Eliminate, Principles, productivity

Are You Finished? Finish What You Start

Leave a comment

adiml48I recently received this message forwarded to my email box:

Recently Dr Phil, the talk show host, proclaimed, “The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started and have never finished.” So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn’t finished, and before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of White Zinfandel, a bottle of Bailey’s Irish Cream, a package of Oreos, the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos, and a box of chocolates. You have no idea how good I feel right now.

Jokes aside it is important to finish what you start. Unfinished items will clog your to do list. When you leave an item unfinished for a while you should use the “processing” rules:

  • Delete- Don’t do this task (don’t worry about the work you already did if it’s not needed drop the task.)
  • Delegate- maybe someone else can help you finish it.
  • Defer- if you’re not going to get to it soon- defer it. Put it on your someday/maybe list so it’s not cluttering your current to do list.
  • Do now- Can you do it in 5 minutes or less?
  • Designate- if you know you need to meet someone to get further details on this task (or to do it)- designate some time on your calendar.

I actually started this post months ago. I feel much better, it’s one less draft I need to worry about and I now have a post for tomorrow (today, for those of you reading it).

photo credit: Cara_VSAngel

Goal, Leadership

The MiniReview- Keep Your Employees (or Yourself) Motivated and On Target

Leave a comment

Each year, usually around December, organizations across the globe mandate an Employee Review. This is where managers review the progress of their subordinates and specify the goals for the upcoming year. This is helpful as it keeps employees on target so they know what the company wants them to accomplish. It motivates the employees because typically bonuses and increases are tied to the review. (If your company doesn’t do this then run and do it now.)

The Problem
There are some problems with the above system- there are too many opportunities for surprises and not enough direction. This means there’s a whole year without talking about growth or guiding your employees.

Action Steps
We’re at about the half way point of the year. Do a review now. If you’re an employee ask for a quick meeting to make sure “I’m on the right path”.

The Final Question
If you’re the manager performing the MiniReview always end with the following “What can I do to help you succeed? What can I do to make your job/environment better?”

If you’re an employee ask “What can I do to improve?”

Closure
After the MiniReview go over what you’ve discussed. Make sure each of you knows what follow-up steps you’ll do based on the discussion.

Health

Three Ways To Stay Fit Without Exercise

Leave a comment

“I hate going to the gym”, “I hate running”, “Exercise is so boring”. The more I speak to people who exercise the more negative responses I get. So let me get this straight people intentionally spend 30 minutes, 60 minutes or more daily torturing themselves. Isn’t there a better way?

Actually there are three better ways:
1. Find fun ways to exercise. If you enjoy playing basketball, then basketball isn’t exercise it’s fun time. Simple enough.
2. Replace exercise time with other productive physical activities. See: How Avoiding Exercise Can Make You Fit and Productive
3. Don’t be Lazy. During the day there are plenty of opportunities to be active- embrace them. Read: Exercise is for Lazy People

How do you stay fit without exercise?

GTD, Motivation, productivity

The Two Minute Guide to Getting Things Done (GTD)

Leave a comment

One of the biggest obstacles to getting more productive is getting started. Here’s a two minute guide to Getting Things Done (GTD).

1. Capture– Get all your to dos into inboxes. e.g. mail goes in one spot, verbal to dos go in your notebook etc.

2. Process– Go through all your inboxes and empty out anything in your head onto a to do list. Here’s how to filter your list:
  • Delete- If you wont need it, get rid of it.
  • File- file away anything you’ll need later- but dont need now
  • Delegate- if someone else should be doing it- let them know. keep a to do item to follow up
  • Defer- Is this task not important enough to be done soon? Put it on a “someday/maybe” list. Review the list weekly.
  • Do now- Is it a task that will take 2 minutes or less? Do it. That includes putting appointments in your calender, adding addresses to your contact list etc.
3. Do– Do your to do list.
4. Weekly review– Be on top of your to do list.
Of course there’s much more but if you start with this then you’re already ahead of most people.
Motivation, Passion, Principles

Don’t Give Up

Leave a comment

PerseveranceYou can find inspiration anywhere. Steve Pavlina, in his Skill article writes “During my first six months as a blogger, I earned a whopping $167. That’s about 17 cents per hour…But about a year and a half later, my blog’s income was passing $10K/month…” (his unreleased book has cracked Amazon’s Top 100 books). Not everyone is as successful as Steve but it’s goes to show that perseverance pays.
Creative Commons License photo credit: dearbarbie.

productivity, Success

Productivity vs Success: Why Do You Need Both

Leave a comment

SuccessPeople throw out the term productivity all the time so it has earned a negative connotation.

Productivity is a process- do it better, faster, cheaper, with more quality. Success is a result- when your efforts work out well.

You can be successful without being productive- think of digging a large hole with a spoon. You can be productive without being successful- think of digging efficiently with a shovel for a treasure, but in the wrong spot.

