Hasta La Gadget!

We often confuse being productive with working as fast as we can, every second of the day. We fear that slowing down to get organized will kill our productivity, but the facts suggest otherwise:

• The average office employee spends over one hour each day just looking for things.
• The average U.S. executive spends six weeks per year searching through messy desks and disorganized files for misplaced information.
• 23% of adults say they’re late paying their bills because they lose them.

Being disorganized is costly, in terms of both money and time. But if you can convince yourself to slow down and get organized, the ROI will shock you.

“For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned.”
– Benjamin Franklin

While Benjamin Franklin’s estimation is overstated, spending time getting organized is still a valuable investment. Experts estimate that every hour spent in planning and organizing saves three to four hours of time that would otherwise be wasted.

There’s a reason why people who are the calmest and least stressed are the ones who get the most done–they understand the importance of organization, and they’ve adapted their habits accordingly. The good news is that you can become more organized and productive too, just by emulating the habits that they rely on.

1. They don’t let their desks get cluttered. You may think you know exactly where, and in which stack of paper, you can find a particular document. But you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think you’d be more productive with a clean and organized desk. Just the act of organizing the stuff on your desk helps you organize it in your mind. In addition, research conducted at Princeton University revealed that the more our brains are bombarded by the competing stimuli on a cluttered desk, the less we’re able to focus. And this wasn’t just subjective evidence; they were able to see the difference in MRIs of the subjects’ brain activity.

2. They never touch things twice. Organized and productive people never put anything in a holding pattern, because touching things twice is a huge time-waster. Don’t save an e‑mail or a phone call to deal with later. As soon as something gets your attention, you should act on it, delegate it, or delete it.

3. They don’t respond to e-mails as they arrive. Productive people don’t allow their e‑mail to be a constant interruption. In addition to checking their e-mail on a schedule, they take advantage of features that prioritize messages by sender. They set alerts for their most important vendors and their best customers, and they save the rest until they reach a stopping point in their work. Some people even set up an autoresponder that lets senders know when they’ll be checking their e-mail again.

4. They work from a single to-do list. Remember the days when people used to buy those expensive, leather-bound planners and fill them up with a to-do list color-coded by priority? Those might seem a bit old school now, but no one can deny that it was effective. Why were those planners effective? They reminded us how important it is to keep a single to-do list. When you consolidate everything into one list, you always know where to look, and you can stop wasting time trying to remember which list has the information you need.

5. They have a high level of self-awareness. Highly productive and organized people have a clear sense of who they are. They know their weaknesses, and they put organizational structures in place to overcome them. If they tend to let meetings run too long, they set a timer. If they have trouble keeping meetings productive, they make an agenda. If they forget to check their voicemail in the morning, they set a reminder. The details don’t matter; what’s important is that they think carefully and use specific aids and routines that work with their organizational weaknesses. They’re always learning and holding themselves accountable, such as increasing their self-awareness by taking an emotional intelligence test.

6. They make time for lunch. We’ve all been there–you’re head-down busy, and by the time you look up, it’s way past lunchtime. You end up either going without, or grabbing a donut or a bag of chips from the snack machine. Both are really bad ideas. The donut will give you an energy boost for about 20 minutes, but after that, your focus will drop like a rock. As far as skipping meals, not only does it affect your concentration, productivity, and problem-solving skills, it also affects your waistline–and not in the way you might expect. Research from Ohio State University shows that the weight you lose by skipping meals is muscle weight that you regain later as fat.

7. They eat frogs. “Eating a frog” is the best antidote for procrastination; ultra-productive people start each morning with this tasty “treat.” In other words, they do the least appetizing, most dreaded item on their to-do list first, before they do anything else. After that, they’re freed up to tackle the stuff that excites and inspires them.

8. They tidy up at the end of each day. The best remedy for clutter is to set aside about 10 minutes at the end of each day to organize your desk. Although we know that it’s best to touch things only once, we’ve all stopped halfway through a task because the phone rang or somebody stopped by to chat. You really can’t prevent such things, but you can end the day by resolving all of the things you left half-finished.

9. They plan their days the night before. Organized and productive people go to bed each night, secure in the knowledge of what they’ll accomplish the following day. They get their priorities straight the night before, so that once the day starts, they’re less likely to get distracted by the “tyranny of the urgent”–those little fires that pop up and get in the way of their real priorities.

