Tag Archives | strategy

Knowledge for Knowledge’s Sake Is a Waste of Time

By on May 9, 2012 in Lessons, Personal Growth, Work

Are you an information junkie like me?

I confess, I’m a knowledge addict. I read books, magazine articles, numerous blogs, listen to podcasts and watch videos like a sponge hoping to soak up every pearl of wisdom that might make me happier, more successful, smarter, healthier, and calmer. OK, full-disclosure, wealthier too.

We can’t help it. I think we’re programmed that way, to be constantly seeking to improve ourselves. That isn’t a bad thing, unless we become obsessed with it.

The problem

The problem as my wise husband pointed out to me in a recent conversation, is that we keep seeking and acquiring the knowledge, but rarely do we actually apply it. Instead, we keep seeking more and more, until we have a wealth of knowledge, but nothing to show for it, other than a stack of books and some conversation starters.

Better solution

Better to acquire a bit of knowledge, a few tools, and one blinding flash of insight and put our effort into applying this new understanding to improve our lives right now. There will always be time to go back to knowledge seeking later.

As my husband so eloquently put it, “Stop preparing and practicing for the game, GET IN THE GAME.” Did I mention my husband is military? He would have made a great drill sergeant, don’t you think?

Since I am the writer in the family, I’ll put it this way:

The value of knowledge is not simply in the acquiring of it, but in the application of it and the effect it has on our lives and the lives of others.

Though I suspect my husband’s version may have more impact.

Your turn

What are your thoughts on this?

Are you a knowledge junkie too? Or maybe you’re on the other end, a forge ahead type who doesn’t bother looking for new knowledge? Maybe you’re one of the elite few, who’s more evolved than the rest of us and has already perfected this system?

Care to share?

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Are You Up for The Challenge?

By on March 26, 2012 in Productivity, Time

I challenge you to a race…

A race against time. A race against yourself.

What could you do faster? Where would a bit lower quality be OK if it saved you time? What is necessary, but you’d like to spend less time on it?

Perfection is the enemy of time. Distraction is the enemy of time. Overwhelm is the enemy of time. Mindless activities are the enemy of time.

We are often our own worst enemy of time.

In many cases, we can do something to save, recover, and take back that time.

Challenge yourself to a race.

I’ll be doing it along with you.

Great candidates for a TIME CHALLENGE:

Email –always at the top of the list

Social media – another top contender

Household chores – vacuuming, mopping, dusting, clean up

De-cluttering and purging – tackle those pile, closets, shelves

Organizing – rearrange, put items back, restore order

Filing – just do it

Phone calls – keep it brief, no chitchat

Meetings – agenda, timer

Writing – stop censoring and editing as you write; edit later

There are many others. Tasks you dread. Activities that are time wasters. Necessary, but tedious. Whatever may be on your, “Oh no, not again,” list.

Here’s the simple challenge.

Choose an activity. Decide the amount of time to allot. Settle on the acceptable quality. Set a timer. GO!

How many emails can you get through in 20 minutes?

How many words can you write in an hour?

Can you get the filing done in 15 minutes?

What can you cover in a 30-minute meeting if you stay on topic?

How many calls can you make in 45 minutes if you cut chitchat?

Dusting race – 10 minutes. Good enough is the key phrase.

Sort, purge, piles. 30 minutes. 60 minutes. When in doubt, throw it out.

So many options. So much time saved.

The best part. When you’re done, use some of that recovered time to treat yourself.

 

 

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4 Strategies to Overcome Any Obstacle

By on March 19, 2012 in Goals, Habits, Health, Personal Growth

There are few among us, who don’t have dreams, desires, projects or goals that we haven’t been able to achieve. Or perhaps it’s a nasty habit we want to break. Often we haven’t even been able to take the first step.

I Want….

For some it’s career goals; start your own business, change or advance your career, or continue your education. For others, it may be a health goal: quit smoking, lose weight, or exercise more. So many seem to struggle with disorganization and clutter (if you have piles, you know who you are.) Financial goals can be especially difficult, as can habits of procrastination and lackluster productivity.

The good news is, we can be successful in any area. The bad news is, we do have to put in some work. Simply deciding what we want or making the decision to change a behavior is not enough.

We first need to understand, that it makes no difference what we’re trying to achieve, the process, preparation and strategy is the same. The most important step is the first; START. Just take that first step, it the most difficult. As with anything, it gets easier as you gain momentum.

Overcome Obstacles

1. Be aware of barriers – Examine past failures. It’s important to gain an understanding of what has stopped you from getting what you want or making positive changes in the past. Look back at personal failures (failure is not a dirty word, just an opportunity to learn,) as well as professional aspirations where you just couldn’t quite hit the mark.

