Mind of Murph
Alexandra Levit1recently posted an article on "The Fast Track", the Intuit QuickBase blog, titled "Fast Track's 10 Most Creative Tips from 2013"2. These tips included:
- Compress your workweek
- Get mentored during your commute
- Develop a five-minute list
- Stop fiddling with lost passwords
- Slow down instead of speeding up
- Play the e-mail game
- Exit conversations efficiently
- Delegate to a robot
- Stop inviting interviewees to your office
- Pull an all-nighter
When I read in Compress your workweek:"Start each week thinking you only have Monday-Thursday to get everything done and then act on that...2" I could hardly wonder how a week would be where I wasn't working Friday and Saturday (and even part of Sunday sometimes). Can you imagine a 4 day (only) work week? I am enthused to try to find a way to at reduce my week by at least one day during 2014.
Another point I found 'to the point' came from Slow down instead of speeding up: "Before sitting down to work, put yourself in a relaxed state." How often do we, I know I do, start the day in a tizzy already feeling like 'I can't possibly do everything I have scheduled today?' Long ago I remember that I would sit down with a cup of coffee and the morning paper and enjoy from front-to-back cover before I did anything else....now days I grab a to-go-cup of coffee and rush out the door checking emails as I try to pile everything into whichever vehicle I am driving that day. I for one am going to take time 'to breathe' before I begin anything each day in the year to come. "Now where is this morning's Wall Street Journal?"
I always heard that if you make too many Resolutions for the New Year you won't do any of them, so that's it, those are my two resolutions and they are Intuit take-aways, "gosh, imagine that."
Even if some of the tips in Alexandra's article couldn't apply in my situation (for example, I couldn't use TaskRabbit even if I wanted to because they don't serve Oklahoma City), I found her article highly informative and enthusiastic. But when I reached the end of the article I was delighted to also find that Intuit was offering a free eBook called "10 Quick Tips to Improve Your Productivity at Work". I encourage you to read both the article and eBook, we have provided links to both (so those can be your two New Year resolutions.)
And a most Happy and Productive New Year to you.
Murph
1-Alexandra Levit’s goal is to help people find meaningful jobs – quickly and simply – and to succeed beyond measure once they get there. Alexandra is a frequent writer for "The Fast Track", the Intuit QuickBase blog, she is also a columnist for the Wall Street Journal and Metro US. She has authored several books, including the popular They Don’t Teach Corporate in College (Career Press 2004 and 2009), How’d You Score That Gig? (Random House/Ballantine, 2008), Success for Hire (ASTD Press, 2008), MillennialTweet (SuperStar, 2009), and New Job, New You (Random House/Ballantine, 2010). Her book on the top myths of business success is due out from Penguin/Berkley in spring 2011.
Source (& 2) - Fast Track's 10 Most Creative Productivity Tips from 2013, The Fast Track, Intuit QuickBase (blog), by Alexandra Levit, January 2, 2014.