Time Management: Managing the Minutes – Getting More Done One Minute at a Time
It all adds up – minute by minute, second by second IF you know how to effectively use what I call “in between time”. It’s the sand and the water that fills in the gaps between the rocks and the pebbles in the famous rock, pebble, sand allegory for time and priority management.
5 Ways to Get More Done One Minute at a Time
#1: On Hold – Waiting for a call to pick up or for a conference call to start is when multitasking makes sense. It’s not enough time to tackle any of your priority tasks, but it’s perfect for getting the little stuff done.
What to do: Scan your email for junk that you can immediately dump, monitor social media feeds and reply to comments, tidy up your desk or brainstorm ideas for an upcoming project.
#2: Transition Time – Give yourself a 15- minute mental recharge break in-between project tasks throughout the day. That’s the perfect time to catch up on short administrative tasks.
What to do: File daily project paperwork, handle quick batch tasks like paying bills or replying to emails or organize your project calendar identifying crunch times or adding in extra time to meetings for research, preparation and follow-up.
#3: Manage Mobile Minutes – Often we find ourselves in waiting rooms….waiting. It’s not enough time to pull out a computer and work, and unless you are a veteran Smartphone stenographer, typing tasks are out.
What to do: If the situation permits, dictate a memo into your Smartphone or return phone calls from your “To call” list. If not, pull out a pen and paper and mindmap a task list for upcoming projects.
#4: Stuck Time – Using stuck time for in-between tasks serves two purposes: #1: It maximizes time that may otherwise be frittered away staring blankly at your screen and #2 Accomplishing something concrete is the best way to kick-start your creativity.
What to do: Anything that guarantees you success because success begets more success and that’s exactly what stuckness needs!
#5: Solo Travel Time – The time spent in planes, trains and automobiles can be some of your most productive time if you use it correctly and look for every opportunity to get stuff done.
What to do: Catch up on business reading, listen to motivational or learning podcasts in those annoying line-ups, and use any “No electronic device allowed” time to write a few personal Thank You cards to VIP clients.
Momentum Monday: Spaaaaahhhh…Why Pampering Yourself DAILY is the Secret to Success
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that if you are tired, suffering from a cold or dealing with screaming back pain, you aren’t at your best. The tired, sick, in pain you just can’t do what needs to be done to get you to where you want to go in your business. Period.
We know that. Of course we know that. Everyone knows THAT. The problem is we aren’t living it on a daily basis.
Often we think of self-care as something we do, like an event – visiting the spa with the girls, enjoying a bit of retail therapy, taking a day off to do nothing but putter – when it really should be thought of an essential part of our daily routines.
Why? Because we are expending creative and physical energy on a daily basis and it’s takes a lot more than a once-a-month trip to the spa to recharge it.
5 Simple Ways to Pamper Yourself Daily
#1: Start off with a little me-time – It doesn’t matter if it’s an extra 5 minutes snuggling your pillow while your husband handles the Get-up routine with the kids, 5 minutes to enjoy that first cup of coffee or 5 minutes of journaling to start your day.
It doesn’t matter what IT is – just give yourself 5 minutes in the morning to enjoy IT.
#2: Take a morning coffee break – We are all guilty of foregoing the traditional corporate morning coffee break to tackle other duties, like throwing in a load of laundry or tidy up the playroom. What we forget is WHY we looked forward to that morning gab session: we need downtime.
It doesn’t have to be a coffee break, but it does have to be a break. Jump on the treadmill, stretch, grab a snack. Do whatever you need to do to support you!
#3: Eat lunch – Okay all you crazed work-aholics: consider yourself busted! Join the kids for a bite to eat or if it’s just you, grab a magazine and sit down (not at your desk) for a quick lunch break.
Eating a healthy lunch will not only fuel your creativity for remainder of the day, it helps you avoid the afternoon energy crash that leads to binging on junk food.
