Tips for a stress-free lead-up to the holiday season
6 December 2019I was recently interviewed on radio about time tips to help manage pre-Christmas stress. After I’d shared the tips in the short article below, the interviewer said, ‘That’s not what I expected at all, Robyn. I thought you’d tell the listeners the usual things like “Get organised early”, “Make lists” and similar – the kind of advice […]
A Completely New Edition of my First Book – At a Ridiculously Cheap Price!
2 September 2018I know I’m not supposed to say this, but where have the months gone! Actually, I do know where mine have disappeared to. Since returning in the latter end of June from a wonderful six weeks with friends and family in England and France, I’ve been head up/ bum down writing and publishing. (As well […]
How to Set-up a Distraction Free Workspace at Home
11 July 2018This week my blog is a guest post courtesy of Cloe Matheson from Dunedin. She has some great ideas on how to optimize a workspace at home and ensure that you maintain productivity and efficiency as well as the very important work-life balance. by Cloe Matheson Working at home is not as easy as […]
10 Tips for Better Work Life Balance
23 October 2017Does it ever seem that every waking minute is being consumed by work? How do we balance a growing list of home, personal and work commitments? Is it even possible? A couple of weeks ago I had fun discussing this topic on a panel at the Live Well Festival in Auckland with Art Green and […]
What To Do About The Non-Urgent But Useful Emails
2 October 2017My Melbourne friend Nigel sent me a great question about email. Because it’s an issue for many, I decided to share it in this week’s blog. Nigel: Here’s a dilemma that I face frequently with email and workflow. I stare at my email feed. It stares back at me, blankly. “So what are you going […]
The Downside Of Always Being Available For Questions
5 May 2017Do you ever feel that you either have to come in early or stay late to get the ‘real’ work done? Does it seem that every minute of the day is gobbled up by phone calls, meetings and people saying ‘Have you got a minute?’ In the 25 years since I began specialising in the […]
Alternatives To The French ‘No Email After Hours’ Legislation
10 January 2017New French legislation is forcing companies with greater than 50 employees to negotiate with their staff about after-hours email usage. Is email usage just the responsibility of your employer, or are you part of the problem? The French are using legislation to try and reverse the trend. But is law the only way to do this? Personally, […]
Are You Encouraging Laziness?
23 August 2016Laurie has mid-level responsibilities in an IT firm. It’s fast-paced, the firm is growing fast, new faces keep showing up every week, and an underlying sense of organised chaos permeates the whole firm of about 200 people. He’s one of the more experienced team members. So you won’t be surprised to hear that newer staff […]
Horrifying Email Overload Statistics
28 June 2016Email overload is always in the top five most common problems my workshop participants complain about. There are two core issues: 1. Information overload and what it’s doing to our productivity. 2. How long it takes to get refocused when we’re interrupted. First, information overload You’ll be interested in who’s researching and offering advice – […]
Don’t Do Email First Thing in the Day
24 May 2016This is one of my most powerful time-saving tips, yet it often draws a gasp of shock and sometimes outrage from listeners or readers. (There are variations and exceptions, before you bite my head off!) Several reasons: The potential distraction factor (unless you’re very disciplined, or on tight time-lines which will keep you focused anyway.) […]