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The British are the third busiest people in Europe, accruing an average of 42.7 hours per week in 2011, according to the Office for National Statistics. Regrettably, though, the national productivity rating per hour of 107.2 lags behind its continental counterparts. In fact, Luxembourgers, who work 2.5 hours less, are the most productive in Europe at 189.2. Laura Vanderkam, critically acclaimed author of several books on time management, suggests recording how much time people spend on one task for the entire week—all 168 hours of it. This is perhaps not the easiest method to assess your schedule, but how you construe being “busy” just might need to be revisited. In other words, it’s all a matter of getting your priorities straight and focusing on the things you want to do more. Keeping a “time diary” may not seem to do much good for the first few days, but a month’s worth of journal entries could help you detect a pattern as it develops.

A sky garden has just opened atop the Walkie Talkie’s crown floor, but it’s open to reservations-only. No sweat, right? Well… The 35th, 36th, and 37th floors of 20 Fenchurch Street, the Walkie Talkie’s official name, now host a domed sky garden with three fine dining options and offer a fantastic view of London. Gourmands also swear that the gourmet cuts at Fenchurch Seafood Bar & Grill, sourced from British herds and aged in wine for at least 35 days, are to die for. Tea and sandwiches are also must-have treats at either Darwin Brasserie or Sky Pod Bar, perfect for watching the vibrant London sunset. These spots sure sound inviting; the problem is, everyone else thinks so, too. Both the sky garden and its dining outlets quickly run out of slots. Even a lone visitor to the garden would have to book three days to three months in advance.

Start with the specifics. As with any event, communication is crucial to event planning. Be sure to talk to your boss to set expectations and enquire about the intended outcome. Confirm the budget, the purpose of the event, the number of people expected to attend, the facilities needed, and the other significant aspects of the conference. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box. You don’t have to limit yourself to everyday venues or traditional setups. Find an unexpected but highly suitable venue that is certain to impress your boss as well as the conference participants. Naturally, you will still need to run these ideas by your boss, so make sure your plans are solid and well-thought-out before you deliver your presentation.

Creative Lifestyle Management: Essential when Travelling with a Baby

A new rule that took effect in April this year allows parents in the U.K. to spend more quality time with their new born children. Called the Shared Parental Leave (SPL), the policy allows both parents to take time off for up to 50 weeks (either in one block or in separate periods) within the birth of their child right up to the baby’s first birthday. The SPL is paid for up to 37 weeks, provided one’s employer has been duly notified.

Although the new legislation is primarily intended to make childrearing a hands-on experience for both parents, couples can also use this time to plan family holidays. After all, you deserve to take a break from work and celebrate the arrival of your bundle of joy.

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According to iDoneThis, a tracking and sharing suite, only half of the items on a standard to-do list only get done. You’re not looking at a list with just five or six items, but one where tasks for a single day can take a week to finish. Coupled with other issues like allocating time and a poor mindset, to-do lists are taking their toll on one’s ability to accomplish tasks. Part of this poor mindset includes treating to-do lists as grocery lists, writes Daniel DiPiazza, founder of Rich20Something.com. People tend to itemize their tasks without arranging them by priority. As a result, they end up doing low-priority items most of the time. In some cases, major tasks—which take days or weeks to finish—end up on daily to-do lists.

A CEO may not task a London concierge with running the company, but he can entrust some of the more universal tasks to him, like booking a business trip. That’s delegation in a nutshell. Delegation allows people to focus on the tasks that matter to them more by allowing some help to handle tasks that can be done by anyone. It’s a skill most people are afraid to do, according to PA Life, because of the risk of failure. Many believe others simply won’t cut it as far as quality of work is concerned.

In any challenging environment, one can choose to be a pessimist or an optimist. When the market fluctuates, for instance, a businessperson can respond in one of two ways: "I failed" or "Try again." Whilst a pessimist may play it safe until things normalise, an optimist takes the initiative to find a way forward. An optimistic frame of mind may seem like the obvious thing to adapt in any problem. Yet John Davis, senior lecturer at the Harvard Business School, urges executives and entrepreneurs to be pessimistic or optimistic depending on the situation. Pessimism, particularly when circumstances are against you, leads you to reinvent the wheel. Optimism, on the other hand, encourages you to keep reaching for your goal.

For an ever growing number of business travellers, especially those in the arts and entertainment industries, an optimal work-life balance is a must. While they are hard at work in another city or country, they find time to stop and smell the roses, so to speak, especially after a long day. Not surprisingly, this year's travel buzzword is "bleisure." Over 60 percent of business travellers, it would seem, consider it a good idea to squeeze in leisurely activities during their official business trips. Such was the main finding of The Bleisure Report by BridgeStreet Global Hospitality, a prominent lodging services firm. Most of the survey participants were from the U.K. (180) and the U.S. (167).

