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AD/HD file systems Get Organized More time in my day prioritize procrastination Productivity productivity in the workplace project systems Time strategies

An Easy Way to be your Best Self

Most people I run into say they’d like to be more productive. So, I offer a magic pill for $9.95. I’m kidding, of course.

…Do you ever beat yourself up for not being perfectly productive 100% of the time?

The first step (really) in the ABCs of Productivity is to Accept your reality. This means you must accept yourself. To accept yourself, you must understand yourself. Here’s a snippet entitled “Understand Thyself” from a recent workshop: CLICK HERE

Once you do two things, (1) accept yourself and (2) understand yourself, the stage is set. You are getting closer to being “100% productive.”

In this article, we’ll review the four steps to take you through this self-discovery process. By taking the time to complete this process, you’ll be rewarded with a renewed self-understanding, setting the stage for personal and professional growth and productivity. For you readers who are ready to start achieving, please Contact Me and set up a complimentary Discovery call to eliminate those productivity gremlins for good.

Ready? Let’s get started right now with step one, which is a 4-part question:

Step One: Ask yourself, when are you at your best? (note: This is something most of us never consider. Yet, when considered and followed, a BIG DIFFERENCE can be seen.)

– What time of day do you have the most energy?
– How much rest and/or sleep would you have had?
– What foods would you have eaten (or avoided)?
– What would your family relationships look like?
This may seem simple, and not really related to productivity or achieving more. You may have been looking for that magic pill. It may surprise you to learn that while STRATEGIES are important, knowing where you are at a baseline is critical.

Step two: How are my current work systems doing? What is working great, and what could use some upgrading? Systems to consider: calendar, correspondence, task management, file management, priority management, long range planning.

Step Three: Dare to detail your TRUE desires (know thyself)! With this exercise, you have permission to think big, be brave, and be bold. If you don’t stretch you may never grow. So go ahead and ask yourself…if I am REALLY TRUE to myself….
– What does my work look like?
– What is my life like?
– What qualities do my clients have?
– How do I feel?

Step Four: What do you think might be preventing you from achieving the desires you just outlined above?

Bonus Step: Do something- anything- no matter how small- today. What one tiny step can you take to achieve your true desire? For example, if you think you might want to someday get your Master’s at the local college can you spend 15 minutes at lunch perusing the fall offerings?

I hope this article helps you understand yourself.

To get the most benefit, and fill it in yourself. Refer to it daily, just for 5 minutes. Remember, what you do every day shapes our future. Success, then, is a habit. Remember, your coach and accountability person are just a call or email away!

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Get Organized More time in my day prioritize procrastination productivity in the workplace Time strategies

Ready for a Break? Plan Now- Just a Little- to Jumpstart January

What does the Thanksgiving Holiday mean to you?

How does it relate to your productivity?

In the U.S., most of us will enjoy an extended weekend very soon. Some of us may already be away for the week- I know 2 people in that category personally. The question I have is….what will you do or not do, and how will you feel about those decisions?

Too much free time can spell DANGER.

Today I helped a client Design Her Long Weekend. When you have too much “unplanned time,” do you feel that it’s “wasted”? Do you “not know where the time does? Do you feel like it’s a waste- so you tend to fill up your time with “productive” ventures instead? This is common and was the case with my client.

My client and I focused on a strategy that I’d like to share: Majoring and Minoring. Think of your college undergraduate years. Perhaps you had a major and a minor. By default, more time and energy is expended on your major, right? In work and in life, we mostly find ourselves with more to-do’s than will fit in our bucket. So, run yourself through your weekend. What would you WANT it to look like…if you had it YOUR way? That’s right…be selfish. Start there. Then, add in the non-negotiables. Really look- are they truly “givens” or is there any wiggle-room if they don’t fit your version of the ideal long weekend?

Set your intention, make some plans that are needed, and accept the outcome. You will find that the power of intention is, in fact, very powerful.

Next week is December? Forget the goals-I am writing off the year- see you in January!

Thanksgiving can be a quiet time, if you dare. When others are watching football or taking that after dinner nap, you can take advantage of that quiet time to focus on yourself and your personal and professional goals. Strategic and creative thinking requires downtime.

