Jason Womack

What happens when you fake it?

 I opened my email up to an article titled, "Are you faking it?" and laughed out loud.

Then…I read about a study designed by some heavy-duty psychologists and thought, "Wow, there's something here."

Why do you want to be more productive? Really?

I read an HBR update recently, a quick note about a study coordinated by Francesca Gino and Michael I. Norton of Harvard Business School and Dan Ariely of Duke University. For quite some time, they have looked at the psychological effects of what happens when people are faking success. 

Click here to read the post!

3 ways to gain momentum

We're fascinated by the concept of momentum

Are you moving forward? How far? How fast?

If you're going to engage at the highest level you can, the way you achieve balance (in work, in life) will depend on how "influence-able" you are. And, I believe it comes down to three things you can do to CREAT and MAINTAIN momentum. They are:

1. Mimicry


2. Activity


3. Consistency

Are you using these three? Would you like to read more about them? If so...here’s the article link.

Do you ever do NOthing?

Do you ever do NOthing?

Nope.

And, incidentally, neither do I. Now, don't be concerned...I often do ONEthing. Which is REALLY what people are saying when they say, "I want time to do nothing."

It's quite a world we live in when we need - as Paolo Cardini talks about in his TED Talk - a technology to tune out the technology that disrupts us during our day. So, how can YOU get more? I've got THREE ideas; here's the first one:

Ok, you'll know from the book that I'm a "fan of 15 minutes."

You see, fifteen minutes is about 1% of my day. As there are 1,440 minutes in a day, I calculated that I have 96 blocks of 15 minutes to work with. Want to see how powerful 15 minutes can be? Here's a dare: Look around, and grab ONE thing on your desk that you "need to be working on."

When you're ready, click HERE, and don't do anything EXCEPT study/read/review/work with that thing. In the comment section below, let us know how this works for you!

 

...To read the REST of this article and my two OTHER ideas, click here

As 2013 marches forward, do you find yourself making another to-do list?

Or are you spending time “getting organized”? Or are you buying a new app or tool to “make things easier”? Do you need to attend or call yet “another” meeting?

You are not alone.

These are ways people typically “manage” their time. But when you really look at the results, is your approach working for you? Are you happy with the speed at which you are moving toward your goals? Do you know what you are moving toward? Is it enough?

to continue reading...click here

Related articles

Small Business Success in 2013

3 ways to build your business (as a speaker)

It sure is easy to say yes, isn’t it? (Article published on Biznik...)

I wrote an article after someone in a seminar asked, "Why do people say yes to so many things and then get stressed out about how much there is to do?

The article I published last week was featured over on Biznik. Here's the link...

Will you know it, when you see it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Pura Vida"

Our friend said, "Go out there and on the count of three jump as high as you can." 

So, here we are...jumping off the beach in Costa Rica (last December). Jodi and I had just finished a run of a month where we were in 6 cities, in three countries. We were advising and consulting on both topics we srite and speak about (Jodi and her Women's Business Socials and me on topics of talent development and leadership).

We were celebrating this elusive concept called balance (that's why I filed this, off to the right, in the "Balance" category) in our work and personal lives. What we've found is that the most important thing isn't that we're heading toward a goal, or that we even set a goal in the first place.

No, our Most Important Thing is that we get to look around at where we are right now and say, "Wow, look where we've arrived!"

Try it out. Look around, and notice what you notice. Could you celebrate? Right now? Do it!

Oh, and if you send a picture of you jumping, I just might send you a present!

How's it going?

I took the picture below on a visit to Homer, Alaska when I visited some time ago. In the moment after I snapped this picture, the juvenile Bald Eagle had the fish tightly held in the talons, and flew off toward a perch nearby. By all measurement, this bird had succeeded in "catching" breakfast.

For this assessment, please open up your dayplanner or your digital calendar. Review the past 48 hours and look for:

- meetings
- completions
- acknowledgments
- interactions (at work and at home)

Sometime, later today, someone is going to ask you, "How's it going?" or "How was your day?" In that moment, you have an opportunity to reduce the subjective nature of all the possible answers ("It's fine." "I'm busy." "Another day..." etc). Share with them something that happened, is happening, or is going to happen as a result of who you talked to and what you worked on that day.

By identifying solid, specific and meaningful measures you will give yourself an objective "yardstick" to measure your productivity, performance and time management.

 

(Once upon a time, there was a place in Homer, AK where a woman was allowed to "feed" the Bald Eagles. Everyone called her, "The Eagle Lady." Over the 20+ years she did, the eagle population in this area grew exponentially. This program ended in 2009...)

What are the job "skills" of 2011?

Here is a list I saw recently outling suggested "skills" for applying to an organization for a temporary position (through the current boom in real estate and loan origination... ).

Building Relationships
Community Outreach
Computer Skills
Developing Budgets
Documentation Skills
Fundraising Skills
Internet Research
Job Knowledge
Presentation Skills
Research Skills
Supervisory Skills
Written Communication

Wow...can you imagine walking in to an interview, knowing you'd be asked any or all of these questions!

Be aware ... or beware

Lately, people are talking the "P" factor of efficient and effective workflow...

PRIORITIZE click here for a definition

Be aware of what's important. Beware of doing things below the very top of that list.

Your MITs (scroll through these entries) are the things that you know will make a difference.

Here's a 5 day experiment I am on day 8 of: The Seven Minute Difference. I've been writing down today what my 5 or fewer priorities are for tomorrow. Then, I review them throughout the day. I can tell you, it's working! (Special thanks to Allyson Lewis for creating this thought-provoking tool!)

Take a B-I-G risk: Study you

In our day-to-day interactions, how we do things can often be as (or more) important as what we do.

be havior |biˈhāvyər| ( Brit. behaviour)
noun
the way in which one acts or conducts oneself, esp. toward others

In our seminars, you have an opportunity to consider, clarify and question your workplace performance habits and routines.

Recently, our newsletter was all about 6 Approaches to Better Results ... the process of looking at how behaviors impact our productivity. Check it out...