You’re busy.  I’m busy.  We are all So. Very. Busy!

Sometimes we get so caught up in the activity of being busy that we don’t pause to look at whether that activity is serving our business well.  You know this already.  I know this already.  But that knowledge doesn’t completely prevent us from getting sucked in every now and then.

I was recently reminded of this by my neighbor, who fell victim.  Here’s the story:

Someone once asked me, “You’re a professional organizer, what’s the most common issue you see with your clients?”

That’s an easy one: not having a plan for their day.

It’s not only the most common issue, it’s also our biggest issue.

What I mean by this is, too often, we walk into our office, open up email first thing in the morning, and let whatever fun surprises are in the inbox direct our day. We may know of one or two things we need to accomplish, but  often we are too casual with our time and those things get set aside. Without even realizing it, we become reactive, dealing with problems as they arise each day, and failing to prioritize more important (yet quieter)objectives.

I’m not a naturally disciplined person, but I’ve learned the importance of walking into my work day with a purpose - my mission to accomplish x, y and z.   And I always knock out at least one of those top priorities, before doing anything else that day, including checking my email.  While it’s not a natural habit (neither was flossing, but I finally adopted that habit, too!), the results it brings me are well worth the effort.  My clients echo this opinion.

If we don’t decide how we want to use our time, someone else will decide for us. Would you let someone else make decisions on how to spend your money? Of course not! Same goes for your precious time: it’s hugely valuable, yet irreplaceable, so you must have a plan for how you’re going to spend it. If we aren’t consciously choosing how to use our time, it will disappear wastefully, leaving us wondering at the end of our day, week, year, or life – where did it all go?!

If you face this challenge, it’s easily fixed: select your top 3 priorities for completion (or progress) each day, and ensure that at least one of them gets the required attention at the start of your workday, before you do anything else – including email. Especially email.  Did I mention email?

Good luck, and please share your results with me!

I’ve been procrastinating.  Big time.

I’m so close to completing the editing of a video product I’m about to launch.   The exciting thing is that releasing this product into the marketplace will enable me to better leverage my time, since the product can share my expertise with entrepreneurs I normally cannot reach due to geography and time limitations.  And because I’m committed to keeping the price significantly lower than my in-person consulting rates, I see it as a win-win for me and my clients.

But I digress…..

For the past week, I knew all I needed to do was review the lesson audios and cut out certain spots where I babbled on too long or didn’t quite make my point clear enough – and then plug in a few new audio clips.

Simple enough, right? Nope!

Here’s the bottom line: I can’t stand doing tedious little detail-work like that! (Which is probably why I put it off until the night before I committed to delivery!) 

There’s just something about doing this type of work that just makes me antsy. After 15 minutes of poking around in the editing program, I went to my contact database and started searching for people who I could hire to do this!

Yep, that was pretty much my reaction to this portion of the project….hire someone.

I instantly felt guilty and heard the voice going, “Jennifer, you’re being ridiculous- just do it yourself, it won’t kill you!”

I should be able to spend just one quick hour doing some work on my laptop, for a project that I’m passionate about, right?

Again, the answer is no!

I quickly called my mentor, concerned that the activities I excel at, along with my strengths, seem to lie in a narrow little niche, and that I really need to expand that channel in order to achieve greater success.

First she disagreed.  Then she gave powerful advice.

She said, “Jen, it’s not that you can’t do the work, it’s that you are fully aware of what it costs you to do it.”

That made me realize that what I was calling “being lazy and stupid” was actually my keen awareness of the fact that we all have our own unique abilities, and that when we focus specifically in those strengths, powerful results occur.

And when we operate outside of those unique abilities we can quickly become drained and de-motivated.

Maybe I can handle the drain and de-motivation, but why put up with that?  A quick fifty bucks to someone within my network bought an hour of his time and completed the editing in 25% of the time it would have taken me to do it on my own.  Do the math - I definitely came out ahead!

My point? To best leverage your time and energy, find an alternate solution for those activities that drain and frustrate you.  Forcing yourself to muddle through them is a waste of your time & energy and cost you income-generating opportunities!

Are you always racing to the finish line?

I recently worked with the owner of a PR firm who was extremely overwhelmed. After our initial consult, she recognized that her biggest obstacle was the way she spends her time. She reported that she had been consistently working weekends, but she knew she wouldn’t have to do that if she could just use her time more efficiently.

This client discovered that though she had a lot on her plate,  it was not the typical case of having more to do than time to do it.

When asked what kind of change she was seeking, her reply was “I don’t want to always be racing to the finish line.” 

It’s very common to survive your workday, day in and out, squeezing things in at the last minute, without a master plan for the day – or the weeks.  But just because it’s common, doesn’t mean that it’s actually a recommended approach. 

Try this: invest ten minutes at the start of your day to identify 3 top priorities to accomplish.  This small investment will save you hours later on.  I’ve seen this one habit make such a difference in entrepreneurs’ lives!  This is an excellent way to keep better control of your day and duties, without feeling like it’s all getting crammed in at the last minute.

Adopt this habit for just one week and I predict you’ll no longer have to race for the finish line every time!

After nearly two months of one-handed typing, I was ready to get this blasted cast off my arm and return to my normal levels of productivity.

