I’m a big fan of to-do lists. Most mornings, I generate a list of items that must be done that day. Occasionally, the list will include items that are longer term, but that need to be started soon.

Some people organize their list. Maybe they order the items by importance. Others create a list based on how much time each item will take to complete.

My list is created as I think of things to add. I do not take the time to organize it in any coherent fashion. It’s more a stream of consciousness list. I typically begin the list as soon as I get out of the shower, as I’ve usually thought of three to five things while I’m in there. Then I add to the list throughout the morning.

How do you “work” your list? Do you start with the easiest items to complete or do you tackle the hardest one first?

There is value in each method. Read more.

He said most of the people who worked on the assembly line in his plant, while sometimes bored with their work, were happy to leave the plant at the end of their shift and not have to worry about work until their next shift. They loved being able to go home in the late afternoon and coach their kids’ teams, ride bikes with the family or grill out without the chance of getting a call about something happening at work. They didn’t want to be responsible for returning to work to address a problem outside their shift. They were willing to forego the opportunity to increase their pay for the freedom to leave work behind every day. Read more.

Of course, it may not be possible, but perhaps it is, and your colleague just doesn’t want to investigate how it might be done. They want to keep doing it “the way it’s always been done.”

I have worked in four public institutions, each in a different state. While there are some state rules, along with some protocols from the governing groups for each state, many of the rules are just ingrained practices that each institution created. Read more.

MANY MANAGERS complain they cannot recruit good people. Perhaps the good people don’t want to work for your organization and don’t apply, and it might not be for the reason you think.

Have you considered lately how hard it is to apply for a position in your workplace? I’m talking about the application process.

The majority of organizations today ask candidates to apply via a website. The applicant is required to upload their résumé, which is a reasonable request. But then they’re asked to essentially replicate the résumé in boxes, including information such as why they left the employer and their ending salary. If you’re a person of a certain age who has held at least 3–5 jobs, it can take several hours to populate the document with information that is most likely on your résumé. Why?

Several years ago, I was on a conference call with human resources directors from a variety of organizations and we discussed this very issue. Read more.

It was a “who does what” list. She showed me that Joyce’s name was beside the item I had asked her to do. I was a bit astonished. While I appreciated that they had figured out all of the tasks, I was a bit concerned that work would not get done when the responsible person was out. Read more.