Work Simply: Lose the Guilt and Get More Done - Softcover

Tate, Carson

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798217045150

Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group, 2024

Inhaltsangabe

Make work simple by using the tools and tactics that are right for you

Your time is under attack. You just can’t get enough done. You find yourself wondering where the hours go. You’ve tried every time-management system you can get your hands on—and they’ve only succeeded in making your work more complicated.

Sound familiar?

If you sometimes feel you spend more time managing your productivity than doing actual work, it’s time for a change. In Work Simply, renowned productivity expert Carson Tate offers a step-by-step guide to making work simple again by using the style that works best for you.

Tate has helped thousands of men and women better manage their time and become more productive. Her success owes partly to the realization that most of us fit into one of four distinct productivity styles: Arrangers, who think about their projects in terms of the people involved; Prioritizers, who are the definition of “goal-oriented”; Visualizers, who possess a unique ability to comprehend the big picture; and Planners, who live for the details.

In this book, you’ll learn

• How to identify your own productivity style as well as the styles of those around you—bosses, coworkers, staff, and family.
• How to select your “tools of the trade” to maximize your effectiveness, from the style of pen you use to the way you decorate your office.
• When face-to-face conversations are more effective than e-mails—and vice versa.
• What it takes to lead the perfect meeting.
• Why a messy desk is right for some, but a disaster for others—and how to tell.

After reading Work Simply, you’ll come away with a productivity system that truly and fundamentally fits you—and you’ll never feel overwhelmed again.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

CARSON TATE, the founder of Working Simply, is a nationally renowned expert on workplace productivity. She serves as a consultant, coach, public speaker, and executive trainer for a wide range of Fortune 500 companies and other clients. She lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her family.

Visit www.carsontate.com

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Introduction

A Road Map to the Book

MY HOPE IS THAT THIS BOOK CAN BE A TOOL THAT SUPPORTS you as you reclaim your life by using personalized tools that can make you more productive, creative—and happy.

To assist you as you read this book, I have included a road map of each chapter to give you an overview of the chapter contents and help you quickly determine the reading order that suits you best. By following the links from one balloon to the next, you can see how the ideas in each chapter are connected to one another.

You may find that the ideas in certain chapters quickly grab your attention because they relate so closely to challenges you’re facing in your daily life and work. Feel free to jump from chapter to chapter as your needs and interests dictate. But I recommend you start by reading chapter 1, “Work Smarter, Not Harder,” chapter 2, “Get Ready to Work Smarter,” and chapter 3, “What’s Your Productivity Style?” to assess the root causes of your stress and to identify your Productivity Style. That style will be referred to throughout the book as you develop your personalized path to productivity.

Prologue

The Day After Christmas

IT WAS DECEMBER 26, 2011—THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. IT was also ten days after the first birthday of my beautiful daughter EC. And I was tired. Very tired. I am sure that’s normal for the mother of a little toddler, especially in the midst of the busiest time of the year and a very special birthday celebration to boot. But I couldn’t help wondering, “How did I end up sitting on the floor, my bones aching, wondering whether I would be able to stand up again?”

Andrew and I had waited a long time after marriage before deciding to start our family—eleven years, in fact. So when I got pregnant, it came as just another challenge for the two of us in the midst of two very rich, very busy lives. Our careers were well established, our friendships were deep, and we were heavily engaged in our community. I was running one successful business while making plans to sell it, launching a separate consulting practice, and working on a master’s degree in organization development, all at the same time. Yes, it felt hectic at times—working on airplanes, juggling homework and client conferences, saying good night to my husband by telephone from halfway across the country. Andrew and I loved our lives just the way they were, and we had every intention of keeping them intact, baby or no.

When the news of my pregnancy was confirmed, I promptly decided that nothing was going to change in my life. In the months that followed, I was true to my word. I did not slow down at all during my pregnancy. I did not cut back on work, school, family, social, and community activities. I even kept up my usual exercise routine, including outdoor runs, right through my thirtieth week.

