You are what you eat.  We all know this truism.

But how about: You are what you do.

One could say that your todo list is your “menu of life.”  It determines what you do and thus what you become.

The Todo List as a Menu

One of the biggest issues people have in being productive is that they do not know what they should be doing.

Those who jump on whatever task happens to come their way, often find at the end of the day that they did not accomplish what they intended. They may get the urgent done, but not the important.

Part of the issue is they don’t have a good list of their tasks.  One technique is to look at your todo list as a “menu” of what you should be doing throughout the day.

Lists can be a powerful aid in the struggle to keep track of what to do.  Some people love lists.  Others hate them.

Either way, lists are powerful.  They help us in many ways:

• Driving accountability – Whether a project plan, technical procedure, or just a simple todo list, lists help ensure that all things are completed.
• Ensuring things are not overlooked – When doing complex tasks, lists ensure that steps are not forgotten or skipped.
• Allowing you to concentrate on the task at hand – Lists allow you to concentrate on your work instead of trying to remembering all of the other things you need to do.
• Enabling repeatability – Lists can help us perform repeat tasks with little or no effort.  A travel packlist is a great example of this.  If you have one, you can pack quickly and not forget items.  If you do not, you probably find yourself wondering why you don’t have toothpaste while on your business trip.

Of course, just having a list is not enough to make sure you are doing what you should be.  It is what is on the list that’s important.

What’s on your Menu? (more…)

Today is Friday.  That means “No Meeting Friday.”

No Meeting Friday started as a way to reclaim productivity in the workplace.  Let’s dedicate one day a week to do nothing but hard creative work that requires our time.  Let’s get done the things that are more important than sitting in a meeting room.

Some companies have declared “No Email Friday” and that is a good start.  However, “No Meeting Friday” is more powerful.  We can deal with email on our own time.  Meetings are destructive to our schedules and productivity.

But, how do you get to “No Meeting Friday?”  Especially, if your company is not sponsoring it?  Well, for starters you need to “Block Your Time.”  You need to reserve the time for yourself.   For those who work in an Outlook-driven workplace, you can put an all-day placeholder on Friday.

You will be surprised how well that works.  While it can be awkward to decline someone in person, there is a weird cultural phenomenon that people accept when a calendar tells them no.  For a time, a simple calendar block will work magic.  Eventually, you will get asked, “Are you available on Friday, your calendar looks booked?”

The key is… now you get to decide, in advance, if the proposed meeting is a priority over your Friday work.

But, now you need to go beyond Blocking Your Time… you must practice the “Right to Decline!”

The Right To Decline

What is the “Right to Decline?”  It was mentioned previously in the “5 Best Ways to Defend Your Time.”

Basically, it is about having the right to allocate your own time.  You need to have the power to say no to others when appropriate.  No to meetings.  No to new obligations.  No to interruptions.

Does you workplace allow you this right?

It may not.  Some workplaces are a study in inefficiency and expect workers to jump at anything that comes their way.  Is this your company?

However, there is a movement for individual rights and workplace productivity over structure.  (Check out what some companies are doing with a ROWE environment.  All meetings are optional and people get to determine the best use of their time.)

A Declaration! (more…)

Newsflash: Procrastination is contagious.

Well, maybe it is not a newsflash.  I think we all know that you become like those that you hang out with.

(Remember when your parents were concerned about you hanging out with a certain crowd in school?  Makes sense, doesn’t it?)

It has been shown time and again that people adapt their habits and behavior to fall in line with others around them.  It really doesn’t matter why: whether it is science, social, or just a need to fit in.  This can be applied to exercise, health, eating, beliefs,  habits, …and yes, productivity.

So, it is for this reason that you need to be aware that procrastination is contagious.

In fact, it is a sickness that can destroy individuals and companies.  Are you in danger of catching procrastination from those around you?  Or did you already?

Good Influences or Bad?

Are the people you hang out with a good influence on your productivity?  Do they build you up with good habits and efficiency?  Or do they drag you down with slackness and procrastination?

Here are some things to consider.  Do the people you associate with:

• Consistently show up late to meetings?
• Do they miss appointments?
• Are they always rushing?
• Do they finish things at the last minute?
• Do they fail to meet deadlines?
• Do they procrastinate?

If so, you could be following the same behaviors.  Have any of these become acceptable or the norm in your life?

Is Your Company Sick? (more…)

Is Your Time Free For the Taking?

We live in scary times.  It has become expected, even acceptable, for people to steal your time.  Couple this with the fact that many workplaces are very disorganized and inefficient and you may find that your time is under a constant state of attack.

Are you a doormat when it comes to allowing people to take your time?  Do people walk all over it?  Is your calendar an open invitation for others to waste your time?

Somewhere along the line, we allowed people to do whatever they wanted with our time.  When this happens, their inefficiency becomes our inefficiency.  Their wasted time becomes our wasted time.

You must defend your time.

The 5 Best Ways to Defend Your Time

1 – Block Your Time

I am a big believer that if you do not protect your calendar, that others will abuse it.  Here is a quick exercise for you: Open your calendar.  Do you have any appointments with yourself this week?  (And I mean actually written down on the calendar).

If not, you are leaving yourself wide open for others to “take” your time.  You need to “Block Your Time.”  Your calendar should look like some weird Tetris board with lots of blocks of time already reserved for your tasks/activities.

If your workplace uses Outlook, you will find that people will have no qualms about throwing meetings all over your calendar.  Meetings that often have little purpose.

So, when it comes to your calendar, a good offense is a good defense. (more…)

I bet you can tell me, right now, who is going to be late to your next meeting.

Is it you?

We all know who will be late to our next meeting.  Why?  Not because we are fortune tellers, but because it is always the same individuals.

• Do you have a reputation for being late?
• Does your lateness impact your personal and professional relationships?
• Do you have friends that you know not to wait for?
• Do you have colleagues that you always have to restart meetings for?

Why are the same people always late?

Late is Acceptable

Why do we tolerate this in our society?  It has become acceptable or at least passable.  After all, everyone is so busy, right?

Do you work in a company where everyone is habitually late?  What does this say about your company and its culture?

I recently observed a group of business persons at an airport waiting to board their flight.  They start joking about which colleague would be the last to arrive for the plane.  It turned into a betting game, but the team quickly found out that they all had selected the same person to be late for the trip.

It suddenly wasn’t a fun game since they all had the same answer.  So, instead they started betting on whether this individual was going to miss the plane and by how much.

Is this you?

How Lateness Impacts Your Life (more…)