by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Habits, Mindset, Miniseries, Opportunity, Planning, Productivity, Resources, Time, Tools
Links to other parts of the miniseries:
Be Awesomely Effective Part 1: Embodied cognition
Be Awesomely Effective Part 2: Decision points
Be Awesomely Effective Part 3: Mental Energy
Be Awesomely Effective Part 4: Stop fighting distractions
Be Awesomely Effective Part 6: Workspace
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 27 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Be Awesomely Effective Part 5: Mind-body connection
— From Two Awesome Hours: Science-Based Strategies to Harness Your Best Time and Get Your Most Important Work Done by Josh Davis, Ph.D.
Yesterday we learned to be nice to ourselves and let our minds wander. That strategy, coupled with seizing our decision points and managing our mental energy and emotions can help us create incredibly productive chunks of time in our days. That is, of course, when we have full control over our schedules. But who does?
Life happens. Business happens. Stuff happens. We may find ourselves anxious or overwhelmed at times and still need to perform at our best. What do we do then?
Josh Davis, Ph.D., adds one more strategy to help us out. Now that we know that our physical states affect and influence our mental states, “By understanding how exercise and food affect your mental functioning, you can use them as tools to help you be more productive when work demands it.” The mind-body connection is strong and powerful.
It’s important to clarify that this strategy is not about the long-term health and wellness benefits of an exercise routine and a well-balanced diet. We’ve all heard about that many times, undoubtedly. What Davis shares here are the immediate benefits of mental functioning derived from eating in a particular way or felt after just one session of exercising. This is one more way in which we learn how to create the optimal conditions in our minds, bodies, and surroundings for peak productivity.
Exercise strategically
Exercising, for these purposes, refers to moderate physical activity (brisk walking or even light jogging) for 20-40 minutes. “Whether or not you currently have an exercise routine, you can use physical activity at specific times to boost your thinking abilities and your mental energy. […] A little exercise at the right time can help you think better, stay focused, sharpen your thoughts and reduce your anxiety—key elements of sustained productivity—in the hours that follow the physical activity.”
Davis suggests the following ways to leverage exercise:
- Mental sluggishness and inability to focus. “Get out of your office and move right away. Walk very briskly for thirty to forty minutes. Or go up and down the back stairs for ten or twenty minutes.”
- Schedule changes. “Whenever possible, schedule challenging or anxiety-provoking meetings when you can block out time beforehand for moderate exercise.”
- Draining or challenging tasks. “When you have particularly challenging or draining tasks on your calendar, either exercise in the morning before it… or exercise soon after it to restore your drained mental energy and improve your mood in time to tackle whatever comes next.
- Workouts. “In general, plan to work out for about twenty to forty minutes within a couple of hours before you next need to be awesomely productive.”
Eat and drink strategically
What happens on the day that your schedule doesn’t allow for exercise when you most need it? Davis points out that, “There are other ways to work in concert with your body to achieve peak productivity… [with] something you already do every day, even at work: eating and drinking.”
What we eat and drink, and the timing of when we do so, can affect our energy levels, moods and our brain’s ability to plan, organize and complete tasks. If you don’t believe this, just remember the sluggishness, lack of energy and overwhelming desire to sleep after a very large meal (Thanksgiving, a holiday, a celebration, etc.).
Davis says, “When you want to be firing on all cylinders, being intentional about what you eat and drink—and how you want to feel an hour later—can make all the difference.” And he gives us the following tips to increase productivity after the two- or three-hour period after our meal or snack.
- Portions. “Eat only half your breakfast or lunch and enjoy the second half a couple of hours later.”
- Quick boost. “A high-carb snack may help you focus and feel good for about fifteen minutes. If you need to be in top mental shape for longer than that, avoid carb-rich meals and snacks altogether.”
- Food mix. “Eat meals or snacks that have a nice mix of proteins, low glycemic index carbs, and good fats—vegetables and fruits are generally good carbs; nuts make great snacks for when you are on the run.”
- Water. “Drink water if you haven’t had any for the last hour or two if you’ve done any physical activity.”
- Caffeine. “If you are tired or sleep deprived, drink a caffeinated drink, but keep it small. Don’t drink more than you normally would. Give it thirty minutes to kick in. And go ahead and put cream in that coffee—the fat may help keep your blood sugar more stable.”
Whether you exercise regularly or not, or whether you are a nutrition enthusiast or a fast-food lover, hopefully this mind-body strategy will add more tools to your productivity kit.
Cheers!
ACTION
TODAY & FUTURE: Take a moment to evaluate how you feel before an important work event (meeting, presentation, etc.). Are there any of the exercise or food/drink tips here that can help you? How can you proactively schedule time for physical activity before an event so that you can be at your best? Schedule also time to recharge after particularly taxing activities/meetings. Your mind and body will thank you and you’ll be performing in a much more productive way!
