Rhythm Of Life – How It Works For Me!

Rhythm of Life (ROL)

Rhythm of Life is based on the thesis that every person has natural rhythms of energy for living and working. The more we are aware and cooperate with our natural rhythms the more energy we will have available for high impact times and the healthier and less stressed we will be.

ROL is based on the following assumptions:

  • No-one is a machine.
  • Everyone has natural rhythms
  • Everyone needs rest and time to replenish
  • We work to live rather than live to work (even when work is a huge passion)
  • Everyone needs time to build the relationships in their world.

ROL – How It Works For Me!

How does ROL work? Well, since everyone is different there will be variations but this is a framework that works for me.

One of the first things I had to deal with was my guilt. I had to admit that I felt guilty paying attention to looking after me. It took me a while to realise that looking after me is important and is actually the starting point for looking after the organisation/business. If I don’t look after me then that somehow gets communicated non-verbally to everyone else in my world in negative ways.

Start with your annual holidays. I learned the first thing to put on the calendar every year should be my holidays, usually 3 weeks after Christmas and then another week mid-year.  You can take all 4 at once though I always found it best to have a week away about 6-8 months apart from the longer holiday. ROL teaches that you do not fully unwind  from work and have time to refresh if you take less than 3 weeks away. And, ideally you do not stay in touch with work via Smartphone or email.

Plan travel carefully, especially getting away and re-entry. The second day after a trip or any energy expending activity should ideally not be a high demand day because that will be when energy levels drop and peak performance becomes difficult. If you don’t guard this, what suffers will be your health and your relationships with spouse and family.

Normal week:

  • At least 1 day off completely from work, (ideally 2)
  • At least 4 nights without meetings or work in which to relax and relate to family and friends
  • You map the high energy times in your week and make sure you rest before them
  • Do something relaxing on the night before your day off E.g. Friday night before Saturday. (The key to a good day off is winding down the night before.)
  • Have some activity in your life in which you can relax and totally lose yourself (sport, reading, gardening).
  • Make sure you are eating healthy nutritious food 80% of the time
  • Make sure you are getting some regular exercise (at least walking 30 minutes 4 times per week)

25 – 35 day Cycles

High energy people can work hard for up to 35 days (5 weeks) before they find themselves tired and not performing at their best. Others will start to fade a bit earlier. It is a matter of genes, family demands and mental and emotional capacity. No-one can keep on going forever or they will get sick, make poor decisions, put pressure on relationships, find they forget how to relax or can even become addicted to adrenalin.

To determine your work capacity you need to monitor yourself carefully and also ideally have a mentor who helps you to be self aware enough to realise when you are starting to fade. Don’t be like me and try to prove to everyone that you are a high capacity 35 days type when your natural rythm is more like 28. This is about self discovery and,with time and practice, self-empowerment.

So, every 25 – 35 days (whatever number fits you) plan a long weekend (3 nights) in which you take time out and do something different, something that you look forward to and get your mind and emotions away from work.

Rhythm of Life is very challenging for those who have allowed themselves to become defined by their work. Workaholics struggle not to work. They are energised by work. Often they are addicted to the purpose and adrenalin rush that their work gives them. However, it is rare for such people to have health happening across their life. The cost they pay for ignoring their Rhythm of Life is measured in poor health, weight problems, family relationship conflicts, inability to relax and often a lack of close friends.

If you are married as well as all of the above, you need to factor in at least 2 and ideally 3X2 night breaks (mini honeymoons, just you and your spouse) away from children, home and work throughout the year. The pressures of senior management positions takes more of a toll on marriages than anyone realises and these ‘honeymoons’ will go a long way to safeguarding the most important relationship in your life, your marriage.

     How have you learned to become aware and co-operate with the natural  rhythms of your life?

 

Creating Your Own Vision Board

A Vision Board Makes Your Vision Visual

We live in a highly visual age where communication and entertainment is done most powerfully through movies, television, billboards and via the internet. Therefore it makes sense for individuals (and organisations) to step up and present their vision in a visual format.

For larger organisations this can mean producing a video either with live footage or still pictures with a voice-over to enable your people to better catch your corporate vision.

For individuals the simplest form of this is a Vision Board.

A Vision Board can be as simple as pasting pictures and words on a sheet of cardboard so it becomes a visual representation of your desired future.

