Juggling Elephants Blog

After the weekend, many of us trudge back to work on Monday already feeling tired instead of refreshed. If you are one of those people who has trouble maintaining your energy level on Monday afternoon or anytime for that matter, Redbook magazine gives a multitude of ways to keep your body and mind performing at a higher level. Here are a few of their tips-the article actually goes into more detail about the benefit of each one:

• Eat every 3-4 hours
• Fill up on fiber
• Stay hydrated
• Watch caffeine intake after noon
• Vent your feelings
• Turn on some tunes
• Take belly breaths
• Let go of grudges

I really like the summation given by the author near the beginning of the article. She said that the root causes of our lack of energy normally result from, "How we sleep, What we eat and How we cope emotionally with our problems." Kudos to Nancy Rones for such a timely article.

Labels: energy, focus, productivity

The first line of the article said it all: A couple going on a European vacation remembered to take their duty-free purchases and their 18 suitcases, but forgot their 3-year-old daughter at the airport. Read the entire article by clicking here.

Apparently they were late for a flight, and in the rush to the gate they forgot to check to make sure they had all five of their children. The good news is that the child was safely flown to meet them on the next flight. Scary moments.

A comment by one of the grandmothers really got my attention. She said, "We're in shock. They're very responsible and organized, top-notch people." Let's review-they left their child at an airport and flew to another country! While it would be so easy to just scream at the parents, I have to wonder-how many well-intentioned people have made some really poor choices because they were just working or living at such a breakneck "juggling elephants" speed.

How many good employees have left an organization because their manager or supervisor was just too occupied with "busy work" to respond to their needs. I'll bet there are a ton of individuals who have abandoned their life's passion because they were too busy with the daily rush of life. And yes, all too often, we see children or spouses get left behind in some way because someone was focusing too much on the "wrong ring."

What is your "rush to the gate" routine costing you? Some things are just too important to be lost.

Labels: choices, productivity, success, work/life balance

Turning right instead of left. It might not seem like a big idea, but for UPS, it saves about 3 million gallons of fuel per year, as the software used to calculate their routes sets routes up with mostly right turns. Limiting left turns also increases the time efficiency of their routes because so often when you are turning left, you have to wait for a light to turn green or until traffic allows you the opportunity to make the turn. You can see the live report by clicking here. Need more proof of the value of this strategy? According to UPS officials, they would need an additional 1000 trucks to complete the routes without the calculated, efficient routing. WOW!

After hearing of UPS' great find, I started thinking about my own daily "lineup." What "left turns" do I need to limit in order to be more productive with my day? Here are a few that come to mind:

• Turn off my e mail notifications or close my e mail program so I can better focus on a high mental tasks without being interrupted.
• Move to a less interruption prone area to better focus on key tasks.
• Move the tasks I really like to do to later in the day, making them a reward for getting the less enjoyable tasks done.
• Educate family and friends about my work schedule and that I will check voice mail and e mail at 9 AM, Noon, 3 PM and before leaving the office.
• Insure that my employees have the resources they need to make as many decisions as possible on their own and minimize their need to get my approval for minor decisions.

While these ideas may not give me a monumental amount of increased productivity on a daily basis, over a year they could make a huge difference. Just ask UPS.

Labels: focus, interruptions, productivity

Whether you use these types as a guide of "who not to be in the workplace", as an analysis of your work team, or just for a laugh, they are quite insightful. Enjoy!

http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-the_6_most_
annoying_coworkers_are_you_one-431

Labels: humor, productivity, teamwork

Meetings are an important part of a lot of our professions. I don''t know many people who just love meetings. Sometimes they are a necessary evil. But nothing is worse than sitting in a meeting that isn't important and thinking the whole time about the huge "To Do List" back at your desk. Meetings can be costly, reduce productivity, and lower morale. Remember this the next time you have an urge to call a meeting. If the meeting is critical here are a few things to remember:

• K.I.S.S.-Keep It Short Sweetie! Have an agenda, cover the items quickly and then end it. Don’t be afraid to remove all the chairs and call a "stand up meeting." If people are not able to sit down, they will be less likely to drag out a meeting. No one will complain that a meeting ended early.
• If pulling people together requires significant travel (across campus, across town, or across country) try using technology to facilitate the meeting instead of wasting the time for the commute. There are some great tools that don't cost a lot that can facilitate conducting a meeting across distances. Instant Messaging, web conferencing, conference bridges, and team sites can be used to reduce travel costs and time.
• If you have reoccurring meetings, like a weekly staff meeting, don’t be afraid to cancel it if there aren’t a significant number of items on your agenda. Otherwise, you will find yourself "making up" things to talk about and therefore wasting time. If this occurs often, decrease the frequency of the meeting to every other week or once a month.

Managing meetings is an important strategy to managing your time. You have enough acts in your circus that need your attention without adding unnecessary meetings and travel time.

Labels: meetings, productivity

Fast Company Magazine is a fantastic monthly publication that highlights today's hot business trends and looks at what might be on the horizon tomorrow. Robert Safian is the editor and his letter from the editor this month had a powerful thought. He is speaking about the success of Mike Rowe and his cable show, Dirty Jobs:

But Rowe's story also allows us to examine an underappreciated aspect of economic success: the genius of expertly executed craftmanship. It is the glue that cements ideas, on one end, and hard work, on the other, to fuel productivity. Either type of asset is squandered if inappropriately deployed. Execution is the great differentiator in our global economic competition.

What a great equation! Ideas + Great Execution + Hard Work = Productivity.

Reviewing the equation each day may help determine which one is lacking in my performance and what changes I need to make to get the standing ovations I want from others or myself.

Labels: planning, productivity

While listening to the news on TV this morning, a Public Service Announcement caught my attention. The narrator said:

That is so true! As we say in Juggling Elephants, "The Ringmaster always reviews the next act before bringing it into the ring." Too often we make our task lists and then move quickly through them, rarely pausing to see if a better order or choice of acts might be needed.

Today, try something different. Before you start the next item on your list, ask yourself:
-Is this the most important task for me to undertake at this moment?
-Would a better act be in order?

That momentary pause might be the difference between getting a standing ovation today and just having another busy day.

Labels: planning, productivity, time management

800ceoread asks its readers about a challenge they are facing in the workplace and then offers insights from a business book that they believe has a viable solution. Today (September 17) they use Juggling Elephants to solve a workplace challenge. Click the link to read more:

Labels: focus, productivity, stress