Archive for Productivity
Creating and Guarding Your Environment
Posted by: | CommentsToo many times in the past I’ve let my environment spiral out of control.
Too many times in the past I’ve failed to create and guard a good environment once it’s established.
I noticed these concepts this week after making a few quick adjustments to our home. We made the home office more of an office and the upstairs extra bedroom a full fledged study.
The office has every thing one needs to conduct business. I can keep records, concentrate on work, print, file and do everything else I need to do in running a business. However, it didn’t help me rise early and devote a few hours to working on me each morning. I like to get up and do a little writing, studying, motivational reading, bible study and prayer each morning. The home office is in the basement with dim lighting and no natural light since there is only one small window. It works great if I’m making a call, working on a customer’s project, doing my accounting or preparing a proposal.
Of course some of these are all things I can do from a coffee shop with wireless. The basement home office didn’t work so well as a study. I never wanted to walk two flights of stairs in the morning. I wake like a bear who’s been in hibernation. I would find myself going to a different room daily or sleeping later than I wished. The problem? I had not created a good environment so I could trick myself into going there long enough to form a habit.
Since we had an extra room (however you could do this in separate corners of a one room-which is what I’d rather have anyway) we turned it into a study. It’s quite simple. There is a desk with nothing in it or on it except a lamp. There are two book shelves. The first holds books that I’ve read or use for reference. The second shelf holds books I’m reading or studying currently. There is good lighting and some natural light from the vaulted window. There are some inspirational pictures and awards on the wall and a simple little white board to record my thoughts early in the morning or late at night. That’s when I have some of the best ideas. Oh yeah and there’s a comfortable office chair.
Now I’m motivated to rise early again. I can walk right down the hall with no distractions. I can kick off the day the way I like.
- Is everything in your environment serving it’s purpose?
- Is everything in your home or office being utilized efficiently?
- If not then get rid of it or put it into practical use.
- Create a good environment- I think it’s easier and more effective than making yourself do something you’re not inclined to do.
Organizing for Less Stress
Posted by: | CommentsRecently, I was presented with the opportunity to conduct a workshop on organization (one of my passions obviously) at Lowe Chiropractic and Wellness. I had a few weeks to prepare for the topic “Organizing for Less Stress”. The topic made me rethink why I promote organization and productivity.
Why get organized? I came up with 4 big reasons.
- Free Your Mind for Creativity
- Free Your Calendar for Opportunities
- Free Your Life for the Important
- Free Your Home for the Essential
Second Question- How to get organized?
I broke it down into 3 areas which you can start working on today.
This is a simplistic cliff notes version, but it may be just enough to get you to act and not enough to overwhelm you into inaction.
Your Physical Space
Physical clutter leads to Mental clutter so use the Sort, Purge, Assign, Containerize, Assess system to rid your home, office, business and life of clutter.
Once you have removed the debris and cloudiness from your life, put things back in their home when you’re finished using them. If you fail here, you’ll be back at the previous step far too often. These two steps will renew your focus like you would not believe.
The label maker is your friend. Don’t rely on your memory. Label things to make them easier to locate.
When creating habits centered around your new found organization, do not lie to yourself and break commitments with yourself continually. When you break your word to yourself you’re putting yet another obstacle between you and a changed habit.
Getting Things Done
Learn how to master ubiquitous capture made famous by David Allen’s GTD book and training. Instead of letting thoughts, ideas, tasks, notes and projects fester in your mind, or even worse losing some of them; capture these thoughts in a system- preferably the GTD system. Get those open loops out of your head. They are holding you in bondage anyway.
Implement the someday/maybe tickler system. For example:
- Someday/Maybe books to read
- Someday/Maybe trips to take
- Someday/Maybe advertising options
- Someday/Maybe events to attend
Don’t let these someday/maybes hog the space that belongs to your next most important actions or your key project lists and plans. Keep them in their own little system and review then as part of your weekly review.Use physical file folder, use Backpack or use a simple text file; the tool doesn’t matter as much as the system itself.
Use the inbox zero philospophy taught here.
Do the aforementioned weekly review. Take 2-4 hours each week and scan every placeholder or collection bucket in your system. Follow David Allen’s flowchart in his book. You’ll have to buy it or visit his website to see if it’s referenced there.
Productivity Techniques
Pareto Principle- apply the 80/20 rule liberally to your life, home and business. It’s a great liberator.
Batching-let those routine tasks with high startup times accumulate and do them at a set time.
Parkinson’s Law-a task or project will contract or expand based on the amount of time you allow for it. Put this to work for you by planning time and projects tightly.
Elimination- say no and get rid of more stuff.
Outsourcing- find ways to delegate some of what you do to others for less per hour. Virtual assistants and outsourcing services come to mind.
Routine-makes somethings part of a daily, weekly or monthly routine. Similar to batching yet different. The credits here go to the 4 hour workweek.
My Current Daily Routine
Posted by: | CommentsMorning
- Wake up at 5 AM- I formed this habit by focusing on it for 30 days in January. Ask me how!
- Usually I post to Twitter- just a trigger for my early wake up ( I try not to check email, but it’s tough).
- 5:15 AM- I break open God’s word- usually I focus on reading assignments from my discipleship class.
- 5:45 AM- I read another book (currently I’m finishing Tony Dungy’s 1st book and a church history book).
- 6:00 AM- I take a shower and get dressed (two days a week I shave my big bald head).
- 6:30 AM- I have a quick meeting with a man about a mule and have my calls held. I also stretch for 20 min.
- I usually turn off the radio and enjoy some quiet prayer time and listening time on the way to Java Brewing Co.
- 7:15 AM- I have old fashioned oatmeal with raisins, water, vibe-and I start into the dark roast no/c-no/s.
- I typically read another quick devotional or pamphlet or a snip of the paper while I eat.
- 7:30 AM- I start through my daily GTD review session. This is a scaled down version of the weekly review.
- 8:30 AM- People start rolling into the coffee shop and I usually begin to write or do marketing for an hour.
- 9:30 AM- I pack it up and head home or to clients or to another favorite cafe. Tasks vary widely at this point.
Afternoon
- I eat a light lunch- either left overs from our dinner the night before, hummus and pita bread or soup/salad.
- Sometimes after lunch my wife and I debrief about the kids, scheduling, company tasks or her resale business.
Evening
- 6:00 PM- Dinner with the family nearly every night- it’s rare that I miss this.
- 6:30 PM- The whole family hangs out and then cleans up after dinner. Daddy is the pickup organizing guy.
- 7:30 PM- Bath time for kiddos and then story, family prayer time and bedtime at 8:15 PM.
- 8:15 – 11:00 PM- Ashley and I spend time together, or we work. Usually I write, develop word press sites, manage online marketing efforts for customers or do creative projects like videos. On the weekends we watch movies, play games or do hobbies. I only plan on doing this nightly work routine until I don’t have to any longer.
I would love to know what works for you. If you would like, you can fill out this Google form. If your daily routine is interesting or amazingly productive or unique; I’ll publish it. Of course I reserve the right not to. I would love to see what other people do for a daily routine. You never know how a little tip or idea here or there can benefit someone else.
