There was a huge positive response to last week’s tweets about no meetings on Fridays.  So, I thought it was appropriate for us to officially designate Fridays as “No Meeting Fridays.”

Many people have been saying that they are booked for so many meetings that they cannot get their work done.  Have you ever finished a work day and thought, “Wow, I was in meetings all day… I did not have one minute to do my work.”

If you let them, the “Outlook Outlaws” will take all of your time.  They will schedule unneccesary meetings all over your calendar.  They will steal your valuable time.

And let’s face it… most of these meetings are not worth the time committed…

• They have no agenda – What are we even meeting about?
• People are late – Very productive when you start 20 minutes late.
• Are poorly run – Deteriorate into a 25 minutes discussion of hockey or last night’s TV shows.
• Run over their time limit
• Accomplish little – After your last meeting were there any decisions or actions to be taken? Or just another meeting scheduled?
• People doing other things – What happens when meetings are poorly run & people are stuck in them all day?  People resort to doing their work during meetings!

So, let’s take back one day of the week for productivity!

The idea here is to protect an entire day for productivity.  Let’s spend Friday getting things done. Projects. Reports. Creative work. One-on-one coaching. Things that require time and are important.

So, how do you protect your Friday?

Start simple.  Block it out.  If you want to protect your time, you need to “Block it out.” If you do not schedule yourself for time to do work… you will quickly find that you do not have any.

“But, my employer will not allow me to do work all day on Friday.”  (How silly does that statement sound?)

Go ahead, block out all Friday.  Feels good, doesn’t it?

I did this last week. Now, a week later, I am happy to see my Friday schedule. I have only one 0.5 hour meeting this morning at 9AM.  After 930AM, I have the rest of the day scheduled to work on my projects.

If you block your Friday, you will observe a few things:

• Most people will avoid scheduling on Friday.
• A few will not – these are the people who would have double/triple booked your calendar anyway, or they have something important – these are the people you want to meet with anyway.
• Friday will quickly become your most productive day of the week.  What a great feeling to finish the work week!

So, what are you waiting for?  Go ahead and mark next Friday! And let’s get productive.

Once upon a time people rushed to answer phones.  For those old enough to remember, you had to get to the phone.

At one point we did not have answering machines.  We did not have even have CallerID.

So, if you didn’t get to the phone…you did not even know who called.

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Today is different.  We carry our phones in our pockets.  We take them everywhere.  (Even to the bathroom).

We have CallerId and visual voicemail.  We know who is calling, who called, and what they wanted.

Yet… most people continue to let the phone rule their life instead of using it as a productivity tool.

Too often you see people answering their phones in a meeting.  During a conversation.  And yes, even in the movie theatre and in the bathroom!

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Why do we do this?

It is a huge time waster.  And it destroys prodcutivty.

My recommendation to improve your time management and productivity is simple…

Stop Answering the Phone!

Experiment: Do not answer your phone for a week.  Yes.  You are going to intentionally miss calls.  If you have visual voicemail or a service that emails your VM’s, you will quickly know what you missed.  You will be surprised how many calls were unnecessary or resolve themselves.  Or better yet, can be addressed later on your timetable.

Just because Johnny wants to know what restaurant you want to eat at next week on the business trip, does not mean he needs to interupt you in the middle of a report you are constructing.

Tips for when you need to answer:

• Answer  with name of person of the person calling (they should already be in your address book and thus on CallerId)

This lets them know immediately that you know who you are talking to and avoids the “Hi.  Hi, it’s John.  Hi. How are you? Good.  Did I catch you at a good time?”

• Ask them immediately “What can I do for you?”

Best answer: “Hi John. What can I do for you?”

This can be a bit pointed, but it cuts right to the chase.  You will find that people will very quickly let you know why they are calling.  You can then respond by letting them know what you can do or that this immediate moment is not a good time.

With a little self-control, the phone can be a productivity tool, not a time thief.  It is there for your convenience.  Remember that next time you are tempted to answer it while in the middle of something.

You will probably even make the person you are with feel important since you did not take the call while speaking with them.

What are your best phone productivty tips?  Please share in the comments.

On your last trip, what did you forget to pack?
You would be amazed what people will forget:

• Socks
• Cell phone charger
• Workout shoes
• Maybe even their brain! (Some people have admitted to this…)

Traveling can be stressful enough, but when you are disorganized and worrying about packing it only adds to your Life Friction.

The Power of a Travel Packlist
Whether it is for business or personal, it always seems to be a complicated evolution to gather the items for you trip. The best way to make the process easier and less stressful, is to make it repeatable.

A travel packlist is just that, a simple list of all the things you need to bring. By having a list, you can use it each and every time that you need to pack whether for a business trip or vacation.

(If you think you do not need or are above having a packlist, please go back to the first paragraph to see what you forgot…)

How to Make Your Packlist & Where to Keep it

It is easy to write your list by starting with some simple categories. You will also find that this grouping helps when packing. Here are the sections of my packlist:

• Clothes – All clothing items both business and casual
• Toiletries – all toiletries down to and including Tylenol
• Gym – All the stuff needed to workout whether shoes or gym clothes
• Other – miscellaneous stuff ranging from business cards to my travel wallet
• Gear – In this age of technology, this section ranges from noise-cancelling headphones to my cell phone charger

Again, these are my categories. Choose your own and personalize your list.

The best way to maintain this list is in a spreadsheet. That way you know exactly where it is (filed on your computer) and can simply print a fresh copy each time you need to pack.

Evolves Over Time
You will find that your packlist evolves and becomes even more powerful over time. When you travel, you will discover things that are not on the list. Either you had not considered them or your needs have changed. Make sure you are updating your list to add things you want to remember next time.

You will even find that you will delete things off the list as they become obsolete. For example, I no longer pack an iPod, because all my music is on my phone.

Better Travel

WIth your travel packlist, you will find that you pack in less time, with less stress, and with fewer forgotten items.

It may even prevent you from buying another cell phone charger on that next business trip.  :)

Best wishes on your future travels!

Where is your Todo List?

And more importantly, when was the last time you looked at it?

The idea of a todo list is to capture the things you need to do, so that you can get them off your mind, and you can continue the business at hand. However, all that is worthless if you never look at the list again.

Are you one of those people who finds lists that you made days or weeks later?

One list and one list only, please.

Lets start with the basics.  You should have one list.

People fall into the trap of capturing their todos in too many places.  An inbox, their email, their phone, an online web app. The problem here is too many places to look in order to know what you should be doing.

Todos belong in one place and one place only… on your one todo list.

Again, the medium is not important. I don’t care if you use pad of paper, a sticky note, a web application, an iPhone… whatever… but pick one. It is about putting all your todos in one place.

Now that we have one list, it is time to act on it.

You have to keep your todo list visible.

Your todo list should be with you and visible at all times.

The issue with Dayplanner and technology based todos lists is that they are very easy to be out of sight, and out of mind.  If your todos are on a website, how often are you able to look at them?  If your dayplanner is closed or not with you, how can you review your tasks?  When I used a dayplanner, I would stick my todo list on the front cover of the binder.  That way it was visible even when the dayplanner was shut.

Visibility leads to action.

When your todo list is readily reviewed, it leads to increased prodcutivity and getting your priorities done.

Try keeping your one todo list visible at all times.

What other tips do you have for keeping your todo list visible?