Try Something Simple

While at a conference last week, I was talking with a couple of business people about what Juggling Elephants and some of the strategies we share in the book. One of the individuals said, "I heard a speaker on time management last year and they gave me the best advice." "What was it?" I replied. Her response was priceless: "They said I should keep one to do list instead of having multiple places where I write things down." I would have expected to hear that 20 years ago, but not today.

In a time when there are a bazillion techniques to improve how we manage our time, it's good to remember that the simple solutions often offer the greatest potential for improvement. Simple techniques like:

• Take 10 minutes to plan your day
• When making your task list, list things you WANT to do, not just what you HAVE to do.
• Before leaving work, clean your desk of clutter and items from the day.
• Keep a note pad and pen next to your bed. As you have thoughts you want to remember, write them down instead of trying to remember them first thing next morning.
• If there are physical items you can't forget to take to work the next day, load them in the car the previous night.
• Keep only one calendar
• Review your task list throughout the day-not just when you first make it.

What are some simple solutions you find that work for you?

Time Management Advice From Someone in India

We received an interesting comment about Juggling Elephants from a man in India. He was reflecting on the value of the book and said, "In today's world, children should be introduced to books like these like they are to computers." At the risk of sounding self-serving, we agree.

When families are more time crunched than ever, it only stands to reason that the time available to children to complete their homework, practice a musical instrument or participate in sports and have time to engage in leisure activities is reduced. They don't (and shouldn't) have the complex schedule of an adult, but understanding the need to maximize the use of their time is important if they are going to have more time available to, well... be a kid.

If you want to teach your child some basic concepts on how to manage time based on Juggling Elephants, get out three hula hoops and visually show them the need to spend time in each ring-and the consequences if they don't. Or, grab some sidewalk chalk and draw the rings on a sidewalk or driveway (get permission first). Introduce them to the idea of being the one in control of some of their choices-of being the ringmaster.

Like our friend from Mumbai said, it's a skill that is just too important to overlook.

Formula For Creating The Juggling Elephants Routine

While reading the Game On! sports column in the USA Today last week, I found an interesting formula. Reid Cherner, one of the columnists, made the following statement: I don't know how many more boats the golf gods can send before [Tiger] Woods realizes he needs to climb in before he drowns. This is simple math. Family concerns + health concerns + poor play - Haney [swing coach] = time off. He needs to unplug, go acoustic and then reboot.

His comments got me to thinking... what is my formula that creates a juggling elephants scenario? What are the "perfect storm" of interruptions, life situations or poor choices that render me ineffective or unproductive? And how could I work to prevent them from adding up and "crushing" me. Tiger failed to take action on improving any of his situations and the results are obvious. While our challenges may not be as large or dire or even immoral, they still represent a dangerous mix when they start adding up-and we take no action. Especially if we take no intermission, to, as Cherner states, reboot.

Jada stopped Juggling Elephants

While waiting in the doctor's office with my dad this week I was perusing through the collection of magazines on the table. It's amazing where you can find stories and examples of people who literally have been juggling elephants and made the conscious decision to stop. Today's nugget comes courtesy of the June 2009 Oprah Magazine (Hey! It's a doctor's office-you didn't expect March 2010 did you?).

Jada Pinkett Smith is an actress, producer, writer and mother. She is also the wife of the actor Will Smith. In the article she writes, One day I was so overwhelmed I thought I might be crushed under the weight of all the responsibilities I'd taken on. Her solution came to her in a moment of meditation-The less I do, the better things will go.

She then offered two bits of advice on how she stopped juggling elephants (my words-not hers). They were:

• Being present. Whether at work or with your family, do what it takes to really BE in the moment.
• Trust that the people around her could do their jobs. A powerful insight in the article was When I was trying to control the people around me, they felt suffocated and invalidated. When I let go, they felt empowered, which created an atmosphere of harmony and there was peace within the everyday chaos.

In the closing of the article she writes, Since then [since she stopped juggling elephants], it's been a year of bliss. I don't have to go around trying to save everybody anymore. That's not my job. I took off the control freak crown, and now my headaches are over. To me, that sounds like a pretty good reason to stop juggling elephants.

The Elephants of Tomorrow

Yesterday we were meeting with attendees at the Training Trade Show in San Diego. It was fantastic to hear of training managers and others talk of how they are using Juggling Elephants. For some it was a book club, while others are doing their own training through our Train the Trainer program and still others have us booked for a keynote or live training program sometime this year. We always enjoy getting to know those who are sharing the message with others.

One of our favorite moments at a trade show is when someone who has not heard of Juggling Elephants says, "So what is Juggling Elephants?" We then simply say, "Do you ever feel like you have too much to do?" and the expression on their face says, "I get it now."

When talking with one attendee, we were explaining Module 6 of our training program-Continuous Improvement. He didn't see the value of focusing on such a concept in a program like ours. I simply said, "So, are you ready for the elephants of tomorrow?" He said, "No. I'm just trying to deal with the ones today." I replied, "Well, if you could do something small today or this week to prepare to deal with tomorrow's elephants, would that be of value?" His smile said it all.

Like others, too often I find myself so hyper focused on the elephants of today that I never give thought to the ones on the way. My circus seems to function better when I have at least one act that deals with an elephant coming in the future.

What could you do today to better prepare for the elephants coming your way? Remember-there are always more elephants on the way.