The Professional Assistant

Prioritization: A Colorful Outlook

2008-07-24T05:00:00.001-04:00

Do you receive quite a bit of e-mail in your Inbox each day, but have trouble prioritizing them? Do you feel overwhelmed with trying to figure out who you should respond to first?

I recently added a post called "Outlook Rules That Rule" from a fellow Administrative Assistant's blog. This basically shows you how to make your e-mails go directly into certain categories, folders, you name it.

There is another method to this madness though. You can further prioritize e-mails by adding color to them. No, you are not making your screen more lively - well, if that's what you are intending to do, then go ahead.

When e-mails come in and you have set up your colors, you will notice that you have prioritized them by color. For example, I receive an e-mail from my direct supervisor. This will show up in red, since I know I have to get to this one first, before I can even touch any other one. Then I have my faxes set up as green. I know that this would be next, since people depend on these quite a bit around my office.

Here are the steps to doing this:

When you receive an e-mail, click on Tools, and then Organize.

Click on Using Colors. Click on the particular color that you want to apply to all of these types of e-mails from the particular person and click Apply Color.

Repeat steps 1 - 2 for each person that you want to create a different color.

That's it! Now you have a new prioritization system set up.

Tip: Make sure not to use too many colors, since you might forget to distinguish the important from the less important.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Assistant Tips

Outlook Rules That Rule

2008-07-22T05:00:00.001-04:00

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Patricia Robb of Laughing All The Way to Work: A Survival Blog for Today's Administrative Assistant .

I have finally taken the time to create rules for my Inbox. It was getting out of control. I knew the rules option existed, but I never took the time to check it out. What I discovered is a time saver and e-mail management tool that is a best-kept secret. Sometimes taking the time is the biggest hurdle, but this one is well worth the effort.

I have written previously that to manage my work e-mail better I asked friends and family to send e-mails to my home rather than work. This has been a great way to clear up a lot of unnecessary e-mails at work. I also subscribe to feeds to my home e-mail account. Even though they are work-related, I rarely have time to look at them so it is easier for me to do that from home. Bottom line is -- my home e-mail account is now like Grand Central Station. I get home at night and regularly find 40 new messages in my Inbox that I have to sift through. Some e-mails are useful, but I don’t always have time to deal with them right away. This is where the rules feature has come in handy.

Here is an example of some sub-folders and rules that I have set up that would work for a work e-mail or home account:

I now send my subscribed feeds to a sub-folder that I can look at when I have the time. They are now at my convenience, rather than being in my face every time I look in my Inbox.
I have set up a folder for Google Alerts to keep me updated on what is new in my profession. With my new rule they go directly to that folder.
I have set up a folder for some personal e-mails that I receive that are special and I want to keep them together. I have also set a sound to play when they pop in so I will recognize when they arrive and who they are from.
I have set up another folder for a personal acquaintance who is forever sending me joke e-mails and dire warnings. I have asked this person not to send them at work, which she has done and now sends them to my home. They are just as annoying to receive at home however, but for the sake of our friendship, I have set up a folder and they are dumped in there as soon as they come in. This has helped tremendously and with little effort on my part and no offence to my friend. I can then check the sub-folder at the end of the day and delete all the e-mails I don't want to read and just read the ones that are relevant.

You can still be notified when these e-mails arrive by setting a sound rule. The sub-folders where they are sent are bolded to indicate there are new messages in it. Don’t worry, these e-mails do not get lost or are completely out of sight. They are just put out of the way until you have time to deal with them. I would recommend keeping your Inbox folder expanded so you see the sub-folders and are aware of what is happening in them.

I now only have e-mails that I need to see come directly in my Inbox. Everything else is at my convenience and that is good. You can do the same thing with your work e-mails. You will notice your Inbox will be less crowded and easier to manage. I would not recommend setting a rule to send e-mails from your boss to a sub-folder however. Some things are best coming directly in your Inbox. You will know what works best for your working situation.

I have also set up a To-do sub-folder which I drag and drop items in if I am waiting on a reply or need to do something with it. Some things you do not want to set up as a rule, but you don't want them sitting in your Inbox either. Flagging these items and setting reminders would be a good idea. I have also named the sub-folder *To-Do List to ensure it is at the top of my alphabetical listing of sub-folders. Putting the asterisk makes sure it is first on my list.

