Productivity Expert Says Eliminate Email Distractions To Perform Better

It’s no secret: As firms slash jobs, many of the survivors, accountants and finance executives included, are having to take on more work. Finding time for these extra responsibilities has been difficult, even emotionally draining.

Yet a nationally known efficiency expert has a few suggestions for helping employees increase their productivity without spending more time in the office. Laura Stack, the author of Leave the Office Earlier and the founder of the Denver, Colo.-based consultancy The Productivity Pro, says increasing efficiency requires making compromises and changing habits, especially when it comes to using the internet. Stack will speak about time management and productivity at the annual Society for Human Resource Management conference on June 29.

She says that many workers would improve performance by using email more efficiently. For example, employees could eliminate all but essential email alerts (bosses and key customers) that buzz and ring people to distraction. She believes that email usage increases in the aftermath of layoffs as employees seek more information and comfort in one another. “Email is killing everyone,” Stack says. “It’s insane: People can’t get more than two minutes of work done without distractions.  Most people have lost the ability to focus on any one task.”

But Stack says that change must also occur on a group and organizational level. That may mean holding fewer meetings or streamlining protocols. One of Stack’s clients from the automotive industry recently shortened a monthly analysis that it submitted to a customer; the Stack client came to the decision after finding that its customer was only reading the executive summary and a chart, anyway. The vice president of finance from another Stack client, a manufacturing company, started rounding off certain numbers on reports to save time, but without compromising work quality. “You have to step back from the gerbil wheel,” Stack says. “You have to say, ‘we’re used to doing things the same way (but) we don’t have to do them the same way.’”

A Way to Network and Boost Job Prospects

West coast accountants looking to boost their careers in the downturn might want to consider a little volunteer work for the region’s leading trade organization. The California Society of CPAs is looking to fill a number of leadership positions at the state and local level. The posts usually involve participation on committees that address issues in such areas as taxation, auditing and the non-profit sector. The commitment can be difficult for someone with a busy practice. But the outgoing chair of CalCPA, Greg Burke, says that among the benefits of volunteer work, CPAs have a rare opportunity to network with leaders from other firms on a deeper level than in larger conferences and annual meet-and-greet events. Burke says that the contacts can help accountants draw a clearer picture about skills that will be important in the near future and may lead to job opportunities. “You have the chance to interact with leaders statewide,” Burke says. “You can tap into the information flow that’s happening.”