Productivity Power Points

Make a Difference Day

2006-10-28T17:20:00.000-04:00

My banker sends me a monthly newsletter full of charming, homespun content along with a monthly/weekly/daily calendar of events. I notice today, October 28th, is "Make a Difference Day" --something most of us can readily identify with, I'm sure, since almost everyone wants to make a contribution that gives life purpose and meaning. Some of us want to make a difference for our families and those close to us, and others want to change the country and the world in positive ways. We think of things like donating time, money or material things; teaching our children well; voting and participating in our democracy; volunteering; improving our homes and little bits of garden; and conserving precious resources -- just to name a few.

But think too of the obstacles. To quote the title of Marilyn Paul's excellent book -- "It's hard to make a difference when you can't find your keys." You know the feeling: "I don't have time to volunteer or vote." "It's too hard to teach or tithe." Overbooked, overwhelmed, stressed out, and drowning in "stuff" makes for a painful road with no time to stop and think about meaningful contributions and life's higher purposes, and precious little time to just stop and think.

Perhaps the place to start on "Make a Difference Day" is with ourselves. How can we better organize our days, our work, our spaces and our lives so that we can be more responsive, able to seize opportunities, have more time to mindfully foster positive change, and build quiet time into our lives to incubate good ideas that will make a difference?

Getting our own lives in order is the first step in being able to make a difference for others. And it doesn't have to all happen today! Small, incremental steps to shed mental and physical clutter will soon lead to identifying the really important goals. Then we can sharpen our focus on them, let go of what's not important, and find ways to simplify many corners of life. As a result, we can in time be ready when the call comes to "make a difference."

Get Organized for Disaster

2006-09-03T04:50:00.000-04:00

September is National Preparedness Month, sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security and designed to build awareness of the need to be ready for a catastrophe. Much of the press is aimed at preparing home and family for a potential disaster -- gathering supplies, planning an evacuation route, discussing communications. But businesses also need to be prepared, and research suggests that many businesses aren't.

When we think about disasters, terrorist attacks and hurricanes probably come to mind first, and many business owners many feel far removed from such catastrophic events and so haven't bothered to create a disaster recovery plan. But think about our vulnerability to other types of disasters -- fire, floods, droughts, chemical spills, blackouts, system failures, cyber attacks. What's the worst case scenario if a water main breaks, we have a personal medical emergency or human error crashes a system or triggers a law suit?

According to Gartner Group and other sources, 25% of businesses will not be able to reopen after a disaster, and 2 out of 5 organizations that experience a disaster will go out of business within 5 years. As business owners, we have a responsibility to plan. And a good way to get started is to shift our mental focus and think Protection and think Continuity.

September is as good a time as any to begin. I have lots of ideas to share with you about creating a disaster recovery (or business continuity) plan for your small or medium size business. And I've found a few excellent resources to help you get started. I'll be posting these throughout the month.

Hope you'll join me this month in getting organized for disaster!

Launch of the Productivity Power Points Blog

2006-08-29T10:30:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Ballantrae Solutions Blog!

My plan is to share with you here tips and strategies for improving your personal productivity, as well as reviews of books, products and tools to help you get and stay focused, organized, productive and innovative -- in other words, on top of your workload, not buried by it.

Want to find any document in your office in 5 seconds or less? Want to recapture 3 or more weeks of lost, unproductive time each year? Want to spend less time scrambling and more time focused on what's most important to your business or career?

My business is to organize you within your business. Whether you're buried in paper, drowning in electronic information, frustrated by an out-of-control schedule, or overwhelmed by projects and tasks that just don't get done, I'm here to help!

Share your ideas or workplace challenges with me here. I look forward to making a difference for you!