ArticlesReader.com Menu
Newest Articles
Most Viewed Articles
ArticlesReader.com RSS
Submit Article
Login
Signup
Search the articles

Articles Main Categories
Advice
Animals
Automobiles
Business
Career
Communications
Computer Programming
Computers
Entertainment
Environment
Family
Fashion
Finance
Food
Health & Medical
Home & Garden
Humor
Internet Business
Internet Marketing
Legal
Leisure & Recreation
Marketing
Other
Politics
Reference & Education
Religion
Self Improvement
Sports
Technology & Science
Travel
Writing
Subscribe
Receive alert message from us when new articles submitted to our site for free.

Enter your name

Enter your email

Syndicate

















Related Products
Home::Small Business

“Powering Off” or “Power On?”

Author : Barbara Hemphill
Do you take your laptop on vacation? Do you sometimes “hate” your cell phone or your Blackberry? Harris Interactive recently reported that one-third of vacationers take their laptops on vacation. During a Sunday meal at a restaurant recently, I observed a man sitting with his family talking on his cell phone -- obviously about business. He was not happy – neither was his family!



To paraphrase Charles Dickens, “It is the best of times. It is the worst of times.” Certainly that applies when it comes to “connectivity.” Stories of 9-11 victims being able to communicate with family members in the last minutes of their lives warmed my heart, while the story my friend told of her mother answering her cell phone in the delivery room during the birth of her grandchild chilled my soul.



How grateful I was for my cell phone when I came across a young woman stalled on an interstate without one, and I could immediately get help. How convenient it is on vacation to use the Internet to explore the options for entertainment in the area on a rainy afternoon, and get directions to find it easily. How comforting to know that my family can reach me in case of an emergency – or something to celebrate! -- regardless of where I am in the world. The same can be said for my colleagues.



So here’s the question: Should you take your laptop on vacation? Should your cell phone be on 24/7? Clients often ask, “What should I do?” My answer: “That’s the wrong question. The question is “What will you do?” Maybe an even better question would be “What would you like to do?” Perhaps the best question of all is “What action will bring you the best results?” In order to answer that question, you have to take the time to answer “What ARE your best results?”



Repeatedly I have emphasized that one definition of “organization” is “controlling the things you can control, so you can cope with the things you can’t.” In the complex world in which we live, especially with the level of connectivity available, it’s easy to fall into the trap of feeling that we are victims of other people. I cringe when someone complains about having to answer their cell phone. Says who? If you don’t want to be reached, you can “power off.” If you have to be reachable because your job requires it, then the question may be “Am I in the right job?” Or, have you simply trained people that you are “always available.” Customer service is great, but it doesn’t require 24/7 response. It requires good communication. It’s highly frustrating to leave a message and get no response for days, but few situations would suffer if the response came one hour later so you could have lunch with a colleague without interruption.



Connectivity can be addictive. My daughter, who has her PhD in counseling, reminded me that an addiction is something that reduces the quality of your life and the people around you.



So what does all this have to do with productivity? My passion is helping individuals and organizations create and sustain a productive environment so everyone can accomplish their work and enjoy their lives. When used appropriately, connectivity does help you accomplish your work and enable you to play. It can also undermine your priorities at work, destroy your health, and poison your relationships when used inappropriately.



The issue is not whether you take your laptop on vacation or leave your cell phone on 24/7. For some people, the ability to check e-mail once a day on vacation brings peace of mind and can be done when others are sleeping or swimming. For others, the whole idea of a vacation is not taking your laptop. There is no “right” or “wrong.” The question is whether your choice is enhancing or diminishing your life and the lives of the people around you.



So “Power Off” or “Power On?” – it’s truly up to you!



P.S. SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT: Your ability to make any connection more valuable is being able to find the information you need when you need it. Are you wasting valuable time looking for what you need? Could you find what other people in your office have if you needed it? If not, fill out our Productive Environment Scorecard, (www.ProductiveEnvironment.com) and we’ll give you a free 30-minute phone consultation to identify specific steps you can take to make sure that everyone in your organization is taking the right action at the right time with the right information.


Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com





www.ProductiveEnvironment.com





Spam emails More free articles

Related articles


  1. How to Create an Employee Manual
  2. Become The Squeaky Wheel and Watch Your Business Skyrocket!
  3. Keeping a Partnership ALIVE and THRIVING
  4. Finding the PERFECT Alliance Partner
  5. Who Makes the BEST Alliance
  6. A Small Business Consultant Can Help in Many Ways... But One Thing He Cant Provide
  7. Advertising - For Small Businesses (Part 2)
  8. Advertising - For Small Businesses (Part 1)
  9. When to Say NO!
  10. Chamber Membership will BOOST your Business
  11. What are the COSTS Associated with joining Leads Groups?
  12. Tips on Setting Up Your Small Business Bank Account
  13. Debit and ATM Card Advice for Small Businesses
  14. Q and A: Personalized Birthday Cards from Paul Leonard
  15. Small Business - Big Business...What's the Diff?
  16. Making Your Purpose Your Business Step #2- Getting From Point A to Point B
  17. How to Locate, Hire, and Work With an Article Writer
  18. What an alarm clock can teach us about online collaboration
  19. Why do startups and small companies need to attend trade shows?
  20. 11 MONSTROUS Small Business Marketing Mistakes and How To Avoid Them
  21. Your Baby's Ugly..and You've Got Bad Breath
  22. Why Small Business Must Turn to PR
  23. Successful Small Businesses Use PR
  24. Small Business 'No' How - Don't Give Away the Farm
  25. Success Tips for Small Business Owners
More related feeds
CIT SPHERECIT SPHERE » Blog Archive » Windows Keyboard Shortcut ...
Downloadable Files: Text Format or Image File. Note: For any new shortcuts which is not included in this list, Please write your comment below. Be Effiecient and finish more with these power shortcut Keys. ...

The Sea and Cake sets off Car Alarm with tour
11/28 - Doug Fir Lounge Portland OR+. 11/29 - Chop Suey Seattle WA+. 12/02 - Great American Music Hall San Francisco CA +. 12/03 - Troubadour Los Angeles CA +. 12/04 - Troubadour Los Angeles CA +. 12/05 - The Glass House Pomona CA + ...

lcg x plore keygen sis file - DotSIS : Nokia, Symbian, Java Mobile ...
Rep Power: 1. the_player Dotsis Angel ... Install it on the phone an generate reg code work on s60v1\v2 only for x plore 1.21or+. Attached Files ... press thanks or add rep power DOTSIS rocks ...

Ellen Tordesillas » Blog Archive » Pakistan: US responsible for ...
Can you please or anybody tell me under the REPUBLICAN regime did the US economy prospere - they always beat the drums of doom, everytime they are in power (Nixon-the watergate scandal/bush-the 1st gulf war of the 90’s/and now the other ...

Hard Drives: RAID
You might want to consider other brands of enclosures that feature swing away doors, drives that you can slide in and out of the power and data connections or just use any external drive taking off site. If it's easy to take a drive off ...

The Truth, The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth: Metabolic ...
After going here, you'll be off your muscle wasting Lipitor in a jiff! Michael R. Eades, M.D. web blog - AMAZING! This is the web blog of my co-author and friend Dr. Mike Eades bestselling author of Protein Power. ...

Patent Law Blog (Patently-O): Patently-O TidBits
Contrary to your specious assertion, an argument for a constituional right to patent could easily be inferred from the power of Congress articulated in Article 1, section 8 (which you misquote above) coupled with the language of 102. ...

TPMMuckraker | Talking Points Memo | Obama Camp Connects ACORN ...
When they have the power, they try to turn the Justice Department to reinforce it, and fired loyal Republicans who wouldn't go against the law to favor their party. When they were caught in violation of rules that prohibit timing ...

Marginal Revolution: The countercyclical asset, a continuing series
A few days ago BBC had a front page story about people jumping off buildings during the great crash, which anyone who has read their history knows is clearly false, yet they still gave the story front page news (they story was personal ...

Howtoz : Another How To Blog For PC Enthusiasts: How Hackers Use ...
http://www.google.com/search?q=+.zip+OR+.rar+OR+.pdf+site:rapidshare.de&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&as_qdr=all&start=510&sa=N or movies: http://www.google.com/search?q=+.wmv+OR+.avi+OR+.mpeg+OR+.rm+site:rapidshare.de&amp ...

 

 

2007 articlesreader.com - All Rights Reserved