Maximizing Your Productivity

People say they can’t have a perfect eco-system because they can’t afford it or don’t have time, or their family or friends won’t allow it. Nonsense! Creating a great life is not hard — living with frustration is “hard!” Creating a better life may involve some investment or learning new habits, but living well is not nearly as hard as living with problems!

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I rarely find something that is both “instant” and the “ultimate” guide to anything. In general, I find the important things in life take some time, some effort and a bit of skill, and that while “instant” fixes may be fast, they seldom last.

This month, however, my reading and thinking have focused on something that is so fast, so obvious and so powerful, I want to share it with you. In preparing for coaching calls recently, I’ve focused on the fact that it’s what we achieve or master in life that actually endures. It’s not what we intend, or dream or hope. It’s what we do that matters and lasts.

So, with that premise, I’ve focused on productivity. I’ve been asking, “What specific conditions help us get the most done with the least effort and the most fun?” I’ve come up with five key steps:

1. Time Management. This is the most common and the least effective way to increase our results. We’re trying to manage something we don’t own and that fundamentally cannot be managed or changed. Time just is. It’s here, it flows, and it’s gone. Time management is a non-starter and if you aren’t managing your priorities, energy, physical space, and personal environment, trying to manage time is just one more source of frustration.

2. Activity Management. This at least has the virtue of being “do-able.” We can choose our priorities and manage our actions through the day. We can say no to distractions and focus our efforts. Practice “single handling” and avoid the fallacy of “multi-tasking!” Do one thing at a time and do it well. Refuse to engage in dead-end activities. Plan your activities and stick to your plan!

3. Energy Management. This is what most people are actually hoping for when they talk about time management. They want to get more done with less effort and have something left for “me” or “we” at the end of the day. Manage your energy. Sleep well, rest often, be efficient. Do your most important work when you are most awake. Put your “best stuff” into your most important priorities and let things of secondary importance get secondary effort. It’s not the quickest or easiest path to the good life, but it’s a reasonable start.

4. Space Management. Now things get interesting! Manage your environment so it’s hard (and rare) for people or things to interrupt you. Close the door, turn off the phone and focus until your most important work is complete. Eliminate distractions. Fix, replace or junk anything that annoys or frustrates you. Make your office, car, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom “perfect!” Clean them up. Surround yourself with beauty! Make everything around you attractive and inspiring. You’ll get more done and have more fun doing it.

5. Eco-System. This is what we’re looking for! Why “manage” chaos when you can create the life of your dreams? The key is a system that effortlessly (and inevitably) pulls you toward your most important goals and most exciting outcomes every single day. You don’t have to “think about it” or “work at it.” Design a life that simply “makes it so!”

Surround yourself with things and people that inspire you, that give you energy and support you to be your best, most productive and most joyful. Fill your life with things and people that pull you forward. No distractions! No annoyances, no break-downs, no crises. Use pro-active maintenance in every area of life so you live well and do the work you are called to do!

Fortunately, this is not hard! People say they can’t have a perfect eco-system because they can’t afford it or don’t have time, or their family or friends won’t allow it. Nonsense! Creating a great life is not hard — living with frustration is “hard!” Creating a perfect life may require some investment or learning new habits, but living well is not nearly as hard as living with problems!

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“People begin to become successful the minute they decide to be.”

– Harvey Mackay

“The future belongs to those who believe in their dreams.”

– Eleanor Roosevelt

“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write if he is ultimately to be at peace with himself. What one can be, one must be.”

– Abraham Maslow

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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There’s an old truth that one customer, well satisfied, is worth a fortune. Over and over again, I work with companies who are determined to improve their advertising to attract new customers. They spend fortunes looking for better copy, the write spokesperson or the right “media mix.” All the while, current customers are evaporating or (worse) doing business with their competitors.

