Archive for the ‘General Productivity Articles’ Category
Creating Positive Habits
I get asked a lot about how to handle “recurring tasks.” Then I ask for clarification of what a “recurring task” means to the person. Most of the time, what people are trying to figure out is ho
w to incorporate new habits into their life. The Empowered Productivity System is full of new habits. So how do you replace those unproductive work habits with new, more productive ones? And now that you mention it, how do you get yourself to exercise as much as you think you should, or find the time to read those books piling up on your nightstand? Unfortunately, simply putting something on your calendar doesn’t mean it will definitely happen.
The best way to “remember” to do something new is to make it as automatic as you can. Do as much as you can think of to ensure that the new behavior will occur. Studies show that it takes at least 30 days for a new behavior to become a habit. It’s also much easier to do things that don’t require any thought, because those take less energy. Ask yourself, “what’s standing in the way of this happening?” and set yourself up so that any new behaviors happen as automatically as possible. Trying to create a habit of working out in the morning? Set your alarm clock on the shelf across the room. Lay out your exercise clothes the night before. Make plans with a friend to meet you at the gym. Pay for a class or a personal training session. All of these things will make it more likely that you will actually do the workout you scheduled on your calendar. And every time you do that thing, it makes it more likely that you will do it again. And again. Until it becomes a habit. Just like brushing your teeth. (You do have a habit of brushing your teeth, right? 
Brainstorm other ways to make your new behaviors routine, easy, and requiring no thought. Tony Schwartz, author of The Power of Full Engagement, and all around genius in my book, wrote a great article about this for the Harvard Business Review. You can find it here. Definitely worth the read, as is most anything that he writes.
Creating a new habit is not as easy as creating a recurring appointment in your calendar. But you really can do anything you set your mind to. I hope these ideas help get you started. Thanks for reading!
Productivity Follows Process
Several months ago I wrote an article about productivity and time management tools (also called PIMs for “personal information managers”), and I ended that by writing, “the process is the missing piece to using any tool successfully.” 
The most important element of using productivity tools successfully is the “how,” or what I call the process. In my prior article, I referred to this in an analogy, which is that having a great set of clubs does not automatically make you a great golfer. Think of adopting a good process in terms of having a good golf swing: it’s how you use the clubs that makes the difference. The better your process, the farther your tools will take you in a given work day, and the more productive you will be.
In my 17 years in the productivity industry, I have created and refined what I call the Empowered Productivity SystemTM. I chose the word “empowered” because I have come to realize that the secret to peak productivity, really to living the life you want, is regaining and maintaining control, specifically over your attention. Controlling your attention means that you decide what gets done in your day, rather than just being swept away by all the external forces constantly demanding your attention. Control is the difference between being proactive and being constantly reactive. Time management is no longer relevant. What matters now is attention management.
As you may recall from my earlier article, there are five components that a good PIM should manage well. These can be all in one tool, such as Microsoft Outlook, or in several tools, as long as they work well together. Following are those five components, and some tips on using them inside the framework of a workflow management process.
Contacts
The Contact section of any tool is primarily a storage place for contact details. Some tasks relate directly to Contacts, such as phone calls or emails, and these should be captured in your Task list. Certain professions, such as sales, may require a more complicated tool, such as a CRM (Customer Relationship Manager), however many people underestimate the Contacts features available in the PIM that they choose.
Notes
The important thing to remember about Notes is that they are for reference material. Reference materials are things that do not currently require action. Notes give you a place to capture ideas, instructions, lists, even project details. But if an item requires action, it belongs on your Task list.
Email
Email is one of the primary culprits of lost productivity among entrepreneurs and professionals. My advice is to set aside one or two times in your day to dispatch your messages. Clear them from your inbox by deleting, filing, or creating a Task rather than letting them accumulate. Hundreds or thousands of messages piled up in your inbox results in unproductive clutter. It’s more efficient to process email in batches a couple of times per day, than to stop what you’re doing to respond to every message when it arrives in your inbox.
Calendar
There is a distinct difference between calendar items and task (to-do list) items. A Calendar is a time-based organization tool. Anything that has a strong relationship to time goes on your Calendar. An example of a strong relationship to time is something that is absolutely happening on a certain day (like a birthday), or happening on a certain day and at a certain time (like a customer meeting). It makes perfect sense to organize these items on a Calendar.
