How Successful Organizations Deal with Interruptions

On a typical day, you can expect to get caught in the crossfire of interruptions, the unexpected will bubble up, and demands will fall out of the sky at inconvenient times.  Flexicuting will be required.

Yes, we invented the word flexicuting because we can’t think of a better way to describe this skill.  Events are so fluid in today’s work environment that we have to change, adapt, and shift our focus all day long.

Flexicuting involves the ability to:

• Be as willing to leave your activity list when priorities shift.
• Be able to respond to opportunities the middle of the day.
• Reserving some time every day to deal with the expected/unexpected.
• Be wired 24/7 without letting it be a source of distractions and frustration.

Would you like to become better at flexicuting?  Here’s how! Recognize it’s a survival skill by changing your mindset and practice the forgoing flexicuting skills daily. It can be quite fun.

Flexicuting involves the skill of both multi-tasking activities and alternate-tasking activities. It also requires the wisdom to know when to use and when to avoid either of these approaches.

We’ll talk about multi-tasking first. In our society, the term multi-tasking is overused. Even worse, the skill has been elevated to the pinnacle of desirable abilities and we often find ourselves abused—and sometimes abusing—in the execution of multi-tasking because there are some guidelines to multi-tasking that most people aren’t aware of.

Beware of multi-tasking while engaging with another person; for example, opening and reading your mail while carrying on a business conversation with somebody in your office. Not only is this disrespectful and a put-down of the other person, it’s very easy to miss a point or to misinterpret the communication.

Alternate-tasking is the natural result of being wired 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year (24/7/365). Living under these conditions, it makes sense to alternate our work and personal life activities in a way that we can fully experience both. While multi-tasking can contaminate time, alternate-tasking does not.

Alternate-tasking can help you get more done in less time than multi-tasking because, when you are fully engaged, you are more efficient and productive.

Flexicuting also involves the “oscillation” of our daily activities. This too is part of the flexicuting skill. In other words, we alternate activities that require intense concentration of effort with activities that are easier and much less stressful. The easier activities give you a chance to recover your energy and then re-engage again.

Here’s how I oscillate. I spend a lot of time working from my office at home. Typically, I’ll schedule the activity of telephone coaching with a client, followed by thirty minutes of paper pushing. Then, I might do another period of coaching, followed by taking some time to get out of my office and run an errand. This is what we call making waves during the day. It’s a way to manage our energy as well as our time. It can be a real downer to run out of energy before we run out of action list.

One of the foremost experts in the country on this subject is Dr. James Loehr, who co-wrote, among other books, The Power of Full Engagement. His advice is to manage our day as a series of sprints, each followed by adequate recovery time. If you are executing activities all day long as a marathon, it’s likely you won’t be as effective and will possibly burn yourself out by the end of the day.

Flexicuting and making waves during the day is not only ridiculously easy—it can be fun!

More on the subject of overwhelm.

More on the subject of stress.

Excerpted from the book Attack Your Day! Before It Attacks You, co-authored by Mark Woods, a time management expert. Mark Woods conducts training workshops, keynote speeches, breakout sessions, webinars, and offers private mentoring on the subject of time and productivity. Contact 623-688-2221 for more information.

How to deal with overwhelm!

BEGIN WITH A SHIFT IN MIND-SET

Most people who are consistently overwhelmed are often attempting to do too much. They do not delegate. They allow too many interruptions. They are into their ego thinking they are the most capable solution to every problem. People who are overwhelmed frequently procrastinate themselves into crisis mode and are not good at life management.

These characteristics have in common a sense of self-importance. Make the appropriate adjustments on those characteristics that may apply to you—delegate, reschedule, say not yet, plan ahead and act! Then you’ll be on your way to controlling the feeling of overwhelm.

Source: William A. Guillory

If Everything Is A Priority, Then Nothing Is

Some people feel pushed to the limit with overwhelm.  They see everything as an equally high priority.  That’s an illusion.  An outstanding executive put it this way: “If everything is a priority, then nothing is.” (Andrew Komenek.)

Survival today requires the skill of selecting the highest of high priorities in a mire of multiple demands. See through a lens of filter questions. Strengthen your priority-eyes. Here are three good questions that can be used any time of day: What things are absolute necessities today?  If I don’t do this today, who will it affect and who will suffer?  What can I eliminate to free up more time?

For more time management productivity tips