Being somewhere else, not HERE

So I provide lots of training and speeches and I am notorious for:

• leaving things behind after my presentation - my clicker, mouse, etc. I have done that more than once.
• taking things that aren't mine. In Orlando two months ago I actually did not realize I still had a mic on until I was emptying my pockets at the airport!!!

So, why do I do these things? I feel it is because my mind is not settled and I have little awareness of what is going on around me. I am thinking about the past (How did I do? Did they like me?) and I am thinking about the future (What are the people who want to talk to me afterwards going to say? When is my flight?)

Notice a few themes:

• It's all about me. How am I being perceived? What is going to happen to me? It's kind of a shame because there are potentially rich conversations to be had with people after a presentation. It's hard to listen to others when you are only listening to yourself!!
• I am thinking about two times - the past and the future.

Of course the "now" is all we ever have! It's interesting how that works -- how much of our mind is preoccupied with the past and the future, but the only time we can be "in" is the now.

Where is your mind today? Where is it right now? What are you missing out on by not being in there "here and now"?

Without a documented goal, you may stand still

Have you heard that you are three times more likely to obtain a goal if you simply write it down? Why is that?

• It reminds you of what you want. It is easy not to do something you are NOT thinking about very often.
• It forces you to "see" it and then you will probably want to "plan" it and "act" on it more.
• In a small way, writing it down makes it more of a commitment - not just in your head, but now it's out there!

Think about it this way, if a goal IS VERY IMPORTANT to you, why wouldn't you do whatever you can to make it part of your "dashboard" and make it more a part of your daily thinking and "doing"?

You are driving the car, and its your goals that should be helping you push on the gas.

Procrastinating? Start simple - call yourself out on it

Have you found yourself procrastinating lately on some "big" thing? First off - call it out!

Call what out you ask?

Call yourself out!

(1) I am procrastinating.

The next question is why? There are lots of reasons for procrastination. Maybe the biggest? Fear.

So again, call yourself out.

(2) I have a fear right now.

Now, the natural next question ... What is that fear? But you don't get that far along until you first "call yourself out."

Links to other posts on Procrastination:

Reason #4 Lack of Confidence

Reason #3 Lack of Real Commitment

Reason #2 Fear of Failure

Reason #1 Getting Started

Simple To-Do list tip to help you feel more proactive

If you are big into To-Do lists, and I know a lot of accounts who are ...

Try one simple thing tomorrow when you are reviewing it. Ask yourself, what is the MOST important action I can take today that is not on this list? Consider your career and your team and your organization from a "big-picture" perspective. What is that ONE thing that might make the most difference if a new outcome can be achieved by doing a new action (that was not on your list.)

Now, since you have just potentially added something to your calendar and list of commitments, challenge the other things on your list. What are the TWO things that are of such lower priority that you can either remove them all together or move them to a future date?

You add one thing, you take away two. That sounds good! Also you have started not with your To-Do list as your starting point for priorities .... you have started with thinking outside of your To-Do list to prioritize your actions based on a longer term perspective.

The question you MUST ask when you miss a deadline

Missing deadlines stinks! There are lots of reasons why they happen. Let's focus on what happens when they DO happen ... when you missed a deadline.

First off, one or many people are probably mad if it is a high priority item.

It is easy to:

• Blame others.
• Talk about how the deadline was unfair (now after it's too late) or how circumstances changed.
• Provide excuses.

The question that can really help is one that may seem counter-intuitive to "excuse-providers" .....

"How did missing this deadline affect you personally?"

This does not have to be the first question, and maybe it should not be, but it needs to be asked. Also, if it affected more than one person, you will have to ask it more than one time! (Because most everyone will have a different answer.)

What this question may do:

1.) Right away it shifts the attention to where it should be - the impact. By asking that question, you are telling the other person you care because you want to know what this (missed deadline) has caused.

2.) It makes it personal and while people understand organizational impact, they "feel" personal impact much more easily. In short, the question is a sign of empathy.

3.) It shows a willingness to want to solve the issue. Before you can do that you need to know the issue (which may be bigger now that a deadline has been missed). So, it boldly inquires about where you are now (and does not try and sweep anything under a rug.)

4.) The answer to the question may open up new possibilities .... How do we adjust now? What can be done, salvaged, etc.?

