Productivity Ninja Characteristics No 1 – Zen-like Calm
Graham Allcott

Graham Allcott

“The mind is for having ideas, not for holding them.” – David Allen

This is the first in a series of posts defining the Characteristics of a Productivity Ninja….

 

Ninja_zen_calmness

So you want to be a Productivity Ninja?

The first characteristic you need to nurture is Zen-like Calm. Good decision-making comes from the ability to create the time and space to think rationally and intelligently. The Ninja realises this, remains calm in the face of adversity, and equally calm under the pressure of information overload. You might not believe this, but it is entirely possible to have a hundred and one things to do and yet still remain absolutely calm.

How do we beat stress and remain calm? I answer this question more fully in my book as well as the practical skills needed for Ninja-mastery of email, tasks, projects and meetings. Here are a few basic principles:

Use your head, don’t use your head!

Be sure that you’re not forgetting important items by keeping all of your support information in a system, not in your head. Be sure that you’re not distracted and stressed by what you could be forgetting – by using a system instead of your own head as the place where information and reminders live.

Trust your system

You need to have trust that whatever systems you use will work. There is a danger that additional stress will be created by the uncertainty of not knowing whether your systems will help you deliver. Sticking to what you trust and trusting what you stick to are crucial. The way to foster this trust and promote the Zen-like calm you need is to regularly consider not just your work, but the process of your work too. Briefly but regularly reviewing how you work will help you to promote clearer thinking in the work itself.

Lower your expectations

Realise that you’ll never get everything done. That’s not the game anymore. Be safe in the knowledge that you’re in control, selecting the right things to do. This does not mean ‘don’t be ambitious’; it does mean that if you have a sense of ambition, you’ll probably experience some times in your life with more on your plate than you can physically do. The truth is that worry, stress and negative thought patterns are tiring and completely unproductive.

Keep your body in good physical condition

Eat porridge. Keeping fit and healthy will not only reduce stress and give your brain the focus and energy it needs to produce clearer thinking and decision making and it means you’ll look hot. It’s a win-win-win! There are hundreds of theories about why physical fitness positively impacts the brain. I discuss a few of them in Chapter 3 of the book.

Be prepared & organised, ready for when times get rough

“I don’t have the time to be organised,” is a common objection I hear when coaching clients towards Productivity Ninja status. But the truth is that when we experience periods of ‘flow’ – the times in our day or week when we’re most productive – the last thing we want to do is be thrown off track by being unable to find some crucial piece of information or by not having the tools we need readily available.

Usually, those people who naturally resist the idea of being organised are the very same people who experience the greatest mindset shift from getting their paperwork, projects, email inbox and everything else under control. It’s immensely calming if you do it regularly, but probably even more so if you don’t normally experience it very often. The realisation that after each battle comes a period of rest and realignment, and the strategic value of preparedness for the battles to come, are central to the Ninja philosophy.

This is an edited extract from How to be a Productivity Ninja. Read more buy the book….

Ninja_zen_calmnessLike this? try these

Book one of our How to Get Things done sessions for your workplace

 Lower Your Expectations – Seriously « thinkproductive.co.uk 

Why teams need managers with zen-like calm « thinkproductive.co.uk 

Use Your Head – Don’t Use Your Head « thinkproductive.co.uk 

 

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Email Etiquette Challenge – 5 Sentences
Graham Allcott

Graham Allcott

EmailAre you drowning in emails? Is Inbox Zero an impossibility right now?

In previous posts we asked you to tell us your Email Pet Peeves, looked at improving your email use by introducing better subject lines, and smarter use of TO, CC and BCC.

In this post we look at how to keep your emails short and sweet.

 

The challenge here is to keep as many of your emails as possible shorter than 5 sentences. The theory is that the shorter the emails you send out, the shorter the ones you get back. Plus think of all the time you’ll save writing and reading long messages!

 

Step 1

Decide to do it. Set yourself a challenge  - spend 1 day writing 5 sentence emails. See how it feels!

Step 2

Tell your colleagues and encourage them to do the same

Step 3

Add a signature to your emails, informing external contacts. Find one at Five Sentences - and more information!

Step 4

Just do it! Yes, there are obviously exceptions to every rule, but the ‘five sentences rule’ is a great benchmark that will add discipline to not just your own emails, but the emails that you receive back in return. 

If you do have a lot to say, that you simply cannot fit into an email, try a link to a Word document report or a phonecall instead – remember, email is just another medium and its not always the most effective one!

 

Email

 

Like this? Try these

Sign up for one of our Email Etiquette workshops

Improve your use of Email Subject Line

Be smarter with TO, CC and BCC

 

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Email Etiquette – How to Use TO, CC and BCC
Graham Allcott

Graham Allcott

Email
The key to sending productive emails, is following some basic email etiquette rules.

