Thank you, everyone, for making today possible. I'm humbled and excited that over 50 took advantage of this day-long opportunity to look at how you work, not only at what you do during a day.
What is productivity?
The experience of super-using your 4 limited resources. Now, it's time to implement...
Looking forward, how will you maximize your (1) time, (2) energy, (3) focus, and (4) systems and tools?
1. Time: As you remember, there are 1,440 minutes in a day. That works out to 96 fifteen-minute blocks. For most people, 15 minutes is about an "eternity" in terms of office-focus time. Here's a challenge: Buy a kitchen timer and bring it to work. Sit down, at your desk, and set the timer for 15 minutes, and try to focus on one thing. When our clients do this, the first thing they notice is that their office, their team, their WORLD is built with an "interrupt-okay" mindset. Really, how long CAN you work, before someone asks you for "just a minute."
So, the fact remains, it's not TIME that we're managing, instead it's what we DO in time. One of my mentors long ago said the ultimate in productivity is what's called "Self Management." For those of us who seem to always have an idea or two floating around, this means that we have to consciously de-cide what to (and what NOT to) give our attention to. So, the natural question is, what do we do to manage what we do with time? Easy, we have to watch how we use our...
2. ...Energy: Are you a morning person, or an afternoon person? Do you get energized by the sheer volume of what there is to do? Or, is "too much" constantly weighing down your ability to get the right things done and still have energy at the end of the day. Sure, there are things you can do to change your energy from down to up, but are they sustainable?
Have you tried:
- getting more sleep at night?
- completing more tasks during the day?
- letting someone know they did a good job?
- expressing gratitude to someone for helping you?
- writing a list of things that could boost your energy...and doing one of them?
There are, as you remember from today's workshop, two kinds of energy: Mental Energy and Physical Energy. Mental Energy affects how deeply you think, how long you can dive in to that thought, and the power of connections you make as you continue thinking, planning, developing and innovating that idea. Physical energy, that's the one that connects to how wide you can keep your eyes open! By now, you're remembering that...
3. ...Focus is really the arbiter of moving our energy up or/and down. Right? How is it that you can see someone's name in your email Inbox and feel stress? How can you see a caller ID on your phone and get a big smile on your face. Why is it that you can think of something in one room, get up to get it from another room, get there and have forgotten why you're there in the first place? It's because of FOCUS. Perhaps one of the MOST LIMITED resources of all. If your focus goes, your energy is sure to follow. Don't believe me on this...
Open a desk drawer, or go to your email Inbox. Commit to ONLY organize, purge and file the items in that drawer (or in your inbox) for a certain period of time. (Try 10 minutes to start.) Now, if you're like most people, you'll focus on this task until you see the "next shiny thing." That is, once you come across a supply in your drawer that you need to return to the supply cabinet, or an email that you know needs a reply yesterday (!!!), you have a very important choice to make: "Should I stay, or should I go...???
Are you working with a BlackBerry? If so, take it out and put it "face up" on your desk. Is the red light blinking? If so, that...
4. ...System/Tool/Piece of gear you rely on every day has a piece of you! That's right, when you're sitting there, you can look over and see that the red light is blinking, saying, "Check me...check me!" How about in your email, do you have a lot of read, unread, color red, flagged red emails in your Inbox? Those emails are yelling, "Look at me...look at me!" Do you have a notebook or random scraps of paper around your desk, home desk, office desk at home, purse, backpack or carry-on suitcase? If so, there's probably a "low-hummm" of activity.
Now, the good news is, for most of you things are fine. No, really, they are! Right? Today's class was not an intervention, not a compliance requirement, not anything you had to do (in the definition of the word.) Sure there have been one who "invited" or even "encouraged" you to attend, but throughout the course you had chance and chance again to see how to make your best...a little better.
Which leads me to some of the resources you saw today. As far as books, I strongly suggest getting a couple and adding them to your "learning library." A great place to start is with this site: www.BooksWeRecommend.com. When you go over there, you'll see a LOT of books that I talked about and more. I'm happy to chat about any of those, should you need to get some more ideas, just let me know!
I shared with you a few clips from Marcus Buckingham's step-by-step workshop and use his lessons to change your life. To watch this workshop on your iPod, simply subscribe to the podcast in iTunes and download each session automatically.
Here's the link: http://www.oprah.com/money/Marcus-Buckinghams-Career-Intervention#ixzz1U19eO1d2
Here's another PodCast (FREE) that might be worth subscribing to (I'm having a GREAT TIME building it for you!)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/your-best-just-got-better/id427693120
What did YOU do after the course? I invite you to add your comment below. If 20 of you leave a comment, I will choose ONE person at random to send a "Productivity Pack" to for FREE! That's right: A copy of my book, a DVD and an Audio CD. How do you win? Write a paragraph or two about what you DID after the seminar, and ask a colleague to do the same. When 20 (or more) of you comment, I'll go in and pick one lucky person (at random!) to send a package two next week...