Little did I know how intense the cast-removal-process would be!

Thanks to everyone who sent me well-wishes and requested that I record today’s adventure.  Enjoy!

I’m so pleased that all went well today. Have you ever experienced something like this?

A few years ago I registered for a personal development seminar and was surprised when I was contacted in advance of the seminar, asking what I was hoping to get out of the experience.

Unprepared for the inquiry, I shot out a few basic ideas, off the cuff: enhanced communication skills, increased confidence in front of groups, etc.

“Perhaps increased productivity?” the rep asked. 

Ahem.

“No,” I replied. ”I’m pretty sure I’ve got that one covered. Not much room for improvement there.”

“I see,” she said, with what I (much) later interpreted as a smile in her voice.

What I – unexpectedly – discovered in that seminar was that getting more done just for the sake of getting more done was pointless.  What will you do with the time you gain by increasing your productivity?  You must make it matter – that’s what really counts.

Today I came across a post on Dumb Little Man with a similar theme.  In fact, he expresses it better than I can, so I’ll let him.  Check out Kit Cooper’s post on Emotional Intelligence and do something worthwhile with your increased productivity!

As many of you know, I’ve been impeded for the past six weeks by a 10 pound cast on my left arm!

I was reflecting on the lessons I’ve learned from this maddening enriching experience, and recorded this 3 minute video for you:



So, are you up for my challenge of spending a day typing with just one hand? Believe me, that would definitely get you to ask for help!

You’re likely already aware that your employees impact client satisfaction.

Have you heard of the “Spillover Effect” which explains the connection between employee engagement and customer engagement?

Today I read a fantastic post on positive employee engagement.  Here is an excerpt: 

For the mantra of “happy employees equals happy customers” to be real, companies should seek to foster emotionally engaged employees, because it will be these employees whose experience will “spill over” to help create emotionally engaged customers.

The post gives some great detail.  My all-time favorite resource about the concept of engagement is “The Power of Full Engagement” by Tony Schwartz & Jim Loehr.  But….if you already have a pile of books awaiting your attention and would prefer listening to an audio about engagement for entrepreneurs, I recommend this powerful interview with Tony Schwartz.

Do you have certain practices to help engage your employees?  If so, I’d love to hear about them!

It’s only been a couple weeks since I began using Twitter, the micro-blogging tool that is my latest addiction. And perhaps yours, too!

After a few days of following the fascinating activities and opinions of online marketing greats like Guy Kawasaki, Tim Ferriss, and Gary Vaynerchuk, I began to fear that Twitter would negatively impact my entrepreneurial productivity.

Fortunately, this helpful article by Elliott Kosmicki introduced me to some tools tools within the Twitter environment that will help enhance my productivity – and perhaps yours, too. Thanks, Elliott!

You probably don’t realize that sometimes you hinder your own productivity.  It’s OK to admit – we all do it.  And usually without even realizing what we’re doing.

Sometimes when there is an important, ugly, or scary project looming,  we get stuck.  And because we don’t know where to begin on that scary project, we’ll create an excuse – which we then fully believe!  I mean, we accept that excuse: hook, line & sinker!  As a professional who values the “trusted advisor” role I serve with my clients, it is usually fairly easy for me to identify when this happens and to diplomatically help a client see it for himself.

Here’s a recent example:

While working with a client yesterday, it became clear to me that there was a barrier to her progress on one of her top goals.  In her mind, this barrier was sizable.  And she was thoroughly convinced that it was responsible for significantly impeding progress in a certain area of her business for over three weeks.

The barrier?  Her desk. 

She was in the process of setting up a new home office and she wasn’t confident about what kind of desk she needed.  As a result, she was using the dining room table for working, filing, and piling.  Due to their unappealing appearance, her file cabinets were inaccessibly hidden in an upstairs closet.  She felt very unsettled and was stressed about the impact this setup was having on her business and her family. 

Because I deal with such a variety of clients, it was easy for me to quickly identify that this was a self-created barrier, and an easily removable one.  With just three questions about her work preferences and how often she accesses certain materials, we were able to quickly create a list of requirements to help her narrow her purchase options.  What was overwhelming her a few minutes prior was now very do-able.  Success!

You don’t need an expert to guide you through being stuck – sometimes a friend can be an objective observer and get you into action.  If you have neither handy, there’s a fantastic tool called The Strategy Circle, created by Dan Sullivan of The Strategic Coach.  If you live a digital existence, you’d like this tool in its software form, but it’s just as powerful when done on paper.  Here’s a photo:

Strategy Circle

The philosophy behind the Strategy Circle is that “all those things that oppose our goals are actually the raw material for achieving them.”  Instead of brainstorming solutions to a problem, you instead list the obstacles.  And it’s usually pretty easy to come up with a list of what’s in your way, isn’t it?  For each obstacle, you then develop a strategy, and the resulting strategies lead to creating your result.  This is a very simple too.  (Remember, “simple” does not always equal “easy”!)

Before you comment that you don’t have the time to use such a tool, consider that just 3 super-focused minutes on a problem that you truly want to solve can generate some great solutions.  Or at least get you un-stuck and into action!

Do you have any suggestions for getting un-stuck when you’re impeding your own productivity?  I’d love to hear them!