Category Archives:
Make your outcomes visible
‘Are you outcomes-driven or are you inputs-driven?’ – This is a question I often pose during my productivity presentations and workshops. By outcomes-driven, I mean do you let the bigger picture drive how you spend your time? The significant work, the work that makes the most difference over the long term. By inputs-driven, I mean […]
Read MoreScheduling actions – hard or soft?
A common question that we hear when discussing task management in workshops is ‘When should a task be blocked out as an appointment in the calendar’? Blocking out time, or what I call ‘Hard scheduling’ is a great strategy for putting traction into your action, but if overused or misused, it can work against your […]
Read MoreA sense of perspective
At the start of each month I have a recurring priority scheduled in my task list. It reminds me that at some stage in that week, I need to sit down and get some perspective. To take some time out from doing, and spend some time thinking about my top 10 BIG priorities for the […]
Read MoreHow we waste each other’s time
While much of my time is spent helping workers to increase their personal productivity, I also see many issues with how we work together. The truth is that your behaviours affect my productivity, and my behaviours affect your productivity. Teams that do not put strategies in place to manage this will experience a sense of […]
Read MoreDo you conduct or cushion urgency?
In case you haven’t noticed, your team is probably drowning in emails, buried in meetings and struggling to deliver the critical outcomes you and the organisation need from them. Much of the work that comes their way is urgent, and they probably spend much of their week reacting to the latest crises. And while you […]
Read MoreBusy: A story we tell ourselves
Two executives bump into each other in a lift. One asks the other how she is going. She replies “Busy”. It is almost an instinctive answer that we give when asked the question. But we are all busy. I reckon that busy is the story we tell ourselves when we have not prioritised our time […]
Read MoreHow is your productivity fitness?
Professional athletes in sports like rugby, soccer or AFL need a mix of anaerobic fitness and aerobic fitness to excel on the field. Anaerobic fitness is critical to short burst activity, like sprinting or lifting weights. The energy is created by a chemical reaction in the muscle. This is great for a burst of speed, […]
Read MoreThe Holy Trinity of the Inbox
In a recent coaching session with a senior client, I had to give the executive some brutal and honest feedback. He had come to me with a specific problem. My Inbox is overwhelming me, he said. So, we worked on some strategies to get his 8,000 odd emails down to zero. In our second session, […]
Read MoreThe death of email
A few weeks ago, I read a report that Ray Tomlinson, the man credited with the invention of email as we know it, as well as the @ symbol, died at the age of 74. It gave me pause to think about the impact that email has had on our lives and our work. While […]
Read MoreEmail Stereotypes – Which one are you?
Email Stereotypes – Which one are you? I hate to stereotype – except when it provides a learning opportunity! I have recently been struck by the fact that I tend to see people managing their email in just four strikingly different ways. I could not help but label them and dig deeper into the […]
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