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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Executive Funtion: assessing, prioritizing, assigning mental functions, tracking multiple activities, reflecting
These are all characteristics that a good executive performs daily. They are also the tasks that emanate from your brain’s prefrontal cortex. This region of your brain is the one that sustains the most damage from prolonged periods of stress.
In our fast-paced [...]

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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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“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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“Your lack of planning should not be my emergency.”

Have you ever wanted to say that to someone?
Could you be guilty of frequently interrupting others with a “Now!” issue?

There is no question that crises do arise from time to time, issues that require everyone to change focus. However they tend to occur much more [...]

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51% of small-business professionals end up dreaming about their work.
Of those 51%, 70% turn their work dreams into action items upon waking.

The above study was commissioned by Staples, the office supply store. If you are one of those people who dream about your work, you might suddenly find yourself jolted awake at 2 [...]

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The simple checklist has been around for eons of time. Even Santa is depicted as checking off his work. However in so many cases, our hectic lives have evolved away from this tool. We move too fast to pause for planning out the steps and recording them.
The dilemma is that as technology advances and steps [...]

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Cyber Monday: the Monday following Thanksgiving, the biggest online retail shopping day
The term “Cyber Monday” came into being after computers penetrated the workplace. Employees used that first day back after the holiday to order their Christmas presents. While the need for this day is a bit archaic now that computers are also [...]

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We are faced with jobs, errands, and projects that require our immediate attention every day. Tasks from personal chores (picking up the dry cleaning) to professional obligations (finishing the report by 5 p.m.) weigh on our minds regularly. Trying to decide which to do when can be a challenge.To help determine priorities, let’s first consider [...]

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You have heard it before: “Write everything down.” Chances are you already have several lists of ToDo items. But then I’m guessing that there are still some tasks that you keep in your head because you are sure you will remember to do them.
When I talk about multitasking in my time management training [...]

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