Author: Carol Williams

Categories
Productivity

Take a Vacation – It’s Very Productive!

This may be a surprise to all of you who know me as a busy bee – but I am on vacation! Yes, even the most productive among us have to find time to sit back and relax. For the next few weeks I’m doing a lot of hiking (and recovering from hiking with a cool drink and a book afterwards…), as well as posting a blog for you all, of course!

Since I’ve got relaxation on the mind, I thought I would try and impart some wisdom on just HOW to relax – and make it count. It’s easy to take a few days off and fritter them away thinking about to-do lists, returning to work, or even packing your vacation time with as much excitement as possible, filling what should be a period of tranquility with unneeded stress. You deserve better! Not only will more effective rest make you happier during your vacation, but it will allow you to feel so much more recharged for work when you “get going” again.

Here are three strategies for getting the most out of your time off:

  1. Know that your vacation is a good thing! There’s no need to feel guilty or restless about giving yourself a break, simply because you aren’t working. The fact is that, while you aren’t being productive per se, you are contributing to your ability to be productive later. The Atlantic, after looking at the science behind restfulness, found that “breaks are better for our brains than overtime.” Vacations radically increase worker productivity by improving mental health and motivation. So trust your relaxing self; you’ll be able to do far more after a few more dips in the pool than a few extra hours grinding away at your desk.

  2. Sleep well! I cannot stress this enough – sleep is critical in recharging every part of your well-being, and you can’t be at your best if your health isn’t at its best. But even when you’re on vacation, it can be hard to squeeze every ounce of restfulness out of a night’s worth of sleep. There are some ways to “hack” your sleep patterns for the most rest possible. Try avoiding “blue light” – the kind often emitted by TV, computer and cell phone screens – for an hour before bed. Scheduling out your sleep pattern can help you take advantage of your full sleep cycle too; use this tool to find your perfect bedtime.

  3. Get away from emails! The advent of email is a great yet tricky thing – it makes communicating easier, but ever-present. When you’re always an email away, it can turn the 40-hour work-week into a 24/7 work-week, leaving little time for actual restfulness. As discussed, that restfulness is precious, and there are ways to keep email from stealing it away. Vacation auto-response is a feature on many email platforms, allowing you to notify those who email you that you’re on vacation. If the person’s message is critical, you can include other contact information in the customized response. It’s OK to be out of touch for a while, and this is a great way to tell others that in a respectful way.

It’s my goal that these tips will allow you to relax and replenish your energy for a great summer ahead. I’m trying them out in preparation for my webinar on July 23rd about “The Power of Evernote” (which you can still sign up for here!). Here’s hoping that you’ll see me more relaxed, recharged, and ready to be productive than ever!

Categories
More time in my day prioritize procrastination

Summer Fun or Summer Work? Both!

It’s summertime, and as Ella Fitzgerald sang, “the livin’ is easy.” But what about the working, the staying on task, the getting-things-done? For those, your newfound appreciation of swimming pools and ice cream may be leading you astray. So how, in a season of fun in the sun, do you actually achieve anything?

I’m here to tell you that enjoyment and accomplishment aren’t mutually exclusive. We’ve talked about the relationship between happiness and productivity before on this blog, and never does that hold more true than in the summer. It’s the time when the excitement of life and energy for work can go hand-in-hand. Where some make summertime work the enemy of summertime fun, you can capitalize on the power of both. Here are some tips for making fun work and work fun:

  1. Let yourself take breaks. Variety is the spice of life, and it’s the spice of work as well. No one is at their best in the midst of an hours-long slog, and you want the quality of your work to represent you at your best. So teach yourself to (temporarily) walk away from a task instead of trying to push through it. A break will help you refocus, re-engage, and re-inspire yourself for even better work when you return. Scientists agree; according to a productivity study cited by The Atlantic, the ideal balance is 52 minutes for working, followed by a 17 minute break.

