Michele Woodward

Powerful Coaching. Powerful Results.

productivity

Nothing Slips Through The Cracks

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I should start paying my clients. Steve The CEO, for instance, deserves a very nice fruit basket from me because he’s the one who turned me on to a planner I actually use. And because I use it (and it’s designed so well), my usually productive self has become a super productive self.

Steve mentioned Michael Hyatt’s Full Focus Planner a couple of times in our coaching sessions. I’ll admit it, I was slightly jaded because I’ve heard so much about so many “productivity tools” which often cost a lot and end up sitting somewhere, unused and gathering dust.

One more mention from Steve, though, and I broke down. I ordered a copy from Amazon.com (when I realized I could save on shipping because: Prime). It sat around a few days after it arrived because I didn’t want to seem too eager. And it was a little daunting, what with all that empty space to fill.

It’s designed to help you manage your stuff on a quarter-by-quarter basis, so you’ll need four books for the entire year. I started with one quarter and now have my second book – clearly it’s working for me.

The genius in this planner is simple – make goals, keep goals top of mind, regularly review progress toward goals, revise goals, keep them top of mind, review, revise, keep going.

There’s a place at the front of the book to make annual goals with the ever-so-important focus on the real motivations for choosing those particular goals. Consistently breaking those big goals down into manageable and actionable steps is another helpful discipline.

The meat of the thing is a daily agenda highlighting my three most important tasks – the Daily Big 3 – and a daily agenda down the side of the page, which helps me see when I wake up and what my morning ritual looks like. The Daily Big 3 make it possible to feel as though I’m making progress because they are things I can check off when completed.

And there is nothing so satisfying as checking something off, am I right?

Each week, the book is formatted to help you take a look at your progress, what worked, what didn’t, what’s coming at you next week and then to set priorities based on all of that.

I’ve used the notes side of the page to work through budgets, and accounts receivable, and ideas for new coaching approaches. I have been known to doodle there, too.

Do I fill in every single thing box on every single page? No, I do not. I have adapted to my own way of being. Plus, I have a tiny rebellious streak which you may or may not be aware of.

And the result? In the three months I’ve been using this planner nothing has slipped through the cracks. Not one thing. I’ve been more productive than ever and I have more free time than ever, too.

I am amazed.

You know I’m the person who created The Personal Planning Tool and the new 10-Year Tool, so I know all about planning.

All I can tell you is that Michael Hyatt and his team have created something really special here and it’s become integral to the way I’m organizing myself.

Thanks, Steve. Your lovely thank you gift will be in the mail shortly.

In Praise of Sleep

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Bright Bedroom Decorated With White Flowers

Someone once asked me to define “extreme luxury.”  My  answer came quick and certain:

Going to sleep when you’re tired and waking up without an alarm. Now, that’s true luxury.

Having lived a life full of late nights and missed planes and small children and smaller dogs and international conference calls, I have maintained a tricky relationship with sleep.

Oh, sure, I learned how to dip into a twenty minute nap while on campaign planes. And I learned to sleep when the baby slept, even though there was work to be done.

I also learned that there is always work to be done.

Studies have shown that prioritizing sleep is the right way to go, because chronic sleep deprivation yields an enormous impact on the body and mind. Prolonged sleep deprivation, in fact, has the eerily similar effect of knocking back a few cocktails – your speech slurs, you get all wobbly and your reflexes are shot to hell.

Just no paper parasol as a souvenir.

Yet, somehow “getting by” on just a few hours of sleep has become a red badge of courage. As if only the weak need sleep. That if you’re really and truly Type A and worthy of victoriously standing astride the globe as a conqueror, you don’t need any stinkin’ sleep.

Only slackers need sleep.

Some folks point to the productive genius Thomas Edison who famously slept less than four hours a night and demanded the same relentless endurance from those who worked for him.

The last full measure of devotion when you’re doing something important, it seems, becomes sacrificing sleep in favor of productivity.

Which, naturally, makes the most extreme luxury that which flies in the face of such group think.

Such as sleeping when you’re tired and waking up when you’re good and ready.

I achieve this feat about once a month – often enough for me to realize it’s possible yet rare enough to feel like a true luxury.

That’s why it’s the perfect extravagance. Costs me nothing. Comes with no designer labels nor inscrutable instruction manuals.

Sleep is, I have realized, the gift I give myself as a reminder that my well-being matters. A lot.

And I feel like a million dollars after getting enough sleep. It never fails that the next day I feel fully equipped to take on the day and master it.

Those are the days when my motto is “Bring. It. On.”

So, if you’ve bought into the collective thought that those who sleep are lazy, unmotivated, loafing slackers, I invite you to try some extreme luxury – get some sleep.

For one night, put your alarm clock away. Keep your phone in the kitchen.

When you’re tired, go to bed.

And sleep until you wake up.

It’s a luxury that will utterly change your life.