Some questions to ask yourself are:

  • How “big” do your want your December Holidays to be?
  • How will you address your “important, but not urgent” tasks in December, so that you hit the ground running on January 2?

Two strategies to achieve the goals you identify:

  1. Honor your desired outcome with the “pause and reflect” method. How? When a request comes in, decide that you will “pause and reflect” rather that furnishing an immediate answer. This pause allows more holistic and strategic thinking than may otherwise happen.
  2. Use the “if/then” habit: Help implement the strategy above by bringing it directly into your life. For example, IF my employer asks me to work late, THEN I will check with my spouse before agreeing to it.

A little Thanksgiving Planning can go a long way to enjoying the holidays and jumpstarting January. Be well, enjoy every bite, and above all – express gratitude.

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EpS Events Get Organized More time in my day multitasking productivity in the workplace Time strategies Uncategorized

Feeling Busy this Fall? Multitask away- or not.

Fall = busier. Enter multitasking.  It’s the way to do more things in less time, right?

Maybe not. Recently I read an article by Melissa Balmain entitled Confessions of a Recovering Multitasker.  Melissa writes,

“imagine my surprise at learning that, technically, [multitasking] does not exist.  We can’t think about two tasks at once.  Instead, our brains ping-pong between them wasting precious seconds of time and causing errors to pile up”.

In the day, no matter how hard you try, does it ever seem possible to get through everything that you set out to do in the morning? Do you attempt to do two tasks – or more – at once?  Perhaps the reason for the failure is BECAUSE you are trying to do multiple things at one time.

In her article, Melissa writes of a phone conversation she had with a good friend while also trying to make dinner and the ensuing result was a burnt meal and a conversation that she could not remember.  I myself have had phone conversations such as these, where my attentions are distracted so far elsewhere, that it barely registers that my friend is telling me something that should require my undivided attention.  So, clearly, my efforts to try and accomplish more things in less time were fruitless, and just like Melissa, I was left feeling guilty and unaccomplished.

So what’s the solution? If we can’t multitask without the results being more unproductive than not, how on earth do we accomplish all that needs to be done?  The answer, counter-intuitive to many, is focusing on one single thing at a time. Try this experiment and let me know how you do. When you begin a task, such as writing a “typical” report that you write, estimate how long it will take. Write down your start time. Go about your business in the normal manner, answering calls, emails, etc. as you are doing the report. Write the end time. Now, another day try this again with a similar report.  Write down your start time. This time, commit to shutting off your email and turning off your ringer. Do not answer anyone who comes in unless they are in a true emergency situation. When you are finished, write down your end time. What is the difference? How does the first report on the first day compare with the estimate? How about the second day and the second report? Statistics and “real life” experiments that I have conducted show an average 50% time savings with single-tasking. How did you do?

 

Are you ready to save about half your time to have an ultra-productive fall? Relax, take a deep breath, and do things one step at a time.

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AD/HD Get Organized More time in my day prioritize procrastination Uncategorized

Design Your Days, Step One: Get Clear in just 9 minutes.

Do you ever feel like you have one foot on either side of a crevice? Do you dance, do you jump, do you fall through? If you’ve ever felt conflicted, listen and/or read on, to get clear in 9 minutes. From Sue West and myself, the “Design Your Days Duo!”

listen here: JUNE 20.2013

Or read here:

Sue: “I really want to focus on my growing business that is my passion. But I need to pay my bills. I feel stuck.”

Carol: “I sell equipment that earns me a good living, but my true business dream is not much more than that- it’s just a pipe dream at the moment. What should I do?”
Carol: Do any of these sound familiar to you? If so, you have found the right place. This is Carol Williams, Productivity Coach at EpS, Efficient Productivity Systems.

Sue: And this is Sue West, Life Transitions Coach and AD/HD specialist

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.

Carol: Last time we spoke about Clarity as it relates to becoming better organized and shared some A-HA moments when our workshop participants began Designing Their Days. When we get clear, we open ourselves up to the possibilities that are often hidden just below the surface.