Know someone who could benefit from reading this? Please share the miniseries with that person! You can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Habits, Mindset, Miniseries, Planning, Productivity, Time, Tools
Links to other parts of the miniseries:
Be Awesomely Effective Part 1: Embodied cognition
Be Awesomely Effective Part 2: Decision points
Be Awesomely Effective Part 3: Mental Energy
Be Awesomely Effective Part 5: Mind-body connection
Be Awesomely Effective Part 6: Workspace
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 39 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Be Awesomely Effective Part 4: Stop fighting distractions
— From Two Awesome Hours: Science-Based Strategies to Harness Your Best Time and Get Your Most Important Work Done by Josh Davis, Ph.D.
By now, in this miniseries, you can recognize the decision points in your day and choose your next task based on your mental energy and emotions. Woohoo! Today, Josh Davis, Ph.D., will share with us his uncommon—but very commonsensical—view on distractions and mind wandering.
As we shoot for creating Two Awesome Hours of productive work, we need to learn how to stay focused for prolonged periods of time.
Yet in today’s world, where our attention span is shorter than that of a goldfish, we tend to reproach ourselves every time we get distracted. “Focus!” “Pay Attention!” “Stay on task!” we tell ourselves, and we feel as if we’re being lazy for letting our minds wander off.
“Although our ability to sustain attention on a task is critical for our success, finding focus… without distraction is a remarkably difficult thing to do.” Our brains are wired to respond to distractions, scan our surroundings constantly, and be on the lookout for dangers—it’s a survival mechanism. But we also have the ability to come back to what we were doing previously whenever our focus shifts, “parts of our brain are devoted to switching attention—to disengaging and reorienting to a changing environment.”
This is indeed good news: “It is wholly unnatural to focus without wavering. If you have failed at maintaining continual focus throughout your work sessions, rejoice. If you had, you’d be remarkably dysfunctional.” Proof of this is that if we try to suppress it, it backfires with our consequent frustration.
Scientific evidence points out that the more we try to avoid or suppress distractions the more we get stuck on them. “When people are asked not to think about something, it increases the likelihood that they will think about these things. Don’t think about a polar bear right now, and see how that goes.”
I bet the polar bear took you to other images of polar bears, your visits to the zoo as a child, a documentary you saw, etc. Our neurons work in networks, which means they’re associated with many others. Thus, your neuron for polar bear fired up other neurons associated with this thought, taking you down a rabbit trail (polar bear trail?) of images and memories.
To somewhat control this, Davis says we must master two skills: removing distractions and letting our minds wander.
Let’s get the first one out of the way: distractions are like booby-traps. No one in their right mind would set a bucket of water over a door frame, spread thumbtacks on the carpet or put a whoopee cushion on a chair at a workplace. Davis says, “That’s more or less what you are doing to yourself when you set up your devices and workspace so that distractions are coming to you all the time. You have created a work setting booby-trapped not with buckets of water and thumbtacks, but with phones, screens, websites, open doors, etc.” And all the buzzing, notifications, and people stopping by are distracting you from your two hours of maximum productivity.
“There’s no need to be a hermit of drop off the grid. Just find a way that your devices can’t divert you for perhaps twenty minutes at a time.” Turn off notifications, close your open door, wear noise cancelling headphones, put your devices away, etc.
While we can remove distractors as much as possible within our circumstances, we can’t remove distractions entirely. We can’t stop the blasting siren of an ambulance out on the street, for example. And we can’t do away with another, unavoidable distraction: our wandering mind.
“Research suggests that mind wandering may not be a flaw after all. It may have important benefits when it comes to […] creative problem solving and long-term planning.” Davis shares the results of studies: “mind wandering didn’t make participants more creative in general, it helped them creatively solve the problems they had been working on before they started mind wandering.” Also, it is good for long-term planning because “it enables us to think in the right ways about the future.”
Yet it’s important to make the distinction between mind wandering in a productive way and getting completely sidetracked. To avoid the latter, Davis suggests mindful attention: as we find ourselves losing focus, “noting without judgment that our thoughts have drifted, gently bring our attention back to what we are experiencing in the present moment.”
Be nice to yourself, says Davis, “when it comes to staying focused for a prolonged period of time, our secret weapon is not discipline or willpower but self-compassion.”
ACTION
TODAY & FUTURE: Given that your mind will wander, Davis suggests enabling it when you want to solve a problem by choosing a super easy task ahead of time that requires very little thinking. Pick a task that will take a brief moment (minutes) and from which you will recover naturally, not one that will make you fall into autopilot for hours on end. Here’s what he means by very easy: appreciating a picture on the wall, a plant, the view, straightening up your desk, listening to music and noticing all instruments, etc.
These are the tasks you need to avoid engaging in when your mind wanders. They’ll quickly absorb and sidetrack you, as they require lots of thinking and are loaded with decisions and emotions: filing paperwork, reading the news, checking email, rehearsing presentations, prepping for meetings, working or a crossword puzzle.
