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Summer Reading List 2018

Posted on May 27, 2018 by by

Ursina Teuscher, PhD Posted in Achieving Goals, Book Recommendations, Career Development, Financial Decisions, Group/Interactive Decisions, Conflict Resolution, Health Decisions, Procrastination, Productivity, Time Management, Risk and Uncertainty, Strategic Planning, Business Decisions, Organizational Development

New Summer Readings: Books on Decision Making and Goal Achievement Another hopefully long and beautiful summer is coming up, and my intention is to spend a lot of it productively: reading. Preferably in a hammock. If you feel the same, here comes my new list of book recommendations about decision-making and goal achievement.

Dan Ariely and Jeff Kreisler (2017). Dollars and Sense: How We Misthink Money and How to Spend Smarter. I’ve always enjoyed Dan Ariely’s self-deprecating sense of humor, and in this collaboration he found a great match in Jeff Kreisler. Even though I was familiar with most of the concepts they discuss, this book not only kept me entertained, but also highlighted very clearly (and sometimes painfully) the irrationalities around money that I still allow into my life. Read a sample here.

Chris Guillebeau (2017). Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days. A practical step-by-step guide of how to create and launch a profitable part-time business. You can look into it here. Chris Guillebeau’s approach is very much no-nonsense, no fluff, no jargon – from brainstorming, shaping and selecting ideas, to launching, tracking and refining your game. While some steps would likely take more than his suggested hour per day, and while I’m not confident that I would have the discipline to follow all his steps in sequence, I do think it would make sense to do just that.

Bryan Dik and Ryan Duffy (2012). Make Your Job a Calling: How the Psychology of Vocation Can Change Your Life at Work. This book explores the powerful idea that almost any kind of occupation can offer any one of us a sense of purpose and thereby satisfaction. The authors define the idea of calling (both from a spiritual and secular perspective), review research on and provide tips for finding a calling at all stages of work and life. They also point out some dangers of pursuing a higher purpose. Here’s a preview.

Greg McKeown (2014). Essentialism. The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. Sure, we all know the importance of prioritizing and focusing, but here Greg McKeown reminds us that living and working as an “essentialist” requires sacrifices. It requires a willingness to give up a lot to gain something of much more value. The author shows how to apply this concept in work as well as leisure and family life, with a special focus on leadership. Mostly through my clients, I know there are too many high-achieving professionals at the verge of burn-out with too many tasks to juggle. For their sake, I hope the message of this book will be heard and will find the necessary traction in our organizations. Check out the beginning here.

Glenn Livingston (2014). Never Binge Again: Reprogram Yourself to Think Like a Permanently Thin Person. Stop Overeating and Binge Eating and Stick to the Food Plan of Your Choice! While I usually recommend books that are based more on data and science, this one is different: its arguments use simple examples that are nonetheless convincing. It makes us realize there are plenty of rules we are perfectly capable of following, where we don’t think of our will-power as limited. For example: I never eat food from a stranger’s plate in a restaurant; I never shoplift; I never pick a fight with strangers. Why, then, do I think that I am powerless over certain food choices in certain situations? Powerless to say NO to the free cookies on a tray, or to the unsupervised half-empty box of donuts? According to this book, it is a simple matter of getting total clarity of what you truly want, and what you don’t want (e.g., when, and it what situations, you want to eat certain types of food), putting those rules into writing, and then sticking to them. Because you know you want to, and you know you can. Friendly rules, but no more permission to screw up, ever again.
(“Trigger foods”? We’re not guns. It’s just a metaphor, and perhaps not such a helpful one, I’ve come to think. There is no actual trigger that has the power to release an uncontrollable sequence of actions in us. At any moment, we can – and will – change our behavior, based on new information and our new preferences. So we just need to get our preferences straight.)
Here’s a preview, but it’s actually a free e-book anyway. Written by a coach, it accordingly comes with some promotion of his coaching. Read it for the message, not if you’re looking for a literary masterpiece.