What got in the way? Why did you stop trying?

If you want a different outcome this time, you have to eliminate the obstacles, the barriers to success.

2. Examine patterns of behavior – We are creatures of habit, easily slipping back into behaviors we have learned and practiced in the past. Unfortunately, many of these behaviors are not helpful. In fact, they may be the biggest reason we are unable to change.

Do you have a certain pattern of behavior that keeps popping up and getting in the way of your goal? Do you self-sabotage, or make excuses? Do you keep so much on your plate that there is no energy left for something new? Do you tend to give up or refuse to ask for help?

All of these are common disruptive behaviors that stand in the way of change. As the famous saying goes, we are our own worst enemy.

3. Watch out for triggers – What situations are most likely to cause a relapse? Do you slip into unhealthy habits around particular people? Are certain surroundings more difficult than others are?

If you want to quit smoking, don’t take breaks with other smokers.

Trying to lose weight; minimize eating out, especially buffets.

Is the mall a temptation to spend money? Stay away or leave credit cards at home.

4. Plan ahead – The secret is to determine what has prevented you from succeeding in the past and to plan for a different outcome. Develop a strategy to overcome obstacles before they happen. Put a strategy in place before a problem arises. That’s much more effective than trying to use willpower at the time.

If you struggle to exercise with regularity in the morning, put your clothes out the night before.

Always wanted to start a business, but just couldn’t get started? Find a mentor to walk you through, to help identify pitfalls and suggest strategies that work.

Has procrastination become a habit? Or spending too much time on Facebook? Set a timer.

Finally

Whatever your goal, get help, enlist support, find a partner, or ask someone who’s already been successful at what you want to do.

You can do it. Change is possible.

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Review: Life is a Choice

By on March 16, 2012 in Books

Life is a Choice. I would certainly have to agree with that perspective. Dr. David Washington, in his new book, “Life is a Choice: A Guide to Success in Life,”, presents a concise compendium of best practices for success and life fulfillment. As a respected speaker and consultant,  he shares the strategies that he has used with his clients.

A quick read, “Life is a Choice,” is a handy guide to the basics of life success. Presented in a simple, conversational style, this book offers straightforward, fundamental strategies to improve lives. Dr. Washington is earnest and heartfelt; his desire to encourage others is evident throughout the book.

While the information presented may be basic for some of the more advanced practitioners of life success, it would be a useful manual for young professionals, especially new college graduates. Those just opening their eyes to the possibilities of life or those struggling to get on the right path, would also enjoy “Life is a Choice.”

In fact, I may pass my copy along to my college age children. They could certainly use a primer on life success, since they don’t seem to want my advice…

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How to Live a More Productive Life by Changing This One Thing

By on February 29, 2012 in Productivity, Time

I read an article a few weeks ago about a writer who decided to radically change her writing schedule and found as a result that she was able to see a significant increase in her ability to be productive and get things done. I was inspired to adapt this for my own writing and work life, but I thought the strategy could also be applied to my home life as well.

After a couple of weeks of changing this one thing, I decided that my experiment was a resounding success. I got more writing done than ever before. I completed projects in less time. As my productivity increased, my stress level decreased, and as an added bonus, the side effect was that my life and work satisfaction level rose as well. Now, it’s time to share.

Concentrated Effort

This strategy takes time blocking and task focus to a whole new level. It is useful on both a mental and physical level.

The secret, use an Extreme Focus Blitz whenever possible. What this means is not only do you focus on one job, one task, or one project at a time, you do it for as long is reasonably possible. It can be applied both in the office and at home.

Some work examples:

Instead of writing three blog posts at a time in a block, I now write an entire month’s worth in an eight-hour day. How? By sticking with this same task all day, I become more efficient with the repetition, I avoid the time and effort necessary to start and stop and the quality of my writing is increasing. Once I stay in the zone for a long period the ideas and words flow more freely, which also makes the tasks more enjoyable.

I complete client projects and articles, marketing, administrative tasks and anything else I can in that same manner. Projects now take me less time, so I’m effectively earning more per hour and I’m finishing well before deadlines.

This could also work for meetings, appointments, team projects, billing, data entry, creating documents and lots more. Clearly, there will be some jobs that are unable to be done this way, but if you think outside the box, you’ll see that this could apply to more than you might think.

Try this at home:

I was skeptical about how I could use this practice at home. I have specific routines and I am pretty organized as a rule, but I decided to just give it a try for a week or two and have been pleasantly surprised by the result of changing this one thing.

