When December hits it seems as though half of the office disappears, which can be stressful for those still working. Even though its the holiday season and many businesses slow down, it’s still vital to think ahead during this time. Make sure everyone in your office knows when you and your co-workers (or your team if you’re the boss) are taking holiday vacations near the end of the year and plan ahead for how their absences should be handled.

As a team, you’ll typically need to plan ahead for questions such as:

• Who will answer the phones?
• Will you shut down operations to give everyone the days off or will you keep a skeleton crew running?
• Who will get the mail?
• How will people work from home? Will they have access to the correct files and software?
• If there is a “lighter” day, then what will the staff do - organize and file documents to get ahead, perhaps?

Its also important to ensure that your role gets filled when you are gone if the company isn’t on a holiday itself. This means that you should delegate the tasks that need to get done before you leave.

Whether its your 1st or your 50th Thanksgiving meal that you’re hosting, you still probably panic a little just thinking about the day. Here at Innovatively Organized, we love the holiday because we can implement our productivity skills into planning the meal. To help you stress a little less this Thanksgiving, we want to share with you some productivity tips that will help you execute a successful thanksgiving meal. Here are our Thanksgiving Productivity Tips:

Create a schedule

Create a schedule this weekend to plan for the big day. Break down the holiday feast into phases such as planning, shopping, prep, cooking, serving, cleaning, etc.

Make a to-do list

Write out your to-do list for each phase. You’ll be really glad you wrote down potatoes on your grocery list when you almost forget to buy them at the store.

Delegate to family members

Delegate certain tasks to family members, whether its certain parts of the cooking process or simply part of your shopping list. You can also assign certain family members a certain dish to bring so that you don’t have to do all of the cooking. Hosting a Thanksgiving dinner is a lot less stressful when others help you out.

Don’t try to do everything at once

As long as you plan out your time effectively and implement the previous tips, you won’t have to worry about this tip. However, just remember that no one can do everything at once! You should relax and enjoy the holiday.

Want additional help with your productivity? Check out our individual productivity consulting!

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With season 5 of ‘The Voice’ in full swing, our team at Innovatively Organized realized that the show is not only entertaining but also full of productivity lessons! The contestants and their coaches have been working tirelessly to make it to the final 12 announced last week, so how did they make it? Although their talent is undeniable, their drive and productivity is what has separated them from those that have been voted off. Here’s the 3 productivity tips we’ve learned from the contestants on ‘The Voice’:

Practice makes perfect

For everyone that watches the show, we’ve all heard the stories of the practice that each artist put in to have such an amazing voice. The show also highlights some of their practice they put in with their coaches. Those contestants who are serious about their practice time show vast improvements and avoid elimination each week all the way through to the end. This can be applied to everyday life because those who practice and stick to what they’re doing end up finishing, even if there are struggles along the way. No matter how difficult, doing something over and over again will lead to more success with that task in the future.

Commitment makes it easier

The contestants coming in with experience seem to know how to memorize and perform. Even the ones that lack experience but come into the show with commitment go far in the show. Being committed to something builds muscle memory and helps habits stick easier. When you are passionate about something, such as winning ‘The Voice’, there will be a much higher chance you will succeed. Even if you don’t like a task or find the steps to reach a goal are difficult, if you tell yourself that you really want it, you’ll achieve it.

Confidence leads to success

‘The Voice’ contestants are some of the most confident people out there considering they are willing to sing in front of millions of Americans on National television. We can all learn from them on this. Being confident and positive helps you stay committed. If you think a task seems too tedious or a goal too unreachable, you’re setting yourself up for failure. However, if you tell yourself that you are smart or talented enough to complete something, it will seem more realistic and will thus motivate you to finish.

Need additional help with individual productivity? Check out our Individual Productivity Consulting page to see how we can help!

Have you ever felt a sense of accomplishment after responding to all your emails, only to be brought down minutes later by the tasks that are left unchecked on your to-do list for that day? According to Mashable, a 2012 study found that “11.2 hours is the average time spent reading and answering emails each week.  That’s 28% of a 40-hour workweek.” That is a lot of time in your day!

To avoid feeling a false sense of productivity, take a moment to evaluate if the emails you’re processing are actually helping you complete tasks or if they are just creating more work. Perhaps there is another communication channel (instant message, phone, in person, etc.) that would be more efficient or effective?

Need additional help with your productivity? Check out how our Individual Productivity Consulting could help you!

When a client signs a contract with you, the process of faxing or scanning documents is tedious and makes the negotiation process longer and more stressful for everyone involved. Fortunately, EchoSign has changed the way in which people can do business. EchoSign allows users to send, sign, track, manage and access documents digitally.

Here’s why we love this app:

• It works on your iPad and iPhone. However, the iPad is probably a little more user friendly if you want to use it with your clients
• It connects with Dropbox so you can upload an agreement directly from your Dropbox account
• It’s capable of in-person signing when you’re on-site with clients OR you can send a document to get signed via email
• You can easily access the status of documents that are out waiting for signatures

E-signing your documents through EchoSign is a great way to save time and paper. You also won’t have to worry about you or your client losing any service agreements or other important documents.

Want more app recommendations? Download our Free Essential Productivity Apps Checklist! 

