Graham Allcott

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Image by AZRainman

In every organisation, especially as organisations grow, we make assumptions about how we operate. Some of these are cultural norms which help grow the organisation or ensure great service. And some of these are toxic assumptions.

In the 1990’s Marks and Spencer was a thriving business that made unchallenged assumptions that later proved to be toxic. They assumed…

• M&S does not need to accept credit cards
• M&S doesn’t need to advertise
• M&S doesn’t need to have a January sale or a summer sale.

These views were shared amongst staff and shareholders because they believed the business was in good shape, they believed in the quality of their product and their customers were very loyal. But things change.

M&S in 2012 is a very different business. Your organisation will be a very different organisation in 20 years than it is today.

So what toxic assumptions are you currently making – and what can you do about it?

Graham Allcott

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I’m delighted to say that I’m featured in a great new book to hit the shelves – Soul Trader, by Rasheed Ogunlaru .

I’d definitely recommend you picking up a copy (to store alongside your copy of How to Be a Productivity Ninja of course!)

Through the book, Rasheed wants to help you reconnect with your heart, bring the passion back into your business and remember why you started working in the first place in order to improve your success in the future.

You can pick up a copy on Amazon

Also, when you get a spare 15 minutes, make sure you watch the video conversation between Rasheed and I below – and also head over to Rasheed’s website to watch interviews with other contributors to the book.

Graham Allcott

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I’m delighted to say that I’m featured in a great new book to hit the shelves – Soul Trader, by Rasheed Ogunlaru .

I’d definitely recommend you picking up a copy (to store alongside your copy of How to Be a Productivity Ninja of course!)

Through the book, Rasheed wants to help you reconnect with your heart, bring the passion back into your business and remember why you started working in the first place in order to improve your success in the future.

You can pick up a copy on Amazon

Also, when you get a spare 15 minutes, make sure you watch the video conversation between Rasheed and I below – and also head over to Rasheed’s website to watch interviews with other contributors to the book.

Graham Allcott

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1. Organise your files/papers into a filing cabinet
2. Organise all files on your computer into relevant folders
3. Have only one piece of paper on your desk
4. Get a another monitor
5. Get adequate sleep
6. Plan everything
7. Plan all meetings/events in a diary
8. Have a notice board to remind you of the most important/pending issues
9. Write a to-do list
10. Assess every item on the to-do list and see if it helps you succeed
11. Break down the steps in your to-do list
12. Do the hardest tasks on your to-do list first
13. Actually carry out the tasks on the to-do list swiftly and reward yourself
14. Use Steven Covey’s four quadrant to-do list
15. David Allen GTD-training is also available
16. Do the important things and avoid (if possible) the non-important things
17. Try to clump similar things together, e.g. call people in a “calling people hour”
18. Kill procrastination as soon as it is born – it is the thief of time
19. Identify why you are not motivated and fight that
20. Don’t leave anything to the last minute, it will cost you time
21. Make a fake deadline and stick to that
22. Put papers in a paper-recycling bin, so you don’t throw anything important away and spend time making amends
23. Always have a real phonebook
24. Make full use of post-it-notes
25. Back up all files on external hard-drive
26. Get a notepad which you should carry with you at all times
27. For three days monitor your time every three minutes
28. When assessing your time, get rid of the things you waste most time on
29. Ask yourself how you can do more in the day
30. Plan to do tasks at their appropriate time (where you are most likely to enjoy them)
31. Constantly ask yourself how you can be more efficient
32. Write a list 100 things you want to do in life
33. Look back every day at this ‘100 things’ list and ask yourself what you did today to achieve them
34. 80:20 rule – concentrate on the 20% of your clients who provide 80% of your income
35. Don’t get down at a bad judgement – it gives experience
36. If you dream something, do it
37. Delegate any task which you can to someone else
38. Pay people to do things which would cost you time (e.g. gardening)
39. Treat the person you delegated to with respect
40. Don’t dump tasks on a person
41. Do the hardest things yourself
42. Let the person use their own imagination and initiative or else they will take too long trying to fit your criteria
43. Give the person a specific date, time, penalty and reward for the task
44. Write things down, even if it is in an email to the person you delegated to – saves future disputes which cost time
45. Don’t sign up to newsletters which you will never read
46. Don’t use/purchase any software which will never benefit you
47. Don’t sign into any IM while working
48. Leave no unread emails in your inbox
49. Keep no emails in your inbox – file them
50. Don’t delete any important emails
51. At the beginning of a phone conversation stating the goals of the conversation
52. Always have phone conversations whilst standing up– they will last less time
53. Call people before lunch so that they want to get off the phone
54. Have something you WANT to do after the conversation, so you push the conversation along
55. Get time management courses for collegues
56. Use hands free/Bluetooth so you can do more than be on the phone or call while walking
57. Switch the speaker on when waiting in a phone call and do something productive while waiting
58. Work in such a place where there will not be distractions
59. Put a lock on your office door to prevent distractions
60. Ensure there is no noise when you receive an email – a big distraction
61. Switch your mobile off or put it on silent and away from yourself when working
62. In one-to-one meetings explain to your client or whoever that you only have 5 minutes; this gives you an excuse to leave or extend as you please
63. When someone is not leaving your office stand up and walk with them to the door
64. If they still don’t leave, thank them for coming
65. If they still don’t leave, shake their hand
66. If they still don’t leave, tell them you have to go now and say goodbye
67. Make the ‘visitor chair’ in your office uncomfortable to ensure meetings are shorter
68. NEVER put your feet up in your office
69. Don’t have an office chair in which you can lie down
70. Don’t listen to music/radio while working
71. Get a parent-type internet site blocker
72. Smash your TV with a baseball bat, or just put it in the closet
73. Avoid coffee – it will slow you down and you can’t make the best of your time
74. Give up smoking/alcohol because these seriously cost time
75. Get some email training
76. Re-negotiate deadlines as opposed to rushing them
77. In meetings always take minutes to save time in the next meeting
78. All people in the meeting must have their mobiles off
79. Never have a meeting for longer than an hour
80. Only have a meeting if there is a purpose
81. Always have an agenda to follow in meetings and get some facilitating training
82. Learn to say no to people who will be wasting your time
83. Be effective with your time i.e. don’t always try and fit everything in, be sensible
84. Make the most of situations where you can’t do much else e.g. Reading reports while exercising
85. Have a packed lunch if you work out of home so you don’t spend an entire lunch in a queue at McDonalds
86. Sulking and moaning will take up too much time; just get on with what must be done
87. As a freelancer don’t work more than 40 hours in the week unless it is sensible
88. NEVER EVER negotiate the time you spend with your loved ones
89. Use apps on your phone to increase efficiency
90. Don’t regularly switch from one app to another- it’s time wasted
91. Learn to touch type
92. Spend an hour investigating keyboard shortcuts
93. Manage your reading material
94. Manage your reference filing away from your desk
95. Use a label machine
96. Don’t manage time, manage actions
97. Don’t manage time, manage projects
98. Don’t manage time, manage distractions
99. Don’t manage time, manage attention
100. Don’t manage time, manage habits

