Posts Tagged ‘productivity’
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Monday, January 16th, 2012
 When we haven’t clearly identified what’s most important, everything seems important. This is why, in my view, people are so frustrated with their lack of success in managing their performance and productivity. Instead of taking the time to identify the real priorities of life in general, or the priorities of day in particular, everything takes on the same level of importance. When everything’s important – nothing’s important.
We live in an interesting time. Remember when the prognosticators in the 1980s were all predicting a paperless existence by the end of the 20th century? They were saying, because of the advancements in technology, specifically personal computing, we’d soon live in a paperless world and only work 32 hours a week. How’s that working out for you?
No, I’m afraid in spite of all the technical advancements, we’re not enjoying a world without paper nor a much shorter workweek. The mistake the crystal ballers made was overlooking the human element. While our Macs and PCs can do magical things, they don’t do a very good job of dealing with our personal or professional priorities. Unfortunately, that’s our job.
We’re the ones who have to decide what will move us in the direction we want to go. We have to choose life’s real priorities. Based on the plans we made for making 2012 better than 2011, we have to make sure our daily priorities align with our annual aspirations.
The key is to be very clear on what we want 2012 to look like. I recommend writing, yes, I said “writing,” a S.M.A.R.T. vision statement for 2012 – a statement that’s Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Bound. Without this kind of specificity, your vision is nothing more than a wish or a dream. And without specificity, your vision for a better life has no power.
With a clear and compelling vision for what you want to accomplish, you’re able to prioritize what your month, week and day will look like. If your vision includes making more money in the year ahead, you’ll need to specify exactly how much you want to make. From there the math becomes pretty simple – divide the annual number by 12 to get the monthly nut you’ll have to hit. Better yet, divide that number by 52 to get a weekly figure you’ll need to earn. Simple, right?
But herein lies the rub. It’s not the math that’s difficult. It’s the “daily discipline” that causes all the problems. It’s deciding what three or four things you’ll have to do each day to achieve a desired outcome. Whether you want a fatter pocketbook or a slimmer waistline, it’s all about making specific daily tasks or activities a priority. It’s about contacting a certain number of customers or prospects, or it’s about choosing to eat really good food – instead of feel-good food. It’s all about committing to priorities.
When everything’s a priority, then nothing’s a priority. Being successful at anything means having a clear target to shoot for, then making sure your daily actions move you in the direction you want to go. Remember, successful people and people who don’t succeed at much of anything have one thing in common; they both hate doing the same things. But the successful folks do them anyway.
Successful living is for the most part about doing things we don’t necessarily like to do – but doing them anyway.
Tags: daily discipline, performance, priorities, productivity, vision
Posted in 2012, Uncategorized | No Comments »
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Tuesday, December 13th, 2011
 We’re nearing the end of 2011. What kind of a year has it been for you? Lots of success? Too many failures? Probably a mixture of both? Here’s the reality though; we can learn from the past but we can’t linger there. 2011 is (almost) history – 2012 is rapidly approaching – it’s time to prepare for coming attractions. But, where do I start?
The only place to start is where you are right now. Waiting for the right time, more money, the right people, help from a friend or colleague, are all recipes for disaster.
Your success and achievement in 2012 will come from your energy, your efforts and your actions, not from anywhere else. Peter Drucker said: “The only way to get the future you want is to create it.”
In the next few weeks:
1. Desire
Desire is more than wanting or wishing or hoping 2012 will be better than last year was. Desire is that fire in the belly you probably feel right now to do those things you need in order to accomplish what you want to accomplish in the year ahead. Warning! If you don’t fan those flames you’re feeling right now, they will go out.
Action: Write out a clear statement of what you intend to accomplish in 2012 – and share it with a trusted friend or colleague.
2. Personal Initiative
Remember, the cavalry isn’t coming. You’ve heard the saying: “If it’s meant to be, it’s up to me!” Guess what? It’s only up to you! Inertia is the killer of improved performance and real achievement. Why? It’s easier to do nothing. Unless you take the necessary actions to change the way things are now – they’ll stay the way they are now. Become a person of action in 2012.
Action: Make a list of three habits you’ll develop in 2012 that will change the status quo. Remember, most of what you do – you do because of habit.
3. Process
Efficiency expert W. Edwards Deming said: “If you can’t describe what you’re doing as a process, you don’t know what you’re doing.” Process is everything when it comes to performance and productivity. Establishing routines is a very effective way to shake off the mundane. Start with a morning and an evening routine. When you wake up, do something productive before you do anything else. In the evening, take a specific action that will prepare you for the next day.
