An Inspiring View

We recently had the great opportunity to have dinner with one of the most successful business book authors of all time. The restaurant was located on a beach in Southern California. After dinner we were walking along the shoreline and he pointed out that one of his first offices was located just down the street, on a point overlooking the ocean. I semi-jokingly made the comment that if I had an office like that, I wouldn't be able to get anything done because I would be too busy enjoying the beauty of the view. He then shared a very interesting thought with us.

He said that when he works in an environment that has good views and that is inspiring to him that he actually thinks bigger, is less constrained and is more productive. He went on to explain that to him, his physical surroundings made a big difference to the quality and substance of what he accomplished.

Where do you do your best work? We might not have a view of the ocean from your desk. Some of us might be staring at cubicle walls most of the day. But consider the notion that wherever you choose to do what you do can influence you. Do what you can to create an environment that is condusive and inspiring. You might start with hanging some pictures or quotes that have meaning to you. Maybe a fresh coat of paint will make a difference. At the very least remove clutter from your desk and surroundings that can distract and even overwhelm you. Choose to be inspired and motivated to do your very best work by creating the proper environment.

"Time" Pennies May Be Costing You Dollars

In the February issue of Fast Company Magazine, the Numerology article states that the cost to produce a penny is 1.6 cents. Seems harmless enough, right? Maybe, until you read the next sentence which says the US Mint lost over 19.8 million dollars last year producing the pennies. That's a number that will get your attention!

Many of us are guilty of a similar dilemma in the use of our time on a daily basis. We reason that 3-5 minutes lost per day isn't that much. And flipping through TV channels or aimlessly web surfing for 30 minutes a day doesn't impact our ability to get other "more important" things done. But start allowing the numbers to accumulate over a period of time and things look quite different.

Let's look at what 5 minutes per day of "lost time" looks like:
In a week: 35 minutes
In a month: 150 minutes (2 hours 30 minutes)
In a year: 1825 minutes (Over 30 hours!)

Think about that the next time you are tempted to just aimlessly pass the time away (unless of course you need an intermission). Here are a few suggestions on how to make better use of that seemingly insignificant amount of time:

• Have articles (electronic or hardcopy) you could read in 5 minutes or less
• Review your task list and make appropriate changes and updates
• Do some quick strategic planning by asking yourself questions like, "What is the one thing I need to work on tomorrow that would make the biggest difference?" "What are 3 things that will require more of my attention in 1-3 months? What could I do to prepare now to better address those issues/items?"

Most importantly, don't discount the "change" a few minutes well-spent could make for your circus.

A Tip From The Literary World

While working on our next book, I came across a writing tip that offers insight for those struggling with too much to do. The tip is, Eliminate unnecessary words. Sounds simple enough, but in writing it is easy to add lots of words to make sure you get your point across in full detail. Unfortunately, in that desire to get the message across people can get lost in all the explanation or illustration.

The tie with time management is simply this-Eliminate unnecessary activities. Within your ability to control, take out as many things as you can that don't contribute to your purpose or help you accomplish what's really important to you.

The goal is to bring clarity to your day, focusing most sharply on those 4-5 things you can undertake that will make the biggest difference. Making a mile long to do list and then trying to pick out what is most important is like reading a book that's too "wordy." It's easy to get lost.

Slow Down

Sometimes to be more effective and productive you have to slow down. "Experts" recommend strategies like multitasking and systems that will allow you to do more stuff in a day. Yes, there are ideas that when implemented will make you more effective and efficient (we train on them all the time) but the notion of slowing down might be one that will help you the most.

Consider some of the benefits of slowing down:

• Your thoughts and ideas are more deliberate and you are less scattered


• You make fewer mistakes


• You are present in the moment rather than doing one thing and thinking about 5 other things that you need to do next (multi-tasking is bad)


• With your slower pace you are more strategic with what you are working on because you have to say "no" to the trivial and less important


• By slowing down you will be less apt to burnout and ruining your health

Sure you might not get as much done in the day. But by slowing down, the quality of what you do accomplish will increase, you will feel better physically and mentally and you might even find some time to stop and smell the roses.

The Pareto Principle Appears Again

Most all of us have heard of the Pareto Principle or the "Law of the Vital Few." According to Wikipedia it is the principle that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. The principle is touted in business as "80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers." Research again and again shows the truth of this principle-and I saw another one last week that confirmed it once again.

According to the authors of the book, Empowered, research shows that in online social media (blogs, review sites, discussions, networking, etc.) 16% of users generate 80% of the content. The small impact the many.

Bring this proven principle to your day. What if you frequently reviewed your schedule and tasks and identified the 20% of tasks that accomplish 80% or so of your purpose? You would probably work harder to protect those items and insure their completion. They would take the highest priority in your day or week and you would build the rest of your schedule around them-instead of hoping you got time to work on them. You would also work to be more efficient with the other 80% of what you do so you could be more effective with the 20% that makes the largest impact.

Try the Pareto Principle today. You might just find that the few tasks you really focus on can make the biggest difference.