Work like you are going on vacation tomorrow...

Do you know what I mean?  Seriously, don’t you feel like you get really productive before you leave for vacation?  I try to keep my desk at the office pretty neat, but it is never as neat and clean as it is right before I leave town.  Somehow before a vacation I always find a way to get a lot of work done; I become more productive.  Some people that work for me might tell you that I just delegate better before I leave town, maybe so!

 

I really am more focused and accomplish more before I know I am going to be away from the office.  Why can’t we work like that all the time?  Why can’t we always run our lives the way we do the week before we leave the office, making decisions, cleaning off the desk, returning calls, getting stuff done? 

 

By the way, I leave town tomorrow! My desk is spotless…

Starve Your Distractions, Feed Your Focus

 

I am not good at this. I am so easily distracted. This is not easy to do in our social media, text message, internet world. How much more productive would we be if we could do this? Even if we could just do it during work hours. How much would our productivity go up?

 

It is a simple concept, not so easy to put into practice.

 

How are you at this?

Volume

 

Is it productive for anger and frustration to be expressed through increased volume?  Do strong leaders become loud to convey important facts?  Is yelling truly a better way to communicate urgency?  I suggest that the answer to all these questions is no. 

 

Unfortunately, I do not always live that way.  It is a very human reaction to “get loud” in certain circumstances.  Other than large crowds, great distances, and of course sporting events, what good is loud screaming?  The person you are communicating with was probably hearing you just fine before you got emotional and turned up the volume.  Sure, voice inflection and some degree of volume change can be used in communicating a message, but not out and out yelling.  Communication with excess volume can foster anger and disrespect.  It undermines good leadership, and it can feel demeaning and degrading to the listener.  Consider this the next time you feel the volume increasing for no good reason. 

 

“The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success,
his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one
of the beautiful jewels of wisdom” -- James Allen 

Intentionally

Do you live intentionally?  Do you act with intention?  Do you plan your day with intentionality?  Often, I find myself just allowing the day to come to me.  My business discussions may have a hopeful direction, but maybe not an intended goal.  Conversations with family are not always the teaching moments they should be or result in firm decisions.  I know people who are very intentional about what they do.  Those that are good at being intentional are thoughtful and purposeful about every action they take and every decision they make.  Intentionality is powerful.  It increases our influence as leaders.  It leads to greater productivity.  It can lead to a healthy lifestyle and better personal habits.  Be intentional.  Influence what happens to you and around you.

 What are you intentionally going to accomplish this week?

Procrastination

Procrastination is a problem for me. Just as the people that work for me.   I am not near as productive as I should be.  There are always good excuses to put things off.  Sound familiar? I feel a little bit like I am writing this MMM directly to myself!  There are two specific things I need to remind myself in order to become more productive…

Stop planning, start doing!

I am a great planner. There are a lot of plans in my head, notes in my desk, and lists on my computer.  I have regular work projects that need completion. There are books to write and businesses to start.  Planning is important but at some point, you have to just do it.  Plan appropriately, but don’t let the planning become the work.  More importantly, don’t let planning be your excuse for procrastination.

Don’t be a perfectionist!

Chasing perfection causes me to take longer to complete tasks.  It just takes more time to be perfect and it is almost never required.  This is actually a bigger challenge for those of us that are self-employed.  We don’t have others to impose deadlines and demand completion despite imperfections.  Just know that it always takes longer to be perfect and the payoff for that perfection seldom offsets the time it takes.

Listening

Listening is a favorite topic of the MMM.  People can listen at a rate of 600 words per minute, but they can only talk only at 100 to 150 words per minute.  As a result listeners are easily distracted, they can process more information than a person speaking to them can deliver.  The challenge is to use the extra time, the extra processing capacity, to listen more productively.  Unfortunately, most people start planning what they are going to say next instead of listening to the speaker’s concluding words.  Ironically, the last sentence, which usually contains the meat or most important point, is totally missed by most listeners.  Think about it, how often are you planning a response and not listening to someone speaking to you?

Slow down and listen...

Work like you are going on vacation tomorrow…

Do you know what I mean?  Seriously, don’t you feel like you get really productive before you leave for vacation?  I try to keep my desk at the office pretty neat, but it is never as neat and clean as it is before I leave town.  Somehow before leaving town I always find a way to get a lot of work done; I become more productive.  Some people that work for me might tell you that I just delegate better before I leave town, maybe so but… 

I really do tend to get more focused and accomplish more right before I know I am going to be away.  Why can’t we work like that all the time?  Why can’t we always run our lives the way we do the week before we leave the office, making decisions, cleaning off the desk, returning calls, getting stuff done? 

By the way, I am currently on vacation.  Yes, I got a lot done before I left town!

Volume

Is it productive for anger and frustration to be expressed through increased volume?  Do strong leaders become loud to convey important facts?  Is yelling truly a better way to communicate urgency?  I suggest that the answer to all of these questions is no.  Unfortunately, I do not always live that way.  It is a very human reaction to “get loud” in certain circumstances.  Other than large crowds or great distances, and of course sporting events, what good is loud screaming?  The person you are communicating with was probably hearing you just fine before you got emotional and turned up the volume.  Sure, voice inflection and some degree of volume change can be used in communicating a message, but out and out yelling, no.  Communication with excess volume can foster anger and disrespect.  It can undermine good leadership and it can feel demeaning and degrading to the listener.  Consider this the next time you feel the volume increasing for no good reason. 

The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success,
his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one
of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. --James Allen 

Work like you are going on vacation tomorrow...

Do you know what I mean?  Seriously, don’t you feel like you get really productive before you leave for vacation?  I try to keep my desk at the office pretty neat.  But it is never as neat and clean as it is before I leave town.  Somehow before leaving town I always find a way to get a lot of work done.  I become more productive.  Some people that work for me might tell you that I just delegate better before I leave town, maybe so but… 

I really do tend to get more focused and accomplish more right before I know I am going to be away.  Why can’t we work like that all the time?  Why can’t we always run our lives the way we do the week before we leave the office, making decisions, cleaning off the desk, returning calls, getting stuff done? 

By the way, I am currently out of the country for a few days.  Yes, I got a lot done before I left town!