If Time-Tracking Apps Don't Work for You, Try a Productivity Journal
Monitoring how you spend your time leads to a wealth of useful information: It can tell you what time of day you're most productive, help you create better estimates for how long tasks will take, and show you what activities you'd have to cut to focus your energy on a new idea or project. The most precise way to monitor how you spend your time is to use a time-tracking app. But these apps require a lot of overhead. You have to diligently log your hours (or make sure your app is logging them correctly) and sort your tracked time into categories. You have to pause after every task—no matter how brief—to capture time spent accurately.
What are the ten rules you need to know to communicate effectively?
Frank Luntz has “engineered some of the most potent political and corporate campaigns of the last decade.” His wordsmithing helped Republican Rudy Giuliani get elected twice in New York — a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans 5-to-1. Luntz and his polling firm have learned a great deal about language by conducting nearly 1500 surveys and focus groups for a wide range of products and politicians.
Start this Simple Habit to Rocket Your Productivity: Journaling
There’s a reason why journaling has been around in one form or another for centuries. It offers real benefits not just for your private life, but also for your work life. This is exactly why it's a strategy that many successful people continue to use. Many managers may well roll their eyes at the thought of employees “wasting time” by keeping a journal. But in many careers, like science, engineering, and medicine, journaling -- or a form of it -- is a core part of the job description. From increasing productivity, to maintaining accountability, this article explores why you should consider introducing journaling as a productivity tool into your workday, while listing the best apps and sites to get your started.
Locke's Goal Setting Theory - Understanding SMART - Goal Setting Tools from MindTools
Setting Meaningful, Challenging Goals Learn how to set effective goals, in this short video. What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.Henry David Thoreau, American author and philosopher. Many of us have learned – from bosses, seminars and business articles – the importance of setting ourselves SMART objectives.
Present your data in a Gantt chart in Excel
Need to show status for a simple project schedule with a Gantt chart? Though Excel doesn’t have a predefined Gantt chart type, you can create one using this free template: Gantt project planner template for Excel Need to show status for a simple project schedule with a Gantt chart? Though Excel doesn’t have a predefined Gantt chart type, you can simulate one by customizing a stacked bar chart to show the start and finish dates of tasks, like this: To create a Gantt chart like the one in our example that shows task progress in days:
Situational Leadership and Coaching
Much of the content of this post comes from my girlfriend’s masters thesis on the subject though it is quite relevant to our industry as we seem to use many words wrong and have some misguided ideas. Many people talk about coaching within teams. Hell you can go just about anywhere to find an “agile coach”.
The Open Plan Office Trap: Why It Pays To Work Alone
There is a prevailing notion that open plan offices foster open communication among staff and make for a livelier workplace. But they are also facing a backlash as people begin to realise their shortcomings. We take a deeper look at the pros and cons of open plan offices and why working alone is underrated. Open plan office image from Shutterstock If you visit the offices of most start-ups, chances are you’d be greeted with wide open spaces where some people don’t even have their own desks (hot-desking is so hot right now, natch). Gone are the ugly cubicles that had been an institution in offices for so long.
Creating Order From Chaos: 9 Great Ideas For Managing Your Computer Files
Advertisement It’s frustrating isn’t it when you can’t find that file? When you’ve searched every folder imaginable on your computer, and somehow it got lost….or worse, deleted. Now, there are excellent search tools for Windows that allow you to find your files, but they only work if you know the name of the file.
Five Management Lessons I Learned Through Trial and Error
Being a manager is not something I particularly enjoyed. That’s not to say I wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to work in an environment where I had the responsibilities of being in management, but I don’t think anyone with their head on correctly actually wakes up looking forward to telling employees what they are and aren’t doing correctly. This is especially true if you happen to be the messenger that delivers this feedback from the business owner (not a situation I’m in today, but one I have some experience with). Of all the lessons I’ve learned working in environments ranging from small businesses to local government and even enterprises, there are five basic principles on which I’ve formed my own personal management philosophy around. Some of these tips come not from working in management, but from being managed by someone else and recognizing what exactly did and didn’t make them a good manager.
Stress Symptoms : What are the Signs of Stress in Kids?
What are some common stress symptoms in children? They can vary from person to person. It is important to learn to recognize the symptoms in children and also to teach kids to recognize the symptoms themselves.
Time Management for Startups
Time management isn’t just about making sure you don’t miss a deadline. Better time management helps you to choose which priorities to focus on; it helps you to be more effective; and it helps you to remain motivated. Many time management techniques were developed for the corporate environment. The underlying assumption is that you have a clearly defined role and goals, and that there are people around you to whom you can delegate.
5 Ways to Immediately Regain Control of Your Day
How often do you begin your day with this thought: “Ugh. I’m too tired for this. I wish I could get settled before the nonstop hassles start?” How often do you end your day with a thought like:
Ten tips on social networking policies
Are you struggling to tear your employees away from sites such as Facebook, Bebo and Twitter? Here are ten top tips on drafting the necessary policies on social media and networking usage. Social networking sites - Social networking sites 1.