Know someone who could benefit from reading this? Please share the miniseries with that person! You can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Habits, Mindset, Miniseries, Planning, Productivity, Time
Links to other parts of the miniseries:
Be Awesomely Effective Part 1: Embodied cognition
Be Awesomely Effective Part 2: Decision points
Be Awesomely Effective Part 4: Stop fighting distractions
Be Awesomely Effective Part 5: Mind-body connection
Be Awesomely Effective Part 6: Workspace
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 45 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Be Awesomely Effective Part 3: Mental Energy
— From Two Awesome Hours: Science-Based Strategies to Harness Your Best Time and Get Your Most Important Work Done by Josh Davis, Ph.D.
In yesterday’s post, Josh Davis, Ph.D. taught us the importance of being aware and seizing decision points. Today, the author of 2 Awesome Hours will share with us how to manage our mental energy as part of creating those two hours of peak performance on a daily basis.
Time management and productivity experts tell us that we should tackle the biggest priority first as there may not be time later on to get to it. Experts are partly right, says Davis. However, “Their advice misses an important element. Our mental energy is the fuel that drives us—or fails to drive us.”
Davis goes on to explain: “every task takes a mental toll on us; some even fatigue our minds. And perhaps every task elicits emotions that make that task and the ones that follow either harder or easier to do. While it would be nice to bring our A game to every task we tackle, there’s only so much of the right mental energy to go around… we’re much better off choosing what’s worth giving the right mental energy to and putting off, in strategic ways, those tasks on our to-do lists that get in the way.”
Decision making, planning, holding on to thoughts for a short time (while we need them), staying focused and self-control are among the mental activities that generate the most mental fatigue. This, in turn, reduces our ability to perform at our best.
The simple task of answering email, turns out, is quite taxing because it “involves making decisions, and sometimes complex ones: Should I reply? Do I have to respond now? If I write it this way instead of that way, will the person react well to my e-mail or be offended by it? Should I delete it or file it for future reference? Should I write a short response or forward it to someone else?” Argh! No wonder we get mentally exhausted if we spend hours on it. These seemingly small and inconsequential decisions do pile on.
There are several fascinating studies that have found out that willpower (self-control) is like a muscle. It starts fresh every morning, and after resisting many temptations—big and small—it fatigues throughout the day. That’s why most diets are broken in the evening, because the dieter’s self-control is fatigued from resisting yummy temptations all day long and finally gives in.
To ensure our brains are ready to perform at their best when we need them, we must understand the emotions that our tasks generate on us, and the effect this will have on the subsequent tasks. We must plan accordingly. “Being ‘on’ at the right moment matters so much [that] saying no to tasks that will get in the way of that is key to deciding what should get our attention.”
Since most tasks involve decision-making and self-control, we are bound to experience some mental fatigue. “The key to limiting mental fatigue is recognizing the work that is most likely to deplete your resources in a substantial way and, when you have any say in the matter, to simply not engage in that work before you want to be at your best.”
There are some activities that unavoidably will deplete us (dealing with a difficult client, repeated insistence from someone for us to do something, a dreaded and stressful meeting, confrontation, etc.), and some that fatigue us to a certain degree (switching tasks often, networking and small talk, sitting still for long periods, making cold calls, looking for errors and correcting them, planning, scheduling, deadlines), but avoiding them is not always possible, much less practical.
The good news is we don’t have to avoid them. “If we strategically choose the order in which we complete the various tasks on our to-do lists, we can carve out two awesome hours when our brains are not as fatigued and get some amazing things done.”
ACTION
TODAY & FUTURE: The author suggests four simple things you can try to avoid mental fatigue:
1. Complete your most important work first thing in the morning (before your brain has been depleted by hundreds of small decisions).
2. Label the tasks on your day “Important,” “Creative,” or “Other.” Schedule time later in the day to tackle the “Other” category, Knowing you’ve set aside time for this will ease your mind, and you won’t be stressed to tackle them early in the day when your mental reserves are full.
3. Try checking email for just one hour in the afternoon (to me, the mere idea of this, at first gave me hives! Now I love it). Not every day will allow for this. Try it once and see if this approach helps improve your focus on tasks that require problem solving or creativity during the rest of the day. For all you know, you may be pleasantly surprised with this solution, and you might be able to do this occasionally or even frequently. Tim Ferriss, life hacking guru and author of The 4-hour Workweek, checks his personal email once daily and his business email once every 7-10 days! His secret? Autoresponders. (Here’s a complementary post.)
4. Make a few decisions the night before a big day. Big or small, avoid making them on your big day as much as possible. By eliminating choice, you’ll be eliminating fatigue and you can focus your energy on what really matters that day.
Lastly, what to do if you are fatigued or overly emotional and need to recharge? Davis suggests breathing deeply and slowly, having a good laugh and/or taking a short nap.
Know someone who is constantly mentally exhausted? Please share this miniseries with that person! You can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Habits, Mindset, Miniseries, Opportunity, Planning, Time, Tools
Links to other parts of the miniseries:
Be Awesomely Effective Part 1: Embodied cognition
Be Awesomely Effective Part 3: Mental Energy
Be Awesomely Effective Part 4: Stop fighting distractions
Be Awesomely Effective Part 5: Mind-body connection
Be Awesomely Effective Part 6: Workspace
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes, 44 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Be Awesomely Effective Part 2: Decision points
— From Two Awesome Hours: Science-Based Strategies to Harness Your Best Time and Get Your Most Important Work Done by Josh Davis, Ph.D.
