Posts Tagged ‘professional’
 |
 |
 |
| |
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011
 People at the top of every profession and those in important management positions in any organization have at least one thing in common – they’ve developed the ability to get things done early and often.
This ability is actually a highly developed habit that has little to do with brilliance, having tons of talent or being connected. It has everything to do with a highly developed habit for getting results.
Here’s the definition of habit: a pattern of behavior acquired through frequent repetition. This is the perfect descriptor of the men or women who’ve developed the ability to get things done. It’s a behavior they engage in frequently.
Here are seven ways to ramp up your performance and productivity, and seven good habits to formulate or nurture that will guarantee a more productive day
1. Abandon Perfectionism
Waiting for the perfect time to start a project almost always results in delays. In the real world, there’s no perfect time, no perfect condition, no perfect person. Start now, regardless of the circumstance.
2. Don’t be a thinker, be a doer.
Here’s a fact of life: the longer you think about doing something, the greater the chance it won’t get done. Break the habit of thinking something to death. Do it!
3. Trump fear with action
It’s widely known that the greatest fear for most people is being asked to speak in public. Oddly, my greatest fear is that I won’t be asked to speak in public, but I digress. Action is the best cure for fear. Do whatever you’re afraid of doing, and do it now! Action builds confidence and confidence conquers fear
4. Live in the now
Don’t worry about what you should have done, or what could have been; just focus on what you can do now. Yesterday is history and tomorrow has yet to come. What you do have is today, this moment, this opportunity, so take advantage and do what you can do today.
5. Commit to action – For everything!
Success and achievement are about doing, not about dreaming. Develop the habit of getting down to “it” right now. Not after the third cup of coffee, not after you read your email. Set busy work aside and get something important done. The coffee can wait and so can yesterday’s news.
6. Develop the habit of initiative
People at the top of every profession or at the top of their field have a rare quality called initiative. The good news is that initiative is a developed behavior (habit), not a natural talent. You too can develop the habit of getting things done, when they need to be done, by developing the habit of initiative.
7. Follow the advice of Larry the Cable Guy
“Get ‘er done!”
Tags: achievement, action, doer, doing, fear, habit, initiative, management, now, organization, perfectionism, performance, professional, results, success
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
| |
Wednesday, February 16th, 2011
 All actions don’t carry the same weight. Some actions we take during the course of the day will have a greater impact on our day than others. The question becomes: how do we decide which actions will produce the best results?
One of the most effective ways I know of for deciding which actions will provide the highest yields is to apply the Pareto Principle, or the 80/20 rule.
This amazing concept was originally proffered by the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto and has been used by management and performance improvement gurus ever since. In its essence, the concept holds that a minority of causes or effort leads to a majority of results.
For example:
20% of products result in 80% of a company’s profitability.
20% of defects result in 80% of production problems.
80% of sales will come from 20% of the sales team.
You wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time.
The 80/20 rule applies to every area of our lives. Personal and professional.
Here’s a very practical way to use the 80/20 rule as a time management tool. Dedicate 20 percent of your workday to the activities that will produce high-level results.
Under this scenario, if you work an eight-hour day, you’d carve out roughly ninety minutes to work on your highest priorities. And it doesn’t even have to be ninety continuous minutes. You could set aside two forty-five minute sessions or three thirty minute blocks of time to get those pesky high priority projects completed.
An hour-and-a-half a day. focused on your highest priorities, will produce immediate positive results, such as going home from work knowing you made a significant dent in those few things that have the greatest impact.
Give Pareto a try. Then let me know how well it worked for you.
Tags: 80/20 rule, actions, improvement, management, pareto, personal, produce, production, professional, profit, profitability, results, sales
Posted in 2011, Uncategorized | No Comments »
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Monday, May 24th, 2010
 “One can always hire technical ability, but the person who has technical knowledge plus the ability to express ideas, to assume leadership and to arouse enthusiasm among people – that person is headed for higher earning power.” (Dale Carnegie)
Carnegie spent his entire life seeking ways to help individuals and organizations improve their performance and productivity. Not only is Dale Carnegie a legend, but his classic “How To Win Friends and Influence People,” is one of the best selling books of all time in the field of performance improvement.
One of Carnegie’s fundamental beliefs, and a theme we see in virtually all of his writings, is the value of treating everyone we meet with dignity and respect. When he talked about the link between influence and leadership, he offered advice such as:
Avoid Arguments.
Respect differing viewpoints.
When you’re wrong, admit it and move on.
Let the other person talk more than you do.
To get the best out of your people, create competition in the spirit of a desire to excel.
When you want people to do things the way you suggest, point out the benefits.
Talk about your fallibility before pointing out someone else’s.
Harnessing the power of relationships is one of the greatest skills you’ll ever develop, personally or professionally. Individual and corporate accomplishment will be measured by how effectively we manage the relationships with our family, friends, colleagues and coworkers.
Does this sound too simple to be true? Carnegie’s critics referred to his thoughts on relationship building as “simplistic hyperbole.” Too simple to be effective, said some of his scholarly detractors.
Too simple? Truth is always simple. I didn’t say easy, but fundamental truth doesn’t require a Ph.D to figure out. And, sometimes Ph.Ds don’t like that.
Tags: effective, enthusiasm, influence, knowledge, leadership, power, professional, professionally, relationships, respect, simple
Posted in 2010 | No Comments »
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Thursday, April 8th, 2010
It almost sounds counter intuitive, doesn’t it? The thought of increasing productivity by actually doing less just doesn’t seem possible, but it is.
