1. Do you know when you are most productive? It’s worth taking a look to see if you’re wasting your “prime time” in meetings or doing “grunt work”. Take a quick survey of your work habits and see what part of the day you shine. Most office settings insist on setting meetings for mid-morning or right after lunch, which might sound good, but if that’s during most of the participants’ best working time, the meeting’s a waste. If you don’t believe me, think back to the last meeting you attended. How much of the meeting did you spend thinking about what you needed to be doing at your desk? That’s because your brain knows that you could have been far more productive there. If you have influence on when meetings are set, try having them on Friday afternoons. Most folks are not going to be thinking about work that late in the week, so it’s a natural time to have meetings. And make it work for you – when you finish, let everyone leave early if they’ve contributed!

2. And speaking of meetings, do you have problems getting folks there on time? Set some fun “fines” to those who are late. Anyone who runs late has to sing a song to everyone else. Or the last person there has to take minutes. Or to really get their attention, the last person through the door has to be in charge of the next meeting!