A Vision Board works most powerfully to motivate and inspire when it is done across your whole life: family, friends, finance, lifestyle, career, personal development, dream holidays, dream house, etc.

For highly visual people this is a MUST! As they say,  a picture paints a thousand words.

For everyone the process of doing this will assist you to make your personal vision more tangible and motivating.

There is no right or wrong way of making a vision board. The shape of it will be an expression of you.

So many people get sidetracked and often lost in the midst of the details of life. Some kind of visual representation of your personal vision is a very powerful way to keep yourself focused and motivated.

So, find some magazines, or search the free pictures on the internet and start creating your own Vision Board. You’ll be glad you did.

 

 

Rhythm Of Life In The Workplace

Rhythm of Life In The Workplace

I doubt that any of this Rhythm of Life (ROL) information is relevant to many under 35. It was around that age that I first noticed that my pants were a little tighter than usual and for the first time ever I thought about having to watch myweight. I also noticed my hair receding and that Idid not bounce back as easily from 3 post-midnight bedtimes in a row. My wife and I had 3 children, work was very busy and life was very full. For me it was the onset of middle age and I have to admit it was a little scarey!

It was in this period that I began to develop bad habits. Between work and family commitments I had no time for myself and so my emotional and physical health suffered. I stopped doing any regular exercise, I put on weight and found myself continually tired and often just functioning. I just put it down to busyness and having a young family but patterns were developing that became quite disastrous for someone like me with a strong work ethic who wore his busyness as a badge of honour.

Mostly ROL is something that business and professional people become interested in in their 40′s and particularly in the 5 years leading up to 50. It is said that how you prepare yourself in the 5 years leading up to 50 will determine the success or otherwise of the rest of your life.

Rhythm of Life refers to the unique natural rhythms that are part of all our lives. The more aware you are and cooperate with your rhythm of life the better you will manage your energy levels for peak performance at work and to enable you to have energy for your family and for things you love to do.

Rhythm of Life in the Workplace

The core of this concept is that each person has capacity to work hard for between 25 and 35 days (assuming at least one day off per week is maintained, regular sleep and exercise, and normal annual holidays are taken). After the 25 – 35 day period it is important to have a 2-3 day period where there is low demand so you can relax, disengage and replenish at a deeper level. Without this extra mini break it becomes harder to replenish in sleep and regular days off, and without doubt productivity at work is diminished.

Everyone has a rhythm of life!

None of us is a machine. Even people of high capacity who seem to be always on the go have days when they have less energy and less ability to focus than they would ideally like, while on other days they seem to have limitless energy.

I realise that each of us has a unique journey of self discovery. Your rhythm of life will be different to mine. However you do have a rhythm of life and my belief is that the more you are aware of it and as much as possible cooperate with it, the more productive you will be. Also you will be less likely to suffer from burnout or other stress induced illness.

This is a journey of self discovery which will allow you to become more self aware, more emotionally intelligent and more personally present in any given moment.

In my experience this journey requires: a willingness to grow and change, a skilled mentor to assist you, a commitment to self reflection and time. If you are in a busy leadership role  it could take you up to 2 years to be able to read and fully cooperate with the rhythms of your life.

For me, this has been quite a journey, but well worth it for the outcomes I have seen some of which include: greater capacity and energy for peak performance, energy to enjoy family times, able to get to the end of the year and enjoy a fun holiday rather than being totally exhausted, greater creativity, finding regular ways to replenish physically and emotionally, and the ability to be far more emotionally present and focused in any given situation.

I’d love to hear your comments and questions about your Rhythm of Life.

 

4 Keys to Starting Out In Business

Starting out in Business

I love to encourage younger people who have a dream to establish their own business. In my local area we have the Gen YQ Penrith Networking Group set up for business entrepreneurs and professionals under 35. This is a great initiative and is attracting a lot of interest locally and across NSW.The following is from an interview with John Drury by Michael Todd CEO of Gen YQ Penrith.

If you are thinking about starting up your own business in 2012 I suggest you use the following keys to help you prepare.

1. The Preparation you need:

  • You have a service or product that is in demand which you are able to provide at least as w ell as your competitors
  • You have a clear written business plan which includes a realistic start up budget and marketing plan
  • You are passionate about your business idea and have decided you are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your plan.

