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Don't spend all your time working on the low hanging fruit. Work on the big stuff too.
Time isn't money, it's life. Some moments you won't ever get again ... take them while you can.
Matthew outlines the add, subtract, multiply, and divide approach to productivity.
The David Allen Company launched a new channel on YouTube.
On Time
Seth says that showing up on time and cherishing the customer's time is the #1 most overlooked secret of marketing. "Show up on time. It doesn't cost anything to keep your promises when it comes to time. Show up for the meeting when the meeting starts. Have the dry cleaning ready when you promise. Ship on time. Return that phone call. Finish the renovation ahead of schedule. Boy that's simple. Apparently, it's incredibly difficult."
The Zone
Five tips from Mark about getting into a highly productive zone: (1) don't fight yourself, (2) do tasks when they are the easiest, (3) recognize and minimize distractions, (4) don't let your mind wander to other important things, and (5) train your brain. "Often the biggest differentiator between highly productive and less productive people is their ability to concentrate and focus on the task at hand. A focused 15 minutes of work is much more productive than an unfocused 30 minutes or hour. So how do you get into “the zone” in order to make your time count? "
Quick Links
- 10 ways that Google's Chrome browser enhances productivity.
- A fast way to develop content for thought leadership: call someone and interview them, and then post it as a podcast.
- Five things that become easier when you wake up early.
A bit of a catchup ...
Quick Links
- Paper is highly productive for thinking.
- Take some time to re-organize your computer files and get up to date with a system that works.
- Tips for writing: write about others, write in a quiet place, read a lot, and treat writing in the same way as your most serious work.
- Chris has 10 tech tips to improve your productivity, such as managing email better, getting your inbox to zero, and use a text replacement tool.
- What's stopping you? Too little clarity?, or too many distractions? Deal with it.
- Feel happier in an hour ... see Grethen's 8 ideas. Eg, #1 boost your energy, #3 get rid of a nagging task, and #8 listen to your favorite music.
- 7 ideas to procrastinate better when your energy is low and you need to do something else: #2 go running, #3 plan, and #5 research, among others.
During the Olympic Games last month I noticed three references to people doing their "great work" in 6 hours a day.
Michael Phelps swims for 5-6 hours a day, churning through 16 km of water. With winning 8 gold medals, he demonstrated some very successful outcomes for that training.
Hayden Roulston, the New Zealand cyclist who won 2 silver medals, is reported to cycle for 5-6 hours a day, and tear up a bit of road in that time. He too, achieved some successful outcomes for that work.
The third reference wasn't to do with the Games per se, but was rather in a book I was reading at the time. Stephen King's book, On Writing, talks about him spending 6 hours a day writing. After all, that's what writers do ... they write. And he's written a lot ... right?
So ... three examples of people investing "only" 6 hours a day in their "great work". Obviously everyone has other misc things to do each day ... but it made me think these thoughts:
Your thoughts?
Productivity101
Nicholas released his 101 ideas about productivity post ... a great summation of many good ideas in one place. Eg, #66, "E-mail simply brings into sharp relief how devastating regular interrupts are to your greatest asset: your thinking. Remove and reduce your distracters."
Plan in Reverse
Laura points to a new book by a colleague of hers, The Encore Effect by Mark Sanborn, which describes the problem of trying to "be on time". "This is the source of many people's lateness, I believe: they are trying to be on time. On page 17 of The Encore Effect, Mark defines average performance as, "the best of the worst and the worst of the best." He says further, "These performers are the best of the mediocre middle, neither hot nor cold but lukewarm. The problem is that average performance doesn't get you noticed." Simply being on time doesn't get you noticed, because it's fairly typical. It just doesn't stand out. It's okay…it's just expected…yawn. Don't be simply "average"! So don't be on time: be EARLY .... Being prepared means you do things EARLY. Not on time. Early. Done in advance. Proactive. Forward looking. With a long-term focus. We're not talking ridiculously early here, in a way that inconveniences your host when you arrive for a party. It's a way of thinking, a way of being, a way you frame your behavior."
Get Back to Organized
Jason outlines four steps to getting back to a state of organization: (1) start with a single step, (2) use a helping hand, (3) give yourself more time, and (4) focus on your restart. "Let's face it; everyone's productivity system ends up buried sooner or later. It’s your ability to get back to organized after falling off the wagon that will create some semblance of order and peace of mind that comes with having a system in place."
Quick Links
- WAMU recently featured a discussion on loneliness (audio, 1 hour)
5 Minute Daily Check In
Rosa argues that giving one employee 5 minutes of attention each day is a vital habit for managers. "Very briefly, the D5M is a simple habit. Each day, without fail, managers are to give five minutes of no-agenda time to at least one of their employees. Your time is one of the most precious resources you have, and to give it as a gift to someone in the form of the Daily Five Minutes® just may be one of the best work-expressions of unconditional aloha there is." She outlines 12 benefits of doing the D5M with employees ... and if you don't have employees ... think clients, project team members, family members, etc.
Feedback Against Objective Measures
Art talks about using a structured process for getting objective feedback on your performance, individually and for your wider organization. He suggests the power of using some of the free resources from the Malcolm Baldridge program to do so. "While you may assume that the Baldridge program is focused on quality (that’s part of the story), it is also heavily focused on performance and on the integration of all of the systems and processes that interact to create sustained, outstanding performance .... According to the site, the intent of the program is to: help organizations enhance their competitiveness by focusing on two goals: delivering ever improving value to customers and improving overall organizational performance."