Tasks
You may, however, have many things to do that have a weak relationship to time, meaning that you have some discretion as to when they get done. They may have a due date at some point in the future, or may have no due date at all, but are still important to complete. I find it useful to treat these items as Tasks and put them on a list. Your Task list tells you how to spend your time in between your calendar appointments, and is the driving force that enables you to be proactive instead of always reactive. I suggest that you prioritize your task list by due date, instead of by “A B C” or “High Medium Low.” You can read more about that here.
In order to be your most productive, you need a set of tools that matches the complexity of your life, but you also need a good workflow management process for using those tools effectively. The ideas here are enough to get you started. To learn more about the Empowered Productivity SystemTM for yourself or your team, call me at 424-226-2872 or email questions at regainyourtime dot com. Also connect on Facebook and Twitter.
Thanks for reading!
A B C Doesn’t Work
Ok, so it works for spelling. The whole alphabet thing actually works just fine for…you know…words and things.
But where “A, B, C” doesn’t work is for prioritization. One common thing to prioritize is your workload. Specifically your to-do list. Most people learn that A B C (or 1 2 3, or High Low Medium) prioritization is a way to work through important tasks, a quick way of deciding in what order to do things.
But if you are a typical busy professional, chances are that everything you’ve written down is important. Probably the whole reason you wrote them down was because they were weighing on your mind and you were afraid of forgetting them. And the things that aren’t important don’t even make it onto your list. So most everything gets an A, and if you do happen to list some B’s and C’s, they never get done, unless and until they have to get changed to an A. So then what’s the point of prioritization?
A B C doesn’t work.
In my 17 years in the productivity training industry, I’ve learned that the only thing that works with regard to prioritization is ordering by due date. The dates are usually arbitrary, assigned by you with no particular association to that date except for the fact that it’s the date you’d like to have that item completed. Which is fine. Some people make the mistake of then entering the task on their calendar for that arbitrary due date they selected. All this does is artificially clutter your calendar. We’re always overly-optimistic about all the things we can get done in a day, and so then you’re faced with the task of having to remember to move the things that you neglected to do on a given day, to tomorrow. This is a bad idea for several reasons. First, tomorrow has it’s own agenda. Also, it sets you up to start the day focusing on the things you failed to accomplish yesterday. Not very motivating. Finally, there will come a time when you forget to move something that you didn’t do. And then it won’t get done. This is called “slipping through the cracks,” and you want to minimize the potential for that to happen. So, prioritize by due date, but don’t use your calendar.
Here’s what I suggest…use a to-do list for all of your things that need doing, that don’t have to happen on a particular date. (I recommend an electronic tool rather than a paper one, and for more on that, read this.) Assign a due date to the task: the date you’d like to complete that item. You’ll be tempted to put “today” for many things but it will quickly become apparent that there are only so many hours in the day. Also take a look at your calendar for that day. If you have a lot of meetings, it’s unlikely that you’ll also be able to complete a long list of tasks. Inevitably, you’ll assign too many tasks to a given due date, and once that dates passes, the task will turn red (in most electronic tools). But that’s ok. The next day, you can take a look at your “red” (overdue) items, and re-assess them with regard to the items you’ve assigned to that day. What seemed really important yesterday might seem much less important today, in light of what’s going on today. Or it may still seem very important and make you realize that some things that were scheduled for that day now have to get bumped.
After a few days’ time, you’ll realize approximately how many things you can complete in an average day. So you can parse your to-do list out accordingly. For example, let’s (oversimplify for the sake of the example and) say you have 25 things on your to-do list. All of them would seemingly be an “A” priority. But now you know that in an average day, with meetings, interruptions, etc., you can only actually complete 4 or 5 tasks. So 5 tasks today, 5 tasks tomorrow, and so on, means that some of those “A” priorities aren’t actually going to get done for at least five days.
This is when reality hits you over the head and you are forced to recognize that you have to make some adjustments: cancel some meetings so you can get more tasks done in a day. Work more hours (at least now you can plan). Get help. Request extensions on deadlines. Etc. Knowing whether reality is actually going to conform to your idea of what should happen, gives you many advantages: it helps you to head off potential crises, it allows you to plan appropriately, it reduces your stress, which is often caused by the pressure of trying to get everything done, wondering whether you will, and imagining what bad things will happen if you don’t.
