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7 Strategies for Getting Things Done

2/20/2015

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PictureAs busy as we are, there's always time for a joke.
February 18, 2015 by Jack Canfield

One of the most common questions I receive is “Jack, how do you get so much done?” It’s a fair question, considering I’ve written 150 books, deliver an average of 50 live presentations around the world each year, invest a considerable amount of time with my Train the Trainer students, lead the Transformational Leadership Council, yet still have time to cultivate an amazing relationship with my wife, spend time with my kids and close friends, and take excellent care of my health.


Strategy #1: Get Clear About What’s RequiredWhen people set goals, particularly at the beginning of the year when working on their New Year’s resolutions, they tend to be overly optimistic about how much is actually possible. As a result, they over-commit or make lists that are far too long.

I’ve fallen into this trap before. I’ve learned that to be realistic, I must take the time to break goals down and ask, “What would actually be required for me to achieve this goal? How many hours would that take?” Once I have a list of activities and estimates of the time needed to achieve each item, I pull out my calendar and start scheduling all the activities.

This is the point when you come face to face with reality. If you realize that there’s not enough time in the day to accomplish everything you want, it’s time to go back and prioritize your goals. Once you’ve identified the things that are most important to accomplish, schedule the activities that those goals will require, and set aside the rest of your goals for later.

Strategy #2: Create a Daily ScheduleSimply setting aside time in your calendar may not be enough to achieve your goals. I go the extra step and create a daily schedule. Additionally, I use the Rule of 5. Each day I choose 5 specific tasks that will move me toward the completion of my goals and I ensure those tasks are included in my daily schedule. Daily use of the Top 5 Priority Action post-its can help keep your daily task list front and center. So if one of my daily tasks is to work on my book, I don’t simply say, “I’ll work on my book today” – I actually designate the hours that I’ll work on my book. This has been an essential step in ensuring that things actually get done.

To stay motivated, I review my yearly goals once a week, and then I plan my week around those goals. I identify what I need to accomplish in the coming week to achieve my long-term goals, and then I book those activities into my calendar. Each evening before I leave my office, I finalize my schedule for the following day.  When I walk in each morning, I can be productive immediately rather than wasting precious time figuring out what I’m going to do.

Strategy #3: Focus on the "Big Rocks"When planning my daily schedule, sometimes I realize that I have an unreasonable amount of work on my to-do list for the next day. I know that I can’t get it all done. This is when I turn to my list of “Big Rocks” – my most important priorities. (If you are not familiar with the terminology, “Big Rocks” comes from Dr. Stephen Covey’s method of time management. I keep my Big Rocks in a list on my iPad. The Big Rocks are the things I need to get done this quarter. When my daily schedule is overbooked, the Big Rocks are the things that get done.

Strategy #4: Center and VisualizeI start each day with a meditation to help me get grounded. Before I get up from my meditation cushion, I mentally rehearse my day, visualizing and feeling myself staying focused, working efficiently, and being productive. This helps to activate the Law of Attraction, lining up the inner and outer resources to make my day go smoothly.

Throughout the day, I do “refreshers.” Periodically throughout the day, I’ll close my eyes and focus on my breathing for a few minutes. This helps to center me and restore a sense of calm.

In addition, whenever I begin a new segment on my schedule, I’ll take a few seconds to visualize that section of my day going smoothly. When sitting down to write, I’ll visualize my writing going well. When I prepare to make phone calls, I’ll visualize my conversations going well and achieving the desired results.

Strategy #5: Keep ScoreTo stay on track to achieve goals, it’s important to keep score. This means assessing, each day, whether or not you’ve done what was necessary to achieve your goals.
For score-keeping to be effective, you must have your goals and score-keeping tool somewhere where you’re going to see it. If you can’t easily see your score, you can’t reasonably assess where you are.

There are a number of ways to keep score. When you were little, your parents or teachers may have helped you keep score with a sticker chart, where you’d get a sticker every time you kept your commitment to do your homework, for example. Some adults find that this approach is still effective. You could also use a simple checklist that lists your various to-do items and deadlines. Checking each item off as it’s completed can be powerful.

I’ve also discovered that there are several phone apps that work well for keeping score. If your smartphone is a constant companion, it would be a wise move to put your scorekeeping on your phone so it’s always handy. One of my favorite apps is Don’t Break the Chain, designed with the Jerry Seinfeld motivation technique. Jerry Seinfeld wanted to write a book, so he put a big red X every day through the calendar when he actually wrote. He didn’t want to break the chain of red X’s, hence the name Don’t Break the Chain.  (Click here for a list of apps reviewed by About.com.)

