Less is more

Economic crisis demands resourcefulness, creativity, and problem solving skills!

In difficult times, such as the current economic crisis, we face additional challenges and are likely to have even fewer resources to deal with these challenges. Managing an already complex and demanding work environment is a challenge in and by itself, and now the challenge just got bigger. So how do we manage through this? There is no easy solution, but here are some ideas to consider:

1. We get informed but not overly-informed nor "obsessed" with the news about the crisis. Maybe we even limit the amount of news and conversations about the news to a healthy level based on our situation and needs

2. Instead of getting too caught up in the crisis as a whole, we try to identify the specific impact on our current work environment (our company, our team, our products and services, our customers and partners), and see what steps, even small steps, can be taken "now" to minimize this impact and/or better manage through it.

3. To minimize the impact and manage through it, we may need to adapt, reframe, or even redefine our strategy, our products and services, our packaging and pricing, and our distribution channels. This is likely to involve engaging and collaborating with our audiences to better understand how their needs have changed and what their pressing challenges are now. Then we formulate solutions that can better address these needs and challenges.

4. To support this effort, we turn hallway conversations from being re-iterations of the news, and recycling of the same stories, into creative and problem solving conversations.

5. To support this effort further, we help each other be more efficient and more productive, collaborate and share information more effectively, minimize interruptions, work more strategically and focus on what is important. Not to mention, we incorporate a good amount of team building and play activities to keep us energized, refreshed, and ready to tackle the challenges.

Shifting our focus from the crisis itself to what we can do about it can go a long way in making us feel better, and in better managing its impact. Happy crisis management!

Note: Learn more about the Economic Stimulus Package by People-OnTheGo which makes it possible to bring the benefits to your team today without impacting your current budget

Upcoming Publishing Your Book Lunch & Learn Webinar

This week's lunch & learn webinar will give participants the opportunity to hear from experienced publishers, agents and writers. Lunch & learn attendees will get to ask questions and get informed answers and insights from these great resources. 

Whether you are interested in publishing a book to share your experience with others, marketing your products and services, and/or helping your team or company get publicity, this panel discussion will provide you with valuable insights into the process of book publishing and into the options that you would need to consider.

Join us for lunch and to learn more about the topic!

Publishing Your Book--tips from the trenches (Thursday October 23, 2008 from 12:00 noon to 12:45 pm Pacific Time)

Register for Publishing Your Book lunch & learn webinar

Our lunch & learn program description and registration

Get your brown bag lunch (or snack) ready, and join us online every Thursday at 12:00 noon Pacific Time for 45 minutes to learn the latest and most innovative tips and techniques for individual and team productivity, and get the latest updates about important workplace and productivity issues.

Review program and register for our lunch & learn webinars

Take 5 minutes every day to reflect on your 'Life Lists' suggests Susie Wyshak, founder of SuperViva.com

You may have written down a list of the practical or adventurous goals that you would like to accomplish at some point in your life, or you may need some ideas, or some inspiration, or some support along the way. Susie Wyshak created SuperViva.com to help us create this 'Life List' and refine it and most importantly get motivated to act on it. Susie suggests that we take at least 5 minutes every day to reflect on this list, imagine, dream, and get inspired.

So when you accomplish one of these goals on your Life List, do you think you will bring back some of this excitement, enthusiasm, and self-confidence to your work? Neil Fiore, the author of "The Now Habit", believes so. Following the same philosophy, he suggests that you schedule your "play" time before you schedule your "work" time with the belief that play time brings passion and intensity to work time, and eradicates procrastination.

Check out the details at SuperViva.com:

Popular ideas range from practical to adventurous: buy a house - pay off all my debt - go to Italy - ride in a hot air balloon - exercise daily - get married - swim with dolphins - get my Passport - go skydiving - go to Paris - write a book (see more)

Sign me up!

“A bigger economy doesn’t alywas buy happiness”, see Eric Weiner’s article

The topic of “happiness” come up yesterday in Kathleen’s contributed tip about incorporating the things that one enjoys into one’s work. Today, I came across yet another set of “happiness” related insights provide by Eric Weiner, the author of the book “The Geography of Bliss”, to be published by TWELVE in 2008. The title of the article is “A bigger economy doesn’t always buy happiness”. Enjoy and be happy!

“One thought about productivity” by Kathleen from Berkeley, CA

Here is Kathleen's thought on productivity:

“I guess one thought I have about productivity issues, is that we should be freeing up our time to enjoy life a little more.

I have found, I work much better if I incorporate things I enjoy into my work - For instance I belong to a walk group - and I get out and enjoy the day a couple times a week - rain or shine - it's a good idea to ‘step away from the desk’. I also belong to a singing groups on campus. We meet on Tuesdays at noon and we perform from time to time.

But I also know of other groups who meet around other interests - such as a travel club and a knitting club to name a few. I like learning about people and their hobbies and encourage people to share that with others. I believe there is a change that happens when people start to relate to each other more as people and not just co-workers”.

Thanks Kathleen for your contribution to the less-is-more tips. For those interested in more information about the topic of “work” and “play” and how “play” can enhance “work”, you may want to check out “The Now Habit” by Neil Fiore.

Quantum leaps as a result of minuscule steps

Isn’t this the “quantum” theory? The fact that quantum leaps happen as a result of miniscule and unnoticeable energy gains that accumulate over time? If we extrapolate this to our daily actions, we could say that the miniscule and maybe even unnoticeable steps we take every day, if taken with a vision in mind, could be the driver behind our next quantum leap?

So instead of looking for significant results from the steps we take every day, and wanting desperately to make quantum leaps, and potentially driving ourselves and others insane in the process, maybe all we have to take are smaller and more strategically calculated steps. Just a thought.

The same amount of work, or even less

One of the keynote speakers at the conference I was attending today said: “We can make ourselves miserable or we can make ourselves strong. It takes about the same amount of work. So why not work at making ourselves strong?”. One can even argue that at the end of the day, it may even take less work to make ourselves strong. Just a thought.