Interruptions, A Productivity Killer

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 as you are willing to stick with it.
• Be able to turn on a dime in the middle of the day when an opportunity presents itself.
• Develop the habit of 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.

The best advice we can give people is to BEWARE OF MULTI-TASKING! Here’s why. When you are executing multiple activities at the same time, none of these activities has your complete focus. If you must multi-task, it should be done only when you combine simple, mindless tasks such as opening your mail and watching the news.

TIP: Never, never, never multi-task while carrying on a conversation with another person.

Multi-tasking, when abused, leads to time contamination. An example of time contamination would be taking your child out for pizza so you can have some quality one-on-one time together, and then taking a cell phone call for fifteen minutes while your child stares into space. Time contamination is also working on your laptop while supposedly watching your child’s soccer game.

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 is being 100% where you are. Be 100% in the pizza shop with your child and then place the call after the pizza outing. Alternate-tasking permits us to fully engage all activities without dilution or contamination of the experience.

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.

TIP: Alternate-tasking requires FOCUS. Begin with tasks that you can get done in 15 minutes or less until and free yourself from interruptions by shutting your door, closing out email, and don’t take calls etc.

Integrate, don’t contaminate, work-life activities

Work-life integration is the alternate execution of work and personal life activities in a manner that permits us to fully experience the quality of both.

Work-life contamination is the simultaneous execution of work and personal life activities in a manner that prevents us from fully experiencing the quality of either. This is commonly referred to as multi-tasking.

An example is: opening your mail while carrying on an important business conversation with somebody in your office. Not only is it impolite, you might miss something very important.

Resolve to integrate, not contaminate! Your life will be richer and fuller.

Learn more tips at http://www.attackyourday.com

Do you suffer from FPAA?

FPAA is floating paper anxiety attack! It’s caused by writing important messages on scraps of paper, yellow stickies, business cards, the backs of cash register receipts and who knows what all. The paper is easily lost; it mysteriously floats away. Then up goes anxiety. The information is important and time is wasted trying to get it again.

The solution is simple. Use the catch-all space in bucket two. Use one place to record information tidbits. When floating paper is handed to you, write the information in your “one place’ in your time management tool. We get enough stress from outside sources; no need to do it to ourselves.

Saying NO is an instant time saver

Saying no is everyone’s prerogative. Here are four simple tips from author Jo Coudert that help you do it in a way that’s not harsh or unkind.

1. “I’m glad you asked, but my schedule won’t permit me to accept your offer.”
2. “Let me think about it.” (You seldom have to accept on the spot.)
3. Use humor. “I suppose you think I say no just because I’m mean! Well, it’s true!”
4. “Sorry, but that’s not something I do.” (That’s inarguable.)

Be ready. Say no when you mean it. In the long run, it’s much easier than saying yes.  This is productivity tip #30 in our book Attack Your Day! Before It Attacks You.

Stop letting people steal your time!

The most common activities that break our focus are interruptions and distractions by others. If we have a wimpy “no muscle” then we will be dominated by them. Dealing with them is easy. All you really need to know are the four response options and the three focus techniques for saying no.

The four response options to interruptions are easy to use. How do you decide which one to choose? Simply color your choices as we described in the first chapter. The four response options are:

1. Respond and do it now when it’s red, (required immediate action).

2. Reschedule for a later time when it’s green or yellow and can be postponed, (needs to be done today or tomorrow).

3. Refer it to someone else if it’s not in your domain.
4. Refuse to do it when it’s gray. This is when you use your “no muscle.”

The four techniques for refusing or saying no are:

1. The Immediate Response Method
This is when you refuse a request on the spot, immediately after it is made. There are four elements you can include in your refusal statement to soften the response. The elements express:

• A desire to be helpful
• A singular reason you can’t
• An expression of regret
• And a thank you for asking

Here’s an example of the refusal statement using those elements. “I’d love to help but right now I just have too much on my plate, I’m really sorry but thank you for asking.” This is a classy approach most people will feel good about.

Caution: When giving a singular reason for saying no such as your plate is full, don’t give details. The more specific reasons you give, the less persuasive you’ll sound. You are not obligated to give reasons.

2. The Delay Tactic
This is when you are unsure and you want to think through the request. People often say yes when they should say no because they are under the pressure of the moment. For example, use a simple statement such as, “I’d like to but I’m not sure I can. Give me some time to think about it and I’ll get back to you.” If, after thinking about it, you decide you can’t, then use a refusal statement with the elements described above.

3. The Helping Hand Approach
This technique is driven by a sincere desire to be helpful even though you must say no. For example, recommend to the person somebody else who might assist them, or you could suggest alternative solutions. You might also agree to commit some limited time to it. It’s good time management to always lend a helping hand when we can.

4. Just say NO
This takes courage. But when a person approaches you with “gray matter” just say NO. Remember, gray stands for activities that are a complete waste of time, such as office gossip. In our seminars we go through an exercise where participants stand up and yell in their loudest voice, “NO…NO, NO, NO. What part of no don’t you understand! Can’t you see that I am working here!”
Practice these techniques and your “no muscle” will get stronger and stronger.

Clutter Is The Wake Of Running Rushed

A messy office and desk top, a disorganized residence, and the general chaos of clutter is often the result of being frantically behind schedule.  Consequently, there is no time to put files and physical objects back where they belong.  Things are left out or tossed here and there and become harder to find the next time.

Get ahead of the game.  Plan on the front end how much time your activities will take, and you’ll reduce stress on the back end.  You’ll have time to put things away and save tons of time by not having to search for things.  It can be done.  Work to develop the habit and “mess stress” will be gone!

This is productivity strategy #62 from the book Attack Your Day! Before It Attacks You co-authored by Mark Woods and Trapper Woods, time management experts. Attack Your Day

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