Action: If you don’t have a defined process for improving your performance and productivity – get one. I can help with that – call me or drop me an email.
4. Commitment
Commit to what? Commit to the process you’ve decided to use for changing the status quo. Establishing a morning or evening routine is only half the battle. Committing to live the routine long enough for it to become a habit is the key. Establishing a routine for a day or two won’t get it. Three to four weeks of consistent behavior is what it will take to establish the habit of doing the same (productive) things the same way – every day.
Action: Develop a morning routine, one that will get you off to a productive start every day. Hint: Don’t get up and check email – do something productive first!
5. Accountability
This is the missing ingredient of performance improvement. Make yourself accountable to someone for the actions you’ll take to change the status quo in the year ahead. Chances for success and achievement are dramatically increased when you tell someone else what you’re doing and what you intend to accomplish. You’ll be amazed at how willing a good friend or colleague will be to help you succeed.
Action: Call a trusted friend or colleague. Outline your plans for 2012 and ask him or her to be your accountability partner. Specify a time each week when you’ll get together to update your progress.
Tags: accountability, action, commitment, habit, performance, productivity, routine
Posted in 2011 | No Comments »
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Tuesday, September 13th, 2011
 Getting the right things done is the key indicator for being effective. It’s not the quantity of work one accomplishes in the course of a day but rather the quality of the work that determines value and real productivity. In order to make sure our focus is on achievement and not activity, we have to understand the pure value of time.
We can obtain quantities of every other resource except time. Time is our most limiting resource, so time management is foundational to getting the right things done. Getting the most important things done in those precious hours and minutes we’ve been given is the key to valued performance and real productivity.
Because our time is so valuable, it only makes sense to maximize the time we have each day. We do so by focusing on those vital few things that make the greatest contribution to the success of the organizations we work for. Getting things done through people is the common definition of the manager’s role. I would argue the primary role of the manager is to make those important few contributions that help move our organizations forward.
Toward that end, it’s essential to identify what our most important contributions are. Let’s do a little reflective thinking for a moment and try to determine what we need to focus time, attention and resources on – in order to contribute to personal or organizational success.
1. What tasks, activities or projects contribute most significantly to the bottom line?
2. Am I carving out time – every day – to work on bottom-line activities?
3. What’s keeping me from doing those things I should be doing? In other words, what should I stop doing that’s keeping me from my most important projects?
It’s question number three I want to focus on right now. Knowing what not to do is at least as important as knowing what to do, if we want to maximize performance and productivity. Creating a “Stop Doing List” is one of the most effective ways we can narrow our focus and zero in on those few things that move our performance and our organization forward.
Create Your Stop Doing List
In an effort to eliminate or reduce those activities that do not contribute to your effectiveness, identify three things you could stop doing – right now – that would enable you to focus on those things that really matter.
Notice I said “…things you could stop doing.” Creating a “Stop Doing List” doesn’t necessarily mean the task or project won’t get done; it just means you won’t be responsible for making it happen. Warning! We often find ourselves doing things – just because we always have – things that really have no meaningful effect on performance, productivity and results. We do them because we’ve always done them. That’s a bad plan!
Set yourself apart from the crowd by clarifying your most important tasks, and eliminate or minimize those things from your schedule that rob you of your most precious resource – time. Create a “Stop Doing List” and keep it in front of you all the time. More importantly, share your “Stop Doing List” with the people who rely most heavily on you for success and achievement. Enlist their support in helping you stay focused and on track with your real priorities.
A word of warning, though; choose these people carefully, for not everyone really wants you to succeed. Choose your success partners carefully.
Tags: achievement, manager, productivity, quality, results, value of time
Posted in 2011 | No Comments »
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Wednesday, July 13th, 2011
 John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach at UCLA, said: “Don’t mistake activity for achievement.” Being busy and being productive are not the same thing. Most of us spend the entire day running from one meeting to another or shifting from one task to another, thinking we’re being productive. Bad news: that’s probably not the case.
Being more productive actually involves less activity than you might think. Being more productive will also mean making a choice. You can choose to stop spending time doing those things that are really marginal when it comes to getting real results, or you can choose to invest those precious minutes in focused activities that move you and your organization forward.
