Archive | August, 2010

Clarify Your Objectives

By on August 31, 2010 in Goals

Many people confuse goals and objectives and in fact it’s true that the terms are often used interchangeably. I prefer to differentiate between the two for my own purposes and those I work with. Goals are usually more general in nature and less tangible. Objectives tend to be more specific and “vision-able.” I think I might have made that word up, but it suits my definition so I’m using creative license here. What I mean by that term, “vision-able” is that you can picture the objective in your mind – see it, hear it, taste it and feel it. I like to think of goals as “big picture” ideas.  Objectives are more nitty-gritty.

For example, I want to lose 20 pounds by January 1st is a decent goal. It meets all the S.M.A.R.T. requirements. But it’s sort of “flat.” I will lose 20 pounds so that I can fit into my size “whatever” pants, be healthy and run a 5k by January 1st is a better objective. You can almost see yourself wearing your smaller pants and feel the exhilaration of running that race. It is more “real” and therefore much more effective for our purposes. I am not knocking goals, but for today let’s focus on clarifying your objectives instead.

Let’s try another example. I intend to start my own business, replace my income and quit my job by June 1st. Okay.

What does the objective look like?

  • What type and form of business?
  • What is the real purpose or intention?
  • What is the specific amount of income needed?
  • What will your work schedule look like?
  • What will your work environment consist of? At home or in office?
  • Will you have employees?

I intend to start a catering business for parties operating out of my home kitchen by June 1st. I will employ two part time employees and gross $200,000 annually.

Do you see the difference? This objective is much clearer and more “real” to me. This also makes it much more motivating and actionable.

Take a look at each one of your objectives and make sure it is so clear you can almost reach out and touch it!

This is part of an ongoing discussion on my rules to maximize productivity. To read more see Golden Rules of Productivity.

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How To Use Feedback To Improve Performance

By on August 27, 2010 in Uncategorized

Many people do not want to hear opinions or assessments from others about their work and/or life quality. It is an unfortunate part of human nature that we prefer to avoid all potentially negative information in order to insulate ourselves from criticism. Why do we do that? And why do we assume or fear that the feedback will be negative? Maybe it’s the underlying feeling that we are not good enough that is so pervasive in American Society or the habit of only giving feedback when something is wrong. I’m not a psychologist, so I won’t delve into the reasons here (though I have my theories.) The plain fact is that feedback is an often overlooked, yet extremely valuable component of productivity. If used properly it can be an indispensible tool in your productivity arsenal that can give you a competitive advantage over your peers.

Feedback is simply a tool; an instrument if you will for both validation and growth. Be cautious not to attach personal feeling to this information. Keep it in its proper perspective however and only give it the importance it deserves. Feedback is not about you as a person; it is about assessing and improving work or activities that you do.

A few weeks ago, just about when I had started questioning if anybody was listening to me or cared what I had to offer, I received a gift from Ezine Articles that made a significant impact on me. Every individual wonders if they really can do the job and we all need a pat on the back once in a while. The beauty of this gesture was twofold for me: first, it provided validation that I do quality work that does indeed have value in the marketplace; second, it was a great example of how can give appropriate feedback to others with whom I work and live.

With that in mind, let’s talk about how to use feedback properly:

  • You must ask for it – Many people just do not think to give feedback or only do so when it’s negative. Make it a regular practice to ask your co-workers, supervisor, clients or customers how you are doing. (You may also consider asking your partner or children if you dare.)
  • Listen – It does no good to ask for feedback if you do not really listen with an open mind.
  • Filter – Consider the possible bias or perspective of the other person before you decide how much importance to place on their opinions. Do you respect the person’s views? Are they knowledgeable in the specific area? Do you trust them to be honest with you?  If not, feel free to disregard them.
  • Analyze – If the feedback is positive, how can you use it to continue to improve? Don’t dismiss praise or accolades! If it’s negative, what can you learn from it? Where is there room for improvement? Note: Any feedback that is purely destructive has nothing to offer you and should be ignored. Feedback that is mean-spirited is not useful to anyone.
  • Give positive feedback – Learn to offer positive feedback to others. Be honest, thoughtful and constructive in your opinions. Even if your assessment is negative, find a way to offer it coupled with helpful ideas.