Laurence Gonzales (2004). Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why.
I’m not sure how long this book had been lying on our coffee table when I heard it was the 2018 winner of the Eric Hoffer Award Montaigne Medal. I admit this was the reason I picked it up again this year with renewed interest. I found it for the most part a captivating read, although sometimes frustrating with lots of names in personal stories, which were chopped up across chapters – starting, stopping and taking up again later with no transitions, punishing me for skipping earlier parts. (That may be my problem – I resent non-fiction that forces me to read it as if it were a novel.) More importantly: I took issue with the oversimplified message of “mind over matter”, which I find cynical in the light of those who didn’t survive. Many of his conclusions also suffer from quite literal “survival bias” – not a pun, but a serious problem in his reasoning, although with this topic admittedly a difficult one to avoid. At the very least it should be acknowledged as a limitation. That said, I did learn some interesting lessons about dangers in unexpected places and how to (not) face them. Start reading here.

Brad Borkan and David Hirzel (2017). When Your Life Depends on It: Extreme Decision Making Lessons from the Antarctic.
Also a book about decision-making in extreme life-and-death situations, this one takes a more systematic approach, and offers more substantial and original content, despite being based on an older history: it takes us back to the very first expeditions of early explorer teams to the Antarctic in the early 1900’s. The authors analyze the decisions made by several competing teams and discuss fascinating questions about leadership, as well as followership, under these extreme conditions. Look into it here.

by Ursina Teuscher (PhD), at Teuscher Decision Coaching, Portland OR

Employee Coaching ROI: Is It Worth It?

Posted on January 9, 2018 by by

Ursina Teuscher, PhD Posted in Achieving Goals, Career Development, Coaching Practice, Leadership, Procrastination, Productivity, Time Management, Strategic Planning, Business Decisions, Organizational Development

What is the return on investment (ROI) of employee coaching for an organization?

Offering coaching for employees – especially at the executive level – has become a widespread management tool. Companies often hire coaches with the goal to improve performance and develop talents, but also to keep high-performing people within an organization.

However, coaching is an expensive intervention: aside from the fees of the coach, there’s also the opportunity cost of the employee’s time spent with the coach during working hours. Therefore, companies who are paying for coaching for their employees will want to know whether it is a good investment. Does it improve the company’s bottom line enough to be worth the cost?

A look at the evidence

What effects does coaching have? I put together a selection of research articles investigating this question, including all the meta-analyses I could find that have been conducted in the past two decades. You’ll find the full list of references below, and here’s my very brief, non-systematic, summary:

Despite using different measures, each of the meta-analyses found that overall, coaching is a very effective intervention. It affects goal achievement, performance and skills directly, but also other work-relevant variables, such as employee’s well-being, work attitudes, and self-regulation.

A few random fun facts:

Novice coaches are as effective as the more experienced coaches.
The background of the coach matters: coaches with a mix of psychology and non-psychology background were more effective than coaches solely with a psychology or non-psychology background.
Coaching outcomes were more improved in undergraduate coaching clients than in either executive or non-academic, non-executive coaching clients. (But the explanation might be as simple as that students had the most immediate opportunities to prove performance, such as in exams).
Coaching has the strongest effect on behavioral changes, as opposed to attitude changes.

But: how can an organization assess their own coaching ROI and effectiveness?

Despite these robust findings of the effectiveness of coaching, several studies point out that it is not only very difficult, but probably impossible, for any one organization to measure the true ROI of their own coaching interventions accurately, because links between coaching and monetary changes within an organization are so complex. However, any one organization can make use of more established knowledge when interpreting their outcomes of coaching:

For instance, coaching may increase an employee’s self-efficacy, and we already know from a considerable amount of research that self-efficacy is related to better performance in the work place. As another example, if coaching increases employees’ well-being and resilience, we can assume that this will also benefit the employer, because we already know from a multitude of other studies that well-being and resilience are linked to desirable employee attitudes, behaviors and performance. Similarly, goal achievement has been established as a reliable outcome of coaching interventions, and higher or continued goal attainment leads to greater satisfaction on an individual level, as well as to increased productivity, performance and organizational profitability.