Now, getting your arms wrapped around those tools, the notebooks, sticky-pad notes, BlackBerry® and Microsoft® Outlook® takes quite a bit of time. For starters, remember that there isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to use your tools. There is a "BEST" way, and that's the way that you will use, consistently, to achieve YOUR definition of productivity. That is, what IS a productive day to YOU? Here's my encouragement: Review pages 3 and 7 of your workbook. For the next 5 days, become a scientist of you, your habits, and what you tolerate. Remember, practice doesn't make "perfect," but it sure makes comfortable.
Ok, I'm sure there's more, so leave your comments AND your questions in the box below. I can't wait to hear from you!
PS: Copy and paste these links to continue the process...
http://www.oprah.com/money/Marcus-Buckinghams-Career-Intervention
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/your-best-just-got-better/id427693120
http://www.bookswerecommend.com
http://www.youtube.com/jasonwomack
http://youtu.be/2dYZk7P_n8s
LINK HERE-----> Jason Womack coaches on how to live a life of purpose:
"Jason Womack coaches on how to live a life of purpose"
ARIELLE DREHER | STAFF WRITER
Thursday March 17, executive business coach and author Jason Womack came to APU to speak to Scholars for Business Achievement (SBA).
Womack discussed some ideas in his book The Promise Doctrine and answered students’ questions. Womack and his wife, Jodi, founded The Womack Company four years ago and have worked in eight different countries and 42 different states in finance, healthcare, aerospace, education and social services.
Aren Salbashian, president of SBA, said the connection to Womack was through a previous member of SBA who had attended one of his seminars. According to Salbashian there have been a lot of speakers this semester within the School of Business and Management. ‘It’s that time in the semester now when people need this kind of push and that kind of direction,’ Salbashian said. Salbashian felt that listening to Womack speak was important, especially for upperclassmen.
‘He doesn’t necessarily give you exact steps to becoming successful, but as far as identifying yourself, he’s the best at it,’ Salbashian said. Womack didn’t waste time and he used his experience to easily identify people in the audience Salbashian said. According to Salbashian, Womack called people out on many things like what kind of person they were or what they did. He believes Womack must be good at what he does because Womack could tell exactly what a person was good at from only a few words.
‘The fact that he knew I was a people pleaser was a big deal for me,’ Salbashian said. ‘He was able to pinpoint exactly who I was by only one of my questions.’
Freshman finance major Brian Harrington heard Womack speak as well. According to Harrington, Womack was not the kind of executive coach that he had preconceived him to be. Womack’s focus on relationships and the psychological side of things surprised Harringont, but ended up being the most engaging for him. Harrington’s biggest takeaway was to always follow through with goals that he sets for himself. ‘You can write down whatever you want, but you need to be intentional about wanting to serve others,’ Harrington said.
Womack came to APU to share a few ideas he felt students would be able to draw on. ‘It [APU] is an organization that is open to outside influence and I believe it is important for students to see and hear as many ideas as possible that are out there that we all can draw on,’ Womack said. Womack encouraged students to continue studying self-awareness and self-knowledge and says everyone falls into a purposeful life full of reason.
‘Being able to tap into who we are and then letting what we do manifest from there is important for students to recognize,’ Womack said. "
Thank you for attending the Mastering Workplace Performance seminar, in Woodloch, Pennsylvania. It is always an honor to work with people interested in making their best...better! Below, please see some reminders I'd encourage you to consider post-seminar:
1) Practice on the small things, to perform on the big ones!
I'm a big believer in a Japanese concept called "Kaizen." In its essence, Kaizen means continual (and often small) improvement in processes, systems and management. In our Mastering Workplace Performance sessions, we have "just enough" time to share some of the basic principles of workflow management and professional productivity. Leaving those presentations, it's up to each individual to decide which (if any) changes they're going to begin experimenting with to make changes to their behaviors, routines and workflow systems.
Remember, I talked about experimenting in "fives." Five days, five weeks, five months, five years...and, I have examples of all three. Just email me if you'd like to hear about them! (For more information on the 5-day experiment, click here.)
2) Journal. Every. Day.
I absolutely trust in the power of writing things down. I'm working with a group of clients right now in our Mastering Workplace Performance Online program and we're doing an "Assignment" that is a 5-day experiment on journaling. At the end of each day, simply write one or two lines of what happened that day...Try it out for a week and see what happens!
3) Build your learning library.
