Archive | March, 2010

GTD Practices – Review

By on March 31, 2010 in Success

This week we continue the ongoing series on GTD practices with a discussion on review. If you are not familiar with the GTD concept, read my GTD overview. Also, as a reminder, if you missed the previous posts in the series on the process of collecting or capturing, processing or organizing, I highly encourage you to start there first.

When we talk about weekly review, we are really talking about series of steps that include reviewing and updating, clarification, prioritization and the thought process necessary to accomplish all of this. The lists of actions and reminders will be of little use if not reviewed regularly. It sounds very involved and time-consuming, the last thing we need, but it really does not have to be. My weekly review takes approximately 30-60 minutes once a week and it is well worth it. When I do not take this time, I find my productivity plummets and the leaks in my routine get more numerous.

Let’s talk through the process of review in practical terms. The first thing you do when you sit down for your allotted review time is to quickly look over all of your ongoing projects and unfinished tasks (actions.) Where are you on all of your projects? Check the status and make sure you have determined your next action for each project. Brainstorm any additional appointments, meetings and tasks that are not on your list? Look in your “tickler” file, your “waiting on response” file and your “someday” file. Is there anything that needs to be followed up on or moved to an actionable task?

The next part of the process, which might actually be done in tandem, as you are looking at your open items, is to clarify your objectives. Are all of your items and projects still really necessary or meaningful and productive? Don’t keep working on things that no longer serve you or your company just because they are on your list! This is a great time to check in with your internal goals, values and life or business plan.

The final phase to your weekly review involves setting priorities. Which actions are most critical or time sensitive? Are you holding up progress on a project with your inaction? Which tasks have a firm deadline? Considering the time, energy, and resources available at any given time, you must select the most important task to be done. If you are inclined to procrastinate, you tend to do the easiest or most comfortable tasks and never get to the unpleasant ones. To avoid this, you may want to prioritize your most difficult tasks first!

To optimize your GTD routine and clarify the method further I highly recommend listening to the GTD Best Practices of Review podcast from David Allen the creator of the GTD system.  David and members of his team discuss the critical step of review; their individual routines, tips, tools and methods.

Please share any tips or comments you might have on how you are using this system. Stay tuned for my upcoming posts on this topic….. in the meantime check out the related posts on the GTD System.

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GTD Practices – Organize

By on March 24, 2010 in Success

This week we continue the ongoing series on GTD practices with a discussion on organize. If you are not familiar with the GTD concept, read my GTD overview. Also, as a reminder, if you missed part one or two in the series on the process of collecting or capturing and processing, I highly encourage you to start there first.

In plain English, this step of organize really deals with the “nitty gritty” daily practice of how to differentiate your projects and tasks; first by separating them, then determining if there is a next action and if so, what context. If there is no immediate next action, then it is should be “filed” as either reference, waiting for something or someone or a someday/maybe item. A key component to any successful organizational method is an effective filing system that is simple to use.

Note: I use categories to organize my tasks instead of context, such as or by categories such as “work,” “finances,” “calls,” “review,” ”someday,” “WOR,”  “household,” etc.

To optimize your GTD routine and clarify the method further I highly recommend listening to the GTD Best Practices of Organize podcast from David Allen the creator of the GTD system.  David and some members of his team share tips and strategies for organizing tasks, actions and projects; including details on how they utilize lists and contexts.

Please share any tips or comments you might have on how you are using this system. Stay tuned for next week’s discussion on the process of Review…..and in the meantime check out the related posts on the GTD system.

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GTD Practices – Processing

By on March 17, 2010 in Success

This week we continue the ongoing series on GTD practices with a discussion on processing. If you are not familiar with the GTD concept, read my GTD overview. Also, as a reminder, if you missed part one in the series last week on the process of collecting or capturing, I highly encourage you to start there first.

In a broader sense, this step of processing encompasses clarifying objectives or outcomes and the decision process behind determining what is a project vs. what is a task and if each item is actionable (more on organizing and actions next week.) This concept might be easier to understand and implement by following the work-flow diagram below. In this case a picture may indeed be worth a thousand words.

To jump-start your GTD routine and clarify the method further I highly recommend listening to the GTD Best Practices of Processing podcast from David Allen the creator of the GTD system.  David and some members of his team share tips and strategies for processing, including keys for getting to inbox zero, why things get stuck, the process for deciding and more. Even more crucial they discuss how this process works when you are managing a project or as part of a team.

As with any other routine or skill, this process does get easier and become almost automatic with time and practice. Please share any tips or comments you might have on how you are using this system. Stay tuned for next week’s discussion on the process of organizing…..and in the meantime check out the related posts on the GTD system.

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It’s About the Experience

By on March 16, 2010 in Success

Focus your marketing efforts on creating an experience. This does two things.

First, it creates a buzz around your brand for your customers to share. We all know that word of mouth is the most powerful marketing method available, but how often do you actually give people something to talk about?

Creating an experience or feeling also helps build a sense of relationship with your brand and gives customers a reason to keep coming back. People want to feel a certain way and if you associate your brand with what they’re looking for, they’ll respond to that.

How do you go about creating experiences?

