Category Archives: Productivity

Do you suffer for Busy Bee Syndrome? 3 Possible Cures

Peter Drucker, author of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, said: “There is nothing so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all.” On Tuesday, I overheard two people talking on the train. The first said, ‘You’re right. He’s always in early, and probably still there.’ He meant the office. It was 7.15 […]

How to increase your productivity when surfing the web

If I could show you how one small tweak change improve your future earnings, health, and happiness, would you be interested? Who wouldn’t, right? It’s to do with active and passive surfing. The way you surf online affects your long-term objectives. For example, if I read one article from Harvard Business Review every day, and […]

How to reply to: “Is that the best you can do?”

Is one way of challenging others. It’s a slight twist on the carrot v stick approach. Instead of praising others, possibly when you know they could do better, it encourages the person to see if they can up their game. You begin to think, ‘Maybe he’s right. Is that the best I can do?’ The Scotland […]

Sleep – Digital Distractions = More Sales

Which is better – one extra hour in the morning or one the evening? Staying up one hour late doesn’t mean you gain an extra hour’s productivity. In fact, you may be eating into tomorrow’s resources. Getting a good night’s sleep is critical to your performance, creativity, and ability to cope with tomorrow’s stress. Here’s […]

How to Answer 70 Emails a Day

As someone who runs their own company, lost time is lost money. And, it’s no different if you work for someone else. Lost time = lost money. Every minute counts. ‘Help me answer every email in the same biz day!’ I got this from a good friend a while back and this is what I wrote back to her. ‘I get approx 70 email a day. 120 is high. 50 low. I run 7 sites. Most of my customers are in the US but I have others in the UK, across Europe and in Australia. So, emails are always coming in. Here’s what I do:

How To Make Friday Your Busiest Day

Friday is my busiest day. Most folks power down and go into weekend mode. Not here! Ask yourself, ‘why do I go down a gear on Friday?’, ‘How does this benefit my career?’ Ok, let’s be honest. We do this because others do it. Right? This is a high-risk way to manage your career. You’re letting others determine how you behave. And it damages your career in many, many ways. Here’s an alternative approach.

What You Can Learn From BMW’s Innovation Philosophy

How Would You Re-Define BMW’s Innovation Philosophy? How do you define innovation? Graham Horton has translated BMW’s definition of innovation for those who don’t speak German. I (used to) speak a little German and hope to get the original translation from Graham.

How Many Hours Per Week Do Technical Writers Spend Writing?

How much time do you spend writing every week? Remember, you have 37.5 hours (I know!) for technical writing every week, but how much is actually spent writing? When I say writing I actually mean developing content, so this includes illustrations, diagrams, publishing etc – whatever goes into the final deliverable.