31 Genius Tips for Making Your Workday Easier August 8, 2018 by Sonia Johnson We all know that work involves, well, work. Even if you love your job, it can’t always be easy, and it can’t always be fun. But, sometimes we want our jobs to be a little (or a lot) easier. We want to get our work done more quickly, to not feel overstretched or overwhelmed, and to have more time for the things we really love. The good news is, there are ways to do that (without being a total slacker). Check out our favorite tips and tricks below for being more productive, removing things you don’t need to be doing from your to-do list, and overall making doing your job a much more pleasant experience. 1. Don’t Plan on Doing Too Much Here’s a secret for you: Most to-do lists are way too long, which leads to overwork and stress when it doesn’t all get done. Instead, assume you can only get one big thing, three medium things, and five small things done a day (fewer if you have a lot of meetings). We’ve created a template to help you plan a more reasonable to-do list. 2. Focus on High-Reward Tasks Focus the majority of your energy on those tasks that are going to create the biggest results. You’ll look like you’re doing much more, but secretly with less effort. This is often called getting the low-hanging fruit—the rewards you can achieve with the least effort. 3. Work in Sprints It’s been said time and time again that the secret to getting more work done in less time is to work in bursts, with breaks in between. The intervals you choose will depend on your work and preferences, but, whatever you go with, set a timer, do your best to stay focused for that period of time, and then actually get up and take a break in between. You’ll feel more energized during your work sessions and ultimately be way more efficient. 4. Give Each Day a Theme Do distractions keep derailing you from focusing on the actual important things? Use Jack Dorsey—the co-founder of Twitter as well as the CEO of Square’s—secret and try giving each day a theme. That way, when distractions come up, you know to either punt them to another day or, if you have to, deal with them quickly and get back on track. 5. Start With the Most Difficult Task By getting the hardest thing on your plate out of the way first thing in the morning, the rest of the day will feel way easier by comparison. Plus, then you won’t waste mental energy all day thinking about this challenging thing you have to do. 6. Follow Your Energy Everyone has certain times of the day when they’re more or less productive. If you schedule big projects during your energy downtimes, you’re making your work way harder on yourself. Instead, try mapping out your ideal day based on your energy levels. 7. Don’t Fight it When You’re Feeling Useless Probably one of the hardest things to do at work is to force yourself to work hard when you’re really not feeling on top of your game. So, unless you have a pending deadline and absolutely can’t, put off that particular task and do something more suited for your mental capacity. Writer Katie Douthwaite suggests that this is a great time to get those boring, monotonous tasks knocked out. 8. Use Templates Whenever You Can Why reinvent the wheel every time you have to do something? Have an email you have to write often? Use a template. Need to create a presentation? Use a template. Redesigning your resume? Use a template. You get the picture. 9. Set Up Canned Responses Better yet, if you use Gmail, set these templates up as canned responses, so you don’t even have to leave your inbox to drop them in and send them off. 10. Set Up Auto-Text If you’re often responding to messages on the go from your phone, make it easier on yourself by setting up auto-text. For example, “pitch” could expand to fill in your elevator pitch—meaning you don’t have to type the whole thing out every time on your tiny keyboard. Read here for more on how to set it up. 11. Or Don’t Type at All You can also use your phone’s talk-to-text feature to more easily and quickly respond to messages. Productivity expert Alex Cavoulacos explains how she uses it to her advantage here. 12. Shorten Your Emails We’re going to take a wild guess that answering emails takes up a lot of your time and energy. What if you made it all easier for yourself by setting a limit on how long each response can be? Obviously, some messages necessarily have to be longer than others, but challenge yourself to keep them under five sentences long (or even shorter!) as often as possible. 13. Just Have a Conversation Long email chains got you down? When a conversation starts getting too convoluted, consider whether it would be easier to just hop on the phone or set up a meeting to talk it out. Sometimes a 10-minute conversation can eliminate hours of email messages. 14. Eliminate Follow-up Emails Nothing makes answering emails harder than your inbox constantly filling up with follow-up emails from people you haven’t gotten the chance to respond to yet. So set up an auto-responder that lets people know you’ve received the message and will respond in due time—hopefully dissuading the eager beavers from constantly emailing you back. You could even include answers to commonly asked questions, to potentially help the messenger help herself (and prevent you from having to answer at all). 