The Success Report
Information, insights and ideas to enhance your personal and professional performance.
Do you ever sit in traffic on the way to work listening to the radio, only to be bored by a over-the-top DJ rambling on about something stupid? Or maybe you find yourself staring out of the window of a train or bus wishing it would hurry up so that you can get to the million and one things you need to do today? According to some interesting statistics that I was reading recently, the average worker spends at least an hour a day travelling to and from work, with some people spending more than 8 hours a week commuting. That’s an entire work day every week! Believe it or not, commuting on public transport or travelling to and from work can actually be one of the most productive times of your day. Listen to podcasts on your mp3 player
The rise in popularity of podcasts and audio books makes it easy to learn just about any topic while commuting. You can now get a great deal of career-building information on almost any topic for free, by simply subscribing to any number of podcasts. iTunes is a great place to download free podcasts. For a few dollars a month you can purchase any number of audio books from websites like www.audible.com. Listening to professional development material while you travel won’t just get you through your transit time, you’ll also find yourself hours ahead of your competitors and perhaps your colleagues who might be sitting on a train staring off into space.
Read industry magazines
Travelling on public transport (not while you are driving) is also a great opportunity to catch up with what’s going on in your industry. Subscribe to the most important magazines in your industry (or borrow them from work) and read regularly. If you want to do something a bit left-of-centre, try subscribing to a magazine in an industry you know nothing about as well. You may be surprised with the new ideas you’ll get when you read about an industry that is completely different to yours. Send text and email messages
If you don’t want to learn a language, or listen to professional learning materials, then your Blackberry or iPhone can be an effective mobile office. If you have a backlog of emails, try respond or checking emails, texting your colleagues or clients, or generally prepare for the work day ahead before you even step foot in the office. Do you fly or travel interstate or overseas?
While there is a limited amount of time on a plane, you can use your computer to catch up on work. If you can’t be bothered pulling out our laptop there is nothing to stop you from reading memos or proofing printed documents. When you know you’re going to be flying, spend some time the day or evening before leaving printing off any documents that need reviewing or work that can be done by hand. By managing your time effectively, you’ll save time either side of your trip. There’s always a book or newspaper
Yes, when all else fails you can always read a book or catch up with the news (if there’s room on the tram, bus or train).
Do you ever find it hard saying “no” to colleagues? Sometimes saying “yes” seems like the easier option, however by saying “yes” to extra work, you could be setting yourself up for added stress and possible failure. There are only so many hours in your day and you can only get so much work done. Saying “yes” when you mean “no” can be dangerous. Who would have thought that “yes”, that little three-letter word could cause such trouble?
Learn to ignore the guilt Guilt is a huge part of why many people say “yes” to colleagues or clients when they really want to say “no”. Guilt is not a pleasant feeling so we all try and avoid it as much as possible. Perhaps you think that if you say “no” to someone else will have to do the work and that may make you feel guilty. Did you ever stop to think that other people might not have as much to do as you? Maybe you are the best person for the job, but are you the best person for the job when you don’t have the time or energy to put 100% effort into it? Maybe you’ll feel like you’ve let someone down, but you’ll let them down even more if you say “yes” and then fail to deliver the task or project on time. According to the famous Mayo Medical Clinic, it’s important to let go of the guilt and not let it influence your decisions. Their medical research suggests you “Do what you’ve set out to do and don’t veer off that path because of feelings of guilt or obligation, as it will only lead to additional stress”. “Yes” or “No”?
A good idea to limit the stress and challenge of taking on too much work or committing yourself to additional projects is to “Weigh up the ‘yes’ to stress factor”. Take time to think about what you’ve been asked to do and what impact it will have on you if you do say “yes”. Is it going to cause you extra pressure? If it is, the answer is simple. Politely say “no”…
Ask yourself a few simple questions before you say “yes”: - Do I have the time for this extra work?
- Will it affect my other work?
- Could it affect my personal life because I will be working late?
- Will I regret saying “yes” later?
- Is there anyone else who could do this task better than me?
4 steps for getting your “yes” under control Step #1 – recognise that you have just as much right to say “no” as anyone. Step #2 – be polite but very clear about your answer. Say, “I’m sorry, I’d love to help but I need to focus on what I’m doing right now. Perhaps I can help you towards the end of the week?” Step #3 – if you can, consider offering an alternative. For example you could say, “I can’t do it today, but I can work on this later this week. Would that be alright?” Step #4 – do you know someone who could help instead? Offering an
alternative solution will help allay any guilty feelings. Remember, you should never just say no. Always offer a reason and a possible solution.