#4: Set up a virtual coffee date – Remember how you complained about working at home being isolating? Connect with a twitter friend, each grab a latte and chat – like people who don’t work all the time do!
Instead of sitting at your desk (and most likely multitasking), find a favorite chair or view and enjoy the conversation.
#5: Do a nightly relaxation routine – Treat yourself to a little something special every night. A soak in a hot bubble bath with your favorite book, a pamper-yourself-silly home-spa treatment or quiet time to meditate.
Yes, the dishes need doing and the mudroom is a complete disaster. That stuff can wait until you give yourself 30 minutes to unwind, and recharge after what I know has been a busy day!
What Happens when the Idea Machine Breaks Down? 3 Ways to Jump-Start your Creative Problem-Solving
Think you’re not in the creative business? Think again – you solve problems. Period. Problems for your clients, problems within your business, problem that crop up from day-to-day – and problems require creativity.
What happens when you get stuck? Befuddled in your search for an answer? No matter how hard you look for an answer, you just can’t see it. Even if the answer is right in front of your face.
So what do you do when the magical, mystical idea machine breaks down?
3 Ways to Jump-Start your Creative Problem-Solving
#1: Take a Step Back – Ever driven yourself completely mad trying to push a solution when all you had to do was pull? Think trying to open a door by pushing when the sign clearly says: Pull.
Take a deep breath. Stopping pushing. Look for the signs and decide what to do next. Slowing down, or even better stopping, to gain perspective on a creative problem takes the pressure off and helps you settle your frustrations.
Back to our example – that door is NEVER going to open no matter how hard you push. It takes you finding a different way to approach the problem to clearly see the solution.
#2: Talk it Out – Creative people tend to spend a lot of time inside their own heads – thinking and creating which is perfect when your creative energy is flowing.
But when the creative energy isn’t flowing, it becomes a source of frustration and no matter how much you turn the problem over in your mind, you just can’t see it. You need help gaining perspective.
Pick up the telephone or make a coffee date with a trusted friend or colleague and go over the problem with them. Sometimes even the exercise of explaining it makes the answer obvious.
#3: Chart all Possible Solutions – Sit down and write out all possible solutions to the problem, even the most crazy ones. No editing, just get it all down. The idea is to solve the problem of idea underload with idea overload.
Start with a simple list or draw out a chart. The purpose is to get it down on paper so you can involve more of your senses. If you are really stuck, start by simply drawing out the problem.
Now take the random ideas and start making connections, and creating what I call “Second Tier” ideas – the ideas that form from the combination of two other ideas. The solution will start to evolve from the seemingly random ideas and interconnections.
Remember, getting stuck happens. What’s important is not avoiding or fearing being stuck, but having a step-by-step process to get unstuck. Because when the idea machine does break down, you sometimes need to use a mechanical process to get it up and running and before in the creative flow!
Momentum Momentum: Zen and the Art of Saying No
It’s the Yin and the Yang of decision-making. For every “Yes” you say to some random request, there is a corresponding “No” to a potential future opportunity that you can’t take advantage of because of overload. And for every “No”, there’s a corresponding future “Yes” in the form of space for the universe to fill in with opportunity.
So when you say “Yes” to something that you know isn’t the right fit or that you don’t really want to do, what are you saying “No” to? Is it even possible to know what opportunities you fail to see while gazing in the wrong direction?
Saying “Yes” to the wrong things doesn’t just cost you your time and probably a bit of your patience, it costs you what you are truly seeking. Maybe the person who has the power to bestow that opportunity sees how busy you are with that other project and chooses not to bother you. Perhaps it’s as simple as a missed email that you catch a day too late.
How to Practice Zen and the Art of Saying NO!
#1: If it isn’t an immediate YES, say “No!” – Ever begrudgingly take on a project only to have it turn into an absolute disaster for everyone involved, especially you? Never take on a maybe project because we both know maybe is just a polite way of trying say no. Just say no and be done with it.
