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MP3: MP1041 CD: C1041
Be Productive and ThriveOne Day at a Time
Ann Max
3
65 days a year, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes, and
31,536,000 seconds. To this audience the word mil-
lion is probably a drop in the bucket, but 31 mil-
lion! Tat should make us sit up and listen. Where does
all that time go?
Today we will ascertain if you are making the best use
of that time. We will explore the ve facets of productivity:
Focus, Flow, Behavior, Discipline, and Motivation. We will
discuss the components of each, oer some theories, and
provide tips for you to become energized and motivated
to create a more ecient workow process, prioritize and
schedule more eciently, and increase the bottom line every
day of the year. Some of you will already be aware of these
theories and applications, but you can always benet from a
refresher. Others will be able to apply some new concepts to
their professional and personal lives. Everyone will benet
from shared knowledge and interaction of the session.
Can you tell me what the word productivity means?
Productivity is about time management, priorities, eec-
tiveness, and goals, but it is also about the essence, and key
to the word is the ability to achieve your goals, to do what
you want in life according to your specic needs, personal-
ity, and challenges. You can be productive and get many
things accomplished, but if they do not relate to your own
desires, wants, and needs then you are only putting in the
time, and you will not be fullled.
Tere are ve aspects to productivityFocus, Flow,
Discipline, Behavior, and Motivation. Focus is the ability to
concentrate on your purpose or goal, which will ultimately
aect the quality and quantity of your work and its eort.
Not only do you have to focus on the work, but it is im-
perative to constantly refocus and restrategize to keep going
in the direction you want. Flow is what we want work to
be like, but rarely is. It likens work to a game with all the
underlying aspects to win that game. For our business to
achieve a state of ow requires a mastery of the environ-
ment, processes, and information management. Discipline
is the ability to maintain consistent behavior to commit
oneself to a goal or habit. Tis is where the management of
time is so important.
Ann Max is known for her lively, engaging and
performance-driven approach to productivity and
performance enhancement. Her information-
packed presentations are grounded in solid
experience in organizational development, human
resources and administration, and she delivers skills,
techniques and concrete actions that can be directly
put to use. Max publishes a monthly e-newsletter,
MaxTips!, which is distributed free to thousands of
subscribers. She is the author of a time management
guide for physicians (through the Royal College of
Physicians and Surgeons), which will be distributed
to every physician in Canada and forms the basis of
a professional learning program. She is a national
member of the Canadian Association of Professional
Speakers and the International Federation of
Professional Speakers. She is currently working on a
series of Webinars and e-learning strategies soon to
be oered online.
Productive to the Max
513 Westminster Ave.
Ottawa, ON, K2A 2T9, Canada
Phone: 613.594.4533
E-mail: info@productivetothemax.com
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Be Productive and ThriveOne Day at a Time(continued)
Are you starting to see a pattern? If you do not focus on
what is important, then you will not make proper choices.
Your environment will reect this indecision, and the ow
will be interrupted. Your oces, systems, and processes
will not be consistent, so your discipline will be aected as
will your time management.
Te next aspect of the productivity matrix is behav-
ior, the explanation of your beliefs and truths. In order
to modify that behavior, the rst three productivity com-
ponents must be in place. In this section we will explore
how you deal with your personality traits (perfectionism,
the inability to say no, and how to deal with time wast-
ers). Once that is complete, we can proceed to the nal
aspect of the equation, which is the motivation. How do
you keep your energy and enthusiasm high in the face of
adversity and obstacles? How should you live your life to
its maximum potential?
Focus
It is always essential to concentrate on your purpose
or goal. We all need a composition for our business and,
whether you have been active for ten years or two years,
you always have to redirect your energies to the basic
structure. In order to do so, you have to dig deep into
your psyche and ask some important questions. When you
go to a party and meet someone, what is the rst ques-
tion that someone asks? (Answer: What do you do?) Is
it really about what you do, or is it about who you are
and what you value and where your passion lies (not that
type of passion!)? What would happen if you went to a
party and approached someone with the question, Who
are you? Tey would probably look at you, gure that
you had too much to drink, and avoid you for the rest of
the night. It is not easy to go into our souls and contem-
plate our navels, but it is essential to lay that structure for
productivity.
What did you want to be when you grew up? Tis is
one of those questions that you should be asking yourself
regularly. Some other questions would be What brings
you pleasure? Whats working? Whats not working?
