what doesnt kill you makes you more productive ebook wrike

8/20/2019 What Doesnt Kill You Makes You More Productive eBook Wrike

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OR

how to beat the three most

dangerous productivity

threats

Brought to you byBrought to you by


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Look at your neighbor’s desk. Does your

col league seem worry-free and always ends

his or her workday at f ive o’clock on the dot?

Then there’s a big chance that your colleague is among

the lucky 13% of workers who manage to avoid overworking.

You, on the other hand, have an 87% chance of overworking

at least 1 hour per week.

Manage to avoid overworking

Overwork

Our feelings about those extra hours vary. For some indus-

tries a strict 40 hour week is not an option. Even if your com-

pany typically sticks to a 40 hour work week, there are situa-

tions 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 figure out a way to make ALL the time you

spend at work productive.

`

How can this simple e-book help you with that?How can this simple e-book help you with that?

First, armed with the results of multiple research studies, in-

cluding our own, we’ll introduce you to the three most dan-

gerous productivity killers. This introduction, however, would

be TBU (true-but-useless), unless backed up by some action

items. That’s why we’ll also provide you with an arsenal of

weapons to get rid of these threats once and for all.

http://www.amazon.com/Switch-Change-Things-When-Hard/dp/0385528752http://www.amazon.com/Switch-Change-Things-When-Hard/dp/0385528752http://www.amazon.com/Switch-Change-Things-When-Hard/dp/0385528752


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Meet Tim, an “average” manager who

has been recently assigned to run a

marketing team. Though he has their

best interests at heart, Tim doesn’t

seem to use his team to their fullest

potential.

To get the knack of each productivity killer, you’ll see it

through two stories: Tim’s and Tom’s. By the end of each chap-

ter, you’ll find a useful tip box that will help you make theTom’s insights even more practical. So, without further ado, let

us introduce you to the first of the three most notorious pro-

ductivity killers.

Now, let’s imagine there’s a “better ver-

sion” of him who happens to know a

couple of useful tricks and scientifically

proven techniques that help him trans-

form the way his new team operates

and thinks. Let’s call him Tom.

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IT WILL ONLY TAKE A MINUTE!

Chapter 1

Problem: InterruptionsProblem: Interruptions

It’s half past one. Tim needs to finish a presentation for his client meet-

ing by 3 p.m.

At this moment his colleague Rachel, a designer, comes to his desk to

show the brochure she’s been working on and ask Tim’s opinion on the

general color scheme. Surely, it will only take a minute. Fifteen minutes

later, Tim is trying to get back to his presentation, when Josh, from the

business intelligence team, rushes in to him to share how frustrated he

is with the necessity to add the extra graphs to the monthly report.

Trying to continue working on the presentation in the background, Tim

ensures Josh that it’s a forced necessity and will pay off. After a while

Josh leaves, and just when Tim manages to get his focus back, the phone

rings and it takes Tim ten more minutes to give his telecommuting col-

league some clarifications on the latest assignment. Frustrated by the

call, Tim checks his e-mail inbox and finds himself answering a journal-

ist who asks to send her a couple of promo pics from his latest ad cam-

paign.

Some minutes later Tim looks at the clock. It’s half past two, and he still

has at least half way to go with the presentation.

t i c k - t o

c k

? ?


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In Wrike’s recent survey we asked almost 2,000 men and women

what they consider to be the biggest threat to their daily pro-

ductivity. Interruptions were a clear winner with more than 80%of the votes. Anyone’s groove can be easily ruined by another

task or even a non-working issue, and studies show that it takes

20 minutes on average to get your focus back!

Guess how often interrupt ions typical ly

happen?

During the day you are distracted 60 t imes!

Be it a disturbing noise, a phone call,

or a colleague's question, your

concentrations is under threat to be

broken every 8 minutes!

9 a.m. 5 p.m.

So, what can be done to deal with this sneaky productivity killer?

http://www.wrike.com/blog/12/19/2012/Snapshot-Work-Life-Balance-Realities-Wrike-s-New-Fascinating-Infographichttp://www.wrike.com/blog/12/19/2012/Snapshot-Work-Life-Balance-Realities-Wrike-s-New-Fascinating-Infographichttp://interruptions.net/literature/CubeSmart-productivity-wp1.pdfhttp://interruptions.net/literature/CubeSmart-productivity-wp1.pdfhttp://www.wrike.com/blog/12/19/2012/Snapshot-Work-Life-Balance-Realities-Wrike-s-New-Fascinating-Infographic


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Before yelling, try telling

DONOTDISTURB

His teammates are no psychics and Tom knows it. So he

makes sure they are aware of the pressing presentation he’s

working on at the moment. Following the example of nurses

who wore special vests to let their colleagues and patients

know they are busy preparing medication and can’t be dis-

tracted, Tom puts a “do not disturb” sign on his desk and in his

Skype status. He also lets his colleagues know in the group’s

chat that he’ll be busy for the next couple of hours.