Here are five ways to improve your performance and productivity by 50 percent in the next 30 days
#1 Plan Your Day – Using Your Best Time of the Day
Every day is different but, in certain cases, every day’s the same. Each of us has a unique sort of “time gene.” There are certain times of the day when we’re just simply more productive than other times. For me, early morning and mid-afternoon are my most productive times of the day. For instance, I’m writing this article at 4:30 am. I’ll feel my creative juices flowing until 8:00 am or so, then it’s time for the routine. Around 2:30 or 3:00 pm, I’ll get that second wind and that’s the time to work on those few things that matter most.
What times of the day are you most productive? If you’re not sure, figure it out, because doing what you do best at your most productive times of the day is key to performance and productivity.
#2 Narrow Your Focus – Get Real With Your To-Do List
What three projects, tasks or priorities will most contribute to the accomplishment of your most important priorities? Create an MIA list – Most Important Activities. Try and limit your MIAs to only three – then don’t go to bed tonight until all three are completed. In fact, you can probably knock out all three before noon if you’ll carve out time to focus intently on getting your MIAs done.
Too many To-Dos is a recipe for getting nothing meaningful accomplished. Narrow the focus of your productive time to those few things that allow you to complete important projects.
#3 Take Personal Responsibility – It’s Not About Them – It’s All About You
Gilbert Orland said: “Failure to hit the bull’s-eye is never the fault of the target. If you want to improve your aim, you have to improve yourself.” Don’t be one of those pathetic 95 percent who blame everyone and everything for their lack of success and achievement.
The only thing you can absolutely control is your attitude about your personal level of success. Bad things do happen to good people. Life isn’t fair and there isn’t a tooth fairy. So what? Control what you can control – your attitude. Take responsibility for your personal success and take that responsibility very seriously. Failure to get desired results isn’t “their” fault – it’s yours. Lou Holtz says: “Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.”
#4 Start Your Day With Reading – And I Don’t Mean eMail or Facebook
Just as a healthy breakfast jump-starts your body, reading something motivational or inspirational jump-starts your brain. Begin your day reading something positive. There’ll be plenty of opportunity throughout the day to catch up on all the bad things happening out there.
Start your day being inspired. Study personal productivity. Read how other successful men and women became successful. Take time away from a focus on all you have to do and start your day creating a positive mindset. Achievers are readers. They also guard their hearts and minds by controlling what they feed the brain.
#5 End Your Day Reading and Writing – Not Watching Local News
Use the end of the day wisely. Review what worked and what didn’t. Keep a journal. Once the day has ended, it’s gone forever. It’s history, never to return. Learn from the life lessons of the day. As Jim Rohn used to say: “Let life teach you.” Good judgment comes from bad experiences – so even difficult days have positive lessons.
Do you really need to hear one more story about some poor misguided person doing something incredibly stupid? No. Turn off the TV and let the life lessons of the day sink in. Take what worked and do it again. Take what didn’t work (and didn’t kill you) and figure out ways not to do that again.
Lastly, end the day the same way you started it – reading something inspirational and positive. It will make for a great night’s sleep.
Tags: achievement, change, focus, performance, plan, productive, productivity, reading, time
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
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Tuesday, June 7th, 2011
 Improving performance and productivity can be comparable to charting a ship’s course from Point A to Point B. Years ago, I served as a navigator’s assistant in the United States Navy. It was my job to help chart our ship’s course from one location to another, and make necessary course corrections during the journey to be sure we arrived at our destination as planned.
At the end of my four-year Navy career, I realized the same navigational fundamentals we used for getting a ship from San Diego to the South China Sea were absolutely applicable for charting a personal or organizational course for success and achievement. Here are the five navigational fundamentals I worked with, along with some applications for personal and professional development:
- Look Ahead – Determine Your Destination
- Look Around – Get Your Bearings
- Chart Your Course – Develop a Plan
- Set the Sails – Execute Your Plan
- Adjust Your Course – Evaluate Your Progress
Look Ahead – Determine Your Destination
Having a clear understanding of where we want to go is essential to beginning a journey. No captain leaves a harbor hoping to arrive at an intended destination. Instead, he leaves with a course well thought out and planned, to make sure he can safely get from where he is now to where he wants to be. Know where you want to go!
Look Around – Get Your Bearings
A clear understanding of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats is essential to launching efforts to improve your current status. Knowing what your current assets and liabilities are will prepare you for the journey ahead. Know where you are now!