2. The Attitudes you need:

  • Treat it as an exciting adventure in which you are on a quest to learn as much as you can about people, business and yourself
  • Work hard to add fantastic value to your clients so you create raving fans
  • Get yourself as skilled as possible at what you do (people do not care about how young you are if you are good)
  • Look for gaps in the market and learn how to fill them so you have a clear point of difference from your competitors
  •  If something doesn’t work, don’t fret over it, treat it as a learning experience and try something else

 3. The Skills and Knowledge you need:

  • Know what you are good at, and if you don’t know, then ask  people you trust who know you pretty well. Get an E-DISC profile done which is a great personality profile which can really help you to learn about yourself.
  • Get to know your ideal client very well (do some serious market research)
  • Connect with a mentor or two, people you admire and are successful. Drive the mentoring process by asking great questions and you will pull gold out of them.
  • Test and measure everything you do so you learn quickly what works and what doesn’t. No guesswork.
  • Get organized. If you are not naturally organised then find an organizational system that works for you
  • Be highly relational. This is essential. 85% of business success is who you know not what you know.
  • Delegate what you are not good at except control of your marketing and your finances. You have to be good at these or learn to be. If you do not like marketing then I suggest you go and get a job.
  • Outsource before adding staff, it’s better value for money

4. The Values you need:

To be consistently successful at anything you need to know yourself well and be true to yourself. When you are younger you do not always know what you believe. Strong adult and business values develop from age 25 – 40 in most people. To make it easy, know how you would like to be treated and treat people like that. If you have to change who you are at core in order to please somebody else, is not worth the deal.

Reasons Why New Businesses Struggle include:

  • They are isolated, not well connected in their market place and do not have good personal support to pick them up after a tough week.
  • Poor marketing, you must develop a system (ideally an automated system) for getting new prospects
  • Poor cash flow which is really poor financial administration which usually develops because you cut corners and do not pay to get good advice from an accountant.
  • They do not have interests (e.g. sport or hobby) outside their business.

 

Feel free to leave your thoughts, questions or comments in the box below.

5 Dangers Of 21st Century Living

If the only time you give yourself to really unwind is on annual holiday then the chances are you will never really unwind. Digital mobile technology, with iPads and Smart phones, has made it harder to get away from work and relax. I read today that by 2014 more mobile internet searches will be done than from a desktop. Many people are potentially addicted to being connected to the internet (and therefore tied to work) and feel incomplete if they are out of contact even for a day.

SmartphonesThis idea is starting to gain some traction as seen in a recent article by Scott Belsky in which he raises some powerful questions including ‘What has happened to downtime?’

What might happen to our world if we forget how to take time out to stop, to replenish and just be still?

We are in a cyber age with a 24 hour news cycle, 24 hour money markets and a global economy where national identity and issues are often dwarfed by multi-nationalism and advances in technology with which noone can keep pace.

As a keen observer of 21st Century life I detect some dangers and some potential answers which I would like to flag in this article.

5 Dangers Of 21st Century Living

  1. A loss of thinking time – by this I mean time to reflect, to grapple with issues until we get to the heart of a problem to truly solve it. We have computers to do the analysis of a zillion facts and we think once the facts are analysed and we have all the data then we can make decisions. But statistics and data needs to be interpreted by careful critical thinking of which there is a dearth. The dumbing down of journalism, education, philosophy and of belief systems in a highly visual entertainment age is producing a populace who are technically advanced but do not necessarily have the guiding principles by which to assess whether something is good or bad, helpful or harmful, important or worthless in the long term.
  2. A loss of the sense of wonder of being human – This is a by-product of the speed of change and technological advancement. Despite all the incredible advances, social demographers tell us that the gap between rich and poor is widening. More people are struggling to make a living and feel that they are falling behind in lifestyle choices and opportunity. There is an underlying stress building up across humanity, especially in the Western world, which has the effect of eroding hope and undermining a sense of wonder. While there are amazing developments happening in our world much of humanity is feeling more vulnerable and less valued.
  3. A loss of understanding of the processes of life – Some otherwise natural things can be sped up a little, e.g.  the growth of a chicken from egg to when it is ready to be eaten. However many natural aspects of the human condition cannot be lasered or microwaved into being.  There seems to be less understanding of how life really works, how character is formed, what it takes and how long it takes to build a strong relationship or to heal a broken heart. Increasingly people want things instantly. Childhood innocence has been eroded and sexualised by marketers and movie makers, with parents left unsure of clear guidelines.  These and many other aspects of healthy human development take time to develop; more like the pace a tree grows than a production line producing another car or blueray recorder.
  4. A loss of understanding of the natural rhythm of life – We try to cram so much into our lives somehow afraid that we may miss out, and we often do not understand the need for downtime, for breaks, to relax and unwind, to replenish our soul. The crazy busy lives many lead come with a toll which is being paid in medication, various kinds of illegal and prescription drugs, relationship breakdown and other kinds of inner turmoil.
  5. Increasing mental health issues - 25% of all Income Protection Insurance claims in Australia are now due to psychological injuries (such as depression, stress, panic attacks, etc). Experts tell us that 1 in 4 will suffer from mental illness at some period in their life. So many are overwhelmed by life, by information overload and by the stress of going for more success.

