How to Destroy Your Productivity @ Work

http://www.visualnews.com/2012/08/04/how-to-destroy-your-productivity-at-work/

Well here’s something I needed to read!  I’d like to point out that I was “working” when I read this article.  I do that.  Between tasks I “cleanse the palate” so to speak with news stories and quick looks at Facebook.  Actually, I should be moving on to my next task.  I might actually get more accomplished during the day. 

This article listed 7 ways to destroy your productivity at work. 

1.      Check your email every two minutes

2.      Keep your desk cluttered

3.      Be as un-ergonomical as possible

4.      Make sure to multitask

5.      Notify the hell out of your life

6.      Allow others to bug you

7.      Create an impossibly long to-do list

Guilty as charged on all 7 counts.  Which is my biggest offense, you ask?  #7.  So after I read this article I literally purged my to-do list.  I had SOOOO many overdue items that nearly 75% of my list was RED.  After cutting that crap, you know what?  I feel BETTER.  I’m not kidding!!!  Now my pledge is to keep that to-do list at a reasonable level. 

I think multitasking is over-rated, but I get caught in that trap on a daily basis. From now on I’m going to focus on one thing at a time and get each one done in a timely manner.  I have alerts set up for everything.  I’ll delete 50% of those after the writing of this blog post.  I check my email all the time. That I can’t help.  I depend on email at work.  Checking that regularly is kind of a no-brainer.

And then I cleanse my palate. 

Yeah. 

Let’s get back to that.

I read articles like this one, and I check Facebook.  Truth be told, I check Facebook more frequently than I do email.  Starting today, that’s going to change.  No longer will I be a slave to this Book of Face.  I’m taking back my productivity, Mr. Zuckerberg! 

I WILL complete the items on my to-do list!     

We helped these refrigerators find new homes!

So this weekend we cut the crap by selling 10, yes you read that right, 10 refrigerators.  Why on earth did we have so many refrigerators?  Well, let me tell you…

A close friend is in the appliance delivery business… as in, he owns the business and delivers, installs, and removes appliances all over the front range and into the mountains.  My hubby helps out from time to time as he can.  Last week our friend got a job removing refrigerators from a recently remodeled building.  This particular building had suffered fire damage in one section.  As part of the insurance agreement, he and my hubby replaced 11 refrigerators… even in the units that had not burned.  When asked what to do with the “old” refrigerators (they were only 6 years old and were in perfect working order), our friend and my hubby were told to “get rid of them”.  That was it.  Get rid of them. 

Our friend’s initial thought was to take them to the scrap yard and get about $150 for the metal.  Total.  For all 11 fridges.  My hubby pointed out that they were in perfect working order.  That would be a waste!  So, my hubby volunteered to thoroughly clean out the fridges and place an ad on Craigslist.  Our friend agreed. 

So, we washed them up and dried them out.  Not only did we put an ad on Craigslist, but we put some of the fridges out on the curb with "For Sale" signs on them.  We sold half of them that way!  My daughter even got in on the action!  She helped us clean the insides and made a little extra cash.  I'm hoping this will be a long lasting lesson for many obvious reasons, but she has decided to save the money she earned so she can buy her own iPod Touch.  

Within 4 days, we sold 10 and kept one for our garage.  Not only did we keep perfectly working fridges out of the landfill (at least the parts the scrap metal guy wouldn’t want), but we sold them to people who will continue to use them.  We made a little money, too!  That’s a win win!  I’d say we cut the crap on that one!