We've Launched Alabama's First Statewide Business focused Tweet Chat - #BizChatAL . During our third chat, the founder of @Organize4result joined us to discuss tips and tricks to help you stay productive and get more done at work. Karen is a workforce productivity trainer out of @Birmingham_AL and brought a wealth of insight to this week’s chat.

Being organized is what’s it all about. You have to be an ignorer to be productive. #BizChatAL

Studies show that every time you allow an interruption, it talks on average 20 minutes to get back to where you were before the interruption. How many times do you stop and start all day long? Do you ever feel that you “touch” a bunch of tasks everyday but nothing gets done? Think of it this way, if you were working on a task that would take 15 minutes to complete, but you allowed an interruption. Now it talks 20 minutes to get back to it, 15 minutes to complete – 35 minutes to do what should have taken 15 had you stayed focused. #BizChatAL

Biggest tip. Apply the 80/20 rule.80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. 8 hour work day. 20% is 96 min…Set a timer for 96 min or 45 min 2x/day and don’t allow interruptions during that time. You’ll be shocked at how much you get done in a short period of time…Get a cueing device like a marble and use this as your focus tool. Before you begin a task, look at the marble and use the deliberate practice of saying “right now” and follow that with the task you need to work on. #BizChatAL

The biggest unproductive habit I see is the constant checking of email but not doing anything with it. #BizChatAL

It shouldn’t if you’re productive with the choices you make. Here’s a suggestion…As emails come in, move them to the folder of when to follow up and get it out of the inbox. On Monday, go to “6-Next Week” folder and put emails in the day for the week It doesn’t matter how many times you check your email during the day. What you do with the email is what matters. Marking it as unread to come back to later is unproductive. Use the 5 Decisions: Delete, Forward, Respond, File, Move to follow up. #BizChatAL

Great questions! I can’t tell you how many times I hear this when I teach. Marked as unread means it falls below the scroll bar. Bad place to be! #BizChatAL

Simplify! Get rid of distractions, take control of your day, and understand the importance of slowing down! #BizChatAL

Many Thanks to Karen for being a guest on #BizChatAL Join us every Thursday on Twitter from 2-3PM/CST on our twitter account: @mtlakeschamber

Biz Chat 003 Workplace Productivity with Karen Sladick