Are there answers and where do they lie?

I am not advocating going back to the 1950′s when life was simpler and much slower paced. I love technology and the incredible advances that are being made every day.

However, I believe that to be truly human it is necessary to learn to disengage, unwind and replenish regularly. E.g. I’m switching my BlackBerry off on Sundays, and not having it in my bedroom at night. This goes back to old concepts of one day a week to rest and renew, like the sabbath rest in Judaism. In a highly automated and now digital technological age we are deluded if we think we can treat oursleves like  mechanical automatons. We are human beings not machines.

Other answers include: learning how to build strong relationships, belonging to healthy community, having clear values to guide your life and decisions, and learning to uncover and work with your natural rhythm of life.

 

What do you think about these issues? I’d love to hear your comments.

 

 

Rhythm of Life – A Journey of Self Discovery

I came across the concept that there are rhythms to my life when I was working as a busy CEO of a large Not-for-Profit organisation, with a staff of 40, 1000 members, 3 – 5 public presentations per week to prepare and deliver, 5 overseas trips per year to build strategic national and international partnerships.

I am an introvert. By that I mean I replenish on my own, alone. Being with people is good and important and enjoyable for me, but also exhausting and draining emotionally. (An extrovert is someone who replenishes best with people. It is interesting that most significant leaders are introverts.)

I was passionate about helping people and it was my pattern to throw myself into my work with little consideration of myself or my family. After a few years I found that quite often I would come to days off or free evenings and be too tired to enjoy relaxing with my family. I would sit down to watch television and feel all the energy draining out of my body, often sitting in the same position for an hour or more without moving, almost frozen. I would sometimes find it difficult to enjoy animated dinner conversation with my family.

As you might imagine this state of affairs was not conducive to building a great marriage and family life. In the process of working so hard over 15 years to build an organisation to help people, I had forgotten how to fully relax. Often when I did have time to myself, I would not know how to spend it productively. The only time I fully stopped was on our 3 week annual holidays (and that was not always fun).

I engaged a mentor

The organisation I was leading was going very well but the cost to me and my family was too great. So, I engaged a mentor who introduced me to new ways of thinking about organising my work. His philosophy was that the health and well being of the key leader is critical to the overall health of the organisation. He encouraged me to see the benefits for everyone if I planned my worklife so that it revolved around self care strategies. I remember how strange (but good) it felt the first time I started planning a year by marking down our family holidays.

My mentor encouraged me to become aware of any patterns to my energy levels. I mapped out the high energy times in my week, or month. It took time to tune in and become aware of myself, but over a year I began to become more self aware. I started to reflect more about what I had done if I became super tired. I identified that I found certain situations more emotionally taxing than others. E.g. dealing with difficult people and counselling people with problems.

I began to discover a lot about myself:

  • That not every week is the same therefore the energy required was not the same.
  • I had established patterns of daily and weekly behaviour which were not all helping me.
  • I had no regular commitment to self reflection which is crucial for personal growth and change.
  • Only I could change my daily and weekly patterns.
  • I did not get much exercise and so was unfit which often limited my capcity to focus.
  • I learned a lot about how my work patterns affected my health and relationships.
  • I learned that big results can come from seemingly small changes. E.g. I learned that one of the keys to enjoying a good day off was to wind down the night before. So, I cancelled all meetings on the night before my day off. It was amazing how winding down and getting a good rest enabled me to wake with energy so I actually felt like going out and doing something recreational with my wife and family on my day off.
  • Much much more

What is Rhythm of Life?