In yesterday’s Part 1 we left off with Josh Davis, Ph.D., the author, saying that the key to being truly productive is to “ditch efficiency and create, instead, the conditions for two awesome hours of effectiveness each day.”
However, it’s important to note that there’s nothing special about two hours. Davis recommends it because it’s “both attainable and sufficient for getting to enough of what matters each day,” but the specific number of hours of peak mental functioning is not critical. You can suit the time to the needs of your day, say, four hours or ten minutes.
Davis is not suggesting either that you set aside the same 2 hours each day (for example, from 9-11 am), because you can’t always control when things need to get done. And while you won’t be able to finish all our work in two hours, “when you are mentally effective, you can accomplish whatever matters most to you at that moment, with pride in your work and inspiration to do more.”
Further, “the rest of your day you can devote to those tasks that don’t require much strategic or creative thinking,” such as sifting email, filling forms, managing schedules, paying bills, planning travel, and returning phone calls. Since you’ll be thinking more effectively, you can determine which of those tasks you can let go, delegate, outsource, etc.
Having explained all this, it is now time to move on to the first simple strategy to master your productivity.
Decision Points
Our habits and our unconscious competence get us through most tasks on autopilot. That’s actually a very good thing, as we don’t have to remember how to hold our toothbrush, how to tie our shoelaces or how to step on the brake when we’re driving. Davis says, “Our habits are mental energy savers.” However, that also means that when we are working on many tasks, it’s hard to snap out of autopilot because we’re operating under neural routines. That’s why we intend to check email for 15 minutes and, 2 hours later, we are still doing it.
Introducing our new friends, the decision points. Davis explains, “The first strategy is to learn to recognize the few moments during each day when you have the opportunity and ability to choose how to spend your time. Decision points are the moments “when routine ends (e.g. when you finish flossing your teeth or reading the report) or is interrupted by someone or something (e.g. when a colleague interrupts)… [and] self-awareness ramps up. […] It is in that moment that you get to decide how your next chunk of time will be best used.” Being intentional is the key as you choose your next task.
For the most part, we don’t give any thought to our decision points, and we rush through them to get back to tasks that feel productive. But, Davis continues, “Hurrying through one decision point… might save five minutes. Starting on the wrong task may cost an hour.”
What to do?
The Thinker. Sculpture by August Rodin
Savor each decision point. They don’t come too often, so it’s important to recognize them when they happen and seize them. “Decision points can give you [psychological] ‘distance,’ [and this] leads to high-level thinking.” That way, minor, immediate concerns will be seen in the appropriate light and we can examine the big picture instead.
Plan your decision points in advance. Since we can’t avoid interruptions and distractions, we should plan ahead how we will respond to them. This is called an implementation intention: “a plan to implement certain action if a relevant cue arises.” This is an if-then approach to take. So next time your colleague pops in with “just a quick question,” make sure you have plans to know what comes next. But beware: “[it] does not work to ‘plan’ to use willpower in the moment and fight an urge… [and ] planning not to do something tends to fail.” Plan to take action, even if that action is mentally recognizing that you have reached a decision point.
Don’t start a new task without consciously deciding it’s the right one. As soon as you finish a task, “label this moment as a decision point.” Davis literally says to himself, “This is a decision point,” and that’s enough of a trigger to make him pause and think about his next move. You can mentally acknowledge the moment as well, or do something physical too: stand up, stretch, walk around, drink water, etc. The important thing here is that you know that you will be intentionally deciding what action to take next.
As you see, it’s easy to get lost in the trance of work if we don’t pay attention. By recognizing our decision points throughout the day, we can make sure that we are focusing our time on effectiveness and productivity. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s strategy to be awesomely effective.
ACTION
TODAY: Make a conscious effort to notice your decision points throughout the day. When you run into one of them, consciously and intentionally decide what to do next, even if it means going back to the task you were doing because that is where your time is best spent now (and you need to finish it).
FUTURE: Train your brain to recognize your decision points throughout the day. Plan ahead how you will respond when you encounter a decision point, and seize it by consciously and intentionally determining which task you will tackle next.
Please share this miniseries with a friend or two, or twelve! You can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Creativity, Goals, Growth, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Planning, Productivity, Time, Tools
Over the next week I’m going to be taking a slightly different approach to the daily posts: so far, it’s been one idea per day from a different book, and while I have repeated a few books, the ideas are stand-alone, and it’s never been the same book back to back. Since the book that I’m reading now goes over five strategies on how to become more effective, and since we’re always looking at making the most out of our time and effort, I want to share all five ideas with you in sequence. Call this a miniseries of ideas, if you will. The miniseries will be coming to you in six posts: today’s plus the next five days. I hope you enjoy it and benefit from this, and I would love to hear from you on what you think of this miniseries approach!