Prioritizing by due date helps you to take a long (and sometimes overwhelming) list and focus only on the most critical things for that day, while still being in complete control over everything else that isn’t be done, so you aren’t stressing over it.
To read about the other components that I think are necessary for a complete set of personal productivity tools, you may be interested to read Owning Clubs Does Not Make You a Golfer .
Thanks for reading!
Feeling Distracted? Read This.
If you’ve been to this site before, or you’ve heard me speak, you probably know that I believe that the secret to not only being more productive, but to living the life you want, comes down to the ability to control your attention. It’s a big problem, because first you have to consider all of the external demands on your attention, like your computer, phones, instant messages, text messages, Twitter, LinkedIn and FaceBook communications, snail mail, email, Skype, co-workers, family, and on and on. But at least those are outside your head. The real problem is that you are probably the person who interrupts yourself the most!
Consider that your 
brain is not obedient. It does not behave exactly the way you would like it to, all the time. If you’re a busy person with a full life, then your brain is probably constantly spinning with:
- curiosity and unanswered questions
- thrill seeking/socializing/”what am I missing” syndrome
- incomplete tasks
- commitments and responsibilities
- uncaptured ideas you’d like to remember
- all the things you aren’t doing right now.
What you need is a process that can help you handle all of this. You need a way to capture everything, a place to put it, and a method for retrieving it, exactly when you need it. This is how to not only control your attention, but to control your life, and this is exactly what I’ll be teaching in my public seminar coming up soon in Austin, TX.
This 90-day program will teach you what you need to know to regain control over all the details of your life, including commitments, communication, and information. Once you’ve learned how to get a handle on all of these details, your brain will quiet, and your ability to focus will be enhanced. You’ll be supporting your own attention rather than sabotaging it. You’ll learn the Empowered Productivity System and you’ll leave the seminar confident and motivated that you are back in the driver’s seat.
If you’re feeling a little”too” busy, a little overwhelmed, like things are starting to slip, then check out the seminar. You won’t regret it. It’s a great time to be in Austin, but if you can’t make it, or you’d like to share these ideas with your team, let’s talk.
Thanks for reading!
To Multitask or Not to Multitask…
You may be surprised to learn that there is really no such thing as mentally multitasking. The human brain can only hold one conscious thought at a time. Common use of the word “multi-task” actually has two distinct meanings. The first is physically doing two things at the same time, hopefully neither of which requires too much attention. For example, you may sometimes drive and talk on the phone simultaneously. This may not cause too much problem if the conversation is relatively light, you’re on familiar roads, and the traffic isn’t heavy. However, if the road conditions get difficult, or the conversation gets intense, many people find themselves abandoning one task in order to focus their attention on the other (ever find yourself turning down 
the radio, or telling your caller you have to hang up, when you’re lost, or when the traffic suddenly gets heavy? Also note: using a cell phone while driving, whether it’s hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver’s reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent!)
More commonly, we use “multi-task” to describe the behavior of switching our attention rapidly back and forth between two tasks. The thought in our mind can change so fast that it seems like we’re thinking about things simultaneously, but the process is actually called “cognitive switching.”
Studies have shown that either physically multi-tasking, or cognitive switching (mental “multi-tasking”) both increases the amount of time it takes to do a task, and also decreases the quality with which that task is done.
A study published by the American Psychological Association concluded that the ability to switch between tasks, which they term, “mental flexibility” generally peaks in the 20s and then decreases with age. The extent to which it decreases depends upon the type of tasks being performed. However, the findings of this study indicate that mental flexibility decreases an average of 30.9% from a person in their 40s to a person in their 70s.
For example, this could explain John McCain’s admitted “computer illiteracy” during the 2008 elections. Fluent use of a computer requires the ability to rapidly switch focus between the task the computer is needed for (sending an email, for example) and the task of operating the computer. Those who are not well-versed in computer use would find it difficult to do both of these things together.
Given all this, you may think that my advice to you would be to “never multitask.” Actually, I’m a big fan of multitasking. The key is the same as my primary belief: control your attention, control your life. As long as I have chosen when to multitask, instead of doing it out of habit. For example, I think it’s fine to combine tasks that don’t require too much mental energy, such as catching up with a girlfriend by phone while I empty the dishwasher or fold the laundry. Neither of these things require much concentration and the consequences of distraction are minor (I might have to ask my friend to repeat something, or put the dishes in the wrong cabinet.) If I am driving down the highway and I answer the phone, out of habit, simply because it rings, I did not decide. I inadvertently relinquished control over the situation.