15. Employ the OHIO Strategy How many times do you open an email, read it, and then leave it in your inbox to deal with later? Don’t do this! It’s actually taking up more of your time and energy to process it multiple times. Instead, follow the OHIO (only handle it once) strategy and deal with it immediately, whether that’s by deleting it, answering it, shooting it off to the right person, or, for larger messages that will require more time, parsing it out into tasks to put on your to-do list. 16. Get Rid of as Many Decisions as Possible Decision fatigue is real—and it could be making your days way harder. To keep it from affecting your work, eliminate as many decisions as possible. This could mean wearing a work uniform so you don’t have to pick an outfit every day, bringing the same thing to lunch for a week, or setting up a standing meeting with your boss so you don’t always have to reach out asking for one. Whatever it takes to put a lot of your decisions on autopilot. 17. Stop Multitasking This habit may make you feel like you’re getting more done, but it’s actually slowing you down and making your work harder than it needs to be. So do your best to focus on one task until it’s done, and then move onto the next thing. You’ll find your mind is clear and your work is better (and easier). 18. Leave Yourself a Cliffhanger Sometimes the hardest part of work is getting started on something. So, make it easier to jump into a task by leaving yourself a cliffhanger. This means, if you’re dragging your feet starting a project, just start, do a little bit of it (even if it’s not your best work), and then leave it unfinished to come back to the next day. Getting going will be way easier once you already have somewhere to jump in. 19. Remove Something From Your To-Do List Seriously consider each item on your to-do list to see if there’s anything that’s actually not important. This especially applies to things that keep getting put on the back burner. It’s worth asking yourself, “If I’ve been putting this off so much, is it really that necessary?” 20. Say “No” to Something In addition to removing something from your plate, consider saying “no” a little more often to new asks. Obviously you can’t do this all the time to just get out of work, but if you’re feeling overwhelmed or you get an ask for something non-work related (like doing an informational interview with a friend’s kid), suck it up and say “no.” Here are some suggestions for how to say it nicely to your boss and to your friends. 21. Constantly Question Meetings In case you haven’t heard, meetings can easily become a huge waste of time. Every time you schedule a meeting—even a recurring one—you should really be questioning whether it needs to happen at all, whether you’re alotting too much time for it, or whether you need to be in attendance. If you feel like the answer to any of these questions is “no,” consider adjusting (or talking to your boss to make sure you’re using your time as effectively as possible). 22. Have a “To-Don’t” List To help yourself say “no” more and cut down on decision fatigue, start a “to-don’t” list—a list of things you should never waste your time doing. Check out these ideas to get you started. 23. Delegate Some of Your Work Is there a task that you’re doing that you really, really dread, or that you feel like is really no longer part of your job description? Consider whether it would be worth delegating it to a more junior employee or, if you’re really drowning, whether it’s time to bring in an intern or new direct report. Here are some guidelines for figuring out when delegation is the right way to go. 24. Or Crowdsource It! Writer Jennifer Dziura suggests crowdsourcing as a way to “make less effort for yourself while making clients and users happier.” In essence, it’s working along with the client or user to make proposals, presentations, and the like. To learn more about how it can play out in your everyday work life, check out her article. 25. Do a Work Swap Have a task you’re dreading or really not sure how to handle? Ask a colleague in your department if she wants to swap! Basically, you send one of your least favorite tasks her way, and she sends one of hers to you. You won’t have to drag yourself through something you’ve been dreading, but the work will get done—potentially even better than you could have done it yourself; someone who hasn’t been aggravating over the assignment might quickly be able to see something you couldn’t. 26. Avoid Perfectionism (Except Where it Really Matters) Putting pressure on yourself to make all your work perfect is not only stressing you out, it could be slowing you down and causing you to procrastinate finishing things because you’re worried they’re not just right. In some cases (big end-of-year report to your boss, copy that’s going out to the world) this sort of attention to detail is critical. But in others (sending an email to your colleague, getting a first draft of a presentation to your team), focusing on perfectionism is making your life harder than it needs to be. 27. Look for Ways to Streamline Processes Is there a task that always takes you forever to complete? Something you feel