Don’t be afraid of feedback or opinions of people whom you value. Use it, bask in it and learn from it. Open your ears and open your mind; grow and thrive.

Do you have any feedback for me? I’m all ears….

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Top Iphone Apps to Increase Productivity

By on August 24, 2010 in Technology, Time

Tools are an indispensible part of your productivity strategy. Choosing the right tool for your needs can be a confusing and somewhat daunting task. The decision must be based on your needs, working style, and level of comfort with technology. With that in mind I have decided to do a series on productivity tools that I have found to be the most useful for improving efficiency, organization and focus. Each week in the series I will feature a different type of tool. Is there is some particular device or tool you’d like to learn about?  Please let me know and I’ll try to report on it.

Since I have been absolutely enthralled by my iPhone lately, I’ll start with that device. (not an iPhone user? Check out the posts for Blackberry or Android devices.) *Note most of these apps have a version for the iPad as well so I am lumping them in together. I unfortunately don’t have the iPad yet, but one can dream. ..

These are the most useful iPhone apps that I have found to be effective, easy to use and as glitch-free as possible. This list is by no means exhaustive as there are literally thousands of apps available, but they are what currently work best for me.

Evernote – Free, open source note program, but way more than just notes. Evernote allows you to capture thoughts using text notes, voice recordings, photos and web clippings. You can tag notes or separate them into different notebooks. All notes are fully searchable and sync with a companion desktop application is desired.

Home Routines – This is my favorite home management app. It helps me to keep my home neat and organized, but keep those household tasks and maintenance off my business calendar. You can make as many routines as you want, and choose which days you want to see them. Routines can reset their stars overnight, or wait for you to clear them. Plan your most important one-off tasks for today, this week and the future with the handy built-in To Do list, and use the daily message feature to give yourself a short reminder for each day of the week. Home Routines is customizable to suit your home and priorities – get things done without cluttering up your calendar, email or to-do list.

HootSuite – Hands down my favorite iPhone app for every day social media management. Monitor Twitter and Facebook accounts, send and schedule updates, view statistics, watch lists and track keyword searches.

Paymo – I use Paymo to track my client and project time for billing and time management purposes. The Paymo iPhone app allows you to easily track your time while on the go. You can use it during client meetings or while working on tasks when you’re away from the office. Use timer or manually enter your time and it syncs with your online account to keep accurate time logs.

Pomodoro Pro – Really neat timer that helps you to focus for short periods of time and reminds you to take breaks. You can set the length of time and breaks if you don’t want to use the default 25 minute periods.

Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite – Create, open & edit Microsoft® Office Files (DOC, DOCX, XLS and XLSX.) Email, view & access attachments with popular file formats (PPT, PDF, iWork, HTML, PNG, JPG, GIF, SVG, TIF, MP3, etc.) Remotely access files via cloud storage services (Box.net, Dropbox, Google Docs and Mobileme.) Share files via email or cloud service providers. Manage and transfer files via WiFi. *Note – if you don’t need the “Cloud” features look at Quickoffice Mobile Suite.

Shopper – This is the most useful shopping list app I have come across: Barcode scanning, customizable lists and stores, aisle layouts, local store sale flyers, multiple lists, recurring list templates, list sharing and more. This little app has cut my shopping headache down to practically nothing.

Please come back and let me know what you like or dislike about the various apps or if you have any to add to the list.

Smart Time 4 Adaptive Organizer – I have just recently started trying this app, but it has serious potential, especially for those who use Google calendar and tasks. This is a really neat logic-based organizer and calendar for busy people. It looks at your appointments, then finds time for your tasks – and integrates both into one simple view. Keep track of lists, tasks, to-dos, appointments, events, and recurring anniversaries all from one integrated view. Categorize your tasks and events and share with family or team members. Don’t need the calendar views, look try Smart Tasks 4.