There are many other things you can do with rules so take the time to check them out and feel your way around. It will be worth the effort.

Share what you have learned with your boss. Most executives I know want the help and this would be a great way of organizing them. If you have access to their Inbox you can set them up. Always be in communication and agreement with them however on what is best before forging ahead and changing everything. Otherwise, you will have a very frazzled and frustrated executive on your hands. A simple system is best as they are normally on the move and cannot take the time to figure out elaborate filing systems. I would suggest a folder for News, and set a rule to move all their feeds into that sub-folder, and perhaps a Junk Mail folder that they can later go through to determine if they want to delete the item or unsubscribe.

Keep in mind that sub-folders are not always accessible with some wireless hand-held devices so I would be very careful about moving everything to a sub-folder, just things that are not urgent and can be looked at later. I am sure your boss would be very happy to have an uncluttered Inbox with only things that need their attention. On a semi-related matter, I read a tip on OfficeArrow.com that you should keep in mind -- setting flags on your e-mails are not visible to users on their wireless.

Normally the assistant does not have a wireless and therefore we don't realize the limitations. It is a good idea to have that discussion with your boss before trying to organize their Inbox.

My Inbox is now empty

If there is an e-mail that I haven't looked at in awhile and regularly press delete when I get it, that is my cue to unsubscribe. Wow! It feels like I just went through my closet and threw a whole bunch of clothes out that I never wear. It's great, but I am so used to having e-mails popping into my Inbox that now I am wondering, "Where have all my e-mails gone?" I am having withdrawal symptoms... I better go and check my new sub-folders, but at least now it is at my convenience.

It is simple to set up a new rule in Outlook 2007

From your Toolbar, drop down the Tools menu and click on Rules and Alerts, click on New Rule. For a simple rule to send e-mails from a particular address to a folder, do the following:

Under Step 1 Stay Organized, choose Move messages from someone to a folder and in Step 2 click on people or distribution list and highlight the e-mail address you want. Press the From button and press OK. Then while still in the Step 2 portion, click on specified and choose which folder you want it to go to. Click Finish, then Apply and OK to seal the deal. And voila it is done. Scroll through the options you have for other rules.

When e-mails are received and sent to the sub-folder, it will be bolded and the number of e-mails will be written beside the box so you will know you have new mail.

Tip:
Before creating the rule you need to put the e-mail addresses of your feeds (or whatever you want to create a rule for) in your contact list and open a sub-folder that you want things like this to go to in order to complete the process above.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Assistant Tips

Seminars for Professional Assistants

2008-07-16T05:00:00.001-04:00

Are you looking to improve your skills and catch up with the latest office trends? Are you trying to get that raise or promotion that you so well deserve?

One of my readers asked me this:

I am an Executive Assistant to the CEO/President. She is the largest share holder of the company, obviously. But she is very high strung and doesn't know how to relax even when among friends or on vacation. She can be very trying at times, just a very difficult person.

I always feel that I am not good enough, maybe because she has impossible expectations to be met. I consider myself and have been in the past, to be an over achiever. I do things in full, completely and beyond the best of my capabilities. Even when I am not provided with the resources, I can make things happen.

I am really into self improvement in any way possible. So my question to you is, are there any seminars for the professional assistants that you know of, that can help increase multi-tasking skills, efficiency and more? Just a seminar with great information on how to be the BEST Executive Assistant to the President/ CEO.

My reply to this reader was:

Thanks for writing me. There are quite a lot of seminars that are being offered all around the world.

I did manage to find a site that has seminars listed for all of USA, if that's where you are writing from. If you are in a different country, I can try to find you some others as well.

Here's the link:

www.findaseminar.com/administrative-seminars.html

Also, one other thing I wanted to mention is that the company that I work at has online courses that I can take. This definitely helped my position. Check with your company to see if they have a similar program in place.

One more thing, multi-tasking has been shown to decrease productivity. Try creating a list of tasks and tackle one thing at a time.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Assistant Tips

How To Search Within A Company Website

2008-07-14T05:00:00.001-04:00

Do you have trouble finding information on a particular firm’s website? Do they not have a search function, but could use one?