Chart Your Course – Develop a Plan
A life without a plan is like a ship without a rudder. No captain expects to drift into a chosen destination. A successful journey is a combination of knowing where to go, understanding the distance involved, and having a sense of the obstacles you’ll face in reaching your destination. The best way to get the future you want is to plan it!
Set the Sails – Execute the Plan
Success is about doing, not dreaming. Once a course is charted, it’s time to go to work and do the things necessary for a successful journey. This may be the most important step in the entire process. Having a vision for what we want to accomplish, assessing our assets and liabilities, and making specific plans for success and achievement are all critical, but doing what has to be done to make our vision a reality is what will ultimately determine our success. Life is hard – get to work!
Adjust Your Course – Evaluate Your Progress
No journey of any distance is made without course adjustments. Changing the seagoing metaphor for a moment, NASA reports that once a space module is launched, 99 percent of Mission Control’s time is spent making course adjustments.
Things change, and in our efforts to improve performance and productivity, we must expect to have to make course adjustments before achieving the success we desire. Don’t fight it – prepare for and expect to have to change your course from time to time. Remember, the only thing constant is change!
Start today. Chart your course for success and achievement. No one else will do it for you.
Tags: achievement, course, navigation, performance, productivity, success, successful
Posted in 2011 | No Comments »
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Wednesday, April 6th, 2011
 While reading Seth Godin’s book, “Poke The Box,” I came across an interesting piece of information I’d like to pass along. Godin relays the findings of a study conducted by Dr. Jan Souman, of the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics.
It seems Dr. Souman studied what happens to us when we have no map, or compass, or landmarks to help us keep our bearings. His research on people lost in a jungle, a forest, or in the Sahara desert, with no means of determining a specific direction, showed that they ended up walking in circles. Try as they might to maintain a straight and steady course, they inevitably ended up back where they started.
At the conclusion of Dr. Souman’s research, he wrote: “Don’t trust your senses, because even though you might think you are walking in a straight line, you’re not.”
That little piece of research really got my attention. As a speaker, writer and consultant in the field of performance improvement, I was struck by the analogy of the outcome of people lost in a wilderness and the outcome of individuals and organizations lost in the wilderness of the status quo. They’re both walking in circles.
The Wilderness of the Status Quo
One of the most dangerous places I find my clients is in “the wilderness of the status quo.” They may think they’re moving forward and making progress but, in fact, they’re simply walking in circles. They want to improve performance and productivity but they’ve lost their compass and they have no guide. They’re walking in circles by doing the same things the same way, year after year – but expecting different results. They’re lost! But they’re making good time.
Sometimes the status quo can seem like a safe place to be, especially if it’s led to some degree of success in the past. The problem is what got you where you are won’t get you where you want to be. The old adage, ”Success breeds success,” isn’t true at all. More often than not, success breeds complacency. We reach a point where the success we’ve created causes us to put our business or career on cruise control. We’re not adjusting our course when needed, and we’re not cognizant of what’s going on around us. We’ve lost the horizon – we’re actually walking in circles.
Getting Out of the Wilderness
First and foremost, recognize the wilderness for what is truly is – a very dangerous place. It’s dangerous because when you’re walking in circles, you feel you’re making progress, but you’re really not. You’re simply walking. Walking in circles is analogous to just being busy but, as you well know, being busy and being productive are very different things. Think of being busy as being lost – but making really good time.
Exiting the status quo requires a good map (plan). Last year’s map won’t do. You’ll need a map of the current landscape. You’ll need to know exactly where you’re going and you’ll need to understand the terrain. Where’s the quicksand? Where are the obstacles you’ll need to face or avoid all together?
While having a good map is important, having a good guide may be even more important. Partnering with somebody who recognizes the status quo for what it is can help accelerate your exit. A good guide understands the dangers of the wilderness. He or she knows where the alligators are and can help you avoid them altogether.
Lastly, remember Dr Souman’s warning: “Don’t trust your senses, because even though you might think you are walking in a straight line, you’re not.”
The last thing you or your organization needs to be doing is walking in circles. When you find yourself right back where you started – on an all too frequent basis – maybe it’s time to get a good map and a good guide. There’s no success and no real achievement when you’re trapped in the wilderness of the status quo.
