by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Habits, Parkinson's Law, Productivity, Time, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes 45 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA:
The to-do and to-be lists.
— From The One-Minute Organizer Plain & Simple by Donna Smallin
Donna Smallin, professional organizer extraordinaire, is a genius when it comes to productivity with easy, helpful, and actionable tips. She suggests creating a master list of to-dos. Then, taking that master list as a basis, take the items from there to create our daily to-do lists.
Further, she has some great ideas as to how to manage the master and the daily to-do lists:
- “Do at least one thing each day that will bring you closer to a long-term goal.”
- “Put the 80/20 principle to work. Only 20 percent of things in your to-do list are priority items…. focus all of your energy on getting those things done.”
- “Evaluate every item on your master to-do list. Move any tasks that would be nice to do, but aren’t necessary, to a separate “would be nice to do” list.”
- “Decide which one thing on your daily to-do list is the most important thing to get done. Do that first.”
- “The secret to getting through your daily to-do list is to put fewer things on it. Just list the three most important things to do that day. If you have time left over at the end of the day, you can always add another task from your master list.”
- “At the beginning of each week, create time in your schedule for each one of your priorities. Then schedule everything else around those things. If having more free time is a priority, schedule your free time first. Then schedule focused work time. Use the time in between for completing routine tasks.”
- “Apply the on/off rule to commitments: before you agree to be on a committee or board, get off a committee or board.”
And the last suggestion from Donna that I want to highlight today (because it’s one that I absolutely love and that is rarely talked about) is THE most important one of all:
“Remember that in the big picture of life, your to-do list is not nearly as important as your to-be list: schedule time to be with the people you love, in the places you love, doing the things you love to do.”
ACTION
TODAY: Create your master to-do list and your to-be list. Schedule your priorities from both to-do and to-be lists today and commit to honoring them. You’ll be glad you did!
FUTURE: As you plan your week/month/time ahead, schedule your priorities from both to-do and to-be lists in your calendar. Next, schedule focused work time, and then everything else. Parkinson’s Law will ensure that you finish your tasks in the time you have allotted for them. You’ll be surprised how much you can get done in little time if you are focused and intent on getting things done. (Expand on this idea by reading this quick post about Capacity.) Further, is there any way you can create synergy and overlap? E.g. Could you go for a jog (to-do: workout) with a friend whom you haven’t seen in a while (to-be: with friends, at the park) and catch up during your run?
Know someone who needs help with his or her to-do list? Someone that could use an a-ha! moment with the idea of the to-be list? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Leadership, Resources, Tools
TODAY’S IDEA:
Need help on something? Create your own FAB PAB
–From Work It: Secrets for Success from the Boldest Women in Business by Carrie Kerpen and The Art of People: 11 Simple People Skills That Will Get You Everything You Want by Dave Kerpen.
(Yes, Carrie and Dave are married, they are both rock stars, and they have one of the coolest wedding stories you’ll ever hear!)
So what is a FAB PAB you ask? It’s your own FABulous Personal or Professional Advisory Board.
But isn’t an advisory board for corporations? Originally, yes. But who says that you cannot use the power of an advisory board to your advantage? “You can form an advisory board for any purpose, duration or idea that you choose,” says Dave in his book. And the multiplier effect of having very smart people in the room together—all with the intention of helping you—generates sparks that produce powerful results.
Are you thinking of taking time off from work and going back to school to get a law degree or an MBA? Create a Personal Advisory Board of people you trust who can guide you to make that decision.
Are you thinking of starting a business or growing your existing one? Do as Dave did: realizing he needed a mentor—but being the one with most seniority in his company—he built a Professional Advisory Board. “The members of my advisory board have been game changers in helping me tackle problems I’ve really needed help with and achieve things I’ve really wanted, including launching [a] software company… I found my own mentoring program and I haven’t looked back since.”
“No matter who you are or what you do for a living, a well-constructed advisory board can help you take the next steps to grow personally and professionally. The board can help challenge you, guide you and teach you. […] The key is to find smart, experienced people in whatever area you’d like to focus on.”