Rhythm of Life refers to the unique natural rhythms that are part of all our lives. The more aware you are and cooperate with your rhythm of life the better you will manage your energy levels for peak performance at work and to enable you to have energy for your family and those you love.

The core of this concept is that each person has capacity to work hard for between 25 and 35 days (assuming one day off per week is maintained and normal annual holidays are planned). After the 25 – 35 day period it is important to have a 2-3 day period where there is low demand so you can relax, disengage and replenish at a deeper level. Without this mini break it becomes harder to replenish in sleep and regular days off, and without doubt productivity at work is diminished.

In a future article I will outline more specifically the way Rhythm of Life has been working for me.

Everyone has a rhythm of life!

None of us is a machine. Even people of high capacity who seem to be always on the go have days when they have less energy and less ability to focus than they would ideally like, while on other days they seem to have limitless energy.

I realise that each of us has a unique journey of self discovery. Your rhythm of life will be different to mine. However you do have a rhythm of life and my belief is that the more you are aware of it and as much as possible cooperate with it, the more productive you will be.

This is a journey of self discovery which will allow you to become more self aware, more emotionally intelligent and more personally present in any given moment.

In my experience this journey requires: a willingness to grow and change, a mentor to assist you, a commitment to self reflection and time. If you are in a busy leadership role  it could take you up to 2 years to be able to read and cooperate with the rhythms of your life.

This has been quite a journey, but well worth it for the outcomes I have seen.

 

I’d love to hear your response to these thoughts in the comment box below….

10 Questions Every Leader Needs To Ask!

I know from bitter experience in my own leadership journey where after many years of extremely fruitful leadership I became so busy responding to the demands of people and stretching for even greater goals that I stopped asking myself these questions. The results were disastrous for the organisation I was leading and shattering for me and my family.

Leadership by definition is a lonely role

John Maxwell says, “Leaders who need people cannot  lead people”. 

The leader must be aware of the big picture. They must see what others do not. Leadership decisions usually have greater implications than others in an organisation. If the leader gets it wrong everyone notices and many people can be affected. Real leaders accept that the buck stops with them.

So, in the midst of a host of competing demands how do I look after myself as a leader in order to make sure I do not fall at the first or the final hurdle?

10 Questions every leader needs to ask:

  1. How do I measure success? KPI’s are helpful but tend to be focused on productivity issues. How do I measure the quality of relationships, level of morale in the team, emotional energy being used, whole of life balance, my personal growth, etc.
  2. When is enough, enough? If things are not going well the tendency is for leaders to work harder and longer, which can then be self defeating. How do I build some margins into my life?
  3. What is the real strength in my leadership? Casting inspiring vision, setting demanding standards, being tough with non-performers, being insightful about recruiting staff or being the kind of leader who draws out the potential in people?
  4. How can I be tough enough to make the hard calls without losing my essential humanity?  There are some very tough calls as a leader, none tougher than firing people or letting people know their performance isn’t up to standard. Its the same around decisions to restructure the organisation that unsettles everyone and causes uncertainty and the inevitable criticisms and complaints. How do I steel myself for those times when I have to deal with wayward staff members without becoming hard emotionally in a way that affects my ability to have compassion towards my own family and friends?
  5. How do I deal with guilt, fear, insecurity and other potentially self-sabotaging emotions?
  6. What do I share with whom? If there is a personal issue that is troubling me, with whom do I share it without potentially undermining my leadership? (NB. This is one of the reasons why authority figures cannot mentor people under them because there will always be a limit to what is shared.)
  7. Who do I allow close enough to see my weaknesses? I believe it is essential for your long term safety and sanity that you have a few trusted people who know you well enough to call you an idiot when you are being one.
  8. How do I learn my unique strengths and weaknesses and overall capacity? This is where honest feedback is very useful, and a personal analysis tool like Extended DISC is invaluable.
  9. What do I need to guard in order to always be sharp on game day? Every leader has a unique Rhythm of Life that they must learn to understand and flow with so they can always be ready for high energy days.
  10. How do I plan an exit strategy at the right time for me and to ensure a positive legacy? Leadership does not and should not last forever, and most leaders hang too long rather than leave too early.

