Yes, Thor!

"At the center of the story is The Mighty Thor, a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero and ends up protecting humans when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth."

What can we learn from Thor?

We can learn about "change" and more importantly changing our outlook on things to achieve meaningful things!

Two years ago, Dr. Carol Dweck, author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, addressed the same issue at our lunch & learn webinars. In her presentation, she described two types of mindsets. One that she calls the Fixed Mindset and the other the Growth Mindset. The Fixed Mindset is characterized by a belief that our abilities are fixed and either we have "it" or we don't. While the Growth Mindset believes that we can learn and we can change. While we (and Thor) might seem initially to have a Fixed Mindset, it is possible that circumstances can open our mind to learn and change and adopt the Growth Mindset--a lesson that Thor had to learn by visiting us, humans.

When it comes to productivity and to accomplishing meaningful things, embracing change and adopting the Growth Mindset are critical. One of my opening statements at the Accomplishing More With Less workshop is that we cannot make significant improvements, not to mention breakthroughs, if we don't do things differently (in other words undergo change)!

Let us welcome and embrace what may seem to be initially difficult (even a punishment in the case of Thor) and see what mindset this might open!

Is there a link between volunteering (any kind of volunteering that is oriented towards helping others or a cause of some sort) and being energized, engaged, and productive at work? 

I posed this question recently to a number of business professionals and discussed it with friends and colleagues. I heard many personal stories which seem to support this link between "volunteering" and "productivity." Furthermore the stories go beyond personal productivity to talk about group productivity, team building, better organizational culture, all as a result of volunteering.

One of the answers that I would like to share (from Alex Dail) indicated that:

"There are three key criteria to engaging in volunteer work that will energize you:

1. It has to be something you genuinely care about. You need to feel somewhat like you are willing to bit the rear end of a bear to do it. 
2. You need to be able to commit the time without it being a burden to you, your family or close friends. 
3. It must be something you are getting something in exchange for doing; is it satisfying you intellectually, emotionally, etc.? "

Thanks you Alex for these insights!

As I continue to explore innovative ways to create breakthrough engagement and accomplishments in the workplace, I would like to hear from you! Please share your volunteering experiences and their impact on your productivity at work and beyond!

I couldn't have said it any better. "When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority" said my client today as I was shadowing him in order to better understand his organization's work process and tailor our training programs accordingly. Shadowing is such an insightful exercise. It allows us to take a look at what is under the hood; the nuances that make each work environment unique. It is a great learning for everyone involved; the observer, the one being observed, and everyone around them.

Back to the priority overload

Priority overload seems to be a common complaint which we hear about often in our workshops. It is a complaint that we need to pay closer attention to!

Creating a priority (such as communicating that an issue is urgent or a task needs to be performed under a tight deadline) needs to be taken very seriously and exercised with utmost care. If not, and if too many priorities are created, and if they are reactive rather than strategic, the result is counterproductive if not even harmful. If this persists over time, it can lead to the team getting tired, then exhausted, then fatigued, resentful, and maybe rebellious. Then comes exodus!

By the way, priority overload need not be confused with changing priorities and with being flexible and responsive to changes in the marketplace. Priority overload is about having too many priorities to the detriment of being successful at any of them. Changing priorities on the other hand is part of being dynamic and responsive, but should also be considered carefully and strategically.

The key question: "What is the link?"

So how do we ensure that the priorities we are creating or changing are carefully selected and don't backfire? One practice that we stress in the Accomplishing More With Less Workshop is a simple but overlooked one, which is getting into the habit of asking the question "What is the link?" In other words, what is the link between this task, or this priority or project, and the end results that we are seeking? If the link is clear, we are good to go. If not, trouble is on its way and careful reassement is in order!

Managers and executives, beware!  And be strategic! And be attentive as to whether your team is already on the graph above!