Cultivating Trust
Trust is earned when a person meets the commitments they have made. "It's all about all the things that go with communicating and telling the truth and keeping promises. You do that every day and all of a sudden, trust is there. You don't "build" trust, either. Trust is not like a building. It's more like a tree. A tree is a living thing. So is trust. In the beginning both are fragile and require conscious care. Later they grow strong and can weather storms that would have destroyed them earlier."
Focus on the 3 MITs
Jason recommends three ways to focus on the most important things in your life and work: (1) turn off your computer and work on a key project for 15 minutes, (2) plan 3 specific projects you want to work on tomorrow, and (3) ask someone to watch you work for an hour and then tell you what they observed. "At the end, ask them to tell you what they saw. How did you stay focused, and where did you lose focus? Having someone watch me work gives an insight into HOW I am getting things done; not simply what I do during any 8, 10, 15 hour time period."
Time to Think
Mark reminds us of the need to think deeply, and offers key strategies for making it happen: (1) make time for it, (2) use mind mapping software, (3) evaluate your ideas after brainstorming them, (5) add more thoughts over time, and more. "One of the most important actions for anyone in an executive or managerial position is thinking. If you don’t leave yourself time to think then you are going to be working at far less than maximum effectiveness."
Say No
Dan suggests that a key strategy for getting more done is learning to say "no" to requests. "From my perspective, muri can be largely avoided by accepting the reality that your output each week is finite. Just because you're a knowledge worker doesn't mean that you're exempt from the laws that govern all forms of production. There's a physical limit to the throughput on a manufacturing line, there's a limit to how many jets can take off from LaGuardia airport each hour, and there's a limit to how much work you can do each week. Your boss may not like it -- hell, you may not like it -- but it's true. Recognizing this limit, and working within it, is the key to avoiding waste (and stress, and frustrated coworkers and customers). I know it seems both obsessive-compulsive and trivial ... but figuring out what you're spending your time on each day is critical." 'Muri' means "impossible" or "unreasonable".
Productivity, Not Time Management
Good reminder from Nicholas to focus on being productive, not improving time management. Three keys: (1) think more, (2) work with abundant energy, and (3) learn.
The Manager's #1 Tool
Rosa argues that every manager needs to have a "The Follow-up I Need to Complete" list, with three headings: "(1) What I must Do to Honor my Word, (2) Who I need to Follow-up with, and By When, and (3) Why it is so Important to Them, and thus, to Me." She finishes by saying, "So take this from me; the 1 best list that every manager must work with says THE FOLLOW-UP I NEED TO COMPLETE at the top, and has those three columns. What they write on it, and how consistently they work through it day by day will determine that manager’s success. Just ask their employees." More
4 Tips for the Weekly Review
Andre gives four strategies for easing your Weekly Review ... (1) schedule it, (2) work from a checklist, (3) do your collection separately, and (4) schedule planning time for complex projects. "The goal of the weekly review is to have nothing on your mind. During the week, you don’t have to think about with to do about most of your projects because you’ve already thought about them. You just need to act. At that point, you simply look at your lists to get the next action that moves that project foward." And in the comments, Jason adds a 5th. More
Streamline Repetitive Actions
Jason says that one way to improve productivity is to streamline repetitive behaviors. "During your workday, make a tally sheet/inventory of all of the activities you do multiple if not hundreds of times per day. Some examples of the most common tasks are sending e-mails to your team and taking notes after meetings. After you have your quantitative list, make an effort to streamline the items you do most often. By streamlining, I mean remove any unnecessary steps or features that slow the process down. By starting with the activities you do most often, you’ll experience the greatest return on investment (ROI) for your time, focus and effort." More
Things Syncs
Cultured Code announced that Things synchronizes with the iPod touch and iPhone. "Other improvements are a faster dialog for entering new to-dos, an app icon badge, and a customization of the automatic logging behavior. We have also added localizations for French, Spanish, and Japanese."
Lessons from Swimming for Life
Jon shares some thoughts about the lessons from Olympic swimming that can be applied to life. Eg, "3. drifting adds distance".
Don't "Check" Email
Andre is of the opinion that you should never check email. You should process email, sure, but never "check" it just for the sake of seeing what's new. "We scan the From and Subject lines, skipping on if they don’t catch our attention. Out of 80 messages, 20 might be worth actually opening. We open one of these, glance at the body, and intone the “Hmmm” to ourselves that translates as, “This one can probably wait.” Then we repeat the process with the other 19, occasionally distracted by new messages trickling into the inbox the interim. When we finally hit on one that merits our full attention, it becomes all consuming. We spend the next 15 minutes handling whatever crisis is contained in the email. The other messages have to wait."
Contents at a Glance
- What Do You Do With Your 35 Hours of Free Time?
- Quick Links
What Do You Do With Your 35 Hours of Free Time?
Based on diary studies from US households in 2005, the average American has 35 hours of leisure time each week, and also works 35 hours.
"So where does all the free time go? According to the article, over half of it is spent watching television. (However, the article notes that time spent watching television isn’t any higher than it wasin 1990.)When people say that they don’t have enough time, it says more about how they spend their time than the actual quantity. After all, no one really has more time, we all just spend it in different ways. When people feel like their time is being spent on very valuable things, they may still run out of time, but there is a completely different level of fulfillment involved."
Analysis
As Mark writes later ... you have to choose what you want to spend your time on. And in a related post, Leo outlines 25 ways to get an hour a day for your priority work.
Quick Links
- Watch the temperature of your environment ... it can contribute or detract from your efforts.
- Kelly looks at how to implement GTD for $6, with a paper-planner.
- For frequent travelers, the TSA has new guidelines on laptop friendly bags that you don't have to empty for screening.