Whats missing? What do you want to be doing? Where
do you want to be going? We tend to wait until some-
thing goes wrong in our lives to sit down and contemplate
these deep feelings. Ten you are usually so distressed that
the answers do not come easily. In order to maintain a pro-
ductive structure, it is essential that you regularly make an
appointment with yourself to delve into these areas and
come up with answers that are available to provide a basic
formation for your existence.
Te next aspect of focus is to determine what roles
you play in life. We all play many dierent rolessister,
brother, mother, father, nancial professional, insurance
expert, mentor. And these roles have many underlying
facets. As a mother you are a laundress, cook, and mental
health professional. As a nancial expert you are a coach,
advisor, manager, and entrepreneur. What you need to
understand is that you cannot play all the roles all of the
time. So on any given day, you must prioritize and deter-
mine which roles you can play and which have to be either
delegated or put aside for later.
Gather up all the information on who you are, what
you want, what you value, and what you are passionate
about. Create a space where you can contemplate these
questions. Practice concentrating. Sit and watch the col-
ors of a replace, focus on breathing and meditation. Plan
the time on a calendar. Write down the answers. Analyze
them with your friends, colleagues, and family. Now you
are ready to implement a structure or revisit your current
structure.
Implement Structure
How many of you have created strategic plans and mis-
sion statements for your organization? Of course, you also
have established goals and action plans and broken them
down into viable parts that you can achieve. You regularly
communicate them to sta during well-run meetings and
in assigning of roles and responsibilities. If not, it is time
to do so. If you do this, ensure that your strategic plan is
updated and maintained on a regular basis. Tips for goal
setting include: aim high, write them as if they are already
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Be Productive and ThriveOne Day at a Time(continued)
achieved, post them for all to see and for others to remind
them when goals are going o track. Constantly update
your goals with new information and research. Realize
you, and only you, are responsible for achieving your in-
dividual goalsdo not blame others for your ineciency.
Break all goals into small tasks using the salami tech-
nique. Analyze the time it is going to take you to achieve
your goals and double it. It always takes more time than
we realize to complete action plans and tasks. Do some-
thing every day to get you toward your goal. Identify and
eliminate obstacles (sabotage), and ask yourself if there are
alternate ways to achieve your goals. Visualize yourself
completing the goal and actually fake it if you need to. If
you act as if you have achieved the goal, it will eventually
come to fruition.
Flow
Now that you have focused on what is important, it is
time to deal with the ow. Tis concept of ow is a power-
ful one, and resembles what we all want work to be like, but
rarely is. Flow, as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
in Te Psychology of Optimal Experience, is a state of in-
ner experience in which there is order in consciousness.
He also states that some of the activities that consistently
produce ow [are] sports, games, art, and hobbies. Te
more a job inherently resembles a gamewith variety, ap-
propriate and exible challenges, clear goals, and immedi-
ate feedbackthe more enjoyable it will be.
Question: What would be the components of a game
that would make it exciting and enjoyable?
Answers: Variety. Appropriate and exible challenges.
Clear goals. Immediate feedback. A sense that ones skills
are adequate to cope with the challenges at hand. A rule-
bound action system. Addictive. Concentration so intense
that there is no way to think of anything irrelevant or
worry about problems. Passionate and willing to do it for
its own sake.
If you do not feel that these components are part of your
professional life, then it is time to change your perception.
Tere are three aspects to Flow.
1. Master your environment.
2. Examine your processes.
3. Analyze your information management.
Master Your Environment [slide]
Imagine a disorganized oce. What is your percep-
tion of the person who inhabits this oce? We all know
someone who lives in the corner oce where you require a
helmet to enter. Cute Davewe know he is disorganized.
He tells us that he can nd anything within two hours.
He knows what is in all the piles. But what do we really
think of Dave? Would we send him some really important
business? Not likely. It has been proven that people who
are disorganized will not be considered as quickly for pro-
motion as others.
If, G-d forbid, something happened to you, and you
got hit by a truck, could someone go into your oce and
nd something within two minutes?
Question: Who can tell me some basic organizing
principles that we could share with others who are not
organized?
Answers: Organize common things together. Put it
away. Give it away. Take just ve minutes. If you dont
use it, lose it. Label it. Quality over quantity. Emphasize
the KISS principle. Keep common items in easy to access
locations.
Te good thing about these principles is that they can
be applied to any aspect of our lives. We should constantly
be aware of these as we go about our daily tasks.