like is way harder than it should be or something that is taking up far too much of your time? Rather than just trucking through it time and time again, see if there are any ways you can streamline these processes. Maybe it’s talking to other companies to see if they’ve found an easier way. Maybe it’s coordinating with other departments to see if they can help save you time or effort. (For example, is there something the engineering team might be able to quickly build you that would save you tons of time?) 28. Hire a Virtual Assistant for Small Things We all have those menial things that take us hours to complete but could easily be done by someone else. If you don’t have someone in the company to delegate them to, consider hiring a virtual assistant to help you out. They can do anything from scheduling travel plans to proofing your reports to doing the tedious design work on your next presentation—pretty much anything you dread starting and really don’t have to be doing yourself. Check out efficiency expert Marissa Brassfield’s advice for figuring out if something is worth outsourcing. 29. Get Everything Super Organized Your files. Your computer folders. The top of your desk. Your inbox. Take the time now to get organized so that finding the things you need is never the hurdle to getting started on a task. And hey, it can all be done in just 30 minutes! 30. Don’t Let Your Colleagues Interrupt You Your co-workers probably mean well, but their constant stream of IM updates, quick questions for you about the latest project, or chit-chat about their weekends can seriously mess up your flow of focus, making it way harder to get difficult tasks done. Set up systems that alert your office mates when you’re in the zone—whether it’s a do not disturb message on your chat or huge headphones that signify that you’re not to be bothered—and communicate them clearly. 31. Take a Nap See if you can sneak in a power nap during your afternoon slump. Even 20-30 minutes of shut-eye can give you more of an energy boost than coffee could, improve your mood, enhance your analytical and learning abilities, and banish stress—making the rest of the day much easier and more pleasant. So shut your door, sneak off to your car, or do whatever it takes to get in a quick bit of sleep. By Erin Greenwald
Being a Workaholic Nearly Killed Me. Here’s What I’m Doing Differently January 8, 2018 by Sonia Johnson I’ve written about my heart attacks several times before, but bear with me, because I’m still in the long process of healing and understanding what it’s all about and how I need to change my life. Quick recap: Last July I had two heart attacks which led to the discovery that I had major heart disease, serious enough to need a sextuple bypass. I was in the hospital for three weeks, and even months later, I’m still recovering, physically and emotionally. When all that sh*t went down, I was astounded that I had heart disease because I lacked most of the warning signs: I wasn’t overweight, didn’t smoke, and had no history of heart disease in my family. However, I was under enormous stress–partly because of family issues (one of my two children is high-needs) but mostly because I was constantly anxious about work and therefore stressed all the time. What’s weird is that I was stressed even though: 1) I work my own hours, 2) I set my own workload, 3) I only work with people I like, 4) I make very good money, 5) I get to work from home, and 6) I do work that I generally enjoy. In other words, there was no objective reason for me to be stressed about work. In fact, I sorta fit the profile of the exact opposite of a workaholic. Or so I thought. According to a recent article in the Harvard Business Review, you are still a workaholic if you allow work to intrude into your thoughts all the time and if your feelings about work are tied up with anxiety, regardless of how many hours you actually spend on the job. So I was a workaholic and didn’t even know it. And it almost killed me. And when I say it almost killed me, I’m not exaggerating. All but one of seven my heart arteries were blocked, some of them 100 percent. I was literally on the edge of death and it’s a miracle that I’m still alive. In fact, due to the operation, I’m in better health than before the heart attacks. That’s the good news. But here’s the bad news: Even with my new regimen of heart medicines, those blockages may return. And because I’m not overweight and don’t smoke, there’s really not much “ballast” to throw overboard to keep my ship afloat. I eat heart-healthy, but I pretty much did that before the heart attack. I’ve also stopped drinking alcohol, but I’ve always been a “two or three glasses of wine a week” kinda guy. So even with heart medicine, I’m high risk for more heart problems. So you see, if I can’t lick my workaholism, it will literally kill me. I have a feeling that I’m not the only one who’s facing the challenge of way too much stress at work. So, in the hope that it might inspire, here’s specifically what I’m doing to prevent both the workaholism and the heart disease it causes: I’ve abandoned unrealistic goals. The root of much of my work-related stress was a deep-seated feeling that I wasn’t living up to my potential because I hadn’t