Category: Time strategies

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EpS Events Get Organized GO system More time in my day prioritize Productivity productivity in the workplace Time strategies

Did someone say “interruptions”?

early bird speaker
early bird speaker

Recently, I had the true pleasure of presenting one of my signature talks, “4 Ways to Produce More While Staying Sane” to a fine group of Human Resource Professionals at the Granite State HR conference in Manchester, New Hampshire.

 

Here’s a INTERRUPTION STOPPER snippet from a workshop I gave to the VT Recreation and Parks Department, click here.

 

One issue that everyone related to – loud and clear- was the apparent disconnect between “saying no” (i.e. not being interrupted) and providing excellent customer service.

 

When most people “want something”, they want it immediately. Few have the self-discipline to add it to a list or to a schedule, and then wait for the right time. Now, if a person has sliced his finger and blood is gushing uncontrollably, immediate action is the only choice.  Most questions are not blood gushing, hospital-rushing ER questions, but, they are treated this way.

 

The late Steve Covey called this living in Quadrant One, “Firefighting.” Our instant-messaging, texting, constant-scroll email culture has exacerbated this issue many-fold. This immediacy becomes our normal, and we no longer have the ability to discern immediate needs from everything else.

 

What’s the issue? Well, there is no issue if you are an ER technician or a firefighter. That’s your job! If, however, you are a MANAGER then this can pull you off track again and again until you find yourself (metaphorically) in Kansas, asking, ”how did this happen?” The answer is…inch by inch.

 

The good news is that you can take back your work life. This workshop is jam packed with tips and strategies, but here are some to get you started:

  1. Work on one thing at a time.
  2. Establish a daily default priority.
  3. Ask your interrupter, “can I get a headline?”

 

These all sound so simple. Ask yourself, are you doing all three? If not, why not? Well, because it’s Not Easy! Here’s a little more about each tip:

  1. One thing at a time: The power of focus is not to be underestimated. At this workshop, we did an exercise proving that working on more than one thing at a time reduced participants’ productivity by OVER HALF. Would you like to double your productivity? Try doing one thing at a time. I dare you.
  2. Daily Default Priority: I know you will do more than one thing in a day. You’ll do a lot more. But how often have you had “that project” that you’ve managed to…skirt around again and again? Keep it simple, keep it clear, write it down, do this exercise every morning and every night. Commit to doing that one thing. And you know what? It WILL get done!
  3. “Can I get a headline?”: This is a great response to all those people who ask the dreaded question….”Got a minute?” That minute turns into an hour- or more -when you then need to do the follow-up, right? And what happened to the project on which you were working? When you ask this question, it causes the interrupter to think before throwing information or questions at you. One s/he summarizes, you can then decide, do I ask him or her to return later, or, is this issue more pressing than my current work? There is POWER IN THE PAUSE.

 

The three tips will get you started back down the path to productivity, taking back control of your workday. Contact me today if you’d like to learn more about how she can infuse motivation, participation, and productivity back into YOU and/or YOUR TEAM. I’d be honored to help boost you to levels you never dreamed possible.

 

With warm regards,

Carol

Your Productivity Coach

 

book-carol-now

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Get Organized More time in my day prioritize Time strategies

F.O.C.U.S.

What ONE WORD has the ability to completely transform your productivity? How are you BEING ROBBED right now- robbed of time, profits, energy? How can you shift that?

FOCUS.

In 2014 we are faced with an Epic Challenge. It is no longer good enough to be our best. Simply knowing and perfecting our craft does not do it. Being super salespeople does not do it. Responsiveness does not always do it.

Why? We are faced, now more than ever, with the problem of Too Much.

Recently, I started a course given by Darren Hardy, editor of Success Magazine, called Insane Productivity. I must be insane…right? Anyone that knows me knows I am a little crazy, and that might be why they like me (or don’t). What’s great about this course is that it underscores much of what I already am teaching- and adds in some fun flavor and new statistics to back up the science we “time managers” teach. Thanks, Darren! Some of the info in this article is influenced by that course.

