Posts Tagged ‘productivity’

Sometimes productivity hints strike when you least expect them.

I was listening to a sermon today in which the preacher recounted one of the other parishoners talking about he remembered to do things.  The parishoner in question said that when he needed to do something, he wrote a note down on a piece of paper, folded it up, and put it in his left pocket with his change.  That way whenever he went to pay for something, he would have to first pull out the notes before getting to his money.  The sheer annoyance would of having to pull out those pieces of paper would mean that sooner rather than later, the gentleman in question would do whatever needed to be done.

I looked at this as a validation of the PAR System.  Instead of notes in my left pocket (which isn’t a bad idea except that I tend to pay for everything with a check card), I use my to do list which I recopy every morning.  This keeps what I need to do always top of mind and the sheer annoyance of not accomplishing things…well…it keeps me motivated.

So, how do you keep notes in your left pocket?

Another issue that arose on Sparkplugging’s topic list was when to stop working for the day, a problem that face many who work in a home office.

At first, this may seem like a strange question.  There are days when, if asked, I definitely believe work should be stopped at 8:15…and I don’t start working until 9.  However, there is the small matter of clients and clients are important because they pay.  Paying is important because it means money…  So sadly, I have to put in a solid 8-12 hour day rather than the -45 minute day I of which dream.

Also, I find that once I am in the groove, it’s hard to stop.  There is always one more thing I can do.  Herein lies the beauty and the curse of the PAR System: I have a list.  I know what needs to be done.  So if I am done with priorities 1,2, and 3… I know priorities 4,5,6,7,etc. They’re right there in my list.

Which presents two unique challenges.  Either I am motiviated to get a lot done, but need to stop in order to Reward myself for accomplishing my goals, let my batteries recharge, and spend a little time with the family or I am completely unmotivated and need to get work done so I can afford to give myself a Reward, let my batteries recharge, and feed my family.

This is where I let the PAR System be my guide.  I have my task list and each task has a priority next to it.  My goal in an average day is to finish my top priorities (this is usually priorities 1-3)  Once I am done with that, I know I can stop.  If I need the extra time to recharge, I can kick back and relax knowing that I have done what I needed to for that day.   I also know that if I am feeling motivated, that I can stop guilt free anytime after my highest priority items are accomplished.  Then I just ride the wave of motivation I am ready to stop.

Of course, this is not an absolute answer.  But it works pretty well most days.

When do you stop?  You do stop, right?  You’re not burning yourself out, are you?

So as you can see I’ve been a bit lax on posting here recently.

And there’s a good reason for that…I’ve been busy.  Really busy.

Now, I know that seems like an odd statement for someone writing a productivity blog.  Don’t I have the PAR System to help me manage things?  Sure.  Aren’t I trying to advocate higher levels of productivity?  Of course.

Frankly, I’ve looked at the last three months as research.

First, in the past three months, my planner was stolen so I went to using a spiral notebook, just like I advocate in my guidebook.  So now I can say I officially eat my own dog food.

Secondly, in that time, I also accomplished the following:

1. Established a vegan blog
2. Wrote a book
3. Edited another book
4. Created a large web app for a client
5. Released at least 7 episodes of my two podcasts
6. Put together the media blitz for both the game I wrote and the game I edited
7. Gained a new SEO client
8. Wrote 7 articles

So you get the picture. 

What fell by the way side are this blog, Blog Well Done, and my personal exercise regimine.  (I am not happy about that last part.)  Fortunately, family obligations were largely met.  I have a tendency to ignore the fam when I get busy.  This is not a Good Thing.

Anyway, what the past three months have proven to me is that productivity is a choice.  Over the past three months, I did what was important to me.  I did not do what was truly not important to me.  (I am still chapped that my personal health turned out to be unimportant.)

But it also showed me why prioritization is so important in the PAR System.  For most of my life, I have planned what I am going to do for the day.  I never just made lists.  I thought about the tasks on the list and figured out the order in which I was going to do them. Now I understand why.  I was doing what was important and taking note so that I would not forget what was not.

Of course, there is a lingering issue that I need to deal with personally…getting my judgement of what is important inline with what I want to be important.  That’s another post.

A TRIP TO THE BOOKSTORE

I was walking through the bookstore tonight when I ran across this: The Really Inconvenient Truths: Seven Environmental Catastrophes Liberals Don’t Want You to Know About–Because They Helped Cause Them (Hardcover)

Now, I am not going to muddy The PAR System with politics.  I have other places for that.  Still, I was struck by the masterwork in the title.  It was taking a political issue that liberals have traditionally championed and that has recently become front of mind for many Americans and tries to derail the debate.  Instead of dealing with the issue, it points fingers.  It politicizes and stratifies the issue along party lines.

And you know what is going to suffer?  The environment.  There’s no way to affect positive change while bickering.