Start by visiting the Books We Recommend website. Of course, you don't need to buy ALL the books there (unless, of course, you want to build your library this week!). Instead, look through some of them, read some reviews, and decide which the first few books should be. If you want, give me a call, 805.640.6401, and we'll discuss "where-are-you-and-where-are-you-going" topics to identify the first 2-3 books to start with. I mentioned a few books during the session on 2010-10/14 that I'd like to remind you of:
- Don't Shoot the Dog, by Karen Pryor
- The Greatest Salesman in the World, by Og Mandino
- The One Minute Manager, by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson
Of course, if you're going to pick up some books on such topics of leadership, marketing, innovation or mentoring, I'd start with a quick YouTube search for the popular authors out there talking about these topics. A FAVORITE site of mine is www.TED.com. See some samples below...
Leadership: Sir Richard Branson
Marketing: Seth Godin
Innovation: Sergey Brin and Larry Page
Mentoring: James Cameron
4) Make your best, better...by knowing what it takes to be your best.
Yes, that exercise in the seminar where we fill in the page, "I am at my best when..." is one that I continue to advise leaders to bring back to their teams and their companies. I have heard of people using that one activity to radically shift the overall energy of their organization by simply "getting on the same page" as far as the things that are going to go a LONG way in making things better. IF enhancing your productivity is something that you want to do "more of," then consider stopping long enough each day to ensure you have what you need TO enhance your productivity.
Ask yourself whether what you are doing, and what you have done up to know, is setting you up to have a "good day." As subjective as that is, it's important to know what would make for a good day, what would make for an effective, efficient, productive day. Then, use that knowledge to your advantage. Want a reminder of the "I'm at my best when..." activity? Click here...
5) Reach out to share some of the ideas you got from the seminar. We all learn more when we teach something.
Think about what happens when someone joins your team; the first few weeks (or months) you spend time, energy and focus teaching them what they need to know. Development Managers, you learn things the deepest...you learn it when you learn it, and you deepen the learning when you teach it! Lack of time is one of the favorite complaints people have to explain their day-to-day productivity (or, lack thereof). Instead of focusing on the one resource we really have the least control over, turn instead to the other ones that you CAN control:
Systems/Tools: Learning something about your mobile phone, your computer desktop or laptop, even your digital camera that will help you get more done...faster. If you want a GREAT system to get you going on the right track, click here, and get all you can from my friend Allyson.
Focus: By experimenting with different ways you can drive, maintain, change and lose your focus, you'll set yourself up for a much more effective day. In the Afternoon portion of our seminar on November 14th, I talked about the place and importance of Agendas. This is one "focus" tool that can save up to 30 minutes each day. Oh, and remember that question I asked you to ask at the end of each phone meeting: "What, in about a week, will you wish we had talked about sooner?"
Energy: Our mental and physical energy dictate how much focus we have (or don't have). If we're tired, stressed out or hungry, we will be less productive. If we're alert, engaged and well-fed, we can give more of ourselves to any giving task or project. I would say of all the things we talked about during the seminar, many of them have their root in identifying our energy boosters (completion, delegation, engagement, teamwork, etc) and using those to our greatest advantage...
The Project Management Institute (PMI) is an international professional organization focused on delivering business success using proven project management practices.
Today I spoke for 42 minutes (but who's counting!) on the mistakes I have made over the years as a project manager, and what I work with when I collaborate with clients who want to improve their efficiency and productivity. Because it was a lunchtime presentation, there wasn't a lot of time for discussion...Here were some of the points - and the solutions - I shared:
1. In the past, I've "missed" opportunities because I wasn't looking at things in new ways. One of the reasons I talk about the arrow in the FedEx logo (if you haven't seen it, go look for it...It's pretty cool!) is just that. I remember distinctly the first time I saw the arrow - someone pointed it out to me, and I about fell out of my chair. My thought: What else have I not yet seen?
2. I sometimes forget the good idea I had "back then." So, over the years I've implemented the use of different tools/systems to "have an idea here, and remember all about it there." Yes, often it's as simple as writing it down (as long as I have a paper and pen). Sometimes, however, that convenience isn't available. So, yeah, I email myself or even call and leave a message with www.Reqall.com (if you haven't seen THAT one...you're in for a surprise!).
3. The one I always like to talk about, the one that I think is MOST important, is knowing when you're at your best. Not just what time of the day, but really, what had to go INTO you being at your best. At some point, I'll bulk up the website: www.AtMyBestWhen.com, but for now, it's a reminder that we are at our best when...(we do, be or have certain things/ways).
It was an honor to share some ideas with the group today. I hope that folks were able to go back and think about or share some of the Project Manager Secrets I shared!