on our own. I am not a concert pianist but I can certainly enjoy the skills of someone who is. You may not be a speaker but perhaps you can write speeches for someone who is.

Part of the reason there is so much stress and anxiety in our culture is that we think we have to be all things to all people and that we have to do everything we try well. Let’s take some of the unrealistic stress off. Look at what we have done to our children. Their days are programmed down to the last minute with this lesson and that lesson, with this practice and that practice, with this club and that club. Oh, and don’t forget time to have a job and do homework. All that counts on the college application after all. When do we have time to live?

If we focused more on the real value and skills we have to offer we would be able to feel more in control and live more productive lives. We would not feel so out of balance and we would not feel we have to strive so hard to be good at everything. Let’s learn to value our strengths and those of other people and then learn how to leverage each others’ strengths for the good of everyone. Who is going to get off this crazy merry-go-round and help us take a broader perspective on life?

About the Author:

Lynn Banis PhD, MCC is known as America’s High Performance Coach. She specializes in helping executives and entrepreneurs make the most of their opportunities and potential. Her years of working with small and large businesses has given her a depth of knowledge that is invaluable to her clients. You can reach her at http://www.discoverypointcoaching.com or lynn@discoverypointcoaching.com. Also check out Lynn’s other businesses: Coach Academy Texas, a cutting edge coach training company; and Turnkey Coaching Solutions, a coaching program management and contract coach staffing company.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lynn_Banis
http://EzineArticles.com/?Leverage-Your-Best—Forget-the-Rest&id=4643628

Filed Under: Self Improvement Tagged With: , , , , , ,

2 Ways to Increase Your Productivity and Well Being by a Factor of Four Now

July 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

working woman2 (2)By Dave C Hawkins -

Parkinson’s Law:

“Parkinson’s law states that a job expands to fill the time available to accomplish the task.”

If you have two weeks to finish a 2000 word report, (providing all the information is in your head) what is the argument that having two days to finish the report will produce an inferior result?

There is no rational answer to having an extended period of time to finish the report. But crucially, having two weeks to finish it is less stressful, and this is the first message to zap our minds – on a basic level, its fear. And that’s why most people would opt for two weeks. (If we were rational creatures surely we would opt for two days and take it easy for the next 12 days…).

Parkinson’s Law is a perfect example of stage two in my system which I detail at end of the book.

So, Parkinson’s Law dictates that you would produce a better result after 2 days, rather than 14, because the information is fresher in your mind. If we can overcome instinctive decisions and understand we can ‘get 12 days off’, the benefits are clearly seen.

Eustress:

The word ‘distress’ is one that we are all familiar. So what is eustress? It’s the opposite of distress – its ‘good stress’. Is there such a thing?

Believe it or not, stress is good for us. It builds up our internal bar for appreciation, it forces growth, and it gives us a sense of achievement. In a nutshell, stress is imperative to happiness.

“Without the downs, you can’t truly appreciate the ups”

I always thought that some stress was good for us, and then I was fortunate enough to come across this term. To make it easy to understand I’ve written some real-world examples of eustress and distress below:

Eustress — running a marathon and beating your personal record.

Distress- having to perform a in a theatre production you don’t know the lines to

Eustress- stepping up to take a penalty kick in the World Cup final of football

Distress-…and missing

What distinguishes the two is how you feel after the stressful activity. In eustress you feel relief and happiness afterward. In distress you are still suffering.

Does this make sense?

Action Steps…

Can you see how Parkinson’s law would make you more effective and productive?

Can you see how an understanding of eustress would make you more effective and healthier?

Do you have a greater understand of what stress is now?

Do you think that in the future you can now identify whether stress is eustress or distress, and act accordingly?

Do you agree that by understanding these concepts you can increase your productivity NOW?

This is a chapter from my free 130 page eBook on emotional intelligence. You can get the free eBook, 17 Reasons Why You Need Emotional Intelligence at http://www.emotionali.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dave_C_Hawkins
http://EzineArticles.com/?2-Ways-to-Increase-Your-Productivity-and-Well-Being-by-a-Factor-of-Four-Now&id=4690271

Filed Under: Emotional Health, Health, Physical Health Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Vacations – Time off for Balance, Health and Productivity

June 2, 2010 By 1 Comment

vacationBy Marjorie Geiser -

If you own your own business, you may often put off taking any real time off to just relax and unwind and rejuvenate. You imagine ‘someday’ being able to take a vacation, but the thought of doing it now only creates more stress. How can you go away when there is so much to do? If you take time off, you may lose a great opportunity! It makes no sense, does it: You started your own business for more freedom, yet here you are, feeling like you can’t afford to get away. However, if you take time off, you just may CREATE new opportunities because you will come back relaxed and renewed, and, according to research, even healthier.

How can you take time off and feel good about it? This article will give you some tips on how to really live your dream of business ownership and freedom all at the same time.

The health connection I don’t need to tell you that you feel great when you’re on vacation! Granted, the stress level BEFORE that vacation may be high, but often there is some time that you can really say you feel that ‘ahh’ feeling, at least once. You know; you’re lying in the pool in your vacation home rental, listening to wind in the trees and the waves hitting the shore just below you. And when you get that feeling, you wish it would last even longer. My favorite explanation of the benefit of a vacation is from Dr. Mel Borins, author of the book Go Away Just for the Health of It; He says that every trip is a break from the ‘treadmill of daily life’.