This recently happened to me a few times, as I was trying to research marketing contacts for my company. Using Google can definitely help quite a bit, but at times, it can be cumbersome. Try looking through millions upon millions of hits.

There is a very simple solution to this problem. When using Google as your search engine, use the following phrase to look up a particular search within a particular firm’s website:

Phrase site:firm’s website

For example:

Bob Smith site:samplecompany.com

Now you will be able to narrow down your search quite a bit and find what you are looking for.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Assistant Tips

Extra Frequent Flyer Points?

2008-07-11T05:00:00.001-04:00

It's great to be back blogging again. I apologize to everyone that I've been on "vacation" from blogging for quite a bit of time now. I just felt that I had to take a "break" for a while.

I recently had to book a trip for two staff members. The problem was that I had to book both people on one person's credit card. This part was easy, but when it came time to add the "Frequent Flyer Program" number into the extra person's profile, I hit a small snag.

Now, please note that I do not endorse this in any way, shape or form, but you can try this at your own risk.

I was not able to add the "Frequent Flyer Program" number to the flight, but was able to add it to the hotel. I contacted the travel website that I was booking through and they explained that only the person with the "Frequent Flyer Program" can add their number. But strangely, I was able to add it to the hotel portion.

You can try this, if you wish, but remember that you are doing this at your own risk.

If you have any articles that you would like to contribute, please e-mail me.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Assistant Tips

Blogging Here and There - Part 2

2008-04-24T05:00:00.000-04:00

As you may have noticed, I haven't been posting any articles for quite some time now. I do apologize for this, but my life has been really busy lately and unfortunately, could not share my thoughts with you during this time.

I will try to post articles when I get a chance, but it will be quite infrequent. I do appreciate all of the feedback that I have been getting from all of you and thank you so far for reading my blog.

If you have any articles that you would like to contribute, please e-mail me.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Assistant Tips

Productivity With Shared Files

2008-04-01T05:00:00.001-04:00

Do you share your files with others in your firm? Do you find that you are being bombarded with updates to the same files time and time again?

Imagine that your boss comes to you and asks you to merge several files into one main file (Microsoft Word document). You spend quite a bit of time copying and pasting everything together. Then you think to yourself, "How can I make this more efficient?"

One of the most productive ways to update information on files is to either create or move a file into a shared folder on your company's network drive. Instead of each person creating their own files and you having to merge them together, it would be much faster for everyone to add their own information to one main file. This cuts down on you having to do the same job twice and saves you and the company time and money.

If your company doesn't have a network, since you might be in a smaller organization, you can e-mail the file around to the various people and ask them to add their information. Then ask them to pass it on to the next person on the list, while removing their name from the list. Then the last person would e-mail the file back to you.

Can you think of any other productive and efficient ways to make this happen? Leave a comment!

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Assistant Tips

Get A Job With A Thank You Letter

2008-03-28T05:00:00.002-04:00

Did you just get out of an interview? Did you attend a few recently? Do you really want to get one of the jobs that you just applied for?

One of the simplest things you can do to help the manager of your dream firm decide if you are right for the job, is to send them a Thank You letter after the interview. Of course, you have to present yourself well, answer the interview questions properly, have the skills and knowledge of the position you are applying for and a few other factors that help you get the job.

But you would be surprised that a simple Thank You letter can win over the hiring manager. It shows that you are eager to help the firm grow by showing initiative and productivity. This is how I was able to get one of my past jobs.

The hiring manager told me that he was debating between hiring me and another person. We both had similar skills, education, etc. The only thing that helped me get the job was sending the Thank You letter.

Here's a sample Thank You letter that you can use to get that dream job you have been waiting for:

Your Name
Your Address
Your City, Province, Postal Code
Your Phone Number
Your Email

Date

Name
Title
Organization
Address
City, Province, Postal Code

Dear Mr./Ms. Last Name:

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk to me about the Position Applied For with XXX Company. I appreciate your time and consideration in interviewing me for this position.

After speaking with you and the group, I believe that I would be a perfect candidate for this position, offering the quick learning and adaptability that is needed for a diversified position.

In addition to my enthusiasm for performing well, I would bring the technical and analytical skills necessary to get the job done.

I am very interested in working for you and look forward to hearing from you once the final decisions are made regarding this position.

Please feel free to contact me at anytime if further information is needed. My phone number is (XXX) XXX-XXXX.