EC was born on December 16, and the three of us enjoyed a wonderful holiday season as a family in our home in Charlotte, North Carolina. By the end of January, I’d resumed work on my master’s degree and was back on an airplane headed to Phoenix to work with a client for a few days. My total time off after EC’s birth: less than six weeks. I told myself, “After all, if I don’t keep pushing to build my business and make it successful, who will?”

I maintained this pace for the entire first year of EC’s life. I finished writing my master’s thesis, continued to work with clients across the country, and stayed relentlessly focused on building my consulting business. And of course there was the adjustment to motherhood and the joy of being with EC as often as my crazy schedule would allow. I am lucky to have a wonderfully supportive husband who filled in for me as much as humanly possible—but, yes, it was tiring. There were a few too many nights when my hours of sleep numbered four or five instead of seven or eight; a few too many jet-lagged evenings when I smiled at friends or colleagues over dinner table conversation without really hearing a word they’d said.

By the time December rolled around again, I was running on fumes. I’m sure that family and friends, and especially Andrew, were wondering when I planned on slowing down. But in my own mind, the plan was clear. “I can’t stop now!” I thought. “I have to plan EC’s first birthday party, the holidays are coming up, I have a thesis to defend, and clients and employees to entertain.”

But occasionally even I had to admit there were cracks showing in the façade. I recall Andrew staring at me in concern one day that December as I was rushing to set the table for a dinner party we were hosting. “You know,” he finally said in a gentle tone of voice, “you’ve missed a few things this holiday season. Are you okay?”

I was deeply shocked. I remember thinking, “He says I’ve missed a few things! Is that possible? I don’t miss things! That’s not who I am!” When the denial finally wore off, I admitted to myself that of course he was right. I’d forgotten to send a present to his grandmother in Kentucky. I’d forgotten to call our favorite caterer to plan the holiday party for Andrew’s work event until forty-eight hours before the event—during their busiest time of year. I had even missed a conference call with a key client. With all these thoughts whirling in my head, I smiled reassuringly at Andrew, finished laying out the last place setting, and dashed off to tackle the rest of that afternoon’s to-do list.

Somewhere inside me I was wondering, “How many balls have I been dropping? And if Andrew has noticed, who else has noticed? Am I really out of control?” But there was no time to focus on questions like those. I kept going at full speed—or maybe a little bit faster.

I made it all the way through Christmas—and then, on December 26, I crashed headfirst into the wall of my so-called life. And that’s when I found myself sitting on the living room floor, staring up at the twinkling lights on the tree, oblivious to the sounds of EC and Andrew from some other room in our house, aching with an inner weariness unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.

This was more than just physical fatigue or sleep deprivation. This was soul fatigue. I’d achieved what I’d wanted—to keep my rich and busy life intact while being a new mom too. I’d proven I could do it, and there was satisfaction in that. The image of a successful woman that I’d always carried with me was that of a woman who was smart, driven, professionally accomplished, a Mary Poppins mom, a loving wife, a leader in the community—and someone who made it all look effortless with her calm, impeccable style. That superwoman was the gold standard I’d spent years trying to live up to. And in the past year, in some sense, I’d achieved it.

But now, on December 26, I’d woken up and realized I wasn’t living. Not really.

It wasn’t just that I was tired—tired of trying to do it all, tired of trying to live up to some bogus notion of success. It was my memory of EC’s first birthday, ten days before. As I sat there on the floor, I remembered watching EC blow out the candle on her first birthday cake, which was the size of a small castle—one of those telltale symptoms of working-mom guilt. “Isn’t it amazing?” I’d thought. “I have a one-year-old daughter!” And suddenly I’d realized I couldn’t remember a single significant detail or moment from her first year. EC was the single most important thing in my world—and...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2024
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 13: 9798217045150
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 304
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: M.E.G Cards & Gifts; 443000000000; paula@megcards.com; ; 48 Cloyfin Road; Unit 4, 48 Cloyfin Road; Coleraine; Londonderry; BT52 2NY; Irland