Sue: Today we are going to address 2 questions- because those questions, or questions like those, could pertain to you. If you are a creative entrepreneur, or, if you think you want to be a creative entrepreneur, you might have those questions locked up inside.

Carol: When we work with someone in the Design Your Days framework, we ask, What Gets in Your Way? This is the first step in seeking clarity. If you think about the questions above, they are really pointing to WHAT might be getting in each person’s way.

Sue: Let’s start with the first question. Growth, new passions but then ah, yes, reality strikes.

Try a couple of important ways to direct your thinking: (1) a reality check on the financial gap (2) Where’s the passion, really? (3) Focus – defining that more clearly and (4) Stuck – and how you’ll know that you’re beginning to get Unstuck.

Here are questions to answer which will help you figure out how to create enough time for your business, and also get your bills paid:

  1. Get clear on what amount of income you need to pay for things you NEED, not want. This gets you two important pieces of information: What’s the financial gap between your business income and your bills. But also it asks you to put some “skin in the game,” by identifying if there are things you think you need in your business or in your life, but really, they are “wants,” not “needs.” Liz Pullam Weston writes about this practice. This is the reality picture. And keep track – especially if you’re not now – even of cash or debit out of pocket. Most people spend more than they think.
  2. Get specific and clear on your passion: What are you passionate about, in particular – what facets or activities? Are there other creative ways to deliver on the passion or use similar skills, but in a part time paying job? Think chapters or phases of time. Can you do something else part time, for pay, which helps with the bills. It’s the combination of part time and growing business that might help your situation.
  3. Get clear on what you mean by “I want to focus.” How is it that you are “focusing” now on your business? What does focus look like to you – the number of days or time of day? Look at the time and the activities. Are they payoff activities? Again, this is where tracking can come in; keep it simple, but effective. What can you do differently, do less of, or do later on, if the activity is not, today, making you income? Saying “no, not now” is not the same as saying “no, forever.”
    1. Talk with others or with a coach and figure out whether you are maximizing the time you DO have on your growing business.
    2. When you think you are stuck, how “a little less stuck” would feel – how would you KNOW that things ARE improving. Do you have a plan of ANY sort, so that you know when you HAVE made progress, when you ARE headed in the “upwards” direction, so that “stuck” begins to feel “less stuck.”

Carol: Thanks Sue…great ideas. Now, on to the second question. This person sells equipment, and that person makes a good living from selling it. But- boredom can prevail when your job does not excite you. When the passion dips, productivity often dips too. Procrastination enters- and sales can plummet. How can a creative entrepreneur follow his or her dreams while earning a living? Do we all need to be “starving artists?”

No. The trick is to keep your passion alive, while continuing to earn your living. This does not mean “throwing the baby out with the bathwater.” Have you ever heard the saying, “yes, you can have it all, but not all at once?” Tracking progress can really help, and here are some ideas as to how that could happen.

  1. Bookend your weeks. At the beginning of your week, map it out. What one thing can you do to move your creative project forward? Can you block out a couple of hours on Wednesday night to do x, y or z? At the end of your week, evaluate. How did it go? Did you do it? If not, why not? Could you have changed anything? Learn, and move on.
  2. Bookend your months. After 4 or so weeks of bookending, what has been done? How far did you THINK you’d get, versus how far you actually got? Learn, assess, move on.
  3. Bookend each quarter. After 3 months of doing steps one and two, you should have a little data. You may be much further ahead, or much further behind, than you thought you might be. But goals that are measured are far more likely to be achieved. Think, pause, and measure for success.

Carol:

As a reminder, you are listening to a podcast series. We’d love your feedback.  If you have a question you’d like answered, please visit our new Facebook page called Design Your Days. If you’d like to add yourself to the successful professionals we help go from good to great, contact one of us to get started with personal coaching. We’ll help you become more AWARE, and kick off the transformational process of Designing Your Days.

We are also the co-creators of the Design Your Days framework, which we teach in workshops, so if your group of business owners is ready for us to speak at your group, please contact one of us!

Please LIKE us on Facebook as Design Your Days and/or contact us individually through websites:

Sue’s is www.OrganizeForAFreshStart.com

Carol’s is www.efficientproductivity.com/

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