Site Updated : 05-Jan-2009

Jan Steen. The Meal. c. 1650-60. Oil on panel, 40 x 49.3 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy. (Image courtesy of Olga's Gallery).

The Libraries

 

 Of Interest~

Library of Productivity Development: Articles and Links

As the experts keep telling us, taking time to unwind with family and friends is one of the best foundations for good productivity in the other areas of life. But it can be hard, especially for women, to allow ourselves downtime when the house is a mess. Never fear, the Flylady is here. The Flylady's pages detail a system of housecleaning in gradual "baby steps" performed over time.  The result is a house that is always in order and takes only minutes a day to keep that way.  When other family members do their part too, everyone has more quality time to spend together.

Steve Pavlina, CEO of Dexterity Software, has some tips for increasing your productivity at the office while simultaneously decreasing the number of hours spent there.  This is another great way to ensure time to work on your relationships and become a happier, more productive person.

Sometimes it's not our own disorganized habits that eat up our time, but the disorganized habits of others. Darlene Zagata has some great advice about learning to say "no" to people we love, and Ken Blanchard addresses how to say "no" to people at work.

Business Week's cover story on June 27, 2005 was entitled Old, Smart, Productive. This convincing article fleshes out the argument that, "Rather than being an economic deadweight, the next generation of older Americans is likely to make a much bigger contribution to the economy than many of today's forecasts predict...new research suggests that boomers will have the ability—and the desire—to work productively and innovatively well beyond today's normal retirement age. If society can tap their talents, employers will benefit, living standards will be higher, and the financing problems of Social Security and Medicare will be easier to solve. The logic is so powerful that it is likely to sweep aside many of the legal barriers and corporate practices that today keep older workers from achieving their full productive potential."

This article reinforces the statistics about the importance of family stability.  Single-mothers with small children have the highest poverty rate of any other demographic group.  Single Mothers and Poverty offers few answers, but does help define the problem. Families need to spend time together -- both to stave off teen pregnancies in the next generation and to provide an environment where children can learn relationship skills that will serve them well in their adut relationships.

You don't have to spend all day in the kitchen to enjoy long, relaxed mealtimes with the family.  Even if you have to spend all day at work, there can still be a good, hot, homecooked meal waiting for you when you get home.  This is why slow-cookers were invented.  Learn to use them -- and start by reading these tips from Allrecipes.com.

Epicurious.com also has some innovative tips for slow-cooking.  One great idea is to let the slow-cooker do its job overnight.  That way it doesn't sit in the crock pot breaking down if you get stuck at work putting in unscheduled overtime.  (But then -- that's not going to happen anymore now that we've read some of the other tips on this page, now is it?)

 Articles & Links

Tipping the Scale Toward Balance

Where Southern Charm Meets Broadway Dreams

Web Links: Productivity