Better Life Habits

Ever had overload paralysis?

I have. That's when you have so much to do you can't get yourself to do anything. In fact, in a dizzying act of unexplainable dumbness, on occasion when I have been overwhelmed with stuff to do, I've actually checked my e-mail. Yep. I've willingly sought out a place where in all likelihood more work will land in my lap. And I hadn't even been drinking.

Too much to do and not enough time to do it, blah blah blah. We've all been there. So how do we laugh in the face of inertia and get moving? Here are some ideas, in no particular order.

• Make a list of all the stuff you have to do. Get it out of your head and put it on paper. Like David Allen says, "You can't be confortable not doing something unless you know what it is you're not doing." Just write and write and write until you get it all out. No filtering. I don't care if you never look at the list again (But you will. You won't be able to stop yourself). It's just better to get it out of your head.
• Set a timer and do something, anything, for ten minutes. The rule is you have to stick to that one task for the whole ten minutes. No jumping around from task to task.
• Call someone who can give you verbal support or a kick in the butt -- whichever works best for you. It's best to have these kinds of people briefed and in the wings for occasions such as this.
• Think about how awful it feels to have all this stuff to do staring you in the face. Think how much more awful it will feel if all this stuff plus some is still staring you in the face 24 hours from now. Be OK with some level of progress.

Remember -- and I mean this in the most positive, uplifting kind of way -- we're going to die and still have stuff on our to do lists. Don't let it kill you.

Is withholding information a defensible business tactic or a lapse of integrity?

Imagine a potential client contacts you or your firm and outlines either the need they have or the problem they want you to solve. Their need is great and their decision to buy -- from someone -- is certain. But the more you learn about their situation the more you realize that what you have to offer isn't the best match for their problem. You have a product or service that could help at some level, but you know that a competitor of yours has a better solution.

Do you tell the potential client about your competitor?

I can't speak for everyone in my line of work (coaching, consulting, speaking) but all the folks I know personally would let the potential client know that they would be better served by talking to the competitor. Most would even make the introduction. It kind of seems like a no-brainer to me.

But evidently that's not always the case in the health care industry.

In the last couple of months I've had the occasion to be at doctor appointments with someone close to me who is dealing with a serious illness. In a recent appointment a physician gave her a limited number of options to choose from in the effort to manage what is often a life-threatening condition. Not satisfied that these were the only options available, she visited a second physician in the same specialty area -- with dramatically different results. The second phsycian shared additional options that could potentially save her life.

What was learned is that in health care -- at least in this case -- physicians offer as options only those procedures they can do or are offered by their own hospital. Evidently it's more important to retain the patient as a source of revenue than it is to share every option with the patient -- because that could mean losing the patient to a competitor.

It was a pretty crazy and eye-opening realization. And as with most experiences I have, I tried to think through what that means in the bigger picture of the workplace in general.

So how does this relate to being organized and productive --which is the gist of this blog? I'll admit it's a stretch, and frankly it's more a post about integrity. But if we set aside the moral issue, there's also the issue of spending the limited amount of time we have on the things we do best. If we take on clients or jobs that are outside of our expertise or where we can only have a limited impact, that leaves less time to do the things at which we excel. Doesn't it make more sense to narrow our focus and work on projects where we can make the greatest postive impact? It goes back to making choices. Choices that not only serve ourselves but take into account the best interest of our clients.

Recognizing the difference between a brick wall, a roadblock and a speedbump.

My last post was about the difference between not knowing how to do something and knowing how to do but not how to make yourself do it. Clear as mud? If not, scroll down and read the previous post.

But sometimes the stumbling block is when you don't know how to do something. This blog is a fine example. When I first started this over a year ago I'd known about blogs for a long time, but since I'm not a techie I thought it would be too difficult. But I picked up a how-to book, set the blog up, posted once or twice...and promptly quit.

I quit for many reasons but mostly because I thought my posts had to be perfect or earth-shattering to be worthy of posting. Those expectations created a roadblock in my brain that halted all blog traffic for a full year. (Check out the dates on my posts.) Then I read a fantastic article by The Nametag Guy and started writing with newfound energy. I sure hope people find what I write helpful. If they (meaning you) do or don't, I'd sure like to know. But the perfection-induced roadblock that was there is gone for good.

There are still some speedbumps. I have all sorts of ideas about linking to articles (like the one above), other blogs, etc. and I'm not just a little stymied by that. I posted this later in the day than intended because I wasn't sure I'd know how to link to the article. A little nagging voice in my head kept telling me the process was complex. It wasn't.

Compared to what else is out there in blogworld I've gotten into the game in the fourth quarter. But I'll do my best to put interesting stuff out there that folks will find helpful. These occasional speedbumps won't turn into roadblocks.