  2. Surround yourself with fun AND productive people. We all have friends who look like they’re having fun 24/7. One look at their Facebook wall – or a slideshow from their trip to the Bahamas – and you can get a major case of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). But nobody can have fun all of the time. It’s important to be reminded of this, so that you can allow yourself periods of productivity along with your time to let loose. The more you emulate people who have a healthy balance between work and play, the more you’ll find satisfaction in both.

  3. Build in active time during your daily schedule. Productivity relies on so much more than your sheer force of will. Being healthy, in both body and mind, can boost your motivation and ability – as well as allow you to have more fun. Studies show that exercise that improves both mental and physical health also has a profound impact on productivity. So take that morning run, that afternoon bike ride, or that noontime dip in the pool – your workday will be more fruitful because of it.

  4. Listen to music (really!) This one is controversial – take it from any student who has argued with a teacher about using earbuds during a test! But studies show that music can increase productivity by relaxing and refocusing the brain away from other aural distractions. Now before you jam out to Beyoncé at your desk, know that there are limits to music’s benefits. Music without lyrics, and for short durations of time, usually works best in creating a relaxed focus.

  5. Expose yourself to nature. No, this doesn’t mean “go out for a hike every day” – hardly anybody has the time, let alone the energy! But research shows that even just a little green in your day – from having an office window facing trees to a 20-minute walk in the park – can drastically improve your output. Make sure you aren’t cooped up, and you’ll be feeling and working better in no time.

Categories
Evernote More time in my day productivity in the workplace

Less Mess, Goodbye Stress

How many hours per day, or per week, do you or your employees spend looking for documents (electronic or hard copy)? Studies vary, but the average is 1.8 to 2.5 hours PER DAY. Wow.

Often, the documents being sought are “locked in silos” such as your email, a file folder that keeps co-workers guessing, or…on your desktop (electronic or on that “piece of furniture”).

What if there was a simple way for your team to:

• Collaborate without email?
• Find what each other is seeking, quickly?
• Access this information anytime, anywhere, from any device?

Evernote Business answers those three wishes. And more.

If you or your company seek a relatively low-cost solution to your informational collaboration/location needs, it’s time to consider Evernote. If you are a team of two people or more, you’ll want to consider Evernote Business. If you are losing paper, losing notes, and losing what you should have remembered, you are losing productivity. That’s where Evernote Business can help. It’s not the ONLY such tool out there…but Evernote works very well with many other apps you are likely already using.

So, what is Evernote Business?

 

• Evernote is an online (or offline) notebook.
• Evernote does NOT data-mine, for example, like Google does. Evernote makes their money through paid subscriptions. Your information is yours alone. If you choose to share it, you may… or you may not.
• If you wish to collaborate effectively (and almost effortlessly) you should consider Evernote Business.

How do I get set up?

 

To start using Evernote, you must set up an account via Evernote.com. At its base level, it’s free. The Premium level is $5 per month, per user. The Business level is $10 per month, per user.

With Evernote Business, you must select a person who will act as administrator for your company. This person will be your “batphone link” to Evernote support, to your Evernote Business Certified Consultant, and will be the person to whom you ask coordination questions. He or she will hold any standards you (should) develop for naming notes, etc.

Do not do a complete overhaul all at once. Rather, start slowly. Select one workflow where you begin using Evernote Business. See where the kinks are. Use this workflow as a way to “beta test” Evernote and as a “real life launch pad” to train your staff.

An example beta test could be creating a series of Evernote Notes in a Notebook for just one particular client or project. Add all project photos, emails, budget, whiteboard notes and ideas, meeting minutes, etc. into Evernote for that client only. You can then share the notebook with the whole team. You have the power to give each team member the permission to modify and view, or just view the notes.

What results can I expect?

 

Less email. Once people begin using Evernote as a way to collaborate, there is no need for back and forth email with different versions of documents.

Less to remember. Evernote has been referred to as a “brain.” Simply open it, type in a keyword, and it will show that keyword in tags, in images, in text (written OR typed–and yes, you read that correctly).

Your information can be accessed anytime, anywhere… even when you do not have an internet connection. Your synched notes are on the app residing on your device. They are also automatically saved back to the Evernote server, unless you specifically set the note up as NOT synced. On the road, on the plane, bumping into a client or prospect you did not expect– all is made easier through the power of Evernote.