The more responsibility you have in leadership the more important it is to have clear answers to these 10 questions.

So, if you are in any kind of leadership position, I suggest you print out these 10 questions and see if you have a clear answer to them. Mark the ones which challenge you and do something about dealing with these and any other issues that your arise during reflection.

Issues may arise that are uncomfortable. If that is the case I strongly suggest you find a skilled leadership coach or mentor who can assist you with you. Can I urge you from painful experience not to let your pride get in the way.

What other questions would you add? I’d love to hear your feedback.

Extended DISC Is MUCH More Than A Personality Test.

Extended DISC is much more than a Personality Test.

Extended DISC (or E-DISC) is a personality profiling test that enables participants to learn which of the four main personality types they are. D for Dominant or Leader; I for Influencer or People Person; S for Steadiness or Stable; C for Conscientious or Details person. Hence we get D.I.S.C. Personality Profile which has been around for over 50 years.

If you just want to know which of the four personality types best describes you then DISC will help you. It is a great start to understanding self and others.

But the fact is that people do not fit neatly into 4 boxes. That is why E-DISC has been developed and scientifically tested on over 100,000 people worldwide with a reported 90% accuracy. E-DISC starts with the 4 main personality types and refines the test and the results to include 160 aspects of personality and behaviour.

Extended DISC is the premier personality test available today.

After completing a 48 question computer test, which takes about 15 minutes, a 24 page report is generated. It is forwarded to a trained consultant who will then explain and work through the implications of the report to the test participant.

I have been working with people as a trained E-DISC consultant for the past 12 months. Every time I sit with a person to go over their personality test report I am reminded of the power of this profiling tool. Without fail my clients are amazed at the accuracy of the report.

Some Benefits of an Extended DISC Personal Analysis Report:

  1. It describes them in detail – their personal attributes, strengths, development areas, motivators, communication style, decision making style, what they try to avoid and their ideal manager-leader
  2. It especially focuses on a person’s natural style and measures that against the way they perceive they need to adjust to be successful in their workplace.
  3. It  is excellent for measuring the amount of energy it takes to perform functions at work. A person can be quite successful at what they do because they have learned to perform the taks of their job, but the amount of energy  required can be stressful. The E-DISC profile will show which aspects of a role are causing that stress.
  4. It can predict whether a role is sustainable over the longer term or whether it would be better to change aspects of the role in order to better suit  a person’s personality.

The Extended DISC personality profile is actually a personality and behavioural profile. It helps a person to undertsand their personality and their behaviour. The report is an excellent tool with which a trained consultant can assist their client to laser focus on the chief current stressors in their life and work. Over and again my clients tell me it is invaluable. 

E-DISC can be used to analyse a work-pair reporting on the potential for synergy between 2 people. An E-DISC Team Analysis can be done, as can a 360 reveiw by team members of any position in a company. There are many other ways that E-DISC can be used.  For more information check Extended DISC Australasia

That is why I am confident to say, Extended DISC is so much more than a personality test.

If you would like to know more about Extended DISC and how you can access your own E-DISC Profile Report and Consultation please contact John Drury via phone or email.

 

How To Schedule Yourself To Achieve Your Goals

The truth is that the busier you get the more you need to plan carefully (and communicate clearly, especially to close associates) as it gets easier to lose sight of where you are headed.

As noted in my article How to Be Organized there is a huge discrepancy between what different people can achieve in the same 24 hour time period. Why is this so? I have observed that high achievers invariably have developed a personal organization system that works.

For those readers who have not yet developed or settled on a personal organization system, I include a few thoughts regarding what has worked well for me for over 30 years in leadership roles.

How To Schedule Yourself To Achieve Your Goals

  • Write down some clear markers about where you would like to be in 10, 5 and 3 years just so you know you are heading in the right direction.
  • Make your 1 year goals as clear as possible. See my recent article on The Art of Goal Setting
  • Get yourself a one-year planner and divide the year into 4 x 90 days periods.
  • Each 90 days set aside an afternoon to write out the steps necessary to achieve your top 4 – 8 main objectives for the next 90 days. Then schedule in blocks of time to work on those objectives in your diary leaving plenty of margins for life to happen.
  • At the end of each 30 days take an hour to monitor progress and schedule the next 30 days in more detail
  • At the end of each 7 days take 30 minutes to schedule the next 7 days
  • At the end of each day take 15 minutes to schedule the next day.