Who do YOU know who wears “busy” as their badge of honor? Running, running, and “getting it all done?” Yes, work life and home life are “busy”….everyone is “busy.”  In and of itself this is not new. But as smartphones, tablets, and 24/7 are successfully integrating themselves into our Way of Doing Business, our ability to harness the power of our intellect is compromised.

We do not just “like” our devices, we are addicted to them. I am. Fortunately, I am not in the “hopelessly” addicted category, unable to distinguish between a perceived emergency and a real one. It happens slowly; we want to be ultra -responsive, we have mobile devices, we will take care of “that” right now.

The immediate result is gratifying; we responded- people got answers- all is good. And you feel good. Why? When responding that way, a little squirt of dopamine goes off in our brain. We like dopamine. We receive dopamine when we are embraced. But the long term effects, which are being studied, involve segmentation of our brains. It becomes increasingly difficult to “think big.”

This sounds simple, but execution is sketchy at best. However if we don’t learn new and more powerful ways of focusing, we will continue to feel as if we are spinning on a stool, taking tiny bites out of our work, with only dizziness to show for it.

Over the coming months of 2014, I’ll share with you some strategies that will help you Focus Better in ’14 and beyond. Let’s start now.

First, realize we are in DIGIFRENIA times (digitally induced mental chaos). Our devices are not going away. The “idea” of having a phone as your watch is real. I saw it in Best Buy the other day. The trick is…realizing that Digifrenia is a CHOICE.

Erin Schmidt, while CEO of Google, said, “All of the information ever created in human history up to 2003 is created EVERY DAY now.”  So really, we are not experiencing information overload, we are experiencing Information Overconsumption. It’s our choice to overeat, right? And it’s our choice to Overconsume Digital Media.

What will you choose? Let’s start by looking at some of your habits now.

  • Do you take your device to bed?
  • In the shower? The toilet?
  • Do you check it at red lights?
If so, you are not alone. But at what cost? Scientific evidence is finding that our attention-jumping is fragmenting our brains. It’s reducing our capacity to think clearly and well. And, it’s making us feel important. We can respond quickly, anywhere, anytime. Unfortunately, this is not always  such a good idea (responding quickly) and in truth, it is likely a smokescreen for us, giving us the illusion of having more importance than we actually do.
Your homework, then, if you have made it this far into the article, is to reduce your device checking by one. In other words, if you take your phone to bed with you, don’t. If you take it into the bathroom, don’t. Slowly, you will overcome NOMOPHOBIA (No-Mobile-Phone-Phobia) and you will begin to think clearly again. But it will take some time. Stay tuned.
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Get Organized More time in my day Time strategies Uncategorized

How will I do it? Practical Strategies to Get Moving NOW.

Are you saying…I know WHAT gets in my way. I know what I WANT.  I know WHY. Now…HOW will I do it?

That’s right, it’s the H in the W+W+W+H = Woo Hoo! Process…Where you can now really fly.

I join again with SUE WEST to provide this podcast in our series…the HOW click HOW no 1 or read on…

So many people want a quick fix; an answer to a “problem” about getting more organized and/or getting more out of their life BEFORE they’ve gone through the process. They want the HOW first….the proverbial cart before the horse.

So much needs to be fast, fast, fast. But as a favorite author, researcher and speaker, Brene Brown tells it well in her book “The Gifts of Imperfection:”

When we skip the hard stuff, it just doesn’t work.

We don’t change. We don’t grow and we don’t move forward without the work.

My work is about the things that get in the way. I’m not about the ‘how to’ because in my experience I’ve never seen any evidence of ‘how to’ working without talking about the things that get in the way.

So, own your story. Tell it. There is freedom,  relief and more when we do.

Again, Brene Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection

We will be sharing our “best practices” for the HOW over this and subsequent podcasts. Here’s the first one: the time inventory. Some students have referred to this practice as a time diary. To do this, record your time each day. Record it as you are actually working (or playing!) Do not wait until the end of the day, or the next day, and say “what did I do?” You will lose precious minutes and hours. Over a series of days and weeks, you will begin to see patterns. It does not matter if you record it on a piece of paper or electronically; only that you do it consistently and in a timely manner.

