Within hands reach
A friend of mine who was a chef by trade once shared with me how he was designing his new kitchen at home. He had a small but trendy apartment and did not have a lot of space to play with, so he had to think long and hard about every detail. One thing that […]
Read MoreDon’t forget to set a reminder
A very common question in our training that comes up when we cover task management is ‘Should I set a reminder for a task?’ My answer is generally no. Reminders work well for calendar appointments, but are unnecessary for tasks and priorities if you manage your task list well. This is a hard concept for […]
Read MoreMake sure you don’t stink
In a recent coaching session with a senior client, we had an interesting conversation about hygiene. You see, he admitted to me that he had fallen off the weekly planning routine he’d built up with his EA. Before Christmas they had regularly put time aside each week to plan the week ahead. But over the […]
Read MoreA better question
Summer – the beach, cricket and of course barbeques. At barbeques, people always ask what they should be doing to be more productive. It goes with the territory, and with the beer! But I reckon a better question is not what you should be doing to be more productive, but what you should be doing […]
Read MoreThe difference between disciplined and committed
When it comes to changing behaviours, developing new habits or adopting a new system, many people feel that they need to be incredibly disciplined. In fact, many of my training participants make this observation during training. “Gee” they will say. “You must need to be so disciplined to get your Inbox to zero regularly, or […]
Read MoreCutting the grass – a priority decision
I was a bit under the weather last weekend, but was determined to get the grass cut after two weeks of neglect. The challenge was I felt I had enough energy to cut the front lawn, or the back lawn, but not both. The front is public-facing, and on show to the whole neighbourhood. The […]
Read MoreMake the next month count with actions that have an impact
As I come towards the end of another month, I think about the month ahead and wonder what it will bring. I know I will be busy. I already have lots of work booked into my schedule. I know that my phone will ring, my inbox will overflow and my head will think of lots […]
Read MoreBe like a rock
I had the great honour recently in spending a weekend at Uluru in central Australia. I finally got to see the rock that was such an icon of Australia when I was a boy growing up in Dublin. When I first arrived in Australia as a backpacker, we considered diverting to Uluru as we drove […]
Read MoreWhat to do first? An evolved perspective
I came into work this morning to a ‘discretionary’ morning. No meetings until 3pm. It is a Friday during school holidays so it will probably be relatively quiet and interruption free. A blank canvas to get stuff done. So, I have lots of things to do, but three things stand out in my mind. I […]
Read MoreEmail brevity – make it easy for the reader
Keep this in mind the next time you write an email. Your reader is usually busy, distracted, bored, on the run, or overwhelmed. Or all of the above. If you want to get cut-through in a world where 100+ messages a day is normal, you need to stand out by writing brief and concise communications […]
Read More