Monday, October 19, 2009
Your Magnum Opus
Monday, September 21, 2009
Learn to Discern
- What are my top 3 priorities this week? Today?
- How much time is required (ball park) to give them my best?
- How can my professional reading time be best used today, and how much time, exactly, am I giving to that?
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Authenticity
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Listen--Can You Hear It?
Thursday, August 6, 2009
To Get Better Solutions, Ask Better Questions
The ideas and solutions we generate depend largely on the inner dialogue that we have with ourselves and more specifically, the questions we ask and answer.
Most of us have an inner conversation rolling along all day every day in those moments when we aren’t engaging with others. The quality and nature of the questions we ask determines the ideas and solutions we are able to see.
Here is an example: David, a product design engineer, has been working on a widget for three months and learns this morning that there is a major defect resulting from faulty test equipment. If the question he asks is, “What are they going to think of me in tomorrow’s design review?” he will head down a thought path quite different than if he asked a more positive question like, “What’s the fastest and best way to get accurate test results now?” or “Who might have the equipment required to re-test?”
When we learn to ask better questions—the ones pointed toward solutions and possibilities, we get better results faster. Here are a few examples of open-ended questions that lead to positive exploration:
- How can this situation be a win for everyone involved?
- What possibilities might exist that I haven’t thought of yet?
- What possibilities might exist that I haven’t thought of yet?
- If we looked at this from the perspective that the challenge was resolved successfully, and went step-by-step backwards, what would have happened right before it was resolved, and before that, etc.?
By asking these kinds of questions, we give ourselves access to fresh perspectives and often create breakthrough ideas.
Monday, July 27, 2009
To-Do Lists and Not-To-Do Lists
- Limit projects on To-Do lists to the top five, and preferably keep it on paper. Why? Because psychologically, five is a manageable number and 67 isn't. If you are working on the top 5 priorities for the day, and you get each one complete, you can always add five more, but you'll get a bigger dose of the achievement high we all crave by focusing in on the most important items and making headway on those. If we keep it on a calendar page or index card, there is a satisfaction in crossing it off that is missing with a computer, plus it simply is too easy to keep adding to an electronic list until it becomes distorted beyond reality and we stop taking it seriously. There are so many items on that list that we simply begin to ignore them--we are overloaded.
- Make a list of things not to do--those distractions that often take you off course and eat up precious chunks of time. E-mails, calls, drop bys, Pottery Barn catalogs. We get to decide which ones move us toward our goals and which ones slow us down.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Keeping Up With Who You Have Become
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Getting Things Done: What I Learned from David Allen
- Only do one thing at a time and give it your full commitment and attention. Multi-tasking is a myth--we can only do well and give our attention to one thing at a time. That's why laws were passed to keep our attention on driving rather than operating a cell phone and navigating a car.
- Know that the one thing you are doing is the thing you most need and want to do now.
- Make time to step back and see the broader view from a reflective perspective. Allow time for creativity to flow. Think creatively. If you are always in response mode and don't have creative think time, new ideas have no place of entry and you stagnate.
- Take the best of other people's ideas mixed with your own trial and error to develop your own system for managing projects and getting things done. Tweak until it works consistently, then let the system support you so that you trust your system and use it well. It becomes automatic. This may take two weeks to two years, depending on your level of commitment and use.
- Ask, "What's not on cruise control?What's not clear?" Then get everything you can on cruise control (automatic) so that you clear the decks for renewal, relaxation and creativity. An easy way is to notice what has your attention.
- Create a way for rapid refocus after interruptions. For example, jot a keyword down to remind you where you left off before answering the telephone.
- Learn to understand when things are complete. For instance, he gave up a two-year hobby of growing bonsai when it became clear that the cost (in terms of distraction, time) became greater than the benefit. Learn to let go of what is no longer beneficial.
- Don't get hooked into The Busy Trap: feeling the need to appear busy rather than working on what really matters (like wading through email instead of thinking through a possible solution while staring out the window). Don't worry about how things look. When you are handling what really matters, keeping your agreements, and consistently producing results people don't really care how you do it, except to share your secrets of success with them.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
What To Do When Stuck in Overwhelm
- Stop. Breathe. Focus on the solution, and let go of the blame.
- Decide how much time you can reasonably devote to cleanup right now. You'll be surprised at how much can be accomplished in a mere ten minutes, when that is all you are doing. Put your phone on voice mail. Close your office door, if you have one.
- Choose one area to work on, like your desk surface, for example. Focus there specifically for the allotted time. If your desk is piled so high that ten minutes (or whatever amount you are devoting) doesn't make much difference, choose a 2-foot area of your desk to break it down into a manageable section.
- You'll be tempted to keep going, but unless you can afford to shift priorities for a longer period, simply schedule another session for the afternoon, or the next available slot in your calendar. Keep this commitment as sacred. One small section at a time, you will make visible progress. Keep at it. The relief will be palpable and free your mind for other pursuits.
- Once you have the mess cleared away (or the hairy project complete), schedule regular maintenance time to keep it organized. Some find 15 minutes at the end of a day works. Others like to schedule an hour once a week. Find your best method and then make it a habit, putting it in your calendar until it becomes a routine part of your day that you don't have to think about.