Thank you again for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Your Signature

Your Typed Name

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Assistant Tips

4 Steps to Setting up E-mail Distribution Lists

2008-03-27T05:00:00.001-04:00

Do you find yourself having to write each person's e-mail address over and over again for certain e-mails? Do you wish that you could make life simpler by just entering one item that would include a list of e-mail addresses?

Here are 4 simple steps to creating an e-mail distribution list in Microsoft Outlook:

Make sure that you are in the "E-mail" section of your Outlook.

Click on the arrow down button right beside the "New" button, then click "Distribution List"

Here you can either "Select Members" or "Add New". Select Members is used to find contacts that are already in your address book. Add New, of course, would be used to add a brand new contact.

Save the new e-mail distribution list by giving it a name that this corresponds to whatever it is being used for. For example, if I need to send out a newsletter to all clients, I would call it "Newsletter".

At this point, you would just start up a new e-mail, click on the "To:" button and select "Newsletter" from your address book. All e-mail distribution lists are bolded.

You can also add e-mail distribution lists to e-mail distribution lists, using the same steps mentioned here. Just create a second e-mail distribution list and include the first one in it.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Assistant Tips

Why People Gossip At The Office

2008-03-26T05:00:00.001-04:00

Do you gossip at the office? Do you get sucked into the gossip of others? I'm sure that this has happened to all of us at one point or another.

Gossip has never been a positive matter. It always leads to negative productivity and sometimes people even get involved on a personal level.

People generally gossip at work due to boredom, insecurity, wanting to belong. To combat these problems, here are some tips you can follow:

Boredom: Ask your manager or fellow colleagues to see if they need help with anything.

Insecurity: Try to only get into small talk with others, but once you hear gossip or get involved on a personal level, tell them that you have to get back to work.

Wanting to belong: Keep in mind that you were hired by your firm to do a job. It's your responsibility to get things done. If others want to waste their time, so be it. You're there to get paid and get that promotion or raise, so make yourself and your manager proud.

Can you think of other reasons why people gossip? Send me your comments!

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Assistant Tips

View Microsoft Office Files Without The Software

2008-03-24T05:00:00.001-04:00

You're sick at home, can't seem to get access to your computer at work through your computer at home and your boss calls you up and asks if you can review a particular file. You scratch your head and start wondering, "How do I go about doing this?"

I'm sure that almost every company has computers and Microsoft Office software installed for all of their staff members. But there are times when you need to access certain Microsoft Office files that you cannot open, due to the fact that you don't have the software installed, for example, on your home computer.

You can download the following viewers for Microsoft Office files, where you don't have to purchase the entire piece of software. This enables you to review files, just like Adobe PDF Reader does.

Microsoft Excel Viewer

Microsoft Word Viewer

Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer

Now you can rest assured that your boss will get the information they need from you.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant

Thinking Outside the Job Description Box

2008-03-20T05:00:00.001-04:00

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Patricia Robb of Laughing All The Way to Work: The Ultimate Secretarial Survival Blog.

Today’s assistants are computer savvy, smart and up-and-coming, and consider themselves professionals in the workplace. They are no longer stuck within the job description box, but have the freedom to break out of the mould and redefine their roles and sometimes even change their careers.

Employers have begun to recognize our changing roles in the workplace and some have reflected that by changing our title from “secretary” to titles that more accurately describe the positions we are performing in our organizations such as:

Legal Assistant
Personal Assistant or Personal Aide
Medical Assistant
Executive Assistant
Office Coordinator, etc.

Administrative assistants are highly skilled in many areas and sometimes we take it for granted, not recognizing where we could go with our skills. Here are some ideas to get you thinking in that direction.

Event Planning:

Event planning is a big industry that looks for people who are skilled in planning big events without a hitch. What better candidate to take on that role as a career, than the assistant who regularly plans events from small meetings to large conferences.

Marketing:

An assistant who has a marketing flare with a creative mind can branch out into editing or writing. Those who are skilled at regularly thinking on their feet as they come up with solutions and ideas both on the computer and on the job might be able to step into this role.

Some examples would be managing a company website, creating, editing and writing a company newsletter or creating promotional materials, invitations and brochures for marketing events. This can be a rewarding career change for those suited to this type of work.

