New York SBDC Research Network

From Brooks Digital : A few years ago I was in a serious battle with overwhelm at work. I was constantly feeling stressed about all the different projects that needed to be moved forward. While my inbox tugged me in five different directions, I had this ever-present feeling of guilt about the things I knew I really should be doing, but kept putting off. And even when I wasn't working, the stream of notifications, emails, and texts kept me half-present with my friends and family. It was exhausting. I knew there had to be a better way. So I set out to find the root of the problem and learn how to get more of the right things done without my responsibilities having an iron grip over my mind 24/7. And while I'm still not perfect, I've grown tremendously. I’m in control of my schedule, can be more present with my friends and family, and I’ve canned the nagging guilt...

SBDC Staff Training seems like a long time ago already, and we left with the plan that I would share my presentation on Best Apps for Small Business. In the time between then and now, I've dabbled in even more apps that I'd like to share in case you might find them useful for yourself or your clients. I'll be making posts on the different categories of apps with a great deal of crossover. Calendars, Lists and To-Dos  For Chrome users, this is my actual favorite for a to-do product and it's actually for the desktop. I had been reading an anecdote about the Ivy Lee Method for achieving peak productivity which you may be familiar with. The gist is that at the end of each day, you write down the most important things to achieve the following day. Write down 6 items, but only 6. Prioritize those 6. Tomorrow, concentrate on completing the 1st item. Don't move to the next until that item is done. Carry on in this fashion for the rest of the list. Repeat daily. ...

I’ve been feeling really tired lately. It’s that tired feeling that drags on for days and days until you finally give in and have a real rest from work (I’ve planned a week off in October). Trying to work on projects that require lots of thought, mental clarity, and—I can’t even think of the word I want, because I’m tired, which proves my point: It’s hard to do good work when you’re tired. But there’s a lot of nuance to how sleep affects our work. Read more from BPLANS

In 2006, a report published in Inc.com concluded — ridiculously — that productivity losses cost U.S. employers more than half a trillion dollars — $544,000,000,000, to be a little more precise. The report found that in an eight-hour day, employers spent an average of 1.86 hours “on something other than their jobs, not including lunch and scheduled breaks.” And of those surveyed, 52% “admitted that their biggest distraction during work hours [was] surfing the Internet for personal use.” The data is garbage, of course; the idea that employees should be always-on and that anything less than that is going to result in productivity losses isn't based in science or reality. But every once in a while, there’s an example of an employee who goes to the extreme, not doing much work and perhaps none at all. Take, for example, the story of a former software developer identified by the press only as Bob. More from Now I Know .

So, you’ve just finished a task or an assignment and figure you deserve a little mental break. Why not check Facebook or Twitter? It will only take you five minutes, right? Wrong. As American students and workers spend more time on the Internet and on social media sites in particular, their levels of productivity are tanking. The average college student might spend three hours checking their various social media sites, but only two hours studying. That discrepancy is reflected in lower GPAs. Workers aren’t faring much better, either. Every time someone at work gets an IM, a Facebook message or a tweet, it takes them a whopping 23 minutes to get back on task. Taken all together, that costs the American economy $650 billion per year in lost productivity. The next time you think about checking a social media site, consider how much time and energy it will actually take. See infographic .

The path to productivity is not a new assistant or project management software. It's these four shared characteristics. 1. They have a life. Far from being the maniacally focused, late night or early morning types, truly creative innovators or problem solvers have a rich life outside of work. One of the finest CEOs I've known, Carol Vallone, founder of WebCT, coached her local softball team. She said it's where she honed her leadership skills. It also meant she had to take her mind off work and think in different ways. No wonder academic research keeps showing that external commitments are highly correlated with high achievement. 2. They take breaks. It's easy to think that you'll get more done if you never stop. But what's clear from neuroscience is that we can easily get resource-depleted (tired) and can quickly become rigid and narrow minded (tunnel vision). In other words, we get stuck. Taking a break—just walking around for a minute—can reset and re...

Have the urge to do some spring cleaning this year? Be sure to funnel some of that energy toward making effective changes in your small business. Mary Lee Gannon, CEO of StartingOverNow.com, specializes in productivity solutions for people and organizations. HERE , she offers four ideas for jump-starting your spring cleaning efforts.

Consumer Expenditures 2010 [PDF] Multifactor Productivity Trends for Detailed Industries, 2009

National Compensation Survey: Occupational Earnings in the United States, 2010 The National Compensation Survey (NCS) provides comprehensive measures of occupational earnings, compensation cost trends, the incidence of benefits, and detailed benefit provisions. This bulletin presents estimates of occupational pay for the Nation. These national estimates originate from the NCS locality survey data and are weighted to represent the Nation as a whole. The estimates include pay for workers in major sectors within the U.S. economy in 2010–the civilian, private, and State and local government sectors–and by various occupational and establishment characteristics. The civilian sector, by NCS definition, excludes Federal Government, agricultural, and household workers. National Compensation Survey: Occupational Wages by Census Division, 2010 Preliminary Multifactor Productivity Trends – 2010 [PDF]

I think the reasons why so many New Year's resolutions bite the dust is a lack of energy (and not a lack of will). By the end of the work day, after the caffeine has worn off, I don't have the drive to get to the gym, nor the wherewithal to take the time to make a better meal. As I've written before , we all could use a bit more sleep - specifically, an afternoon nap. It's not an idle fantasy (except, perhaps, in the mind of Jim King). Here's a website that advocates the services of Dr. Sara Mednick, who founded a consultancy called Take a Nap as a means of spreading her belief that American work productivity can be improved by brief power naps in the afternoon. She states that companies annually lose millions of dollars in absenteeism, illness, and just plain dopiness caused by employees who are too zoned out to get things done efficiently throughout the work day. If you live in the metro New York area, you could duck out mid-day and visit Yelo . This company ...