Submit your workplace productivity questions to Ann Gomez.
She will answer your questions in 100 words or less.
Recent Questions and Answers
My email is out of control. I get so many emails every day that I can’t stay on top of them. How do I dig myself out of this mess?
Email volume seems to be growing exponentially year over year. So it is no surprise that many of us struggle to stay on top of it!
The best tip is to touch every email only once.Process every email the first time you open it. Don’t close it and assume that you’ll have time to come back to it later. Don’t waste your time re-reading emails.
Another tip: avoid cherry picking. I liken this to another form of procrastination. Start at the top of your email list and work your way down.
We hope you found this information useful. Please feel free to comment or pass along other techniques you may have come across.
Why is it important to take breaks during the day?
Isn’t it more productive to keep working?
Sure – we can all push ourselves to keep working, but overwhelming research points to the benefits of taking breaks. After a break, we work faster, we are more focused, and we are more creative. In fact, burn-out has been cited as a top issue impacting productivity.[1]
One company introduced a break program and found that “with more breaks from work, but fewer distractions between those breaks, employees became more productive.”
Breaks can be as simple as getting up to talk to someone or picking up the telephone. A slight change in your activity is all that you need.
[1] Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario: New Canadian Study Reveals Widespread Concern Over Employee Health and Workplace Productivity; www.hrpa.ca; Sourced 5/21/2008
Ask Ann
Overwhelmed…Overworked…Overdone???
Submit your workplace productivity questions to Ann Gomez.
She will answer your questions in 100 words or less.
Recent Questions and Answers
My email is out of control. I get so many emails every day that I can’t stay on top of them. How do I dig myself out of this mess?
Email volume seems to be growing exponentially year over year. So it is no surprise that many of us struggle to stay on top of it!
The best tip is to touch every email only once.Process every email the first time you open it. Don’t close it and assume that you’ll have time to come back to it later. Don’t waste your time re-reading emails.
Another tip: avoid cherry picking. I liken this to another form of procrastination. Start at the top of your email list and work your way down.
We hope you found this information useful. Please feel free to comment or pass along other techniques you may have come across.
^ Return to top
What is the best way to write an ‘efficient’ email?
Email is most effective when kept brief. In this light, consider these key tips:
We hope you found this information useful. Please feel free to comment or pass along any other techniques you may have come across.
^ Return to top
Why is it important to take breaks during the day?
Isn’t it more productive to keep working?
Sure – we can all push ourselves to keep working, but overwhelming research points to the benefits of taking breaks. After a break, we work faster, we are more focused, and we are more creative. In fact, burn-out has been cited as a top issue impacting productivity.[1]
One company introduced a break program and found that “with more breaks from work, but fewer distractions between those breaks, employees became more productive.”
Breaks can be as simple as getting up to talk to someone or picking up the telephone. A slight change in your activity is all that you need.
^ Return to top
[1] Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario: New Canadian Study Reveals Widespread Concern Over Employee Health and Workplace Productivity; www.hrpa.ca; Sourced 5/21/2008
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