Workday Management Tips

The most underrated productivity hack? Taking breaks. But not just any break. Science says there’s a right way to do it. Here’s how to restore your energy (and do better work) in 5 proven steps: Rule 1: Something > nothing Even short breaks matter. Try the 20-20-20 rule: → Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. You’ll reduce fatigue and give your brain a much-needed pause. Micro-breaks add up. Rule 2: Moving > stationary A walk beats a sit. Movement restores energy and improves mood. Just getting up and walking a few minutes can refresh your mind for your next task. Rule 3: Social > solo Breaks with people restore us more than breaks alone even if you’re introverted. Chat with a colleague. Call a friend. Grab coffee with someone you like. Connection is a powerful recharge. Rule 4: Outside > inside Nature boosts energy and creativity. You don’t need to hike a mountain just walk down a street with trees. Studies show even light exposure to green space can reduce stress and elevate performance. Rule 5: Detached > distracted A break isn’t scrolling Instagram. Leave your phone behind. Log off. Step away. Real breaks require real detachment. Let your brain breathe. Try this break formula: Every afternoon, take a 15-minute walk outside With someone you like Talking about anything except work Without your phone Do it daily. Schedule it like a meeting.

💎 How To Track Your Impact (+ free Notion templates). How to document your small and big wins, visualize your work and the incredible impact you've made ↓ We often assume that good work speaks for itself. If we just work hard enough, our work will get noticed and we will be elevated across our career ladder. Yet more often than not, your achievements will get lost somewhere between reorg efforts, new priorities, abandoned initiatives and urgent deadlines. Managers change all the time. You might have a strong relationship with your manager already, but never get a chance to move up the ladder because they have already moved to another team. A new manager, despite all your efforts, often won’t be able to promote you as an internal policy might block any new promotions in their first 6 or 12 months. So you’ll have to start over again. A good way to push back is to have a “brag document” — a running document that lists your small and big achievements, feedback from your managers and colleagues, screenshots of your appraisals and recommendations, along with lessons you’ve learned. It also builds confidence in your abilities and helps you better see your career trajectory. Useful things to include: 🧠 New skills you’ve learned 🏅 New certificates you’ve acquired ⏱️ Impactful projects you’ve leaunched 🧪 Experiments or A/B tests you’ve initiated 🧭 Product metrics you’ve moved 👋 Onboarding sessions you helped with 🚀 Changes you’ve initiated 🗣️ Workshops you’ve conducted 🧑🏫 Mentoring sessions you’ve coached 🌟 Endorsements you’ve received 🤝 Collaboration wins across departments 🧹 How you’ve dealt with design debt 📦 Successful scoping and getting buy-in 🛠️ Tools or systems you’ve introduced 🔧 Bugs or issues you proactively resolved 📣 Coordinating communication in teams 🔮 Lessons you’ve learned 🧯 Conflicts you’ve resolved There are plenty of things that can go in such a document. Typically it’s a simple Notion page or a Google Doc that you set up once and keep updating regularly. One useful habit that can help there is to always update the document after a retrospective session with your team and around a month later. The reason for that is that you’ll need to accumulate and add concrete evidence and results of the impact of your work. Typically business metrics are lagging metrics, so it will take a while until you get some results. One word of caution: it doesn’t work well if you update in huge and bulky batches as memories become a bit blurry and details get lost. Also, don’t think just about the design work — work also happens outside of the design work as we saw in the list above. Also, as Stephen Kernan noted once, whenever possible, try linking your accomplishments to the career ladder one level above your current role. If you can prove that you’ve been performing at the next level for past 3-6 months, you will make the case for your promotion strong and more obvious. (Useful templates in the comments below ↓)

If your calendar is packed but you still feel like you’re falling behind, this might be why: You’re trying to be a maker and a manager at the same time. In this edition of my LinkedIn newsletter, I share one of the most powerful productivity shifts I’ve made: separating “maker days” for deep creative work from “manager days” filled with meetings and calls. The idea comes from Paul Graham’s framework, and it’s been a game changer in how I structure my time and protect my focus. I walk through how I organize my schedule, why mixing different types of tasks drains your momentum, and how you can start carving out time for your best thinking. It’s not always easy, but protecting that creative space is what makes meaningful work possible. If you’re looking for a better way to manage your time, this is a great place to begin:

Want to become the expert in your team on Workday’s plans with AI? Workday's new Illuminate might seem overwhelming, but read this post carefully and you'll be the go-to person for everything Workday AI related. During this year’s keynote, Workday talks in detail about their new AI brand, Workday Illuminate. Here's a breakdown of the parts I found most interesting: Within WD Illuminate, Workday delivers their AI features in three different categories. 1. Accelerate : Get your existing work done faster • Help article creation: No need to spend hours working on writing articles anymore. You can now quickly create a KB article from your existing HR policy document. • Talent Highlights: Gen AI can create employee growth content backed by Workday data in seconds. This way, you can easily analyze the strengths and development areas of your workforce. 2. Assist: Reduce your cognitive load • AI-enhanced search bar: Workday Assistant is integrated within the search bar, making it easier to find the information you need. The search results have now been improved through the integration of Workday Assistant's natural language processing. • Semantic contract search: Users can now search for contracts using related terms that may not be represented in the document itself. This allows you to discover contracts you may have been unaware of, reducing the risk. 3. Transform: Change the way you deliver your work • Succession Agent: This new agent automates the succession planning process, prompting managers to auto-update succession plans, automatically recommend successors across the organization, and generate personalized development plans. • Workday Optimize: With WD Optimize, how business processes are streamlined is changing! You now get alerts on bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and deviations from best practices on BPs. It only gets better… Gen AI will give recommendations on how to optimize and even fix it for you. Below the most interesting resources if you want to explore everything that Workday is doing on (Gen)AI: ▪️ Workday AI: Illuminate the future of HR (On demand webinar, highly recommend): https://lnkd.in/giRQswyR ▪️ Workday Responsible AI Whitepaper: https://lnkd.in/gtwzU5fP ▪️ Responsible AI Masterclass (Free): https://lnkd.in/giydue2g ▪️ Workday Machine Learning Roadmap: https://lnkd.in/gFeEcP_6 ▪️ Join Early Access programs: https://lnkd.in/g3-Pq5FM #Workday #AI #WorkdayIlluminate #WDRisingEmea #WDSocialSquad

Pull Live Workday Data into Power BI or Excel No Prism, No EIB, No Middleware Most Workday Admins don't realize this: You can connect Workday to Power BI or Excel directly, using nothing but a custom report and a web service URL. Here’s the exact mechanism: → Create a custom Advanced Report in Workday → Enable it as a Web Service (RaaS) → Go to Web Service > View URLs > JSON and copy the URL → Paste that into Power Query (Excel or Power BI) → Authenticate using a Workday Integration System User → Flatten the JSON into a clean table → Build your dashboard, pivot, or executive view No EIBs. No APIs. No Prism Analytics. Just raw Workday data feeding live into your analytics tool of choice. And it’s not a one-trick solution,here’s what makes this feature truly powerful: 🔸 Scheduled Refresh: Excel auto-refresh on open. Power BI refreshes every hour. Your dashboards stay current. 🔸 Secure by Design: You can restrict the integration user to specific domains and calculated fields. The report is only as open as you define it. 🔸 Custom Filters: Use Workday prompts or Power BI parameters to slice data by region, role, or time. 🔸 Combines with Anything: Merge Workday’s JSON feed with Salesforce, NetSuite, LMS data, or even static CSVs. It even supports Workday’s calculated fields and derived tokens so long as you share them correctly. A few nuances that make or break this: -Use a dedicated Integration System User, with Do Not Allow UI Login and Password Never Expires if possible. -Create a clean Integration System Security Group and grant GET access only to the domains needed. -Avoid assigning the report to a personal user. Ownership changes will break the JSON URL. Use a stable service account. -Flattening Workday JSON in Power Query might take a few steps,especially when nested arrays and objects are involved. But once done, it’s refreshable and reliable. Limitations to watch: -No pagination. Pulling 50,000 rows? It’ll try all at once. Filter aggressively or split the report. -No write-back. This is read-only. Perfect for dashboards, not for data entry. -If Workday report definitions change (columns removed, fields renamed), your Power BI model may break. But for lean teams looking to extend reporting without new tools or licenses, this is an incredibly underused strategy. -It’s fast. -It’s secure. -And it makes Workday data available where business leaders actually look,Excel and dashboards. If you’re building Workday reporting strategies and haven’t tried this yet, you’re leaving value on the table. img src:Acterys