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 23 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Be Awesomely Effective Part 1: Embodied cognition
— From Two Awesome Hours: Science-Based Strategies to Harness Your Best Time and Get Your Most Important Work Done by Josh Davis, Ph.D.
In Two Awesome Hours, Josh Davis, Ph.D. says that we all fall into the efficiency trap one way or another. “Regardless of how high up the ladder we are, we typically respond to being overwhelmed by work in two ways. One is to force ourselves to stay on task without breaks in order to make the most efficient use of our days. The other is to work more hours…to make the most efficient use out of our weeks.”
The problem with that approach is that the underlying idea of “efficiency” doesn’t work. We’ve all tried to do more in less time and to forage for time by using any would-be down time to work (breaks, lunch, dinner with family, etc.). How has this worked for you? “Many of us feel stifled rather than accomplished at the end of the typical day,” says Davis.
The key to our productivity lies not in being efficient at doing more and to stop wasting time (seeing down time as a waste). What we need to do is understand how our brains and bodies work so as to become effective.
“Staying on task without a break and working longer hours are wonderful solutions for a computer or machine. [They] don’t get tired, so the quality of work is identical every time they are used.” We’re human, and a continual demand for one kind of work with a consistent level of effectiveness would be the equivalent or asking a runner to stay at the same speed under any circumstance: whether a sprint or a marathon, after pulling an all-nighter, after being hung-over, or after being well-fed and well-rested.
The idea that being biological creatures affects how we think and feel is called “embodied cognition.” (Cognition definition.) How many times have you felt tired and do not feel like working? Or how many times have you felt great and plowed through all your workload successfully with extra time at the end to go do something fun? That’s what embodied cognition means. Yes, your body influences your thoughts.
While we are not machines or computers and cannot sustain that level of efficiency, “each of us has a vast, untapped potential as a human that computers and machines do not have. And trying to be efficient all the time will block us from harnessing it.”
The author points to the example of doing ten thousand pushups. It would be a feat of Herculean strength to do them uninterrupted, but we’d have no problem doing a few pushups a day until we hit the 10K mark. My friend Josh Spodek has done more than 100,000 burpees since 2011 with his daily, ten-minute exercise routine!
“We may all be capable of impressive feats of comprehension, motivation, emotional control, problem solving, creativity and decision making when our biological systems are functioning optimally. But we can be terrible at those very same things when our biological systems are suboptimal. The amount of exercise and sleep we get and the food we eat can greatly influence these mental functions in the short term—even within hours.”
The key to being truly productive then, says Davis, is to “ditch efficiency and create, instead, the conditions for two awesome hours of effectiveness each day.”
Tomorrow I’ll share Davis’ first strategy to get this done.
ACTION
TODAY: Think of the many ways in which you have fallen into the “efficiency trap.” Do you go from task to task without breaks? Do you skip breakfast to leave in a hurry? Do you “fuel” your body with caffeine and sugar all day to keep you going? Where are you asking your brain and body to perform steadily and uninterrupted in an unrealistic way?
FUTURE: Keep reading this miniseries over the next few days to find out the five strategies that will help you create the environment for you to be awesomely effective!
If you know of someone who could benefit from reading this miniseries, please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Goals, Growth, Habits, Mindset, Planning, Productivity, Time, Tools, Wellbeing
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 33 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Use your ultradian rhythm to favor your productivity
— From The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business by Josh Kaufman
We’ve all heard of the circadian rhythm, which is the 24-hour cycle or body clock that tells us when to eat, when to sleep, when to wake up, etc. But few of us have heard about the 90-to-120-minute ultradian rhythm, which is a period or cycle that is repeated during a 24-hour day.
Throughout the day, your energy waxes and wanes, which is what Josh Kaufman calls Energy Cycles in his awesome book, The Personal MBA. “The implicit assumption of time management systems is that every hour is fungible—equivalent to any other. Nothing could be further from the truth: all people are created equal, but all hours are most definitely not. Throughout the day, your energy level naturally cycles up and down.”
Kaufman points to the ultradian rhythm as described in The Power of Full Engagement: managing energy, not time, is the key to high performance and personal renewal (yay, another addition to my reading list!) by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz. “The ultradian rhythm influences bodily systems, controlling the flow of hormones throughout your body. When your energy is on an upswing, you’re capable of focusing deeply and getting a lot accomplished. When it’s on a downswing, all your mind and body want to do is rest and recover. There’s nothing abnormal about these changes in energy during the day, but we often act as though being on a downswing is somehow a problem that needs to be fixed.”
Most people resort to hacking a downswing with caffeine or sugar, but the truth is that taking a break is much better, and doing so is neither a sign or laziness or weakness, it’s simply human nature. Thus, Kaufman says that we need to pay attention and understand our natural Energy Cycles so that we can perform at our best in a consistent way over time.
In order to do this, he suggests four ways to work with our bodies instead of against them:
1. Learn Your Patterns. “Use a notebook or calendar to track how much energy you have during different parts of the day, as well as what you’re eating and drinking. If you do this for a few days, you’ll notice patterns in how your energy waxes and wanes, allowing you to plan your work accordingly.”
