Archives for February 2016

Back when the Ford Motor company was first mass-producing automobiles, they did a number of experiments in how to get the best productivity out of people. They found that a 40-hour week was pretty much the sweet spot. If people worked more than 40 hours, the amount they produced per hour started decreasing. As a result, 40-hour weeks seemed like the best way to get the most out of employees. Now days, it isn't uncommon for people to be working 60- to 70-hour weeks as a normal schedule. On one hand, this makes sense. Maybe 40 hours of the type of labor that was being done at Ford was more exhausting than sitting at a desk. On the other hand, the work being done at Ford on the assembly line … [Read more...] about Is a 40-Hour Week Good for Productivity?

Being organized is a cornerstone of being productive. However, there is a lot more to being organized than just having a clean desk. True organization is a mental state and a way of thinking. An organized desk is often a side effect, but too many people focus on trying to look organized instead of actually being organized. If you want to BE organized and not just LOOK organized, it requires you to spend some time really thinking about how you approach work and dealing with things. You can't short cut this just by picking things up and putting them out of sight. Here are some tips for becoming truly organized. Recognize that being organized isn't about trying to get more things to … [Read more...] about Organization Mentality