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Productivity Coaching, Time Management Consulting and Leadership Coaching for business and nonprofits - get your most important work done. Collaborating with leaders and their teams to become more strategic, focused and productive. Leadership and Board Coaching, Strategic Planning Facilitation, Productivity Coaching and Time Management Consulting, Professional Speaker.
Productivity Coach, Productivity Consultant, Leadership Coach, Time Management Coach, Business Consulting, personal productivity, time management, nonprofit, board coach, collaboration, strategic planning, facilitation, change management, leading productive teams, project planning, board development, volunteer engagement, association management, workplace productivity, executive director.
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15 Feb

Posted at 14:16h in Planning Tools, Productivity, Stress Management, Time Management, Tips for Easier Living

The 5 Pillars of Productivity

A Note from Ellen: I’ve been working on a book. In the coming weeks I’ll be previewing snippets from the book on my blog. It’s important information I want to share. Today’s post is a summary of Chapter 1.  If you would like to learn more, I’ll post book updates here on the blog. It is exciting. Stay tuned! 

These 5 pillars of productivity are core to your productivity success. Whatever you learn, whatever you do, keep these in mind and build from here.

Productivity is a Quality of Life Issue

Productivity is a quality of life issue. When we don’t know what is important, we end up doing unimportant things. We spend our weekends thinking we’ll get work done, yet we’re exhausted and don’t. We end up more stressed and less effective come Monday morning, worried about the work we didn’t do. Finding a way to work better brings greater ease, peace, and happiness to both career and life.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Each of us is wired differently, and what works for one person absolutely may not work for someone else. Being willing to experiment and discover productivity solutions that fit YOU is essential. I discuss this pillar in depth in this post: Productivity That Fits How You’re Wired.

If It Isn’t EASY, It’s Too Hard

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when trying to improve their productivity is making their systems too complex. Too many steps and the systems are destined to fail. Too much time to learn the systems and more time is spent on the tool, with little time spent on the task itself.

Not All Work is Equally Important

Pareto’s principle, the 80/20 Rule, supports the concept that you can achieve 80% of the results in 20% of the time. Learning how and when to apply the 80/20 rule helps free up time for important things, in and out of work. Be deliberate in how you invest your time.

  • 20% of your work/clients contributes to 80% of your profits
  • 20% of your apps are used 80% of the time
  • 20% of your meeting time achieves 80% of decisions
  • 20% of your time yields 80% of the result

 Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan

Taking the time to plan is the secret sauce to productivity. If you think you don’t have time to plan, you don’t have time NOT to plan. Investing a little time for planning drives the shift from overwhelmed to productive.

The greatest benefit of planning may be the process of thinking things through. Winston Churchill may have been right when he said “Plans are worthless, planning is priceless.” Yes, sometimes plans go awry. However, things go much more awry without them.

  • Planning helps you stop worrying about missing a deadline or an opportunity.
  • Planning helps you to anticipate so surprises are minimized.
  • Planning helps you prioritize tasks moving you towards focused success.
  • Planning helps you use your time well. When you say yes to something off–plan, you are saying no to working on–plan.

21 Jun

Posted at 16:50h in Change, Productivity, Stress Management, Time Management

overcoming procrastination

I’ve been hearing a lot lately about people struggling with procrastination. The pandemic has taken a lot out of us, and we are all a bit worn down. When we put off doing what we “need” to do it makes us feel undisciplined and lazy.  The self-compassion experts tell us that just makes things worse.

Instead of beating yourself up, it is much more effective to figure out why you procrastinate. Then you can take positive action to overcome the obstacle. Procrastination is typically NOT about discipline!  When the system is right and you understand what is happening then it takes much less willpower to move into action.

Procrastination Strategies

If simply intending to do the task worked, you wouldn’t be reading this. There are a number of less-typical strategies you can try to see what will help YOU blow through YOUR procrastination obstacles.

Figure Out Why You Procrastinate – There are many reasons people procrastinate. Figuring out your reason(s) is the first step to overcoming them.  Is it self-doubt or do you just need more information?  Do you need more time for the information to percolate in your head, or do you simply need the stress of the deadline to activate?  Are you unclear if the task is important? Or do you just hate doing it?  Understanding the cause of our individual brands of perfectionism helps us move into action.

Make the First Step Small – focus on getting started. Don’t worry about finishing. Set one mini-goal to get you to sit down and start.

Trick Your Brain – Start with an easy task to stimulate your brain. Take advantage of the “pleasure seeking” chemicals and as soon as you finish the easy/fun task move to one of the “harder to complete” tasks.

Identity Motivation –Use a character trait you like about yourself to help you activate. i.e. – I am a learner, I have perseverance, I am a problem-solver. Then ask:

  1. What kind of situation is this?
  2. Who am I?
  3. What does someone like me do in a situation like this? If you consider yourself to be thoughtful – then you’ll ask yourself – what does a thoughtful person do in a situation like this? If you consider yourself to be a problem solver then you’ll ask yourself – what would a problem solver do in a situation like this?