 

Busy But Not Productive

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One thing that absolutely drives me nutty is busyness. Busy, busy, busy – say it fast enough and you buzz like a bee. Which is, apparently, quite a good thing, as we often say, “Busy as a bee.”

And maybe we get a buzz from all that busyness. When we’re busy, we belong to the collective hive of others who are busy, too. Buzz, buzz, buzz, we’re all in motion together.

Let me ask you this: are you busy for the sake of being busy, or are you actually doing something?

What do you have to show for all of your flitting around?

Anything?

At all?

First bees and now athletes – I’m going metaphor-crazy. But hang with me, will you?

I’ve been watching the Olympics this week and have been struck by the efficiency of the athletes. I have watched skiers, eyes closed, visualizing the run they are about to take. Virtually practicing, they move their bodies as if they are edging through the gates at ninety miles an hour.

And I’ve watched figure skaters who put their hand here, their hip there, their toe spike down precisely at this point in a jump. That’s the only way they can land the quadruple toe loop.

But probably the most efficient athletes I’ve watched have been the ski jumpers. They launch, they move right into position, they fly.

All of these athletes practice, practice, practice until their discrete moves become muscle memory and more than second nature.

Know what else they have? They have a goal in mind – to win, sure. But also to be better than the last time they skated, skied or jumped. To have a better score, or to shave off two tenths of a second.  That’s a win.

So for you to turn your busyness into productivity, you, too, must have a goal in mind and move efficiently toward it.

Which also means you have to have priorities. Because you can have four million goals to reach, but if none are sorted by importance you’ll spend ten seconds on each and accomplish nothing.

Which is not the way Olympic athletes train.  They spend hours on one arm position.  On where their knees should be on landing.  On positioning their poles.

Take a piece of paper and write down all the things you do in a day. [Competitive? Then write down everything you do in a week.] Group them into broad categories, like Work, Kids, Spouse, Home, Bill Paying, Mom, Exercise, Professional Whittling (hey, it’s OK to have a hobby). Then look at your categories. Does work support your kids, or do kids support your work? Compare each category this way and you will ultimately have a sorted list of your priorities.

Voila.

There’s another step.

Look at your list of priorities.  Which lights you up and brings joy to your life?  If that thing or things are low down on your list, then perhaps the reason you’re not productive is the conflict between what your heart wants and what your mind wants.  Spend some time sorting out this piece and you’ll find that perhaps you can care less about your work identity – which will free up time and space to serve your parenting priority. Or your inner whittler.

Once you have your priorities in alignment, see which you need to attend to now, which can wait, and which can be dropped. If you are still tying your sixteen year old’s sneakers, trust me, you can let that go. Obsessively worrying about next Christmas can wait. Fixing the hole in the roof? That’s a now thing.

There is no point in being busy for the sake of being busy. It’s all wasted movement that generates nothing.

“Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.”  (The Tragedy of Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5, by William Shakespeare)

Signify something. Drop the busyness in favor of efficient productivity. And the only buzz in your life will come from seeing all that you’ve accomplished.

Do Less, Get More

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I am having a great time giving stuff away. Last March you told me you wanted free stuff, so I started offering a free coaching class every month. And it’s been so energizing for me! (I ‘get’ by giving — pretty cool.) Last Friday, I talked about one of my favorite topics, “Do Less, Get More”. Through the magic of modern technology, you can listen to the recording here:

Something interesting came up in the class, and I want to elaborate on it. We’ve always been told that “to make sound decisions, people must consciously, deliberately, weigh their options”, but, surprisingly, that strategy only works with the simplest problems. Tough choices — you need to go with your gut, and be less conscious. For more on this interesting concept, read this new study from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

It’s weird to think that big decisions need the least deliberation, isn’t it? But, it’s all about where you’re putting your time and energy. You may know that I have the 100 Units of Energy Theory — you have 100 units of energy to spend each day. No more, no less. Can’t use yesterday’s because they’re gone, and you can’t borrow from tomorrow’s because they belong to tomorrow.

You got 100. How you use them is up to you.

And here’s how you do less and get more: if you’re agonizing over a complex decision — using, say 75 units of energy a day on it… for weeks — then shift into unconscious thought and just make a choice. The research shows that you’ll likely make an excellent decision, and you’ll free up tons of energy to do other things.

Do (worry) less, get more done.

What about the office? How do you do less when there’s so much to do?

This is going to sound counter-intuitive, I admit it. But to be more effective at work, you also need to be less conscious. In fact, what you need to do is care less.

The odd paradox is that when people have a crisis like an illness, or an outside interest like a fundraiser, sports tournament, or college search, their performance at work often improves. It’s in these periods that we use our time wisely, meet our objectives and serve our priorities.

We allocate our energy units effectively.

And feel really good about our lives.

So, if you are swamped and feel like there is too much to do and not enough time… focus on your priorities, make good, unconscious decisions, and you will find that you are able to do less, and get much, much more.