10. They make full use of technology. There’s been a lot said about how modern technology extends the work day, making it so that we’re always on the clock. While that may be true, technology can also make us more productive. Whether it’s setting up an e‑mail filter to keep your inbox spam-free, or using an app like Evernote to organize information you’re going to need again, technology isn’t always bad. Used properly, it can save a lot of time.

11. They don’t ignore their snail mail. For this one, we go back to the “touch it once” philosophy. For most of us, there’s not a lot of snail mail these days that we actually look forward to. But ignoring it can cause problems, especially when it comes to things like bills and tax notifications. Just go ahead and open it, and take care of it as soon as it arrives; otherwise, you’ll end up digging under the sofa cushions searching for that overdue bill.

Bringing It All Together

Every minute you spend looking for something you misplaced, or trying to remember what you’re supposed to do next, will harm your productivity. That, in turn, eats into your career potential. The good news is that there are many tools you can use to stay organized and productive, and so even the most disorganized among us can put a system in place to keep us in check.

What tools do you use to stay organized and productive? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below, as I learn just as much from you as you do from me.

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While we’re not about to say that Google would ever attempt to take on Apple’s iPhone business directly, it’s always interesting to see how closely each successive generation of smartphone add up against one another. Google began commissioning Nexus smartphones all the way back in the beginning of Android (as it was run by Google). Now they’re rumored to start … Continue reading

In both religion and economics, absurd belief too often leads to atrocious action.

While the consequences of misguided belief are well-documented in the study of religion, we rarely use comparable standards to critique the religious-like faith bestowed upon our current economic system. We believe that economic “growth” is the single most important key to unlocking the sacred doors of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. However, the facts of the matter and narratives of the masses reveal a far different picture. As our globalized fiscal cycle is now calibrated to impose repeated tragic failures, and because it seems to legitimize inequality and destruction of the Earth as virtuous and inevitable, the time is long overdue to expose the false beliefs and oppressive impact surrounding our contemporary economic edifice.

Our present condition, often known as “neoliberal capitalism”, which rose to prominence through Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, seeks to transfer control of the global economy from public to private sector under the belief that such a transition will produce a more efficient government and improve the livelihood of all nations. Through the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and World Trade Organization (WTO), neoliberal policies are currently imposed – often without civic consent – upon much of the world, to the detriment of both people and the planet. As Naomi Klein accurately stated, “our economy is at war with many forms of life on earth, including human life”. Through massive tax cuts for the rich and methodical annihilation of trade unions, the neoliberal movement has led to massive consolidations of power and privilege, thus multinational enterprises – motivated by profit and mostly unaccountable to any electorate – use their strong financial influence to push governments into deregulation-orientated policies for the steady flow of products, currency, and factories. While such strategies have created tremendous financial wealth, the distribution of positive and negative consequences is increasingly disproportionate, and the current world population of seven billion is mostly controlled by an overlap of a few hundred billionaires.

As Jim Wallis correctly indicated, we possess an “un-Economy” that is un-fair, creates a world that is both un-stable and un-sustainable, and leaves the far majority of global citizens totally un-satisfied. Why do we continue to believe in such a damaging arrangement? The negative consequences are both ethically alarming and empirically clear, yet similar to the ways in which some people of faith are conditioned not to interrogate their longstanding religious customs, it appears that far too many citizens are forcibly encouraged not to examine the basic practices of our dominant and destructive economic structure. Furthermore, just as there is sparse awareness of alternative approaches to the organized religion of certain faith traditions, there is insufficient knowledge of diverse methods in the realm of economics. For too many of us, we simply cannot imagine another way. In the midst of it all, our collective and blind faith in the divine-like invisible hand remains strong, and we relate to it like an omnipotent deity that must be piously and repeatedly praised and pleased. As a result, one can persuasively argue that we are increasingly “Economistic”, as production and consumption has become our communal worship, because rising gross domestic product is our salvation, the market is our god, and “Economism” is now our most popular and prosperous religious practice.

