1-Minute Strategies: Sept. ’13
Use technology to create training materials for your team. Walkme lets you create step-by-step guides called “walkthroughs” to help people understand your internal processes. With Walkme you get to add “tip balloons” with information that helps people understand how websites and apps work.
Give yourself a break. Two-thirds of people eat lunch at their desks instead of taking a midday break at work, and that’s a mistake. Even “microbreaks” of 30 seconds to five minutes can improve your mental acuity and productivity.
Get away from it all. The more technology we have, the harder it is to get away from work and electronic distractions. If you really need a break, you should try an extreme retreat, which caters to people who want to relax and renew while going totally offline. Consider the Maine schooner Stephen Taber in Penobscot Bay, Maine; the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in Carmel Valley, Calif.; Outward Bound, in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness; Amangiri in Canyon Point, Utah; or Mepkin Abbey in Moncks Corner, S.C.
What’s distracting you from the work at hand? If you’re like respondents to a recent study by Ask.com, it’s loud colleagues, chatty colleagues and too many meetings. About 90% of respondents said they are more productive when they work alone, but only about 30% said they would prefer to telecommute than come into the office.
Stop reading here if you’re a germaphobe. A study by researchers at Michigan State University found that 95% of people don’t wash their hands long enough to be effective. In fact, 15% of men and 7% of women don’t wash their hands at all, and of those who do, half of men and 22% of women don’t use soap. You need to use soap and lather up for at least 20 seconds.