5.) It shows you want to LEARN from the event. It shows ownership not just in the specific deadline missed but in working forward to ensure it does not happen again. You can work with their answer in making changes going forward.

Hopefully you will never miss a deadline in your life again, but chances are we all will. Can this question really "do" all those 5 things? Try it.

Outsource everything you do

Outsource EVERYTHING you do. That sounds daunting, and maybe crazy, doesn't it?

OK, so maybe you cannot outsource everything you do in your job tomorrow. But there is some value in TRYING to do that.

What if you had to do it? What would you need to do? Maybe ....

1.) Inventory everything you do.

2.) Challenge what can be done by someone else.

3.) Get everything in "order" so someone else can do it.

That third point is a big one. I have seen entrepreneurs who have had to delegate or outsource some activities that they typically did to someone else. It forces them to look at them in a new way. They have to bring structure. They have to ensure the task is clear and is working in an efficient way already. In short, they have to CHANGE the way they do the task BEFORE they give it to someone else. Guess what? If you do this and even if you decide not to outsource it or delegate it, you will have made the activity more efficient for yourself!

Do you do the billing for your firm or company?

Do you book your own flights?

Set up your own meetings?

Pretend processes like these have to be taken over by someone else tomorrow. You will make changes. You will benefit. These activities will take you less time. Eventually you will get so much more efficient and be able to focus on THE activities that you are both good at and enjoy and bring the REAL value to your organization, that you will be able to delegate or outsource all these other things!

My day was "Very Busy"

Ever get asked how your day was and your answer is dominated by the word "busy". What does busy mean to you? For some answering you were very busy is not the same as answering you were very "productive". In fact they may feel VERY different.

Busy might mean: lots of calls, lots of emails, lots of fires to put out, lots of switching from task to task, lots of ideas floating through your mind, lots of talking about acting on things, etc. In short it means you had a lot going on but it does not necessarily mean you had a lot getting done.

If you feel "productive", however it may be more about making tough decisions, completing something that had been hovering, finally acting instead of talking, and yes, generally, completing more work.

Busy might mean opening more things, productive might mean closing more things. Busy might mean more YESes, productive might mean more NOs. Busy might mean more plans, productive might mean less plans but more prioritization. Busy might mean more more, productive might actually mean less.

Lastly, despite the fact that world might not be cooperating with you at all times, it's important to remember that most of your day is really about the choices you make and control.....

Is being and feeling productive really a choice and do you control all the things that go into feeling productive? If you say yes, you will probably be right and if you say no, you will probably be right also. So how will you describe your day tomorrow?

"The Vacation Phenomena" for Time Management

Many accountants (and others for that matter) have noted to me they "manage their time" well right before they go on vacation. Could it be the excitement of the vacation that gets their energy and productivity levels revving? Sure, and there are two things I have noticed when you explore the vacation phenomena a little more ..

(1) They plan! They review their open projects and priorities and plan to act to be where they need those items to be when they leave.

That sounds obvious but why can't we do that more on "normal days"? Where do you need to be at the end of the day? They take the time to reflect on where they are versus where they need to be....and they prioritize! Their to-do list will not be completed but the most important actions (and results) will! Interestingly, I find those about to go on vacation more realistic with what they will actually be able to "get done" and they also are better at saying "no", another skill we can challenge ourselves to do more.

(2) Related to #1, they look for closure! They want to know anything that is delegated is thoroughly understood. They want to get certain projects either finished or to a pretty specific and measurable milestone. In short they want to know exactly where everything stands when they leave and they want others to know that also.

Since most of us continually work in teams, wouldn't it be great if that happened more .... we all know where we "stand"?

A New Year Goal - Two considerations when creating it

New Years Resolutions: They are sometimes exciting to create, exciting to start, but many times they are not as exciting to continue....

Why is that?

Two BIG reasons:

1.) If you have a new goal and chances are it is pretty big, have you actually created a realistic plan around achieving your goal? What keeps you on track? How is it SO motivating and inspiring that you will "sacrifice" to ensure you stay on track? Where do you start? How have you documented it? How have you shared it with others? How are you (or others) going to hold yourself accountable? How do you allocate the time needed? and that brings us to #2 ....