Economism, a term coined by Joel Kassiola in 1990 and later used by Paul Ekins and Manfred Max-Neef in 1992, is our most organized and flourishing popular religion. As theologian John B. Cobb wrote at the turn of our current century, religion is ultimatley “whatever binds the multiple aspects of human existence together”, and faithfulness to the holy creeds of economism redefines citizens into consumers and affirms competition as the defining characteristic of all human interactions. In doing so, Economism requires people as homo economus to believe that economic growth will somehow directly solve any and all of our most pressing problems, and ultimately, provide the resources needed to pursue any and all of our most important values. The dogmas of economism require, both directly and indirectly, that the structures and systems we set are all designed in such a way that our faithfulness is judged primarily in financial terms, as if our deliverance is somehow determined by whether or not the invisible hand is worshipped and pleased. Our ultimate concern, therefore – especially in times of difficulty – becomes a narrowly and erroneously defined notion of public health and personal wellbeing, and our prayers are most zealously offered to the real god of our communal devotion: the almighty market.

During a previous time of economic transition, Victor Lebow stated that “our enormously productive economy … demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption … we need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate.” Is this a redeemable description of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? As is the case with other destructive beliefs and practices, in order to break free from such chains we must recognize consequences and propose alternatives. Thankfully, resistance and revolution is already happening, as more people are awakening to the knowledge that what they have been sold in recent decades is contrary to what reality can actually deliver. In addition to the popularizing of democratic socialism, we also hear more about a “sharing economy” or the “commons” and “peer production”, all in order to shape our society around innovative and life-giving metrics such as the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) and Economic Bill of Rights. By providing such means to organize and assess our global household, together we might re-learn how to define human interactions not by what we buy or sell to and from one another, but through a collective affirmation that our lives ultimately do belong to each other.

Our religion of Economism is bankrupt, yet the spirit of our human community is overflowing with abundance, and a more liberating collective faith can point us toward a more authentic flavor or freedom. The rules which were made can also be unmade, and the ill-advised trust that supports such repressive rules can also be rejected and transformed. We are better together when we share a vision of a more benevolent and balanced economic order – based on representative planning and cooperative market mechanisms – to achieve an equitable distribution of resources, meaningful work, a nourishing environment, sustainable development, gender and racial equity, and non-oppressive relationships. The scales which blind us to such emancipating truths must fall off our eyes, to imagine and ignite new ways of being, and to experience the gift of life in its fullness. Since our beliefs do indeed lead to our actions, the most important step forward might be to believe that such a way is indeed possible.

The 52nd Nobel Conference, “In Search of Economic Balance”, will take place at Gustavus Adolphus College from September 27-28, 2016. For more information, including tickets and livestream viewing, see https://gustavus.edu/events/nobelconference/2016/

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Yes. Thank you, I’m fine.

No really, nothing’s wrong.

I’m not unhappy. Not upset. Not in a mood.

I’m just quiet.

I know you don’t understand because we’re different, you and I.

Very different.

So it’s easy for both of us to misunderstand each other.

Let’s try not to though, because we can get on great if we only understood each other better.

You see, some people might call me ‘introverted’, like they might say you’re ‘extroverted’ but I don’t like labels. Labels put you in a box and people don’t fit well in boxes, labeled or not. Everyone sees the label and interprets it differently. But they never see the person inside the box.

Perhaps if I explain it’ll help…

You see, well, maybe I should start with words. Because as a ‘quiet’ person, most days there are far too many of them.

Words tire me out.

I need a lot of quiet, otherwise I get frazzled.

And I think that probably makes me frown, or at least not smile so much. So it looks like I’m in a grump, or a mood, or not happy about something.

But I’m not. Not at all.

I’m just trying to block out the whirlwind of words so my head shuts up and the world stops spinning.

Because that’s another thing that gives the wrong impression about us ‘quiet’ people.

I know it already. Not saying much makes it awkward for everyone else. For you. You don’t even know why I’m not joining in, why I bothered to show up in the first place.

That’s fair. I can see that.

Because to a chatty person, someone who’s the heart of the party, quiet can be a drag. A dull, slightly irritating drag.

It makes you feel uncomfortable. It seems weird someone sitting and watching, more than joining in.

In truth it seems a little rude that someone can come along and not make as much of a contribution.

And then leave early.

Oh yes, I haven’t mentioned that…

You know it catches me by surprise sometimes too. When I get excited about going out and genuinely look forward to it. And it’s all going well and it’s interesting and fun.

And then suddenly, I want to be at home. In pajamas.

And yes, I feel awkward saying I need to go. And feeling that I need to have a more plausible explanation than ‘I just want to leave’.

It sounds a strange thing to say. In fact, it can sound downright rude.