Good, we are all organized. Now we need to examine
our processes. Suppose you want to set up a new billing
system for your oce. Your business has greatly expanded,
and you cant do it all yourself. It is essential that you map
out the key processes.
1. Identify the steps. What would they be in this
instance?
2. Determine the necessity of each step.
3. Organize information and systems to support the
new process.
4. Identify the problem areas.
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5. Agree on new and improved processes.
6. Eliminate the non-useful.
7. Train everyone involved.
8. Identify one person to take charge.
Great. Your oce is organized, and you are on your
way to creating new processes to support the business.
Te next step in the Flow process is to analyze your
information management. Where does your information
come from (fax, phone, e-mail, cell, blackberry)? What
was the key component we discussed about organizing?
Combine common things together. So we need to com-
bine your information management. Here are the steps to
take:
1. Reduce the amount of information coming in.
(Send back. Do not accept. Filter, especially e-mail.
Say no.)
2. Create a proper inbox environment.
3. Clean up your e-mail by sorting, ling, using rules
and views, or getting help to do so.
4. Have white space in your inbox at all times.
5. Do not cherry pick, but take the e-mails one by one.
6. Plan regular time for e-mails.
7. Do not become a slave to information.
8. Follow a regular process: Do, Dump. Delay.
Delegate.
9. Set up proper les and ling systems.
Congratulations! You have focused on a structure, set
up proper ow with systems and procedures, and now
you are ready to discipline yourself, change your behavior,
and manage your time. How long does it take to change
a behavior? It takes 21 to 30 days. In order to maintain
consistent behavior and commit yourself to a goal or habit,
it is essential that you change one behavior at a time.
Discipline
Tere is a poster that shows a toilet in a cubicle and has
the following information on it: Due to the projected in-
creased workload in the coming months, the management
has decided that it can no longer aord for you to take time
out of your busy schedule to go to the restroom. Instead,
to increase employee eciency, the company will shoulder
the expense of remodeling your cubicle to accommodate
restroom privileges. Tank you for your cooperation. Te
Management Do you ever feel like thisthat you do not
have time in the day to take care of basic needs?
What is time management about? Te answer is con-
trol. You, and only you, are in control of your time. We
cant blame our lack of productivity on others. We cant
constantly complain about being interrupted. You are in
control, and you will not be eective or ecient if you do
not take control over your time.
Time management can be illustrated with building
blocks. Te blocks follow a specic order that needs to be
maintained at all times to create a basic structure. If one
block is forgotten or eliminated, the structure will fall.
Te rst block is to analyze your time. Have you ever
done that? Have you ever created a page in 15-minute in-
tervals or used a calendar to write down everything you
have done for two weeks? I know, you are saying, Tat
would be a pain to do. I do not have the time. Well, you
should make the time. You see, we are so busy saying we
dont have enough time; we are overwhelmed; we dont
know where the time goes. But we really never know what
is happening with our time. We have an idea in our head
what is happening, but many people also have thousands
of other thoughts and ideas oating around in that brain.
To really acknowledge what is happening, it is essential
that we get it down in hard copy. So give it a try. You will
be amazed at what you will notice. My clients love this
exercise once they get into it. Tey are amazed at what
the written word shows. How they have spent so much
time on a letter and why. How they have allowed many
interruptions that could be combined into a meeting.
How they poop out later in the afternoon, so planning
something really dicult is not a good idea. So try it. You
might even like it! Once the analysis is complete, then it is
time to plan everything you do.
How many people have a to-do list? How many items
are on the list? How many items have been on the list for
more than a week? Why is that? (Answers: Dont like, too
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dicult, not enough time, too large Te rst thing I want
you to do is to go back and make a master list of all to-
do projects. Ten break them down into small tasks. Te
reason we do not perform some larger duties is thatthey
are just thattoo bigso we pass over them in favor of
the smaller tasks. Break everything down into manage-
able chunks and you will be further ahead. Take ve to
seven of these chunks per day, prioritize them, and put
them into your calendar as planned time; or use a task list.
Draw from it as you become available. Plan everything on
your calendar. Make sure you plan time for administrative
tasks on a regular basis. Faxes, phone calls, and e-mails
should be taken care of, your e-mail program shut o and
time planned for other pursuits.