This is one of the questions that Dr. Alicia Ruelaz asks in her book Is It ADHD or My iPhone? I am reading it right now, and finding it so insightful and applicable to today's modern life. I am also excited about having Dr. Ruelaz present at our lunch & learn webinar next week (Overcome ADD Symptoms to Achieve Breakthrough Productivity , on May 19), where she will tackle this issue and many others and give us some practical advice on how to overcome the symptoms.

The book starts with an actual quiz. Dr. Ruelaz indicates that the quiz does not replace the assessment done by a professional, but it would give you a head start and helps you determine if you need to take further steps, or if the symptoms are just symptoms of modern life! For many of us, it is modern life. I haven't facilitated a single workshop yet, where people listed many of these symptoms as challenges that they face in today's workplace.

The 7 symptoms include:

• Inner restlessness
• Impulsivity
• Decreased focus
• Lack of Follow-Through
• Emotional Ractivity
• Disorganization
• Social issues

Sound familiar?

The good outcome is that there are things (an abundance of things) that we can do to overcome these symptoms and challenges. Thank you Dr. Ruelaz.

Constant interruptions can really get in the way of our productivity. In a recent conversation with BNET (the CBS Interactive Business Network), I discussed this issue and outlined some tips for those who want to effectively solve these workplace challenges (or "landmines" as the BNET team calls them).

Watch the video and/or check out some of the key points below.

Host Question: I have a colleague who is constantly sending me Instant Messages and often stopping by to talk to me.  It's not that I don't like this person but these constant interruptions are having an adverse impact on my ability to make real progress.  What can I do?

Answer: There are two important issues that we need to discuss with our workgroup.

First, how do we indicate to them that we are focused. In other words, when we are trying to focus and prefer not to be interrupted, how do we make this known to them so they become aware of it and therefore minimize their interruptions? Some groups approach this playfully and agree that a person would post a visible “sign” of some sort indicating that they’re focused. Other groups use their Instant Messenger status.

Second, we need to discuss with our group how do they escalate issues to us when critical issues come up while we’re focused. Using e-mail to escalate issues is not the answer because we would need to monitor e-mail all the time and therefore can’t focus. Phone, cell phone, pager, text messaging, work much better.

Host Question: How about my manager? Many of my interruptions actually come from my manager?

Answer: Ideally, you would have a similar discussion with your manager, and also agree on a response time. It would be helpful if the issues are grouped into two categories: Urgent issues that require immediate attention, and less-urgent that can wait until the next time you are on e-mail or next time you see your manager.

Host Question: So what should managers do?

Answer: I have three tips for managers. First, clearly differentiate between what is truly urgent, and what is perceived urgent. Second, have a designated place to capture the issues that are not truly urgent instead of e-mailing them or calling your team members right away. This can be a paper journal or an electronic document. Third, make it okay for your team to say “no” and to ask to postpone discussions until they are finished with their current focused task.

In Summary?

Constant interruptions can really get in the way of our productivity and to minimize them we need to discuss these issues with our group openly and come up with a win-win formula where we can help each other stay focused and yet stay responsive to urgent and critical issues when they come up.

Additional Resources

• The Results Curve (free download)
• The Accomplishing More With Less Workbook
• The Accomplishing More With Less Workshop

As the deadline approaches for completing the manuscript for the Accomplishing More With Google Apps book, I needed to take some drastic measures to stay on track. One of them was to take two whole days out of my busy schedule and work uninterrupted on writing and editing.

The thought of spending two full days on one task is not necessarily the most appealing especially when it comes to writing and editing; a process that takes energy, creativity, and requires a certain mindset/mood.  I had to pull every trick I know, and every tip  and technique I teach, in order to make it through!