And as Carrie’s book explains, we all need guidance on a lot more than workplace related issues. Our lives have many different, interwoven threads and, very likely, one person won’t be able to help you in every single area. That is the beauty of creating your own advisory board made up of people who love you, respect you and want what’s best for you.
Whether formal or informal, your FAB PAB is an invaluable tool to help move you forward. Consider creating one for a reason, a season, or a lifetime, depending on your goals and aspirations. And don’t forget to pay it forward when your turn comes!
ACTION:
TODAY: Figure out where you need help. Draw a circle on a piece of paper: that is your table. Who would you like seated at that table sharing their experience and expertise with you as part of your FAB PAB? List their names (choose wisely and carefully). Contact them.
FUTURE: Once you have contacted them and they’ve agreed to help you, figure out the best way to run your meetings (in person or virtual) so that they are structured, solid, purposeful and efficient to maximize everyone’s time and knowledge. Dave suggests starting with an icebreaking exercise, then sharing one or two challenges, and then going around the table to give everyone a chance to weigh in with their experience, ideas and suggestions. I love this formula. I would add to that: making a promise to the PAB to move swiftly on implementing the ideas/actions, and following up with them individually (prior to the next meeting) to celebrate when a little win happens based on a particular PAB member’s idea, or an introduction they made, etc. (it’s important to keep them in the loop and to show your appreciation).
Happy FAB PABing! Let me know how it goes, and if you’d like to bounce any ideas with me, I’ll be happy to do so. 🙂
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Mindset, Tools
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 0 seconds. 
TODAY’S IDEA: Move forward imperfectly.
— From Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done by Jon Acuff.
Confession time: I am a recovering perfectionist. Yet the more I talk about this, the more I realize that besides the child, the introvert and the party animal inside all of us, there’s also the perfectionist inside us that sometimes rears its ugly head.
If this is your case, read on, your life is about to get so much better!
One of the concepts Acuff describes in his book is that of all-or-nothing: for us perfectionists, when we decide to start something we are all excited, gather the things we will need, and start with big dreams. At some point (usually sooner than later) something happens, there’s a hiccup somewhere, and because it’s no longer perfect, instead of continuing, we give up altogether.
Acuff calls this the day after perfect: “…when imperfection arrives we usually quit. That is why the day after perfect is so important. This is the make-or-break day for every goal. […] The day after perfect is what separates finishers from starters. […] Unfortunately, perfectionism dies slowly. It’s persistent and particularly dangerous because it masquerades as excellence… [People] think the opposite of perfectionism is failure. It’s not. The opposite is finished.”
The good news is the realization that perfectionism exists only in our minds, and thus we have tools (such as the ideas in this book) to control it. Let me leave you with this thought from the book:
“Move forward imperfectly.
Reject the idea that the day after perfect means you’ve failed.
That’s just not true.
You get to try again.
Today, tomorrow, next week.”
ACTION:
TODAY & FUTURE: Commit and recommit every day to move forward imperfectly. Tell someone close to you and whom you trust about this commitment. This way, when the day after perfect strikes and you’ve quit—or you’re thinking about quitting—this same person can remind you of your commitment.
SURPRISE!
I’d like to send you an electronic quote card (for you to print out) to remind you to move forward imperfectly. All you have to do is give me your name and email address in the form below so that I know where to send the card. You’ll get an email message with a PDF file for you to print, cut in four, and put each card in a visible place to remind you to reject the idea that the day after perfect means you’ve failed. No. No. No. Never again. We’re moving forward imperfectly!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Habits, Planning, Productivity, Tools
TODAY’S IDEA:
“A good-day’s work”
— From Remote: Office Not Required by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
Whether you work remotely or not, Remote offers some gold nuggets for all. One of those nuggets is how to measure progress and what’s a good-day’s work based on reasonable expectations.