Beyond ROI

In other words, while most coaching studies have focused on the benefits of coaching to the individual, rather than the organization, we already know from a large body of research how these individual benefits extend to the team and organizational level. There is therefore no need to get discouraged by the elusiveness of ROI as an outcome measure. Organizations can assess the effectiveness of their coaching in many other ways, and rely on earlier research when interpreting these outcomes.

by Ursina Teuscher (PhD), at Teuscher Decision Coaching, Portland OR

References:
Avey, J. B., Reichard, R. J., Luthans, F., & Mhatre, K. H. (2011). Meta-analysis of the impact of positive psychological capital on employee attitudes, behaviors, and performance. Human Resource Development Quartely, 22, 127–152.
Burt, D., & Talati, Z. (2017). The unsolved value of executive coaching: A meta-analysis of outcomes using randomised control trial studies. International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, 15, (2), 17-24.
Grover, S., & Furnham, A. (2016). Coaching as a Developmental Intervention in Organisations: A Systematic Review of Its Effectiveness and the Mechanisms Underlying It. PLOS ONE, 11(7), e0159137.
Hodgkinson, G. P., & Ford, J. K. (2010). International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2010. John Wiley & Sons.
McGovern, J., Lindemann, M., Vergara, M., Murphy, S., Barker, L., & Warrenfeltz, R. (2001). Maximizing the impact of executive coaching. The Manchester Review, 6(1), 1–9.
Meuse, K. P. D., Dai, G., & Lee, R. J. (2009). Evaluating the effectiveness of executive coaching: beyond ROI? Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 2(2), 117–134.
Passmore, J., & Fillery-Travis, A. (2011). A critical review of executive coaching research: a decade of progress and what’s to come. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 4(2), 70–88.
Passmore, J., & Gibbes, C. (2007). The state of executive coaching research: What does the current literature tell us and what’s next for coaching research? Coaching Psychology Review, 2(2), 116.
Robertson, I. T., Birch, A. J., & Cooper, C. L. (2012). Job and work attitudes, engagement and employee performance: Where does psychological well-being fit in? Leadership and Organizational Developmet Journal, 33, 224–232.
Sonesh, S. C., Coultas, C. W., Lacerenza, C. N., Marlow, S. L., Benishek, L. E., & Salas, E. (2015). The power of coaching: a meta-analytic investigation. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 8(2), 73–95.
Stajkovic, A. D., & Luthans, F. (1998). Self-efficacy and work-related performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 240–261.
Theeboom, T., Beersma, B., & Vianen, A. E. M. van. (2014). Does coaching work? A meta-analysis on the effects of coaching on individual level outcomes in an organizational context. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 9(1), 1–18.
Wright, T. A., & Cropanzano, R. (2000). Psychological well-being and job satisfaction as predictors of job performance. Journal of Occupational Health Psycholology, 5, 84–94.

Workshop: Job Stress Management

Posted on July 25, 2017 by by

Ursina Teuscher, PhD Posted in Career Development, Coaching Practice, Performance, Academic Achievement, Procrastination, Productivity, Time Management, Stress Management

Wednesday August 16, 11am-1pm (Portland, OR).

Is your job causing you a lot of unhealthy stress? In my last post, I wrote about the “Sort and Tackle” Technique, and how and why it can improve your stress levels at work. You can now give this technique a try in a guided setting and start sorting out and tackling some of your own biggest challenges at work. In this interactive workshop, I’ll help you prioritize which stressors to tackle first, and design a plan with specific next steps. Find more information and register here.

by Ursina Teuscher (PhD), at Teuscher Decision Coaching, Portland OR

How to Manage Stress at Work

Posted on July 12, 2017 by by

Ursina Teuscher, PhD Posted in Achieving Goals, Career Development, Performance, Academic Achievement, Procrastination, Productivity, Time Management, Resources, tools, Self-Assessments, Stress Management

If your job is causing you a lot of stress, you’re not alone. In a 2014 survey in the US, almost a third (31%) of the workers reported that they typically feel tense or stressed out during the work day. This number is even higher among millenials (18-34 year old workers) than among any of the older generations.