As you can see scheduling is a process which starts with clear written goals of what you want to achieve within a time frame. Then you systematically work back from the goal to allocating appropriate time to perform all the steps required to achieve the goal.

In my experience many people have vague goals in their head (not written) and there is little correlatioon between their day to day schedule and achieving their goals.

Scheduling  requires great focus and discipline which is why many people do not regularly achieve their goals until they hire a coach/mentor to keep them accountable to this process.

Some keys to scheduling:

  1. Clearly know your highest priority tasks are and do them first. These are the tasks that take you towards your goals.
  2. Only have one thing on your desk/screen when you have to focus on a high priority task.
  3. Don’t let other people set your schedule by wasting your early time on emails, phone calls, social media and other distractions. (Not before you have achieved a major goal or until after 11am!)
  4. Squeeze emails, return calls and social media into a designated time slot just before you have to be somewhere, so it is not open ended time.
  5. Leave at least 1 hour per day as a margin for the unexpected, so you can breathe and be early for appointments

Other than changing from a paper diary to electronic systems (synching outlook calendar on my smartphone and computer) I have found that something like what I have outlined here has worked for me over many years enabling high levels of productivity and fulfilment.

What do you find works? Or are you happy being delightfully disorganized?

How To Be Organized

Everyone has the same 24 hours in each and every day. Yet, it is amazing the differences in what people achieve with that time. Some of those differences depend on energy levels, capacity to focus and how hard you work, but I have found that one of the main things that sets apart high achievers from the pack is learning how to be organized.

How To Be Organized

There are many personal organization systems available. What works for you will depend on your personality, the nature of your business, whether you like to work with paper or technology, whether you are individualistic or more communal, whether you are visual or verbal, whether you are visionary or more functional and a whole range of other factors.

The person who develops an integrated system to organise their life towards clear goals will always outperform the other 95% of people on the planet.

This is huge! It is the difference between dreams becoming reality or just fading away. It is the difference between wealth and poverty. It is the difference between fulfilment and frustration. It is one of the primary keys to making life work.

4 Guiding Principles That Govern How To Be Organized.

  1. Know what you want. You need to kno where you are headed; what you want to achieve.  This will guide your thinking and planning. The problem is many people do not know what they want. So there is little passion or heart to set priorities, make decisions and plan ahead. They are easily distracted. Passionate people will always rule the room, the marketplace, even the world. Passion is the fuel that drives you to make things happen.
  2. Your organizational system needs to actually work! This may seem obvious but I have discovered that many people don’t actually measure or test the ways they do things. They just keep doing what they have always done and if it doesn’t work theyeither put in more effort or give up. We humans are such creatures of habit that it is actually quite difficult for us to change especially on our own. We need help to break habits and retrain ourselves in new more productive ways. The new will feel uncomfortable for a few weeks but it really is possible to make major changes in our daily habits over about 6 weeks.
  3. Make sure your organizational system covers your whole life. There is nothing more fragmenting and self-sabotaging than being organized at work but not at home. Or having one diary for home and another for other parts of your life. Schedule everything in one organizational system (e.g. paper diary, outlook calendar, iPhone, wall calendar, etc). And now with cloud technology you can link all your computer diaries effortlessly into one place and share it with whomever you want as well.
  4. Make yourself accountable to someone you respect. This is the crunch point that is usually avoided. You will become so much more focued, disciplined and productive if you know you have to give an account to someone at least once a month. This is where a mentor, coach or trusted colleague can be a great asset in our lives.

So, which organizational system is best? Simple…the one that works for you across your whole life to help you achieve what you really want.

If you are currently disorganized and always behind the game, then I strongly suggest you invest some time and money into finding and learning a system based on these 4 principles.

You could always pay someone to organize you … but that is a whole other story as it requires tremendous discipline and significant humility and trust to work effectively with a Personal Assistant (PA, EA, VA).

This is a start of a very releasing journey. Can I encourage you to be patient, be willing to take small steps and before you know it you will learn how to be organized.

Feel free to leave me a comment on what has helped you to get organized and become productive. I’d love to know.

 

 

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