Productivity Report, Oct 6

Working from Home … LifeDev looks at and debunks three myths of working at home. Myth #1 … “self-employed people can be lazy because they don’t have a boss”. Myth #2 … “people who work out of home offices work whenever they want. Myth #3 … “home offices can be anything; they’re not that important because you’re at your home”. LifeDev

Have a Vacation … Take a vacation, and reap the personal and professional benefits. Don’t let continued work rob you of your joy in living. Bailey WorkPlay

That “Squidgy” Feeling … When you get that “squidgy” feeling at work, accept it at a prompt for taking a break to restore mental and emotional balance for the rest of the day. “Out of fearing to look inefficient or less-than-dedicated or just plain lazy, many people choose to stay at their post–be it a computer, a loading dock, or a cash register–rather than take the breaks they need to stay fresh and productive all day long.” Mind Unbound

Four Tips for Productivity … Four ways to get more work done in less time … (1) take a break, (2) have a power nap, (3) make a to-do list, and (4) make a start on the most important tasks. AskMen

Embrace Fanatical Focus … “There are problems which simply can’t be solved either by committee or by picking them up and putting them down. They can be solved by devoting every waking and sleeping minute of several days exclusively to the problem at hand. These problems need fanatic focus.” Tom Evslin’s Blog

Factors of Priority … David Allen says that there are four inputs into decided what to do next at any point in time. Merlin gives some hypothetical examples. “… remember: priorities represent a snapshot in time and space — they may escalate, de-escalate, disappear, or, more often than not, they’ll be subject to getting bumped by both bigger priorities and by the immutable limitations of time, space, and being a corporeal (sometimes vomiting) human being” 43folders

Setting Achievable Goals … Four tips … (1) entertain a mix of ambitious and silly goals, (2) make a good number of goals, but not too many, (3) review your list of goals weekly, keeping it organic and alive, and (4) talk to friends about your goals. Lifehacker (hat tip, Bob)

Embrace a “Not-To-Do” List … “… for many individuals the bottleneck to their productivity isn’t the lack of knowing what to do. Just as important as knowing what to do is knowing what not to do. That is where a “Not To Do List” comes in“. Write down the things you are not going to do, so you can be intentional about sticking with it. Productive Strategies

Michael Sampson