A Productivity & Efficiency Blog

In 2009 I quit a reasonably well paid, secure job to start Meetupcall. I did so with nothing more than my final month's salary and a couple of days a week IT contract. The biggest reason most new businesses fail is they run out of money, here's some reasons we didn't:

We'd all love to have an extra hour in the day, here is our suggestions on how you could find yourself 60 extra minutes each day to spend doing something you actually want to:

We're all about working as efficiently as possible at Meetupcall; not wasting our time, energy or resources while we work is important to us. Sometimes however, just starting work is a problem, so here are our top 11 tips on forcing yourself to work and stopping procrastinating.

1. Keep written goals and review them in the morning every day. Reviewing them daily helps you focus on each individual one and think about what you can do today to move yourself closer to it.

The cycle v car argument is a no-brainer. As the playwright Alan Bennett says about cycle commuting: “You always know when you’re going to arrive. If you go by car, you don’t. Apart from anything else, I prefer cycling. It puts you in a good mood.”

Good moods are good for business. According to the Department of Transport, stress related illness costs businesses 14 million working days a year. Compared to people who don’t bike to work, cyclists take around 15% less sick absences a year.

The worm has turned – 68% of the world’s most successful corporations now have climate change actions embedded as part of their business strategy, according to a new study. That’s a leap ahead from a year ago when just 48% did the same.

So you want to cut down on the number of hours you’re spending at the office without taking a pay cut? Time to talk to your boss about flexible working, which basically means any working pattern adapted to suit your needs.

Sounds good? It’s a humane, modern and increasingly popular way of doing business. As well as relieving that Groundhog Day feeling there are business arguments in favour of it – here are a few from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills:

In four weeks, all financial firms in the UK are going to have to record all business conversations made and received on mobile phones.

The rule change brought in by the Financial Service Authority is intended to stop market abuse. Currently, financial firms must tape fixed line calls, but there is a loophole allowing firms to dodge this by diverting calls to un-taped mobile lines.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Remember when a leaflet drop was an essential part of a marketing plan? Does anyone miss them? Getting thousands printed before discovering an incorrect phone number made it through the proof check? Guiltily counting your eco footprint in dead trees/printer cartridges/truck fumes? Paying distributors then having boxes reported abandoned in a park?

Commuting in London in the heat of July and August is hardly ever fun. Imagine having to share the daily grind with millions of sports fans.

That’s what’s happening 10 months from now when the 2012 Olympics and Paralympic Games turn the capital’s roads and transport systems into a sticky, seething hellhole. The multi billion pound transport upgrade to London’s public transport currently underway is not expected to touch the sides when it comes to easing the daily commute during the two Games which run from July 27 to September 9 next year.