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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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stress Tag

24 Jul

Posted at 08:47h in Focus and Prioritize, Time Management, Tips for Easier Living
work play

work before play???

I don’t know if you were raised like I was, but when was little I was taught to finish my work before I played.  It made sense in to finish my homework before I went out to play.  It made sense to study for a test or clean my room before my friends came over.  It made sense then.

But does it make sense now?  Will we EVER be done with our work?  I don’t think so.  As a business professional, homeowner, and mom I could work 72 hours a day and still not be done.  In this day and age of information overload and cutting budgets we are all trying to fit the work of 3 or 4 people into one.  It’s time for a shift.

It’s hard to up your game when you’re burned out and overwhelmed. It’s hard to think clearly and productively when you don’t have the bandwidth.  Our short term memories are finite and sometimes there is just no more room.  If you don’t take time to care for yourself it will take longer to get your important work done.  As Abe Lincoln said “If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six sharpening my ax.”

(more…)

07 May

Posted at 08:53h in Organize to Thrive, Productivity, Tips for Easier Living

Ever wonder why some people notice clutter and others don’t?  Have you been curious about why some people are comfortable going down a list while others prefer to hop around?  The answer is related to who they are, not to what they chose.

In the Coaching world, we look at needs and values to help our clients create environments in which they can be most successful.  Needs can include things such as Adventure, Fame, Fellowship, Freedom, Happiness, Health, Love, Power and ORDER.  Just like some people NEED adventure, others NEED order.

Another powerful Coaching tool is self-observation.  Have you ever observed yourself in terms of NEED FOR ORDER?  Awareness around its importance can be a wonderful clue to creating the environment in which you are most at ease.  With the degree of stress that most people feel, whatever can be done to create a less stressful/more productive environment should be prioritized.  Where do you fall on the Need for Order Continuum?

THE NEED FOR ORDER CONTINUUM

The first step is awareness.  The second step is thinking about what you can do to change your environment.

I’m curious to hear your thoughts.  Please leave a reply on my blog at https://www.ellenfaye.com/blog/.

 

29 Apr

Posted at 19:42h in Organize to Thrive, Productivity, Time Management, Tips for Easier Living

The goal of getting organized and improving productivity is not to be perfect.  It is to make life easier and more enjoyable and fulfilling.  Complex systems are rarely the answer.  The best solutions are often the simplest.  Over complicated systems most often cannot be maintained.  More often than not, well done is good enough.

There are times that being “perfect” is important; in a client proposal, or on a resume, or in a white paper for your boss.  But equally, there are times that you don’t have to be so perfect – I’m not talking about spelling errors, or typos – I’m talking about thoroughness and precision.
When you strive for perfection your time investment is maxed out.  Where can you step back and save a bit of time and energy?  Here are my favorites:

  • Email – ask yourself, do I have to include that piece of information.  The briefer and more to the point your email is the faster it takes to write it and the easier it will be for the person receiving it to send you a prompt response
  • Planning your day – write out the top 5 things (or 3, or 7) you wish to accomplish.  Prioritize them by writing numbers next to each task – 1 for the most important, etc.  Just do it – but don’t spend a lot of time on this task – it will change anyway because you’ll never be able to anticipate the nuances of each day.  It’s the act of  planning that keeps you focused, not the exact plan itself
  • Drop the Penny – round up, it always balances out and it saves such silliness.  Imagine how many payroll dollars would be saved if employees didn’t have to count pennies.  Their impact is insignificant (unless of course you have a million of them – but that’s not the point!)

If you’re a perfectionist, try an experiment.  Pick one thing today and try to be a little less perfect.

17 Dec

Posted at 09:10h in Focus and Prioritize, Time Management, Tips for Easier Living

Get a handle on your JOMTI.  On your what?

JOMTI – Just One More Thing-Itis!

You know that urge to squeeze one more thing in…and then it makes you late.  It makes you late for the holiday party, the concert, or puts you at the mall with only an hour left to shop.  It makes the traffic heavier, it makes the prices higher and it makes the blood pressure rise.

Now, what if instead of making that phone call, answering that email, or checking your phone one last time you left 5 minutes earlier.  I know, it’s hard to do.  But consider the benefit.  Ask yourself – it is worth it?  Even if it was an important task, ask yourself:

  • Can it wait?
  • What if I did it later?
  • What if I didn’t get to it at all?

The trade off for doing one less thing? MORE JOY THIS HOLIDAY SEASON.

Wishing you a wonderfully joyful pre-holiday week.

10 Dec

Posted at 07:41h in Focus and Prioritize, Time Management, Tips for Easier Living
Making A List And Checking It Twice

Making A List And Checking It Twice

No… not talking about Santa’s list.  I’m talking about your TO DO list.  If you’re putting EVERYTHING on your list you are probably overwhelmed.  Before you say YES to a task or opportunity, run it through a filter list that helps you sort the yes’s from the no’s:

Possible Filter List Questions:   

  • Will it help someone or something important to me?
  • Will it help me grow personally or professionally?
  • Will it help me reach my goals?
  • Will I have fun doing it?
  • Will it give me joy?

Not sure? Ask yourself:

  • What’s the worst thing that will happen if I say NO?
  • Why should I say YES, and why should I say NO?
  • If I say YES to this, what will I be saying NO to?

If the answer isn’t clearly “yes”, then it probably should be “no.”

04 Jun

Posted at 14:30h in Productivity, Time Management

When I was in college and had a term paper to write I would go to the Library and check out as many books and periodicals as I could find. I would read them, then write the paper. The amount of information available was finite.

It is not this way for today’s students. With the advent of computers there is no end to the amount of research that can be done. The amount of information available is infinite. But somehow, kids today have learned when enough is enough and are able to stop researching and start writing.

If your formative years were like mine, learning when to stop presents a challenge. We were taught to research a topic until all sources were exhausted. Could this be part of the reason why our work never seems to end? We were taught to research until we could research no more. Trying to do this in today’s day and age does nothing but over-stress us, over-work us, and cause us to run continually behind. We simply have access to too much information.

When working in today’s climate consider creating self-imposed limits:

  • I will research the topic for 1 hour and then act
  • I will read 4 books and 4 articles and then act
  • I will give myself one week to gather information and then act

The concept of stopping research before exhausting all options is uncomfortable for many detailed and perfectionist professionals. But when you consider the minimal incremental learning you gain from the 5th, 6th, and 7th books you will be more empowered to stop gathering and start producing. As my favorite Disney character Mary Poppins says, Enough is as Good as a Feast.