Better team collaboration. When you are working on something, Evernote automatically shows “related notes” on the subject from your account, or from the shared notes within your team.

In summary, for best results, use it. Use it more. Use it for everything. Start collecting recipes with it. Use it for travel plans. Use it for business ideas and “somedays.” Photograph cards and watch them automatically prompt you to “LinkIN” with the contact. The more you use it, the better it is.

Categories
Evernote

Transforming the Office, One Note at a Time

It’s time to vent about your office. Let’s face it, everything about it bugs you. You think your filing system was created by a hedge-maze designer. Accessing your co-worker’s documents is like breaking into the Louvre. Your backlog gets put into a pile as deep and obscure as the Mariana Trench. When everyone in your team is facing these problems, it becomes almost impossible to collaborate efficiently. Offices are supposed to bring workers together; the frustration in yours is actually tearing your team apart.

As always, Evernote is the solution. Think about all of the elements that make your office function (or dysfunction… ). Evernote does them all more efficiently, with better organization in an easy-to-use interface. With it, every member of your team can not only make sense of their own work, but the ideas of all their coworkers as well.

As we’ve discussed on the blog before, Evernote is like an online “brain.” It stores all your notes, pictures, documents and other recorded material in one centralized location. But this doesn’t mean that Evernote is just for individual use; it’s designed with a team in mind. Sharing documents over Evernote reduces the endless avalanche of emails a workplace can generate. This is simply because when the document gets updated, everyone gets the updated version of the document. No more countless emails with countless versions of the same document; the work evolves as your team progresses.

Evernote also helps group and organize multiple documents across platforms. When you start creating notes, it uses tags and keywords to help link to “related notes” under your account. This also works on shared notes within your team of collaborators. Think of it as organic filing. Instead of work being spread out and hidden in multiple workers’ files, it comes together naturally in Evernote.

There are even services that help adapt an already amazing tool specifically to your workplace and team. For $10 per month for each user, the Evernote Business service will organize individual users under a single administrator in your team. This administrator can then act as a liaison to the Evernote Business Certified Consultant. That’s me! Consultants like me will then help ease your team into the world of Evernote. With you, we’ll create organization, collaboration, and communication standards so that everybody is one the same page. Not only that, but we’ll personally ensure Evernote is doing the most for your projects.

Think about that: with Evernote Business people, you can have professionals like me act as your guide to the office of the future. Sounds a lot better than the aimless confusion, eternal frustration, and wasted time of offices today, doesn’t it? In reality, Evernote is the way offices should have been all along: fitting your needs, for your team, on your schedule. Try it out today, and you can go from venting about your office to changing it for the better.

Categories
Evernote

Blank Space: On Getting Started in Evernote

So let’s say you followed my advice and started an Evernote account. You heard it’s a solution to your productivity problems. You heard it’s simple and fun to use. Not only that, but you heard it will be life-changing.

You take the plunge, and the first thing you see after creating an account is this:

Screenshot 2015-04-28 14.26.40.png

Which is really more like:

Screenshot 2015-04-28 14.27.48.png

This is a perfectly understandable response. I get it; a blank screen can be daunting. That’s why I’m here to help. Here are a few steps that you can take to turn Evernote from a blank screen to a world of possibilities.

1. Start by making notebooks.

Notebooks are the basic building blocks of Evernote. They’re where you’ll put notes as you generate them, and like folders on your computer, they’ll help you keep track of everything as your documents begin to pile up. Think of them as all the different parts of your life, the types of files you use, random categories… whatever is going to help keep your ideas straight as you start building on the tool. Don’t worry too much about being overly organized at this step. The beauty of Evernote is that, however you use it, the tool will begin to help you sort and organize every bit of information you record, automatically.

2. Load in your documents and pictures.

This is key. You don’t want to shift your life over to Evernote, only to have to trade back-and-forth between file locations in different places. Do this, and your head will be spinning in no time. Evernote is made to be your one-stop place for every file you have. Load as much onto Evernote as you can; you’ll thank yourself when you’re in the airport and need to access a file on the cloud, or if you want to collaborate on a shared document and want the latest version available to everybody on your team in a flash.

