It's Mid-January. How Are Those Resolutions Holding Up?

Okay, once again it’s a new year. The gyms are selling memberships like crazy to people who have resolved to become healthier this year. What you may not know, that the gyms do, is that the majority of people who join in January won’t put in an appearance from February on. It’s not because these folks don’t have the very best of intentions (they do) but because they’re resolved but not committed.

How about you? Did you make some resolutions? Are you committed to achieving your goals this year? If so, let me give you some thoughts on how to be more productive in 2010.

1)Plan your day

Each evening, before “calling it a day,” plan tomorrow. As a coach I’ve observed that most people start their day by eating a roll and drinking a cup of coffee (or whatever you like to bring to your desk for breakfast) while they figure out what to do first. Typically they start on that project and continue until they get sidetracked by whatever “fire” happens to develop. While “fires” sometimes need to be put out immediately that’s not always the case. You’re more likely, however, to jump to whatever pops up on your radar if you haven’t planned your day. This is not usually the way to have a productive day. Professionals plan, amateurs “wing it.” By starting the day with a well thought out plan for what you need to do and what you are committed to accomplishing the likelihood of actually doing so increase exponentially.

2)Understand how you spend you time

You’re busy, right? (if not, you need to GET busy!) But are you being as productive as possible? I’m not talking about working at a furious pace every minute of the day without breaks. I’m talking about being as productive as possible when you are working. I use a fairly narrow definition for a productive day if you’re in sales. Did you open up a new opportunity to work on? Did you move a sale forward in your pipeline? Did you close a deal? If not, you might have been busy but you weren’t very productive. If you’re not in sales you’ll need to define a productive day for yourself. It’s important that our efforts are productive but it’s difficult to assess how we invest our time because most of us are acting like robots. We seldom take the time to work ON our businesses because we’re so darned busy working IN our businesses.

I highly recommend the following exercise: For three days track everything you do on a legal pad and include how much time you spent doing it. If your husband called to chat, write it down and how long the conversation lasted. Went to the cafeteria to get a cup of coffee because you needed a boost? How long did it take from the moment you stopped working until the moment you got back to your desk? Making cold calls? Right it down. Whatever activity (and I mean ALL activities) you engage in during these three days write them down. BE HONEST with yourself. You might not be happy with the results but it will be useful information. At the end of the three days take some time to read over what you did and how long it took. Be sure to take a look at:
Was this activity necessary?
Was this activity productive?
Could I have done this quicker?
Could I have had someone else do this?
Was this the best use of my time?
What can I do to prevent myself from spending any more time than is absolutely necessary on non-productive activities? (At some point you probably need to go to the bathroom. Do you really need to read a newspaper while you’re there? It’s fine by me if you want to “multitask” on the toilet but I find that by concentrating on one thing at a time I tend to get more accomplished)


3)Protect your time

If you work in an office with other people it’s likely that at some point during the day someone will want to interact socially with you. While I’m always glad to discuss what happened on last night’s episode of “House” with another fan it doesn’t tend to help me be more productive. When someone wants to take more than a few seconds of your valuable time for non-work related discussions, I suggest you make an appointment to take a break together, have lunch or cocktails with them. (Yes, the cocktails should be AFTER working hours!) I’m not suggesting you be antisocial. I’m suggesting you’ll make more money and be more productive by protecting your time.


4)Make certain that your WILL IS UNSHAKEABLE and your WORD IS LAW.

Want to have happier customers? Make promises and keep them. Better yet, do MORE than you promised. Your customers will be stunned.
While most of us a pretty good at keeping the promises we make to others we stink at keeping the promises we make to ourselves. Did you set goals for 2010? Did you write them down? If so, great! The challenge is, just like for all those people who are joining a gym right now, keeping the promises you made to yourself when the going gets tough. (which it so often does)
I’d rather cut off my own arm then break my word to you. But in the past I’ve been way less stringent about keeping my word to myself. Hey, I love me and I know how much stuff I have to do and how many obstacles life likes to throw at me. I’m very good at giving myself a break when I don’t keep my word to myself. If you’re anything like I’ve been in the past, find people to make your promises to, other than yourself. Make your commitments public. You’re more likely to keep your word when someone else knows about your promises. Even better, keep your word to yourself as if you made your promises to someone else.

I see 2010 as a year filled with opportunities and possibilities! If I can help you achieve your goals in any way, please let me know.

Make It Happen!

Jeff