Perhaps you intend to get up at 6am, exercise, eat breakfast then get going with your day by 8:30 am. But, time and time again, it’s 9:00 am or later and you have not eaten, have not showered, and you are just catching up with “a few emails” first.

Once you actually begin to record your day you will see that you may wake up at 6, but stay in bed routinely until 6:30. Then you may quickly check facebook and you are not having that first cup of coffee until 7 am. By then you may figure you’d better exercise and when you return it’s 8 am and you want to answer an email quickly. As 9 am approaches you are “fighting fires”, are still in your lycra, have not showered or eaten.  This knowledge empowers you to change the pattern.

That’s enough fieldwork and practice for our listeners this time. The first step is always noticing. Seeing where exactly the issues are, because if you don’t diagnose the problem correctly, you’ll try something and it won’t even be the solution to the right problem! So step back and just observe yourself this week.

This is a good start to opening our HOW bucket. We’ll continue with practical strategies to get you started in taking back your time and life in the coming podcasts.

If this topic struck a chord with you, we know you’ll get much more benefit from our Design Your Days workshop. We offer public workshops periodically; check out our facebook page for the latest ones.

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Get Organized More time in my day Time strategies

All I really want….

Wanting. Hundreds of thousands of songwriters continue to use this theme. It seems we all “want” something- presumably something we cannot have.

Our podcast – Sue West and Carol Williams of the Design Your Days Team- is about the “3rd W” of the W+W+W+H = Woo Hoo! Process (What, Why, Wants, and How)

Listen: what do you really WANT? or read on:

A friend introduced me to Alanis Morrissette’s  song “What I really want” a few years ago. And it reminds me of what we talk about …

The lyrics go something like this:

All I really want is some peace
a place to find a common ground
All I really want is a wavelength
All I really want is some comfort
A way to get my hands untied
And all I really want is some justice…

Wanting. It seems so selfish to WANT, doesn’t it? Yet, when we stop Wanting, we stop growing.

One person from a workshop WANTED to know “how to get back on track” with her intended tasks. This was expressed at the beginning. However, toward the end, it became clear that what she REALLY wanted was the time and space to PONDER what she wanted “next” in her life. In fact, both were applicable. But, how much more powerful is it to find the time and space to ponder your LIFE versus what’s right in front of you on your “to-do” list?

Since we all have to find our own way, here’s another approach. If you feel like: you don’t have time to ponder your life, or maybe your family isn’t supporting you, or you just don’t think of yourself as a dreamer, ponderer, creator, you can:

  • Keep track each day for about a week of what you love about your days, what you’re doing, who you’re doing it for, how healthy you feel – or how energetic, what mood you’re in as the days go along, what gives you energy and what takes it. Keep track right in your planner, on your iPhone – not in your head; it is more difficult to see patterns.
  • That’s a first step. Just notice. Become a little more aware of how your time is used. Keep doing this until you start to see some patterns emerge for things you want to change.
  • Tying this example back to our song lyrics, you’ll note that Alanis talks generally – she wants peace, common ground in her relationship, justice. She does not get specific. She talks about themes, feelings, and values. And behind those lyrics, she is saying what she knows she does not want, too.

One client I had went through a process of determining her Big Wants. I asked her to think about one big dreamy goal, that seemed almost “too big” to accomplish. She wrote it down. Then I asked her to find 3 small steps that pushed her just a LITTLE CLOSER to that goal. She did not do that right away. When she came back, she realized that she had the wrong Big Goal because she was Not Excited about that big goal anymore. She was an entrepreneur who wanted to hold a day long workshop. But she realized that actually, what she really wanted, was to spend more time with her family while earning the income she required and not necessarily any more. She determined what she REALLY wanted. Although it may sound trite, we must determine what we REALLY want before we can achieve it.

Did this help you in determining, like Alanis, “what you really want?”

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AD/HD EpS Events Get Organized More time in my day Time strategies

What’s Wrong with “just” Saving Time?

Saving time: great idea, right?

Have you ever thought WHY you want to save time? I mean, REALLY ask WHY? To clarify, I’m not referring to “so I can fit more in” or “so I can be more efficient.”  Are those good reasons? Well, they are not bad. But, when it comes to lasting change; truly enduring habits…your WHY needs to be pretty strong. In fact, a stronger and the deeper “why” correlates directly into your likelihood of success when looking to change habits.

