Jason Womack

The Womack Company: What we do (Part 3/4)

We're working on a project to put together a short video, outlining what we "do" at The Womack Company. Our partners asked us to come up with four "quotations" that come together to summarize our work - the caveat: Each quote needs to be short...

Here you have... the third one:

Jason W. Womack, MEd, MA
Master productivity coach, workplace performance psychologist

Well, in this little video we're making, it seems appropriate to answer the question: "Who is this Jason guy?"

Since entering graduate school pursuing an advanced Master's degree in Education (in 1995), I've been fascinated by the process of learning and application. How is it, I wonder, some people see, hear or do something new and after realizing the benefit continue doing it? Other people, well, they hear about an idea that could help them create (or drop!) a habit, and for one reason or another, they just don't get around to implementing it...

I returned to school (in 2001), and earned another Master's degree...this one in Psychology. You see, as a trained teacher, I was taught how to build a lesson plan, present material, and assess progress. What I needed to study for two more years was: How do you get people to learn most effectively?

Today, our coaching programs and seminars are designed to do two things at once: Educate AND influence. We personally guarantee that by attending one of our programs, you will work smarter, more efficiently, get more done, and experience more progress - in work and in life.

2009: The Women's Conference - Changing the World

I am sitting in the Grand Ballroom waiting for the session to start. It is called:

Changing the World Through the Web

I remember, way back in 1997, when I taught high school history. I made a website, learning HTML at night through University extension courses. My goal was to show the students what I saw was coming!

Now, I seem to be coming full circle: I'm sitting in a lecture hall to hear a panel share how THEY see the world changing hand-in-hand with the Internet. On the panel:

Joe Rospers
Randi Zuckerberg
Premal Shah
Ashton Kutcher

QUOTES:

We need to be able to find what we need, when we need it

300 Million people worldwide...Facebook

Kiva - make a microloan to a low-income entrepreneurs...easily

Build a social community and then invite people to DO something

Don't have to be a skilled technologist to make a difference

Rally your friends around to create a movement

As the social web grows, let's mobilize AND activate

Virality and tagging...absolutely HUGE! Get pictures with people (clients, vendors, friends!) add to Facebook...and tag everyone!

******

Have you read "The Brand Gap" yet?

A short video, with some ideas on marketing "yourself" over here:

Speedkeys don't just make things faster...

If you have been reading our newsletter - sign up here - you know we've been writing about the speedkeys, in alphabetical order!

Here is a link to a PDF from the Mastering Workplace Performance seminar workbook:

Download WorkbookSpeedkeys

And, there’s a page on our website that is similar to the Speedkeys list...
 

When I read the book Bit Literacy, by Mark Hurst (thanks again, Jonathan, for sending it to me), I realized that speedkeys are not about working faster. I mean, it's not about pressing control+p instead of clicking File, Print.

The speedkeys allow me to stay in the "productive zone" for a longer period of time.

If I can look at the screen, and keep my ideas flowing without having to leave the keyboard and get the job done, it's better all around. I continue to share these ideas with the executives I work with; it's not about knowing what the technology can do...it's about getting the tools, systems and methods to match your working styles and personality.

Race Report: 10K, 2009-10/24 in Ojai, CA...The October Classic

Well, I did it...again. I finished The October Classic 10K race here in Ojai, CA this morning. I'd love to see more people come out for this race next year, a great way to welcome in fall!

(I am "considering" running a Mastering Workplace Performance weekend seminar next October, which would include this as an option - run in the 5K or 10K - or both! Interested? Email me...)

What can I say...the day was perfect! At race time (0800) it was 62 degrees outside, not a cloud to be seen, and absolutely no wind. I had two goals for this race, both performance related:

1) Keep my heart rate below 90% of maximum
2) Maintain a stream of positive self-talk consciousness throughout the 6.2 miles

I finished a few minutes off my own Personal Record (PR), due to goal number 1. Because I kept my heart rate down, I came in 7th overall and 1st in my age group - with a time of 40 and change.

Lessons learned:

It's really, REALLY about pacing. You see, in sport - and in life - it doesn't matter how fast you go out, or how careful you are to "save some for the end." What it comes down to, what separates the best from the rest, is the ability to keep things consistently moving forward at a performance pace that you can endure.

With my executive coaching clients, I often address the "hours worked" per week. They fluctuate too much, we find. Sometimes they stay at the office until 8 or 9 or even 10 o'clock. Then, the next week, to try and make up for the amount of time they spend in the office, they will get home earlier, only to fall behind and have to make it up over the weekend. (I'm still working with a lot of people who have simply grown accustomed to adding a 1/2 day Saturday session to their work week.)

Pacing is everything. My suggestion: take this week and really study your patterns, your effort and your results. See if it's possible to slow down or speed up consistently and achieve some new outcomes!

Articles published through Training Magazine (out of New York City)

 

Those of you reading this blog know that I like to find and share the information I can use immediately to help make my "best" even better. I was looking at the Training Magazine website recently, and realized I can "call up"  the articles I've written for them.

Here is a list of several of the articles published on Training Magazine. Please feel free to click, print and share with anyone you know pushing the "productivity edge."

Of course, my next step is to get this "inventory" over on our website! (www.WomackCompany.com)

The Womack Company: What we do (Part 2/4)

We're working on a project to put together a short video, outlining what we "do" at The Womack Company. Our partners asked us to come up with four "quotations" that come together to summarize our work - the caveat: Each quote needs to be short...

Below, the second one:

Enhanced Workplace Performance
Minimize distraction, increase productivity and make things happen

This constant changing of focus, from unfinished task to open project back to incomplete conversation all take a toll. It's important to look back on each day (yes, every day!) and acknowledge progress. Of course, you may have to manufacture that completion, and you may need to plan your day ahead of time to get there...but, try it out. It's important...

Making things possible...that is our motto.

Through an exploration of the psychological, technological and sociological factors that impact productivity, it's possible then to come up with experiments to implement as you study and impove your own workplace performance.

Are you (finally) ready to change?

Once a week, slow down...no, actually, stop. Identify something you are (finally) ready to change.

Look around your digital and physical workspace, and ask these three questions:

• Where am I?
  Where did I say I would be by now?
  What do I need to do next to continue the momentum?

Once you have decided how committed you are, it’s easier to adjust your training, planning and expectations appropriately.

Now, look around your workspace and answer this question: "What do I need to change or implement to make this space a more effective work station?"

Intuitively, there will be one or two decisions you can make to improve your workplace productivity. Go with those, and see what happens. Small actions, repeated over the span of a week or two, will generally give you enough information to decide whether to move toward making these habits...or not!

Set a goal and see what happens

I have landed at the London Heathrow airport 7 times this year (one more trip planned in November.)

Every time I walk by this poster, I pause and ponder. Not that I'd "sell it all" and move there permanently, but with the last summer "experiment" of moving to Alaska for a month, coupled with the publication of our book next month, I'm now open to all kinds of wild ideas.

So, instead of (as the poster suggests) thinking of going to Costa Rica for 19 years, I'm making a list of 38 places to go to for 6 months...

19 places to go for a year...

50 places to go for a week...

100 cities to visit for at least a weekend...

It is inspiring, scary, and fun!

Try it out!

What are YOU asking today?

Thank you to QFINANCE for this two-page ad in today's Financial Times newspaper.

When I opened to the center section of the section "The Future of Finance," I saw this picture.

Then, as I read the rest of that section, I kept asking myself, "What is the question I'm not asking here?"

Try it out!