Todo – I tried many task management apps, but this is the only one that synced well with Outlook for me. Todo is able to sync with Outlook tasks using an interface that runs in the background on your desktop (though you can get a paid subscription to sync over the air. This app will sync categories which are crucial to me. It also has tags, different types of tasks (checklists, projects, calls, etc.) allows notes, recurring tasks and has the ability to share via email.

Traxitall – This is a very effective goal-setting tool. Track sales calls, social media followers, weight, spending budget, hours works, sleep, client load any anything else you can think of. It has recurring tasks, reminders, notes and best of all graphing of data and goal progress.

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Just Say Hello – One word May Change Someone’s Life

By on August 24, 2010 in Make a Difference, Personal Growth

We get so head-down focused on our own personal struggles that we often forget that we do not live inside a vacuum. People walk by us on the street and seem to gaze right through us as if we are a mirage. We speak and our words fall on deaf ears. The people around us seem to fade into the background as no more than a silent part of the landscape of our lives. This is the danger and the curse of the culture of busyness and apathy that is so pervasive in today’s society.

What difference can one person make?

Hi!

Maybe all the difference in the world…

A picture of my son on a recent vacation reminded me of a story that one of the teachers told at a graduation ceremony many years ago. She recounted how one normal day in her high school years she came upon a boy in her class who was sitting by himself after school looking sad and lonely. You know this child; the loner – the quiet one that nobody really notices, not a troublemaker, keeps to himself, sits in the back of class, and doesn’t really have any friends – basically invisible. For some reason on that day she decided to stop and say hello. That was it, just hello and a smile. The next day he came to her at lunch and told her that he had planned to go home after school the day before and kill himself because he felt so alone and thought that no one would even notice he was gone, but her small gesture, just that brief moment of paying attention to him had changed his mind. He had thought that maybe he might have some hope for a friend and give it some more time. Is this a miracle cure? No; this boy needed help to turn his life around and thankfully went on to get it, but it was a start.

The point being that something as benign and insignificant as a simple “Hello” can be life-changing. A young boy made a friend that possibly saved his life and a young girl found a calling and dedicated her life to teaching children.

This week take a moment to say hello to someone new. The life you change may be your own…

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Gratefulness is the Key to a Happy Life

By on August 20, 2010 in Mood, Personal Growth, Relationships

“Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy — because we will always want to have something else or something more.” — Brother David Steindl-Rast

In my office, which is my “private space” where I spend much of my time, I surround myself with reminders of all of the people and things in my life which I am grateful for. It keeps me grounded in the reality of what is important in life and helps to keep me out of the “something more” mentality. If we continue to look for happiness in something or someone else, we will never find it. Reflect this week on what you already have and ask yourself this question.

“Can I be happy with my life just the way it is right now?”

If the answer is no, then look inside yourself for the solution. You will never find it “out there.”

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18 Minutes to Managing Your Day

By on August 20, 2010 in Time

I think this idea is worth repeating. I still use this planning method almost daily that I got from Peter Bregman at HarvardBusiness.org. And I can always tell if I have not taken the time to follow it, as those are the days that always seem to get away from me with no apparent accomplishments.

STEP 1 (5 Minutes) Set Plan for Day. Before turning on your computer, sit down with a blank piece of paper and decide what will make this day highly successful. What can you realistically accomplish that will further your goals and allow you to leave at the end of the day feeling like you’ve been productive and successful? Write those things down.

Now, most importantly, take your calendar and schedule those things into time slots, placing the hardest and most important items at the beginning of the day. And by the beginning of the day I mean, if possible, before even checking your email. If your entire list does not fit into your calendar, reprioritize your list. There is tremendous power in deciding when and where you are going to do something.

STEP 2 (1 minute every hour) Refocus. Set your watch, phone, or computer to ring every hour. When it rings, take a deep breath, look at your list and ask yourself if you spent your last hour productively. Then look at your calendar and deliberately recommit to how you are going to use the next hour. Manage your day hour by hour. Don’t let the hours manage you.