Follow the three main principles of time management
in your planning:
1. Use your circadian rhythm. Tis is your energy
level, Know whether you are a morning, afternoon, or
evening person, and plan accordingly. Tasks that require
special eort and concentration, such as dicult clients,
in-depth proposals, and confrontational meetings, should
be organized for when you are at your peak. Push back if
you need to, such as if others plan meetings when you are
not at your optimum. Remember, you are in control.
2. Follow the Pareto Principle. Tis is the 80/20 prin-
ciple. In 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a
mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution
of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of
the people owned eighty percent of the wealth. In the late
1940s, Dr. Joseph M. Juran inaccurately attributed the
80/20 Rule to Pareto, calling it Paretos Principle. While
it may be misnamed, Paretos Principle, or Paretos Law as
it is sometimes called, can be a very eective tool to help
you manage eectively.
A small portion of your activities are vital, and these
contribute the most toward your purposes. A large portion
of your activities are trivial in their contribution toward
their purposes. For example, 20% of your eorts produces
80% of your results. Concentrate on the 20% of your ef-
forts, especially during times of overload.
80% of your phone calls go to 20% of the people
on your list.
20% of clothes in your closet you wear 80% of
the time.
80% of the meals in a restaurant come from 20% of
the menu.
20% of the paper has 80% of the news.
80% of the news is in the rst 20% of an article.
20% of the people cause 80% of problems.
In whatever you do, take a minute and ask, Does this
represent 20% of eort that will bring me an 80% return,
or am I expending 80% of my eort to bring me a 20%
return? In your industry, what would bring you an 80%
return? (Calls to clients, updating portfolios, research.)
Ten you should concentrate on that.
3. Te third component of time management is to fol-
low the quadrant. Steven Coveys Te 7 Habits of Highly
Eective People contains a quadrant of four sections.
Quadrant 1 is the quadrant of necessity. It represents
things that are both urgent and important. Heres where
we handle an irate customer, meet a deadline, undergo
heart surgery, or help a crying child. We need to spend
time in Quadrant 1. Tis is where we manage, we pro-
duce, and we bring our experience and judgment to bear
in responding to many needs and challenges. If we ignore
it, we become buried alive. However, many important ac-
tivities become urgent through procrastination or lack of
planning and prioritizing.
Quadrant 2 is the quadrant of quality and personal
leadership. It includes activities that are not urgent, but
important. Tis is where we anticipate and prevent prob-
lems, empower others, broaden our minds, and increase
our skills through continuous reading and professional
development. Increasing time spent in this quadrant in-
creases our ability to do. Ignoring this quadrant feeds and
enlarges Quadrant 1. Investing in this quadrant shrinks
Quadrant 1. Planning, preparation, and prevention keep
many things from becoming urgent. Focus on this quad-
rant to achieve your goals faster.
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Quadrant 3 includes things that are urgent, but not
important. Tis is the quadrant of deception. Te noise
of urgency creates the illusion of importance. But the ac-
tual activities, if they are important at all, are important
to someone else. Phone calls, meetings, and drop-in visi-
tors belong in this category. We spend time in Quadrant
3 meeting other peoples priorities and expectations. Tese
activities appear urgent, but are not in relationship to our
goals.
Quadrant 4 is reserved for those activities that are not
urgent and not important. Tis is the quadrant of waste.
We often escape here from Quadrants 1 and 3 for survival.
Reading addictive light novels, watching mindless TV, or
gossiping around the water cooler qualify as Quadrant 4
time wasters. Quadrant 4 is not survival; it is deteriora-
tion. Te more time we spend here takes us further from
our goals.
Follow the quadrant at all times so you are consistently
being proactive instead of reactive.
You have planned, prioritized, are aware of the three
time management components: circadian rhythm, Pareto
principle, and the quadrant. Now it is time to schedule.
Tere are two ways to plan your day depending on
what you do and your personality. Tere are those who
can actually plan out blocks of time to work on tasks.
How many people fall into that category? Do you actually
plan your time? Ten there are those who do not have the
luxury of planning time because they are client-centered
and constantly interrupted each day. Tey must respond
immediately to demands. How many people fall into that
category?
For those who have the time to plan, do just that. Take
a calendar and follow these steps. First, plan your private
time. Ten plan when you will leave work. Ten plan
your lunch, Set up chunks of time (two to three times per
day) to complete your administrative tasks, which include
phone calls, e-mails, faxes, ling, planning. Record these
in your calendar. Ten plan three major projects or tasks
a day, and leave the rest of the time open. You can slot in
other tasks if there is time. For those who cannot plan
their time, create a task list, prioritize it, and slot these
tasks in as you have time. Dont overbook your calendar so
it looks as if it is completely full. You will be overwhelmed
before you start.
