How does a death in the family or serious illness affect your personal productivity and effort? The answer, as well as how long the effects last, is surprising.… Read More How Much Does Trauma Decrease Productivity?
When we want to get work done, we usually try our best to focus and minimize interruptions. But some interruptions, under the right conditions, can actually help productivity without sacrificing quality. Researchers from The Netherlands and Russia (Zijlstra et al., 1999) ran an experiment where office workers completed a task in a simulated office environment.… Read More Interruptions Benefit Productivity, Study Shows
Before you blame your needy cat or a chatty co-worker for interrupting your work, make sure those distractions aren’t actually coming from within.… Read More What Interrupts Us?
How many keyboard shortcuts do you know? How many do you use? How much more efficient and productive could you be if you learned and used them more? I’m a huge proponent of using keyboard shortcuts to increase productivity. Check out some of my favorite keyboard shortcuts for Windows and Mac, and some essential shortcuts… Read More Keyboard Shortcuts
Is what you think you know about personal productivity rooted in science? These six facts and myths might surprise you.… Read More 6 Facts and Myths About Productivity
When we don’t cut ourselves enough slack, we sabotage our ability to work efficiently.… Read More Productivity is Impossible Without Slack
Is multitasking is bad for your productivity? A growing body of research says just the opposite.… Read More Forget Everything You Think You Know About Multitasking
How “aroused” do you have to be to get a job done well? “Aroused,” in this context, means incentivized or motivated, of course, not sexually aroused. Still, it’s an interesting question, and the answer could change how you get work done. Two researchers, Robert M. Yerkes and John D. Dodson, worked on this idea back… Read More Don’t Get Too Aroused or You Might Blow It!
Special Halloween Post One of the reasons I started Productivity Report was to look at the science behind productivity and figure out what we should do to change our behavior based on the findings to become more productive. And since it’s nearly Halloween, I wanted to share this gem of a quote I came across… Read More Diversify Your Trick-or-Treating Candy Haul, Productivity Researchers Say
When you’re having a truly unproductive day, it may be worth your while to quit and let that day go, rather than force yourself to try and eke something out of it. Here’s some interesting research that shows people are terrible at thinking about their productivity in the long term and instead focus too much… Read More Feeling Unproductive? Quitting Could Be the Best Option
PRODUCTIVITY REPORT 