You are on the phone talking to a customer when your manager walks into your work area. He needs you to do something for him. Now the fun starts as you desperately start searching for a piece of paper to start scratching down notes. In my travels I am always amazed when I observe so many managers and employees still using paper scraps and sticky notes to write down important information. I suspect the ‘hunting and pecking’ for something to write on is a common scene in so many workplaces. Jotting notes on loose pads of paper, using sticky notes for phone numbers and scrawling a customer reference on the back of an envelope or business card are all symptoms of poor personal organisation. The cost of not being able to find information quickly is high and very stressful. How will you explain to your manager that you forgot to write down the critical information from the recent phone call? H ow will you explain to the client that you need them to repeat that request they wanted to you follow up? Surely there must be a better way to keep track of all the things you need to do? Of course there is! The powerful spiral notebook Keeping an A4 or the smaller Quarto size spiral notebook with you at all times gives you a central repository for your information. By keeping it open on your desk and using it as a day book, you can keep all of your To-Do lists, meeting notes, requests, ideas and thoughts in one place. Your spiral notebook is something you can easily refer back to when you need to access the information.
How to get the most out of a spiral notebook Idea #1: Start each day with a new page. Draw a horizontal line through the middle of the page. At the top of the page write the date and day. You can use the top half as a to-do list and the bottom half for your notes and other information. Remember, you can use any many pages as you like for each day. Just start every new day with a new page. Idea #2: Carry your notebooks with you… almost everywhere. Meetings, catch-ups with colleagues or your manager. It’s something that comes in very handy when your mobile rings and you need to write down some information from a customer. Idea #3: Finally, don’t begin using a new spiral notebook until you have completed the first. It’s a good idea to write the start and finish date of the book on the front cover - that way, when you are searching for information later on, you won’t need to search through the entire book to determine what’s in there and what isn’t.
“A meeting is an event where minutes
are taken and hours wasted.”
James T. Kirk Somebody recently said to me, “I used to dread every second Thursday at work. That’s because it signalled the torture of our staff progress meetings”. They went on to say, “Those two hours each fortnight were physically challenging and mentally draining. If I wasn’t nodding off , I would be pinching my own skin under the desk in an effort to look alert”. This person when on; “At least I wasn’t as bad as one of my co-workers John. He had the habit of continuously looking at his watch during the meetings, impervious to the stares of the manager”. Is this a sort of meeting that you are used to? Have you ever been to a meeting that started late, finished late or failed to accomplish anything of substance? This question I have to ask is, are these types of meetings really effective? Who is getting the most out of this sort of meeting, or are you and your colleagues wasting your time even having a meeting? While many workplace meetings are productive and useful, some are a complete waste of resources and time. I believe that’s possible to slash hundreds of hours a year from your organisation’s meeting time by thinking differently about your meetings. Poorly organised and ill-prepared meetings can bring out the yawns in the best of us. In addition to this, they are costly in both monetary and time terms. If you really think you need a meeting, or you have been invited to attend a meeting then ask yourself (or the person requesting the meeting) a couple of questions first. - Has a specific purpose or goal been set for the meeting?
- Is there an agenda and will it be distributed ahead of time?
- Will only the people who need to be attending be there?
- Could the same information be covered in an e-mail, memo, or telephone conference call instead?
3 Some basic meeting rules #1: Always start a meeting on time. Unless you’re waiting for a senior manager, make sure the meeting starts at the scheduled time. #2: A good chairperson will use the agenda to direct and guide the meeting. The role of the chairperson is to ensure that the agenda items are discussed in order of importance and that no single agenda point goes over time. This way you will guarantee your meeting will finish on time. #3: Create a “parking lot”. Before your meeting starts, create a parking lot! A parking lot is a flipchart placed in the corner of the room. Whenever someone raises an issue which is not part of the agenda, ‘park’ the idea for later. By parking any ideas that are not on the agenda you will guarantee the meeting will not go off on tangent or lose traction. At the end of the meeting whatever is on the ‘parking lot’ can be used to create an agenda for the next meeting.
Do you ever feel like your work area is being bombarded by files and folders, surrounded by sticky-notes or getting pummelled by overflowing in-boxes and in-trays? Will you wave the white flag of defeat or are you ready to take on a messy desk in some serious hand-to-hand combat? A recent study in the office habits of workers and the associated costs to companies conducted by the Butler Group stated that employees are suffering from both information overload and information underload. As a result, a typical worker now spends up to one-quarter of his or her day searching for the right information to complete any given task.  In other words, many professional people are finding themselves overwhelmed by the amount of information they need to deal with, yet unprepared or perhaps uneducated about how best to deal with it.