Focus, Flow, and Disciplinewe have discussed it all.
Our plans are made. We have mastered our environment
and processes, and we are well on our way to managing
time. What is going to get in the way? Our behaviors. We
certainly know what to do, how to do it, and when to do
it, but very often our beliefs, truths, and actual personali-
ties get in the way. We plan, we try to execute, and then
others come along with dierent ideas. We schedule, we
prioritize, but our own innate fears sabotage the process.
Here come the time wasters.
Behavior
In order to focus properly, your brain has to have some-
thing to focus on. Tere are many times in our lives when
we become overwhelmed with too much to do, too many
obligations and too little time. Ten we try to multitask.
How eective is that? It has been proven that the brain
cannot function eectively unless it is focusing on one
thing a time. You know, that head of yours is very valuable
real estate, and you certainly do not want to mess it up
with unimportant tasks or obligations. So it is essential to
focus on the important aspects of your work and life and
deal with time wasters. It is not eective to multitask.
Please stand up if you tend to procrastinate at least 25%
of the time.
Please stand up if you are a perfectionist or work for
one.
Please stand up if you have trouble saying no.
Please stand up if you hate to delegate.
Tank you for being so honest and normal. Everyone,
at some time in his or her life, deals with these time wast-
ers that prevent us from being productive. For the purpose
of this session, I have identied the top six time wasters
as follows: Interruptions, Communication, Perfectionism,
Procrastination, Delegation, and Saying No.
Question: How do you deal with interruptions?
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Answers: Create an interruptions log. Group your
tasks and information together. Create physical barriers.
Anticipate how to deal with the distraction. Leave your
door open only at certain times. Learn some easy sayings
like, Im really busy now, can it wait? Can we plan
another time? or Is it urgent? to assist you in moving
people along. Stand up when someone comes into the of-
ce. Do not self-distract.
Question: How do you deal with communication?
Answers: Dont interrupt the ow. Understand.
Summarize. Empathize. Reiterate your main points in
dierent words. Ask what you should do with the infor-
mation. Tank them for the information. Request and
provide feedback. Provide organized information.
Question: How do you deal with perfectionism?
Answers: Acknowledge the fact. Be aware of the dier-
ence between excellence and perfection. Dene yourself
by what you do, not by what gets done. Do something
at which you dont excel. Dont expect everyone to con-
form. Figure out why you do it and whom you are trying
to please. Find out what you can do to stop. Finish on
time. Realize your standards may be too high. Let up on
yourself.
Question: How do you deal with procrastination?
Answers: Accept that you are procrastinating. Always
keep essentials in the same place. Arrive early. Be clear
about your priorities. Break it up, and schedule over a peri-
od of time. Choose to stop the negative thinking patterns.
Create a procrastination le. Create mini goals. Delegate
it. Do the task rst because it is important. Dont defer
without rening the next step. Double time for deadlines.
Get a procrastination buddy. Get up from your location.
Just do it. Keep focused on actions rather than busy work
Look at everything in terms of big picture. Make ap-
pointments with yourself. Make the task accountable to
someone else. Set a time limit.
Question: How do you deal with delegation?
Answers: Be clear about the task and the desired out-
come. Clarify authority levels and boundaries. Provide
clear time lines. Say, Tank you. Delegate the account-
ability and responsibility. Follow up.
Question: How do you deal with saying no?
Answers: Smile as you speak! Be rmuse your no-
nonsense tone. Provide an alternative solution. Dont
elaboratekeep your no explanation short and sweet.
Have a clear idea of your goals.
Motivation
You have received a lot of information today. I have
asked you to focus on what is important, apply a ow to
your life, change your behavior, and apply discipline in
your beliefs. With all that information and a steady plan
of action, you should be able to change or maintain your
productivity. Nothing is for sure, and the current world
and economy will provide many obstacles to your success.
How do you stay motivated to maintain your success?
Apply the principles of time management.
1. Live for today and only today.
2. Focus on the big picture.
3. Constantly visualize yourself as being productive.
4. Increase your opportunities.
5. Empower your team.
6. Simplify your life.
REWARD, REWARD, REWARD yourself.
I thank you for your participation, support, and knowl-
edge. I wish you health, happiness, and much success.
Heres to a very productive life!