So here are how I turned these 20+ hours of writing into a fun and successful project:

1. Started with a vision:  I spend some time reflecting and reminded myself of why this is important to me, and what the finished product will look like. As you know, I am a strong believer in writing things down. So I described this vision vividly on my journal!
2. Proceeded to breaking the project down: I divided the two days into 4 half-day chunks, with a goal for each, and each half-day chunk, into about 5 or 6 smaller focused sessions. The exact times were loosely defined to allow for flexibility and spontaneity.
3. Alternated between focus sessions and mini-breaks and play time: After each focused session of exactly 35 minutes (for some reason my default guidelines of 40 minutes seemed too long for some reason), I engaged into an active fun break or exercise of some sort. This included moving around, stretching, and/or a little walk. I even designed a 5 minute exercise that I will be soon introducing at some fo the workshops (those who are attending my May 18th workshop are likely to experience it).
4. Arranged the environment ahead of time so I can stay uninterrupted during this project: I cleared the inbox, handled any outstanding and time sensitive issues, and even full cleared my desk. So now my workspace and my mind were ready for focus. Most importantly I cleared by schedule and set the expectation that I won't be available.
5. Stayed offline the whole time: While there was an overwhelming temptation to check e-mail on the breaks, I resisted and shut down e-mail all together. No e-mail and no browsing except when I needed it for my task--writing and editing. With no connectivity, focus got deeper and deeper, and momentum got higher and higher. No connectivity largely contributed to the success of this project.

How did you manage your last important project or deadline? Did you apply any of the above and how? Or what other tricks did you pull to overcome interruptions, complexity, and procrastination?

I belong to this organization (its name to remain anonymous) and it was time to renew my membership recently. I was asked to fill out the membership application again (same application that we filled out last year). Being the productivity and efficiency evangelist that I am, I couldn’t “digest” that request very well. So I objected and questioned why we would be asked to submit the same information again! Shouldn’t we all be focused on doing work that has some purpose after all?

This didn’t stop here! When the application was not received in time, our company profile was deleted from the organization’s website and it seems it was not stored in any other backend database. Now we have to fill out an application that we already filled out previously, and re-submit the profile information that we have submitted previously!

This didn’t stop here either. I got a lengthy response from the baby boomer in charge, explaining the logic behind the “illogical” process!

Let us learn something from Gen Y. And that is having things be practical and doing only things that make sense! Not to mention that Gen Y can’t learn a thing or two from Baby Boomers—I will point that out at the next opportunity as I continue to promote a multi-generational workplace where we all learn from each other! What can you learn from other generations? Your turn!

More Resources

Review recordings of the following lunch & learn webinars at the "Accomplishing more with less" Facebook group:

• Gen Y in Action by Jenny Blake
• Gen X in Action by Adam Christensen
• Baby Boomers in Action by Peggy Wolf
• Seniors in Action by Bill Denyer
• Generational Panel Discussion

While these two strategies apply to a broad range of situations, in this case, I would like to apply them to a specific situation first. Let me start by describing the situation, and then go through the two strategies.

The situation

Last week, Jenny Blake and I started the Inbox Freedom Webinar Series with a big goal in mind! The goal is to help our participants re-assess behaviors and attitudes toward their e-mail inbox through a series of tips, demonstrations, and interactive exercises, and therefore learn new practices to transform the way they look at email and manage e-mail. We want to transform e-mail from ad-hoc, inefficient, and anxiety-producing to structured, effective and anxiety-free.

This is a big goal indeed! Appreciating its magnitude and potential rewards, we structured the Inbox Freedom program in the form of four sessions spread over four weeks to allow the participants to practice in between sessions. Changing mindsets and behaviors doesn’t happen overnight! The Inbox Freedom webinar first session, which took place last week, was mostly geared towards creating awareness about our current perceptions and habits around our email inbox. After all, awareness is the first step in making meaningful improvements. At the end of the session, Jenny summarized the action items that our participants were to engage in before the next session in order to create this awareness and practice the techniques that we described.

Let us assume you are one of our webinar participants and ask you the question: “Have you implemented the steps that Jenny suggested at the end of the session, or not, or to what degree?” If you have, congratulations! And if you haven’t, or if you tried but then stopped too soon, it is likely that you have encountered an obstacle.

