2 great tips to start your work day on the front foot

Some nice advice from this SMH article: 

Tip 1: start by getting information out, not taking information in:

''One big tip I recommend is to start the day with output instead of input ... instead of taking in information - emails sent to you, favourite coffee, chats with co-workers - try getting work out. Otherwise the problem is you waste time, and by mid-morning you don't feel like doing any more." 

Tip 2: Look at your calendar, not your email first:
"Set up your email system to start up in ''calendar'' rather than ''inbox''. This will draw your attention to what you're committed to doing rather than just absorbing new (and often unimportant) information." 
A few more tips n the article including switching off your email notifications ... but you've done that already, right?

22 typical change management mistakes

I love this list of 22 typical change management mistakes to avoid. There are several in this list which I think can be addressed with a human centred design approach such as:

Mistake #13 – Not involving the employees

Leaders must actively involve the people most affected by the change in its implementation. This will help ensure employees at all levels of the organization embrace the proposed changes.

Involving staff can mean so much more than communicating the changes ahead. It can mean involving them in identifying problems and creating and testing solutions.  

A must read: http://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/change-management/top-20-change-management-mistakes-to-avoid/?goback=%2Egde_1855378_member_236279636

Multitasking. It's not a thing.

I for one am a terrible multitasker. And don't get me started on people who think that I can multi-task just because I'm a woman. Research is showing us that mutitasking is just very fast switching and not very effective. 

Researchers like David E. Meyer, Director of the Brain, Cognition, and Action Laboratory at the University of Michigan, have been warning us for years that multitasking slows us down and makes us prone to errors
~ http://lifehacker.com/more-productivity-myths-debunked-by-science-and-commo-514253858

Take more breaks to get more done

Don't feel bad about taking a break to reset and recharge. It's been proven that breaks will actually make you more productive.

This 2011 synthesis paper (full text, PDF) by the International Labour Organization reviewed available research into the relationship between productivity and hours worked. The core conclusion: Longer hours do not make you more productive, and can in fact have the opposite effect: You'll get less done, and what you do get done is never your best work (or has to be revisited or corrected later). The ILO paper isn't the only one on the topic. A similar paper by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (full text, PDF) pointed out that among the 16 of the EU nations, people who worked more flexible hours or jobs that would be normally considered part-time were overall more engaged with and productive at work and happier in their off-time than people who worked more hours.

~ http://lifehacker.com/more-productivity-myths-debunked-by-science-and-commo-514253858

Finding it hard to go paperless?

I certainly struggle with attempts to go paperless. I am getting better. Slowly. But there is a case for paper. 

One study published in the Computer User academic journal found people are 30 per cent more likely to remember information when it’s printed or written down.

Feel free to cite this the next time someone calls you a luddite. http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/insurance/blogs/work-in-progress/shredded-the-paperless-office-20130607-2ntgz.html


The case for privacy at work

If you find yourself unable to think in your open plan office you may be interested in reading this New York Times article The Rise of the New Group Think that argues the case for private space to be productive and creative. 

Our offices should encourage casual, cafe-style interactions, but allow people to disappear into personalized, private spaces when they want to be alone. 

Research backs it up:

Studies show that open-plan offices make workers hostile, insecure and distracted. They’re also more likely to suffer from high blood pressure, stress, the flu and exhaustion. And people whose work is interrupted make 50 percent more mistakes and take twice as long to finish it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/opinion/sunday/the-rise-of-the-new-groupthink.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all&



Why brainstorming doesn't work

So did that last brainstorming session you were in that was meant to generate a hundred ideas deliver? If not, here's why:

The reasons brainstorming fails are instructive for other forms of group work, too. People in groups tend to sit back and let others do the work; they instinctively mimic others’ opinions and lose sight of their own; and, often succumb to peer pressure. The Emory University neuroscientist Gregory Berns found that when we take a stance different from the group’s, we activate the amygdala, a small organ in the brain associated with the fear of rejection. Professor Berns calls this “the pain of independence.” 
This article talks more widely about open plan offices and the private environment that many need to be productive and creative http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/opinion/sunday/the-rise-of-the-new-groupthink.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all&. It's well researched and worth a read.

Oh, and don't think I am 100% against brainstorms either. Their success or failure is entirely dependent on how the workshop is designed. Follow the tags on brainstorming below to find more on this. 


More about why sitting for too long is bad for you

“Being sedentary for nine hours a day at the office is bad for your health whether you go home and watch television afterwards or hit the gym. It is bad whether you are morbidly obese or marathon-runner thin. It appears that what is critical and maybe even more important than going to the gym, is breaking up that sitting time.” 

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/sitting-is-the-new-smoking-20130529-2nca0.html


The pickle jar theory of time management

If you occasionally find yourself busy at work with lots of tasks but feel you are getting nothing done try thinking of your day as a jar with ... pickles in it. Even though this article mixes its metaphors (it talks about pickles then goes on to talk about "big rocks") it offers a really interesting technique to visualise your work day, in this case as a jar, and prioritize your day, by filling it with the biggest tasks first. Email can wait.

By first ensuring that your large priorities are tackled, scheduled, and done for the day, you can then let the smaller but less important things in until you have somehow allowed time in your day for everything you needed to do, while still relaxing and having fun.

For me, the most important tip in the article is to start your day planning what your priorities should be.