Ebiz Snap

Distractions Procrastination Perfectionism.

All of these things can hinder your productivity. But one way to keep on track is to reward yourself as you cross things off your to-do list and meet your goals.

In order for this to be a useful way to increase your productivity, you need to set up rewards that you truly want (and not something you would do for yourself anyway).

Secondly, your reward must be proportionate to your goal.

So small steps deserve small rewards, while meeting bigger milestones and goals should result in bigger rewards.

Example: Let’s suppose you want to complete and publish a book. You may set up a smaller reward for yourself for finishing the book, such as splurging on your favorite bottle of wine. Then you can set up a bigger reward for making your first 100 sales, such as going out of town for the weekend to your favorite vacation spot.

This won’t work for you’re the type who’s tempted to enjoy the reward without actually meeting the goal. For example, maybe you decide to buy the wine anyway even though you’re only half finished with the book. If this sounds like you, see the next tip (Tip 18) for a different type of motivator.

Tip: You can make this tip even more effective by telling your accountability partner about your intended goals and associated rewards.

Tags: Time Management

Get Someone to Hold You Accountable

There mere act of publicly stating your goals is one way to motivate yourself to achieve them, which in turn makes you more productive. But here’s another way:

Recruit someone to hold you accountable on a daily or weekly basis. (In return, you can do the same for him.)

Here’s how it works…
Let’s say you decide to touch base with your accountability partner three times per week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday).

On Sunday night or early Monday morning, you tell your partner what all is on your to-do list for Monday. On Monday night, your partner contacts you and specifically asks you what you accomplished.

After you tell him what you did or did not accomplish, then you tell him what’s on your to-do list for Tuesday and Wednesday. Again, he contacts you on Wednesday night and you tell him what you did or did not do. And again, you tell him what’s on your list for Thursday and Friday. And so on.

You can see why this works.

Most people feel embarrassed telling their accountability partner that they didn’t finish the tasks on their to-do lists. And if you’re like most people, you’ll feel even more uncomfortable lying.

So in order to ease this psychological discomfort and embarrassment, there’s only one thing for you to do: Take action.

Tip: Be sure to choose a partner who’ll reliably contact you and hold you to your to-do list. I say this because sometimes if you tell a friend you watched TV instead of outlining a chapter, he might say something like, “Oh, that’s ok – you can do it tomorrow.”

You don’t want someone who’ll rationalize or make excuses for you (or let YOU get away with making excuses). You want someone who’ll hold your feet to the fire and strongly encourage you to stay on track.

Tags: Time Management

Is It Okay To Say No?

I mentioned this tip earlier in the report. Basically, sometimes you just have to say “no” to other people.

You may feel guilty. They may deliberately try to make you feel guilty or otherwise manipulate you. But if you say “yes” to every request, you won’t have time to work on your own to-do lists.

Chances are, you will say yes to some people or to some specific requests. However, you need to prioritize these requests just as you prioritize your own to-do list. That is, make a list of people who you’re most likely to say yes to. And then prioritize requests as they come in.

Tip: If someone who’s not on your “priority list” makes a favor request, consider if the request advances your own to-do list or if there is a bartering opportunity available. If not, say no.

Most people find that it’s actually pretty easy to decide whether to say yes or no to a request. The problem comes down to actually saying no (because of the aforementioned guilt).

Here’s how to do it: Simply politely but firmly say, “No, I’m afraid I’m unable to help you.”

Don’t offer an explanation. If you do, the person will likely argue with your explanation. Don’t even open the door to debate. No matter what the other person says or how they push, just tell them no without explanation as to why you can’t help them.

Tags: Time Management

Git-R-Dun Part 2

Just a bit ago I told you that perfectionism is procrastination’s twin sister. And that’s because they’re usually both symptoms of fear.

Procrastination can manifest in these two ways:

➢ Obvious procrastination. This is when you know you’re procrastinating. You have something to work on, but you just can’t get motivated to do it.

