An office survival tactic I don’t recommend!
28 September 2012Here’s a novel way of managing an overloaded desk – clogged with debris, paperwork, files ….. a town tip, in other words. Last night, as I was speaking to the Canterbury branch of NZ Organisation for Quality, member Ailsa Milner shared this story. ‘I once worked for a man who had terrible paper management habits. […]
The benefits of raising children French-style
27 September 2012Did you know that French children are, on the whole, better behaved than those from most English-speaking Western countries? (And how does this relate to business? Good mannered children become thoughtful and well-mannered workmates, I’m sure you’ll agree.) In an extended visit to France earlier this year I never saw a French child having a […]
Stacey’s simple stress-reducer
18 September 2012I’ve been working with Stacey* for a couple of months as her productivity coach. She’s the GM of a successful company in the engineering field. She used to be a big list maker. Often she’d have five pages of items ‘to do’ – but hardly anything got done and the lists just got longer. Result? […]
Get Faster, Work Better – By Doing Things Differently
2 August 2012What do I mean? I learnt something very interesting last night. I was MC for the National Speakers Association of NZ’s National Awards and had the pleasure of listening to our guest speaker Wade Jackson, a Double World Champion of Improv and founder of New Zealand’s Improv Bandits and Covert Theatre. One of his points, […]
Only work to 80% capacity
25 July 2012A couple of days ago I had a very interesting conversation with Maurice Trapp, a very experienced business owner and ex-rugby coach. One of his companies – the Maurice Trapp Group – assists business owners with risk management and succession planning. Maurice also coaches a number of other business owners in the financial services industry […]
Make More Mistakes – You’ll Learn Faster
25 June 2012I’m travelling in France this month – having a wonderful holiday. Given that my French language skills are very beginner-level, it’s also a great reminder about the value of spaced repetition when learning anything. At the beginning of this year I started French classes with Alliance Francaise in Auckland. (Great teachers and lesson structures – […]
How to manage the client who is always late
21 June 2012Discussions to find proactive solutions for this common problem at a training session I was running recently included: ‘We often struggle to manage a lot of last-minute deadlines. We’re organised but a lot of clients are regularly late sending in their information. As a consequence it sometimes puts impossible pressure on us to meet tax […]
Replying quickly to email is bad time management
15 June 2012If you’re replying immediately to every mail as soon as it arrives, you’re also sending an invisible message that could be interpreted as: ‘I’ve got nothing too important to work on. That’s why I’m sitting here sending you an instant response.’ Email is my top priority.’ If so, why? And what are your real priorities? […]
Develop a curious mind to discover shortcuts
12 June 2012What better ways of doing things or shortcuts are under your nose? And, how do you find these ‘better ways’? Develop a curious mind, a mindset that always says, ‘How else could we do this?’ If you find yourself repeatedly doing tasks, play a game with yourself to winkle out alternative ways. […]
Exercise Helps Energy Management
29 May 2012More useful time saving tips to share from my readers; From Collette: Find time to do a little exercise. Not enough to wipe you out, but even 20 press ups or lunges before you get into the shower in the morning wakes up your metabolism and makes you clearer and faster all day! And it […]