Putting aside the tactical and operational obstacles for now, I am mostly referring to and concerned about a different kind of obstacle. This obstacle is very subtle and yet very powerful; sometimes obvious but most of the time transparent. What I am referring to is YOUR OWN THOUGHTS such as:

• This won’t work (or this won’t work for me—it may work for others but not me)
• I started to work on it, but I didn’t get too far
• This would take too much time and I don’t have the time
• Etc.

The Strategies

Two strategies for helping you do the things you know you want to do:

1. Identify and dispute these thoughts

Dr. Albert Ellis uses the word “dispute” to refer to the act of questioning and challenging these thoughts which he calls “irrational beliefs.” In other words, we need to talk back at these thoughts to uncover the deceptions in them and replace them by “rational beliefs” that are more realistic and more productive. Dr. David Burns explains that there are several common distortions in such thoughts and that if we identify these distortions specifically, we are likely to be successful at dismantling these thoughts.

One of the popular distortions is “predicting the future” which Dr. Burns also refers to as “fortune telling.” It seems to be an art that we are all skilled at. “This won’t work” is exactly that: Predicting the future. “this won’t work” has nothing to do with reality. It is just a thought about the future mostly based on our own assumptions and interpretations and tinted by our biases and past experiences. If we replace this thought by something less distorted and more realistic such as “I can see that this is not easy, but I would like to know if this would work.”

Another popular distortion is the “all-or-nothing” distortion. All-or-nothing transforms the world into a binary world (made up of 0’s and 1’s) which may be true for the digital world but not for life as a whole. “I started to work on it, but I didn’t get too far” might fall into this category. How far did you get? Did you get some results or absolutely no results? How much time did you spend on it? What were you expecting? Did your expectations get in the way? These are just a few ways to dispute this distorted thought.

2. Bypass these thoughts

Bypass them and get into the doing. While identifying and disputing the thoughts is an important strategy, getting into action is another powerful strategy that can be done in addition or instead--preferably in addition. Sometimes it is difficult to get into action because of the paralyzing thoughts and therefore disputing them first and identifying the distortions is crucial. But disputing has its limits and it would be difficult to fully dispute and change our mindset without the factual and emotional learning that comes from experimenting.
Now taking this beyond the Inbox Freedom webinar, when you feel hesitant about taking actions and engaging in activities that you know are likely to lead to good outcomes, stop the indecision and hesitation, and identify the underlying thoughts. Then engage in these strategies to move you forward into action and let reality “tell” instead of allowing assumptions and interpretations “rule.”

Join us at the Inbox Freedom Webinar this week

You are invited to join the complimentary Inbox Freedom Webinar Series. Even if you missed session 1, you can still make up for it by viewing the recording on facebook, and register for session 2 now, and start applying and practicting these strategies!

For years, my friend and fellow entrepreneur Dave McClure used the expression "500 Hats" (which became his personal and professional brand) to refer to the many hats entrepreneurs wear as they get a new startup off the ground.  Dave did an outstanding job at wearing these hats and he recently went on to start a new seed fund & incubator program called 500 Startups in which Dave offers advising and investing.

While a few “super” entrepreneurs like Dave McClure and Mark Zuckerberg might enjoy, and even thrive, wearing the 500 Hats, the rest of us are likely to be happier and more effective with far fewer hats. Yet today's workplace, and our own self-inflicted work habits, seem to continuously gravitate us towards wearing too many hats and leaving us more often than not stranded in a world of utter chaos or at best with less-than-optimum performance, and not to mention stress and dissatisfaction.

So let me "simplify!" Are you ready to meet the 5 Hats?

The 5 Hats of Highly Accomplished People

If you have downloaded my free eBook titled the Results Curve: How to Manage Focused and Collaborative Time, you already have a head start in putting these 5 Hats into practice. If not, I invite you to do so to get the full picture and the underlying concepts as well as the specific techniques that will help you stick to these new habits and turn them into natural behaviors.