But is it just all in your head? There actually have been multiple studies that have investigated the affects of taking vacation on our health. In the year 2000, researchers published their findings in the medical journal Psychosomatic Medicine, after following over 12,000 men in the MRFIT (Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial) study for nine years. They found that the men who took vacations in most years were 20% less likely to die of any cause than those who did not take vacations. They also found that the vacationers were 30% less likely to die of heart disease.

For women, the impact of vacations is even more dramatic. Research conducted by the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation followed 1500 women to find out the results of vacations in their lives. Results were published in a 2005 issue of the Wisconsin Medical Journal (WMJ). They found that women who took vacations only once in every 2 years suffered more depression and tension than women who vacationed twice or more per year. Their conclusion was that personal psychological benefits gained from these regular vacations lead to a more rewarding quality of life and improved work performance.

American vacation habits

If you live in the US, you may know very few people who really take ‘serious’ time off. Experts say that it actually takes the body and mind 2 weeks to relax and get out of that stressed, busy, hyped-up mode we are in when we are working and striving to succeed in our career. But Americans only average 13 days off a year! Italians take an average 42 days off a year and the French 37 days a year. Wow; more than a month! What would you do with a whole month off?? Hm; I’m dreaming already, myself.

Make it happen

One big issue that small business owners have, especially when they are in the early years of growing their businesses is spending the time and money to actually go away! But imagine all that stress you’re living with right now, too! Mental health professionals have pointed out that productivity and creativity actually suffer when we are working at our highest stress levels. This alone is one good reason to get away. If I were to tell you that your business would be more profitable if you took a vacation, my guess is that you would start planning it, now!

The issue of being afraid to spend the money is another very real concern for new business owners. However, not all vacations need to be first class and expensive. However, no matter what your budget, there are several tips to help you actually make a vacation happen and to get the most out of that escape.

1. Plan your vacation, now, for at least six months from now. You’ll be much more likely to take it if you start planning far ahead of time. The planning will help your excitement grow, plus you’ll have time to save for that trip, too. Additionally, you can benefit from lower travel rates and fares if you plan early and can watch prices.

2. Pick out something you would really like to do, not something you feel committed to do. This is your time for renewal and rebirth. The point is to get away from stressors and make it all about you for a change!

3. Consider the slowest time for your business and plan your vacation for that period of time. This kills two birds with one stone, actually. You don’t have to stress about business slowing down and you can get away without feeling you’re missing new opportunities.

4. Put the vacation on your calendar. Once you’ve committed, it starts to feel more real and you are more likely to do the planning and organizing to make it happen. Scheduled vacations are less likely to be canceled than ones that are just talked about.

5. As mentioned above, don’t let financial concerns keep you home. In your planning phase, be realistic about what you can afford. Shop around and consider different options that fit into your budget. The fact that you are planning ahead of time means you can even set up a separate ‘vacation fund’ account. Be sure to save up for the time you are gone, too, if your income is dependent on your physical presence.

6. Use that vacation time to do something different. Don’t take time off for painting the house or remodeling or visiting family as an obligation. Do something different each year! When my daughter was growing up, we never believed we could go far for our vacation, so we always went to the same location, which was only a few hours away by car. However, after she was out of the house, and we started talking about our next trip, we analyzed how much we spent and started looking at other options that cost the same amount. Since then, on the same budget each time, we have been to Hawaii two times, to Jamaica and to Mexico. Our next trip will be Costa Rica! My point is, do not feel that your budget will always limit you. With online travel resources, there are incredible deals for all budgets, today.

In the meantimeVacations force us to relax and open our minds up to fresh inspiration. As a business owner, this is the life-blood of your success. Many successful entrepreneurs actually credit their vacation time for the creation of new ideas for their next big success.

But in the meantime, you still need some downtime in the course of the day and week. Although the emphasis of this article is on REAL vacations, life is what you are living right now and can’t be put on hold. You have to enjoy each day. Again, you have started your business so you can enjoy life more. This means having, or taking, the time to sit back and smell the roses along the way. So what are you doing each day to really enjoy those roses? Taking some time to spend researching where your next ideal vacation will be is one way of ‘getting away from it all’, actually. But that’s just one idea. When was the last time you called up a friend in the middle of the week to meet for lunch or a game of tennis? Are you taking time for yourself to exercise, mediate or practice self-care? Do you always feel you must be productive? I am challenging you today to spend some ‘quiet time’ each day doing either nothing, or at least nothing that fits in your category of being ‘productive’. Too much productivity leads to staleness and actually decreased productivity. And, after all, we want you healthy enough to TAKE that great yearly vacation!

Marjorie Geiser is a nutritionist, registered dietitian, certified personal trainer, life coach, and MBA student. Marjorie has been the owner of a successful small business, MEG Fitness, since 1996, and now helps other professionals start up or grow their own business through MEG Enterprises.com. To learn more about the services Margie offers, go to her website at http://www.meg-enterprises.com or email her at margie@meg-enterprises.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marjorie_Geiser
http://EzineArticles.com/?Vacations—Time-off-for-Balance,-Health-and-Productivity&id=630562


Filed Under: Emotional Health, Health, Physical Health Tagged With: , , ,