#2: Ask your Inner Zen Master – Where does your Inner Zen Master live within your body? Your heart? Your gut? Your toes? Ask your Inner Zen Master for the answer and pay attention to your physical response. If your stomach flops or your toes turn cold, perhaps it’s a sign that you should say no.
#3: Establish your Criteria for a “Yes” – What does a “Yes” look like in a perfect world? Create your ‘blueprint’ for the ideal scenario for a “Yes” and use that to gauge and filter opportunities. How many boxes will you tolerate left unchecked before it’s a “No”?
#4: BE the YES – Don’t just be a quiet “Yes”, but a “Hell yes!” or a “Woo-HOO yes”. Jump into your YES opportunities headfirst and embrace them, celebrate them and give them everything you’ve got!
#5: Repel the NO – The best way to avoid having to say “No” to the stuff you don’t want is to make it very clear what you don’t want – to prevent the “No” opportunities from even coming up. Perhaps you post a sign on your virtual door that says, “Boring people need not apply” or whatever else you are trying to repel.
How do you practice your Zen techniques of saying “No”? Share your tips on the comments below!
Momentum Monday: New Year’s Resolution Check In – So How’s That Resolution Thing Working Out for You?
So it’s 31 days into 2011 and what have you accomplished with your clean slate, fresh start, brand new year, or whatever you call it so far? How are your New Year’s resolutions going? Are you sticking with them or have you fallen off the fresh start wagon?
While it’s great to have an annual reason to correct course or rethink your daily habits, New Year’s isn’t the only time of year to make a change for the better. Because really when you think about it, a new year doesn’t clean the slate. Writing a different date on your checks doesn’t miraculously erase your past mistakes.
New Year’s is just one day out of 365 days of possibly – any of which are suitable to make a change, and put all the stuff you wish you could erase behind you. Because when you get right down to it, a date doesn’t change you. Only action can change you and lucky for us, action doesn’t have a window of opportunity.
Resolve to Make Daily Resolutions
Instead of making annual resolutions, try making daily ones. Everlasting change isn’t a one-day decision, but a series of daily decisions that step you closer to being the person you want to be 365 days a year.
If you yell at your kid on Monday, your Tuesday resolution may be to practice patience. Tuesday if you succeed in keeping your cool all day, your Wednesday resolution may be to be present in the moment. Thursday you may want to enjoy the simple pleasures and Friday may be the day to set clearer work boundaries.
The purpose is not only to make change in slow and gradual steps, but to raise your awareness of change – to become change-minded. Think of it this way: if you only consider making a change once a year, how much focus are you really giving it? A day? Perhaps a month until the novelty of resolutions wears out?
Daily change requires us to be constantly vigilant about who we want to be and how we want to live because we are resolving to make those changes every single day. We are thinking about how to be better from one day to the next.
So I ask you this: WHO do you want to be tomorrow?
Setting Boundaries – 5 Ways to Enforce your Business Boundaries
Are your clients driving you crazy with last minute requests? Do you find yourself saying, “Yes” to projects that you really don’t have the time or energy to take on? Are you tired of work demands taking over your personal time?
It’s about time to get tough with your boundaries…
Boundaries. You know, the invisible line you draw in the sand between what you will and won’t do? The problem isn’t just your boundaries – chances are you know exactly the rules you want to play by. Your lack of boundaries is merely a symptom of a different problem: confidence.
The trouble is you lack the confidence to enforce the rules. Instead of standing firm when people get pushy, you bend the rules because you are secretly afraid that if you enforce them, your clients will say no and refuse to work with you (or even worse, not like you).
There’s a difference between polite and pushover…
Don’t tell me that you are just being nice and “doing them a favor this one last time” because we both know it’s always the same people who are asking again and again. There is a huge difference between polite and pushover (and polite ended about four ridiculous requests ago).
Polite is the quiet confidence to smile and say exactly what you want to say, and make the rules of engagement clear. Pushover is when you bend the rules to the point of breaking them – all in the name of ‘customer service’. That’s why boundaries require confidence.