Body Doubling – Body Doubling is having a partner share your space to help keep you on task. They don’t need to do anything in particular. Their very presence helps move you to action.

  • Meet a friend at the coffee shop and work on your “hard” project alone – together.
  • Meet a colleague in the conference room and set your Pomodoro timer.
  • Ask a family member to sit with you while you are getting started.
  • Hire a NAPO Professional Organizer or other consultant to work on your project with you

Change Location – A unfamiliar space can provide just enough stimulation your brain needs to move into action. Weather permitting try working outside, a new coffee shop, or even a new location at work or home. Simply changing chairs at your kitchen table may be enough to shift how your brain is processing the environment.

Freak Yourself Out – Creating controlled stress can help. Make a list of the top 3 consequences of not doing this project. Now make another list – top 3 consequences of not doing this project on time. Not failing can help move you into action.

05 Apr

Posted at 11:08h in Planning Tools, Productivity, Stress Management, Time Management, Tips for Easier Living

Productivity: Post-Vaccine

We used to go to work and come home to relax.  Now we work from home and soon we’ll be going out to relax.  I heard someone say that we really don’t work from home – now we are living from work.  That sounds crazy!  What is clear however, is that things are different. Dependent on your age and where you live, your access to the vaccine varies. Hopefully we will soon all have our “get out of jail free” (vaccine) cards and be returning to our new normal.

I was on a Zoom call last week and we discussed our anxiety around returning to normalcy.  Yes, with this new freedom comes anxiety. We’ve gotten pretty darn comfortable in our yoga pants and bare feet. We’ve built in systems and supports to help us get our work done and live from work.  Now there is another shift coming.  How do we make this transition as healthfully and productively as possible?

It’s about BOUNDARIES!  What you say YES to, and what you say NO to. Building the scaffolding now will support you in reentering in a way that will get what you need, yet not compromise the learning and reevaluating that we’ve had this past year. What supports do you need? What guardrails can you put in place to protect you?

On our Zoom call, my colleague, Susan Lannis of the Time Liberator, posed her questions about our post pandemic behavior, from which I’ve crafted the following questions for you to ask yourself. I suggest you invest the time to journal on this, or open a note or document and write your answers out. Take your time. Give it thought.

  1. What behaviors, actions, or learnings from the Covid shutdown do you want to continue doing – what are you saying YES to?
  2. What behaviors, actions, or learnings from the Covid shutdown do you want to continue NOT doing – what are you saying NO to?
  3. What are the three most important things you look forward to doing post-vaccine?

Now make a list of your boundaries – what you will say yes to, what you will say no to, and what you wish to continue. Here are mine:

  1. What I want to continue doing – What I’m saying YES to:
    1. “No incoming tech” Saturdays
    2. Exercise and yoga classes via Zoom
    3. Speaking engagements via Zoom
  2. What I want to not do – What I am saying NO to:
    1. Going out socially more than 2 or 3 times a week
    2. Networking when it doesn’t serve me
    3. Traveling more than once a month
  3. Three most important things I look forward to getting back to
    1. Seeing my friends and family
    2. Going to the store and picking out what I want
    3. Taking golf lessons

Taking the time to think through and plan will support your success. Good luck as you move through this next transition. Interested in learning more? Here is what is sure to be many articles written about our post-pandemic return.

18 Jan

Posted at 10:06h in Planning Tools, Productivity, Stress Management, Time Management, Tips for Easier Living

Now that we’re through the rush of the new year it’s a good time to set some goals and intentions for the year ahead. With all the unknown of the pandemic it is hard to really make plans, however without some direction it’s next to impossible to find peace.

Many struggle to get clear on what is important or what to do next. Taking a few minutes to identify your goals and intentions help you get clear on what you are saying yes to and what you are saying no to.

Why Intentions and Not Just Goals

A goal has a specific outcome – “I want to leave the office at 6pm each evening,” “I want to make profits over 6 figures this year,” “I want to complete the team on-boarding program by June.”

An intention is how you want to live – “I prioritize self-care,” “I make time to give love and care to my family,” “I continue to learn so I can help leaders grow, and develop their teams.”

Most people have both goals and intentions.  To focus on one and not the other is addressing just a portion of how people spend their time.  A new client typically describes himself as needing help getting all their work done. In reality, work isn’t the only problem; many share that they would like to be able to take time off without worry and stress.  As you identify your own goals and intentions you may want to consider more than work.  Remember, we are going for “better life.”

Here is a quick and easy goal and intention setting process for you to follow:

Action Plan for 10 Minute Goal/Intention Setting:   

  1. Take 3 minutes and write down three to four things you’d like to accomplish in the next 6 months, perhaps one per life area – (work, professional growth, personal growth, self-care, family, etc.) label these Short Term Goals.
  2. Take 3 minutes and write down three to four things you’d like to accomplish in the next 6 months to 3 years, perhaps one per life area – label these Long Term Goals.
  3. Take 2 minutes to re-write them in a form that makes them is meaningful:
    1. Check in with 3 former clients per week for the next 4 weeks
    2. Lose 10 pounds by working out twice a week and following the nutritionist’s program
    3. Read to the kids at least 4 times a week
  4. Take 1 minute to copy them on to a pleasing piece of paper.
  5. Take 1 minute to post them in a place that will keep them top of mind

Here’s to a happy New Year.