Tags: achievement, circles, complacency, forward, guide, map, performance improvement, productivity, progress, results, success
Posted in 2011, Uncategorized | No Comments »
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Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
 John Wooden, the legendary coach at UCLA is quoted as saying: “Don’t mistake activity and achievement. He was also famous for believing in fundamentals. Coach Wooden understood that practicing a few important things on a consistent basis paid higher returns than leaving a game to chance. At every practice his focus was on practicing those few things that produced success. He understood the difference between practicing just to practice and working on plays that won games. John Wooden understood the power of planning to be productive.
It’s not about Being Busy
Being busy and being productive are two different things. Being busy isn’t often associated with accomplishing important goals.
Being productive on the other hand requires focus and implementation of time-tested techniques to become more productive. Here’s an example of a few things you can do to increase focus and better manage your time.
Plan your day
Successful organizations and high-performing individuals have this one thing in common; they actively manage their future. They plan for the long and short-term future they want to have. Don’t leave your success to chance. Plan for the life and career you want to have. This is easier than you may think and it makes life a whole lot more rewarding.
Write Down Your Goals
An unwritten goal is nothing more than a dream or wish and, herein lye’s the problem; no one ever wished his or her way to success. 95 percent of individuals don’t have written goals or a written plan for what they want to achieve. Is it any wonder why the 5 percent that do are a zillion times more successful?
Know When to Work
Different people have different “productivity zones.” Some of us are morning people; others have high energy and creativity levels in the evening or late at night. Do you know when you’re most productive? If not, find out. If you do know your productivity zones use them to your advantage and work on your high payoff activities during those times.
Keep Score
Yesterday is history and tomorrow is yet to come. All we have is today. Use the day to do those things that matter most. Keep track of what you do. Journaling is one of the best ways to measure progress. Writing down what worked and what didn’t, for future review helps us keep doing those positive practices that produce great results, as well as eliminating those things that moved us in the wrong direction.
Review the Game Tape
One of the things that make Peyton Manning a future hall of fame quarterback is his commitment to spending time each week reviewing game tape. We can learn a lot from understanding what worked but we often can learn more from seeing what didn’t work. Review your day once a day, your week once a week and your month once a month. You’ll put yourself ahead of the pack very quickly.
Next week we’ll look at a few more ways you can plan the future you want to have. Just remember, you have much more control over your time than you give yourself credit for. You can plan for your success and achievement. You can’t afford to leave something this important to chance.
Tags: achievement, activity, focus, goals, manage, plan, practice, produce, productive, productivity, review, success
Posted in 2011, Uncategorized | No Comments »
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Friday, October 22nd, 2010
 When it comes to improving your performance and productivity, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Chances are, much of what you’re doing makes you pretty productive – like reading this eCARD, for example.
If this is the case, then I suggest you do this quick little productivity gut-check to make sure you stay on the right track. Here are five key questions to consider, regarding your current productivity or performance:
What’s Working?
What are you doing that seems to be working just fine, when it comes to getting those few things done that have the greatest impact on your productivity?
What Makes It Work?
Whether it’s creating a short “To Do” list or creating a “Stop Doing” list, what keeps you productive? There may be a few things, or just one, that, when done consistently, ramp up your productivity. What are they, or what is it?
What’s Not Quite Right?
Perfection is hard to come by, so even those things that seem to be working well could most likely be improved upon. Remember the concept of Kaizen (“Continuous improvement” in Japanese)? They get credit for taking the concept to the automotive industry, but didn’t invent it. Improving on something that already works is just the next step on the road to excellence – always has been – always will be.
What Would the Ideal Look Like?
If all the stars were aligned, and you had everything you needed, what would the ideal look like? As we all know, beginning with the end in mind is a good place to start the improvement process.
What Resources Do I Need to Make It Better?
You knew it was coming, didn’t you? Relax. I’m not necessarily talking about spending money. What I’m suggesting is that, as you take a look at what’s not quite right, you consider what you may need to make it right. It may just involve a new way of thinking or a slight change in a process. Often, seemingly insignificant adjustments can make striking changes in the status quo.
Performance improvement doesn’t require reinventing the wheel, but probably will involve looking at the wheel from a different point of view. Asking the right questions leads to finding the right answers.
Tags: improve, kaizen, performance, productivity
Posted in 2010 | No Comments »
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Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
Creating a strategic performance advantage is the key to taking your performance and productivity to the next level. And, keeping true to the philosophy of getting more with Les – it’s not difficult to do.
