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What Doesnt Kill You Makes You More Productive Ebook Wrike
What Doesnt Kill You Makes You More Productive Ebook Wrike
What Doesnt Kill You Makes You More Productive Ebook Wrike
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Our feelings about those extra hours vary. For some industries a strict 40 hour week is not an option. Even if your company typically sticks to` a 40 hour work week, there are situations when you might need to stay a couple of extra hours to
make sure everything is set and ready. But if overworking
leaves you stressed, it might hurt your productivity.
So, what if you and your teammates could work less and, at the
same time, get more done more during the day? To accomplish
this you just need to gure out a way to make ALL the time you
spend at work productive.
How
How can
can this
this simple
simple e-book
e-book help
help you
you with
with that?
that?
First, armed with the results of multiple research studies, including our own, well introduce you to the three most dangerous productivity killers. This introduction, however, would
be TBU (true-but-useless), unless backed up by some action
items. Thats why well also provide you with an arsenal of
weapons to get rid of these threats once and for all.
Now, lets imagine theres a better version of him who happens to know a
couple of useful tricks and scientically
proven techniques that help him transform the way his new team operates
and thinks. Lets call him Tom.
Chapter 1
oc
t
k
c
ti
?
?
5 p.m.
9 a.m.
SOLUTION
SOLUTION
1
Urgent
Not urgent
Important
Not important
Important + urgent
Yes, this deserves Toms attention. Armed with knowledge about dual-task interference, he knows that his brain can successfully deal with only one issue at a time, so
he tackles the arising issues one by one.
DO
NOT
DISTURB
Compare Tim and Tom when the clock strikes three. Tim, who was constantly distracted, has only 20 out of 30 slides ready, keeps working on
the presentation until the very last moment and, as a result, is late to the
meeting and stressed. This becomes a mental distraction, and Tim
doesnt have his best to give during the presentation. As you can imagine, the client isnt very impressed.
Tom, on the contrary, nishes the presentation 15 minutes early and has
time to drink a cup of coffee and get in the right mood for the meeting.
Condent and ready, his verbal and body language communicate condence, presence and charisma. As a result of the meeting, Tom gets a
fruitful contract for his company.
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2
Mention your colleagues
name in the tasks comments to draw their attention to your question without interrupting them. Your
colleague will later notice
the mention and will answer
as soon as they have time.
3
Mark the important but not
urgent tasks as backlogged
without the need to set a
strict due date. Youll be able
to prioritize them and set
time to deal with them.
Chapter 2
The productivity killer Tim is facing in this chapter came as the second most
dangerous one in our survey. No wonder. Statistics show that as much as 95%
of people admit that they procrastinate at least occasionally. And for 20% of us
its a chronic problem.
95%
of people admit
that they procrastinate
at least occasionally
20%
of us are chronic
procrastinators.
The reason why Tim keeps postponing planning the conference is that the task is too big and complex. When we are
faced with such a task we just dont know where to start, so
we never do. So, how would Tom handle it?
The reason why Tim cant make himself sort through the business cards is that the task seems too boring and meaningless
to him. What can Tom do about it?
Reward yourself
Keying in business cards from the conference can be repetitive
and boring. But often tasks like that are necessary. So, to get
through this task Tom promises himself a hot cup of his favorite coffee in the nearby coffee shop. You just need to nd your
own trigger.
Create a competition
Spice the things up a little. A quick piece of advice from Tom:
why not compete with a colleague on who nishes the
monthly report rst? You can also compete with yourself and
do the same task 3x faster with no harm to quality.
Toms choice:
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2
Use time-tracking to see how
fast you can complete a
not-so-exciting but recurring
task next time (with no harm
to the quality, of course).
3
If you have several tasks to
complete, prioritize them in
your to-do list and avoid multitasking.
Chapter 3
SOLUTION
SOLUTION
Take it one step at a time
Its impossible to foresee all the emergencies and
details from the very beginning.
So Tom starts with creating a framework for the
project. He opens the task management software
and sets the major goals and milestones. He knows
that a xed time frame is important for the teams
motivation, as it creates the needed level of positive stress. So he sets due dates for every milestone.
However, Tom understands that along the way, hell
be able to adjust the schedule and add more specic due dates based on the project details he gets.
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CONCLUSION
Tim and Tom have gone a long way to ght the most notorious productivity killers. Its up to you to decide whos done better ;-) However, staying productive throughout the day is easier than it may
seem. With these proven techniques and a little help from the right
task management software your team can nish more work in less
time, and easily become productivity superheroes.
Be victorious in your battle over productivity killers and have the
most productive day!
With love, your Wrike Team.