2. Maximize Your Peak Cycles. “When you’re in an up cycle, you’re capable of getting a lot accomplished, so plan your day to take advantage of that energy. […] Carve out a 3-4 hour block of [creative work… and] plan the most important meetings during the up cycle.”
3. Take a Break. “When you’re in a down cycle, it’s better to rest than attempt to power through it. Rest and recovery are not optional—if you don’t rest now, your body will force you to rest later, either by cycling down longer than usual or getting sick. During a down cycle, go for a walk, meditate, or take a 20-minute nap. Relaxing on the down cycle can restore your energy, allowing you to take full advantage of the next up cycle.”
4. Get Enough Sleep. “Sleep deprivation results in a prolonged down cycle, which gets in the way of getting things done.”
While none of these points are Earth-shattering and we somehow already were aware of them, Kaufman points on his webpage, “Useful advice often sounds boring, but acting on that advice can produce amazing results.”
So, let’s pay attention to our ultradian rhythms and get things done. You can read more about the energy cycles in Josh Kaufman’s The Personal MBA book page.
ACTION
TODAY: Carry a piece of paper with you all day and write down your energy levels. Notice the times you feel most energetic and the ones when you’re falling asleep or can’t concentrate. Notice the time(s) when you function best to tackle certain tasks.
FUTURE: Start adapting your schedule (if you are able to do so) to coincide with your ultradian rhythms. That way you’ll be as productive as possible during an upswing. And during a downswing you can fully rest and recover to be fully prepared and energetic to tackle on the next upswing.
Know someone who needs to learn about the ultradian rhythms? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Creativity, Goals, Marketing, Planning, Resources, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 27 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: 9 points to consider when creating and telling a great marketing story
— From All Marketers are Liars: The Underground Classic That Explains How Marketing Really Works-and Why Authenticity Is the Best Marketing of All by Seth Godin
Seth Godin, marketing guru, talks about telling stories in his book All Marketers Are Liars Tell Stories. His premise is that “successful marketers are just the providers of stories that consumers choose to believe.” And he calls a story that a consumer believes a lie. Why? Because we tell ourselves stories about the things we want and we believe them. Otherwise, why would we pay top price, say hundreds of dollars, for a pair of sneakers or a smart phone or some other product that costs very little to make in China? Clearly, it’s the story we tell ourselves about said product, and it’s the same story we embellish and tell our family and friends afterwards.
If you have a story to tell, Godin points out 9 attributes of successful stories to capture your audience’s imagination. Please note that while the book has a tongue-in-cheek approach to lying, you must tell the truth and your story must be authentic to resonate with your audience. And this is a perfect segue into the first feature:
1. A great story is true. “Not true because it’s factual, but true because it is consistent and authentic. Consumers are too good at sniffing out inconsistencies for a marketer to get away with a story that’s just slapped on.”
2. Great stories make a promise. “They promise fun or money, safety or a shortcut. The promise is bold and audacious and not just very good—it’s exceptional or it’s not worth listening to.”
3. Great stories are trusted. “Trust is the scarcest resource we have left. No one trusts anyone… As a result, no marketer succeeds in telling a story unless he has earned the credibility to tell that story.”
4. Great stories are subtle. “Surprisingly, the less a marketer spells out, the more powerful the story becomes. Talented marketers understand that the prospect is ultimately telling himself the lie, so allowing him (and the rest of the target audience) to draw his own conclusions is far more effective than just announcing the punch line.”
5. Great stories happen fast. “They engage the consumer the moment the story clicks into place. Great stories match the voice the consumer’s worldview was seeking, and they sync right up with her expectations.”
6. Great stories don’t appeal to logic, but they often appeal to our senses. “Pheromones aren’t a myth. People decide if they like someone after just a sniff. And the design of the Alessi teapot talks to consumers in a way that a fact sheet about boiling water never could.”
7. Great stories are rarely aimed at everyone. “Average people are good at ignoring you… If you need to water down your story to appeal to everyone, it will appeal to no one. [You need to] match the worldview of a tiny audience—and then that tiny audience spreads the story.”
8. Great stories don’t contradict themselves. “Consumers are clever and they’ll see through your deceit at once.” Make sure you are congruent, constant and consistent in the story you tell.
9. Great stories agree with our worldview. “The best stories don’t teach people anything new. Instead, the best stories agree with what the audience already believes and makes the members of the audience feel smart and secure when reminded how right they were in the first place.”
ACTION
TODAY: Are you telling a story to your customers? Analyze the story against Godin’s points. How good is it? How can you make it better in an authentic way that will resonate with their worldview?
FUTURE: Whenever you are about to tell a story about your business, your products or services, run it by the 9 points above to make sure that it will indeed resonate with your customers. In the trite-but-true example, remember that people don’t want a drill; they want a hole in the wall to hang the family picture of a lovely and most memorable vacation.