In today’s working culture, it’s unfortunate that overwork and lack of sleep reign supreme. These two terrors are widespread; at best they are temporary and can be avoided, but at worse, they are carried as badges of honor horror (!). Working constantly can be a menace, because it can lead to serious burnout before you even know it. And this is true especially if you love your work. Why? Because we’re constantly connected and just a device away… thus it is easy to check email one more time, and to respond to that message at 10 pm to get it out of the way. And if you have 1 hour on Saturday morning, it’s easy to use that time to work on a project instead; or if it’s rainy outside, might as well make the most out of it and start working on the presentation for next week…
I’m not denying the importance of sprints once in a while, but over the long run it’s not sustainable and it’s not healthy. As the book says, there are no “hero awards” for overworking, as the work should be seen as a marathon instead. “It’s crucial for everyone to pace themselves.” This quote opened my eyes:
“One way to set up a healthy boundary is to […] think of a good-day’s work. Look at your progress toward the end of the day and ask yourself: ‘have I done a good-day’s work?’ Answering that question is liberating. Often, if the answer is an easy yes, you can stop working, feeling satisfied that something important got accomplished—if not entirely done. And should the answer be no, you can treat it as an off day and explore the 5 WHYs (asking why to a problem five times in a row to find the root cause). It feels good to be productive. If yesterday was a good day’s work, chances are you’ll stay on a roll, and if you can stay on a roll, everything else will probably take care of itself, including not working from the time you get up in the morning until you go to sleep.”
This is such a simple and basic but oh-so-powerful idea, because you are the judge of your progress and you can learn from this process to keep making it better. I am guilty of loving my work and trying to squeeze as much of it as I can in a day. But I have found that I work so much better and I’m so much more productive when I’m well rested and when I also do other personal things that are important for my physical health and emotional wellbeing. We all really need to take our mind off work for a while to rest and renew, and to come back better and stronger.
ACTION
Whether you’ve been naughty or nice in terms of a “good-day’s work,” keep a log (nothing complicated, any calendar will do). You’ll be able to see progress with all the yes answers, and with the 5 WHYs method you will be able to get to the core of why it wasn’t a good day’s work and solve it right away. If that or other problems keep emerging and you see patterns preventing your progress, analyze them so that you can solve them too. Get to the root: What can you learn? What can you change so that you can have more good days?
I wish you nothing but good days, and would love to hear from you: how do you measure a good-day’s work?
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Habits, Mindset
TODAY’S IDEA:
Four tendencies to respond to expectations.
–From Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin
If you’ve been taking action on the past two posts on creating a BHAG and asking the daily question to make sure you are constantly improving, it may come in handy to know that you are likely to fall into one of four tendencies as you respond to the expectations that you are setting.
Gretchen Rubin first introduced “The Fateful Tendencies We Bring Into The World” as a chapter on her great book Better Than Before, where she studied habit making and breaking. In her words:
“How does a person respond to an expectation?” When we try to form a new habit, we set an expectation for ourselves. Therefore, it’s crucial to understand how we respond to expectations. We face two kinds of expectations: outer expectations (meet work deadlines, observe traffic regulations) and inner expectations (stop napping, keep a New Year’s resolution). From my observation, just about everyone falls into one of four distinct groups.
- Upholders respond readily to both outer expectations and inner expectations.
- Questioners question all expectations, and will meet an expectation only if they believe it’s justified.
- Obligers respond readily to outer expectations, but struggle to meet inner expectations they impose on themselves.
- Rebels resist all expectations, outer and inner alike.
[…] Our tendency colors the way we see the world and therefore has enormous consequences for our habits. Of course these are tendencies, but I’ve found to a degree that surprises me, that most people do fall squarely into one camp.”
This is fascinating because, once you know how you’ll respond to the expectations set by your goals, you will know what will trip you and what will make your habits stick.
For example, I am an obliger most of the time (curiously, Gretchen says that most people fall into this category). This means that I will not stop at fulfilling outer expectations (especially about work or commitments that I’ve made to others). But it also means that I have a hard time fulfilling or I am too lenient when it comes to me (promises/commitments to myself, the habits that I want to develop or get rid of). So what to do about this? Am I doomed?