What are the most common causes for stress at work?

So many issues can cause stress at work. The survey lists the following, with the most commonly experienced stressors on top:

Low salaries
Lack of opportunity for growth and development
Uncertain or undefined job expectations
Job insecurity
Long hours
Too heavy of a workload
Unrealistic job expectations
Work interfering during personal or family time
Lack of participation in decision making
Inflexible hours
Problems with my supervisor
Commuting
Physical illnesses and ailments
Problems with my co-workers
Unpleasant or dangerous physical conditions
Personal life interfering during work hours

Does any of this sound familiar when you think or your own job?

What can you do to manage stress at work?

When you search for “stress management techniques”, you’ll mainly find different versions of relaxation techniques. While being able to relax is a good skill to develop and practice, it only gets you so far. It doesn’t really help with most of the work stressors we’ve found here. Also, since there are so many different causes of stress, there is no one remedy that will help them all. Nonetheless, here is my suggestions for a specific technique that can get you started. I call it the “Sort and Tackle” Technique. All you need to begin with is a stack of index cards.

The “Sort and Tackle” Technique

Keep a stack of index cards nearby at work. Whenever you notice that you’re stressed out or frustrated about something, write it down on one card. Once in a while (you can do this as often as you want), do a “sort and tackle”:

1. Sort the cards. There will be some cards that describe stressors you have no control over whatsoever. For example, you may not be able to negotiate your salary. However other cards will describe issues that you may be able to improve in some way, if you are willing to invest some effort, take some risks, or just try something new. For example, you may be able to resolve a conflict with your co-worker, or change some habits to improve your own time management. Move the cards to the top of the pile that describe something you may be able to change. Move the other cards to the bottom that describe issues out of your control. If there are cards about which you are not sure, leave them in the middle for now. You can revisit them later and give them some more thought.

Extra credit: Use the back of each index card to list all kinds of ideas (even bad ones) of how you could improve each stressor. There’s no need to tackle all your problems at once, but collecting your ideas whenever they occur to you will give you something to choose from, once you’re ready to take specific steps.

2. Tackle one. Once you’ve sorted your cards – with the most hopeful, potentially improvable issues on top – pick just one among your top five cards that you want to tackle next. Make a specific plan about how to deal with this issue. For example, if you want to discuss your workload with your boss, you might start by scheduling a meeting with her, or you might start by asking a friend for advice on how you might approach the issue with your boss. Whatever your next step is, define it specifically as to what you are going to do when. It’s better to have a small next step in your calendar than a big but vague “to do” in your head.

And what do you do with the rest of the cards? For now: nothing at all. Until you can come up with reasons to move them to the top of the pile, that is. As long as you have no idea how you could improve the situation from your end, there is also nothing you need to do about it.

Here’s the beauty of this technique: even though you’re only tackling a small part of your problems at any time, this often has positive side effects on all of your stressors. Namely, knowing that you are taking active steps to improve your situation where you can, will give you more peace of mind about the issues that remain out of your control. It truly helps to acknowledge that there are parts of your work that simply suck. Since you can’t do anything about them, there is no point in worrying about them. So don’t throw any of the cards away – keep the whole pile and add to it whenever something new (or old) comes up that stresses you out. However, focus your active efforts and interventions on the top of your pile: on the issues you might be able to improve and are ready to tackle next.

by Ursina Teuscher (PhD), at Teuscher Decision Coaching, Portland OR

Summer Reading List 2017

Posted on June 5, 2017 by by

Ursina Teuscher, PhD Posted in Achieving Goals, Book Recommendations, Leadership, Procrastination, Productivity, Time Management

My latest picks: (mostly) recent books about decision making and goal achievement.