TEN STEPS ON THE ROAD TO EFFICIENT Frederick Taylor taught Henry Ford how to do mass production. Deming brought quality, systems understanding and respect for the worker. And operations research brought insight. If you have a repeated production process, the method for improving it is almost always the same, regardless of what you and your team produce: 1. Measure before you change. You can’t improve what you haven’t observed. Go to the floor, watch the actual work, time it, and document what’s really happening—not what you assume is happening. Taylor called this time study. operations research calls it data collection. Either way, you start by looking. 2. Map the flow. Trace the path of materials and information from start to finish. Where does work queue up? Where does it sit idle? Where does it move backward? A simple process flow diagram reveals bottlenecks you’d never see otherwise. 3. Identify the constraint. Your system can only move as fast as its slowest step. Find it. Everything else is secondary until you address that bottleneck. (At a buffet, when you double the number of stations of the slowest item, the entire line runs faster.) 4. Separate value from waste. For every step, ask: does this transform the product in a way the customer would pay for? Anything else—waiting, moving, inspecting, reworking—is waste. You don’t need to eliminate all of it, but you need to see it. 5. Standardize the best-known method. This is Taylor’s core insight: once you find a better way, write it down, teach it, and make it the default. Not to control workers, but to create a floor that everyone can build on. Deming’s insight is that variation is the enemy of quality. 6. Reduce variation before you optimize speed. This is Deming’s most important and surprising lesson. A consistent process running at moderate speed beats an erratic one running fast. Get the process under statistical control first. 7. Build in feedback loops, not inspection gates. Smart managers don’t like end-of-line inspection because it’s too late. Instead, give the people doing the work the information and authority to catch problems as they happen. The goal is to make quality intrinsic to the process, not bolt it on after. 8. Optimize the system, not the parts. This is where operations research and Deming converge. Making one station 30% faster can actually make the whole system worse if it just piles up inventory before the next step. Ask: what does this change do to the entire flow? 9. Involve the people doing the work. Taylor got this wrong—he treated workers as interchangeable parts. Deming fixed this: the people on the floor know things management never will. Create structured ways to capture that knowledge. Invest in reducing fear so people will share what they know. 10. Iterate in small cycles. Plan-Do-Study-Act is Deming’s learning wheel. Don’t redesign everything at once. Make a small change, measure the result, learn from it, adjust. Then do it again. The factory

Stop letting work invade every corner of your life. 12 boundaries that put you back in control: Every notification. Every "quick question" at 8pm. Every weekend email marked "urgent." They're not just interruptions. They're invasions. What starts as dedication slowly transforms into a life where work owns every moment, leaving you perpetually exhausted but never quite "done." It ends now. 💥 12 Scripts That Command Respect: 1) "I'm offline after 6pm, but I'll get back to you at 9am" ↳ Don't justify or apologize. Simple statement, clear expectations. 2) "I've blocked focus time until 2pm - happy to connect right after" ↳ Assume agreement rather than asking permission. 3) "This needs my full attention - let's set 30 minutes tomorrow" ↳ Position boundaries as beneficial to work quality. 4) "I don't check email on weekends - text me only if it's urgent" ↳ Create a specific emergency channel, keep it sacred. 5) "I have a hard stop at [time] - what should we prioritize now?" ↳ Frame it as prioritization, not avoidance. 6) "I'm stepping away for an hour and will check messages once I'm back" ↳ Normalize breaks as part of professional behavior. 7) "That time's set aside for deep work - can we meet [day] instead?" ↳ Empty calendar time isn't available time. Protect it. 8) "This might be better over email - happy to reply thoughtfully" ↳ Reframe efficiency as a professional value. 9) "I'm at capacity through [day] - which task should I pause to fit this in?" ↳ Make trade-offs visible rather than absorbing more work. 10) "I don't take calls during my commute - it's reset time" ↳ Position boundaries as performance enhancement, not selfishness. 11) "Tonight is family time - I can jump in tomorrow" ↳ Name what you're protecting instead of apologizing. 12) "That's outside my bandwidth - [Name] might be the right person for this" ↳ Redirect without guilt or over-explanation. Your boundaries protect what matters most. Make them non-negotiable ✨ Which script will you use to reclaim your peace today? -- ♻️  Repost to help your network protect their time and energy 🔔 Follow Dr. Carolyn Frost for more strategies to succeed without sacrificing what matters most