3. Start tagging your ideas in categories.

Like the notebooks above, tags are just another way for you to group and sort your files and notes. The benefit of using tags for organization is that one file can have multiple tags, and it becomes easier to categorize a file as you’re creating it. Now, when you’re trying to search for something and it’s just on the tip of your tongue, you can start searching things like: “Dogs… Pets… Leashes… Bones…” Odds are, if your file is somewhere in the canine family, you used a tag in a related category like these, and your search will be more successful.

4. Invite your friends! Coworkers too!

Like everything in life except brushing your teeth or going to the doctor’s, Evernote becomes a richer experience with other people. Sharing notes, pictures, files, and to-do lists will allow you to pool resources with everybody, including family and friends. The more cross-platform sharing, the more you’re able to search and draw upon, and the more notes you’ll be able to make. Collaboration becomes easier, communication becomes easier, life becomes easier. Maybe “hive minds” aren’t so scary after all…

5. Download Evernote on all your devices.

This is where the network you’ve built on Evernote goes global. On your phone, tablet, or other devices, you’ll be able to access, create, and share notes wherever you are. Take iPhone notes on the fly, and you can trust that you’ll be able to capitalize on your spontaneity later on. It’s like you’re pulling the weight of your entire workspace and lifestyle all the time… with far less heavy lifting involved.

There you have it, 5 steps to getting started in Evernote. We’ve gone from a blank screen to…

Screenshot 2015-04-28 15.05.31.png

… in no time at all!

Categories
multitasking

Some things that are impossible: pigs flying, hating pictures of kittens, and multitasking.


Wait, what?

It’s true! Multitasking is impossible. At least, multitasking in the often misunderstood sense of doing two things at once. As NPR explains, you cannot split your active, working consciousness between two tasks; you can only switch your focus between the two very quickly. This is due to interference between processes, so that while your attention may be divided between tasks, your poor brain cannot share the tools it needs to complete them. Think you’re writing a grocery list and reciting pi at the same time? Think again! Your brain is merely doing its best to remember the word for cucumber before it comes up with the 11th digit (5) in a matter of milliseconds.

This constant flitting between ideas and objectives has been reliably shown to reduce effectiveness when the brain is too divided. A University of Utah study found that only a tiny fraction of people – around 2% – could perform multiple tasks without any negative impact on their overall performance. They also found that this microcosm of multitaskers received this gift genetically. If you’re not one of the lucky few, don’t try and exercise your brain for superhuman focusing abilities. For most of us, effective multitasking is far out of reach.

Someone should let the modern world know that. For most of us, multitasking is a reality of our day-to-day lives, like cursing (while driving) at the person who is talking on their phone (while driving). Multitasking is especially endemic to our workplaces, where we navigate emails and texts and countless other stimuli, hoping that our ability to be efficient will prevail. It doesn’t. A Stanford study examined the habits of heavy multitaskers and discovered that those who rely on multitasking frequently are often the worst at it, performing tasks much more slowly and with less success than their singularly focused peers. Forbes also reports on a University of London study’s findings: “Participants who multitasked during cognitive tasks experienced IQ score declines that were similar to what they’d expect if they had smoked marijuana or stayed up all night.”

This is no way to be a productive worker and manager of your time. So how can you be more effective? According to Stanford researcher Clifford Nass, dedicating 20-minute blocks of time allows your brain time to focus and attune to a single goal, reducing the time and confusion caused by multitasking’s shuffle of ideas.

And in the Get Organized System course, we will see that it doesn’t take much to see the benefits of focus. By choosing to not multitask for just 90 minutes, a worker can save 5 ½ to 6 ½ weeks of working time per year. That’s even more time to get more done, and with focus, productive time snowballs, rather than the avalanche of confusion and work multitasking creates.

Slow and steady, as Aesop so wisely said. Perhaps you can remind yourself of his words between your 23rd email and 2nd phone conference of the day. Just be sure to stop and let them sink in when you do.

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