The promise of a long summer ahead makes me very happy, and so does the knowledge that no matter how much I read, there will always be books out there that I haven’t read yet, as well as books I want to re-read. So, while the truth is that I spend a lot of time reading all year round, not just during the summer, I love the idea of a special “summer reading” list – maybe just because I love seeing two of my favorite words so close together.
So here’s my latest list of book recommendations. Most of these came out within the last year, and all except the last are non-fiction. That last one is very much fiction indeed – a special treat. It’s on my treasured list of books that I’ve read many times, starting as a child, and I still look forward to re-reading it anytime. But whether fiction or not, all the books below tell great stories and deliver truths about decision making and goal achievement.

Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths (2016). Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions.
These authors do a great job explaining how computer algorithms can be applied to help us solve common decision problems. They make a complex and rich topic accessible for non-experts. For me this book was a humbling read, because I expected to already be familiar with many of the concepts it presents. Luckily, I read it anyway, and I learned a great deal. You can look into the book and start reading here.

Caroline Webb (2016). How to Have a Good Day: Harness the Power of Behavioral Science to Transform Your Working Life.
In this very practical book, Webb presents a collection of recent findings from behavioral economics, psychology, and neuroscience, and explains how to apply this science to our daily tasks and routines, from time management to improving relationships at work. The author’s experience as a management consultant for McKinsey gives her a unique perspective, and she provides many examples of how she applied each of these techniques with particular clients. Read a sample here.

Cal Newport (2016) Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World.
Yes, it’s one more book telling us to focus… but this book, ironically, was powerful enough that it distracted me from itself, so to speak. Several times while reading, a found myself looking up, thinking hard, staring into space with the book still on my lap, and making some new commitments on how to change my work routine, right then and there.
That said, some of the claims Newport makes go beyond the evidence he presents. I think we need a lot more research on what “focus” and “deep work” really mean in different contexts. He does, however, present a lot of great evidence, and his suggestions are helpful in any case. Here’s a preview.

Chris Sims and Hillary Louise Johnson (2014). Scrum: a Breathtakingly Brief and Agile Introduction.
A very accurate title for an extremely short book, written for people with little or no prior knowledge of the Scrum/Agile framework for project management and teamwork. It delivers a clear and well-organized overview of the process and different roles involved. Check out the beginning here.

Paul Raeburn and Kevin Zollman (2016). The Game Theorist’s Guide to Parenting: How the Science of Strategic Thinking Can Help You Deal with the Toughest Negotiators You Know–Your Kids.
Since I’m not a parent myself, I can’t really tell if this is a useful book at all. I just know I’d want to read it if I did have kids. Before them. Look into it here.

Michael Ende (1973). Momo.
Momo is the fantastic story of a little orphan girl, who one day moves into the ruins of a deserted amphitheater, living all by herself. With her special gift for listening, Momo quickly finds friends in the community of poor families living nearby. But when a grey army of men in suits attempts to take over the city, with a cunning scheme to steal people’s time, Momo’s gift unexpectedly turns her into a target, and she and her friends get caught in a sinister plot.
The novel contains profound insights into our attitude toward time. Along with The Neverending Story (1979), Momo (1973) is probably Michael Ende’s most celebrated book. Originally written in German, it has found its widest readership in Europe, the Spanish-speaking world, and Japan. Read the beginning of the novel here.

by Ursina Teuscher (PhD), at Teuscher Decision Coaching, Portland OR

Binge Working and Procrastination

Posted on October 4, 2016 by by

Ursina Teuscher, PhD Posted in Achieving Goals, Coaching Practice, Procrastination, Productivity, Time Management

Thanks to all of you who shared your experiences and thoughts about binge working and procrastination! Your insights have given me food for thought and an opportunity to make an addition to my hamster-wheel image. It now includes an additional stage: what one of my readers called the “tidal wave of joy and relief when you finish the thing and it is a success!”

Binge Working and Procrastination - Revised

It is clear though that there are many individual differences as to how people experience binge working. The figure only shows one type of a particularly stable loop of reinforcement.