Mention your colleague’sname in the task’s com-

ments to draw their atten-

tion to your question with-

out interrupting them. Your

colleague will later notice

the mention and will answer

as soon as they have time.

Mark the important but noturgent tasks as “backlogged”

without the need to set a

strict due date. You’ll be able

to prioritize them and set

time to deal with them.

Use the timer in the task tolet your colleagues know

about the important/urgent

matter you are currently

working on. Once you click

“play”, the task you are work-

ing on is automatically broad-

casted to the Activity Stream

(real-time project news feed).

How Wrike can help you

http://www.wrike.com/

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Compare Tim and Tom when the clock strikes three. Tim, who was con-

stantly 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

doesn’t have his best to give during the presentation. As you can imag-

ine, the client isn’t very impressed.

Tom, on the contrary, finishes the presentation 15 minutes early and hastime to drink a cup of coffee and get in the right mood for the meeting.

Confident and ready, his verbal and body language communicate confi-

dence, presence and charisma. As a result of the meeting, Tom gets a

fruitful contract for his company.

http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/content.aspx?id=1799http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/content.aspx?id=1799http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/content.aspx?id=1799http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2012/04/13/how-to-master-the-art-and-science-of-charisma/http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2012/04/13/how-to-master-the-art-and-science-of-charisma/http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/content.aspx?id=1799http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/content.aspx?id=1799


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The first question you need to answer is “Why?”

Why do we keep postponing a task till the very last minute and create

for ourselves a whole bunch of extra problems. To say nothing of

stress and panic. Once you figure out why you are procrastinating, you

can decide how to deal with it.

Tom knows that it will be easier to manage a task if he splits it

into several small actionable items that he can handle right

away. So he starts with making a guest list and then assigns his

assistant to look for the conference venue. He also creates a task

“Send out the invites” in his task management software. He now

feels that the conference monster is not that scary any more.

Split it into several small actionable items

Try using the “3+2” rule

Tom follows the advice of developer Jakub Stastny and

com-pletes 3 big and 2 small tasks and calls it a day. Today,

world domination can wait.

The reason why Tim can’t make himself sort through the busi-

ness cards is that the task seems too boring and meaningless

to him. What can Tom do about it?

The reason why Tim keeps postponing planning the confer-

ence is that the task is too big and complex. When we are

faced with such a task we just don’t know where to start, so

we never do. So, how would Tom handle it?

http://lifehacker.com/5853732/take-a-more-realistic-approach-to-your-to+do-list-with-the-3-%252B-2-rulehttp://lifehacker.com/5853732/take-a-more-realistic-approach-to-your-to+do-list-with-the-3-%252B-2-rule


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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 favor-

ite coffee in the nearby coffee shop. You just need to find your

own trigger.

Reward yourself

Sometimes taking a short break is more rewarding than making

yourself work through with gritted teeth, and Tom knows it.

Instead, he takes a 5 and recharges his productivity.

Take short breaks

Spice the things up a little. A quick piece of advice from Tom:

why not compete with a colleague on who finishes the

monthly report first? You can also compete with yourself and

do the same task 3x faster with no harm to quality.

Create a competition

Rock productivity with music!

Music with an upbeat rhythmcan reduce stress by as much

as 41%

Charge your brain with a quick snack

79% of workers believe coffeebreakes make them more

productive

Get away from your desk

Regular, short exercise helps53% of employees to feel more

active throughout the day

Tom’s choice:

http://jimsmarketingblog.com/2012/11/18/when-we-work-through-gritted-teeth-it-shows/http://jimsmarketingblog.com/2012/11/18/when-we-work-through-gritted-teeth-it-shows/http://jimsmarketingblog.com/2012/11/18/when-we-work-through-gritted-teeth-it-shows/


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2 31

Nothing motivates like the

actual look of the well-done

job. Break down your big and

complex project into action-

able tasks and mark them

“complete” one by one. You canthen visualize your progress

on the Gantt chart and see

what else you have left to

accomplish.

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).

If you have several tasks to

complete, prioritize them in

your to-do list and avoid mul-

titasking.

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21

Tim and Tom have gone a long way to fight the most notorious pro-

ductivity killers. It’s up to you to decide who’s done better ;-) How-

ever, 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 finish more work in less

time, and easily become productivity superheroes.

Be victorious in your battle over productivity killers and have the

most productive day!

CONCLUSIONCONCLUSION

With love, your Wrike Team.

Add your project’s milestones to the Gantt chart

and make sure to plan the first one in detail.

Once your project progresses, you’ll be able to

add new tasks to the chart. And if there're any

changes along the way, you can easily adjust the

schedule with a simple drag-and-drop.

Encourage your team members to “pick” and

assign tasks to themselves. Meanwhile, you’ll be

able to keep an eye on the tasks’ progress in the

Activity Stream and be ready to step in if needed.

Task management softwarethat makes your life easier!

what doesnt kill you makes you more productive ebook wrike

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