Staff Professional Development
June 5, 2014
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What is Working Smart?
Boosting Your Brain Function
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Tips for Working Smarter
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Brainstorm
Work: A job or activity that you do regularly to
earn money; the place where you do your job; the
things that you do as part of your job.
(Miriam Webster)
Smarter: Very good at learning or thinking about
things; showing intelligence or good judgment.
(Miriam Webster)
Working Smarter: An empowered state of
habitually and strategically achieving more goals,
more often.
-Visa Development http://vista-development.com/ws/working_smart.htm
Stephen Covey tells a story about a woodcutter who’s
saw gets more blunt as time passes and he continues
cutting down trees. If the woodcutter were to stop
sawing, sharpen his saw and go back to cutting the
tree with a sharp blade, he would actually save time
and effort in the long run.
What does this mean? Having a balanced program
for self-renewal in the areas of our life: physical,
social/emotional, mental and spiritual.
http://blog.bufferapp.com/5-ways-to-get-more-done-by-workingsmarter-not-harder
Attention Span
◦ On average our brains are only able to focus for 90
minutes and need at least 20 minutes rest.
http://blog.bufferapp.com/5-ways-to-get-more-done-by-workingsmarter-not-harder
Take a Nap!
Research indicates that when memory is first
recorded in the brain, it is ‘fragile’ and easily
forgotten, especially if the brain is asked to
memorize more things. By taking a nap, you
are pushing memories to the “more permanent
storage” preventing them from being
“overwritten”.
http://blog.bufferapp.com/5-ways-to-get-more-done-by-workingsmarter-not-harder
Study of participants that did remarkably better
on a test following a nap vs. those that did not
sleep.
http://blog.bufferapp.com/5-ways-to-get-more-done-by-workingsmarter-not-harder
By spending time in nature, it helps to reset our
attention span and relax our minds.
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Experiment by Daniel Goleman (author of Focus: The Hidden
Power of Excellence) studied the difference of walking
down a busy city street vs. a quiet park.
The level of attention needed to navigate a busy
street is high enough that the walk doesn’t let
the brain relax to reset our focus levels.
http://blog.bufferapp.com/5-ways-to-get-more-done-by-workingsmarter-not-harder
Be Happy! Learn to maintain a positive state of
mind.
Shawn Anchor – American educator, author and
speaker known for his advocacy of positive
psychology.
http://www.ted.com/playlists/60/work_smarter
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Don’t Check eMail First Thing…
◦ Your brain gets overwhelmed with information and
ideas, and your personal objectives and goals start
to slip.
◦ Leave emails to early in the afternoon.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/01/
15/how-to-perform-at-your-peak-every-day10-tips-for-working-smarter-in-2014/
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Prioritize Top 3 Goals
◦ Prioritize your top 3 Goals for the day first thing or
the last thing of each day for the next day.
◦ You can remember 3 things to do in a day relatively
easily.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/01/
15/how-to-perform-at-your-peak-every-day10-tips-for-working-smarter-in-2014/
Meetings
◦ Stand Up meetings
 On average 34% less time than stand up meetings.
 Sitting is the ‘new smoking’.
◦ Walking Meetings
 Need to grab a few extra steps to reach 10,000?
Schedule walking meetings for your next 1:1.
(http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/05/work-smarter-for-shorter-meetings-stand-up.html)
Get Moving!
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Get up and stretch
Take a break - go for a 5-10 minute walk
Get a cup of coffee or water
Attend a fitness class at lunch
“Your ability to make great decisions is a limited
resource.”
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Conserve your Decision-Making Energy at
Every opportunity.
◦ Become disciplined about not paying attention to
non-urgent tasks until it is essential:
 Turn off phone during meetings.
 Don’t expend energy thinking about a project until you
have all the information you need.
 Delegate
http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/01/
15/how-to-perform-at-your-peak-every-day10-tips-for-working-smarter-in-2014/
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Protect Quality Thinking Time
◦ If you’ve got a particularly challenging issue or
project, devote 30 to 60 minutes a day, or several
hours 1-day a week (block the time on your
calendar).
◦ Find a quiet space in your office area to work.
◦ Turn off all distractions (email, phone ringer, etc).
http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/01/
15/how-to-perform-at-your-peak-every-day10-tips-for-working-smarter-in-2014/
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Single – Task
◦ Is there really such a thing as multi-tasking?
◦ Our brains can really do only one thing at a time.
◦ Multi-tasking between 2 activities takes the same
amount of time as it does to do a 1 task at a time.
◦ Have 2 priorities? Do them 1 at a time!
http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/01/
15/how-to-perform-at-your-peak-every-day10-tips-for-working-smarter-in-2014/
Take Care of Yourself – Carve out Down Time
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Take your vacation time.
Unplug! Do not check your email messages while
on vacation.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/01/
15/how-to-perform-at-your-peak-every-day10-tips-for-working-smarter-in-2014/
Recognize Your Accomplishments
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No matter how small, or how large – celebrate!
What do you do to recognize achievement?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/01/
15/how-to-perform-at-your-peak-every-day10-tips-for-working-smarter-in-2014/
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Allow your brain to recharge
Respect the attention span
Take a Nap
Be Happy
Prioritize your tasks
Think about different ways to have your meeting
Get moving
Think about when you do your best thinking – and save
that for decision making
Schedule project and concentration time in your calendar
Think about if you can really multi-task
Take your vacation time
Recognize your accomplishments
What are Work Smart Tips you have used?
Why have they worked?