For some people, for example, bouts of binge working are very positive and productive experiences, without any of the ill effects shown in the image. For them, intense phases of working around the clock are simply a temporary effort for special projects. Rather than leading to exhaustion and burnout, those phases are followed by perhaps a break and then a more normal schedule a again.

On the other end of the spectrum are those for whom the cycle has only negative effects: they don’t get the joy and relief at all, but sometimes finish their binge working with a mediocre result because of the earlier procrastination, or even end up with a failure or a missed deadline, despite intense last-minute efforts. Those kinds of crises sometimes have positive longterm effects though. They can get people to finally break out of an unhealthy cycle by making serious and lasting changes to their work habits.

In people who struggle with ADHD, the tendency to hyper-focus can also lead to a special kind of binge-working, which can fall on either side of that spectrum: it can be experienced as a joyful state of flow, or as an unhealthy and often insufficient last-minute act of desperation.

What I often see in my own coaching clients is that they have established a binge working routine, because it used to work well for them in an earlier stage of their careers or education. As they take on bigger projects though, binge working becomes unsustainable, or leads to failure. This often happens to students as they transition from high school to college, or later from college to grad school, or even later in an academic career, with the need to publish and create an independent research program. It happens similarly in non-academic careers, as people move from supervised to leadership positions, and it happens to people who transition from an employed position to running their own businesses.

The general rule seems to be: the more independent and self-motivated your work is; the bigger your projects are; and the less tied those projects are to strict and frequent deadlines, the less likely a binge working schedule will be an entirely happy and successful one.

by Ursina Teuscher (PhD), at Teuscher Decision Coaching, Portland OR

Binge Working and Procrastination: Your Experience

Posted on September 22, 2016 by by

Ursina Teuscher, PhD Posted in Achieving Goals, Health Decisions, Procrastination, Productivity, Time Management, Stress Management

Last-minute stress and binge working will improve your future procrastination as much as a hangover will improve your drinking habits.

At least that’s my hypotheses.

Guilt, Binge Working and Procrastination

Or what do you think? I’d love to hear about your experience. Do you sometimes work in somewhat excessive “binges”, for example through the night or throughout a weekend? If so, is this productive for you in the long run, or does it lead to the vicious circle in the image?

by Ursina Teuscher (PhD), at Teuscher Decision Coaching, Portland OR

Am I a Procrastinator?

Posted on September 1, 2016 by by

Ursina Teuscher, PhD Posted in Achieving Goals, Procrastination, Productivity, Time Management, Self-Assessments

Am I a procrastinator? “I know that I am a procrastinator, but taking this survey made me realize just how bad it is!”
– One of my students.

Clarry Lay, a psychology professor at York University in Toronto created the “General Procrastination Scale” as a research tool. While it is not intended for diagnosis, you can still get a general sense of your tendency to procrastinate across a pretty wide a range of situations.

In the interactive form below, you can simply move the sliders around and see your total score at the bottom. The total will be updated as you go along. A lower total score mean less procrastination, from 1, which would mean you don’t procrastinate at all in any of those situations, to 10, which would mean you procrastinate at every opportunity. Only the overall score at the bottom matters, because half of the individual items score in reverse.

A note for those interested in creating interactive forms: I’ve used JotForm for this self-assessment, with an added widget called “Sliders with calculated results”. I’ve searched a long time for a form creator that would automatically calculate results in real-time. This is the best I’ve found so far. I would be even more excited about a form with a submission button that would show results only after you submit your responses. If anyones know something like that, I would appreciate any pointers. Overall, I find JotForm extremely user-friendly and versatile, even the basic free version.

by Ursina Teuscher (PhD), at Teuscher Decision Coaching, Portland OR

New Productivity Coaching Group

Posted on July 17, 2016 by by

Ursina Teuscher, PhD Posted in Achieving Goals, Career Development, Coaching Practice, Health Decisions, Procrastination, Productivity, Time Management, Self-Assessments

Time is our most precious resource – are you getting the most out of yours? Or are you ready for a change?

My next productivity coaching group will come in a new format, starting with one-on-one sessions and an in-depth assessment before the group meetings.