Graham Allcott

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Season’s greetings from the Think Productive team,

It’s that time of year when things start to wind down and we all get those final preparations done for Christmas. Very quickly, we’ll all be thinking about New Year’s Resolutions, so below is a little New Year’s gift for you.

We understand it’s hard keeping a resolution throughout the whole year, so we have created this kit to help more people succeed in keeping their resolutions. The kit will help you select resolutions and how to plan ahead so you can achieve them.

Click Here to download your resolution kit.

We hope the kit is useful and feel free to share with your colleagues and friends.

Have a great break and we will see you in the new year!

In my previous post I spoke about how to plan your workload and stick to it (which can be found here)

So now we understand how to plan our work let’s look at how to avoid wasting time.

1- Use your time wisely
• Consider accessing your e-mail only at certain times of the day and let your voice mail pick up your calls to give you an uninterrupted hour or two.
• Do not open your mail unless you have time to read it and take action on it; that is, reply to it, delegate it, file it or discard it.
• When you do have the time to read emails, if possible, never touch the same email twice. Deal with each email as soon as you look at it, again this maybe to take action on it, reply to it, delegate it or discard it.
• Turn off your email notifications so you are not drawn to a new email every time the little box pops up.

2- Get organised
• Organise your desk, your hard-copy and computer files and your e-mail folders so you can find things easily. Far too much time is wasted searching for lost information. Benjamin Franklin said it best: “A place for everything, everything in its place.”

3- Stay on task
• Have a clearly designated “in” tray so people do not put things on your desk randomly. Have you ever returned from a meeting to find extra files, letters and documents all over your desk? Instead of following your own schedule, you probably became sidetracked by someone else’s priorities.

4- Avoid disruptions
• If you have a door, close it occasionally. Having an “open-door policy” for your staff is self-defeating if you don’t have the time to really listen to their questions and concerns. If a coworker comes to your desk when you’re too busy to chat, ask to set an alternate time to meet.

1- Maintain a to-do list and actions list
Create a to-do list and make it a habit to continually update it. Include urgent and non-urgent items so you’ll never forget or overlook anything again. Carry your list with you at all times, either in your iPhone or your daily agenda. This is practical for when your trains delayed – you can go through your list and pick out and do things while you wait for the train. Also, be sure to break down your projects and assignments into specific action points. For instance, instead of noting “Prepare Performance Reviews,” write:

NEXT ACTIONS:-
• Research absenteeism records on employees
• Review personal files
• Read employee goals
• Assess performance
• Prepare “Performance Review” documentation
• Meet with employees to discuss reviews

2- Allocate your time
Include an estimated time frame for each action point and the date by which the task must be completed. If the order in which you perform the tasks doesn’t matter, you might be able to accomplish something during unexpected pockets of free time. For instance, you could research information on the internet while waiting in your office for a conference call to begin.