fulfilled two goals I’d set for myself about 20 years ago: Write a NY Times nonfiction bestseller. Write a novel that would be made into a movie. In setting these ambitious goals, I was “shooting for the horizon.” However, while that might work for some people, I made myself miserable every time I failed to achieve those goals. So, even though I wrote several well-received and successful business books, I never hit the NY Times bestseller list. And while the novel I wrote did garner some Hollywood interest, nothing came of it in the end. So, even though most people would probably be proud to have done so well, I felt like a failure because I didn’t reach the horizon for which I’d aimed. So while “aim for the horizon” goals might work for some people, for me they’re toxic because I beat myself up when I think that way. So I’ve scaled down the goals, big time. I just can’t afford to think that way any longer because it will kill me. I’ve redefined who I really am. As you might have noticed, there was more than a little grandiosity behind those ambitious goals. Indeed, I had such a high opinion of my potential that I hated that I wasn’t fulfilling that potential. And that hate was a HUGE source of stress. For example, (and this is really embarrassing and I’ve never told anyone this) I used to have a little mantra: “I’m a famous author.” I’d repeat this silently to myself hoping that if I convinced myself it was true, it would become true in the real world. After the heart attack, I realized that I can’t think of myself that way, not if I want to stay alive. Rather than try to be somebody I’m not, I have to accept the fact that, at best, I’m a moderately talented writer. And a reasonably good father, husband, and friend. And that’s OK. I’ve stopped doing work I don’t enjoy. If there’s one thing that I KNOW I can do really, really well, it’s write compelling marketing messages, marketing copy, cold emails, email marketing chains, website copy, etc. I can usually double or triple the sales revenue of a typical client. Needless to say, clients have been more than willing to pay me big money to rework their marketing message. However, while I’m really good at it, I just don’t enjoy this kind of work. It’s too simple and too repetitive, like fishing with dynamite. Even when I make good money, I have to FORCE myself to hit deadlines. My desire to do a good job for my clients was in direct conflict with my desire to avoid doing this kind of work. That’s been a recipe for crazy stress. So no can do no more. I make health my No. 1 priority. Prior to my heart attack, I went through periods when I’d work out regularly, but in the past decade or so, I’d made working out a lower priority than “getting the job done.” As a result, I rarely worked out. Needless to say, this wasn’t a smart move, heart-wise. Today, regardless of how much work I might have on my plate, or what’s going on in my sometimes crazy home environment, I work out every day…before I do anything else. Just as important, I don’t get all frantic about working out because that would just create more stress, negating the purpose of working out. If I have to take a day off from working out because, say, I have an appointment, that’s OK. I’m filling my life with gratitude. As a workaholic, I was addicted to the ambitious goals, the grandiosity behind them and the stress that it caused. My addiction drove me to achieve more and more and more. And it was killing me. So now I’m jettisoning all of that, which leaves a huge metaphorical and metaphysical hole inside me. If I’m not that workaholic guy, who am I? I’m trying–really hard–to fill that hole with gratitude. I’m trying to use gratitude as a fuel that will keep me going, still writing and still creating. I’m not sure how to do that but, seriously, my life depends on it. I used to think it was me against the world and I was a self-made man. I now realize that I’ve been very, very lucky. Insanely fortunate. Hopefully, I’ll be able to stick around long enough to enjoy my good fortune. Anyway, if you stuck around long enough to finish this post, I’m open to any advice or suggestions as I go forward. Frankly, I’m sailing in what, to me, are uncharted waters. Wish me luck! Author: Geofrey James
Stop Making Mondays Miserable For Yourself March 8, 2017 by Sonia Johnson Your approach to Mondays are an index of your approach to your entire life, whether you are aware of it or not. If you approach your Mondays and the rest of your week with expectation and verve, chances are that you approach your entire life in the same way. Very early in my career, as a freshly minted Employment and International Finance Attorney, the notion of Friday as the only day of joy was strange, and unacceptable to me. Therefore, I rejected it. That was one of the best decisions that I have ever made in my life. I believe that decision continues to fuel my passion and excitement about my professional life. At that time, as a new entrant into the workforce, I saw every work day as one full of possibilities, and worked expectantly on using my knowledge and skills. I continue to think of my work as my contribution to my organization and the world. My days, even when they do not go as planned, continue to challenge me