While we’re mostly focused on business development and sponsorship
activities, we thought this week’s lead story, 11
Things Ultra-Productive People Do Differently, might be of interest.
Now, before you go out and try to emulate the 11 traits of hyper-productive
people identified by Dr. Travis Bradberry, co-author of the bestseller Emotional Intelligence 2.0, keep
a few things in mind.
If you’re
really honest with yourself, even doing 5 of 6 of these things on a consistent
basis is a significant achievement. And that’s on top of the fact that most of
you are already among the most productive, highly motivated and driven people
in our society.
So, here are
some modifications to the 11 tips. Hopefully they’ll help you become more
productive and prevent you from beating yourself up when you fall short for short
of the already high bar you set for yourself.
1.They Never Touch Things Twice. Not
bad advice, but we recommend the FAT approach. Don’t let piles accumulate (physically
on your desk or electronically in your inbox). Take 1 of 3 actions: File It,
Action on It, or Throw It Out! Again, you have only three choices.
2.They Get Ready for Tomorrow Before They
Leave the Office. Great advice if you can really shut down an hour
or so before you need to leave for a ballgame, social event client meeting of
child/grandchild’s recital. For most of us, that’s not realistic. Here at HB,
we try to come in half an hour early every day. First order of business--review
your time logs from the previous day and invariably you’ll capture those pesky
items on the to-do list that keep falling into the gray area between urgent and
eventual. By now you know what to do with them.
3. They Eat Frogs. We agree with
Bradberry that tackling the toughest things first thing in the morning is a
great anti-dote to procrastination. But, we don’t believe in sprinting down the
field and tackling your nemesis first thing, without being properly warmed up! That's a surefire way to get injured, if not killed. Same goes for your brain. We have a
variety of mental warm-up exercises we can suggest and I’m sure you have your
own favorites. Please share
your favorites with us. Once warmed up, definitely go out and tackle your
nemesis and eat those frogs!
4. They Fight the Tyranny of the Urgent. We agree with Bradberry that “productive people are willing to ignore
or delegate the things that get in the way of their performance.” We’d like to
see more concrete examples of how to do this. Here are a few things we recommend:
Turn off you email, cell service and instant messaging. Route your phone calls
to voice mail and try putting tasks into certain hours of the day in your
calendar—and leave yourself plenty of cushion between tasks.
5. They Stick to the Schedule During Meetings. Volumes have been written about this. Just make sure you’ve
allotted enough time for EVERYONE at the meeting to speak up. Too often, the
quietest people in the room have the most valuable things to say. They won’t step
up to the plate if the meeting organizer is a time-Nazi who didn’t consider
others when setting up the meeting agenda.
Conclusion
Next week, we’ll weigh in on Tips 6-11 from Bradberry’s hyper-productivity
list.Our blog has more, as does the FREE Resources page of our website.
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