The Productivity Pro(R) Blog - Time Management and Productivity Tips » Time management

Super Bowl Time Management Tips

LauraStack — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:01:07 +0000

There’s a Lot to Learn About Personal Goal Setting From Football

It’s that time of year again! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – The Superbowl offers a great acrostic game opportunity for learning productivity techniques.

What does time management have to do with Super Bowl football?

Everything!

Football pros competing in the Super Bowl use great goal-setting techniques. By studying the game, you too can learn a lot about how to set objectives. Successful football teams devote a great deal of thought and time to planning how to move the ball down the field.

And successful people devote time to planning what they’ll accomplish in business and in life. Ask the coaches who’ve led teams to the Super Bowl. They know you can’t win without a good game plan.

The term “SUPER BOWL” describes nine components for making touchdowns in your life:

S = Specific. Progress in football is measured a yard at a time. Similarly, you’re wise to measure your progress toward a goal in numbers, percentages, milestones, or dates. “Learn software program” isn’t specific, but “Spend five hours a week learning software program” is. “Lose weight” isn’t specific, but “Lose thirty pounds at one pound a week” can be measured by simply stepping on the scale. “Make more calls” isn’t specific, but “Make five new outbound prospecting calls a day” is.

U = Us. The quarterback doesn’t attempt to score by himself; he hands off the ball to other players. Individual players can’t win without help from their teammates. Reaching a goal requires an entire team of people to be accomplished. You’ll experience limited success if your department or family doesn’t buy into your goal, so understand your strengths and know when to delegate pieces of the task to others. Where can you save time by passing the ball to others qualified to do the task?

P = Plan to succeed. Top teams don’t go out and just start playing. They prepare, plan, and study the playbook. They determine in advance what will be effective and how to spend their time. Similarly, don’t tackle a job without drawing up a plan of attack. List all the steps it will take to execute your plan in a logical sequence. Each night, draw up your plans for the next day so you are focused and
purposeful.

E = Effort. Teams get to the Super Bowl through effort, not luck. Yes, you might reach your goals through sheer luck, but the odds are much better if you work hard. Injuries can put the very best team out of the playoffs, so players put effort into staying healthy. Scoring a touchdown isn’t easy, but it’s attainable with effort. Similarly, your goals should challenge you without being unrealistic. Don’t set yourself up to fail, but do force yourself to stretch. When you experience success at reaching “stretch” objectives, you
gain confidence. Also know when to take a time out and rest, so you don’t burn out or get fatigued.

R = Reward. Players have unique ways of celebrating a touchdown—through a gesture, a dance, even a back flip. Have a plan to celebrate your accomplishments, too. You’ll stay motivated to work toward your objective when you know the rewards. The vision of earning a Super Bowl ring keeps players pushing toward that end. What will be your reward once you’ve accomplished your goal? What is exciting enough to make you want to shoot for it? A vacation? A massage? A round of golf? Rewards can also be intrinsic, such as increased self-esteem, more confidence, or the pleasure of a job well done.

B = Belief. Football players have a burning desire to win, and so should you. Have confidence in yourself! Picture yourself in the moment you achieve your goal. Determine how you will feel. Use positive self-talk and hear what others say when your goal is achieved. Enlist your friends and create your own personal cheering section. Your fans help you maintain your enthusiasm, and you’ll rise to the level of your own self-esteem. When you’re having a slow day, call your fans and ask for encouragement.

O = Obstacles. Teams spend a lot of time studying the competition and determining how to beat it. What obstacles do you face when working on your goal? What might prevent you from obtaining it? Consider early in the process what could go wrong, then put contingency plans in place and anticipate problems before they occur.

W = Written. Many people dream about what goals they want to accomplish, but few actually write them down. Coaches don’t have all the plays memorized; they refer to their playbooks. Written objectives are tangible and concrete. Make them uplifting and phrase them in a positive way. Review your progress at regular intervals and track it as you go. For example, measure your weight each week, summarize your sales calls every day, or determine how many pages you wrote each day.

L = Limits. Football games have four 15-minute quarters, a framework in which players have to succeed. Break your goal down into manageable pieces with well-defined start and stop dates. Many goals will have multiple action steps, each with a target date. Don’t think of a project as a 10-hour task; think of it as 10 one-hour tasks. A goal is a series of first downs—mini-goals that help you see your progress and keep you motivated.

Remember, you don’t have to move 100 yards all at once. Take small steps toward your goals every day or every week. Get moving, and you’ll soon feel the positive effects of the change. And every little bit of change can lead to long-term healthy habits, which last far beyond the Super Bowl party!

