In implementing new systems, you have to ask yourself:

Does it work for me?
Will I do it?

Does it seem to you that the second question would logically be incorporated into the first?  After all, if it works for you, why wouldn’t you do it?  Yet how many time do you know that something would be good [...]

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We tend to blame others when we can’t concentrate on a project, and there’s some validity in that.  After all, the average business person is interrupted about every three minutes.  Interruptions commonly stem from the telephone, email, or a colleague.  These are easy to pinpoint, but there is another one to add to that list.  [...]

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I was contacted recently about a new book called “The No Complaining Rule” by Jon Gordon, and I felt this would be a good suggestion for any office or personal setting to adapt.  The following is an excerpt from a review: 
“The fact is every leader and business will face negativity, energy vampires and obstacles to define [...]

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“Getting organized?  I tried it but it didn’t work.”
An engineer with a public transportation system recently went to her boss because she was overwhelmed with daily work and their filing system was completely ineffective.  She wanted to have me come in to help her develop systems that would make a difference in her productivity and [...]

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It happened gradually…windows disappeared from schools, malls became completely enclosed, companies bestowed status in office buildings by allotting a room with a view only to the chosen few. Yet our need and desire for sunlight did not disappear.

Compare how you feel on a gray, rainy day with a bright, sunny day.
Think of your motivation [...]

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As we start out in the month of May, it is beneficial to reflect on what May Day means to many countries. On May 1, 1886, hundreds of thousands of workers in the U.S. marched in support of the eight-hour workday. From that date, It actually took 54 years of struggle before we [...]

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Continuing my response to the reader who requested advice for those who were on the “front lines” and didn’t have a project-driven day (see the original crisis management post), I’m going to address customer-driven jobs.
If you were hired to answer telephones, such as in a call center, then obviously you cannot decide that [...]

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In a post that I wrote last week about crisis management, I presented some techniques for limiting the pressure of deadlines. Responding to this, one reader commented that it wasn’t useful advice for those “on the front lines who don’t have jobs that come with laptops, travel, and corporate jargon.”
I recognize that not everyone [...]

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“Where did this week go?”
That common phrase can be interpreted in two different ways:

It was a great week. I had so much fun/got so much done that it flew by.
I don’t feel that I accomplished anything I had planned, and it is already the end of the week.

It is not hard to figure out [...]

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Disorganization is a major cause of job dissatisfaction.
If the disorganization is your own, then you can choose to make changes. However, whether you are the disorganized one or the organized one working with a disorganized colleague, that lack of organization has an impact on you.

Who does the disorganized person interrupt when they need something? Who [...]

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