Improve your productivity – get more of the important stuff done
An article based on a course I went on introducing “The 5 choices” -a development programme from Franklin Covey – taking themes from Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People.
If we are to be successful we need to make the most of the time available to us. Technology has both enabled us to advance in our ability to do things productively (just think of the speed with which you can now create, edit and deliver a ‘letter’ compared with 30 years ago) yet, paradoxically, at the same time it is hindering us. The amount of unsolicited communications we receive each day along with calls, texts, emails, social media, etc, amount to serious distractions from the important tasks we have to complete. In fact economists conclude that technology has in fact not made human beings more productive – there has been a worldwide decline in output since 1971.
The average knowledge worker receives 93 emails a day. Spending five minutes on each message would eat up an entire workday. (quoted from The 5 Choices)
Indeed brain scientists are concerned that these constant distractions may be rewiring our brains to the extent that we lose the ability to concentrate.
A different perspective
The ethos of the new Franklin Covey programme, The 5 Choices is interestingly about doing less rather than more – making the best use of the time available to progress things that will contribute most. And, yes, this could mean stopping or doing less of the things that do not move you forward. If you’ve come across the Pareto effect before (the 80-20 rule – 80% of the worth comes from 20% of the activity) you’ll be no stranger to the premise is that by identifying activities that fill just 20% of your time (leaving 80% of the day for the everyday demands and deadline driven necessities) you can achieve an extraordinary difference in the results you achieve.
Stephen Covey uses the analogy of gravel (for the trivial tasks, distractions, interruptions, etc) and Big Rocks (for the activities that will contribute to achieving your objectives). If any of you have done project management or time management training with me in the past you may remember my demonstration – if you put the gravel in a container representing your day first, you will find it impossible to fit in all the Big Rocks. Yet if you put in the rocks first and then trickle in the gravel, miraculously you find the trivia fitting around the big tasks and you have an increased ability to fit more in – naturally working smarter and more effectively in the time available.
You have choices
The 5 choices promotes changing your approach in 5 ways – and I give you enough here to be able to do it for yourself. But why do it? To quote Franklin Covey:
The ability to distinguish between the important and the unimportant will be a key competency going forward in this century. Unless you can discern the Big Rocks from the gravel, you can forget about productivity. If you’re obsessed with incoming gravel – whether in the form of other people’s priorities or a technology addiction – you’ll never be able to do the kind of reflective, strategic thinking and work that can create the future you want.
Just think of the sense of satisfaction you will gain from achieving greater productivity and read on.
Choice 1 Act on the important, don’t react to the urgent.
Many of us have slipped in to the habit of living by default ‘in the moment’ – dealing with what comes up. If you can be clear about what the outcome you want is – what your purpose at work or leisure is you can be proactive in choosing to progress things each day that will contribute to that.
So the starting point is to really know what your priorities are and to ‘plant’ these in your subconscious. Taking 10 minutes each day to review what you want to accomplish and to programme in time to progress things towards longer term goals can make the rest of your day much more productive.
Stephen Covey uses a four-cell matrix to demonstrate how we can classify activities based on the importance of the task and the urgency with which it needs to be done.
. The idea is we shift our focus to spend more time on Quadrant 2 activities such as:
- Creative thinking/planning
- Working to sort out the causes of problems
- Reviewing systems/procedures for greater efficiency
- Learning/knowledge building/personal growth
- Relationship building
- Steps towards longer term goals
This means consciously choosing to cut down on activities which have no productive outcome (excessive TV, video games, trivial use of social media) and/or restrict these to defined times in the day.
Choice 2: Go for the Extraordinary, don’t settle for ordinary
If you really want to experience a difference then consider the magic of thinking big. Your brain will be energised by the challenge of stretching beyond your current comfort zone.
So having some goals that are extraordinary rather than ordinary is a key to moving forward.
We all play many roles in our lives and for balance it is good to consider what we want to achieve in each of these. So begin by identifying up to 7 key roles you play in life – covering your career, personal life and leisure activites, eg:
- Sales representative, team manager, customer service provider
- Mother, father, wife, husband, etc
- Daughter, son, sister, brother
- Fundraiser for X charity, organiser for Y community organisation
Now for each redefine that role in terms of the impact that it has on your life and that of those around you. So rather than just a label, you are identifying the difference that you make which underpins your life purpose, in an inspirational way, eg:
- The functional job role “Sales rep” becomes “Generator of new business – to create profitability for my employer and commission for me and solutions for my customers”;
- “Mother” becomes perhaps “Nurturer – a guide, role model and mentor giving my children the best chance of success in life and the support they need”.
