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Safety Tips

2009 by Leave a Comment
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Safety is something we don't usually think about ahead of time, and hindsight isn't usually very effective in this area.  Here are eight things you should consider when thinking about basic safety practices. Fire Extinguisher - Fire extinguishers are specially designed to put out the types of fires you might have in your house without causing the fire to spread.  Throwing water on an electrical or grease fire may make things worse.  Keeping an extinguisher handy helps ensure that you'll have something effective to use if it is needed. First Aid Kit - This is particularly important to have in your car.  Our first aid kit contains a variety of bandages, disinfectants and pain … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Misc Tagged With: ,

Personal Productivity from Management Theory

2009 by 2 Comments
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This is the introduction to a four-part series that will explore three management theories and how they relate to personal productivity.  This may seem odd, but if management is the art of accomplishing work through other people, then personal productivity can be seen as being effective at managing yourself.  By examining the methods of motivating others, we can become more skilled in motivating ourselves. Here are the three theorists we are going to look at: Abraham Maslow - Hierarchy of Human Needs Douglas McGregor - Theory X and Theory Y William Ouchi - Theory Z (Cultural Management) Most people will be familiar with Maslow's theories.  McGregor is less well known. Most … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Development Tagged With: ,

Take the Time to Play

2009 by 15 Comments
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I have a theory.  Since I will probably never have the resources to try to prove it, the next best thing is to share it with readers and see what type of feedback I get.  My theory is this:  There is a direct relationship between your maximum creative output and the amount and quality of time you spend doing non-work activities. The idea is that you will never reach your full potential for efficiency and productivity without significant investments in non-work, fun activities.  If all your time is spent working,  you will accomplish less than if you leave some time to relax and pursue recreational activities. I think this only holds true for creative-type work.  If you are … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Time Tagged With: , , ,

Global Perspective

2009 by 6 Comments
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As we interact more and more with people from other countries, it is becoming increasingly important to have global perspective. This isn't something US citizens are particularly good at. If you watch the news, you are more likely to see a story on Britney Spears' dog groomer than information about educational issues in Africa. Part of this is because the US is large and only connected to two other countries. Most of it is because Americans don't particularly care what is going on elsewhere. Here are some simple things you can do that will help you see the world from perspectives other than your own. Put $250 into Kiva - Kiva is a service that lets you loan money to people in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Development Tagged With: , ,

Check List for Email

2009 by 2 Comments
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I am amazed at how many people are using email that is broken. Yes they get their messages, but they have to jump through all kinds of hoops to make things work right. Worse, many people have setups that are actively exposing their passwords to anyone who cares to look. Here is a checklist of essential items for an email provider. How does your solution rate? Webmail and Mail Client Synchronized Ability to Send from any Connection No Plain Text Passwords Secure Connection Backups Adequate Storage Size Anti-Spam Anti-Virus Aliases Mobile Connections Strict Terms of Service Now lets look at each of these items in a little more detail, because some of them aren't … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: , ,

Setting Goals

2009 by 6 Comments
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I attended a very small school where most coursework was done at your own pace.  To make sure you could graduate on time, the yearly work was broken down into 4 quarters of 9 weeks each.  The quarters were broken down into weeks and what you needed to accomplish each week was divided into each day.  Each student had a "goal card" in front of their work area showing their planned progress for the next day.  There was also another chart that showed their quarterly and yearly progress. As I sat at my desk, directly in front of me was all the information about my goals.  I could see a chart of my progress for the year, for the week, and for the day.  There was no escaping the focus … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Development Tagged With: , ,

Iron Chef – A Productivity Fable

2009 by 16 Comments
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Tortoise and Hare were both known for their culinary expertise and were invited to a face-off in the Iron Chef. Soon after the competition began, it was clear that the Hare was significantly ahead of the Tortoise. The audience was amazed at the speed with which Hare mixed ingredients, poured them into another container and tossed the mixing bowl aside to move on to the next step in preparation. Tortoise, on the other hand, seemed to be well behind. It wasn't that he was going slower than Hare, but the audience agonizingly watched as he carefully cleaned each bowl, pan and utensil and put them back in their place after use. Tortoise was making progress, but was well behind the Hare in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: , ,

Perception of Authority

2009 by 3 Comments
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Back in the 60s, there were some experiments done to see how likely people were to obey an authority figure, even if they were doing something they felt was wrong.  The results were scary.  Most people would continue to administer lethal electric shocks to another human if someone in a lab coat told them they had to. In the book Influence: Science and Practice (5th Edition) the author talks about the different ways we perceive someone as being an authority.  This perception causes you to obey them more than would be expected. The book lists three things that cause people to identify someone as an authority: Impressive Title Their Clothes Driving an Expensive Car On one … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: , ,

Adobe Buzzword

2009 by 3 Comments
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Though most computer users are familiar with and use Microsoft Word or a similar product, there are alternatives that many are not aware of. Finding trustworthy software that does not inhibit your productivity can be a challenge. However, the developers at Adobe have come up with an online word processing program that functions much like Word does and has the benefit of being free. As this application is a web based program, it does require an internet connection for the user to access and work on his or her documents. This has a definite up-side, though. Collaborative work For those that write with co-authors or  need things to be proof read, Buzzword provides the unique service … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: , ,