25 Nov

Posted at 18:37h in Productivity, Stress Management, Time Management, Tips for Easier Living

Traditionally on Thanksgiving I write about our lives being too full, like our Thanksgiving plate. And, that if we fill our Thanksgiving plate with foods to please everyone else, we won’t have room to eat the foods that we love. This results in us leaving our Thanksgiving meals unsatisfied and unfulfilled… and then later eating more pie then we need. Point being, if you want a balanced fulfilling life it is important to make room for the sweet potatoes (or whatever your fav Thanksgiving Day food of choice is.)

This year as I’ve worked as a Productivity Coach, I’ve observed this trend of not making room for the things that matter:

  • We put our own passion projects on the back burner
  • We spend too much time making unimportant things perfect
  • We don’t know how to even begin to relax

Make Time for the Satisfying Work

Do you have a “passion project” you never get to? Or even a work project that you’d enjoy doing but everyone else’s priorities, daily meetings and email, and the business-of-business keep you from doing what interests and inspires you?

You are not the only one. There is a way to fix this. You need to plan doing your project. Plan to prioritize it. Plan to work on it. Plan by breaking it into small manageable parts and then plan to do it by putting it on your list.  And not the Sooner or Later list but the Important and Hot lists. Working on it a little at a time will get it done.

Let Go of Perfect

Do you seem to take longer than everyone else to finish tasks? Do you hesitate to send out work because it may not be good enough? Do you keep working on something because you worry that others will judge you for it not being perfect?  Newsflash! Not everything has to be done perfectly. Does Apple and Microsoft release software updates that aren’t perfect? Of course, they do – and that’s how they keep moving forward.  I’m not asking you to be comfortable doing mediocre work. Nor am I suggesting that if you have something really important that you don’t give it your best. I am suggesting that most of the time very good is sufficient and that the difference between very good and perfect isn’t notable enough for the time investment. The 80/20 rule applies. You get to very good in 20% of the time. Perfect takes you another 80%. (Read more about the Pareto Principle in my How To Manage Time Better blog post.)

Learn to Relax

Excessive busy-ness is no longer looked upon as a good thing. And I’m hoping that our work-cultures are moving towards eliminating the frenzied activity that causes burnout. Now what?  My clients tell me they have no idea how to relax. Months into the pandemic and the extra time we’ve gained not commuting has been absorbed like a Bounty paper towel. It’s sucked up and it’s gone.  Not traveling, limiting social visits, shopping virtually…and we still don’t have time to relax. What does relax mean? Another exercise class, reading more, watching more, cooking more?  If this helps you to decompress then do it. But for many, these tasks are simply personal to-do list items, done for outcome and not pleasure.  What gives you pleasure? What gives you joy? What helps you to slow and appreciate what you have? As the saying goes, we are human BE-ings, not human DO-ings.  Can you identify one act of “BE-ing” that helps you relax? (I think bubble bath!)

At this time of Thanksgiving, even in this crazy time, there is so much to be grateful for.  I wish for you new perspective and peace as you learn to put things that satisfy on your plate.

22 Oct

Posted at 12:47h in Envision Possibilities, Envision Success, Productivity, Stress Management, Time Management

 

What’s the difference between a Productivity Coach and a Time Management Coach?This question is a thing.  And I don’t want it to keep you from getting the support you need, so I will share with you my thoughts about what I think the difference is.

Really nothing, and perhaps everything.  Time is fixed and finite.  We all get 168 hours each week and no matter what we do we can’t change that.  It is how we spend that time that that we can control.  Both a Time Management Coach and a Productivity Coach can help you build supports and systems to help you maximize the time you have.

It doesn’t quite matter what a coach calls themselves. A good coach is going to work with you to come up with solutions to the issues you bring. And while you may think the goal is to improve your work productivity – that’s not all. While clients call with the goal to improve things at work, what they really want is to have time, energy, and focus for things other than work. As a coach I work with my clients to routinize the less unique aspects of their work and life so they both do their best work AND enjoy their time not working.

Some of the things I focus on as a productivity coach is helping clients do their work effectively and efficiently.  Common outcomes include:

  • Putting systems in place to control what’s controllable. This results in less stress about work and more focus to do the work
  • Making time off count. The only thing worse than working all weekend is not working, yet not relaxing because of the worry of what’s not done
  • Identifying and doing the work that matters, to the right degree of excellence (not beyond)

Yes, these outcomes are all about how you spend your time.  And while our focus is on productivity, it’s productivity around your time.  If your struggling with stress around your tasks and the pressures of your life, you may want to seek out support from a Productivity Coach or Time Management Coach.  As “they” say, I don’t care what you call me…just call me!