A great tip here is to do the your worst task first – more info on how to do this here: worst first

3- Set and respect deadlines
Be realistic about setting deadlines and strive to meet them. It’s true that any task takes the exact amount of time allotted to it. Have you ever noticed how quickly you can blitz through paperwork, delegate assignments and make decisions on the last day before you go on holiday? Although we tend to get a lot done when we’re under pressure, it is a lot less stressful and considerably more professional to establish and stick to an action plan.

However if you find you only work best in pressure then try the Pomodoro technique to get more done. Find out how to use this technique and download the pomodoro eBook here

1. Get organised:
Choosing which task need to be done and how long to spend on them can be a difficult obstacle on its own; we suggest using the points below to choose your task:

• Choosing your tasks based on a combination of how much energy you have and the task priority
• The next action you actually need to take in order for your tasks to move forward
• Where you need to be in order to proceed with these tasks

2. Use your time productively:
It may seem like you have to be connected to your emails every second of the day but this can in fact put you under unnecessary stress. Seeing messages in your inbox = more work, more work which you can’t do at present. If you can’t work on these tasks right now then why check your email?

It may be useful to give yourself 10minutes at the beginning of the hour to check your emails and organise them, for the rest of that hour concentrate on completing the task in hand and NOT checking your emails.

3. Don’t waste time in meetings:
If you receive a meeting request, ask yourself if you really need to be at that meeting, or if the meeting is absolutely necessary. If not then cancel!

4. Preparation:
Ever had the problem of not being able to find something you need, when every other day it was right in your face? How frustrating is that?

Organise your desk and computer files so you don’t waste time looking for files/notes/stationary when they are needed most.

5. Take a break:
Short breaks can help you to relax, feel energised and positive, so get away from you desk for a few minutes and have some “me” time.

You could use this time to take a walk, get a cup of tea or even watch a video of a cat getting to grips with an iPad!

Once the allocated break time is up get back to your task! (happy, energised and positive)

6. Get help:
If you need assistance in how to implement these tips and more get yourself booked onto a time management workshop!

Think Productive offering in-house and public workshops which help to implement time management systems through the use of “at-desk” coaching. Find out more here: Think Productive

Graham Allcott

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To follow up our visit to Bristol last month, we were back in Bath on Monday for another of our “How to get Things Done” public workshops, facilitated by our South West based ‘Productivity Ninja’ Lee Cottier.

Want to join us for the next one?
You can check out our full list of workshop cities, and all the upcoming dates HERE.

In the meantime, here’s what our latest attendees had to say after the event:

How would you describe the benefits of the workshop to your friends?

• “A complete solution on the day!”
• “A different way to look at your day to day working practice.”
• “A new way of thinking and doing.”
• “Beneficial as makes you think differently about your time.”
• “Have a good system now to track tasks.”
• “How to understand time is not changeable, and how to organise you mind.”
• “If properly implemented and stuck to could change your work life and home life for the better.”
• “Improved flow of work practice – long term sanity!”
• “Life changing – GET ON IT!”

Was there anything you particularly liked?

• “Adding Contexts to actions
• “All of it.”
• “Clarity and practical knowledge of subject.”
• “Exceeded my expectations (I’d expected ‘traditional’ time management).”
• “Expectations were totally exceeded.”
• “Hoped it would be new and refreshing – it was!”
• “Lee was an awesome trainer – felt very comfortable, and he delivered it with knowledge and just the right amount of humour.”
• “Liked the process introduced – made me think about doing things in different ways.”
• “Lots of exercises.”
• “Pace, wit, humour.”
• “Sharing of personal experiences by the trainer and other delegates.”
• “Tagging and Contexts – great ideas!”
• “Teaching style was open but structured, very enjoyable and productive.”
• “The initial ‘braindump’ so that throughout the day I could relate personally to the subjects.”
• “The system approach and flexibility.”
• “Understanding what Contexts to put to tasks.”

Graham Allcott

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Think Productive have teamed up with Train to Gain to offer funding to companies with 5-249 PAYE staff to access our In-house and public workshops.

We have three great offers for you:-
(click on the offer for more information or to see if you are eligible)

50% off our “Getting Your Inbox to Zero” in-house workshop

3 Places on our “How to Get Things Done” public workshop for a total of £50

Free “Getting Your Inbox to Zero” in-house workshop for charities when you place 3 people on our “How to Get Things Done” public workshop

*funding is subject to eligibility