There’s a wonderful old story about a couple looking for a hotel on a rainy, dreary night. At last they pull up to a small hotel in a rural Pennsylvania town, go inside, but are told the hotel is full. Seeing their fatigue and despair, the young man behind the counter offers to let them use his own quarters, a small room in the back of the building.

In the morning, the couple is so grateful and impressed, the husband promises that someday he will open a hotel and hire the young man to manage it. Time passes, and one day the young man gets a call from that weary traveler. It seems he has opened the Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York and would like the young man to manage it.

I have no idea if that story is true, although I’ve heard variations of it for many years. The point, however, is clear: Every customer is potentially worth a fortune!

It is always easier and more profitable to keep a customer than to attract a new one. Advertising is expensive! Negotiating the first sale, learning the needs of the customer and serving them well is difficult. To grow your business, focus on repeat sales.

Your customers are your best source of new ideas and innovations to put you ahead of the crowd. Listen to them, honor them, go the extra mile and work with your customers to achieve what you both want: a satisfying and profitable long-term relationship.

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Several people have sent me versions of this and it’s a bit long, but scary and funny and thought-provoking, and I hope you enjoy it.

“Pizza Hut. May I have your… “

Customer: “Hi, I’d like to order.”

Operator: “May I have your NIDN first, sir?”

Customer: “My National ID Number, yeah, hold on, eh, it’s
6102049998-45-54610.”

Operator: “Thank you, Mr. Sheehan. I see you live at 1742 Meadowland Drive and the phone number’s 494-2366. Your office number is 745-2302 and your cell is 266-2566. Please confirm the number you are calling from, sir.”

Customer: “Huh? I’m at home. Where d’ya get all this information?”

Operator: “We’re wired into the system, sir.”

Customer: (Sighs) “Oh, well, I’d like to order a couple of your all-meat Special pizzas…”

Operator: “I don’t think that’s a good idea, sir.”

Customer: “Whaddya mean?”

Operator: “Sir, your medical records indicate that you’ve got both high blood pressure and high cholesterol. The National Health Care system won’t allow such an unhealthy choice.”

Customer: “What do you recommend, then?”

Operator: “You might try our low-fat Soybean Yogurt Pizza. I’m sure you’ll like it.

Customer: “What makes you think I’d like something like that?”

Operator: “Well, you checked out ‘Gourmet Soybean Recipes’ from your local library last week, sir. That’s why I made the suggestion.”

Customer: “All right, all right. Give me two family-sized ones, then. What’s the damage?”

Operator: “That should be plenty for you, your wife and your four kids, sir. The ‘damage,’ as you put it, comes $49.99.”

Customer: “Lemme give you my credit card number.”

Operator: “I’m sorry sir, but I’m afraid you’ll have to pay in cash. Your credit card balance is over its limit.”

Customer: “I’ll run over to the ATM and get some cash before your driver gets here.”

Operator: “That won’t work either, sir. Your checking account’s overdrawn.”

Customer: “Never mind. Just send the pizzas. I’ll have the cash ready. How long will it take?”

Operator: “It’ll be about 45 minutes. If you’re in a hurry, Sir, you might want to pick ‘em up while you’re out getting the cash, but carrying pizzas on a motorcycle can be awkward.”

Customer: “How do you know I’m riding a bike?”

Operator: “It says here you were behind in payments, so your car got repo’ed. But your Harley’s paid up, so I just assumed you’d be using it.”

Customer: “@#%/$@&?#!”

Operator: “I’d advise watching your language, sir. Last month you got a ticket for cussing out a cop.”

Customer: (Speechless)

Operator: “Will there be anything else, sir?”

Customer: “No, nothing. oh, yeah, don’t forget the two free liters of Coke your ad says I get with the pizzas.”

Operator: “I’m sorry sir, but our ad’s exclusionary clause prevents us from offering free soda to diabetics.”

Rodger Blaker works with executives, small business owners and professionals who want to grow in their business and create an extraordinary life!

For info on resources for your success, visit: http://www.BlakerBusinessCoaching.com or call me at 214-485-2238.

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