Make it a productive day!

Managing Your Time: Consider the Value of Your Time

LauraStack — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:30:18 +0000

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), shares her thoughts on managing your time, the value of time and why you should protect it. (C) 2011 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved. http://www.TheProductivityPro.com

Managing Your Time: Challenge the Status Quo

LauraStack — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:36:33 +0000

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), talks about getting out of a rut. You don’t always have to do things they way they have always been done. (C) 2011 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved. http://www.TheProductivityPro.com

Time Management Skills: Are the Boxes on Your Calendar Bursting With Meetings

LauraStack — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:26:38 +0000

Managing Your Time: Are the Boxes on Your Calendar Bursting With Meetings

LauraStack — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 17:04:17 +0000

Increasing Productivity: Telecommuting and Your Family and Friends

LauraStack — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:40:53 +0000

In this month’s newsletter article, Telecommuting: Creating a Productive Home Working Environment, I discussed some ways of keeping your home office productive. Here are a few more thoughts I’d like to share.

Although telecommuting has many advantages, it does have its challenges. One of the greatest lies in getting your family, friends, and neighbors to take your work habits seriously. They may (at least subconsciously) assume that just because you’re home all day, you’re not really working—and so you can do anything for them at any time. Allowing them to continue to think this way will play havoc with your personal productivity, so nip such tendencies in the bud right away.

Let’s look at friends and neighbors first. While some may respect your work schedule, others won’t think twice about interrupting you to chat or ask a favor—something they probably wouldn’t do if you were slaving away in your cubicle over at HQ. When it happens, politely but firmly point out that you’ve set specific work hours for yourself, and that you need to focus on work during that time and can’t afford any interruptions. Make it clear, however, that you welcome their visits at any other time (if in fact you do). While some people may think you’re a jerk, you can live with that if they’ll just leave you alone. Most, however, will get the point and back off graciously.

With family, just sit down with everyone and lay down the law about when, and under what circumstances, they can disturb you. If you don’t, they’re likely to trample down the borders between your work life and home life so badly they’ll cease to exist. The worst culprits here may not be your children, surprisingly, but your significant other. I know one worker who had to give up his first attempt at telecommuting, because his spouse always had chores for him to do and errands for him to run—reasoning that, after all, he had all day to get in his eight hours. That’s a recipe for disaster, and in fact it killed his productivity at work. He ended up going back to his traditional office after a few weeks, so he could get more done.

Many would-be telecommuters actually hurt their own workplace productivity by assuming they can combine telework with child care. This simply doesn’t work in most cases, because both efforts require focus and commitment—and no one can really focus on two things at once, as much as we might want to. If you have young kids at home, even for part of the day, send them to day care or hire someone to look after them, so you can get your work done. Your kids may not understand, but it’s best for everyone involved.

Productivity Minute Video: No Nosing In on Family Time

Managing Your Time: Vacation in the Summer Sun

LauraStack — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:23:37 +0000

Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro(R), discusses a vital part of managing your time: the importance of vacation time as it relates to being productive. (C) 2011 Laura Stack. All Rights Reserved. http://www.TheProductivityPro.com

Time Management Skills: Upcoming Webinars

LauraStack — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:55:05 +0000

Ready to boost your time management skills? Join us for the remaining webinars in the 2011 Productivity and Microsoft Outlook series!

November 21, 2011

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Mountain: Telecommuting: Creating a Productive Home Working Environment - $29

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Mountain: Outlook 2010 Module 11 - Email Communication, Team Rules, and Office Protocols - $39

December 16, 2011

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM Mountain: Extreme Job Required: Surviving the 60-Plus Hour Workweek - $29

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Mountain: Outlook 2010 Module 12 – Workflow and Keeping the Inbox Empty - $39

We hope you will join us!

Time Management at Work: Wasted Time?

LauraStack — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:15:36 +0000

How much time is wasted at work in your experience? I just read a recent article at SmartCompany which talked about a recent study by Ernst & Young. The study indicates that 18% of time at work could be considered unproductive. That it a lot of time that could be spent creating value! Some of the items the 2500 respondents referred to as time wasters are:

Internal administration, red tape and meetings
Waiting for IT systems
Jobs needing to be redone

Some time wasters are beyond an employee’s control, but some of that wasted time could potentially be used in other ways. Would love to hear how you handle seemingly unavoidable time wasters in your day.

Time Management Skills: The Fine Art of Putting Things Off

LauraStack — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:58:05 +0000