Example: If you have a report to write, you may find yourself staring at the blank screen or getting easily distracted by other things (such as watching YouTube videos).

➢ Subtle procrastination. This one is a little trickier because it disguises itself. Instead of you just sitting around when you should be working on something, you instead busy yourself with something else (while rationalizing that this new task is important).

Indeed, you may even go so far as to reorder your to-do list so that you can procrastinate on a specific task.

Just as with perfectionism, the key to beating procrastination is to
figure out WHY you’re procrastinating.

How does it serve you? How does it “protect” you from one of your fears?

In some cases, it’s not immediately obvious to you why you’re procrastinating.

If so, then you need to do a brain dump. Simply take out a couple clean sheets of paper and write, “why am I procrastinating?” at the top of the paper. Then spend 30 minutes writing everything that comes into your head (no censoring, editing or analyzing). If you can’t think of anything to write, then just keep writing the question until something does pop into your head. Usually after about 20 minutes, our subconscious mind lets down its defenses, so that’s when you’ll start getting real answers to your question.

Once you’ve determined the problem, then it’s up to you to find a solution

In most cases, simply acknowledging the problem will be enough to allow yourself to start taking serious action.

Tags: Time Management

Git-R-Dun

Your mom probably taught you to do the best you can. In school, your teachers insisted on you doing your very best job (and your grades reflected your efforts). And so you might be tempted to make sure everything is perfect on every task you do.

Sometimes you do need to be perfect.

Sometimes.

But you also need to have the wisdom to know when you can turn out work and complete tasks that are less than perfect.

You need to know that sometimes you’ll turn out
average work and improve it as you go.

Take a look at the company Microsoft. They don’t put out perfect software products. Instead, they do what they can up front and release imperfect software. The reason they do this is twofold:

1. They’ll still make money. Because they offer free patches and upgrades, people are confident enough to essentially “beta test” their software. (Even when they’re no longer officially in beta.)

2. Microsoft knows that they’ll improve their product faster by releasing it sooner. Think about it: thousands of people using their software will uncover the bugs much faster than a handful of beta testers. And so the company releases software that’s not yet perfect because releasing it is the fastest way to improve it.

Now before we delve into this further, let me make a note: Sometimes your work will never be perfect. If you try to make perfect something that can’t be perfected, you’re only wasting time. You need to do the best you can and move on (and make improvements later if need be).
The other thing you need to recognize is whether you’re using perfectionism as a way to not finish a product.

Indeed, perfectionism is procrastination’s twin sister: Except perfectionism makes you FEEL like you’re really making progress.

How can you tell?

Simple: If you’re missing deadlines because you don’t think your project is “ready,” then some sort of fear (of success or failure) may be revealing itself in the form of perfectionism. It’s one thing to want to do a good job… it’s an entirely different matter to have a project stall because you don’t think it’s “perfect” yet.

Getting over perfectionism requires a couple steps, including:

Step #1: Figure out why you can’t move forward. That is, what “pay off” do you get if you don’t finish the project? Why are you afraid to move forward?

Sometimes people can’t move forward due to a fear of failure. That’s pretty common. When you spend a long time thinking about how good it will feel to achieve your goals, the prospect of failing can seem frightening.

Tip: If this is your fear, remember that you don’t get just one chance to find success. Thomas Edison completed thousands upon thousands of experiments as he sought to create the light bulb. If he thought he had just one shot, he would have quit when his very first idea failed.

On the flip side, sometimes people fear success. They don’t know what success will bring – they only know it’s scary because it IS unknown.

Example: Someone who’s looking to make a lot of money with a project may suddenly start worrying about something like relatives asking for money, complicated tax paperwork and similar. And in doing so, he talks himself out of wanting to be successful.

In still other cases, some folks feel like they don’t deserve success. And so they sabotage themselves. Being a perfectionist (and thus never finishing anything) is one way to do it, while avoiding the guilt that goes along other behaviors like procrastination.