Know someone who needs to tell a better story? Please share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Goals, Growth, Leadership, Mindset, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 46 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Are you living your vision?
— From The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader: Becoming the Person Others Will Want to Follow by John C. Maxwell
One of the most creative and inspired dreamers of the 20th century was Walt Disney. “Any person who could create the first sound cartoon, first all-color cartoon, and first animated feature-length motion picture is definitely someone with vision,” says leadership guru John C. Maxwell in his insightful book The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. He continues, “But Disney’s greatest masterpieces of vision were Disneyland and Walt Disney World. And the spark for that vision came from an unexpected place.”
The story that follows is wonderful. When Disney’s two daughters were young, he would take them to an amusement park where the girls and he would have a blast. The carousel, apparently, captivated Disney, “a blur of bright images racing around to the tune of energetic calliope music.” Yet upon a closer look, especially when the carousel stopped, he realized he had been fooled because the horses were shabby and had cracked and chipped paint, and the only ones that moved up and down were the ones on the outer row.
That disappointment is what gave him the grand vision of Disneyland, “an amusement park where the illusion didn’t evaporate, where children and adults could enjoy a carnival atmosphere without the seedy side that accompanies some circuses or traveling carnivals… [and specifically where there’s] no chipped paint [and where] all the horses jump.”
Vision is indispensable for a leader, says Maxwell. “Vision leads the leader. It paints the target. It sparks and fuels the fire within, and draws him forward. It is also the fire lighter for others who follow that leader.” And to improve your vision, he suggests the following actions:
Measure yourself. If you have previously thought and shared your vision for your life or business, measure how well you are carrying it out by talking to key people. If your significant other, friends and colleagues can tell you with certainty what your vision is, very likely it means that you are living it.
Write it down. If your vision has stayed in your mind all this time, it’s time to get it out in writing. “Writing clarifies your thinking. Once you’ve written it, evaluate whether it’s worthy of your life’s best. And then pursue it with all you’ve got.”
Do a gut check. “If you haven’t done a lot of work on vision, spend the next several weeks or months thinking about it. Consider what really impacts you at a gut level.
What makes you cry?
What makes you dream?
What gives you energy?
Lastly, Maxwell says, think about what you’d like to see change in the world around you. I’ll leave you with this question as food for thought: “What do you see that isn’t—but could be?” Remember that you can seize only what you can see.
ACTION
TODAY: Take a moment to review your vision. Measure yourself as per the exercise above. Are you living/embodying your vision? If yes, SUPERCONGRATS!! If not, what changes do you need to make to start living it?
FUTURE: When embarking on any new plan or project, always keep your vision in mind. Ask yourself if what you are about to start gets you closer to fulfilling that vision.
Know someone who could use help for his or her vision? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Celebration, Collaboration, Creativity, Habits, Leadership, Mindset, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 47 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Work is play, it’s fun
— From Hug Your People: The Proven Way to Hire, Inspire, and Recognize Your Employees and Achieve Remarkable Results by Jack Mitchell
Do you remember Jack Mitchell talking about hugging as a mindset? Jack is the chairman of the Mitchell’s stores and a renowned personality in the field of extraordinary customer service. His second book, Hug Your People, talks about creating a Niceness Culture to inspire, empower, recognize and reward associates.
We’ve all heard that we shouldn’t mix business with pleasure. Mitchell says that the opposite is true, “Work and fun shouldn’t be considered antonyms. We think of them as synonyms.” And he points out that, “Scientists have discovered how quickly we adopt the emotional state of those around us by measuring the physiology, heart rate, blood pressure, skin temperature, etc., of two people sharing a conversation. As the conversation gets started, the vital signs of the two bodies are different. But after fifteen minutes, the physiological profiles of the two bodies become very similar.”
This point is incredibly important because “one associate’s happiness becomes the other associate’s happiness.” Mitchell says that in many companies, people feel guilty if they’re having a good time. It goes like this: “associates are chuckling over something when the big boss arrives and everyone immediately adopts a somber face and scurries to their desk to look like they’re ‘working.’ ”
When you have a Niceness Culture and this scenario happens, the boss joins in the laughter. Mitchell continues, “we want people to bring their real selves to work, not some artificial ‘business self.’ ” And he practices what he preaches: he joins in the laughter, the dancing, the singing and the overall cheering. But it doesn’t stop there.
Mitchell makes a point of fostering the fun in all he and his associates do. He will close the store for an evening and invite the associates to play poker. Or he will take all associates bowling. And he will also do it in smaller ways: at meetings he’ll ask everyone to think of positive words that start with a letter, write them down and share them in his CEO letter that goes out to everyone. Or some of his associates will kick off meetings by asking questions like, “What is one word that describes you?” Or “If your great-aunt died and left you more money than Bill Gates, what would you do with it?”
The sky is the limit in terms of what small or big actions you can take to have fun yourself and make your team have fun too. You can even start your own holidays! Work is such an important part of our lives that we should do something that we like and enjoy it fully!
