From the start

Most of us try to organise our working day to maximise performance and efficiency. Yet for many of us that day can be ruined before it really starts. 

If we rise and start worrying about what we should wear (which tie?) and then have a stressful commute, we have drained some of our precious potential energy.

So start your working day the night before. Plan your wardrobe, plan your commute (including the distractions from the stress - your music, podcast or reading material). 

Smile at your fellow commuters ... you will get smiles back and feel better.

Arrive at work ready to go and hit the ground running by attacking an agenda you established before you left yesterday.

A good start is so important.  (And a good finish, of course!)

Rule number 7

If you want the real secret to productivity development, it is ...

Well, the most important factor is to always, always remember rule number 7 - train and develop your staff, and treat them well.  They really are your most important resource - the source of your innovation, your improvement, your quality.

What about rules 1 to 6, I hear you ask.   They don't exist - but the one true rule is so important it needs a number like 7 ... and I guarantee you are more likely to remember it because it is rule number 7.

So, start practising it, today. remember it, use it. You know it makes sense!

Backup

We all know he importance of backing up the work we do on computer - even if we don't always practise what we know we should.

We also know we should have some form of backup service for the primary services and technologies we use - this can be expensive however, to maintain services we will hopefully never use.

Like all 'insurance' you have to weigh the risks with the costs and take rational decisions. What you must not do is to pretend the problem /issue does not exist and fail to plan.

If you have staff waiting around because core systems are not working, it can be very expensive.

Work on the right agenda

When giving talks to people about productivity, I often express my amazement - and my worry - that governments spend a lot of time working on the wrong things.

For example, in the UK at the current time, Brexit has been dominating the time of Parliament  and the Cabinet.

Brexit is important- but it doesn't solve any of the UK's underlying productivity problems.

Government needs to do what we all have to do - sort out the urgent from the important - and make sure longer-term planning is not forgotten for the sake of short-term expediency.