what are you waiting for?

I was looking at a note that was passed around facebook a couple of years ago called 25 random things.  Number 17 on my list: When the kids are finished with college I’m going to build a computer program, learn to speak Mandarin Chinese, teach myself physics and climb a mountain.  When I reread that I said - what are you waiting for?  Am I getting the most out of my day? Why not start now? I was poking around amazon and came across How to Live on 24 Hours a Day. It seemed like a modern self help book title, so I was really surprised to find out it was written in 1910.  Here's a quote from the book taken from wikipedia. "Which of us lives on twenty-four hours a day? And when I say "lives," I do not mean exists, nor "muddles through." Which of us is free from that uneasy feeling that the "great spending departments" of his daily life are not managed as they ought to be? [...] Which of us is not saying to himself -- which of us has not been saying to himself all his life: "I shall alter that when I have a little more time"? We never shall have any more time. We have, and we have always had, all the time there is."

I'm going to take it on myself to get started with something new. I don't know if it's going to be one of the four on my facebook list, but it's time I get the most out of my 24 hours. It's easier today than ever before. Are you getting the most out of your life? Are you trying something new? What are you waiting for?

habits

Research says it takes 66 days to form a habit.  I don't know if everyone feels this way, but I think habits  have a bad stigma about them. Instinctively, I think of biting nails or smoking... you know, the bad habits.  But really most habits aren't bad.  Good habits can have a major impact on how you go about your work.  When was the last time you intentionally set out to form a habit? I have a goal of two blog posts per week.  If you look at my history, I rarely hit that goal.  How can I turn blog posting into a habit?  I've made exercise a habit.  I wake up early each morning and workout within 30 minutes of getting up. I can try writing at the same time every night - after the kids go to sleep.  The problem with late night blog posts is I'm bound to be too tired to think (like this rambling post to nowhere - ha!).  What could be more effective?  I can write every day on the train ride into work.  Better yet I can do that and associate it with something enjoyable - like a hot cup of coffee.  I'm setting out to form the habit.  Hopefully when you check back toward the end of December you'll find a two post a week minimum is the norm.

How can you use habits for personal growth?  How can you use habits to strengthen your teams?

small wins

Have you ever stared at a project list and felt nothing but overwhelmed? It's like walking up the stairs to my attic. I get to the top, see the mess, quickly shake my head in dismay, turnaround and walk back down the steps. The scope of work is too overwhelming. The end goal is out of reach. I'll never be able to get this finished. Dan and Chip Heath talk about shrinking the change in their book Switch. Sometimes you only need to get started. Take 15 minutes here and 15 minutes there and eventually you have a series of small wins. In technology, projects are broken into epic stories; epic stories into user stories; and user stories into tasks. It's easy to look at a task, get started on it and finish it. Before you know it you've knocked out a user story, and all of a sudden these small wins start to snowball. The project doesn't seem as daunting.

This same method can be applied to any goal or change. If you have a sales goal that seems impossible, break it down and shrink the goal. I want to make 50 calls over the next two days and close 10% of them. Over the next two weeks I want to write a chapter of my book. Shrink your objective and earn some small wins.

Who wants to spend ten minutes with me cleaning the stairs of my attic tonight?

just do it

I spend a lot of time in meetings, or I should say I waste a lot of time in meetings.  Most meetings start 5 minutes late.  Then it takes 10 minutes to setup the video conferencing.  Once the meeting begins there's no agenda.  Often we have meetings to plan other meetings.  We hypothesize.  We dream up of new processes.  We talk about what we should be doing.  Sometimes we even talk about why something is impossible when we haven't even tried it yet.  Enough is enough.  Let's stop talking about what we want to do and let's just do it! Meetings can only be productive when everyone is focused.  That's the responsibility of the organizer.  The problem is most people either don't have the time to prepare for the meeting or simply don't know how to run a meeting.  The organizer must begin by stating the goals.  She must keep the conversation on topic and keep the talk moving forward.  At the same time she must recognize productive conversation and allow these to continue.  If people are no longer needed in the meeting she should let them go.  If they were never needed they shouldn't be invited in the first place.  Believe me, people don't want to be invited to meetings if they're not needed.  Make an effort not to waste productive time.  Be sure to keep meetings short, focused and productive.