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” George Bernard Shaw
ACTION
TODAY: How can you imbue some fun in the things you do? Think of small and big ways to do it. Can you record a fun message in your voice mail so that every caller that goes to voice mail gets a chuckle? Can you start a meeting in a fun way, such as “tell us something few people know about you” and then go around the room? Can you plan to go bowling or plan an ice-skating escapade during winter? Your imagination will lead you to come up with many fun ways to spice up your work and your business culture.
FUTURE: Commit to have more fun from now on. Think about fun “traditions” that you can establish either at work or at home, or both. Could you do an annual picnic? I once went to a “picnic” held at an office conference room where the organizers had set a red and white checkered table cloth and had sprinkled plastic ants all over it. It really was a fun touch and everyone had fun with the ants! One of my favorite invented “traditions” with my family in Spain—since we see each other once a year—is to celebrate all birthdays at the same time by adding the amount of years we will turn or have turned that year. Thus, last year we celebrated our 599 birthday! (Below is the picture of our cake). Could you do something similar at work, perhaps on a monthly basis? For example, “the September babies are turning 349 this year!” Think of fun and creative ways to celebrate and enjoy life.
Know someone who could use more fun in his or her life? Send this post to that person! You can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
599 Years Birthday Cake
by Helena Escalante | Creativity, Goals, Mindset, Opportunity, Planning, Tools
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 15 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: One of many options
— From Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur by Derek Sivers
You’ve met Derek Sivers before (here, here, here and here), as I love his brief but oh-so-insightful book Anything You Want. What you may not know about him is that he was a musician, and his story of becoming an entrepreneur (founding, growing and selling CD Baby) stemmed from his desire to sell his music online.
As a musician, Sivers recalls the story of the many exercises one of his voice teachers had him do:
“For each lesson, I’d bring in one song I was trying to improve. First, I’d sing it for him as written.
Then he’d say, ‘OK, now do it up and octave.’
‘Uh… up an octave? But I can’t sing that high!’
‘I don’t care! Do it anyway! Go! One, two, three, four.’
I’d sing the whole song again, in screeching, squeaking falsetto, sounding like an undead cartoon mouse. But by the second half of the song, it was almost charming.
Then he’d say, ‘OK, now do it down an octave.’
‘Down an octave? But I don’t think I can!’
‘Doesn’t matter! Go! One, two, three, four.’
I sounded like a garbage disposal or lawn mower, but he made me sing the whole song that way.
Then he’d made me sing it twice as fast. Then twice as slow. Then like Bob Dylan. Then like Tom Waits. Then he’d tell me to sing it like it’s 4 a.m. and a friend woke me up. And then he’d give me many other scenarios.
After all of this, he’d say, ‘Now, how did that song go again?’
It was the clearest proof that what I thought was ‘the’ way the song went was really just one of an infinite number of options.”
When we are stuck, or when we think there’s only one way, it’s helpful to keep this exercise in mind as it will help offer many options. Sivers goes on to illustrate how he was taking an entrepreneurship class and the group was analyzing a business plan—that proposed just one idea. He felt like saying things his teacher would have said:
- “OK, make a plan that requires only $1,000. Go!”
- “Now make a plan for ten times as many customers. Go!”
- “Now do it without a website. Go!”
- “Now make all your initial assumptions wrong, and have it work anyway. Go!”
- “Now show how you would franchise it. Go!”
Sivers says, “You can’t pretend there’s only one way to do it. Your first idea is just one of many options. No business goes as planned, so make ten radically different plans.”
ACTION
TODAY: Is there a place in your professional or personal life where you are feeling stuck? Are you clinging to just that one option because you think it’s the best possible, or you’re afraid of exploring what’s out there, or you think it’s your last chance or (insert your thoughts here)? Take a moment to go through this exercise creating options for yourself. Some options will be funny, others crazy, a few may be awful… but you will certainly experience a shift inside that will make you truly realize there are other options. And while you’re at it, you may discover some options that are just great for you. OK, Go! One, two, three, four!
FUTURE: As you consider projects or plans for the future, keep this great exercise in mind. It will open up your eyes to the myriad possibilities that are out there, and provide you with flexibility to make your plans happen. There are many routes to get to your goals, so don’t be afraid to take the road less traveled or take a detour now and then. I especially like this option and suggest you keep it in mind: “Now make all your initial assumptions wrong, and have it work anyway. Go!”
Know someone who would benefit from expanding his or her options? Please share this post with that person via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you! OK, Go!
Exercising, for these purposes, refers to moderate physical activity (brisk walking or even light jogging) for 20-40 minutes. “Whether or not you currently have an exercise routine, you can use physical activity at specific times to boost your thinking abilities and your mental energy. […] A little exercise at the right time can help you think better, stay focused, sharpen your thoughts and reduce your anxiety—key elements of sustained productivity—in the hours that follow the physical activity.”
What happens on the day that your schedule doesn’t allow for exercise when you most need it? Davis points out that, “There are other ways to work in concert with your body to achieve peak productivity… [with] something you already do every day, even at work: eating and drinking.”