So why do I suddenly have to leave? I’m not sure myself, but I have a theory about quiet people. It could be absolute nonsense for others, but I think it’s absolutely true for me.

You see, I have a tolerance level, an inner switch that kicks in after a certain amount of external things… maybe forces, no, I think stimuli is correct but that sound like a psychology textbook.

Anyway, after a certain amount of external stimuli – chatter, faces, noise – I kind of shut down.

At least that’s probably how it seems, if you’re the loudest person in the room.

It looks like I’ve suddenly gone weird. A sudden shift of mood. ‘ What’s her problem? She just sort of clammed up and then left. Did I upset her?’

Maybe ‘loud’ people need to shout and wave their arms about and get everyone’s attention to let off steam.

Me, I need quiet to charge my batteries.

It’s not at all like shutting down. There’s no retreating into some dark, silent space.

Quiet is bright, it’s happy. In fact…

Quiet is my happy place.

And sometimes that means being alone.

Not like some lonely loner hero that Hollywood action flicks try to make out as cool or sexy. Uhuh.

Seriously, that’s not the self-image I have at all.

And it’s not personal.

We’re significantly different yes – your qualities that make others swoon don’t always shine so brightly to me. Don’t get me wrong, I think you’re great. I do genuinely like you.

I don’t however want to be like you.

It looks so tiring. Being you.

Exhausting. Stressful. Full-time.

Which is another thing…

There’s another misconception about quiet people that, well, I can see where it’s come from, it’s an easy mistake to make.

It’s the idea that conquering anything takes bravado, bluff, charisma.

And that takes ‘loud’ people.

Because as the loudest person in the room, quiet charisma might seem a total contradiction.

After all, where am I hiding that charisma? And why the hell would I hide it anyway?

Fair questions.

First up, hey I’m allowed to be a little self-deluded. But only a little deluded, because everyone has charisma, loud or quiet. It’s just that mine might not resonate with you, that’s all.

Because quiet doesn’t mean not having dreams – or charisma – as big, or bigger, than any ‘loud’ person.

Take the Dalai Lama, a quiet guy, big on dreams and charisma.

Quiet doesn’t mean I want to do nothing. To be nothing.

Not at all.

It means I’m happy to quietly conquer. To achieve whatever adventures my heart desires without talking about it much.

I’m happy just to get on with it. Quietly.

But it’s hard to see that the quietest person in the room has got the balls or courage to go and do ballsy or courageous things, I understand that.

‘She’s as quiet as a church mouse’- maybe, but that doesn’t mean she’s as nervous as one.

In fact, the quieter she is, often the more confident she is.

Because confidence can manifest in different ways.

But we’ve mostly been told that confidence is about hustling, ‘faking it till you make it’, shouting till you’re heard above the crowd. Being a human bull horn.

Which can be one way to be confident. But there are others…

• Feeling self-assured enough to let others take the limelight.
• Feeling secure enough about who you are to follow your own path.
• Not being upset that your contribution might not be heard at first.
• Using fewer words. So when you do speak, others listen.
• And

using them quietly. So those people ‘lean in’ to hear what you’re saying.

Because someone who speaks quietly and only when they have something to say, can command greater attention than the loudest, most vocal person in the room.

Now I confess these signs of confidence aren’t always so evident because they’re, well… quieter.
They’re not better or worse than your ways of being confident. They’re just what they are.

Try them sometimes. If you’re confident enough.

We could get on great, you and I. Both being confident. Both going after our goals. Both happy to be at this party.

I would love to wave a magic wand and spend a year not being quiet, you know.

Just to see if I’m wrong about how much easier you find it all. Life I mean.

Because quiet isn’t perfect.

It isn’t better than being the loudest person in the room.

And it isn’t always easy for others to understand.

It is however, who I am.

And loud and quiet can do great together.

It just needs a little understanding, a little give and take.

Fancy a quiet night in sometime?

Post first published on Positively Positive

Image courtesy of Pixabay.

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Fans of hard rock and metal will surely agree with Disturbed frontman David Draiman that historically these genres have been overlooked by the mainstream media. Not that it mattered says Draiman, because in his estimation metal fans are some of the most passionate fans around. “With or without mainstream attention they are outdrawing pop, hip hop or R&B acts. Rock Am Ring the other day was well over a hundred thousand people. With all due respect, I do not see that happening in the other genres.”

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.