Finance:

An assistant with a head for numbers may be able to move into finance in an accounting or a tax firm. Some assistants regularly manage small budgets when planning functions or have bookkeeping responsibilities and work regularly on spreadsheets. Those with experience in this area might enjoy this type of career move.

Professional Organizer:

Organization is a must if you are an assistant. One of our main duties is to keep our bosses organized. While being organized seems natural to us because of the nature of our jobs, some people are not organized and need help and are looking for skilled and organized people to do the job for them.

Working Within Your Current Job:

Someone who wants to remain in their Administrative Assistant position but spread their wings, can work with their supervisor and HR Manager to develop and change their role by specializing in certain areas and do more of the things they enjoy and are good at.

Administrative Assistants have a list of things they specialize in including business writing, proofreading, minute taking, meeting planning, travel agent, desktop publishing, editing, public relations and client liaison to name a few.

Some assistants have expanded their role to that of an executive assistant which sometimes means performing the role of an office manager.

Working our way out of a job

Kim began as an administrative assistant and has now become the HR Manager of a major law firm.

Sue is an IT specialist who started out as an administrative assistant with a knack for computers and made it work for her as a career.

Elizabeth began as an administrative assistant in an accounting firm and has become a junior chartered accountant.

What do these three women have in common?

They each had a desire to pursue a different area of interest and they changed their direction and worked themselves into a new career.
They each had forward-thinking employers who allowed them to have vision and encouraged them to work towards their goal and made room for that new role within their organization.
They each took the initiative to get appropriate training and education to better equip them in the areas they were interested in.

Our jobs are not limited to just being a “secretary”. We may need to look at courses that will help us reach our goals, but the possibilities can be endless when we think outside the box.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant

Are You an Office Shrink?

2008-03-19T05:04:00.001-04:00

Do you find yourself being bombarded with questions? Do people come to you for all sorts of answers, whether it is work related or otherwise?

In the beginning of my career at my current job as an Administrative Assistant, I was the outsider, the newbie if you will. I had to shut my mouth and open my ears to learn how things work in this company. Over time, I gained the trust and respect of my fellow colleagues. Now I consider myself the "Office Shrink".

The reason behind this is that everyone comes to me for answers. I either know it or I don't. If I don't, it's my responsibility to play detective and snoop around for it. This usually is work related. I do distance myself if people ask me for advice on matters of a personal nature. I politely ask them to speak to a friend, family member, their HR representative or their manager (whomever they feel comfortable confiding in).

Going back to "shutting my mouth and opening my ears", there are times when people need me to just listen to them. If they need to vent or complain about something, whether it is a professional or personal matter, I will listen. If it's a professional matter, I will provide them with the best advice I can think of.

I don’t believe that this is in my job description, but I try to go above and beyond the call of duty. Besides, this allows people to trust me and confide in me more, which creates better relationships and a working atmosphere.

So next time you are asked to help someone out, go ahead and lend your ear to them. It will do great wonders for both of you.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant

Snack Foods for Better Productivity

2008-03-13T05:00:00.001-04:00

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Brian McCullough of TheJobBored.

You ever have one of those days where everything goes bad at the same time?

Amongst the several other fires I had to put out today, I’m sorry this blog was down for most of the morning. T’wasnt my fault, t’was the fault of the webhost.

Now I’ve gotten everything under control and I’m trying like hell to get back to my normal to-do list so today isn’t a total loss.

I’ve elected for a quick scrounge-n-snack lunch to save time. Which made me think of this post. Thought I’d pass it along.

20 Foods To Snack On For Enhanced Productivity (Lifehack.org)

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant

Hand Stretching Exercises

2008-03-12T05:00:00.001-04:00

Do you find that you work your fingers to the bone at your office? Ok, well maybe not that much, but I am sure that you are very productive and really don’t know when to stop. Your body is telling you to take a break, but you don't listen to it. You feel pain, but you keep going.

This is obviously not a good thing. But it happens to the best of us all the time. You have to listen to your body and stop what you are doing if you feel even the slighted amount of pain. You really should be taking a break every 30 minutes, but of course, with our busy lives, this can be difficult.