Lost time spent looking for files, contacts or the right piece of information is your enemy when trying to work productively. Nobody is asking for perfection – but a bit of organisation and good presentation can make all the difference in how quickly you can find things on your desk, how you feel about your work and of course, the way you are perceived by others. Here are some simple, yet effective ways to win the war over your work area and information overload. 1. Get an simple index file. Use this for important contacts, client information and notes of previous conversations. 2. Clean your desk and work area once a week. It will not only feel and look better, but dust, dirt and germs can also effect your health. 3. Throw away those sticky-notes! A spiral notebook is all you need; it can be referred back to with ease and does away with all those bits and pieces of scrap paper! 4. Use a paper diary. Whether you choose to use an online calendar system or a paper version, a paper diary holds information that needs to be accessed daily such as appointments, meetings, deadlines, contacts and personal details. 5. Colour Code your projects in order of importance. For example, red is urgent, blue is in progress, yellow is to be done later. Then keep these files within reach. By the way, the colour-code system could just as easily be replaced by numbers, letters or anything you find works for you! 6. Get rid of any excess personal items. Junk, free promotions from companies and all that superfluous stuff covering your workspace. If you do want to keep a few personal mementos, put them away from your main work area. After all, that’s where you should be keeping your critical files and things you are working on. 7. Finally, sort your old papers using a ‘D’ Box recycling system. File any unwanted papers in a cardboard box, which is kept under your desk. When the ‘D’ box gets full, seal it up and recycle it. This way if you do ever need a piece of paper from a week ago, you’ll know where to find it.
Contrary to popular opinion, good time management is not about cramming every second of your day full of ‘stuff’. In fact, it is quite the opposite! Realise that even the best plans can fail and sometimes, despite your best efforts, hings will go wrong. Be prepared to adapt and change when you need to. The Three Rules of Adaptability Rule # 1: The most important rule of being adaptable is deceptively simple – don’t expect everything to go right Do you ever feel frustration when you are delayed or when things don’t turn out right? Why is that? It’s because your expectations of the situation were different to the way the situation actually turned out. Let me give you an example. Have you ever been in a situation where you’re packing up to leave on a Friday afternoon and just as you’re turning off your computer your manager comes in with an urgent job? How did it make you feel? Was there some sense of frustration? Now, imagine how you would have felt if you had of gone to your
manager and said, “I am heading off in a few minutes, is there anything you need me to do before I go?” What’s the difference between these two situations? Well, in the first situation your expectation was that you were going to go home. Your mind was ready to switch off and you were out of the building (mentally) even if your body hadn’t quite caught up yet. In the second situation, you expected there will be more work. You actually went and asked for it. Remember that your expectations of a situation completely determine how you will react to it. Rule #2: The second rule of adaptability is to leave yourself time
If you’ve crammed every second of your day full of stuff, you’re going to find it much more difficult and stressful to move things around. For example, if you’ve planned 8 back-to-back meetings on Tuesday, what’s going to happen if on the way to an appointment the most important client calls you and says they’ve been delayed by an hour? The stress of shifting appointments of moving your whole day around could quite seriously cause frustration, disappointment and stress. However, if you know that the most important thing for you to do that day is to meet that client, try leaving a couple of hours available on the off chance that the client might be running late or there could be a delay.
Rule #3: The third rule of adaptability is to be is adaptable
The things you say to yourself constantly determine the person that you will become. If you find yourself often saying things like, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. or “I don’t like change. I’m set in my ways”. Stop it! If you tell yourself your not adaptable, you’ll behave in just that way. While being organised and in control of your time is an important skill, realising that things can go wrong and Murphy’s Law will apply to some situations, is the sign of person with a healthy level of adaptability.