  • Appeal to a customer’s emotions.
  • Make interactions as personal as possible.
  • Cultivate and promote the values that YOU stand for.
  • Be interesting, thought-provoking or noteworthy in some manner.
  • Identify what’s important to your customer and find a way to connect that to your brand.
  • Find techniques to become part of your customer’s daily life.
  • Give customers a take-away, even if it’s just a smile.

You recognize you want your customers to talk about you, but…what do you want them to say? What steps have you taken to build experience-making into your marketing approach? Is it reflected in the way you conduct business?

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haro

Free Publicity – Really?

By on March 15, 2010 in Success

haroEver heard of HARO – Help-A-Reporter-Out?

This website has been highly recommended in marketing and business circles, but I had never taken the time to check it out until recently. It is a portal where nearly 30,000 reporters from many of the major television news networks, prominent newspapers and magazines connect with sources for their articles and stories; even book research.

You can be one of those sources. It’s really very simple. You just sign up for one or multiple daily communication lists. They are listed by category; Business and finance, Lifestyle & Fitness, Education, Entertainment, Technology, Travel, etc. , as well as a general list that hits the highlights of them all.

The lists are sent out either once or twice per day and you can unsubscribe at any time if you find a particular list does not appeal to your area of interest or expertise. If there is a query you have some knowledge about, you simply click the link and send a short email to the reporter (not named) answering whatever the question is. If you are the kind of source they are looking for, they may use you in their article, TV interview, news story or book.

It’s free publicity for you or your company if you are selected and if not, you should only have lost a few minutes of your time. Don’t spend hours on this trying to answer every question you remotely know anything about. Just scan the list in your email inbox and delete it if nothing applies. If you see a query that is a fit, send a quick note and then delete it. Do not clog your inbox with these emails or save them for later. There will be more tomorrow!

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GTD Tools to Increase Your Productivity

By on March 11, 2010 in Success

*If haven’t read my GTD overview, you might want to start there.*

Have you have been attempting to capture your tasks as part of your GTD – Getting Things Done system – or any other task management system for that matter, but just can’t find the right tool? Or perhaps you are just getting started down the path to ultimate efficiency? The options for collecting information are endless.  First it depends on what type of a person you are, how you work and what your lifestyle is like.

Are you a written list person – scribbling everything on a notepad, or heaven helps us – sticky notes? Are you into technology – email, smart-phone, spreadsheets, computerize everything? Or maybe you are a visual person – take pictures and rely on visual clues? Once you have determined which camp you fall into, take a look at the list of tools below and see if something appeals to you.

For the Writer:

To-Do list notepads from Knock Knock

Accomplish notepads from Knock-Knock

Printable To-do list – Word template

A Jr. padfolio –  that you can slip in your briefcase or purse

Plain old legal pad and your favorite pen

For the tech-minded (Surprise! This is where I am) :

Create Task list – Microsoft Outlook

To-Do Project List Spreadsheet – Microsoft Excel

Google Docs – Many templates to use

Remember the milk – Never forget the milk or anything else again

For the visual person:

Evernote – Use Evernote to save your ideas, things you see, and things you like. Then find them all on any computer or device you use. Free

Task and project management – Microsoft OneNote

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GTD Practices – Collect

By on March 10, 2010 in Productivity

As part of my ongoing series on GTD practices I recommend listening to this podcast about the practice of collecting or capturing your tasks and ideas from David Allen the creator of the GTD system.  This is very useful information for fans and users of the GTD system. If you are not familiar with the GTD concept, read my GTD overview.

As I have said before, while I do not use GTD strictly as David recommends – I do have my own tweaks and preferences – I do follow the basic format and steps. Collecting your tasks, projects or ideas and knowing where to find them is the most important part of any organizational system!

Read tomorrow’s post for more resources on how to make collecting and corralling your task or to-do list easier….but for now let’s start with what David Allen has to say about how he uses his system.

David and some members of his team talk about various tools they use along with giving valuable tips from their own practice.

Listen to the podcast – http://www.davidco.com/podcasts/play/26.html

Read part two in this series, GTD Practices – Processing. Or read my related posts on the GTD system.

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Plan your time backwards!

By on March 8, 2010 in Productivity

Plan your time backwards! This process is really very simple, but surprisingly new to some people. Are you always late, rushing to get to your appointments, stressing if there is traffic? If, so you need a basic refresher. Say, you have to attend a meeting or social occasion, appointment or whatever at a certain given time. Let’s say you have a meeting downtown with a potential business client:

Meeting starts at 2:00pm.

Leave at 1:15 – Typical drive time is 20 minutes(average traffic) – allow 15 minutes to park and get up to the meeting location – also allow an extra 10 minutes in case there is a traffic snag – so that’s 45 minutes.

Pack up at 1:00 – you estimate it will take 10 minutes to pack up and gather whatever you need to bring. I would add and extra 5 to use the restroom!

Start prep at 12:30 – You think that you will need 30 minutes to prepare for the meeting or review the client’s information.

That’s just a simple walk through re-creation of how this process might work. The key is to always over-estimate. It always looks bad to be late and can be detrimental to your business or personal relationships.

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