Strategy #6: Celebrate MilestonesCelebrating your progress along the way is essential to staying motivated. If you set a goal that takes nine months to achieve, it’s hard to stay motivated the entire time because there’s no payoff. So build in milestones to celebrate along the way.

If your goal is to lose weight, celebrate every two pounds you lose. If you’re writing a book, celebrate every 20 pages that you write. If your goal is to book 35 speaking gigs, celebrate every 5 engagements that you book. Celebrating milestones keeps you inner child excited, because it feels rewarded for all of the efforts it’s made.

Strategy #7: Schedule Down TimeWhen you’re on fire to achieve your goals, it’s tempting to skip free time. (This is when you often here people say, “I’ll rest when I’m dead.”)

However, when you deny yourself free time, you get tired. You become less efficient. You make poorer decisions and are less creative. Your inner child can get resentful of the demanding pace, and it becomes easy to get burned out. That’s why I plan free time into my schedule to rest and rejuvenate.

My friend Dan Sullivan of The Strategic Coach, Inc., taught me to schedule three types of days into my calendar. Focus Days are primetime for work. Buffer Days are for practice, preparation and miscellaneous details, such as dental appointments or getting caught up on email. Free Days are the third type of day. They’re 24-hour periods dedicated to resting and recharging. I’ve found that scheduling Free Days have resulted in a greater level of passion, creativity and energy in my work.

Your goals are important – not only to you and your family, but to the world. You have a purpose, and your goals are how you are meant to live your purpose. The seven strategies I’ve shared here have been essential to my ability to get things done. Use them to ensure that when 2015 comes to an end, you’re celebrating the accomplishment of your goals, rather than regretting what hasn’t happened.


Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul®and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Want to accelerate your ability to achieve your goals?  -  A note From Michael Kline - Join me at one of our local public Success-a-thon 1 Day Workshops. This is a fantastic introduction to The Success Principles. We also offer customized 1/2 day, full day and multi-day programs for your company or organization. Click here for more information on The Success Principles seminars and our unique training programs that make the work more sustainable for organizations.

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One Thing Fixes Everything. Not.

7/30/2014

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Picture
So often, we think we have just the right idea to solve a problem. It seems so simple, if we could just get others to see our brilliance, we could solve all our problems!

My niece is staying with us for her annual vacation in the mountains, something she’s been doing since she was 8 years old, and her visits just keep getting more interesting. In the beginning, like most children, she had an answer for everything. Now, as she is applying for medical school, she is much more educated, and I am happy to report, wiser as well. She has realized something that many people either never realize, or at least do not like to admit.  We do not have single solutions to most problems. Even simple problems have complex issues just below the surface. The
following is a real question from Brown University Alpert Medical School application:

Imagine that you are approached by a multibillionaire philanthropist who wants to donate a substantial fund of money to a single project with the goal of “fixing the US healthcare system”. He or she asks for your expert opinion on what project this money should go towards; what would you advise and why?

This led us to an interesting conversation about the real challenges facing healthcare – seemingly unsolvable by our government throughout history, unsolved by the insurance industry, the hospitals, the universities, the non-profits, the churches and the World Health Organization, but a reasonable question to present to students who have yet to enter medical school. At least we will learn how she thinks. Frankly, she thinks the school admissions folks could learn to clearly state a question, because as we picked this one apart, it could mean a wide variety of things, but that is another story.

If the intent of the question is to ask for one project that could have the most impact, as opposed to the one project that could “fix” the whole system, we could have a fighting chance. We discussed a few paths, none of which we decided on. 1. Buy congress. There’s a reason the food and chemical companies do this - this may be the least expensive path to getting laws changed that dramatically affect the safety and health of food, alcohol and tobacco, school lunches, insurance, etc. 2. Hire ad agencies to make the truth about health appear as sexy as the lies we get from industry that has a profit motive in conflict with health and wellness. 3. We always seem to have money for wars and fighting the marijuana trade (who would be happy to pay taxes). Surely, we could find a way to house, feed and treat mentally ill homeless people, instead of using the Emergency Department. I bet by now, you have some ideas of your own – universal healthcare? Repeal the Affordable Care Act? Go back to the system we hated before the system we hate now? Rely on charity and churches? Promote personal responsibility? Sue the fast-food joints? Get kids to be more active?  If the question was to identify a single project, for which you have passion and why, that
would make more sense. 

To ask for a single project with the goal of “fixing the system” strikes me as absurd.


