Posts Tagged Productivity
Slacking Off at Work
Posted by enrique s in Career, Leadership, Motivation, Productivity, Rants on November 26th, 2009
Photo by cell105
As we get toward the end of the year, people in my area of expertise (finance) tend to get busy. Very busy. It starts just before Thanksgiving, and just gets crazier as the end of the year gets closer. So today it’s Thanksgiving, and I’m planning on slacking off big-time. Because when the bell rings on Monday, all Hell will break loose.
To everything there is a season…
Some professions have their busy seasons, while others don’t fall prey to quarterly reporting like finance and accounting people do. In my case, these are the engineers, who work on projects that may span years. Sure, they have certain milestones to meet along the way, such as Technical Readiness Reviews, Critical Design Reviews, and Functional Bench Tests, but these aren’t contingent on the calendar year.
I guess it’s just not my season
So, for my friends in Engineering, the time after Thanksgiving is slack-off time. Holiday parties are arranged. Extra vacation time is burned. Trips to Rockefeller Center to see the tree are taken. I know this, because the ranks are thin in Engineering during the holiday season. I had one guy tell me years ago, as I was going balls to the wall in order to get home at a decent hour, that he was “pretty much finished” with his work for the year. This was two weeks before Christmas. I must be in the wrong racket.
Personal Standard of Excellence
So, as I kick myself in the ass for not becoming an engineer, I see that my technical brethren are just enjoying the spoils of their craft. I can’t blame them for exploiting the peculiarities of their profession. But even if I had the opportunity, I don’t think that I’m wired for slacking off. I think way back to college, and one of my business lessons that dealt with motivation and the responsibilities of managers. My favorite teacher, Professor Stanford, told us a tale of a worker who lowered his productivity to that of his coworkers. One of my fellow students thought that the worker was smart for not “rocking the boat.” Prof. Stanford admonished him for not upholding his own personal standard of excellence, regardless of what those around him were doing. Wow. That one really hit home, and I carry it with me to this day.
Less bullshit, more work
If I think even farther back, I had a lesson in not slacking off from my older cousin, on a roofing job. His was less subtle, however. It went something like, “Less bullshit, more work”, accompanied by an angry shake of his fist, but the message was basically the same. He was also bigger and could beat the crap out of me, so work hard I did. I consider it a primer for Stanford’s more elegant lesson.
So, before you slack off, think about your personal standard of excellence, and whether you want to risk compromising it by getting caught goofing off. But, you can goof off today.
Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble ’til you wobble!
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The Conspiracy Guy
Posted by enrique s in Career, Motivation, Productivity, Rants on November 25th, 2009
Photo by Marko Miloševi�
One of my coworkers is a little paranoid. Well, maybe more than a little. He’s always looking for hidden meanings in the most pedestrian announcements that are issued by our company. To him, black is white, up is down, right is left, etc. He thinks someone is always trying to put one over on him. He’s Oliver Stone in corporate casual. He’s the Conspiracy Guy.
If an announcement comes out about changes to our pension plan calculation, Conspiracy Guy thinks the worst. He starts spreading the word that the company is scrapping the pension plan, sending all of the other Nervous Nellies into a frenzy. I’m sure that HR appreciates all of the phone calls. He worries constantly about the health of the company. When a big shot retires, he wonders what scandal will be breaking in the news, be it sexual harassment, bribery, or other unethical behavior. When layoffs are announced, he thinks the survivors are part of some sort of productivity experiment.
Conspiracy Guy is a tortured soul. I feel for him. If I were that paranoid, I would seek professional help. While it’s prudent to keep an eye on the trends of your company, doing it to the extreme will only make you sick. And let me tell you, he doesn’t look so good. A week away from work would do wonders for him. I’m sure this must have a carryover effect into his personal life, and I feel bad for his family. I also feel bad for my coworkers.
Because Conspiracy Guy is affecting his coworkers. Each unfounded rumor spreads through the ranks like wildfire, and Conspiracy Guy is there to fan the flames. His behavior is hurting the productivity, not to mention the motivation, of anyone who happens to catch his shtick. My old buddy Ed had a saying: “When you’re up to your ass in alligators, it’s hard to remember that your job was to drain the swamp.” Conspiracy Guy is creating these imaginary “alligators”, and his coworkers focus more on those than on their real duties. The more rational of us just think that he’s a little nuts.
I was taught a lesson about work a long time ago. At one of my earlier jobs, I complained to my boss that some guy in another department wasn’t pulling his weight. The exchange went something like this:
Me: Frank doesn’t do anything all day. He just bullshits on the phone.
Boss: Does he owe you anything that you need to finish your work?
Me: No, but he shouldn’t be slacking off like that, it looks bad.
Boss: Listen, when it’s your job to clean out the barn, just keep shoveling until it’s empty.
Me: Huh?
Boss: You’re not in charge of Frank. That’s his boss’ job. Just worry about your own responsibilities.
That’s a lesson that Conspiracy Guy needs to learn. Just worry about your own job. I’ll leave you with this familiar affirmation:
God give me the strength to change the things I can. The courage to accept the things that I cannot. And the wisdom to know the difference.
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Corporate Barbarian Links: Chainsaw Massacre Edition
Photo by lancefisher
No, that’s not me in the picture. But I did take the chainsaw out this week, and cleaned up the look of the website a bit. I got rid of the big, ugly ad in the sidebar, and reduced the amount of categories. Hopefully this will make navigating the site easier (let me know in the comments if it makes a difference). I’ve also added a Tweetmeme button, so if you find a post that’s interesting, you can Tweet it by just clicking the button. Here are some good posts for your reading pleasure:
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The Weakonomist at Weakonomics ask the question: What kind of saver are you? The post discusses the different kinds of savers. I’m a sweeper.