WORKPLACE PARALLELS

Unfortunately, I see too many parrallels in the modern workplace.  How many coworkers have you had whose reaction to a crisis is:

1. Spend 30 minutes finding who to blame.
2. Spend 10 minutes ensuring EVERYONE knows it’s not their fault (or 30 minutes when it just might be.)
3. Spend 2 minutes trying to fix the problem.
4. Spend 30 more minutes ensuring everyone knows it’s not their fault.
5. Call a meeting to “discuss the problem”
6. Go to lunch
7. Spend 2 minutes trying to fix the problem
8. Send out an email, CCing the President, Vice President, and Board of Directors about just how much it’s not their fault.

And so on…

What’s worse, how many managers have you seen ask the question: “Who screwed up this time?” or “Whose fault is this?” the minute they catch wind there is a problem?

IT DOESN’T MATTER

I cannot stress this enough.  Until the problem has been resolved, knowing who caused it, or worse looking for a scapegoat is irrelevant.  Companies that want to have excellent customer service, be a people-first organization, have empowered employees, or just generally run a good business should shelve the finger pointing until well after the problem is fixed.

Then look at mistakes as (get ready to groan) a teachable moment.  Good managers foster trust by honestly and openly reviewing mistakes and getting their people to understand why things went wrong and how to avoid them in the future.  However, this is a two way street.  Recipients of such teaching should be open to honest coaching IF it is given in an environment of respect.

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY?

Good question.

1. If your first reaction to a problem is to point fingers, you are not being productive.  Check the ego at the door and get the problem resolved.  That is being productive.  In a healthy organization, you garner more respect for fixing your mistakes than for avoid taking responsibility.
2. If you work for an organization that is more interested in finger pointing than fixing the problem, you are not in a healthy organization and you are not going to be at your most productive since you’ll be too busy looking over your shoulder.  Thinking about finding a place at work that truly empowers you to be productive.

If you want to know more about being productive, download the FREE PAR System Guidebook today!

I was turned on to this idea as a first post for my new blog after checking out this link.  The always professional team at Sparkplugging has provided a list of questions on readers’ minds and has given the community as a whole an opportunity to come together and share knowledge.

I really wanted to participate when I saw this question:

* How to manage your time better while working in a home office?

This is a topic that is very near and dear to my heart for two reasons:

1. I love spending time with my son
2. I love spending time I should be working with my son

I could also tack on a third reason
3. The Food Network’s programming is best during the day

And I should tack on my wife, the dogs, the Internet, etc., etc.

Many office workers yearn for the freedom and openness of working at home, but not everyone realizes how much of a minefield the home office can be.  At least not until they

• Start off their morning will a full to do list
• Stop to watch one interesting segment on the television
• …Look up to see that it is already noon.

Yes, we have all been there.  To be fair, those who work at an office may still find that they goof around the office only to notice a few hours have gone by, but in an office setting, this seems more permissible somehow.  I think it may be that some many of us who work from our homes, at least some of the time, are our own bosses and unfortunately hours spent learning to make truffles from Ina Garten are not billable.

So how does one stay productive in a home office?  Frankly, I am partial to the PAR System, of course, I developed it.  But even without having developed it, there are underlying principles to the system that make it highly applicable to the home office worker struggling to keep focus.

The PAR System teaches you to:

Plan Your Day.  Start the morning off by sitting down and rewriting your to do list and then ranking the most important items.  This provides a clarity of purpose for the day and makes it easier to focus on the task at hand (work.)

Act on Your Plan.  Once your daily priorities are clear, it becomes a lot easier to ignore distractions.  If I know that I have to have an article due in two days, it becomes a lot less important to see what’s on TV.  When a major client deliverable is looming around the corner and I have four milestones left, that gives me that bit of discipline to remind my wife that I do still work from home.  (Though the key there is that I always make sure the plan includes time to spend with her and my son.)

Reward Yourself.  Life can’t be 100% about the to do list.  Down that road is early gray hair and ulcers.  This is why the PAR System stresses that as goals are met, rewards are received.  As the top prioritized items are checked off the to do list, schedule some time to watch a few minutes of TV or go run with dogs.  Why not, you’ve earned it?

There’s no shame in denying that doing non-work related activities like those time killers mentioned above are way more fun than writing, programming, creating spreadsheets, or whatever you do with your home business.  That is why it is important to reward yourself with them. 

However, the key is moderation.  No binge rewarding!  Do not spend two hours in the park to reward yourself for fifteen minutes of labor or else you’re right back where you started.

The other key, though, is consistency.  It is much easier to accept only stopping work for 15 minutes if you know that once you clear the next thing off your to do list you’ll have another 15 minutes.

To summarize:
• Know what you have to do today
• Know what is important to do today and what can wait
• Do what is important in order of importance
• Give into your hedonistic side in small doses as critical items are completed
• Then you’ll be productive

And if you want to more about the PAR System, download the special Guidebook at www.theparsystem.com/guidebook