“I have a ‘carpe diem’ mug and, truthfully, at six in the morning the words do not make me want to seize the day. They make me want to slap a dead poet.” Joanne Shermani
Are you a morning lark or a night owl? Regardless of whether you wake up early or stay up late, these patterns of waking up and sleeping are governed by your personal internal body clock; your Circadian Rhythm. What is a Circadian Rhythm? The Latin terms ‘circa’ and ‘diem’ is literally translated to mean ‘around a day’. Studies have shown that humans have a Circadian Rhythm of roughly 24 hours. Your Circadian cycles affect your biochemical, physiological and behavioural processes. Throughout each period of day and night (ie. a 24 hour cycle), your body temperature, hormone secretion levels, bowel movements, coordination and levels of alertness are all affected by your Circadian Rhythms. By better understanding these daily rhythms and using them to your advantage, you can get more done and feel better in the process. On the following page are some useful strategies for gaining a better understanding of these daily energy patterns and for using your daily Circadian Rhythms to your advantage. 1. Keep a Personal Body Clock Journal
If you aren’t sure of your own Circadian Rhythm, keep a journal noting the times of the day when you feel most energetic, calm, stressed, productive or simply tired. Do this for 7 days. Look for obvious trends or habits that point out whether you may be a ‘night owl’ or a ‘morning lark’. There’s not much point trying to match your lifestyle and working life to an energy pattern that is contrary. 2. Use Your natural energy
Someone who loves staying up until the wee hours may be well suited to doing their creative work in the evening. A morning person is much better adapted getting up early and doing their creative work. At work, if you can concentrate better on big tasks early in the morning, assign them to this time. Similarly, if mornings are a bit of a chore, why not leave the important work for later in the day. Perhaps it sounds radical, but isn’t that the main point of being productive and effective? 3. The Spanish are right!
Siesta! We’d all love to have a siesta but for most of us it isn’t always possible to go home for a few hours and come back later. Just remember that 1pm to 3pm is usually the most challenging time to keep focused. Go easy on the heavy food at lunch time and, if you can, find a patch of grass and have a rest over lunch. Just closing your eyes and relaxing for 10 minutes can do your mind and your body a world of good.
4. Get more natural light
The majority of people who work indoors are familiar with the fluorescent glow of artificial lighting. Recent research has shown that current levels of office lighting do not replicate daylight and as such can affect levels of melatonin production in our bodies. It’s melatonin (or the lack of it) that can disrupt our wake and sleep cycle.
One idea is to get out into the sun and absorb some natural sunshine each day, rather than sitting in a stuffy office.
Procrastination. Most people learned all about it in school and perhaps you’ve let it slip back into your working habits. Many people in workplace have become so good at it that they are now procrastination experts. No matter how you spend your time procrastinating, it always feels good… at first. You might find yourself staring at the wall for a few minutes or perhaps you go on a twenty-minute coffee break. Some people get distracted by personal emails, others by colleagues who visit their work area. Whatever your procrastination pleasure is, it comes at a cost. The trouble with procrastination is that there’s always a big black cloud floating above you just waiting to burst and rain all over you later When you’re procrastinating, the real work you have to do is kind of like a hangover. You know it’s coming, you know it’s not going to be pleasant and you know it’s severity is totally dependent on your own actions. There’s nothing worse than snapping out of your happy procrastination trance to find work piling up, deadlines approaching and your manager wanting to know why a certain project is not on his or her desk. It may seem like a good idea at the time, but in the end procrastination just creates more work and more stress. There are a few reasons for this.
When you’re done procrastinating and finally want to get back into work mode, your brain is stuck in procrastination mode, making it very difficult to get any work completed. While you’re busy wasting time, your real work is piling up and your deadlines are creeping up on you. You’ll find yourself feeling overwhelmed and anxious - a far cry from the procrastinator of a few minutes earlier. No one works well under pressure so why put yourself in that position? Deep down you know it’s not a good idea to be procrastinating, so here are a few ways to beat it. Procrastination buster #1: Get over your fear of failure
If you’re scared of failing your task or not getting it perfect, you need to keep those old clichés in mind; “Nobody is perfect” and “We all make mistakes”. If you suffer from perfectionism, you need to do something about it.
Procrastination buster #2: Be realistic
Think about what you’re actually doing during this procrastinating time. Is it something you could totally cut out of your life, like smoking? Kill two birds with one stone and quit the bad habit and embrace the work that needs to be done. Procrastination buster #3: Manage your emotional state
Everyone experiences a time when they don’t feel like working on difficult stuff. However what separates the professional from the crowd is this person’s ability to manage their own emotional state. It’s their ability to notice the way they are feeling, analyse it and make a decision to feel a different way.