1. Clarity is the key
The first step in creating a strategic performance advantage is to clarify what you want to accomplish. Start with a S.M.A.R.T. vision. For a vision to be powerful, it must be specific. It must be measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.
A vague vision produces vague results. It’s one thing to say: “Someday I want to make a living being a consultant.” It’s quite another thing to say: “By December 31, 2010, I’ll have created XYZ and Associates, a $250,000 a year, Dallas-based consulting practice, specializing in change management for small to medium-sized companies in the medical services industry.”
In this particular example, the vision captures revenue expectations, clarifies the target market and the geographic scope of the business. Specificity is the key. Vague vision statements simply don’t have the power to move an individual or an organization forward.
2. Focus
The primary difference between vision and focus is scope. While a S.M.A.R.T. vision clarifies the big picture for improved performance and productivity, focus narrows the scope of the work to be done. As Jim Collins says in his business classic, Good to Great: “The real path to greatness, it turns out, requires simplicity and diligence. It requires clarity, not just illumination. It demands each of us to focus on what is vital – and to eliminate all of the extraneous distractions.”
We clarify our focus by setting meaningful and measurable objectives, and you won’t need many of them. The objectives would be linked directly to your vision statement. In the example of the vision above, we would want to set objectives for monthly revenue, for sales, and marketing, among others.
3. Focused Activity
Achievement is about doing, not dreaming. To that end, we want each day to count when it comes to making our vision a reality. Once our vision is clear, and meaningful objectives have been set, the next obvious step is to take actions every day that will complete stated objectives. Make sure you’re carving out roughly 90 minutes a day to work only on those activities that will accomplish your goals.
Tags: achievement, activity, business, clarity, focus, goals, performance, productivity, strategic, vision
Posted in 2010 | No Comments »
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Thursday, August 19th, 2010
Ever hear the adage “knowledge is power?” Unfortunately, like so many other modern day myths, this one isn’t true either. While it is true that knowledge is a source of power, the reality is only knowledge APPLIED is powerful. It’s not what we know that counts, it’s what we do with what you know that really matters. You and I live in the Information Age. There’s more information around today than there has ever been on any topic you can imagine. Not only is information available, it’s at our fingertips via the Internet. The Web contains information you can use for improving every aspect of your life. I don’t know about you, but I have yet to stump Google or Yahoo.
With all the information available to us today and with increasing educational levels, you would think we’d connect the dots between knowledge and application. Ah, but such is not the case. Why the disconnect? Because we’ve come to believe that learning and collecting information are one and the same. The reality, however, is we must take what we’ve learned and translate it into meaningful actions. It’s not what you know, it’s what you do with what you know that matters.
Doris Lessing, a novelist and playwright of the last century, once said:” What matters most is what we learn from living.” Life is a great teacher, if we do something with what we learn.
If you’re familiar with my six-step process for improving performance and productivity, you know that the last of the six steps is ACTION, or what I refer to as STRATEGIC DECISIONS.
While taking action is critical to being a person of success and achievement, I’m not talking about just doing something for the sake of doing it. I’m talking about doing those things that matter most – and doing them first! Here are some thoughts on taking action you might find helpful:
1. Develop the habit of being action oriented. Don’t think about finishing the project or getting the degree, finish the project and get the degree!
2. Get creative in figuring out fun or interesting ways to take on an important project. Make a game out of it or offer yourself a nice reward when the project’s finished.
3. Make a habit of breaking down projects into tasks that can be completed in a relatively short time. Our attention spans aren’t very long – sad but true, so deal with it and break the task down into doable 15-20 minute segments.
4. Use worst case scenario thinking to stimulate action. You’ll end up there anyway if you don’t get the project finished or earn the degree.
5. Do the hard stuff first. Once you get that out of the way, you’re on the downhill slide.
6. Use momentum to your advantage. Once you get going on a task, stick with it until it’s finished.
Remember, it’s not what you know that matters, it’s what you DO with what you know that really counts. Success and achievement are about DOING, not DREAMING.
Tags: action, decisions, education, knowledge, learn, life, myth, performance, power, productivity, project, reward, strategic, teach
Posted in 2010, Uncategorized | No Comments »
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When we haven’t clearly identified what’s most important, everything seems important. This is why, in my view, people are so frustrated with their lack of success in managing their performance and productivity. Instead of taking the time to identify the real priorities of life in general, or the priorities of day in particular, everything takes on the same level of importance. When everything’s important – nothing’s important.