2.) If you are going to be doing something "new" chances are that will take up some or a lot of your time. So, the simple but sometimes difficult question is: What will you NOT do so you can do the "new" thing(s)? What will you eliminate in your life so you can replace it with your new goal(s)? You did not achieve them in the past and you filled up that time with something else, so what is it? Consider documenting that also. That can be just as powerful.

Easy things first, right?

Why, when scheduling multiple tasks, do we generally choose the "easiest" one first?

It is because "easy" represents the least amount of change. It is not ambiguous. You probably have experience in doing it. It will not take as much critical thinking to do it. You can just, well, DO IT! You are wanting to be productive and you know you can be productive with the easy task, so you go for it. Maybe you are looking for a little confidence and doing what you already know may give that to you versus the harder tasks.

There is a big problem with starting with the "easy"and ending with the "difficult" --

When we still have that difficult thing to go, it's in our head, and it's negative. Whether we think this way or not, we have also told our self - I fear the most difficult things, so I will simply procrastinate.

When we have completed that difficult thing, it may still be in our head but we are done, the thought is positive! Then all of a sudden, something happens in our day - MOMENTUM! We are running downhill, not uphill. We are telling the world (and maybe most importantly yourself) to bring it on. Less fear. Less uphill running (procrastinating.)

So what do you do about this?!

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

You have 3 chores to get done Saturday morning. Start with the most difficult. End with the easiest.

You have 3 things you must get done at work tomorrow morning. Start with the most difficult. End with the easiest.

PRACTICE wherever you can! See where it can take you. See how you can build your own momentum.

Email "processing" on your phone vs. your computer

Whether you have a blackberry, droid, or iPhone .... chances are one of the most common things you do with your phone is check email.

I have not met one accountant in my entire life (yet) that has been able to replicate the way they process emails on their phone with the way they do it on their computer. Using their phone, they might not be able to do some or all of the following:

- Save sent emails into the appropriate folders

- Have an (electronic) task or calendar (or both) open at the same time as an email to check on a project. That is right to date there are no "dual-monitor" phones yet!

- Accept appointment requests (although some phones are now allowing you to do this.)

So why does this matter? Most if not all of us are checking email on our phones and laptops. But, we must understand the limitations when using our phone. You will be more efficient using your laptop because you are not limited in the same ways. So when you want to "ferociously focus" on your email processing and only touching things once, just realize your laptop provides the best medium to do that. Sure, use your phone when you need to and want to, but if the email is not urgent ..... consider ..... GULP (I know this is a tough one for some of us) ..... letting it go until you can fully process it later.

Interrupt "yourself" lately?

In looking at your own personal time management many people will focus on interruptions, and rightly so. We live in an increasingly fast past world. We may feel like we are getting "pinged" from many different sources, and we are!

But before you focus on trying to limit external interruptions from others, think about yourself first. Internal interruptions are when you decide to take something else on right in the middle of doing something. The "source" is you.

So you decide to surf the web instead of finishing that memo.

Or maybe you are at home and you decide to go grab something out of the refrigerator before you are done finishing some paperwork. Then once you are into the refrigerator you realize your forgot to mail a letter and you start to think about that, and then you see that your cell phone has a voicemail on it you haven't checked and you do that! Now you have forgotten what you were originally doing!

All of these are self created interruptions and they can kill your focus and productivity (and your momentum). They can be as common (or more common) than outside interruptions. We'll talk about some ideas/strategies in another post but the first thing you can do is to become more aware of it by catching yourself when you INTERRUPT YOURSELF!

Ask someone for 7 minutes of their time

How many time has somebody asked you if you have a "second" and then 1/2 hour later you still are not finished with them? The problem here is not that the encounter or task took longer than 30 minutes, it's that the person requesting your time did not provide you enough respect to ask for a realistic amount of your time...probably because they did not even think about how long it would actually take.

It's easy to get caught in this habit. Everyone feels busy, you have to "get stuff done" but you don't have time to think about how long that "stuff" will take. Then when we work with others we have no idea how long tasks with them will take also. So both people's schedules are now being run by the seat of your pants.

Surprise somebody the next time you need a little bit of their time. Take a few minutes to think about how long it will take. If you are not totally sure, tell them how much time you estimate it will be. Try using an uneven or uncommon time amount. "Can I get 7 minutes of your time?" That will surprise them, maybe make them laugh, but if you have thought out how long it will actually take, you might be close!