UHNWIs often lead very busy lives. Essentially, that’s how they got rich in the first place. You can imagine them hastily shifting from one call to another and heading from one appointment to the next. To keep up with their hectic schedules, most UHNWIs will need to have a job filled: that of a dependable Private Personal Assistant. Such an Assistant will be someone with whom they can trust their money, social security numbers, family—basically their entire lives. If you’re a responsible, resourceful, and trustworthy individual, then you could just be the Personal Assistant UHNWIs seek.

You return home to find some unwashed dishes by the sink. Instead of accomplishing this chore now, you decide to put it off for after your six-o'clock teatime. Yet, by bedtime, the dirty dishes remain untouched. The tendency to procrastinate should not be taken lightly. The brain thinks it can do a chore at a later time, but Susannah Locke of Vox aptly describes this as a "vicious cycle." Try as you might, you can never get the job done since you continue to want that temporary mood boost procrastination offers.

With 2014 almost ending, Executive PA Magazine recently concluded its annual Executive PA Magazine Awards. As you may have probably guessed, the event honours and celebrates the achievements of the best Personal Assistants in the UK. Yes, the best PAs are given due recognition for all their hard work—something you can achieve yourself if you dedicate yourself to your profession. Whether you have experience as a PA for office executives or a young PA looking for his or her big break, employers are looking for PAs that have qualities which help them stay relaxed and efficient. After all, that is what award-winning PAs do. You too can become a top class Private Personal Assistant.

Ideally, most employers would prefer to hire a Personal Assistant who knows how to self-motivate himself or herself. After all, keeping others motivated each day can be challenging. Of course, even if you do find a PA that knows how to stay motivated, adding extra motivation can only yield wonders in terms of your PA’s performance. With that in mind, here are a three simple tips to help you make sure that the London concierge you acquire from respected staff agencies like SORTED remain motivated, productive, and ready to impress: Clear Lines of Communication From the delegation of tasks to asking for work environment feedback, communication between you and your PA should be clear and simple. Before you start working together, make sure that you and your PA discuss what you expect out of your partnership. This should set the tone and help you make use of each other’s strengths to get tasks done more efficiently.

For some, organising a company event may seem daunting because of the expenses and effort it entails. For others, the task may be thrilling, since it lets them unleash their creative side or their keen eye for details. However you see it, though, people need some help, especially if they’re the top executive of a corporate organization with several responsibilities and busy schedules. A reliable private Personal Assistant would be invaluable in these circumstances.

As an art collector or cognoscenti, you’re naturally passionate about attending events that the industry regards. When exclusive galleries or exhibitions are opened in the City, for instance, you know you have to get on the guest list to browse and review the items, broaden your repertoire, and socialise. To accomplish the mundane tasks that come with appearing on these occasions, you might want the help of a personal concierge in London. Vogue contributor Sarah Mower features a recently-concluded affair that those with an interest in the art world looks forward to each year: London’s Frieze Art Fair. The cultural gathering’s opening act – an Alexander McQueen party – was definitely much anticipated and well-attended by notable personalities in the industry.

There will always be times when busy celebrities or high-ranking individuals need someone who’s made of flesh and bone to handle their affairs. In their hectic world, they need someone who’s well-informed, discreet, reliable, and unflappable—a person who can organise meetings, make connections, brief staff, field complaints, calm nerves, and make everything run smoothly for them. A highly skilled Private Personal Assistant from trusted concierge services like SORTED can provide that human touch, yet in an efficient manner.

Finding an experienced private Personal Assistant is much simpler if you work with a trusted staffing agency like SORTED. By clearly explaining your needs and expectations, an agency can refer several experienced and vetted Personal Assistants who fit your requirements. This saves you the time it takes to receive applicants and sort through their CVs and ensures you’ll have capable, recommended clients as well as the security of a replacement guarantee.

If you took the time to read the entirety of the article, you would have noticed that the Duchess of Cambridge leads a life that is similar to that of a high-ranking executive with an unrelenting schedule. Luckily for her, she has several Personal Assistants to help her manage her responsibilities. Likewise, for CEOs of large corporations, having a personal concierge in London can vastly increase one’s productivity. By outsourcing several tasks to an Assistant, executives can free up more time so they could enjoy a business lunch or leave the office early and spend more time with their families. Indeed, The Harvard Business Review claims that having a Personal Assistant is “crucial to being productive”.

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