Productivity For Dummies

Ciara Conlon

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781119099529
• eBook ISBN: 9781119099536
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Take your productivity to the next level and make the most of your time!

Do you have too much to do and not enough time to do it? Don't we all! Productivity For Dummies shows you how to overcome this common problem by tackling key issues that are preventing you from remaining focused and making the most of your time. This insightful text gets to the root of the problem, and shows you how to identify and analyse the items on your to-do list to deliver on deadlines and maximise your schedule. Numerous techniques and technologies have been developed to address productivity needs, and this resource shows you which will work for your situation.

Productivity is crucial to your success - whether you want to find a new job, earn a promotion you've had your eye on, or generally progress in your career, understanding how to improve your productivity is essential in increasing the value you bring to your organisation. At the very least, increased productivity means that you get things done faster—which translates into fewer overtime hours and more time concentrating on the things that are most important to you.

• Eliminate procrastination and laziness from your daily routine
• Organise your work environment to create a space conducive to productivity
• Increase your concentration and stay focused on the task at hand
• Make decisions quickly, and stay cool, calm, and collected no matter what the situation is

Productivity For Dummies helps you solve the age-old problem of having too much to do and not enough time to do it.

Part I

Getting Started with Productivity

For Dummies can help you get started with lots of subjects. Visit www.dummies.com to learn more and do more with For Dummies.

In this part …

Understand what productivity is and how being more productive can help you in all aspects of your life.

Find the motivation to change your bad habits that hinder productivity.

Discover all the benefits of productivity.

Chapter 1

What Is Productivity?

In This Chapter

Discovering exactly what productivity is

Recognising the different sources of productivity

Understanding why productivity matters

In basic terms, productivity is a measurement of how efficiently you can convert inputs into outputs. In manufacturing terms, it’s how many units of a good can be produced with a certain amount of raw materials and labour. In personal terms, it relates to how much work you can get done in the time allocated. But these definitions don’t come close to explaining what exactly productivity can do for you, your family or your business. In this chapter, I explain the value and contribution that productivity can make to your life.

Productivity is simply a method to get what you want out of life. It gives you the tools and techniques to not only get the work done but to also get it done while making time for the things you enjoy and value in life. No longer is it necessary to sell your soul to your employer, nor work incessantly to launch a start-up. Working productivity can emphasise your priorities and make sure they’re getting the attention they deserve while eliminating all the time-wasting stuff.

Understanding the Importance of Productivity

You’ve likely heard the expression, ‘what you put in you get out’. With productivity, you can get out much more that you put in. You can work smarter rather than harder. You can work more efficiently rather than just effectively. Personal productivity is a subject that should be taught in schools. Teaching children simple productive habits can make the difference to their future success and happiness. Productivity transforms lives, relationships and business.

Effectiveness versus efficiency

Effectiveness is about doing the right thing at the right time, completing tasks to reach your goals. Efficiency is about doing these things in an optimal way. Using the fastest or least expensive method to reach your goals.

What can productivity mean to you?

The word productivity means the same thing whatever way you look at it. It means getting more out for what you put in. But the context in which that is done can make it mean different things to different people, including the following:

• Reading the bedtime story: To a working parent, productivity can mean not having to sacrifice the bedtime story to do a good job ever again. It can mean always being there for your kids’ birthday or sports day or school play or whatever occasion is important to them. Figuring out how to work flexibly and fit work around your life can help you have a great work-life balance and still do a top job. See Chapter 17 for more on a productive home life.
• Being first to market: For the start-up, productivity can be the difference between being first to market or fifth. The more effective methods you use to get the job done each day, the more quickly you can produce what you want to produce. Cutting-edge technology or scientific breakthrough all depend on the productivity of the people to get it to the masses as quickly as possible. Waste too much time on emails, and you may find yourself at the back of the queue for recognition. See Chapter 12 for more on productivity in business.
• Keeping the doors open: Increasing productivity can help to produce goods at a lower cost. If you’re responsible for the wages of your employees, increased productivity can mean they get paid again this month. To a business owner, productivity, can mean keeping the doors open.
• Making the grade and the party: To a student, productivity means making the grade and the party. A student wants to fit it all in – attend classes, go to the gym, have time to study, and still make it to all the best parties. These are the priorities of a student, and becoming more productive can make them a possibility. See Chapter 19 for more on studying productively.