Hat #1: The Focus Hat

Put on your Focus Hat and dive deep into an important task that is going to make a difference. Meaningful accomplishments don't come from working a few minutes here and a few minutes there. Meaningful accomplishments require focused and purposeful effort. When you are working in few minutes increments, or even seconds nowadays, you may be getting things done and getting some immediate gratification, but hardly thinking strategically and creatively, and rarely solving important and complex problems. 

Depending on the task on hand, keep the Focus Hat on until you have made significant progress. For some tasks, this may be 10 or 15 minutes, while for others, it may be 30 or 45 minutes, or even longer. The Results Curve suggests 40 minutes as the limit and then switching hats for at least a bit before coming back to the Focus Hat.

Hat #2: The Collaboration Hat

After your focused session, take off your Focus Hat and put on your Collaboration Hat. This means check e-mail, voice mail, talk to people, ask for what you need, give others what they need, and be fully collaborative. This is fast paced, total multi-tasking, and utter engagement. With the Collaboration Hat on, go as fast as you want and can, un-limit yourself, and multi-task to your heart’s desire. After all, we live in a highly interdependent and fast-paced work environment. Oh, and don’t forget to check the social networks.

Collaboration is key and therefore the Collaboration Hat is absolutely necessary. And while we hear so many messages about multi-tasking being a problem, Dawna Ballard, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Texas, Austin, confirmed at our lunch and learn webinars a couple of week ago that multi-tasking is not in and by itself the problem. It is only a problem when we “only” multi-task. In other words when instead of wearing the Collaboration Hat, we get stuck with a Collaboration Shirt at all times.

Hat #3: The Play Hat

Take off your Collaboration Hat and go wild (with a little obvious disclaimer here about staying professionally and socially responsible). The concept of play in the workplace continues to be worrisome for some. However research is proving time after time that environments that tolerate or even encourage play are thriving with engagement, innovation, and productivity.  Chuck Hamilton, Manager at the IBM Center for Advanced Learning, talked about the IBM@PLAY program at our lunch & learn webinars last year. Chuck discussed how playful tools and projects are spreading across their workplace including the use of Virtual Worlds to help connect people globally across the organization.

Play means different things to different people. I would like to define it as being whatever activity gets you refreshed, energized, and fully engaged. It is intended to help you avoid heading downhill on the Results Curve into the darkness of boredom and inefficiency. Play can mean getting physically active and engaging in a play activity on one end of the spectrum, to having a few minutes of silence and letting the mind wander on the other end of the spectrum. Stay tuned for more discussions of play activities and for the “playtime challenge” that is coming soon!

Hat #4: The E-mail Hat

Take off the e-mail “shirt” that you are wearing all the time (you know what happens when you wear the same thing all the time) and put on the E-mail Hat. This means don’t treat e-mail like an on-going activity that you do all day long. Last time I checked, e-mail was not part of your job description and you are not being paid to just do e-mail. So I suggest a mind shift: “E-mail is a task, and like any other task, it needs to have a clear beginning and a clear end.” So put the E-mail Hat on and work on this e-mail task—fearlessly and fiercely processing the new messages in your inbox. Then you take your E-mail Hat off and now stay off e-mail until after you gave focus, collaboration, and play the time their deserve. 

Similar to what Dawna Ballard, Ph.D., said about multi-tasking, I extrapolate this to e-mail: E-mail is not the problem, the problem is that we do e-mail all the time. For more details and to view a demo of how to simplify the e-mail task, visit my previous article “Tip-Of-The-Month: How to manage the e-mail overload, part 2 of many.”

Jared Goralnick (Founder of Awayfind.com) and I share a vision in which we want to enable business professionals completely change the way they do e-mail and break free from the e-mail jail. Stay tuned for more information about how to setup automatic notifications based on smart filters so that important messages are relayed to you instead of you having to watch for them on e-mail.