to make the next day better. It is a choice that we can all make. Make each day worthwhile, including Mondays. I have to add a caveat about finding joy in work. I am not advocating that folks become workaholics because they enjoy their work. I view workaholics with compassion because they mostly do not work smart. A long time ago, I tried the workaholic route, and it was tasteless despite my touted successes. Now, I work smart. My balanced life continues to create more successes for me, than my brief experience as a workaholic. From the lives of most successful men and women, it is apparent that a balanced life is needed for true success. Mediocrity is frequently created by imbalance in one’s life. Therefore, I make time for my fitness competitions, and love of running, rowing and other sports, I create time for people I love, manage projects that I am passionate about, such as working with the underprivileged etc. I work smartly to have a good life. I encourage workaholics stop and rethink their strategies. It is better to work smarter as opposed to harder. PS: Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and Richard Branson as incredibly successful and hard working as they have become, worked smart to the echelon to their careers, and continue to do so to date, despite the categorization of these successful men by the media as workaholics. They are smart workers who are passionate about their personal and professional lives. Here are a few important guidelines to create a better work week as a whole, AND BETTER LIFE for yourself: 1. Review your personal goals and objectives for your life. If you have none, create them. Who are you and where are you going? Those two are no easy questions, so consider them regularly and carefully. Read GOOD books on self-improvement and watch clips on motivation and success. Associate with people who are seeking better and more meaningful lives. These will enable you better understand or review your abilities and personal characteristics. A knowledge of self is the beginning of any form personal or professional success. 2. Reassess your work life. You can make a valid assessment by using Analytical Tests available in GOOD Industrial and Organizational Psychology Instruments. Consult a good Employee Relations professional for assistance in choosing a good test. You can also contact an experienced Career Counselor to assist you with the dual task of reviewing your professional abilities, and assessing the best work environment for you. 3. Assess your associates at work and outside of work. People with whom you associate are typically an index of who you are. Are you friends with miserable folk who see nothing good about work, their lives or you? Sometimes, those closest to you might not see your full potential. In such instances, it is worth a conversation, and pursuit of counseling to repair that critical aspect of your relationship. As for other less intimate relationships/friendships lacking in compromises and lacking in a win win relationship, these are damaging for you. However, it is important to note that choosing such damaging and limiting relationships are about YOU. Why do you retain such friends? What do you really believe about your life? How can your work life be better and happier for you? You can and should do better for you. If you have good friends who value you, your life from Monday to Sunday will be more positive. 4. Lastly, be mindful about your utterances and actions. If you have damaging dialogue internally and externally, such as “Another day, another dollar”, “Life is hard and then we die”, “Work is all about kissing up to the boss”etc. etc. Stop it! Practice Metacognition, and control those thoughts. Your negative and hysterical thoughts will manifest in the way you view Mondays, and the excitement and lack thereof with which you view the rest of your work week, and your life. Change your dialogue by creating and speaking positive affirmations about YOU and your life, that you repeat throughout the day. Your internal positive dialogue will continue to provide you a very affirmative view of your professional and personal life. I worked for a long time in an organization where I was called “Sunshine Sonia”… I assumed it was because I was friendly with almost everyone. I had great relationships with people that I reported to, and those that reported to me. But, I later found out that the reason for my name was my attitude. It was consistently positive, professional and humane through the full gamut of my work day and outside of it, and remains the same to date. I believe that I am no different from anyone else with respect to creating a positive attitude about work and life in general. It starts with a decision to live well and happily, and to take actions that evince that decision. You can start today to embrace Mondays, enjoy everyday, and approach all that you do with positive expectation. Choose your job, organization, and professional and personal relationships wisely. Nothing is more important than making good choices in your professional and personal life. Your personal and professional choices are entwined, and determine the trajectory of your life. Make your Mondays and everyday positive for you. LIVE FULLY.