If you are starting to feel envious of all the companies that find their documents with the click of a button while you have to sift through your piles of paper, it may be time to convince your team to go digital. The thought of converting all that paper may be frightening to some people, whether its because they fear something will get lost in the process or just because of the sheer amount of paper that must be scanned in. If you are ready to go paperless but have some uneasy coworkers that aren’t as ready, here are a few things that may help convince them:

1. File Structure

Make sure you have a clear file naming convention and folder structure for documents that are scanned and saved electronically. Your staff will be more likely to go paperless if they know they can file and retrieve electronic documents quickly and easily.

2. Training

Schedule a training session on digital organization to prevent digital clutter from accumulating. Without the proper training, workers may end up accidentally duplicating, deleting, or moving documents.

3. Transition Date

Pick a transition date of when you want to go paperless and stick to it. Plan ahead so your team knows what changes are coming and how to use the new technology.

4. Tablets

Make tablets available. It’s a pricey option, but having tablets readily available will help streamline the process of going paperless.

Schedule a digital organization training session with us to get the process of going paperless started!

Each A is worth 6 points, each B is worth 4 points, and each C is worth 2 points.

8-12 points: Overwhelmed On-The-Go

Whoops, looks like you may need some mobile productivity help! You may not have access to documents from anywhere outside the office, and you spend your time waiting doing mindless activities that may be fun but aren’t so productive. Don’t worry, we can help you get your devices in sync and give you tips on staying productive when you only have a few minutes. Follow our Blog for help throughout the year and consider calling us for a free 15-minute phone consultation with one of our productivity consultants

13-18 points: Promising Professional

You are doing pretty well with your mobile productivity, but there are a few areas that could use improvement. With a few tips and tricks you’ll be well on your way to being a mobile productivity rockstar! Follow our Blog for mobile productivity tips throughout the year, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter for quick daily tips.

19-24 points: Mobile Master

Congratulations! It looks like you know exactly how to stay productive when you are away from the office! You can access and edit documents while you are waiting, your email and calendar are perfectly in sync across devices and you make the most of the time between appointments. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for additional tips that will keep you organized and productive!

Register for out upcoming webinar on Wednesday, September 25th, Mobile Professionals: 12 Quick Tips for Professionals On-The-Go for additional mobile productivity tips!

We’re excited to share a new app that we’ve discovered called Venmo, which makes peer-to-peer payments extremely easy with just a couple simple steps. It allows you to choose a friend through their phone number, email, or even through their Facebook profile, then securely pay them with Venmo’s bank-grade security system. Here’s more about the app and why we love it:

Our favorite parts of the app:

• You can “charge” someone or you can “pay” someone with just a few clicks
• Email and text notifications make completing transactions easy
• If you use your “Venmo Balance”, a bank transfer, or a debit card then you won’t have any fee transaction

Ideas for using Venmo:

• Splitting the bill at dinner
• Reimbursing your friend/family member for something
• Sharing cab rides

Do you use Venmo and have anything to say about it? Let us know in the comments below!

Many people who already have a Gmail account have probably noticed the new tabs that recently appeared in your inbox. Gmail has included new tabs labeled primary, social, promotions, and updates. With this new feature, your emails will automatically get sorted into these tabs (and more if you wish to customize them). Some people are complaining about the change, while others love it. After testing out the new inbox ourselves, here are our thoughts on this new feature:

Pros:

With these new tabs, Google does some of the thinking and sorting for you, which can save time when you’re checking your emails. It also eliminates non-urgent emails (such as newsletters and promotional deals) from your primary email inbox that can lead to distractions at work.

Cons:

The tabs put your emails “out of site and out of mind,” which can lead to forgetting about certain emails and tasks. Also, some people prefer to sort emails themselves so they feel more in control of their inbox.

What are your thoughts on the new Gmail Tabs? Let us know in the comments below!

Even the most organized offices and people can suffer from bottlenecks that hinder productivity. Whether it’s the chatty coworker in the cubicle next to you or duplicate documents that make finding the most recent version a headache, offices deal with numerous productivity killers on a daily basis (sometimes unknowingly). Below are 5 common bottlenecks to lookout for in your office:

1) Too Many Tools- With thousands of options for businesses to choose from when it comes to tools and software, many professionals end up using multiple tools for a single project because they aren’t aware a more comprehensive tool exists. You may be putting together a report and using 5 different tools when there are probably 1-2 tools that could accomplish the same thing.

2) Duplicating Efforts- Have you ever created a report, only to find out that your coworker already completed it? Without certain processes or best practices in place, it’s easy to unknowingly duplicate efforts and waste time.

3) Not Sharing Information- Someone might create a checklist or tracking sheet to streamline a process, but if they don’t share it with the rest of their team then everyone else loses out and wastes time. Not sharing information is also a common issue when it comes to sharing contact information between team members.

4) Lack of Visibility- Many people have trouble knowing when their coworkers are available or what they are working on. Sharing calendars and task lists can help cut down on time spent scheduling meetings and delegating tasks.

5) Interruptions- There will always be things that distract us when we are trying to work. Some of the most common distractions include email notifications that constantly pop up on your screen, people stopping by to chat, and the phone ringing. We may think staying in touch with the rest of the world all of the time is necessary and unavoidable, but limiting communication for periods of time can really boost productivity.

Does your office suffer from any of these bottlenecks? Contact us for a free 15 minute consultation to find out how we can help!