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productivity

The Food Truck Challenge

Recently, I took the Ptex Team on a surprise outing just a few doors down from our office. We came to a large, empty hall with chairs arranged in a circle. As the team filed in, no one knew what was going on, why they were there, or what we’d be doing.

Then, our moderator explained that we would spend the afternoon competing in “The Food Truck Challenge.” We divided into four teams and each team was tasked to create their own food truck according to their assigned cuisine (Mediterranean, Asian, South American, and desserts), complete with branding and marketing, three dishes plated for 20 people, and of course, the truck itself. Everyone had a blast!

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You 2.0: Your Update Is Now Available

You turn on your phone, and a familiar message flashes across the screen. It’s a request to update to the new and improved version of some app or software. You ignore it.

The next day, the same message comes up during an important meeting. And once again, you hit “not now.”

Then, a few days later, it happens again. Annoyed, you ignore the message, telling yourself that you’ll deal with it later.

A couple of weeks later, you find out that some of your friends and colleagues have certain helpful features on their phones that you don’t have, making you feel outdated. The only difference? They took action—they clicked “update.”

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Don’t Make Things Harder than They Need to Be

I was once discussing with two business partners how to upgrade their company’s technology. When I suggested we first examine their current order processing system, one partner launched excitedly into a detailed explanation of how it all works: Orders are taken by phone, then someone handwrites an order form, then it goes to billing, and so on and so forth. He explained the ins and outs of their complicated system for tracking orders, packing and shipping items at their warehouse. Read more

The Year Isn’t Over Yet. Make it Count.

Tell me if this sounds familiar.

You planned a Monday meeting, but the time arrives and you’re busy or tired, and you decide to reschedule for Tuesday. On Tuesday, something important comes up, so you reschedule for the next day. Before you know it, Friday rolls around and you still have not had that meeting, so you postpone it until the following Monday.

The cycle continues, until you actively decide that enough is enough, and you’re going to make that meeting a priority.

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Breaking The Myth Of Multitasking—with Dave Crenshaw

Do you ever wish you could be a more focused leader, a calmer thinker, a more productive worker? Do you ever get to the end of the day and wonder what you actually accomplished?

This week’s guest on the podcast is productivity and time management expert, Dave Crenshaw. As an author, speaker, and online instructor, Dave has transformed the lives and careers of hundreds of thousands around the world, developing leaders in Fortune 500 companies, universities, and organizations of every size.

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“Can I Just Have Two Minutes of Your Time?”

There’s a knock at your office door.

Your employee peeks their head in innocently.“Do you have a quick second?” “Can I just have 2 minutes of your time?”

OK. It’s just two minutes, you think.

How many of you fall for this on a daily basis?

Though the person doesn’t usually intend it as such, it’s a trap—and we know it. A second is never a just second. A minute is never just a minute. Even if it were, all those second and minute interruptions really add up … to more than you might think.

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How the 80/20 Rule Will Change Your Business

Have you ever met someone who always seems busy—but if you asked what they’ve accomplished in the last day, or the last week, they couldn’t give you a straight answer?

Maybe, if you’re being totally honest, this happens to you, too?

Let’s face it. Being truly productive in today’s business world is more difficult than ever. Yes, technology has made us much more efficient in many ways, but it also comes with great challenges: The constant bombardment of dings and notifications and emails and phone calls and texts can throw even the most type-A, goal-oriented businessperson out of focus.

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