How do you approach problems in your life or workplace? Do we look for a solution? Do we look inward to ourselves and think we can solve it alone? Do we look to the one person responsible and ask them to find a solution?  Every problem is complex. We are inextricably linked to one another in so many ways. The ripple effects of our decisions cause unintended consequences for our employees, our customers, suppliers, neighbors, etc.  A lack of easy solutions frustrates us, so we short cut to a simple solution that solves our immediate problem and we decide we will worry about other things later. This happens even with simple problems. For example, I went for an iced coffee and waited almost ten minutes because now, iced coffee gets in line behind all the specialty drinks. This can take quite a while on a busy day. I asked why they no longer just pour iced coffee the way they do hot coffee and learned they changed it a year ago to ease the burden on the front line people. I wonder if any customers were consulted before making this change.  I am practicing being patient, and learning to embrace long lines when I have the time. Otherwise, on a busy day, choose hot coffee or leave. I wish I had a voice.  
 
Does this sound familiar? Right now, we just need to “fix”this problem, whatever it is. My advice is to slow down. Invite the stakeholders, host the difficult and time-consuming conversation, review your true goals, and make a decision
when you find the wisdom to solve a problem that is most win/win, and that is most congruent with the ultimate mission at hand. None of us is smart enough to do this by ourselves. Further, most problems require more than just a single solution.

Michael Kline is a professional facilitator, success coach and trainer. He may be reached through his website, www.klineseminars.com, or  e-mail, mike@klineseminars.com.

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The School Budget, Charlie Sheen and Chili

3/23/2011

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The Entreprenologist
Conway Daily Sun March 23, 2011
Ok, this week I admit, I’m intentionally being provocative in my title!  However, we’re going to cover all three topics and learn something in the process. The world has changed almost immeasurably in the last month.  Between Japan and the middle east, I wouldn’t know where to begin. The great teacher Dr. Stephen Covey suggest we put all these things that concern us into our “circle of concern” and put everything we have some influence over into a smaller “circle of influence”.  The more we focus our energy on our circle of influence, the larger it grows and the more effective we will be.

In our local circle of influence during March, we had the school budget, our response (if any), to Charlie Sheen, and the annual Chilly Chili Cook-off in N. Conway Village. All three have lessons and observations worth considering.

Last year, I spoke at the Annual Business Expo and talked about four major challenges facing business today and what to do about them – they were Execution Failure, a Lack of Trust, Doing More with Less and Dealing with Fear. Well hello future!  Here we are experiencing exactly these challenges in business, government and local boards.

The school budget seems to be on everyone’s lips these days. I’m sorry I missed it; it’s just not the same watching a recorded version and hearing the analysis of others. I’m pleased to see so many people caring enough to turn out and express themselves. I’m also grateful for the few who volunteer to serve on these boards for what must be the most thank-less job ever.

What have we learned from the big meeting? We’ve learned that angry mobs win in Conway, not so much in Wisconsin. We’ve learned that bullying is a problem in schools and sometimes it even involves students. We’ve learned that most people want their own needs satisfied first before they will listen to the position of others. This last one is at the route of most stalemates and is most unfortunate. If it were a different day, at a different meeting, say on taxes, the same people who wanted to lynch the budget committee would have elected them to the legislature – I think they might have been called tea-partiers, who won a lot of elections with generalized anti-tax talk that pleases people until the people discover they were the ones to be cut.

None of this is easy, but it is pretty simple. We as a community, like any business or organization, need to decide on our priorities. Is it low taxes or better education or some combination? To do this, we need to be able to communicate intelligently and with good data and without fear or intimidation.  A good time to do this would be at the many, many meetings that happen all year long; not just to complain after the hard work is completed by others. Then we need leadership to focus on what the organization (community, in this case) wants, regardless of their personal feelings or agenda. Priorities, focus and communication are paramount during these turbulent times. Building trust has to take place before we can expect real negotiations with employees or unions or taxpayers or parents. Taking full advantage of every available resource is critical – that means getting these good and caring people off the bleachers and onto the committees and attending meetings year-round to give their valuable input and creativity. This also means appreciating the talent we have in our teachers, most of whom give more than they get. We also need to appreciate and respect the taxpayer and look for efficiencies wherever they might be found.

Thank goodness Charlie Sheen wasn’t on our budget committee, and that’s all I have to say on that subject!