This step is the hard part.
Once you can be truthful with yourself and admit you’re using perfectionism to avoid finishing a task (and determine why), you’ll be well on your way to moving past perfectionism…

Step #2: Imagine the worst case scenario.

Perfectionism is usually caused by some sort of fear. But if you really let your mind go wild and imagine the WORST that can happen… you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find it’s not all that frightening as you thought.

So go ahead and imagine your worst possible fear about your goals and this project

Let your mind go wild about what could happen if the project wasn’t absolutely perfect. And then imagine the worst case about what would happen if you succeeded or failed on the overall project.

Example: Maybe the person who’s working on a new business is suddenly gripped by the fear of begging relatives and complex taxes.

If you let your mind run with those fears, you’ll see there not so scary.

Example: The newly successful person can instantly eliminate the fear of complex taxes by hiring a good tax accountant.

Step #3: Commit to moving forward.

Once you’ve uncovered your specific reason for perfectionism and imagined your worst fears, you’ll feel a whole lot better. And that’s the perfect time to take a massive step towards your goal (as action will make the rest of your fear melt away).

Example: If you’re doing something like writing a book, force yourself to write the introduction… and give yourself permission for it to be awful (you can go back later and edit it).

Tags: Time Management

Focus Time

You often hear about folks praising those who multi-task. I mean why just do one thing when you can do two or more things in the same amount of time?

That’s true only in certain cases. The tips above are perfect examples: You can certainly make out a grocery list or a to do list while watching TV. And you can certainly do some reading (or listen to digital books) while doing things like driving. Waiting for an appointment or exercising.

However, multi-tasking doesn’t work very well when you’re trying to do two tasks that use the same resources.

Example: You can’t write a report and write an email at the same time.

Think about it: You’re writing an email. Then you turn your attention to your report. You have to now read the last few paragraphs that you created previously to reorient yourself to the task. You write a page of your report and then go back to your email. Now you spend a minute rereading the email so you can recall your previous train of thought.

And so on.

Point is, you’ll spend more time just going over your previous work again and again to help you refresh your memory and reorient yourself to the task. And that wastes time.

There’s a better way: Single-task. Focus on one thing at a time. Finish that one thing. And then turn your full attention to something else.

Tags: Time Management

Down Time To UP Time

If you’re like most folks, you probably spend a lot of time waiting…

• Sitting on the train, waiting to get to your destination.
• Stuck in traffic, waiting for the congestion to clear.
• Waiting at the doctor’s office, waiting for the mechanic, waiting for the parent-teacher conference to start, waiting for the commercial to be over so you can get back to watching your favorite TV program, waiting to pay at the grocery store…

You can manage your time better by turning your downtime into productive time. For example:

⇒ Answer emails on the train.

Tip: If you don’t have a connection to the Internet, then download your emails into an email client like Outlook Express before you get on the train, answer them and put them in your outbox so they go out the next time you connect.

⇒ Create your to do lists while waiting for a doctor’s appointment.

⇒ Use a voice recorder to create verbal to do lists, get organized or make notes while you’re stuck in traffic. You can also catch up on your “reading” by listening to iPod books or books on CDs.

⇒ Pay bills online or create your shopping list during commercial breaks while you’re watching TV.

⇒ Return short phone calls while walking between a parking lot and your office or store.

Bottom line: If you have (involuntary) downtime, you probably can fit a small task into that timeslot.

Tags: Time Management

Uncover Your Personal Time Wasters

We’ve talked about some of the most common ways to fritter away your precious minutes, such as by surfing around online, checking email, answering unnecessary phone calls, replying to unnecessary text messages and so on.

But you probably have a few time-wasters that are unique to you. It’s your job to uncover (and overcome) them.

One way to do this is to just keep a log of everything
you do every day for the next week or so.