If you do encounter a small amount of time that you can take your break on, try doing some hand stretching exercises. Here's a great article I found on hand stretching exercises by Stretch Now. It gives you instructions in detail as well as diagrams of how to do them. This will definitely relieve you of your pain in a short period of time.

Another thing you can do is switch the mouse from your right to left side of your keyboard. At first, it will feel a little odd, but over time, you get used to it and realize that this will balance out the tension in your wrists and thus the pain will decrease.

If you have extended health care benefits from your employer or private insurance, try visiting your local physiotherapy or massage therapy clinic to get this checked out and attend sessions on a regular basis, as the practitioner advises. I have been going to a physiotherapist for quite a number of years now and have done wonders for my wrists.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant

Why be an Assistant When You Can be More?

2008-03-11T05:00:00.001-04:00

One of my readers, Kristina, asked a question of how to let interviewers know that you want to be an assistant, even knowing that you have experience in higher positions.

Here’s what she wrote?

I'm searching for a job as an administrative/executive assistant. I have about 6 years experience as an assistant. While supporting myself as an assistant I went back to school in the evenings for a 3 year program to be an interior designer and worked as a designer for about 6 years. I then went to a sales assistant position selling lighting to designers/architects and then moved to a job as project manager for a general contractor. This last job as a project manager has only been for about 6 months. It is very stressful and does not give me any free time.

My significant other and I have plans to start our own business one day. This means that I need my evenings and weekends free to pursue that avenue. My current job does not give me much free time or energy to fully utilize any free time I do get. We understand that it can take years to get something off the ground, that can support us 100% without the need for a "full-time job" to sustain us.

Personally I love to organize, help others stay organized and I was great as an assistant. I have the necessary computer skills, people skills etc. to be an assistant, perhaps even an executive assistant. I know that some good executive assistant jobs pay up to 60K a year.

So, to make my long story a bit shorter, my question is this: when applying for a job as an executive assistant and the interviewer asks me, "Why be an assistant when you have this type of background? Why don't you pursue another interior design or project manager position?" How do I explain this abrupt change in career choice without making it sound like, "I want a job that I can leave at the end of the day so I can go home and focus on my side business?" How do I say, “I like being someone’s assistant, like keeping them focused, organized and running efficiently" without sounding like I'm taking a step backwards in my life's goals?

Even my boyfriend doesn't understand the appeal of being someone’s assistant. I don't see it as a step down at all. I got real satisfaction when helping others and supporting them in their jobs. I just don't know how to explain this to anyone without sounding like a phoney.

My response to this was:

I actually was in this same predicament when I found my current job about 2 1/2 years ago. I worked mainly in the financial field and was thinking about becoming an Investment Advisor. I even completed my Canadian Securities Course, which was the first step towards this.

Half way through my course, I started to think to myself, "Is this what I really want to do with the rest of my life?" The answer just sprung on me. I was happy with being an Investment Advisor Assistant and really preferred the role of "Administrative Assistant" rather than being the advisor.

When I went to the interview of my current job, they asked me the same question. I responded with:

I understand that I have been in parts of my career where I was in higher ranking positions. I thought about what I truly want to do in my life and have realized that money isn't everything - happiness is. What truly makes me happy is being able to help others and coming to work knowing that each day will be different, since there are always different tasks given to me from various people.

Keep in mind that at this point, I was going to work for a staff of about 30, which included 6 managers.

This helped me win them over!

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant

Has The Bubble Burst?

2008-03-10T05:00:00.002-04:00

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by James of Organize IT.

In my weekly recap last Friday I pointed out a Lifehack.org article arguing that the current climate for hyper-productivity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Then yesterday I came across a similar post, claiming that the pursuit of productivity has ended up out of control. It seems to me that there is now an increasing shift toward simplifying our lives. Who needs to be productive when the amount of stuff you have to deal with is cut in half?

How many blogs, online tools, software and books are there nowadays providing the latest, fashionable way to hit the peak of productivity? There is an entire industry dedicated to the issue; a sub-niche of personal development, capable of surviving and even thriving on its own.
It’s understandable this has come about. Our lives are increasingly hectic and we are bombarded by so much stuff on a daily basis that learning to be productive, so as to handle the stresses of modern life, is a wise move. And that’s just for your personal life. When you take into account the current business attitude of doing more with less (all for profits, profits and more profits!) no wonder this culture of getting things done has developed.