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Craig at Bible Money Matters tells us to beware of the term”free”. Someone ultimately has to pay the cost.
Beks at Blogging Away Debt has payed off her credit cards. Nice going!
Mark at Productivity 501 lists the top 5 worst productivity ideas. He says we should do things that are important before trying to optimize our work.
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Trent at The Simple Dollar talks about cultural divides, and how it affects his blog readership. I’ve found lots of useful advice on his site, even though we’re in different parts of the country.
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Captain eHow shows how to avoid having your article deleted from eHow. He lists 4 common mistakes that writers make.
Have a great Labor Day weekend!
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Excel Tip: Have Your Cell Contents = Tab Names
Posted by enrique s in Excel, Productivity on July 8th, 2009
It’s time for another edition of Stupid Excel Tricks!
One of my coworkers recently asked me an Excel question. He had a spreadsheet with multiple tabs, and wanted to have the value in cell A1 on the respective worksheets to be the name of each tab. I knew that it could be done, so I searched the deep recesses of my memory for the answer. When it didn’t turn up there, I went to Plan B. It’s a good thing that I save everything to my computer using my foolproof file naming system, otherwise this fool would have never found it.
This formula can save you the time of not having to type a heading on each tab. I’m not sure exactly how this formula works, but I do know the basics. First, rename your tab by right-clicking on the tab and then left-clicking on Rename (you can give it any name that you’d like; I called mine SALES).
Just right-click on the tab name, and left-click on Rename
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Progress Report: Giving Up Coffee, Part 2
Posted by enrique s in Productivity, lifehack on March 27th, 2009
Here’s an update from an earlier post on giving up coffee: I’m down to two cups a day! I haven’t been down to two cups a day since my twenties. And I’m not a walking zombie, either.
I’m having one cup in the morning, and one after dinner. I don’t have any cravings during the day, either. My body has adjusted to the reduction in caffeine, and I find that I’m sleeping better at night. Waking up in the morning isn’t the ordeal that it used to be.
One side benefit is that I’m more productive. It sounds counter-intuitive, but I’m getting to work earlier, and there’s no “adjustment period” after I get to my desk. I don’t have to finish my coffee before starting work; I just get right into my day.
Another benefit is my reduced weight. I won’t attribute all of it to the coffee, but I’ve dropped over 20 pounds in the last 2 months, with no trips to the evil vending machine. I used to grab a candy bar to go with my coffee, so no coffee = no candy bar. That’s about 300+ calories that I’m saving each afternoon. So cutting the java has definitely helped.
My goal is to cut my coffee drinking to one cup a day. This will take a lot of willpower. But with longer daylight hours, I’ll probably be doing more yardwork, and I hope to drop the after-dinner cup o’ joe.
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A Foot of Snow: Should I Call in Sick?
Posted by enrique s in Book & Product Reviews, Career, Debt, Productivity on March 2nd, 2009
After shoveling out this morning (at least a foot of snow in my driveway), I pondered taking the day off. But it’s Monday, and I had a lot of stuff waiting for me at work. So I sucked it up and reported for duty. I had this quote in mind when I made my decision:
“There are a million ways to lose a work day, but not even a single way to get one back” - Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister
When I arrived at work, the parking lot was emptier than usual. It looks like many of my coworkers had THIS quote in mind:
“Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow” - Mark Twain
I’m still glad that I came in. The thought of coming in on Tuesday with an extra day’s worth of emails waiting for me was the deal breaker.
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Happy Monday!
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Productivity Tip: Three Things to Do Before You Leave the Office
Posted by enrique s in Organizing, Productivity on February 20th, 2009
I’ve gotten into a good routine over the past several years: I do three things before I leave the office for home. What are these magical tips? Whatever you want them to be.
There’s no magic here, just some end-of-the-day maintenance. You don’t have to accomplish anything difficult or elaborate. The things that I usually focus on are simple tasks that take little time, and don’t keep me from getting out the door: Read the rest of this entry »
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Just like an NFL quarterback, having a defined script will help you blast through procrastination and start your day productively. This is the productivity version of the West Coast Offense. Each NFL quarterback has a wide wristband that lists his plays for the game.
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Forget the Resolutions - Let’s Get Cracking!
Posted by enrique s in Organizing, Productivity on February 20th, 2009
Now that all of our New Year’s Resolutions have been broken, it’s time to get our acts together. Don’t bother with mourning some half-hearted New Years Resolutions - we’re going to streamline our systems to make this the best work year ever. Here’s a framework that’s worked for me: Read the rest of this entry »
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Outlook How-to: Using Folders to Sort Messages
Posted by enrique s in Organizing, Productivity on February 20th, 2009
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Creating a Recycling Bin Center at Home We all know that recycling is important. And over 80% of Americans have curbside recycling pickup (at least for paper products, if not for all recyclable materials). But it remains a fact that many people simply toss all of their trash into the same trash can, sending it all to...... - Creating a manual text box To manually place a text box on a slide, follow these steps: If necessary, reposition the existing placeholders or objects on the slide to make room for the new text box. On the Insert tab, click Text Box. The mouse pointer turns into a vertical line. Do either of the......