This gives us a starting point to considering what you could achieve in each role that is beyond the ordinary – asking yourself why you are doing this, the outcomes you want, the change you want to make….
For each role add on some thoughts as to how you will achieve the role statement you have made and set some specific goals (outcomes) for this area of your life that fit with your inspirational purpose. Include dates and measurable targets. Eg
- By end of next month I will have met with all our department heads to fully understand the products I am talking to customers about.
- By the end of 3 months I will have increased my year on year sales by 10%.
So to summarise, for each role you will have the following
- Role title that is inspirational rather than functional
- A statement about what your purpose in that role is
- A number of goals that relate to that role for the coming months/years (perhaps short, medium and long term)
Choice 3: Schedule the Big Rocks, don’t sort gravel
Now you have your goals in each of your roles you can think about all the tasks that would relate to achieving these outcomes. These are your ‘Big Rocks’ – the truly important tasks which, because they are not usually urgent, they often get put on one side in the day to day fire fighting. These are the things that will move you forward to your fulfilling life.
By planning these things into your weeks and days you are more likely to get them done. So get into the habit each week of finding 30 minutes of quiet time (away from distractions) to review your roles and goals and identify the one or two important things in each area that will have the most impact in the coming week in moving you closer to fulfilling this.
Then commit time in your diary/planner for doing these things. 10 minutes spent each day to review your progress, congratulating yourself on what you’ve already accomplished and revisiting priorities will lead you to greater success.
Choice 4: Rule your technology, don’t let it rule you
To be your most productive you can choose to leverage technology rather than letting it rule you. This is about managing the distractions so that you can allow your brain to concentrate on the tasks that you have identified as being important.
How would it be if:
- You turned off the pop up email alert and chose to view emails at points when you are between important tasks?
- Put your phone on silent while you completed something that needed your concentration and let calls go to answerphone, returning them when it suits your schedule?
- Restricted your social media activity largely to defined times and made sure that what you were doing contributed in some way to your bigger purpose?
- You set rules to send unwanted emails to trash or to appropriate folders?
These are proven ways of getting the ‘Big Rocks’ done – it may be against your nature and/or against the current behaviours of your colleagues/organisation – however, if you truly want to get more done more effectively you will find these techniques work.
You will also benefit from having a way of dealing with the large amounts of information that come your way each day – texts, tweets, emails, phone calls, messages, notes from meetings. This information typically falls into 4 categories:
- Appointments
- Tasks
- Contacts
- Notes/documents
As each piece of information comes your way you first have a decision to make – is it important – if not delete or bin it. If it is, then the second decision is can you act on it? If you can then put it in your calendar or task list to schedule; if not then it goes in an appropriate file (electronic or paper) for future reference. The trick is to deal with each thing only once and to have a ‘system’ for using technology or paper so that you are consistent and know exactly where everything is. One to do list (either electronic or paper) is better than multiple post it notes and scraps of paper.
You might benefit from spending some time exploring how to get the best out of your email system to set up folders, rules and flags and to explore linking emails and documents to appointments so that you can access all the information you need in one place.
Choice 5: Fuel your fire, don’t burn out
This final choice is about sustaining your physical and mental health through getting the right exercise, nutrition and sleep. You will not reach your goals without the energy and health to perform at your peak.
Keeping a constant rhythm of recharging the batteries and fueling the body is far better than irregular spikes which fluctuate with the demands of work. Think about the five energy drivers of:
- Movement – just getting up and walking around every 90 minutes refreshes the brain – even standing rather than sitting for a period of time is better;
- Eating – steer clear of refined sugars, fast foods and artificial stimulants – drink plenty of water and eat high quality proteins, a rainbow of colours of fruit and veg and be smart on carbs and fats;
- Sleep – to allow the brain to restore and restructure itself;
- Relax – plan time to disconnect from the pressures of the day and interrupting technologies – give your brain a holiday.
- Connect – spend some time nurturing human relationships – take an interest in others through actual human contact rather than virtual…social networks are great for keeping in touch with a wide range of distant people but are not a substitute for the value we gain from face to face connections.
So it’s your choice… consider these 5 themes and how they could contribute to your extraordinary productivity.
For more about The Five Choices visit http://the5choices.com/
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If you’re interested in developing your self awareness, communication or management skills, confidence, time management or just getting focus on your goals, do get in touch to discuss. I believe everyone has the potential to improve their performance, motivation and happiness – coaching works because you become accountable to an external person who is a source of encouragement and support – as well as challenging your barriers.
Email Zoë Whitby: zoe@zwcoaching.co.uk
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