STEP 3 (5 minutes) Review. Shut off your computer and review your day. What worked? Where did you focus? Where did you get distracted? What did you learn that will help you be more productive tomorrow?

The power of rituals is their predictability. You do the same thing in the same way over and over again. And so the outcome of a ritual is predictable too. If you choose your focus deliberately and wisely and consistently remind yourself of that focus, you will stay focused. It’s simple. This particular ritual may not help you swim the English Channel while towing a cruise ship with your hands tied together. But it may just help you leave the office feeling productive and successful.

And, at the end of the day, isn’t that a higher priority?

Excerpted from – Peter Bregman – How We work

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Vacation Reminds Us of What’s Really Important

By on August 17, 2010 in Fun!, Personal Growth, Relationships

Vacation is a good time to reflect on what really matters in your life and how you want to spend your time on this earth.

“Your family and your love must be cultivated like a garden. Time, effort, and imagination must be summoned constantly to keep any relationship flourishing and growing.” -Jim Rohn

Family

Love

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Important Questions to Gain Perspective and Stop Wasting Time

By on August 17, 2010 in Creativity, Habits, Personal Growth, Time

Productivity without a purpose is just busyness disguised as importance.

When was the last time you took a step back and tried to put everything about your life and work into perspective? Most likely the answer is never. I don’t just mean big picture plans, I mean what you actually do every day, how you act, how you spend your time and energy, why you do the things you do. Just humor me for a few minutes and entertain the concept that what you think you need to do or what you should do may not actually be true. Most of our patterns or behaviors are learned or acquired from others and then we never question them again until either something terrible happens or someone causes us to examine them. A recent vacation and a complete change in surroundings started me thinking about my own patterns and probing their effectiveness and even their necessity. This is why taking a break, stepping back and getting outside your “box” that has become your life is so important to both your personal and professional development.

I am challenging you now to scrutinize every pattern of behavior or routine and ask yourself these questions:

  • Why am I doing this? What is the purpose?
  • How much time do I really need to spend on it?
  • Is there a faster, easier or more enjoyable way to accomplish it?
  • What would happen if I stopped doing it?

It feels disloyal in a way to question your own perspective and thoughts, because hey, we all think that we are right. We don’t really like to entertain the idea that we could be completely off-base and have been wasting our time and energy when we could be doing something much more valuable like developing ideas, connecting with people or maybe even having fun!

My own investigation revealed the following insights:

  1. Perhaps I do not need to spend an hour every day on my social media communications. I gained Twitter followers and had engagement even during my vacation period, with considerably less structured tweeting, but Facebook almost completely fell off the grid. My assignment: try switching up the amount of time and the schedule that I currently use to see if I can reduce the time commitment and make it more fun.
  2. Writing my blog posts ahead during assigned writing periods seems more productive, but isn’t the most fun way to write for me. How can I make my writing may be more effective, enjoyable and relevant?  My assignment: Try setting aside the first hour of my work day and write about what is on my mind and current.
  3. My exercise routine gets boring and that makes it a chore some days and hard for me to stick to my plan. What if I really don’t need to be so rigid in my schedule? How can I make exercise more fun and still get the results I want? My assignment: Experiment with including different activities, i.e. biking, walking the dogs, yoga, a weighted ball; instead of my standard running and weightlifting routine.

Stay tuned for my next post on my “Shake it Up” experiment….

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First Month: Lessons Learned

By on August 5, 2010 in Lessons, Mood, Personal Growth, Relationships

One Month Down

I can’t believe that over a month has passed since my husband left for Afghanistan. It has a been a whirlwind of late nights, restless sleep, an endless task list, chores forgotten, frequent frustration and yes, a few tears along the way. It has also been a time of tremendous personal growth, increased confidence, support from family and friends and a heightened appreciation for the beauty of my imperfect life.