In last week’s eCARD, I talked about the value of simplifying life so we can zero in on those few things, personally or professionally, that matter most. Several of you got back with me advising that (1) you were already in the process of simplifying and enjoying its rewards or (2) were very interested in the concept, wanted to simplify your life and wanted a few more examples.
To that end, let me share a few more ideas on how you might increase productivity by actually doing less.
Three Ways to Get More by Doing Less
1. Plan More in Order to Do Less
We all know the adage: “failure to plan is planning to fail,” and there’s certainly truth in that. Stephen Covey, in two of his books, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and First Things First, speaks to the importance of what he calls “measuring twice, cutting once”, when it comes to the importance of planning.
I have found as little as fifteen minutes of planning, in either the morning or the evening, helps me focus on making sure I schedule those things that will move a project or a program forward. Fifteen minutes of planning is really quite easy to do but herein lies the rub. Because it’s easy to do, it’s also easy not to do. Unfortunately, that saw cuts both ways.
Because most of our daily actions and activities are governed by habits, we need to exercise a little self-discipline and actually plan for a productive day. We also have to develop the habit of narrowing our focus in order to maximize productivity. For most folk,s this will mean changing their focus from activities to projects.
2. Focus on Projects, Not Activities
One of the keys to getting more done by doing less is to narrow our focus to completing important projects, instead of checking off a task list. Studies show a common characteristic of successful people is the ability to stay with a project to completion. It’s not starting a project that’s important, it’s finishing what we start that really counts.
The key to finishing a project is to break it into manageable activities and then make those activities a daily priority. But here’s another key: Don’t schedule too many project-focused activities into your daily schedule. Why? Because too many priorities means having no priorities at all. Keep it simple and limit yourself to no more than three project-focused activities a day.
3. Don’t Prioritize Your Schedule – Schedule Your Priorities.
This isn’t a play on words – it’s great advice! Simply ordering our daily schedule will do little to move our projects forward. In most cases, a daily plan is nothing more than capturing the times for scheduled meetings or important phone calls. If that’s the case, why not schedule a meeting with yourself for the sole purpose of working on a piece of an important project?
A meaningful project can seldom be accomplished in one fell swoop. The project has to be broken down into specific pieces and those pieces usually require completion in a specific order. This fact in itself speaks to the need for “project time.”
In order to get more done by doing less, take a look at your daily calendar and schedule 60 -90 minutes of “me” time in order to focus on – and if possible complete – project-focused activities. You’ll be surprised to see how quickly the project comes together and, at the same time, you’ll be developing the habit of intentionally carving out small but important sections of your day to do those (few) things that matter most.
Gettting more done by doing less is a numbers game. Doing just a couple of project-related activities a day – every day – will multiply your performance and productivity exponentially. You’ll be amazed at how it works!
Tags: business, daily, doing, goals, organize, plan, prioritize, priority, productivity, professional, projects, schedule, simplify
Posted in 2010 | 2 Comments »
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
It’s estimated that almost everything we do – we do because of habit. That little fact may be hard to swallow but the reality is – life is about choices – and our choices create habits. Most of what we do, personally or professionally, we do because we choose to.
Habits come in two general categories, good and bad. Examples? A good habit would be daily exercise, or doing the most important things first. A bad habit would be procrastination. Since our life today represents a culmination of the choices (habits) we’ve made to this point, why not start making better choices, thus creating habits that will improve the way we live?
Here are a few ways to create positive, productive work habits. Do these for thirty days and you’ll be amazed at the increase in performance, productivity and energy.
1. Plan your work
Set aside 10 to 15 minutes at the beginning of each day to plan for important activities. I’m not suggesting a “to do” list. Put together a list of two or three things you can commit to do that will move an important project forward. Then, with the list in front of you, schedule time in your calendar to get those important few things done.
Action Item: Start your day with 10 to 15 minutes of planning time, right after that first cup of coffee and BEFORE you start checking email or checking out your favorite news site.
2. Use time efficiently.
You have more control of your time than you give yourself credit for. Be productive every hour of the day. Don’t just start the day and let whatever happens happen. You have 1440 minutes every day to use or to squander. Hint: surfing the Internet and watching TV is squandering!
Action Item: Keep your plan in front of you and eliminate as many useless tasks as possible. Use time to your advantage. Keep a reading folder with you all the time. When you’re waiting for an appointment, catch up on material you need to read. Keep an audio book in the CD player in your car and listen to that, instead of the same old talk radio show host making the same points he/she made yesterday.
3. Use your most productive hours for your most important tasks.
The important is seldom urgent – that’s why the important doesn’t get done. The two or three items on your “to do” list do not have to be the things you work on first. We all have times during the day when we’re most productive. Determine when your energy and creativity are at their highest and schedule the important tasks for those times.
Action Item: Focus on the quality of the task, not on the number of things you can get done. Spend 90 minutes each day working on those two or three important activities. It doesn’t have to be 90 continuous minutes either – break the 90 minutes into two or three segments. Just choose high energy times.
4. Start now.
Important projects often seem daunting. They’re not usually something you can do in a short period of time, so you’ll have to break the project into “chunks.” Start, for example, by outlining the project. Once that’s complete, put together the list of resources you’ll need to get the project done.
Action Item: Once your outline is complete, commit time to taking that first step, and take the action you need to take to get it done. Take small, manageable steps to complete large tasks and keep moving forward.
Remember, knowledge is NOT power. Knowledge APPLIED is power. If most of what you do is habitual, and you control your behavior, start creating those power habits that will literally transform your life.
Tags: choices, goals, habit, personal, plan, professional, time
Posted in 2010 | No Comments »
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
People at the top of every profession and those in important management positions in any organization have at least one thing in common – they’ve developed the ability to get things done early and often.