Mind Your Own Business

2009 by 14 Comments
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Begin Unrelated Story: I was talking with an employee who works for Mind Your Own Business--a company that makes small business accounting software.  She was relating a time she had been pulled over by a policeman who asked her the standard questions, "where are you going?", "where do you work?".  When asked where she worked, she replied "Mind Your Own Business". The cop was kind of surprised and started to explain that it would probably be better to cooperate.  She had to pull out her business card to prove that she, indeed, worked at Mind Your Own Business. End Unrelated Story Okay, back on track.  When you do work, you are providing value to someone.  Actually, you are … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Money Tagged With: , , ,

Hawthorne Effect

2009 by 5 Comments
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The Hawthorne effect refers to some studies that were done on how training impacts employees' productivity at work (edit: this statement is a little misleading, please see the note at the bottom of the article). The studies found that sending someone to training produces employees that work harder. The funny part about it is that you still get the productivity increase even if the training doesn't teach them how to be better at their jobs. Sending someone to training helps them feel like they are important, like the company is investing in them and they are valuable. Because of this, they work harder. Obviously, if you send them to training that helps them do their jobs better, you … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: , ,

Interview: Effective Gadgets

2009 by 10 Comments

In this next interview, we asked people: What gadgets do you use on a regular basis and how do they help you work more effectively? (940)  There was variety in the answers, but I thought it was interesting how many people feel a timer is one of their most important gadgets for getting more done. 1) Timer to keep me focused and learn how much time things really take. 2) Digital Voice Recorder to record all the inspirations I get while driving. 3) Notebooks and pens EVERYWHERE so if I get distracted from what I'm doing I can write down the distracting thoughts and get back to focusing. 4) DVR / TIVO - I never watch live TV and I record all the educational shows related to my … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: ,

Nine Ways to Devastate Productivity

2009 by 7 Comments
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We talk a lot here about how to increase your productivity, get more done, and be more effective. But what if that isn't your goal?  What if you really just want to completely obliterate the productivity of your co-worker? In this unusual post, we are going to look at nine ways to wreak havoc on someone's ability to get work done. Of course, none of the readers of this blog are that evil. Anyway, for the vast majority of our readers, I figured this list would provide some useful thoughts on how to spot people who are wasting your time.  And who knows. It might be useful someday if you decide to let your Dark Side take over for a while. Here are the nine tips (if you can call them … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: , ,

Why You Need to Fail to Succeed

2009 by 5 Comments
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That's a rather provocative title, I suppose. Surely if you can avoid failure that is better, right?  Not necessarily. There are two ways to avoid failure. Working so hard and doing such a good job that you succeed. Only taking on projects that are so far below your capabilities that failure is never a realistic possibility. If you want to succeed--really succeed, you have to be willing to take on things that have a high chance of failing.  If you only attempt things that you know you can do, you aren't challenging yourself properly.  If you never have any failures, it is a pretty good indication that you aren't taking on things that are true challenges for you. You are … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Development Tagged With: , ,

Wrong Side of the Tracks

2009 by 9 Comments

The town where I live has a railroad track running through middle. In general, the nicer houses are on the West side of the town and the older, more run down houses are on the East side. Our evening entertainment usually consists of going for walks down the brick-paved streets. The town is small, so you can cover a significant portion in a few 3 mile walks. One thing we've noticed is that the average number of dogs per house on the less affluent side of the tracks is much higher than on the wealthy side of the tracks. On the East side, it is common to see 3 or 4 dogs staked out together in a small yard. On the West side of the tracks, people still have dogs, but it is rare to see … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Money Tagged With: , ,

iPod Shuffle Facebook Giveaway

2009 by 3 Comments
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Just a reminder that we are giving away an iPod Shuffle to one follower on our Facebook Fan page. Simply visit the page, click the "Become a Fan" button and watch for an announcement with the lucky winners name.  Anyone can enter, but we will only ship within the US. Contest will run for two weeks from March 29th.  Winners will need to respond to a wall post on the Productivity501 Fan Page using their Facebook account.  If the winner doesn't respond in time, we will run the giveaway again. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Misc

The Downside of Macs

2009 by 9 Comments
mac-main

In general, I am happy with using a Mac. The operating system is very well designed and gives me everything I want from Linux without the complexity. The hardware is well designed and thought out and is (for the most part) a pleasure to use. However, there is one area that Apple is sorely lacking in and since I often mention how I like using a Mac, I felt I should take the time to mention what I hate about Apple--the repair process. When I buy a laptop, I expect to use it very heavily for 3 to 4 years. I expect it to be powered on about 75% of that time. Given the mechanical nature of laptops and the complexity that goes into their construction, I expect to have some type of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: , ,

Workstation

2009 by 1 Comment

One of the best twitter messages I've seen: RT @alicam RT @deauxmain: A train station is where the train stops. A bus station is where the bus stops. On my desk, I have a work station... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Asides