The confidence to politely to let the people around you know that they need to respect the rules. The confidence to decide what is or isn’t a priority starting at 5 o’clock on a Friday. The confidence to enforce the rules without feeling the need to apologize or even explain.
5 Ways to Enforce your Business Boundaries
#1: Last-minute Requests – Sometimes your clients may call on you for last-minute help, which in a service business isn’t a problem. The trouble is when last minute become the norm and you can’t manage your project load because you are constantly rushing for the chronic offenders who just can’t seem to get it together.
The boundary fix: “Just so you know, we normally charge an additional rush fee. I’ll let it go this time, but now you know for next time.” and show the rush charge on their invoice with the amount canceled out.
#2: Managing Client Roster – Sometimes it seems scary to put a new client on hold until you have time in your schedule to take on their project, but it’s critical from a quality (and sanity) control perspective.
The boundary fix: “My client roster is full for the next , but I’d be more than happy to meet with you to discuss your project and get you in our calendar.”
#3: Scope Creep – More often than not as you get into a project, you discover more ways you can help your client. A little extra here, a little bit there and before you know it, you are doing double the work.
The boundary fix: Know when to put on the brakes when it comes to doing extra work. “That is beyond the original scope of work and will require additional fees. I will send over an estimate of the additional amount required to complete those tasks.”
#4: Rules of Engagement – It’s ENTIRELY up to you how you want to work with your clients.
The boundary fix: “Before getting started, we require a signed proposal and a deposit.” and nothing (and I mean NOTHING) gets done until that step is complete.
#5: After Hours Work Calls – Just because your clients work late at night, on the weekends or what seems like 24/7, doesn’t mean you need to. Be clear with what hours you are available to take business calls and respond to email.
The boundary fix: Actions speak louder than words so if you happen to be up at 4 o’clock to catch up on work, save your replies to client emails as a draft and send during your office hours.
Suffering from Overload Overwhelm? How to Stop Being Your Own Worst Enemy and Get Stuff Done
Do you have a case of to-do-itis? A build-up of to-do’s caused by the chronic tendency to pile an unachievable amount of tasks into unrealistic timeframe.
To-do means a list of tasks you intend TO do. To meaning action, activity, forward momentum. It’s not a Maybe-do list or a Possibly-do list or a Gee-Golly-I-Wish-do list. So why are you creating a laundry list of tasks that you can’t possibly accomplish in a day or a week or even a month?
Want to know what overloading and over scheduling does to your motivation?
If you have ever started a day by starring blankly at a seemingly insurmountable task list, you know the damaging effects overload overwhelm. It only takes a small shift in how you manage your daily tasks to avoid getting stuck in overload overwhelm.
Imagine a day where you start by looking at an impossibly long list and end by reviewing that same list with only one or two tasks checked off. Now imagine a day where you end having accomplished everything you set out to do, ready to step into the next with power and momentum. That’s the difference between overloading and managing your task list.
How to Stop Being Your Own Worst Enemy and Get Stuff Done
Limit Daily To-do’s – Put a maximum of 2 to 3 must-do tasks on your list per day and commit to getting them done. If you finish your daily to-do’s, then move onto your next block of project tasks, but never EVER leave any of your daily to-do’s undone.
Separate ‘Laundry List’ Tasks – Manage the laundry list of tasks that require less than 15 minutes to complete on a separate list and either tackle them in between major tasks or batch them into a single work block.
Include a Time Estimate – Assign a time estimate to every item on your task list, including your laundry list, so you can quickly at-a-glance assess your task load for the day before you agree to any last-minute meetings or conference calls.
Use Task Work Blocks – Schedule your daily tasks in your calendar in work blocks, starting with the most challenging task on your list. Using work blocks means you won’t overschedule your day with meetings and calls and neglect your priority projects.