Do you skim your email while you’re on the phone, simply because it’s in front of you? Do you leave your email client open, with messages automatically downloading, all day, even while you’re trying to do other things? These are examples of sabotaging your own attention, rather than supporting it. You’ve created a situation where multitasking is the likely result, despite the fact that you intended to focus. You did not decide. You relinquished control.
If studies prove that multitasking causes you to take longer and perform worse, yet you find yourself routinely multitasking, this probably means that what you are putting out into the world is really only a fraction of your true talents, skills, and abilities. Now it’s up to you to decide if that’s ok with you or not.
I think multitasking has it’s time and place: the time and place you choose to engage in it. Other times, I suggest you choose to indulge your focus. You never know what kind of amazing things might happen!
Thanks for reading!
Attention vs. Distraction
As you might imagine, I do a lot of research on attention. I believe that mastering control over your attention is the key to not only getting things done, but to living the life you choose. And I am finding myself once again at odds with David Allen, Productivity Guru and author of the book from the late nineties called Getting Things Done.
I have admiration and respect for David Allen, there is no doubt he is a productivity master. I learned a lot from him early in my career and I’m sure he doesn’t remember, but I started my career in productivity at Time/System International in the early nineties when David Allen still had a relationship with them. I’m told that much of his Getting Things Done methodology came out of the 
time he spent working with TSI. And I owe much of my Empowered Productivity System to what I learned working there as well. So I do agree with David on many basic principles of peak personal productivity.
But I recently discovered one of his articles and while I acknowledge that it was written a few years ago, I believe it illustrates a fundamental challenge with his teachings. They were developed in the late 80′s and 90′s, in a vastly different technology landscape than the one we are currently living in.
In this article, “Pay Attention to What Has Your Attention,” David Allen writes, “what usually most needs your attention is what most has your attention.” I take his point that in one sense, everything that grabs your attention is equally important. I think he means, in the moment that it steals your attention. That is, if something has stolen your attention, you must take it back.
However, he goes on to talk about “starting where you are,” and that you can’t achieve the higher level goals if the little things are taking up all your mental energy, and you should therefore give in to them. He is addressing the internal mental distractions that we all deal with, but he’s ignoring the reality of the constant interruptions that we are subjected to on a daily basis from technology and communication tools. Usually what steals our attention is the curiosity about the new and novel, that calls our attention from Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, email, instant messenger, or one of a hundred other ways. It also ignores the endless stream of procrastination opportunities provided by the variety of screens facing us on our computer, iPhone, iPad, television, etc.
Before you can deal with the internal distractions, as he advises, you must first set yourself up to support your attention and focus, rather than sabotage it, as we often do by enabling these communication tools to be too accessible and interrupt us with bells, ringers, and vibrations.
I believe that Tony Schwartz, author of The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working offers much more practical and relevant advice in his article for Harvard Business Review, “Take Back Your Attention,” as he more accurately describes the lure of the immediate gratification constantly available to us in a thousand different formats. It is difficult to resist and “paying attention to these things taking our attention,” as David Allen advises, only puts us deeper in the hole and ensures that we spend too much time in the quadrant of “seemingly urgent but not important” and not enough time in the quadrant of “important but not urgent.”
The key to control is a workflow management system that effectively handles all the details necessary to run your life smoothly. David Allen’s GTD process is such a system, but again reflects its origins in the 90′s: it’s very paper-heavy. Even if you could figure out on your own how to apply it to some electronic tools, it still takes weeks or months to implement. In fact it takes days just to begin! His book has excellent advice but it is cumbersome, time-consuming, and challenging for the average person to implement.
My Empowered Productivity System is lean, fast, and is easily adaptable to the most current technology. I’ve written about this as a key to success in the past, and I plan to tackle it in more depth in the coming posts. I hope you’ll come back. In the meantime, if the topic interests you, perhaps you’d like to check out my upcoming seminar in Austin, TX. Thanks for reading!
Attention Management Infographic by Brian Massey
My dear friend and awesome Conversion Scientist, Brian Massey attended my RISE session yesterday, titled, “Time Management is Out. What’s Next?” I watched him taking fast and furious notes, but I had no idea he was creating such a fantastic infographic of my presentation!