Goals Undocumented typically mean Goals Unachieved

GET BOLD. Document your goals. Make them: Specific. Measurable. Time-sensitive. Then get time put in your calendar to start on them. Share them with others!

But do not forget .... you have to ask yourself, what happens if I meet this goal?

If the answer is not much, especially at an emotional level, then the chances of you achieving it are lowered.

A goal needs to be emotional for you. There needs to be a "vision" aspect to your goal. It needs to evoke a sense of your future self where you have accomplished something that makes you "feel" like you are now at another level. The problem with most goal-setting is it does not ask that question: How will I feel when I reach this goal?

You have probably read somewhere those that document their goals have a much better chance, on average, of achieving them. Part of that might be that documenting your goals makes you really think them through but part may be documenting your goals may make you CHANGE them or decide to eliminate one altogether. If you are not emotionally invested in it enough to at least write it out, how much are you going to be invested in doing all that you can to make sure you realize it?!

Procrastination Reason #4 (of 10) - Lack of CONFIDENCE

Many people procrastinate because they fear a project or a deadline. The act of procrastination obviously perpetuates the problem. The more you "dodge" a project or looming deadline, the more ominous it seems because now you have less time than you did!

Think "small wins". How can you break down your project into more manageable segments? If you are procrastinating, think about the smallest, easiest thing you could do next. Make it a goal, no matter how easy it is or how short it takes. Then reach that goal. You have a "win", a small win but a win nonetheless. Now reflect on your accomplishment and win! ........ and simply repeat.

Procrastination no more!

Don't have time to listen to someone? ..... DON'T !!

Have you ever been caught by someone in the hall when you were rushing out the door or on the way to a meeting, or worse yet, right when you are in the middle of doing something? They just need a "few seconds" and need your ear, so you give it to them, and they talk to you right as you may be moving away from them.

What have you done?

(1) You fell for the "few seconds" line! How many things really take a "few seconds"? The interruption itself has already taken a few seconds!

(2) You have reinforced their behavior - if they can find you they can get you!

(3) You have allowed an environment to be created that is less than ideal to truly listen to them.

Now I know sometimes these practices have to happen, but certainly many of them, including the behaviors they reinforce, can be challenged. If you do not have time to fully engage and provide them a powerful listening ear..... DON'T DO IT. Out of respect for them, tell them no, and tell them how they can get your ear (and how you would like to be able to provide them your FULL attention at another time). Better yet, spend some time (later) talking about your communication protocols, boundaries, and needs.

Document or Review any Personal Goals Lately?

I found it interesting that the average American spends less than 1 hour a year documenting their personal goals and reviewing them. That is because most people do not even document their goals!! (Source: Day-Planners)

So, the average American spends more time biting their fingernails in any year than reviewing their goals.

If you do not have any long-term goals documented ..... I will promise you one thing -- you will have a much better chance of NOT meeting them!

The CPA Exam - More Than Just a Test

Click title above that links to the article we wrote about how passing the CPA exam can be a major learning experience ... much more than just a "test".

Responsiveness is part of your Brand

Are there any companies you deal with that are very unresponsive? They don't call you back, even when THEY said they would. They don't respond to inquiries fast or maybe not at all.

Maybe it is a cable company, a telephone company, or a shoe repair company.

So how do those actions (non-actions) affect your perception of that company? Probably ... pretty negatively. You are forming (or have already formed) a perception of their company and non-responsive is a word that is helping you to describe that company. Pretty soon you get to a horrible conclusion: "They don't care about me."

Now turn it around and think about your responsiveness ... YOUR Brand. What perception do people have about you? Is it what you want? Not sure what it is -- ASK THEM! Do they think "you care about them" based on your responsiveness?

Procrastination Reason #3 (of 10) - Lack of REAL Commitment

One reason we may procrastinate .... we never really COMMITTED to doing something. When you do not have a clear set goal or commitment, it is easy not to do it. You might "want" a lot of things: You might want to finish that never ending project. But, what .... are you committed to doing about that? If you do not commit to SPECIFIC ACTION, then it does not matter what you "want."

Procrastination no more ....