Productivity Hacks for Business

Applying Accidents To Your Workday

Are you prepared for accidents in your workday?

Recently I was in a fender bender. All is well, no one was hurt and there wasn’t any damage to the cars involved. It happened on my way to an event after coming from a session with a client. Someone not paying attention to the road, hit me from behind and pushed me into another car. It was more of a nuisance than anything else. In the event of an accident there is a lot to learn about productivity and ways to apply it to your workday.

Be grateful-I was grateful that it wasn’t a bad accident. No one was hurt, our cars weren’t damaged. What are you grateful for in your workday?

Give yourself flex time-I was leaving a client session and on my way to an event. The accident held me up by an hour. I had given myself some extra time knowing there would be traffic. I didn’t realize I’d be the one causing it, as there was a big backup once the accident occurred. Do you give yourself time between appointments for traffic or other obstacles? Do you give yourself enough time between meetings to transition?

Make sure your paperwork is in order-With a tap on the window from the police officer on the scene, the command was ‘license and registration please’. Having your paperwork organized in every part of your life I knew exactly where my license, insurance card and registration was and that they were all up to date. Are the papers you deal with neatly organized and easy to find?

Stay calm-Being on the side of the road during rush hour, dealing with people who are upset, watching traffic back up. It was all really stressful. I managed to stay calm and in the moment. Deep breathing and mindfulness to stay in the present moment helped. How do you handle stress at work?

Say you’re sorry when you mess things up-The young guy that hit me never apologized. Maybe he didn’t because he didn’t want to implicate himself. Although not my fault, I said sorry to the person I was pushed into. When you mess things up at work, are you able to apologize?

Keep up on following through-There were several calls back and forth, voicemails and emails from our insurance companies. Everyone was able to quickly follow up and close the claim. How do you follow through on important events?

Addressing questions on ways you handle your workday can help you assess where you need to make changes. If things are going well, what can you do to shift the way you work and respond? Are you prepared for an accident if it happens?

 

Margo Crawford is a Productivity Coach and Professional Organizer with Wave Productivity. She works with entrepreneurs, small business owners and business professionals to help them get more focused, organized and productive in their workplace. If you feel like your whole day is an accident, she can work to get you more productive and organized in your office.  She coaches over the phone nationally and in person in Phoenix, Providence and Boston. Call 602-677-8275 or email [email protected]