Brian’s infographic skills are in high demand so I feel truly blessed that he created this for me, but also that he’s allowing me to share it. Brian’s talents are numerous and he sometimes offers free conversion analyses of websites. I would suggest that you try to get on his schedule. You won’t be sorry. Thank you so much, Brian, for sharing your talent with me!
(For a larger version, click the image, then select “Actions, View all Sizes.”)
What You Can Learn About Life from a Good Receptionist
I spent summers during high school working for temp agencies, often as a receptionist during staff vacations. It was great business experience. It showed me how a busy office operates, taught me proper business etiquette, and forced me to get really good at typing! All valuable skills for my future career.
One thing that a receptionist will learn with some experience is that in terms of priority, customers standing in front of you always come before customers on the phone. If someone has walked into a business, the receptionist should give them his or her immediate attention. If the phone rings, the caller gets placed on hold while the receptionist finishes assisting the customer in front of them.
With everyone practically carrying “the world in their pocket” via their smartphone, sometimes we forget to prioritize the existence of others in our presence, or real-world experiences, over the demands on our attention from calls, emails, text messages, FaceBook and Twitter updates, and check-ins (especially to see who else is there, as if the person we came with is not enough.) Not to mention the pull to look up the answer to the question that’s been bothering us, or to check the weather for tomorrow while we’re thinking of it, or to see how far it is to our next appointment.
All of these things add a new and rich dimension to our lives, and I’m an avid user of most of these fantastic communication tools. However, consider this quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.:
“Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart.”
Those are moments that can only happen when you are present in the life that you are living at that moment, and not the one happening inside the little box in your hand. Personally, I’d hate to miss one of those moments that King describes. I think it serves me to remember what I learned during my years as a receptionist.
Thanks for reading!
Who’s the Boss Article in the New York Times
The New York Times published a recent article that really got my attention, titled: Who’s the Boss, You or Your Gadget? I thought it was going to be full of great advice, perhaps some ideas I wasn’t already teaching my clients.
Unfortunately, the article was full of examples of the ways several people are truly plugged in, but no tips on handling it, no references to studies showing if it’s harmful or helpful, no really useful information at all. Basically it was just a regurgitation of the “technology overload” theme that is now beginning to appear often in the media.
If this is something that you’re struggling with, you may be interested to read a five part post I wrote on exactly how to regain control over your attention. This, to me requires exerting control in three areas specifically, over the information you receive, over your technology, and over your own behaviors. You can read the first part of the series here, and links to the subsequent parts are at the top of each page.
I hope you find it useful, and I’d love to read your comments! Thanks for visiting!
Thinking About an iPhone?
Now that Verizon customers can use an iPhone, should you get one? I get asked all the time for advice about which handheld device to purchase. Frankly, they are becoming more and more alike and much of it now comes down to personal preference. You need to consider that they are more like a handheld computer that makes phone calls, than they are like a cell phone (assuming you are in the market for a smartphone).
I think the three most important questions to ask yourself before a smartphone purchase are:
1. What do I want to use my handheld device for?
2. Which platform (Google, Windows, Mac) do I currently use the most, and do I plan to continue in this direction?
3. How tech savvy am I?
Number 1 is relevant because if you only want to use it to make calls, then any smartphone will be overkill. If you need a device that allows you to access the internet, from which you can sync your calendar and contacts, and perhaps have other conveniences, like driving directions and an mp3 player, then a smartphone is the best choice.
Here’s why number 2 is important to consider: If you are a big fan of Google, and you use Gmail, Google Calendar, Docs, Voice, etc., then an Android phone might be the best fit for you. If you’re a heavy Microsoft user, favoring Live and Sharepoint for collaborating, and running your life via Outlook, then a Windows Mobile device might be your best option.
Having noted both of those things, I must admit to being a huge fan of the iPhone. It’s true that it’s easiest to use iPhone if you are an Apple user anyway, but really the iPhone does integrate pretty well with other platforms.
Number 3 is relevant because for example, if you are mostly a Windows user, there will be a bit of an adjustment, and some “tweaking” necessary to get an iPhone to sync with your Windows applications.
In the event that you do choose an iPhone, you might be interested in two articles I’ve written about my favorite apps, here and here.
If you’re still confused about which device is right for you, I invite you to call or email me. Advice is always free and I would be happy to discuss it with you.
Thanks for reading!