If you’re battling with a bulging inbox, you’ll know how infuriating poor use of CC and BCC can be – so here are a few tips for sending, and receiving, better emails.

 

Make it clear why each person is included on the email. Don’t add people unless there is a reason. Spell out what you need them to do. Also, make sure you put them into the right “address category”

TO:

> You are directly addressing that person, or those people (for example, that particular person needs to send you some information, you need them to know something, or you want a response from them).

> Avoid adding more people to the ‘TO’ line than is necessary – they’ll all think they need to do something, and it’ll create confusion

CC

> You’re sending the message to someone else, but you’re allowing the person or people in the CC line to see what’s going on, and allowing the person you’re sending ‘To’ to see who else is up to speed.

> Avoid CC’ing more people than really need to know – ask yourself if some of the people you’re tempted to CC trust you to just get on with it, and the answer’s usually ‘yes’!

> Avoid CC’ing people who you’re expecting actions or responses from – better to address them directly in the ‘To’ column.

BCC

> You’re ‘secretly’ adding someone into the communication.

> Avoid devious use of the BCC button, and be aware that if the person BCC’d clicks ‘reply all’, then everyone else will know you’ve BCC’d them!

> This is useful as a tool to protect the privacy of those on your lists when sending group emails or mailshots


Email

Like this? Try these

Sign up for one of our Email Etiquette in-house workshops

Email Etiquette – 9 Pet Peeves  

Rethink Your Email in 3 Steps 

Know the Difference Between “To” and “CC” in an Email Lifehacker

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Email Etiquette – 9 Pet Peeves
Graham Allcott

Graham Allcott

emaile-thumb

We’ve been thinking about email etiquette recently – the do’s and don’ts of writing clear, productive and helpful emails.

When we asked you (via Facebook and Twitter @thinkproductive) about your email pet peeves, we were overwhelmed with the response, so we’ve drawn up a list of inbox annoyances.

Feel free to add yours in the comments section, or via Facebook  and Twitter @thinkproductive.

 

1. Misuse of subject line

Use the subject line like the headline in a newspaper. Don’t always leave as “Re: ABC” if the topic has actually moved on” Rob Geraghty

When you write an email, be smart with the subject line – give the recipient a heads-up of what the email contains and what is expected from them. ie Meeting Agenda for Monday – (please read and distribute). Read our blog post on Email Subject lines here

 

2. Unnecessary CCing

Do you really need to add all those people to your email CC (carbon-copy) list? Make it clear why each person is included in the email: what do you need them to do? Are you addressing them directly (use to) or really just keeping them in the loop? (cc)

 

3. Text Speak – abbreviations

Save the text speak for the text message (and the teenagers). Really, we’re not restricted  by character limits any more so write properly, and avoid abbreviations if possible. Do you really want the recipient to email back asking what you mean?

 

4. “failing to include alternative contact details”

Often people hide behind their email – so they avoid putting any kind of alternative contact details on their signature. Sometimes an issue needs to be addressed quickly by the recipient and they may need to call you. Stop being a chicken and add your phone number!

 

5. Emails from addresses that aren’t monitored /no reply

A lot of corporations use this approach for email marketing: sending messages from accounts that aren’t monitored. If you need to get back to them, what do you do? If you do use a no-reply email address, add a monitored email address at the bottom – so customers can reply if they need to!

 

6. Marking the email as urgent when it isn’t

We suggest marking emails as urgent if they are, but don’t become the boy that cried wolf. Marking every email as important will make you look self-important, and all your messages will be immediately disregarded as “non-important”. Use this tactic wisely!

 

7.  ”Not starting with Dear. Calling me Ross” Rosalind Waite-Jones

 ”with Kind Regards – arrggggg” Gail Fullilove

This is an interesting one. How do you address someone in an email. Some people consider it as formal as a letter, whilst others treat it as a form of quick messaging.

We suggest being appropriate to the person you are addressing – start with letter-style formality, and ease off as the conversation progresses.

Rosalind made another good point above – get the name of the  person right, especially if they’ve already messaged you!

 

8. Forwarding Sensitive data

Be careful when forwarding emails to other people. Is it ok for them to see the information enclosed in any attachments? Remember, when you forward an email, often the entire conversation is forwarded – make sure there’s nothing explosive or confidential in there!

 

9. Emailing me, then calling to see if I got it.

A bit of a waste of time this: but have a think why they are calling you. Are you a bit slow at replying?

If you’re the one emailing then calling, consider using the read-receipt function on your email – you will be sent a notification when the recipient opens the email.

 

10.  Over to you … Tell us your pet peeves in the comments below … 

 

emaile-thumbLike this? Try these

Sign up for one of our Email Etiquette workshops 

 Write the perfect Email Subject Line – Think Productive

More common-sense tips for taming email ZDNet

 

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