The annual Chilly Chili Stroll was a fantastic example of how well our community works together when there is vision, leadership, trust and communication. Forty three (yes, 43) different chili chefs, thirteen separate venues throughout N. Conway Village, and numerous volunteers to deal with traffic, parking, setup, take down, clean up, promotions, supplies, judging, etc.  One seemingly simple event (they’re never simple), brilliantly executed, delivered enjoyment to hundreds of visitors and locals alike, while driving foot traffic to our local stores and restaurants while building friendships and community. Yes, it was easier than running a school district, but harder than running some small businesses. My point is, it’s a great example of how well we can work together one little project at a time. I can hardly wait to be amazed once again by Valley Pride day on May 7th and Kindness Weekend May 28th. We’re lucky to live where we do and to enjoy seemingly endless opportunities to be happy and to constantly be getting better at anything we decide to make better.  We just need to decide.

Michael Kline is a local retailer, success coach and trainer. He may be reached through his website, www.klineseminars.com, or e-mail, mike@klineseminars.com.
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Do You Own a Job or a Business?

2/12/2010

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There was a time in your past when you were the best employee for someone else.  Eventually you grew weary of answering to someone who wasn’t even as good as you, and you spent your unhappy days making money for them!  It was time to be your own boss.

So now you proudly declare that you work for yourself. You are your business!  If it wasn’t for you, there wouldn’t even be a business! Since most small businesses fail, and you’re still at it after all this time, you must be doing something right! Is that a reasonable assumption?  Well, are you succeeding at what you originally wanted? Or just succeeding at not failing?  Are you making more money than you would be paid working for someone else? That is, can your business afford to pay you what you’re really worth for the time and talent you put into it?  Are you working more hours than you should for the money you take home? Do you give yourself the benefits, retirement, security and paid vacations you could have as an employee?  Are you building equity in your business that you can sell one day when you want to retire or move on?  The big final summary question is this: You probably started a business with the goal of attaining the personal and financial freedom only business ownership can provide. Do you have personal and financial freedom?  Do you have the time to do what you want, with whom you want, when you want and the money to do it?

If you answered yes to the above questions, stop reading and contact me!  If you said no to any of the above questions, let’s talk about how a business becomes all that for its owner. The primary difference is the business owner reaping the most rewards is not just self-employed. They separate their own identity from that of their business.  They spend more time working on their business, not in their business.  If you spend all your time doing the tactical work your business does, (working in your business) who is doing the strategic work (working on your business)? Right, no one. One of the best examples of this is any fast food chain.  How much time does the owner spend behind the counter or in the kitchen?  Do they care any less?  Does the quality or predictability of service change when the owner is there or away? Of course not. Do they sit at home counting money? Well of course, but that’s not all they do; they work hard, but they work on their business, not in their business. We spend five months a year away from our stores in N. Conway. Do we have good staff? You bet we do, but so do you!  If you have to be at your store, what do I and every chain store know that you don’t? Why do the big name stores at the outlet malls run with managers not owners, and those managers make more money than most independent store owners? By the way, this is true for professional services, too, not just restaurants and retailers.

So if you accept that you own a job that you can’t quit, has low pay, long hours, no benefits and you may be working for an idiot, what do you do about it?  How do you transition to owning a business that works for you instead of the other way around?  Due to the limits of what we can cover in one article, I’ll just throw out one place to start.  Make an organizational chart for every position in your company – even if you are only 2 or 3 people, make the chart with a box for every position – janitor, deliveries, receiving, bookkeeping, sales, service, receptionist, manager, sales manager, quality control manager, etc.  Even if your name goes in almost all the boxes, the point is to define the responsibilities and work toward replacing yourself in as many boxes as possible as quickly as possible. This will cause you to create systems that work if you are to have others replace you. It becomes about the work, not the person doing the work. This will also requrie a combination of delegating responsibility to others as well as growing your business to justify hiring people to fill some of the boxes. Suddenly, growing your business is more important, isn’t it?!  The goal for you and everyone on the chart is to replace yourself – that’s the only way to move out of the boxes you want to leave behind and spend more time in the boxes you like. As long as you’re always planning to grow, you will always have many more boxes than you have staff. Your staff has the job of building helping other people; to build them up take their job instead of protecting their turf and keeping coworkers down. Imagine the power in that attitude shift alone!

Your job is to spend more time working on your business and less time working in your business. Most owners need to properly delegate(with detailed goals, procedures, resources and authority), limit interruptions (email and social media can be a big time thief) and set deadlines for yourself and others (meet those deadlines). Most importantly, establish top priorities and without sealing your kid's Ritalin, stay focused.

Recommended reading - many of the lessons discussed here are covered in Michael Gerber’s book The E-Myth Revisited. For help in applying the ideas to your real life business, contact me
for a free consultation.


Our next article will discuss priorities and getting company-wide alignment to focus on your top priority.
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    Michael Kline

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