How to be Productive

TEXTILE GUY said:
The Japanese have this word - Muda (waste).

When it comes to meetings, the philosophy is a lot simpler than the traditional western ideas. They say, if you have a meeting and didn't get an outcome on any of these points, you have wasted the time :-

You meet, but fail to discuss
You discuss, but fail to decide
You decide, but fail to do
You do, but fail to measure

In essence 4 things that a meeting should target, otherwise its a tea party.
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Is this from:

The Toyota Way - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org

?

Tip 3: Read. A lot. You can solve more problems exploring the minds of others than trying to figure it all out on your own.
 
My typical day at work looks like this:

8:00-9:30am - Meeting
10-12:30am - Meeting (overlapping with two other meetings)
12:30-13:00 - Lunch
13:00-15:00pm - Meeting
15:00-16:00pm - Meeting

I've complained to my line manager about too many unproductive meetings but he didn't seem to think it's a problem. I usually work on other tasks and answer e-mails from clients during meetings but I struggle to do that and focus on whatever is being discussed and often sound like a tard when someone on the call asks a question.

Is it even possible to be productive in this kind of environment without impacting your work/life balance?
 
Napalm2880 said:
My typical day at work looks like this:

8:00-9:30am - Meeting
10-12:30am - Meeting (overlapping with two other meetings)
12:30-13:00 - Lunch
13:00-15:00pm - Meeting
15:00-16:00pm - Meeting

I've complained to my line manager about too many unproductive meetings but he didn't seem to think it's a problem. I usually work on other tasks and answer e-mails from clients during meetings but I struggle to do that and focus on whatever is being discussed and often sound like a tard when someone on the call asks a question.

Is it even possible to be productive in this kind of environment without impacting your work/life balance?
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Can you get me a job there? I love wasting time in meetings. And I'm fine with sounding like a tard.
 
Nike7 said:
Is this from:

The Toyota Way - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org en.m.wikipedia.org

?

Tip 3: Read. A lot. You can solve more problems exploring the minds of others than trying to figure it all out on your own.
Click to expand...
Indeedy doody.

I would suggest its a great read.

If anyone is looking for a Six Sigma Black Belt level 3 - I happen to know a guy :)
For you guys, best prices :)
 
Nike7 said:
Tip 3: Read. A lot. You can solve more problems exploring the minds of others than trying to figure it all out on your own.
Click to expand...
I couldn't agree more.

An easy read for beginners is The Goal, Eli Golratt (Theory of constraints).
Mark O George - Doing More with Less. Its broken into bits - lean for beginners I suppose.

........ and my own personally favourite ----\

1652366209531.png

Also, watch Guy Kawasaki - interesting takes from him.

Its also worth investigated TPM - total productive maintenance -
At least more than one pillar is usually neglected in any business or lip service is paid to it, and it affects the whole business.
 
RedViking said:
Share some practical tips on how you manage your day and stay productive and stay on top of things.

Specially input from company owners, directors, CEO's, project coordinators and other high pressure positions.

Do you make use of software and to do lists?

How do you stay focus?

How do you organise your day?

How many productive hours would you say you have every day?

How do you manage your time between work, family and "fun".

@Afrihost-Gian , @ScottulusMaximus @ElonMusk , and others running their own companies, any advice from your side?


Cheers!
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Very kind for the tag but I fear you are vastly overestimating my importance!
 
Spend half and hour to an hour a day planning and updating your to do list

During this process find ways to eliminate time wastage and find ways to help other to do their tasks more effectively
 
As someone in a high-pressure project management role, my tip here is simple: use an electronic task list of some kind. The ability to edit tasks and drag them up and down to increase or decrease priorities, or drag them into different buckets of tasks, is priceless. I often wonder who still uses paper diaries. I couldn't survive in my job with one: things just change too rapidly all day to possibly track it on paper. I recommend Asana: it's free and as powerful as you'll ever need.

The basic routine is:
Email in - capture task/s to task list - file email (critical for staying on top of stuff long-term) - action task - update task list - update weekly / month reports. Repeat.
 
Lots of valuable input and I will admit that I am doing the opposite of many of the advice given so far. So definitely room for improvement and some adjustments to be made. Thanks @Moosedrool @rh1 @Other Pineapple Smurf @Nike7 @Foxhound5366 and others taking the time to respond.

I think the biggest challenge, even with 10+ qualified employees , is I am still serving the role of director as well as having to do a lot of billable work until they are skilled enough (the type of business is not really something you can study for) to run projects 95%. They are very skilled and many of them have very good experience with the "tools", but because they come from various countries, they might not have the handson experience with specific countries work we do.

Looking forward to more input from others.
 
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Foxhound5366 said:
As someone in a high-pressure project management role, my tip here is simple: use an electronic task list of some kind. The ability to edit tasks and drag them up and down to increase or decrease priorities, or drag them into different buckets of tasks, is priceless. I often wonder who still uses paper diaries. I couldn't survive in my job with one: things just change too rapidly all day to possibly track it on paper. I recommend Asana: it's free and as powerful as you'll ever need.

The basic routine is:
Email in - capture task/s to task list - file email (critical for staying on top of stuff long-term) - action task - update task list - update weekly / month reports. Repeat.
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I think routine is what I lack. I do have all the tools. But don't think I use them correctly or plan my day properly.
I use a combination of Microsoft To Do, Outlook Flags and Notion.so (my digital brain).
But even then work and business is sometimes so overwhelming my brain just switch off and I have no idea what to see to first.

I do think what @Moosedrool mentioned is a big factor

don't attempt to impress your customer by stepping way out of your line of duty since it's unpaid stress and responsibility you place on yourself and staff.
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Although this is not unpaid to the company, as the client will pay per hour (mostly) for time I personally spend on a project, it does end up costing personal time to an already heavy load.
 
RedViking said:
Share some practical tips on how you manage your day and stay productive and stay on top of things.

Specially input from company owners, directors, CEO's, project coordinators and other high pressure positions.

Do you make use of software and to do lists?

How do you stay focus?

How do you organise your day?

How many productive hours would you say you have every day?

How do you manage your time between work, family and "fun".

@Afrihost-Gian , @ScottulusMaximus @ElonMusk , and others running their own companies, any advice from your side?


Cheers!
Click to expand...
Simple. Set a goal for the week, then day 1 to day 5 set a goal for the day. At the end of the day revisit the goal and rework the next if needed. Look if you are going to play games, watch porn or bake or 6 hours leaving 2 hours open then well you will not get work done. It is rather simple. Well for me anyways, but balance is also key.
 
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Herr der Verboten said:
Simple. Set a goal for the week, then day 1 to day 5 set a goal for the day. At the end of the day revisit the goal and rework the next if needed. Look if you are going to play games, watch porn or bake or 6 hours leaving 2 hours open then well you will get work done. It is rather simple. Well for me anyways, but balance is also key.
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1 goal a day? 1 goal? Who here has the luxury of only 1 goal a day? Damn boi, that's living the good life right there!
 
Foxhound5366 said:
1 goal a day? 1 goal? Who here has the luxury of only 1 goal a day? Damn boi, that's living the good life right there!
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Better to have 1 goal and do it well then 10 goals a day where most aren't completed and the ones that were completed were of a low standard, no?
 
Polymathic said:
Better to have 1 goal and do it well then 10 goals a day where most aren't completed and the ones that were completed were of a low standard, no?
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So why not eliminate arbitrary numbers altogether, and just work through as many items as you can within the available time, prioritizing using the Eisenhower matrix?

images
 
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