A walk isn't a break. It's the sharpest cognitive tool you're not using. Working memory Attention stability Decision processing None of these are fixed. They respond to your physiology in real time. Which means the state you bring into a high-stakes meeting, a difficult conversation, or a complex decision is not neutral. It's a product of what you did in the hour before it. Here's how to use this practically: 1) Apply it to strategic and creative thinking. Walking increases divergent thinking. Problems that feel stuck at a desk often unlock in motion. Build this into how you approach complex work, not just how you decompress after it. 2) Most people fill dead time by sitting and scrolling. Both work against you. Prolonged sitting reduces cerebral blood flow, the brain gets less oxygen, less glucose, and cognitive output drops. Scrolling compounds it. Each swipe delivers a small dopamine hit and a faster drop, leaving you with a depleted baseline, narrowed attention, and a brain wired for stimulus rather than depth. 3) You've invested in your team, your tools, your environment. The organ making every decision in that environment, you've done nothing to prepare it. A 10 -minute walk before your most demanding work is preparation, not indulgence. Your brain after a walk is a different tool. Are you using it at the right moment? Every week, I break down the science, strategies, and habits that help executives and founders think clearly, lead effectively, and maintain the energy to perform at their best. Join the 'Built to Last' Newsletter completely free: https://lnkd.in/dFDMgpXh Follow Tom Waite for posts that help you live and lead longer.

Your brain isn’t tired. It’s just been sitting too long 👇 We call it “mental fatigue.” But often, the problem isn’t your brain It’s your body. After 20 minutes of sitting, your brain slows. After 20 minutes of walking, it lights up. Want sharper thinking, better leadership, and a calmer mind? Here’s how: 1/ Walk meetings ↳ Replace one 30-minute Zoom with a walking call, creativity increases by 60%. ↳ People open up more when they’re side-by-side, not face-to-face. ↳ Conversations flow naturally when bodies move and so do ideas. 2/ Step resets ↳ Every 90 minutes, take 5–10 minutes to move even around your office. ↳ Movement increases blood flow to the prefrontal cortex, your decision center. ↳ You’ll come back sharper, calmer, and less reactive. 3/ Idea walks ↳ Some of your best ideas won’t come from a whiteboard, they’ll come from the sidewalk. ↳ Walking increases divergent thinking (the science term for “thinking outside the box”). ↳ Capture thoughts in your phone notes; don’t trust your brain to remember brilliance. 4/ Morning motion ↳ Before you scroll or check messages, move. ↳ Morning sunlight + motion resets your circadian rhythm and dopamine levels. ↳ It sets your tone: grounded, focused, present. 5/ Post-lunch strolls ↳ That 2PM fog? It’s not laziness, it’s blood sugar and posture. ↳ Ten minutes of walking balances both. ↳ Skip the extra coffee; the walk is your caffeine. 6/ Walking = thinking ↳ Stillness breeds stagnation. Movement breeds clarity. ↳ The world’s best thinkers from Jobs to Aristotle all walked to think. ↳ You don’t need a bigger desk. You need a better rhythm. 7/ Leaders who move, lead better ↳ Walking improves emotional regulation and patience, two leadership superpowers. ↳ You return from a walk with a clearer head, not just a cleaner inbox. ↳ Your presence improves, and people feel it. Movement isn’t a break from leadership, it’s part of it. A still leader can’t inspire motion. Leaders who move, think better. Leaders who think better, lead better. ❓When’s the last time you walked for clarity, not just for steps? ________ ♻️ Repost if walking has ever sparked a breakthrough idea for you. 👋 Follow me (Dr. Chris Mullen) and get one actionable idea each week through my BETTER AT LIFE newsletter. ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gJTcghKK

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 — 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐎𝐧𝐞𝐬 ☕ I used to take coffee breaks just to scroll my phone, check notifications, and mentally disconnect. Spoiler: I came back more distracted than refreshed. Working 10+ hour days as a Research Analyst taught me this: how you spend your break determines how well you work after it. So I stopped taking default breaks — and started using them intentionally. Here’s how I now make 15-minute coffee breaks actually count 👇 📍𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲. Quick walk. Light stretch. Just getting away from the desk boosts blood flow and clears mental fog — science backs this. 📍𝗡𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝘀. 𝗡𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸. I used to check LinkedIn or emails “for a sec” — that didn’t help. Now, I use breaks to disconnect fully — so I can return focused. 📍𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝘁. Sometimes I take 2 mins to revisit my task list, reprioritize, or ask: What’s the one thing I need to finish today? It keeps me aligned and avoids the afternoon drift. 📍𝗙𝘂𝗲𝗹 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲. Not just coffee. Hydration + light snacks = energy boost. Caffeine helps, but balance matters more. Bottom line? A well-used break can add hours of productivity to your day. It’s not about pausing work — it’s about recharging with intention. How do you make the most of your breaks? I’m always up for better ideas — drop yours 👇 #WorkSmart #CoffeeBreakWisdom #ProductivityTips #FocusAtWork