Reserve time for your own growth and advancement.

How would you rate yourself on your own “scale of productivity?” Was yesterday a 2…or a 10? When was the last day you left work, arrived home, or reflected on a day at work and thought, “Wow, that was a great day!”?

Every day, too many people leave  their office without having spent time on the Significant Things. A lot of people set goals and objectives for themselves, and then, for one  reason or another, don’t get around to actually progressing by taking action on their most Significant Projects and Actions.

So here is something you can try: reserve a specific time this week – away from your computer, your mobile phone and your coworkers and/or staff. This time block should be between 45-90 minutes (how long can you go away and still have your department or business run along without you?).

Bring the thinking, project or action development materials you will need to be productive and spread them out on a desk where you can have some uninterrupted time. In the past week, I have done this twice. Once in an office conference room in between speaking engagements, and the other time at a coffee shop before I checked in for a flight.

Here are some things you can do while you’re working in your reserved time:

Hand write thank you/thinking of you cards.
Call several people from your database.
Draw a timeline of project milestones and goals and achievements for the next 6 months.
Weekly reflection and activity debrief (for the past 7 days).

To maximize this time, I highly recommend you bring a stopwatch or kitchen timer. Set it for the appropriate time period (53 minutes, for example) and work through the entire session. And then, when the alarm rings, STOP and go back to your computer, your office and your staff. Practice this once a week, and begin the fast track to your own growth and advancement.

Comments

[Albert]

Heya, I like this post - working on yourself has got to be one of the best things you can ever do. Reflection would be the best activity. First time on your blog, but I'm really liking your style, and you've got a new subscriber ;)

Cheers,
Albert | UrbanMonk.Net
Modern personal development, entwined with ancient spirituality.