Lessons Learned:

  • It is the small everyday comforts that make all the difference – my constant canine companions, my children, the aroma of morning coffee, the soothing taste of freshly brewed tea, a home that I feel comfortable in, the orchid blooming in my office, a scented candle, stirring music, flowers in bloom, wildlife outside my window and supportive family and friends.
  • I need to ask for help – support is available, but people won’t know what I need until I am willing to ask.
  • I cannot do everything – it is physically impossible with the 24 hours each day I am given to maintain my past level of responsibilities while adding in my husband’s. I have withdrawn from some volunteer activities and paired down my load.
  • I must lower my expectations – it is all right if the floor isn’t vacuumed every day, if the windows don’t get cleaned this month, if the cabinets don’t shine, if the cars don’t get washed and if the dogs didn’t get their bath. Cereal can be an acceptable dinner as long as it is high in fiber and you add fruit.
  • I need to be gentle with myself and my kids – I really need to take time to be with friends and family, but time alone is a must for me. My monthly massage is no longer a luxury and painting my toe nails is not frivolous.
  • I am capable of so much more than I believe – I have always been a fairly strong and independent woman, but I have surprised myself by stretching in so many ways already.

Stepping outside of my comfort zone when my world in turmoil is a very scary concept, but it is in that space of uncertainty where I will grow the most and where my best life resides.

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Manage Your Energy

By on August 5, 2010 in Energy, Health, Personal Growth

Learning how to manage your energy goes along with the post I wrote a few days ago explaining the importance of knowing yourself and what works for you. Another part of that strategy is also knowing and managing your energy cycle, levels and preferences. Then the next step is figuring out how to use that knowledge to your advantage to help you work smarter, be more effective and have more free time.

Personal energy considerations:

  • Are you a morning person or a night owl?
  • Do you get a lunch time or mid-afternoon energy slump?
  • What is your optimal length of focus or work period? For some people it’s 30 minutes spurts with short breaks in between, for others it’s 60 or 90 minutes and for a rare few it’s 3 or 4 hours.
  • How often do you need to eat to maintain your concentration and energy? For health purposes you should eat every 3-4 hours, but perhaps a snack every 2 works better for you.
  • Does the type of food you eat matter? Perhaps pasta isn’t a good lunch if it makes you want to take a nap!

You may not know the answers to these questions and you are not alone. The best method to use to get a better “map” if you will of your energy cycle is to track your workday activities with energy notes for a week. You should already have some type of calendar that you use for work and/or home. Simply make brief notes as you go through your week about the type of task you are doing and how you are feeling each hour. When you look back at the end of the week, you will see a pattern that you can use to help you schedule tasks, meetings, breaks and other activities during the times that are more appropriate for you.

For example, I have discovered that I am a morning person and that my brain gets fuzzy late at night. However, when I first wake up it takes me a while to calm my mind and focus; it’s usually like a whirling vortex of ideas and task. This is not a good time for me to write a blog post or do project work. It is a great time for me to scan social media, read RSS feeds, answer quick emails (things that only need a few minutes focus) or alternatively to exercise which helps to calm my mind. My energy and focus “curve” slowly climbs throughout the morning and peaks late morning. So 10AM-12PM is great project/writing time. This is why I frequently get caught up in a project and do not want to stop to eat lunch. I will keep working until 1 or 2 some days and then I am starving. So, the lesson for me here is not only when to schedule high focus activities, but also to make sure I take a mid-morning break and have a good snack in case lunch is later. I am almost useless many days late afternoon, so I best get everything done before 3PM or else it has to wait until mid-evening. I do get another spurt of energy between 6-8PM, which I like to use for those household chores, being active with the kids or occasionally writing or other business tasks that I may not have time for during the traditional work day (i.e. finances, marketing, technology issues.) The other things I discovered are that I work better in 90 minute blocks of time (30 minutes is too disruptive for me) and that I need to eat every 2 – 3 hours.

To read more on the other Golden Rules of Productivity, click here.

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