There’s More To It
To be successful requires a lot more than just getting organized. Getting organized won’t in itself solve the bigger issue of having too much to do and not enough time to get it all done. It will however help clear the mind so that you can make the right decisions about what needs to be done next. And bigger yet, it ensures that things actually happen once you’ve decided to do them.
Many task sit, waiting on more data to make the next level of decision, or waiting on others to deliver their delegated pieces. As long as the action steps about getting that data and the “waiting on responses” are clarified, recorded, and tracked, you will be able to make the right choice about what to do next.
Being successful at whatever it is that you do requires a lot more than just getting organized. It’s also about paying attention to the part of yourself that has the wisdom to make the best choice. Sometimes that choice is not to take a physical action at all, but to simply wait and listen.
Have a positively productive week!
What’s the Next Step
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of gettig started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” Mark Twain
Sometimes, just getting started is the hardest part. You might not know where to start or how much time the project is going to take so the unknown keeps you from starting. Basically you procrastinate. The next time you’re starring at a project and you don’t know where to begin, get out a piece of paper and write down every task that needs to be completed to finish the project. Then look at the list of individual tasks and ask yourself ”What’s the next step?” When you finish a task, cross it off, and ask yourself the same question and keep going through this process until all the tasks have been completed and your project is finished.
Take one project you’ve been procrastinating on and ask yourself “what’s the next step?” and have a positively productive week!
Is it worth your time?
Ask yourself these questions to see if it might be worth your time to become more organized.
- Do phone calls/emails go unanswered for more than 24 hours?
- Do you ever feel like you don’t know where to start working on a project?
- Do you have action items on your to-do list that have been there for more than a week?
- Do you easily get distracted by the clutter on your desk?
- If someone had to fill in for you, would they get frustrated because they couldn’t find what they needed?
If you answered “yes” to any of the questions above, disorganization may be negatively affecting your job performance.
Start by opening your calendar and scheduling an hour every day this week to focus on organizing. Take one item from the list above that you answered “yes” to and tackle it. The hours you spend organizing will not be wasted because your improved efficiency will quickly make up for the time spent.
Make it a habit to plan today for tomorrow. Before you leave work for the day, make sure you have a game plan for tomorrow so you can hit the ground running as soon as you arrive at work.
Good luck and have a positively productive day!
Keep It Simple!
What does the race to space in the 1950s and 1960s have in common with improving productivity in your department? In the early days of the U.S. space program, astronauts were apparently concerned because their pens would not write in the zero gravity environment of outer space. NASA, with its wealth of brainpower and resources, snapped into action and attacked the problem. Many staff hours and many dollars later the problem was solved…the first “zero-gravity pen” was developed. At the same time, the Russians, apparently unable to devote either the staff time or the budgets, also solved the problem…they gave their cosmonauts pencils.
This isn’t just a NASA or big-government problem. It happens every single day in all size companies and all size departments. Employees spend hundreds of hours on low-value and low-impact projects, resulting in thousands of dollars of lost revenue.
This story has been repeated many times over the past 50 years. So many times, in fact, that people believe it is true. It is not true. It is what is referred to as an urban myth. Of course, the message imbedded in the story is true. We often forget to look for simple solutions to our problems. And we often believe things are true that are not true.
Don’t overlook the obvious and keep it simple when coming up with solutions to your organizing problems!
Disrupting Current Beliefs
Why is it so difficult to form a new habit? No lasting change in behavior occurs unless you disrupt some of your current beliefs. Think about that!
No, don’t just read on yet…think about how hard it is to disrupt any of your current beliefs. People can be pretty stubborn about their beliefs. Belief implies acceptance. Therefore, if you decide to change anything about your behavior, and you are starting from a position of strong acceptance of the belief that drives the behavior, you must un-accept what you currently believe before you can even get started.
Why in the world would anyone bother to deem something they currently believe unacceptable? Two big reasons: frustration and failure.
Frustration and failure can be used as “candidates-for-beliefs-that-might-need-to-be-disrupted” tracking devices. When you sense frustration or fail at something….STOP AND THINK ABOUT IT CAREFULLY! Try to pinpoint the belief that supported your decision to do whatever you did that derailed your positive feelings and/or success. If you can pinpoint the culprit…disrupt the belief and replace it with a new and improved belief.
Good luck and don’t be afraid to admit there may be a few things you need to change!
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A Short Plan for Career Success
If you want to be successful, focus on two things:
- Getting your boss promoted
- Training your replacement
Think of all the good things – the right things – that will happen as a by-product of executing this strategy. For example, in order to pull this off, you must be a good leader, follower, delegator, mentor, observer, learner, etc. It does not matter if you like your boss or not. Keep your eye on the big picture and long-term results.
This might be a good suggestion to pass down to all your direct reports!
Be Careful What You Wish For
Looking for a totally smooth ride at work? Be careful what you wish for; this may not be the best situation if you want to be happy.
People are usually happiest when their chances of success are about 50/50. Think about it:
- If things at work get too difficult or impossible, excessive anxiety and stress kick in.
- If things at work are too easy, life gets boring.
Embrace reasonable workplace challenges. They provide some of your best opportunities for happiness. When you go outside your comfort zone, it provides a wonderful sense of accomplishment. We can all be reasonably successful when we stay within our comfort zone – the true accomplishment is when you succeed at something that challenges you!
Challenge yourself at least once this week!
What's the Message?
If you spend time talking about how overloaded you are at work, what message are you broadcasting to your boss, clients and co-workers? Beware, it may not be the message you intended!
Some people use the “I’m a busy person” strategy in an attempt to boost their importance in the eyes of others. Unfortunately, to the astute boss, client or co-worker the message received might be:
- ”This person is not promotable because they can’t handle their current responsibilities” or,
- ”This person is too busy to do a quality job of handling my business, I’d better look for someone else” or,
- “This person is insecure about their role and feels the need to make sure others know what they are doing”.
What do astute people likely think when they observe and listen to you? What are you advertising with your words and actions?
Frustrated!
I don’t know what it was about this week, but everywhere I turned, I ran into people who just didn’t do what they said they would. And the excuses, just amazing!
- “My computer was down.” How about making a phone call?
- “Didn’t have the time.” What’s the message this sends?
- “Misplaced my cell phone so I couldn’t call.” No other phone available?
- “Tried calling but you didn’t pick up.” What about leaving a voicemail message?
- “Too busy.” Really? Doing what?
The effort you make sends a huge message to the receiver. Nothing more frustrating than counting on someone to do their part only to find out that they haven’t done it. I know life happens and I understand emergencies, but the excuses I heard all boiled down to this – poor planning and following through.
Do what you say you are going to do and if you can’t, at least be considerate enough to let the person know who is relying on you that you can’t deliver.
Be a person who follows through on their obligations!