No, thank goodness. The beauty of learning about the four tendencies is you’ll know what to do to support yourself in the weaker areas. Going back to me as an obliger, since I meet outer expectations, the best way for me to fulfill my inner expectations is to turn them into outer ones for accountability. What this means is that, for instance, if I want to exercise steadily, I need to tell a group of people or do it with a group or people. In this particular case, I have a group of friends and we all check in daily on a Facebook group to be accountable for our workouts. The result? Thanks to my group, so far this year (it’s January 28) I have worked out 26 days and missed only two. Prior to the group? It would have likely been the opposite: two workouts and 26 missed days…
ACTION
I highly encourage you to take Gretchen Rubin’s free online quiz to figure out what your tendency is when responding to expectations. Once you know, you can read a bit about your tendency and watch these short videos (upholder, obliger, questioner, rebel) that explain how to manage yourself better to set you up for success. And, of course, you can always get Gretchen’s newest book: The Four Tendencies to learn much more in depth about how you respond to expectations as well as the people that surround you.
Enjoy finding out about yourself. Leave a comment or share with me what your tendency is!
by Helena Escalante | Accountability, Goals, Growth, Habits, Mindset, Planning, Time, Tools
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes, 57 seconds. → This is a special post to kick off the New Year. It’s longer than the regular daily ones (that you can read in under 5 min), but my hope is that it will spark some ideas and propel you into action.
I will NEVER make New Year’s Resolutions again…
December 31st used to roll around, I’d make tons of great-sounding resolutions, and anytime between late January 1st and January 8th, they would be gone: #resolutionfail. I’d feel like a failure, throw my hands in the air and resign my self to feel like a loser.
Not anymore! Resolutions don’t work for me—and I guess they don’t work for most other people—because they are merely feel-good wishes. But let’s reframe for a second here: what if we take those wishes and turn them into actions by converting them into SMART goals?
SMART is an acronym that is used for setting goals, it stands for:
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Achievable
R – Realistic
T – Timebound
So let’s run through each one of these points to turn a resolution into a goal:
One of my resolutions was to “exercise more.” While that sounds great in principle, it’s setting me up for failure because it’s broadly defined. What does exercise and more mean?
S – Specific
Set your goal in as much detail as possible. In my case: I will do some form of aerobic exercise for 30 minutes a minimum of 5 days per week. My 2 faves are jogging and cycling, but I may change them for variety once in a while: elliptical, stairclimber, swimming, etc., depending on where I am and how much time I have. I will do some form of resistance exercise for 15 to 20 min a minimum of 3 days per week. This can be free weights, body weight exercises or using some sort of equipment at the gym.
M – Measurable
How will you know when you have succeeded? Specify what you are going to measure, that way you will know when you have reached your goal, big or small. By stating that I will do 30 min aerobic exercise a minimum of 5 days per week, I know what I need to schedule and I’ve set a measure for accountability and success. Same with the weights/resistance exercise for 15-20 min at minimum of 3 days per week.
A – Achievable
Can you meet this goal? Given my schedule and time constraints, this sounds like it’s indeed a doable goal. However, I will give myself the gift of flexibility and test it out. If, for some reason, my circumstances change as the year progresses and the goal becomes too hard or too easy, I will allow myself to revisit and fine-tune so that the goal becomes achievable for me again.
Remember that these are YOUR goals, and the more accommodating you are to making them happen, the more you will participate in them and enjoy them.
Peter Shankman in his book Faster Than Normal talks about setting up fail-safes so that you can guarantee that you can get done what you need to get done. A fail-safe is simply a process that you set up so that if A fails, then B kicks in to fix A or to make sure A gets done. Let me give you an example.
Let’s say that I want to get up early to exercise. I set up my alarm clock and when it goes off in the morning I hit snooze. My plan to get up has failed. But what if I also set up the alarm on my phone to go off at the same time as my alarm clock AND leave the phone outside my bedroom? That ensures that I will get up from my slumber to turn it off. And I will jump out of my bed really fast since I don’t want the alarm from my phone to disturb my husband’s sleep. So that ensures I’ll be up… might as well go exercise.