To illustrate, Sue West and I have created a Podcast- Why Oh Why? We will show you two examples of a Shallower Why and a Deeper Why to get your “head in the game.”

Listen by clicking here: WHY do you want to save time? or read on.

Is this YOU?

I need to fit in:

  • My parents
  • My kids
  • My husband
  • My fitness
  • My nutrition
  • My business

….oh, and ME! What about ME?

….can you help me, Sue and Carol?

Sue: Of course! When we walk you through our W+W+W+H = Woo Hoo! Process, we start with WHAT gets in your way.

Then…we turn to WHY. This will often trip people up, because it’s often *not evident* what the why REALLY is. We THINK we know, but….then, we go a little deeper. The deeper we go, the more we contemplate and become totally honest with ourselves, the stronger our why. The stronger our why is, the higher our chance at truly Re-designing our days for Lasting Change.

Whew! What the heck does all that MEAN, anyway? Let’s look at a couple of examples, the shallow why and then a deeper why version.

Carol: So, back to our WHY conversation.

Sue and I will each provide an example of a Shallower Why and a Deeper Why. See if you can hear the Difference.

First, an Example of a more shallow why:

I want to redesign my day to become more productive, and sell more. When I sell more, I earn more. When I earn more, I will enjoy more business success and therefore be happier.

Now, and Example of a Deeper Why:

The money I earn allows me to fulfill my purpose in life. My purpose and passion is to live each day spreading light and love to those around me. I am uniquely skilled and gifted as a kitchen designer. I create beautiful and practical living spaces. But it’s more than that…I enhance people’s lives in the process. When a person lives in an environment that suits their needs and desires, he or she experiences peace and joy. A joyful, peaceful person thinks clearly. That person experiences inner calm and is better able to absorb the chaos life throws their way. That person may think “out of the box” and choose to turn a potential pitfall into an opportunity.

Therefore, I want to redesign my day to allow myself to serve my customers at my highest and best. When I do that, I will do my best work and it will improve not only MY life but the life of those I serve.

Do you hear the difference?

Why do you want to save time?

Sue:

So my example of the “first level” of WHY:

My client I’ll call Jennifer wanted support around time management to get more done at work, to deal with interruptions more effectively and some other frustrations around her productivity. She has AD/HD, Lyme disease and a few other issues.

And my same client, when we coached around what this was really about – the deeper or second level of WHY:

Her life feels too complicated, for the first time ever. Her friends have been saying for years she has too much on her plate, but she did not want to acknowledge what turns out to be quite true.

At mid-life she wants more time with her husband who is about to retire.

She wants to create more time to be with her daughter and grandchildren.

She has a very strong value and strength in traditions of family – our roots – and the desire to honor this, plus create future history with where she is today.

She’s a philanthropist with her “time and treasures,” as well them. She wants to make the world a better place because of all she is grateful for.

So the BIG question is “so what” or “why” … as you answer your WHY question, keep asking the “so what” or “why” question. Keep going until you hear the deeper ‘why’.

Carol:

In summary, although both the more shallow and the more deep why’s are both VALID, the deeper you go, the more likely you are to sticking to your new plan. When the going gets rough, it’s easier to remind yourself of a point that truly resonates with you- on a deep level.

Sue: If these struck a chord with you, we know you’ll get much more benefit from our Design Your Days workshop. Our next public workshop is coming right up- on Tuesday March 18 at 9 am at the Academy of Design and Decorating in Peterborough, NH. Register HERE. Early bird discounts are available before February 21 on a space available basis. Or you can check our FB page, Design Your Days, which will point you in the right direction.

In the next podcast we will move to the WANT question. What do you want more of, or less of? Be sure to listen and see how to get both of these!  We will continue to move through the Design Your Days process. At the end of about 12 podcasts, you will look back and find that we’ve provided an excellent overview of our process.

CAROL:

If you cannot attend our March session, we offer the Design Your Days workshop to YOUR group of business owners, so please contact one of us for more information and to get us on your schedule.