What can productivity mean to your business?

People are generally more familiar with the business benefits of productivity – increased profits, competitiveness and less employee stress, to name but a few. But businesses today are faced with increased competition from emerging markets along with a more demanding customer who wants it all and wants it now. Forever under pressure to cut costs, and with the emerging war for talent, being in business is no walk in the park. Productivity is a powerful tool that can help you to address these challenges and give organisations a competitive edge. This section covers the benefits of productivity for businesses. For example:

• Making the difference between profit and loss: Most people understand productivity in its traditional sense: increase productivity and experience greater profits. To a CEO, increased productivity can mean a good year. How this difference was made could be made up of a hundred different factors. Productivity could have been increased through changes in factory processes, through the influence of a new manager who helped all employees perform at their best or through the new computer system that cut out all the downtime. The outcome is of most interest to the CEO, but his managers should know how to replicate the increase by understanding its source.
• Reducing employee stress: Increased productivity usually results in a reduction in stress. When people learn how to work more effectively and manage their time and energy better, they tend to benefit from a feeling of control and reduced stress. This reduction in individual stress can have a positive impact on the people, their team and the whole organisation. Stress is responsible for so many negative factors in a working environment; you can read about how to deal with stress in Chapter 6.
• Being innovative: Productive employees tend to have more time for strategic thinking time and innovation. Only when you’re relaxed and in control of your day to day can you take the time to visualise something better. Productivity usually leads to a more innovative company culture when employees are praised for the time spent dreaming or thinking of better ways to do things.
  When an organisation is under time pressure to achieve its daily goals, any time not spent on the core activities will generally be frowned upon. If a company doesn’t take the time to innovate, its future won’t be so bright.
• Creating a culture of success: Productive organisations are more successful. Their people tend to take the lead and tend to be more proactive, more creative and more innovative. They’re generally people who take responsibility for their own actions and circumstances. This can result in a culture where people are more likely to think beyond the daily remit. They’ll be more inclined to have ideas and willing to share and follow up on them. Calm control breathes success.

Checking Out Sources of Productivity

Productivity gains can be felt from making changes in multiple areas of life. Simple changes to the way you currently do things can have surprising implications to the efficiency of how you run your business and your life.

The three main areas of focus where you can make a substantial difference are systems, technology and behaviour.

Productivity from systems

Creating new systems and processes in your day to day will help you see great improvements in productivity. Standardizing the way things are currently done usually leads to a decrease in the amount of time being spent on the current process.

Standardising daily processes

Many companies don’t have a formal process designed for each job role. New employees learn on the job from whoever is there to train them. Along with the previous employee’s habits, good or bad, new employees create their own way of completing the work. Some people are naturally faster, more organised and efficient, but others take more time – more time to learn and more time to do everything. Standardising the process, how the workflow ideally is managed, is important for any company; following are some of the reasons daily processes can be beneficial.

Quicker workflows

The first benefit of standardising procedures is the obvious time saved. If you can cut down the number of steps involved in completing a job, you’ll gain hours each week. Working out what is involved in completing a job is important to be able to improve the process.

Establishing quicker workflows is a simple exercise that can help you improve every part of your job. Map out how the work flows from the first task until the last. Then you can see whether you can improve the process and make any adjustments to make it more efficient.

Increased quality

The quality of the service you offer will be improved due to fewer mistakes and more time available for customer service. You can follow a chec...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Part I: Getting Started with Productivity
• Part II: Getting Organised for Action
• Part III: Applying Productivity Techniques
• Part IV: Productivity at Work
• Part V: Personal Productivity
• Part VI: The Part of Tens
• About the Author
• Cheat Sheet
• Connect with Dummies
• End User License Agreement