To maximize your machine you must identify success and get there in the most productive way possible.

Ultimately success is most important (as evidenced by the name of this blog)- because if you aren’t succeeding you aren’t getting anywhere.

photo credit: aloshbennett

Health

Exercise is for Lazy People

2,098 Comments

New Chair Same Old MistyDo you ever wonder why people of the 17th century didn’t need to waste their time exercising? It’s because they exercised in their everyday tasks. Nowadays we’ve become too lazy- so we need to set aside time to exercise instead. In other words we’ve become too lazy to be active, so instead we torture ourselves with exercise. The solution of course is to stop being lazy and get our exercize in small bursts throughout the day.

Here’s some examples of how you can stop being lazy in everyday tasks and eliminate the need for exercise:

  • When you drive don’t waste time looking for a parking spot closest to your destination. Just park at the first decent spot and use the time you saved to walk to your destination.
  • Take the stairs
  • Walk (don’t drive) to your neighborhood grocery store or anywhere else in your neighborhood. (have you seen the prices of gas lately?!?)
  • Volunteer to go to the next room (or upstairs) to help someone in your family or a coworker retrieve something. (you’re so nice)
  • If you’re going to have a long discussion with your friend/significant other get up and walk around the neighborhood. (The change in scenery can make stressful discussions more calm.)

If you stop being lazy you’ll discover an interesting phenomenon- you’re a lot more productive.

There’s plenty of opportunities to stop being lazy- don’t be lazy too look for them.

What other everyday opportunities do you see to exercise?

photo credit: Ian Bloomfield

productivity

Why Should You Be More Productive?

Leave a comment

After reading The Alternative Productivity Manifesto and some of the comments I realized that some people just don’t get it. I can’t believe that some people think productivity is useless or worse. Productivity is just maximizing your resources. Productivity is there to get you more of what you want. More productivity = more time, more pay… you just have to channel your productivity to what you want. If they can’t figure out what they want then they have bigger issues.

Have a Productive day! Have a successful day! Success is when you use productivity to make things better.

Simple, Time Management

Time Management Solution- Put a Bow On It (Bow it up)

Leave a comment

Put a Bow Your Projects

If your to do list is getting longer than the Five Books of Moses, this technique will save you time and headaches.

Finish The Job

End what you begin, or you begin your end

–Me

With corporate downsizing and the need to impress, your to do list is constantly growing. There are many tricks out there to help you shorten it, but I’m proposing the most obvious: Finish the Project! How many items on your to do list are in progress- you’re almost finished, but not quite? Finish projects after you start them.

Take this scenario: You’re buying a present for your significant other’s birthday. You don’t want a repeat of the “all I can find is dead flowers” incident. Being the thoughtful, productive person that you are, you’ve thought about exactly what you’ll get her since her last birthday. You’ve bought the present a month in advance. All you have to do is wrap it. The first two weeks you figure you still have time. Before you know it the day has arrived you need to scramble to find time to wrap it. So you look for the wrapping paper, but where is it- another five minutes before you find it. Scotch tape- where’d that go? Every step brings new obstacles..

Unfortunately this happens all the time- a project can’t be marked completed because a small detail isn’t accomplished. The solution is simple- complete the project while you are working on it.

Don’t Start Unless You Can Finish
There are always many cool projects you can take on. Don’t do it unless you know you can schedule time to see it through completion.

By finishing all projects that you start you will seem more reliable and capable in all aspects of your life.

photo credit: Hey Paul

Invest, Principles

How To Prepare For Mother’s Day Now

Leave a comment

IMG_5723Mother’s day just ended so you’re probably wondering if this article is late. Actually it isn’t. It’s right on time- for next year. Did you rush at the last second to get your mom a present, make an acknowledgment or plan a visit? Did you feel stressed? Did you do your best? Probably not.

Do you go through the same unfortunate process for birthdays, anniversarys and other events? It’s time to put your best foot forward.

Think now. Think about what you did that worked and what you did that didn’t work. Think about what you should have done. Jot down a few notes about your thoughts. It doesn’t need to be a set of ideas or anything concrete but it needs to be coherent enough that it will jog your memory about your thoughts next time you read it.

Review Monthly. Set a reminder for each month during your monthly review (someday/maybe) to look over your notes. Each month take a couple of seconds to expand and organize your ideas. Some months you’ll have nothing new to add. Other months you’ll gain a clear focus on what you want to do.

Start Preparation. Two months before the event, finalize what you’re going to do based on your notes and set actions for yourself to do it with plenty of time to spare.

Post Event Review. After the next Mother’s Day (or birthday etc) review how it went and start preparing for next year.

Speaking of preparation: Mom, Happy Mother’s Day- I’m a year early.
Creative Commons License photo credit: eyeliam