"Your diary is like a parachute; it only works when it is open.” Your diary is where the daily magic happens. It’s where you plan your time, develop your goals and decide on the direction of your day, your week and your personal life. In fact, the quiet time you spend with your diary (and a coffee) every morning is some of the most important planning time you have. So – how much quality time ARE you investing using your diary each day? Think about it – how many times at the end of a year have you been given, or bought a diary, enthusiastically used it for a month and then pretty much forgot it? Then again, how many times have you missed a meeting, ompletely forgotten about a task that you set yourself or missed an important event or deadline? Diaries are crucial tools for managing the one true, non-renewable resource you have – your time. How to get the most out of your diary Idea 1: Get the Right Diary for You
Just visit your local bookstore, stationary shop, or look at any online
diary store and your head will soon be spinning. There are so many
options, so which should you choose? If all you need is a simple Day-to-a-Page diary, then your local bookshop or newsagent should be able to help you. However if you’re looking for something a bit more comprehensive, like a time management planning system, there are a lot of really good options. Whichever diary you decide on, remember that it must be easy for you to carry, have open on your desk and actually use. Some time management diary systems with ring binders and deluxe leather covers might look impressive (and cost a small fortune), but could be impractical to carry around everywhere. Choose one that suits your work and lifestyle. Idea 2: Now… Use It!
Your diary is like a parachute… it only works when it is open! Take your diary with you to meetings and appointments. I would even suggest you take it home with you each night so you can review any appointments and activities that you could have coming up. By having your diary with you, you’ll always know what is coming up and what has to be done. Idea 3: Set time on Sunday Night to Plan the Week Ahead.
This is one of the most powerful habits you can form. Spend some quality time every Sunday night reviewing your goals and objectives for the week and the month ahead and then plan out the week ahead to ensure that you are reaching those goals.
Idea 4: “I Use an Outlook Calendar an Not a Paper Diary!”
A dilemma facing many professional people is whether to use their email calendar or a paper diary. Basically it all boils down to how much time you spend at your desk. If you spend 80% of your time at your desk then Outlook (or Lotus Notes) should be your primary calendar/diary. If you spend a lot of time in meetings and out of the office, a paper diary will probably be a better option. Unfortunately this might mean having to manage two diary systems: a paper diary and an electronic one. The bottom line is simply this: whatever diary system you decide to use, make sure you use it. A diary or calendar that is unused is useless!
Is your inbox overflowing? Open it now. How many emails do you have sitting in there? 2? 12? 52? 200? 500? How many of those are still relevant and require actioning today? Interesting question isn’t it! Controlling your email is like any other aspect of your job, you need to be really good at it and if you’re not, you need to learn some new strategies so you can become better. Letting your email get out of control is no different to having piles of paperwork spread from one end of your desk to the other. It’s messy, it’s disorganised, it causes you to lose time searching for things and it ends up causing you stress. How long does it take to delete an email? A second, half a second maybe? Think about how quick this is compared to how long it takes to search for an email from three or even ten days ago that’s now lost in the black hole of your inbox. 5 ideas for gaining back control of your inbox Idea# 1 - Answer your email only after you’ve planned your day
It’s important to prioritise your action list and make sure you know what you’ve got on for the rest of the day before you go spending time addressing a pile of emails. Could some of the emails sitting in your inbox be left until later in the morning or early afternoon? Many emails can wait to be answered later on that day, especially if the email is not urgent or important. Remember that if an email is really urgent, most people will call you as well. Idea # 2 - Turn off your email notifier
Don’t you have enough beeps and buzzers in your life? Don’t let the beep of the email notifier distract you every few minutes. You need to keep control your email and not the “bing... you have new mail” control you. Check email when you are ready, not when you hear the “bing”. Idea #3 - Use A,B,C,D,E when checking your email
In an earlier chapter of this book I described Triage. Why not apply Triage to your emails? Work on the A and B email first and leave the C email until later. Remember, D is for delegate and E for eliminate. Idea # 4 - Clear your inbox at the end of each day
Set aside five minutes at the end of your day to clear out your inbox and organise your remaining emails. It may seem like an annoying chore at a time, but you will be thankful for it in the morning when you have a clean slate to start with. It’s also a good way to make those last few minutes of the day go by faster.
Idea #5 - Set up folders within your email program
Make folders for everything and everyone. Give each of your clients and associates their own folder. Have a ‘To Do’ folder, a ‘Miscellaneous’ folder, an ‘Accounts’ folder and something like a ‘Travel’ folder. Have as many folders as necessary; it will make your life a whole lot easier when you’re trying to clear your inbox at the end of the day, as well as when you’re searching for older emails.
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Do you wish networking with clients, managers and colleagues was easier? To grow your professional networks and get ahead in today's competitive business environment, you have to expand your personal and professional networks and relationships.