To do this, stop every half hour and record EVERYTHING you did in the previous 30 minutes. You should also note when you don’t do anything at all.

You might uncover time wasters such as:

➢ Daydreaming. You might be reading something and a page or two later you realize you have NO idea what you just read. Or maybe you’re about to write something, but you end up staring at the blank screen, daydreaming.

➢ Getting distracted by something trivial and needing to “fix” it. For example, if your chair squeaks, you might find yourself running off to get oil to fix it.

➢ Getting visually distracted, such as when you look out the window and see cats fighting in your yard.

➢ Getting distracted by noise, such as when you find yourself sitting near an open window, trying to eavesdrop on the neighbors. ☺

➢ Feeling restless or uncomfortable. You might think your clothes are “scratchy” so you change clothes. Or maybe the room is too hot so you turn up the A/C.

➢ Remembering suddenly that you have something even more urgent to do, like pay the phone bill or set up an appointment. Instead of making a note of these things and doing them all at once, you waste time by breaking your focus to do them at the exact moment you think about it.

These are just a few examples.

Obviously, you’ll uncover your own time-wasters that aren’t on this list. If you have any troubles eliminating these distractions, see the section later in this report on moving past procrastination.

Tags: Time Management

Human Distractions

You can eliminate all sort of distractions around you… but if you don’t also eliminate the human distractions, you’re not going to get much done.

If you’re working at home, your roommates, spouse and/or children will keep popping in to chat if you let them. At work, your colleagues will stop by with questions, feedback or just to talk about last night’s ending on their favorite reality TV show. And even in public (like sitting at a Starbucks) you can’t get away from people who want to use up some of your precious time with trivial matters.

So here’s what you need to do:

Let everyone around you know that you need
an uninterrupted period of time to get your work done.

Here are tips to help you communicate your needs at home, at work and in public:

⇒ If you’re in public, use “don’t bother me” body language and other cues. Don’t make eye contact with others. Put your hand to your head to indicate you’re concentrating. Put headphones on (even if you don’t have music playing) as a way to show people you’re not interested in talking.

If someone does initiate conversation, politely but firmly let them know that you’re on a deadline and must finish your task.

⇒ When you’re at home, let your household members know you need some uninterrupted time. If you have children, ask your partner (or even a friend or neighbor) to watch the children while you enjoy uninterrupted time (and then offer the same in return). Shut the door and hang a sign on it, if necessary.

⇒ When you’re at work, shut your door whenever possible. If that’s not possible, then use the “don’t bother me” body language and other cues.

Tags: Time Management

Riptide Warning

Ever been to the coast and seen the warning flags cautioning surfers of the rip tides. A rip tide iis a strong channel of water flowing away from the shoreline.

If you work on a computer – and if you’re connected to the Internet while doing so – then you know how big of a distraction being online can be riptides pulling you away from you work.

It’s even worse if what you’re currently working on actually requires you to be online and surfing (like research).

You check your email. You read blogs. You join discussions on forums. You click here and there, reading whatever catches your eye. And before you know it, you’ve wasted an entire hour while accomplishing absolutely nothing.

You’ve already discovered a few ways to avoid these distractions, including:

⇒ Setting a time limit on your activities. This includes setting both a time limit on your tasks as well as your online leisure activities. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that watching endless YouTube videos is a form of research.

⇒ Setting a timer where you give 100% effort for 20 minutes at time (and you don’t allow yourself to do anything else).

Beyond that, you need to eliminate the remaining distractions as much as you can.

⇒ Shut down all unnecessary windows on your computer, including your email and extra browser windows.

Tip: Instead of closing windows, you’ll use a software to just show your active workspace, and thus hide distractive windows/applications. Check ScreenMask or DropCloth for Windows, BackDrop for Mas OS X.

⇒ Whenever possible, disconnect yourself from the Internet so that you’re not tempted to surf around aimlessly or check your email endlessly getting pull out by the riptide.

Tags: Time Management