It is a 3-month package that includes:

Two individual coaching sessions of 50 min each and an initial in-depth assessment of your goals, your individual style, your situation, and your personality along the Five Factor Model (FFM). A part of the assessment will happen during our sessions together, and a part of it will be homework for you in between our meetings.
A copy of the workbook: “Increasing Personal Productivity in Healthy and Sustainable Ways” by Ursina Teuscher. (Look inside and check out the reviews on Amazon.) Based on recent findings in neuroscience and psychology, you will learn how to improve cognitive functioning, make better decisions, and increase focus. The workbook will help you apply these insights to your own work style and needs.
Four small-group sessions of 90 min each. After our one-on-one work together, you will join a coaching group consisting of ~3-5 other participants. The group sessions will give you the positive support of others who may face similar or different challenges. Being held accountable to your goals and getting encouraged by others is a very powerful help in this process.
Individual phone and online support between sessions as needed. Throughout the three-month period, we will add regular phone check-ins or other personal online support. This may include working with shared online tools, documents or apps, depending on your goals and work style.

Cost: $650.

Location:
522 SW 5th Ave
Portland, OR 97204

Productivity Wallpaper

Posted on July 14, 2016 by by

Ursina Teuscher, PhD Posted in Achieving Goals, Performance, Academic Achievement, Procrastination, Productivity, Time Management, Resources, tools

Organize Your Desktop Strategically with this Productivity Wallpaper

Loosely inspired by Eisenhower’s Urgent/Important Principle, I designed a Productivity Wallpaper that you can download here as a template. It is a customized desktop background that helps you stay focused by organizing your tasks in a spatial layout.

The idea is that it gives you room to arrange your documents, folders or apps according to when you want to use them:

In the upper left quadrant of the screen, you would place stuff you need for your most important tasks. By important, I mean tasks that you truly care about, that have long-term significance, and that make your life more meaningful. Typically, those are bigger projects, often without a deadline (because they matter to YOU, more than to other people). They are therefore most in danger of being infringed upon by other people’s more urgent demands. For the same reason, they are also the most likely to fall victim to procrastination. Those are the tasks you’ll want to tackle during your “prime work time”, that is, during the time of day when you’re at your best, most focused, most motivated. You’ll want to protect the very best hours of your day or week for the tasks in that quadrant.
By contrast, the upper right quadrant of the screen has room for tasks that you also need to do, but that tend to take too much of your time. Those are typically tasks that other people give you in some form or other. For example, you may need to respond to emails, prepare for meetings, solve your coworkers’ problems, and so forth. If your personality is on the conscientious side, you already know you will get those tasks done anyway, because you don’t want to disappoint people or get into other kinds of trouble with colleagues, customers, bosses, etc. For that very reason, these tasks are often not the ones that deserve your very best “prime work time” – the challenge is rather to limit the time spent on those items.
The bottom right quadrant hosts fun, distractions, and personal stuff – in other words, not really work at all, but stuff you might do during off-time, such as reading, browsing, chatting, social media, watching movies, and all the other guilty pleasures that shall remain unnamed.
On the lower left side there is room for “Other” stuff – whatever items are left that need space on your desktop.

After using (and tweaking) this productivity wallpaper for a while myself, I can truly recommend it. What I like about this setup is that I can use my desktop as a space to arrange a sort of free-style To-Do List with my task items. Or I guess “To-Do Space” would be more accurate. I found this works best if I create alias icons that I place on the desktop, rather than dragging actual files around. The document or application itself can then remain wherever it belongs in my folder structure. The advantage of alias icons is that I can now give each icon a name that stands for my current task, and when I’m done with that task, I can simply delete the icon and get it out of my sight, while the document itself stays safe.

If you want to give it a try for yourself, you can download the empty template (background) for the productivity wallpaper here as a large image that you can set as your own desktop wallpaper. If you like the general idea but would prefer some things to look different, let me know your thoughts and wishes in the comment field below.

by Ursina Teuscher (PhD), at Teuscher Decision Coaching, Portland OR

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