At the height of my furore for being an efficient to-do list completing machine, I was regularly finding work to do. If I didn’t have a full day’s worth of tasks to complete I wasn’t being efficient enough. Projects wouldn’t be moving forward and my goals and plans would be lagging behind… or so it seemed. Whether I did hit all my targets was actually what I used to judge my success; what I actually completed was irrelevant. The thing I never bothered to ask myself until recently was whether what I was doing was actually important. I bet a lot of others have found themselves in this situation.

One of the biggest pieces of advice dished out by any personal development source is that you should never wait for the right moment, time or situation to do something otherwise you will always be putting it off. One could also say that you should never wait for the right productivity tools to get things done. Unfortunately there is so much written on the topic that it’s become complex, time consuming and ironically, unproductive. Whatever happened to just getting on with it?

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant

Fight or Flight? Dealing with a Difficult Colleague!

2008-03-06T05:00:00.001-05:00

Have you had or are in a situation where your colleague is making your life miserable? I have been in these types of jobs a few times in the past and let me tell you, it’s no laughing matter.

A reader recently asked me this question:

Saw your web page and felt that I want your take on my situation.

First of all I've worked for an organization as an admin asst for years and during this time I have seen many co-workers leave and have had to put up with a lot. Currently there is a clerical staff person, sitting in a cubicle right across from me who has made my daily work experience miserable. She has been here a little over 1 1/2 years and has recently been promoted to an Administrative Assistant.

This is a typical work day for her:

She comes in late EVERYDAY (not just a few minutes, but 15-25 minutes with an excuse for WHY she's late - traffic - and she lives 10 minutes away).
Then she spends at least the first hour discussing what she did the day before at home; cooking, cleaning, shopping, gossiping, what ever she did after she left work.
Next she starts complaining about people around her, her friends, her spouse’s friends, kids, etc.
Now it's time to begin the process of gossiping about co-workers, belittling co-workers, making snide comments about other staff.
Then it's time to leave for lunch - a one hour lunch usually turns in to an hour and 15-20 minute lunch (usually with another person).
Now that she's back from lunch then it's time to complain about the co-worker she had lunch with that day.
As the clock ticks away, getting closer to quitting time, she decides to get busy and then claims overtime (when she mostly stands around and gossip after quitting time).

She is also the type of person who is "over friendly" face to face, but does not hesitate to tear that person apart once they have left the area.

I had voiced my concerns and complaints about her to HR, my supervisor, etc, and was told that there is nothing they can do about her. So I've had to bite my tongue, try to "tune" her out and do my job.

Really she makes my work day miserable and yet is rewarded for her bad behaviour, chronic tardiness and gossiping. It amazes me why some people get away with this behaviour and others are penalized for it.

My response to this was:

Wow! This really sounds like the type of colleague you don't want to have. Well, here's my take on it:

Have you tried to talk to her directly about what has been going on? This sometimes helps the situation, since they might not be aware of it (believe it or not).
You mentioned that you've spoken to your supervisor, HR, etc. Did you take it up each level all the way to the top?
If all else fails, you might want to start considering what type of work environment you are in. If the management at your organization doesn't care about what's going on, is this really a place that you want to be at?

You can also check out an article I wrote on "4 Ways to Cope with Difficult Colleagues"

I hope that I've at least shed some light on your situation and hope that things can get resolved one way or another. Don't drive yourself nuts about these things. Life's too short to stress out!

If you have any other suggestions, please feel free to comment!

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant

Microsoft Office Poll Results

2008-03-05T05:00:00.000-05:00

I am sure that all of you use Microsoft Office in your workplace. There really isn't a chance that you don't use it, whether you are on a PC or a Mac.

The results actually surprised me quite a bit, since some of you consider yourselves gurus. If you have any suggestions on how to make things run more smoothly in Microsoft Office, please let the rest of us know.

I was not surprised that anyone would be a novice, since in order for you to get a job these days anywhere in an office setting, you should at least have an intermediate understanding of these applications. Otherwise, you would be working somewhere else.

If you have any tips and tricks that you would like to offer, please click the comment link below (if you are reading this via feed or e-mail, click on the title of this post first) and inspire us.

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Until next time,

Take care - of your clutter!

Post from: Administrative Assistant