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EpS Events Get Organized More time in my day prioritize Time strategies Uncategorized

Why? Why would you want to redesign your day?

Oh Why? Oh why? Why do we do the things we do? Why do we choose to do them differently sometimes? Why are we successful…or not?

This week’s podcast focuses on the WHY of the What, Why, Wants, and How. WHY would you want to redesign your day? Listen here:  Why might I want to Design My Day differently? or read on.

Carol: Why. It’s a child’s question. It’s a question we hear less and less as we age. Yet, it’s so important. And often overlooked.

Sue: That’s so true, Carol. Why are we talking about WHY? What does WHY have to do with Designing Our Days?  Such an important question to be summed up in 8 minutes or less!

Carol: Hi, this is Carol Williams, productivity coach at EpS, Efficient Productivity Systems.

Sue: And this is Sue West, AD/HD and life management coach

We have joined together as the Design Your Days Duo for this series of audio interviews to give you short, “use today” pieces of advice, in 5 to 8 minutes. If you like this podcast, please LIKE our Facebook page for tips on your newsfeed several times a week.

Carol: As you may know, Sue and I take participants in our Design Your Days workshops through our unique process of What, Why, Wants and How. Today we’re going to focus on WHY – *Why* do you want to design your day differently? This is the most important, and often the most difficult, question we can ask ourselves. The answer is often buried inside quite deeply. Answering honestly requires a true understanding, and often new discoveries, about you.

We’ve chosen two of the most common answers we hear to the Why question, and we’ll offer strategies for effectively addressing those WHYs

Sue: “Why” is your deep down, soul searched answer to the question of why you want to change what you’re getting out of your days. Seize the day. Live life more fully than you do today.

Practically speaking, “Why” is important because it’s where you will find your inspiration and motivation.  On this journey, “Why” helps you get going, know where you’re going and when you hit bumps in the road – which we always do, right? – then your own “why” is how you’ll stay on course THIS time. This time, which WILL be different.

For example, I work often with women at mid-life. She is handling some level of caregiving for parents, spouse or partner, child or sibling. She may have children college age or beyond. She often owns a business, though with all she handles, it’s been on the back burner for awhile.

What I hear is “I want more from my life. It feels too big, or too difficult  to manage, and not filled with what I want.” Some of our work is figuring out what matters, why she wants more, what her most important values are and what she might consider changing. Examples: volunteer work to give back and make a difference, connect to people in community, spirituality, more creativity, or a business that leaves her mark.

Carol: Recently one of our Design Your Days workshop participants was telling me that she has been finding it difficult to incorporate exercise into her day. She has her own business and has two small children at home. Now that they are both in school, why can’t she seem to fit this in? She has all the magazines; she loves fitness. What was getting in her way?

We talked for a while and began the process of discovery. What we found surprised us both. She did not exercise so she could “fit in” to her community. That’s right. She was unintentionally subscribing to the “misery loves company” mantra. As an extrovert, she loves to relate with others. Many other moms “complain” about “not having enough time to….(fill in the blank). What we came to find, together, is that this DYD workshop participant valued Fitting In and Commiserating more than she valued herself and her own priorities.

The great news is…once she realized this, she removed the Debby Downers from her life. She decided that she was “worth it”. Simply coming to the understanding that she was being subconsciously pulled into the “no exercise so we can complain together” zone allowed her to break free of this.

And she walks every day now. She does yoga. She is happier. Her husband is happier. Her life is better.

Sue: To wrap up, we just provided two examples of WHY you would want to Design Your Days differently tomorrow that you do today. If these struck a chord with you, we know you’ll get much more benefit from our Design Your Days workshop on Friday Jan 31 at 9 am at the Center of Health Promotion in concord, here: https://reg.abcsignup.com/view/view_month.aspx?as=53&wp=227&ss=

OR Register by calling them at 603.230.1121. Or you can check our FB page: https://www.facebook.com/DesignYourDays

In the next podcast we will continue on with this critical WHY question. We will continue to move through the Design Your Days process. At the end of about 12 podcasts, you will look back and find that we’ve provided an excellent overview of our process.

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