Hat #5: The Light-Focus Hat

While the Focus Hat is critical for the important and strategic tasks that require in-depth thinking, a myriad of other tasks can be handled while still being able to keep an eye and respond to incoming inquiries. The Light-Focus Hat is exactly that--working on our own tasks while still being open to handling incoming inquiries. Put this hat on when you are able and willing to stop the task on hand, handle a request, and then resume your original task. 

The Results Curve Hats

If you have seen the Results Curve, you may enjoy its new look with the key hats I described above:

By the way Dave McClure actually wore a variety of "chapeau" while playing ultimate frisbee around the SF bay area. So don't by shy. Get real hats and make use of them to make a point to yourself first and to your community second! I got my Focus Hat (the one displayed above) and now shopping for my E-mail Hat!

Download the Results Curve for a more thorough examination of our work habits today and how to better manage focused and collaborative time!

Get The Accomplishing More With Less Workbook to get the full picture! See reviews at Amazon.com

If you have been part of our community and participated in our lunch and learn webinars, you probably heard some of Jenny’s exceptional presentations on a variety of workplace issues. If you are new to our community or unexpectedly stumbled on this article, check out the recordings of Jenny’s presentations at the "Accomplishing more with less" group on Facebook:

• Generations in the Workplace, Gen Y in Action
• Generations in the Workplace, Panel Discussion
• Twitter 101, Gen Y Teaches us Twitter
• 5 Social Media Tools You Don’t Want to Live Without

You probably guessed it by now; Jenny is Gen Y! And no surprise that the above is only one facet of what Jenny does. She is also the author of the upcoming book, Life After College: The Complete Guide to Getting What You Want (Running Press, 2011) and she blogs at LifeAfterCollege.org, where she provides simple, practical tips about life, work, money, happiness and personal growth. Her goal is to help people focus on the BIG picture of their lives, not just the details. And by the way, I don’t think I mentioned that she also works at Google, and has been there for almost five years, currently as a Career Development Program Manager and internal coach. And there is more, but we will leave it for future articles!

One of the questions that came up in the Generations in the Workplace Panel Discussion, in which Jenny represented Gen Y, was about bridging the gap between generations and what can generations learn about each other and from each other. As a follow-up to that discussion, and continuing the effort of bridging the gap between generations, Jenny volunteered some additional insights about how best to manage Gen Y in the workplace. 

Tips for Managing Gen Y by Jenny Blake

1. Deliver feedback consistently. Generation Y thrives on feedback. Many of us grew up playing sports, and we are used to getting regular, specific tips about how to improve. Many members of our generation genuinely want to perform at our best and meet (if not far exceed) managers' expectations. Help us contribute as much as we can to the organization by giving us regular, timely feedback. One suggestion for doing this is to put "feedback" as a standing agenda item for your 1:1 meetings so that it becomes a regular, natural part of the communication cycle between managers and employees. Feedback can go in both directions (feedback for the manager should be part of the process) and should include both positive and constructive items as they come up -- no need to force either one. 

2. Set clear expectations. Generation Y grew up completely engaged with (if not often distracted by) technology. It is true that we are constantly being pulled in a number of directions - text messaging, emails, IMs, Twitter, Facebook, the list goes on. Instead of focusing on how we spend (or split) our attention, focus on setting clear performance expectations, then let us get there in a way that makes sense for each individual. Set aggressive deadlines and be specific about the deliverables -- if we meet them, hopefully it will matter less if we are tweeting or texting during the day, as long as we are also getting our work done in an exceptional manner.

3. Set us up to work collaboratively. Generation Y is a social generation who grew up highly involved in after-school sports, clubs and activities. Most of us love to work as a team -- we have better ideas, we hold each other accountable, and we thrive on the idea of learning with others. I, for one, far prefer working with a team (or even directly with my manager) on projects rather than working alone feeling like I am in a vaccum. Set Millennials up for success by giving them projects that encourage collaboration and team work. Although having more people involved sometimes slows things down, it can just as easily work to speed things up and improve the end product.

Visit LifeAfterCollege.org for more tips from Jenny and follow her on Twitter @jenny_blake