Hold Space in your Calendar – Leave empty space in your calendar for unexpected opportunities that require immediate action that way opportunities don’t come at the cost of your priority projects.
Need a weekly momentum boost? Tune in every Monday for a new installment of Momentum Monday!
Suffering from a Lack of Motivation? How to Light your Hair on Fire to Boost Self Motivation
Self motivation. It’s the difference between the stuff that gets done and the to-do’s that linger on your list, in your inbox, in the back of your mind. Self motivation is the sheer will to get it done NOW that translates into action.
Often our day-to-day tasks come with their own deadline so creating the momentum and the self motivation to get them done is easy. But what about the important, but not urgent tasks that get left behind in favor of the day-to-day deadlines and emergencies?
How do you find the self motivation to get them done? That’s when you need to light your hair on fire (figuratively speaking, of course) and build in the self motivation and accountability to get them done!
How to Light Your Hair on Fire to Boost your Self Motivation
Self Motivation Tip #1: Set Internal Deadlines
Instead of setting yourself up as the workflow bottleneck, requiring everything be checked and approved by you, turn delegation into deadlines. Tell your team, “Draft it up and send it to me for my review and if I have any changes, I will get back to you by such and such date. If you don’t hear anything, assume it’s okay and send it out as-is.”
It does two key things: 1) It requires that your team presents you with drafts they feel are worthy of sending out without your approval and 2) It gives you a concrete deadline if you absolutely, positively must have your say. Chances are if you will either get better at trusting your team or find ways to review things faster.
Self Motivation Tip #2: Create Time-Limited Work Blocks
Tasks tend to expand to the space they are given and when time pressure is causing you to put off important tasks, create time-limited work blocks to tackle them.
The logic is you are way more likely to find (and stick to) a shorter work block because it doesn’t feel like you are taking too much time away from your day-to-day activities and because you limited the time, it forces you to work faster and more efficiently.
Self Motivation Tip #3: Get Clear on the Payoff
If it’s something that really needs to get done and the only thing holding you back is the daily distraction, get clear in your mind why it needs to be done.
Ask yourself: What is the payoff for doing it now instead of later? For example, it may be a must-do documentation project that will allow you to hand off more tasks to team members saving you time in the future (and forever more).
Self Motivation Tip #4: Match your Motivation Levels
Work on priority projects when your motivation levels are at their highest. Typically people start their day feeling the most motivated and ready for focus.
So start your day with priority tasks before interruptions and emergencies derail you and you lose your self motivation as the day goes on. The same is true if you are a night owl. Start your night work routine with priority projects before tackling less important tasks.
Self Motivation Tip #5: Power Up and Plow Through
When all else fails and you simply can’t muster the self-motivation to get you going on a priority project, it’s time to do what I call a “Power up and Plow Through” session.
Grab your caffeinated beverage of choice, switch on the power music and rock out, and then unplug EVERYTHING until it’s done. No telephone, no email, no social media.
What is your best self motivation tip? We’d love to hear from you. Please share your best self motivation tips in the comments below!
Momentum Monday: New Year’s Resolutions – How to Make Them Stick
What’s the difference between a wish and a goal? Commitment.
New Year’s resolutions are the perfect time to stop wishing for change and resolve to do something about it. Why not? Everyone else is talking about their resolutions. Why not jot down a few good ideas for the New Year?
The only problem with making resolutions ‘just because’ is that your chances of actually sticking to them are pretty low. So instead of talking about what types of resolutions you should make in 2011, we’re going to focus on how to make them stick!
How to Make your New Year’s Resolutions Stick
#1: Set SMART goals – SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Sensitive! Write down your goal(s) on a piece of paper and spell out the letters to SMART in a column and answer each of the questions.
For example, if your goal is to grow your business, then specific is How much?, measurable is What is your criteria?, and time-sensitive means attaching a deadline. Achievable and realistic look at if doubling your sales in 6 weeks is doable.
