My latest article for Harvard Business Review is based on something that happens to me a lot as a productivity trainer: Executives want me to teach their team time management tips and techniques to help them be more productive. But, in talking to them, it becomes...
Email isn't the only high-tech distraction that makes it hard to focus at work. You're probably also struggling to manage business text and instant messages, not to mention notifications from services like Skype and Slack or HipChat. A client recently wrote me to ask...
More and more busy people are using virtual assistants — freelance administrative workers who do their jobs remotely — to lighten their workloads. Hiring a VA, though, isn't an instant fix for your productivity. So how do you make the most of a virtual assistant?...
Work-life balance used to be a lot more straightforward: When you were at work, you worked. And when you weren't at the office, you were engaged in the rest of life. Technology, of course, has complicated everything. Today, our work can find us even when we're far...
Have you set up your workplace to support employee productivity? Are you sure? In my latest article for Harvard Business Review, 4 Organizational Mistakes That Plague Modern Knowledge Workers, I talk about some often-overlooked factors that could be holding your...
Are you in the habit of checking email outside of the office? If so, how does this habit affect your life? HBR.org asked its readers to weigh in on questions like these after one of my articles for the site, "Your Late-Night Emails Are Hurting Your Team," struck a...
Remember back when we thought email was going to be a breakthrough for effective communication at the office? Today, we're more likely to view email as a major annoyance and, worse, a distraction from the meaningful work we really should be doing. Writing for Huffpost...
Think a Ban on After-Hours Email is Crazy? Think Again. For years, I suggested to my clients that they consider having corporate policies for after hours email. Portable technology plus bad user habits contribute to an "always-on" environment that is bad for employees...
The thoughts ping you at random: “I need to talk to Brenda about pushing back this deliverable…” An hour later: “I have to ask Joe about the pricing for the client proposal….” Twenty minutes after that: “I wonder if Luis has finished researching new project...
Note: This post was updated on February 20, 2021 When it's used effectively, email helps people maintain good relations with others. I think most people would agree that effective email management, and good email etiquette, suggests we avoid overwhelming people with...