What about brick walls? It's vital to know when you've hit one of those because you're not going to win no matter how long you keep banging your head against it. Staying with the "tech" train of thought, a brick wall for me would be creating my own website. That, my friend, is left that to the pros. In eight years I've had three or four websites created by other people. Left to do it myself, website #1 would still be in development.

Navigate around brick walls. Do what you must to tear down roadblocks. And though you may slow down for the speedbumps, keep moving forward. It's all about making steady progress.

Is the problem knowing how to do something or just making yourself do it?

I was helping someone go through a backlog of papers in her office and more than once we came across articles about "how to exercise". In fact, there were a bunch of articles on sit-ups alone.

We had a good laugh when we figured out that she had saved the articles not because she didn't know how to do a sit-up, but because she felt like if she had the article she would be one step closer to actually doing one.

This whole idea is what keeps the fitness industry alive. A person could buy a new video or DVD or piece of exercise equipment every day of the year and after 365 days not be one ounce lighter or one iota fitter. That's because having the information or equipment is entirely different than using it. Ask anyone who is using an expensive treadmill as a clothes rack.

If you want to see change, you have to figure out why you don't do the things that will get you the results you want. That's the knowledge you need to have.

I'll use myself as an example here. I was one of those people that bought videos and exercise equipment and never used them. I thought I had a discipline/willpower problem. I was disappointed in myself because I knew I'd feel better if I got in better shape. So I thought long and hard about why I continued to avoid exercise. I had gathered a lot of information about fitness and knew exactly what exercises I needed to do, so that wasn't the issue. Turns out I had a lonely problem. I hate working out alone -- which is exactly what videos and home exercise equipment required. 

Now I make sure I don't have to work out alone. I've had a personal trainer, I joined a bootcamp, have a membership at a gym and joined a couple of running clubs. I feel better than I did at 30 (I'm 47).

So if there's something that you want and you just can't seem to get off the dime, take a bit of time to think about what -- in your head -- is standing in your way. You'll be closer to getting the results you want.

What commitments are not negotiable?

If you're being pulled in a lot of directions with regard to how you spend your time -- and who isn't -- then you need to set boundaries to protect the activities that are most important to you.

Last week I was invited to attend a networking breakfast. And there were going to be some people there that might be very good connections for me. But Monday through Thursday I work out from 5:45 to 6:45 a.m. -- and that's not negotiable.

It wasn't always like that. Some years ago exercise was one of those things that I fit in when I could, which means I rarely fit it in. I eventually figured out that I feel better and I work better when I'm in decent shape, so now I have an exercise plan and that time is not negotiable.

It does make sense to pick a time that's likely to work for you based on the activity. I'm a morning person so that hour of the day is good for me. In addition, there are very few things that vie for that time slot. But like that networking event, things do come up. The event started at 7:30 a.m. which made it impossible for "high-maintenance me" to get there in time.

So what in your life should be non-negotiable?

• Time with your significant other or with family?
• An hour a day to make sales calls?
• Using time in the car to collect your thoughts instead of talk on the phone?
• Time set aside to pursue a hobby?
• A few hours a week to yourself?

Once you've decided what's non-negotiable you've just eliminated a decision you have to make. For that period of time you don't have to decide what you're going to do with yourself. The decision has already been made.

Gotta do the work..but make it fun

Sad but true, if you don't do the work you aren't going to get the results. Those piles of paper aren't going to disappear without your help (unless you torch the place) and you aren't going to get more organized by wishing you were -- or by having a book about organizing on your shelf. Just like the folks who take the escalator into their fitness club. That's not going to help get washboard abs.

The good news is, getting unburied doesn't have to be a miserable experience. Just change little habits over a period of time and the results compound -- at a rate much superior to that CD at 3% interest you've got going.

Progress vs. Perfection

A few weeks ago I was scheduled to be the moderator of a sales and marketing call for GO (Get Organized) System Trainers. It was to begin at 4:00 so I blocked out my schedule starting at 3:45 so I would have time to clear my head and get focused. At 3:44 the phone rang and I picked it up. I chatted with the caller for 6 or 7 minutes and went back to work. At 4:08 my cell phone rang. I heard, "Mary. Are you going to join us?"

In that instant I got that sick feeling last felt when I was 7 and I had just broken my mom's favorite vase. How humiliating to forget about a call with a bunch of trainers who teach people how to get organized!!!

I got on the call quickly and all turned out just fine. But it reminded me of two important points.

1. I never should have picked up that phone. I had wisely blocked out the time right before to get prepared and then ignored my own good planning.
2. I always tell clients that getting organized and being more productive is about progress, not perfection. And I can't expect to be perfect either. The important thing is learning something valuable to take away (Which happened to be the point made in # 1 above) so we don't make the same mistake over and over.

If you want to learn more about GO System Training, visit my web site at www.openspaces4me.com. There are also a bunch of free articles you can access.