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by Rick Baker
On Oct 21, 2010
The first two, equally-important, Rules of Procrastination For Success are:
- You must minimize, with a view to totally eliminating, the annoyance factor
- for others and
- for yourself
- You must set aside the common wisdom of the time-management gurus and give yourself a fair 60-day trial period [including the time you feel you need to cover your procrastination].
Why these Rules of Procrastination For Success?
To Procrastinate For Success
- You must not over-promise and under-deliver...that's poor form...that annoys other people and, because you have pride in your performance, it causes you to annoy yourself with anxiety or worry.
- You can not stress yourself because that reduces your ability to be effective...you are a procrastinator or else you wouldn't be reading this. So, procrastination aligns with the natural state of your character and your talents. Don't fight procrastination. Make the most of it.
How does one go about Procrastinating For Success?
Action Steps to Procrastinate For Success
- First, spend some time every day telling yourself you Procrastinate For Success. Make that a daily affirmation...write it on a mirror, repeat it at least twice a day, say it, sing it with emotion, scream it from an open window - I procrastinate for success, I procrastinate for success, I procrastinate for success…
- Next, tell other people you procrastinate for success....tell your boss, tell your co-workers, tell your Clients...and explain to them how your acceptance of this fact will benefit one and all.
- Once you have completed those first 2 set-up-for-action steps Take Action. Take Action as follows:
- First, immediately, drop every thing you are doing and finalize your To Do List:
- Ensure your To Do List is complete
- Force-rank your Most-Important work items: as you do the force-ranking consider the urgency of the work, consider the time required for each item, and set the limit for your total available time at 8 hours/week. This step creates your work plan.
- Next, immediately following the setting of your work plan – Do Absolutely No Work…do nothing. This is a critical step. This is the procrastination step.
- Then, when you hit the point where you must do the work under your procrastination plan, do that work at lightning speed, with laser-like focus, and with genius-like concentration.
Benefits of Procrastinating For Success
- It builds trust. And, trust is right up there with time - a truly precious commodity. Trust begins to build immediately because you will no longer feel the need to tell fibs about getting stuff done under unrealistic time lines. Since you will be comfortable talking with others about your procrastination, your over-promising will stop, your on-time delivery will increase, and trust will build all around you.
- You will be aligned with rather than fight against (Pareto's) 80/20 Rule. Knowing and accepting 80% of your production must happen in 20% of your time, you will stop wasting the remaining 80% of your time thinking about, worrying about, and fighting the natural laws of the human condition, i.e., you will not struggle with procrastination. You will be a comfortable procrastinator and you will make the most of it.
- You will free up a huge amount of time. Embracing (Pareto’s) 80/20 Rule you will free up 32 hours of prime time per week. And, this freed-up time will be devoid of the problems linked to having to be productive.
- You will never complain about being too busy to do this or to do that because:
- 80% of the time you will not be busy at all and everyone will know it so you will be very reluctant to claim otherwise
- the other 20% of the time you will be far too busy to complain and everyone will know it so they will not lay trivial requests on you
On top of this, you will reduce your overall stress and, all else being equal, that will prolong your life so you will have even more time to Procrastinate For Success.
by Rick Baker
On Oct 21, 2010
Sales Tweet #69 Ernest Seller has 10 key people he would love to meet. Some day he may do something about that. The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet NO HE WON'T! Come on. We can not take this seriously. Ernest has been talking about this for close to 20 years. Sometimes he talks about it while he is drinking his favourite beer - 50.
by Rick Baker
On Oct 20, 2010
From time to time it is good to check out expert advice for holding productive meetings.
Expert advice reminds us of the importance of controlling the meeting process and helps us set better meeting guidelines….this is about clarifying what you mean by Good Habits for Meetings.
To maximize meeting results, here’s what Brian Tracy recommends in his book, ‘Time Power”
7 Ways to Make Meetings More Efficient
- Is the meeting necessary, if not then don't have it. Consider alternatives to holding a meeting. Who should attend? - Only invite those people. And ask - is it necessary for me to attend?
- Have a written agenda for the meeting. Write out the purpose of the meeting. Send the agenda to participants at least 24 hours ahead.
- Start and stop on time. Don't wait for latecomers. Perhaps, lock the door from the inside so latecomers can not get in…this helps them develop self-discipline.
- Cover important items first. That way you ensure they get done.
- Summarize each conclusion.
- Assign specific responsibility for next action steps. Include deadlines for their completion.
- Send out meeting minutes shortly after the meeting. This will confirm what action will be taken, who agreed to be responsible for taking that action, and when that action will be completed.
by Rick Baker
On Oct 20, 2010
Sales Tweet #68 Your Top 10 Clients - what are their work hours? Place that in your calendar until you memorize it.
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
Many of your Top Clients will tend to be creatures of habit. They will tend to have set work hours. Also, according to time-management gurus, they will have 'prime time'. That is, at certain times of the day your Top Clients will tend to be far more productive than they are at all other times of the day. Why not ask your Top Clients about their 'time habits' and their prime time. Why not make sure you are accessible during those prime times.
by Rick Baker
On Oct 19, 2010
StrengthsFinder* presents Strengths as…
If I understand StrengthsFinder properly then our top 5 Talent Themes do not confirm Strengths, rather, they confirm Potential Strengths.
To create Strengths we need to:
- understand our Talent Themes,
- gain Knowledge related to the Strength we desire, and
- take planned action aimed at developing Skills that allow us to illustrate our Strengths.
I think StrengthsFinder is directionally correct. It is a tool that should not be used in isolation. It should be used in conjunction with other tools and guides.
For example, our ability to exhibit Strengths is influenced by many factors including:
- Interest…Are we interested in, or passionate about, the end-goal that is the motive driving our actions? A strong and well-grounded Interest increases the likelihood a Strength will be developed.
- Situation…does the situation allow us to act in accordance with our Strength? As Haidt and the Heaths* explained to us, situations can be designed to promote action aligned with Strengths.
- Self-Esteem…the higher the self-esteem, the better we feel about ourselves, the greater the likelihood our Strengths will be realized
- Confidence…if we perceive we can be effective at the task, in the given situation, then the greater the likelihood our Strengths will be realized
- Mood…we all have good days and bad days…our Strengths tend to shine during our good days
by Rick Baker
On Oct 19, 2010
Sales Tweet #67 What sales-education CD are you listening to in your car today?
The Thinking Behind the Sales Tweet
Many sales gurus will help you with the math. They will walk you though how many hours you spend in the car every day and recommend you spend at least some of those numerous hours listening to sales-help or self-help CDs. On the other hand, if you are too busy listening to the radio, etc., then you may never listen to a sales-help CD...so you may never hear the sales guru advice about listening to the CDs. [Hence, this Sales Tweet #67]
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