Notes

ProductivityRx - Ask Four Questions to Make Your Work Easier
We require a better way! A better way to deal with all the stuff; the stuff coming at us all day long; the stuff we must do - today, tomorrow and the times that follow.

What we need is a simple, clear solution to process everything that's already in and coming into our day. A straightforward solution to identify what each thing is, where it requires to go, and, whether it's something that needs doing, who'll do it so when that's going to occur. check here , it appears I've given it away, but continue reading if you want to find out how this four-corner approach can work for you.

These Amazing Times - The Miracle and Its Price We live in amazing times, but so did the generations before us for quite a while back. So what's so amazing about this period? Affordable instantaneous global communication. That's my response. The wiring of the planet over the last 20 years has created the power for just about any person on earth to attain out and build relationships just about any other person within an affordable and nearly instantaneous manner. That is our contribution to the myriad human accomplishments on the eons.

Of course, with the nice comes the bad. Joining this new ability has been mobile technology in the form of laptops, smartphones and wireless networks. We are able to literally communicate to from anywhere. And we do, all the time! Consequently, the quantity of inputs we each process daily - calls, emails, texts, etc. - has grown in orders of magnitude (which is a lot!).

Unfortunately, the price is an expensive two-fold whammy. First, we need to process each of the new stuff. Second, the expected response times have shrunk to nanoseconds. The result is that we constantly feel behind the curve and may swiftly become mired in the sheer volume of it all.

In short, we are able to do so much more but we feel so much worse about any of it!

The Rx - An Updated Way to Process All That Stuff

I'm an ops guy, operations that's. Good or bad, it's what I do best - make things work better, faster, cheaper. I've always wished to be better at more interesting things, like marketing or sales, but I'm stuck with this particular talent, so I've made probably the most of it.

Fortunately, this skill - referred to as Productivity in the professional development world - has timely application with all this overwhelming number of inputs we each cope with daily. My work with clients has focused primarily on how best to quickly identify and process all of this stuff, then get back to focused efforts on things that need doing today. The foundation of this work centers around the productivity method I created and customizing it to each group's or individual's needs.

To spread the love a little further than just to my clients, I'm going to lay out the basis for the method in the following paragraphs and demonstrate how it solves the issue of feeling overwhelmed and out of control with your workload.

Ask and you also Shall Receive

Great answers are often found when we ask simple questions. If you are trying to power through the many things you need to process anytime throughout the day, try these questions and their corresponding answers to see should they help you better and effective:

1. What Is It?

In the wonderful world of Stuff, it is a multiple choice question with ONLY four answers - Trash, Archive, Reference or Work. Trash is self-explanatory - something you don't ever need again. Archive is something you might need again but not frequently, if ever - like a contract or perhaps a letter that relates to a particular project. Reference is stuff you utilize (make reference to) to do your work - like a phone book. Work is anything that must be done.

In fact, if you are not sure what a particular item is, consider this yes/no question: Does anything further ought to be finished with this? If the solution is Yes, then it really is necessarily Work. If the solution is No, then it is necessarily among the other three - Trash, Archive or Reference.

Phew, that is the hard part. If you're struggling with this first question, create a sticky note listing all four forms of stuff and put it some place you will see it regularly. Practice used to quickly assessing what each thing you touch is. After the list is ingrained in your psyche, you'll become adept at slicing and dicing the onslaught of stuff coming at you.

(Note, also, that I am achieving this for six years and those are the only four categories of stuff I've ever been able to recognize. Everything easily fits into one of those four. If you come up with a fifth, email me and we can discuss why it isn't among the four.)

2. Where Does It Go?

Now that we know what each particular thing is, we need to put it in the proper place. Things get easier now:

Trash = Throw it away (or delete it whether it's electronic)
Archive = File it away in your longterm storage system (file cabinets, hard disks, etc.)
Reference = Put it away near your projects area such that it's easily accessed
Work = We can not move ahead with Work until we determine what Type of Work it is:
Action Item: They are things you must do or you need to have another person do (delegate); the ball's in your court.
Awaiting Response: These are things you are waiting for someone else to get back to you on; the ball's in their court.
Pending: These are things that aren't ripe yet, items that need another event to occur or a date to pass before they become "ready" to perform or someone else to accomplish; the ball's in no one's court... yet.
Reading: That is professional reading, things you read to stay abreast in your field; ball's in your court.
3. Who Will TAKE ACTION?

We have neatly and quickly dispensed with three of the four Categories of stuff in our lives leaving only the task items left open. This next question - WHO'LL Do It? - is really a sub-question of Work and provides the most clarity regarding anything you are going to delegate to others.

If you are dealing with an Action Item, it's often effective to ask whether it's something You should do of if it's something it is possible to Delegate to another. Needless to say, once delegated, the Action Item becomes an Awaiting Response, right? See how this works? Thus, this mini-question serves a focused, but highly useful, purpose in getting things into the right funnel for completion.

4. When Does It Next Need Attention?

Notice that I have totally side-stepped the deadline question. The reason is that I believe "When is it due?" is really a trap for the unwary. You can find two known reasons for this. First, most Work gets handled out with due dates like "ASAP" or "Urgent" or "Immediately." The first two are unclear - my ASAP may be unique of your ASAP and "Urgent" is also relative. Immediately rarely means immediately, except possibly in an emergency room. These kind of deadlines are further outward indications of the issues we experience with this always-on world.

Off the diatribe and back to the point, the actual deadline is less meaningful in our analysis compared to the question of when do we have to consider it again to be sure it gets done "with time." A project that will take two days to complete is best considered several days from that beginning date to maximize our flexibility in triaging all of the rest of the inputs that constantly come at us, while also bringing the project in promptly. Using some form of flexible reminder or tickler system is the best way to manage these deadlines so that you could adjust each day's puzzle pieces so as to move through your stuff in probably the most efficient and effective way. This gets you back to the producing efforts quickly sufficient reason for a feeling of command and control on the work.

That's right Virginia, I Didn't Give EVERYTHING Away

The framework laid out above is the fundamental workflow model I developed to greatly help my clients quickly move through the near-overwhelming inputs that come at them each day. It's a short process to go through several times each day or hour and leaves you feeling in command over your workflow.

Of course, I haven't given the complete baby away, but there's more than enough there for you to face every day with the tools you must stay in front of the curve and feel more successful in your career.

Paul enjoys a national reputation being an expert in solving the productivity challenges faced by people working in today's frenetic environment. As the creator of the QuietSpacing(tm) productivity method, he is a frequent speaker and recognized author on productivity-related topics. Paul works together with individuals, groups and organizations to generate more productive working environments and drive individual success via high-content keynote addresses, interactive training seminars, and one-on-one coaching sessions. It is possible to find out about Paul and his practice at
Homepage: https://www.articlesubmited.com/do-you-want-to-buy-a-phone-check-the-top-10-phones-now/