R – Realistic
Given your constraints, can your goal be attained? The expectations you set must be based on reality. My goal is certainly realistic given my fitness level and my work/time constraints. I’m not setting myself up for failure by wanting to go from zero to running a marathon in one week or some other non-realistic goal.
This point is key, because it is here where our wishful thinking can derail us as we start the New Year with grand hopes and expectations for us. Allow yourself to set big goals, but break them down into realistic bite-sized pieces so that you can complete one at a time. Consistency is better than perfection anytime. And remember that there will come a day, or two, or twelve (!)… when you will want to give up. STOP. Do. Not. Give. Up.
The weather may be ugly. Or you have bad hair day. Or you just aren’t seeing the progress you anticipated. Or. Or. Or… Just remember Woody Allen’s quote on those days: “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” And since you showed up, might as well do what you needed to do anyway.
OR… and this a big one… if you are not going to fulfill that day’s habit, then renegotiate the promise you made with yourself. OK, so no exercise today because there is a cloud in the sky (or insert excuse here) and you will simply take it back on again tomorrow. Deal. And this is OK too. Just make sure that you learn a lesson from that missed date. Perhaps you are tired because you didn’t sleep well – what do you need to do to ensure you sleep well so that this does not happen again? Reflect on the valuable lesson that you learned so that you can put fail-safes in place to avoid the same from happening in a future. Also, reevaluate your goal to make sure it is still doable. If not, figure out what necessary modifications you need to make to ensure you meet that goal.
The Realistic part applies not only to the goal itself but also to the process of getting it done. Be flexible and don’t give up.
T – Timebound
This is another key point that goes hand in hand with the Realistic one. When you set up times for performing and for completing, make sure they are realistic. You can get a lot of things done, if you just figure out how many hours it will take you to do so. Enter again our dear friend wishful thinking.
I love this quote from Bill Gates because it is so true: “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”
The best way to figure out what amount of time something is going to take is to assign it the time you think it will take. One of two things can happen:
- Parkinson’s Law will kick in. This law states that: “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”. And if you only have a certain amount of time to do something, very likely you will get it done within that timeframe.
- You will have a realistic assessment of the time that you will need to get that thing done. If you finish earlier than expected, congrats! You can move on to the next thing. Or if you really need more time, by now you’ll be able to assess how much more you need and schedule it accordingly.
And this reminds me of two of Laura Vanderkam’s great books: 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think and What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast: How to Achieve More at Work and at Home.
The basic premise of both books is that we look at our time in chunks of 24 hours and want to cram as much as possible in that time span with the consequent disappointment, frustration and overwhelm. When we look at a week, we can plan better if we recognize that we have 168 hours. Even if we give ourselves the luxury of sleeping 8 hours a night, that takes only 56 hours away, leaving us with 112 hours to adapt our week to lots of professional and personal things that otherwise we’d never plan on doing.
And if we look at a weekend in a similar vein (from 6 pm on Friday when we leave work and the weekend “officially” starts to Monday at 6 am when the alarm clock goes off) we have 60 hours. Even if we sleep 24 hours, that leaves us with 36 hours to play, do chores or tackle our to-do list – that is almost the same amount of time as a full time job! (40 hours)
Laura’s point in all of this is the importance of planning: what gets scheduled gets done. Scheduling the time and truly devoting it to the activities that will help you achieve your goals is the best way to ensure that those goals will be met and you will be able to check them off your to-do or you bucket list.
As this new year begins, make a list of your goals, break them down into the components that make a SMART goal, and then schedule the times in your calendar, and respect those times as a promise you make to yourself so that you can make sure they get done. If for some reason comes a day or time when you cannot do it (and it will come), don’t beat yourself up, simply renegotiate with yourself (just as you would with any other person if you were doing something for them) and notice what you learn.
Hope this helps! Let me know what your goals are in the comments below. And please, schedule in your calendar 5 minutes at this time next year so that you can tell me how the process went.
I’m thrilled for you and cheering for your success!! 🙂