Instead of doing laundry every day, I now do it once a week. I am a bit a data nerd, so I tracked my results. It used to take two hours (wash, dry, and fold,) to do each load, about 10-14 hours per week depending on volume. It now takes me 6-8 hours on Saturday or Sunday to do all 5-7 loads. That saves me 4-6 hours. While I know that the hamper never stays empty for long, at least for a time all the clothes in the house are clean.

I used the same strategy to wash my windows, do errands (shopping, post office, library, dry cleaners, etc.,) mop floors, and any other cleaning or household management task I could think of.

I’m still working at finding ways to apply this, but I have discovered, much to my shock, that I will literally save more than 20 hours per month. That’s a whole day! Imagine what you could do with an extra day each month…

The added bonus is that by accomplishing such a significant amount of progress in one area instead of a bit of progress in many areas, you experience a greater amount of satisfaction in a job well done. And with more visible results. This has enabled me to better enjoy the remainder of my time and look forward to the next project I can put to rest.

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Want to Know the Secret to Achieving Goals?

By on February 27, 2012 in Goals, Health, Inspiration, Motivation, Personal Growth, Stress, Work

The secret to achieving goals in life, whatever they may be lies in the attitude and level of commitment with which we approach them. We are capable of so much more if only we believe it is possible.

Whenever we approach our desired goals with a committed, unswerving attitude, no obstacle is too large and no setback too severe to overcome. Attitude and perception can be a shaping influence in how successful our individual pursuits of achievement will be because it is our mind-set that allows us to triumph over adversity.

We are more likely to pursue our dreams persistently when we trust that success will be the ultimate and foreseeable result of our efforts. Unanticipated difficulties will not deter us, prepared as we are by the expectation that our paths will be littered with the unexpected. Confident in our ability, we move forward, assured of the attainability of our goals. Our unwavering determination will enable us to achieve our goals with less stress and a more positive attitude.

What goals are you wholly committed to?

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A 2 Step Process to Generate Ideas, Cultivate Creativity, and Achieve Your Goals

By on February 22, 2012 in Health, Inspiration, Life Balance, Personal Growth, Productivity

The key to a successful life is to keep moving forward. When you face a challenge, but are unsure what step to take next, or seem to be standing still, unable to achieve your goals, pause and give your mind the time and space to generate solutions.

The best way to accomplish this is to set aside structured “Idea Time.” The initial inspiration for this process came from Todd Henry’s book, “The Accidental Creative.” I adapted this concept into a process that works best for me. You may need to adapt it further to suit you as well.

How to Use Your Idea Time

Step 1

Choose a question or problem to ponder.

Brainstorm possible solutions.

Contemplate potential actions.

Choose one or a few to implement.

Add these action steps to your task or goal list.

Step 2

Let your mind wander. Allow any and all ideas to float in.

Ask what else. What else could I do? What ideas or inspirations would I like to explore?

Record those ideas in your idea book (this can be an actual notebook or journal, an electronic document or mobile app.)

Decide if any of these ideas are useful or relevant now.

Leave the rest to marinate for future consideration.

The mind is most effective when we allow it to slow down and contemplate solutions. The answers to how to achieve our goals, find happiness, attain life satisfaction, and realize career success lie within us. We have an inner wisdom that we can tap into, if only we give it the time and freedom to come alive.

Try to schedule “Idea Time,” on your calendar each week. If you can’t find an hour, try 30 minutes at least.

Do you think this might benefit you? Why or why not?

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18 Minutes To a More Productive Day

By on February 8, 2012 in Books, Goals

I could not wait to read “18 Minutes,”by Peter Bregman. A longtime reader of his Harvard Business Review column, I was confident that he would be offer useful productivity tips. I had no idea that he would lay out such a simple solution to a problem that plagues most of us, too much to do, a never-ending task list, and the overwhelming struggle to master the issue of time management.

To be fair, his 18 minutes a day process alone is not the entire solution. He goes beyond daily task management, to address the larger issues that overwhelm us, not being happy and fulfilled with what we’re doing, feeling like we’re beating our heads against the wall and becoming more clear about where we want to go with our lives.

With strategies like using the Four Elements of Focus, hourly reminders and learning to pause.

“A brief pause will help you make a smarter move. Know what outcome you want before you respond.”

- Peter Bregman

Peter Bregman offers us an insightful, useful and easy to implement success program. Written in a conversation tone, he lays out step by step how combat the overwhelm, hectic busyness and lack of focus that make up the bulk of our days.  18 Minutes might be one of my favorite reads, notes in the margins, highlights on the pages, it has earned a prominent place on my bookshelf.