#2: Commit to the ‘Why’ – Knowing you need to do something often isn’t enough to motivate yourself to doing it (and sticking to it). Place visual reminders of your why to remind yourself why you are doing what you are doing.
Take quitting a bad habit, for example. Chances are you have heard a lot of facts and figures on why it is bad for you, and why other people want you to quit, but until you commit to your own ‘Why’, it won’t stick.
#3: Give yourself every chance for success – Don’t just set the intention and hope that it happens! Take action and actively do things to help improve your chances of success!
Say, for example, your goal is to lose weight by eating healthier and exercising more, then a success plan would be to purge your cupboard of temptations and prepare the night before by setting out running shoes and scheduling a time in your calendar to workout.
#4: Celebrate the small leaps forward – Let’s face it – goals kind of suck. If goals were so much dang fun, you wouldn’t need to read all this stuff about how to set them and stick to them.
No one has to set goals about eating more chocolate or having more fun. Goals and resolutions tend to tackle stuff we find a little more challenging – quitting something, motivating ourselves to do something so you need to reward yourself for a job well done.
#5: Find an accountability partner – None of this Mrs. Nice Accountability Partner business either. Find someone who is willing to kick your ass a bit (or a lot).
If you are seriously committed to achieving your goals for 2011, this is where you partner up, join a support group or hire a coach to hold your feet to the fire.
Now go make 2011 your most rewarding, extraordinary year yet!
Decluttering Your Home Office – Simple Ways to Maintain a Clutter-Free Creative Zone in your Home Office
Is your home office cluttered? Is it clogging your creativity? Perhaps then it’s time to ditch the distractions and declutter your home office (once and for all).
If you have read any of my rants on busywork, you know I am not a fan of tidying your home office for the sake of tidying your home office because it doesn’t move you toward your goal and tends to fall into the category of ‘Fake Work’ (aka the stuff you do when you are in denial about being afraid to do what actually needs to be done).
There is one exception to the rule regarding tidying your home office: when clutter starts to clog your creativity and interfere with your day-to-day productivity AND (this is important) you find yourself with a lull in your calendar, such as the holiday season or between major projects.
That’s when it’s the perfect time to tackle the clutter and create clutter prevention systems to maintain your clutter-free creative zone.
Simple Ways to Maintain a Clutter-Free Creative Zone (aka your Home Office)
Home Office Decluttering Tip #1: Manage Paper Flow
Clear your desk of all paper. That means no mail, no bills, no business cards, no client projects, no notes, nothing. Not only does random paperwork clog your creativity, it makes it extremely difficult to find things when you need them with a random desk pile system.
Now designate a home for each and every type of paperwork: bill to be paid, client projects, notes and ideas, business cards to be data entered. Every single piece of paper needs a home and a specified time your calendar when you are going to pay attention to it.
Home Office Decluttering Tip #2: Clear your Visual Space
What do you see when you sit in your office and look around? Is it inspirational objects or clutter that is talking to you, telling you to tidying up or handle this or that? Clear your visual space of any and all clutter, including filing and containment systems.
Avoid the temptation to allow clutter to build up in your desk hot spots by occupying them with creative placeholders. Find a beautiful vase to repel the mail clutter on the corner of your desk or place family pictures on your corkboard to avoid tacking bills and other to-do’s there.
Home Office Decluttering Tip #3: Tackle your Inbox Daily
Set a timer for 15 minutes and empty your inbox. A quick way to get through a cluttered inbox is to sort into four categories: Trash for garbage or recycling, To-do for things you can tackle right then, File for client or project related paperwork and Follow-up for anything that requires action. That means what is left on your desk is an empty bin ready and a schedule for tackling all your Follow-up tasks.
Now make it a daily habit to spend 5 to 10 minutes at the END of the day and do the exact same thing – process all inbox paperwork into Trash, To-do, File and Follow-up.
Now repeat after me: now that my home office is decluttered, I promise to maintain a clutter-free creative zone and never use tidying my office as an excuse for getting stuff done!
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