Let me know your thoughts on this book?

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How 1 Simple Strategy Can Change Your Life

By on February 6, 2012 in Books, Goals, Health, Personal Growth, To-Do
Stairs

Image via Wikipedia

Trying to reach a goal, get organized, be successful, improve relationships or get healthy, but feeling frustrated? Our goals, projects, can appear so daunting, so unreachable. The end result seems so far away; we’re never going to get there.

This simple strategy can help anyone.

Go for the quick result, the small victory.

What does that mean exactly? A quick result is a doable action that gives you tangible results quickly. Picture a mini-goal, a small portion of a larger undertaking. It can be anything as long as it moves you toward your goals.

Some examples:

Your house is a mess – straighten and purge one closet, clean one small area or wash the windows so you can see a visible result.

Trying to get more organized – make a master list of everything you need to do, eliminate one or two piles, clear off your desk or the kitchen counter, go through old mail or clear out your email inbox.

Want to be more successful – contact one person who can help you with your project, complete one small portion, spruce up your resume, set up a LinkedIn profile.

Longing to write a book, but can’t get started – Forget about the finished manuscript; write one chapter or just create an outline.

Trying to get healthier or more fit – Don’t go on a severe diet or try to run a race out of the starting gate; plan your meals for the week so you can avoid take-out, sign up for an exercise class that interests you (and actually go,) concentrate on losing 5 pounds, or being able to run 2 miles, whatever is doable for you and that you can achieve in a short period of time.

Remember the saying. life is a marathon, not a sprint. That is also true of achieving goals and making significant changes in your life.

To give you a real life example that we can all understand; my mother struggled with her weight her entire life, fad diets, exercise attempts to no avail. One day she had a revelation; this life change could not be achieved overnight. Small steps were the answer. First step, join Weight Watchers and establish accountability. Second step, eat more vegetables, lose 5 pounds, again and again and again. Third step, walk around the block every day. This was a small victory for a 60+ woman who had never been physically active. Then walk a mile, then two, then three.

The process, small victory after small victory after small victory. 18 months later, a large victory, over 100 pounds lost, the elimination of nearly all medications, a new wardrobe and a clean bill of health.

Another example, a young woman longing to write a book. A wife, a mother, a career, too busy, no time. She decides to write an hour at a time while her children are at swimming lessons. One chapter at a time, week after week after week, small victories. The end result, The unbelievably successful Twilight Series. A string of bestselling books and movies that have grossed more than 2 billion dollars.

One small victory at a time… Imagine what you can do.

What project are you struggling to finish? What goal seems unreachable?

What small victory could you manage?

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Must Read if You Want to Improve Your Creativity

By on January 18, 2012 in Creativity, Productivity

Every once in a while I read a book that surprises me in a good way. Having been a subscriber to Todd Henry’s blog for some time now, I was curious to see what wisdom he had to impart in his book, “The Accidental Creative,” that might help me achieve maximum creativity. And I was not disappointed. There have been scores of books written on how to be more creative, but not how to be “productively creative.” What Henry gives us is a process to be consistently creative, “On demand,” and within the confines of a traditional workplace if necessary.

Some of his ideas are novel, such as planning time to be “Unnecessarily creative.” Others are merely old ideas with a bit of a different twist. The result is a practical guide with many useful takeaways to help anyone capitalize on and expand their creativity.

To attempt to perpetually brilliant and increasingly productive, without changing the basic habits and structure of your life to accommodate that undertaking is a futile effort.

I found myself furiously scribbling notes, afraid I might miss some nugget of wisdom. I had to go back and re-read some sections to make sure I actually absorbed everything I needed to incorporate into my working creative system.

Nuggets of wisdom like:

Why it’s important to do “Whole-life planning” and stop trying to separate everything

How to cultivate a healthy diet of stimuli

Why you need to develop a study plan

Mastering an information processing system

The widely accepted practice of being slaves to productivity

Planning ahead for creativity

Scheduling “Idea time” on your calendar

And perhaps the most compelling idea presented is the concept of weekly, monthly, and quarterly checkpoints designed to provide the grounding and momentum needed for forward movement. This was so convincing to me that I printed out the worksheets and marked these sessions on my calendar.

If you’re in a creative business, or you are a creative in business…This is a resource you don’t want to be without. Plus, “The Accidental Creative” has the added bonus of being exceptionally well written in an engaging, conversational style that makes it an enjoyable read, while you’re learning something valuable along the way.

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