It’s not often I get tagged for memes of a business nature. But spiritual business coach par excellence, Mark Silver, saw through my fluffy exterior and knew I’d have something to add to the best productivity tips in all the land, the rapidly escalating group effort to corral the best of entrepreneurial wisdom by my former Great Big Small Business Show collaborator, Ben Yoskovitz. So here goes nothin’…
You don’t have to explain the beauty of a project like this to a listmaker. We revel in lists: the how-to, to-do, tip-mad fests that other people put together. We live for memes, boy howdy.
What intrigued me most about this exercise was the one limitation placed on those of us who saw fit to pick up the gauntlet: Challenge yourself to pick one. Because, of course, the delicious truth is, while there are many excellent “hacks” to improve productivity, my number one tip is to choose the one that works for you.
Yup—that’s it…suckers.
No, seriously, it’s deceptively simple, for it means spending some time identifying what’s tripping me up at any given moment. And yes, it also means I need to reassess from time to time, because my barriers to productivity shift, as well. What trips me up Monday—lack of sleep, say, or needing an injection of Karin’s fun after a weekend of too much work and not enough play—may not be the issue on Tuesday, when I’ll about needing to do some of the “sprints” that Dawud Miracle mentions, or Hump Day, when I’d give my right arm for some of Monk-at-Work Adam Kayce’s clarity.
Of course, I won’t cop out there; I’ll play nice and share One Great Thing I’ve found that’s been working for me lately. (Which I know—I know—makes this post technically about two tips, but my #1 tip is so meta, it makes my head swim.)
Are you ready for this life-changing, earth-shattering Tip of Tips?
Keep things tidy.
Yes, literally by keeping my desk clear—or at least, of all jobs but the one I have going right that second—and my surroundings neat and the dishes done and every other stupid, mundane thing my Swedish grandmother told me mattered back in 1964, when I got fobbed off on her during my parents’ second honeymoon, actually makes a difference.
Hi-Baby, the CEO. Who knew?
xxx
c
P.S. They may have been tagged already—this meme’s been bubbling for a few days—but I’m tagging:
- Ilise Benun (because coaches always have the best tips)
- Scott Ginsburg (because that whippersnapper has output that puts people twice his age to shame)
- Rebecca Morgan (because to keep so many plates spinning, she must be a productivity guru)
- Bonnie Gillespie (because girlfriend could write four books on productivity in the time it took me to write this), and…
- Danny Miller (mainly because I don’t think anyone ever asks him any business-y questions either, but even if he knows nothing about productivity—which I’m sure ain’t so—he is one of my all-time favorite writers)
Image by mer incognito via Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.
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Colleen:
Thanks so much for listing me on your short honor roll! Yes, I am a productivity expert, and that’s why Microsoft retained me as their workplace effectiveness spokesperson for a short while. But I trip myself up, as most people do. For example, I agree about your tidy tip, and my house shows it — everything in it’s place, but it’s not sterile. However, my office, at least for the last few weeks, is more untidy than I’d like. I coined the term “visual noise” and that’s what I’m looking at right now. So you’ve inspired me to clean up my act so I can stay focused on my several businesses.
Now maybe I’ll blog about this!
Rebecca
blog: http://www.GrowYourKeyTalent.com
Hi C
Hmm, maybe I should indeed start using your tip. Although my partner made me a very large desk (from left-over wooden flooring boards) there is never ever enough space for all my little notes, price-lists, quotes, invoices etc. My wall start to get covered in plastic hanging trays filled with stuff to do.
Ok, that’s is: I’ll clear everything today. Must be some fun in there also ;-)
Colleen, I couldn’t agree more. Everyone – myself included – has their ‘hacks’ for greater productivity. Just look at Ben’s list and you’ll see quite a few. So there must be more than one way. But as someone who wants greater productivity in my business, how can I know what works for me? Only way, assess and try. It’s like finding a good pair of jeans – you may need to try on a bunch of different pairs before finding the right fit.
My advice…know yourself first. Then try on different productivity ideas until you find what fits best.
From one Virgo to another, “keep things tidy” is such a major key to how I get things done, too.
And, the clarity you said you’d give your right arm for? :) That’s what I’d call “internal tidyness.” It’s having clear space in your heart, knowing where you’re going and what’s right for you, without being bogged down by extra thoughts, ideas, and notions that pull you off course, just like how having a bazillion post-its all over your office isn’t helpful; it’s distracting.
I also like the “use the one that works for you” tip (with Dawud’s wrinkle of needing to try a few on, perhaps, to find what works for you)… sometimes, you gotta ignore the experts and trust your own knowing of what’s right for you.
(and thanks again for the mention!)
Well I
alwaysmostly do what I promise and my desk is tidy! (for as long as it takes, knowing myself).In fact is was fun to do, bookkeeping is up to date again, files filed away and yes, a nice feeling to see my desk cleared for once. Nice and tidy, good start for the weekend ;-)
Rebecca – a bona-fide productivity expert? Well, that explains everything. Sometime, we’ll have to discuss the Excel spreadsheet I used to keep track of my online dating.
Karin – so while I was asleep, you organized your whole life? Impressive. I don’t think I could organize mine in the entire time I was awake.
Dawud – you’re right, of course. And I think another key to productivity is learning to state things as succinctly as you & Adam. Ah, well. Excelsior!, and all that.
Adam – I resist my Virgo nature, but there it always is again, staring up at me in neatly labeled rows in my matching file cabs. And you’re right–that internal order is at least as important as the other.
Oh dear me, I am so embarrassed to say this, but my one and only productivity tip is this:
Don’t sleep.
Pretty shitty tip, no?
Because while I have a buttload of ideas about what makes me as productive as I am (doing what I love 95% of the time, doing what I dislike but have to do only 5% of the time; finding inspiration to ACT on ideas before the monkey mind comes in and distracts me or tries to talk me out of acting; writing quickly, editing slowly; using color-coded transparent pockets to organize papers, using color-coded Entourage rules to organize emails; going radio silence for blocks of time in order to recharge and reconnect with Self; cubbies, glorious cubbies; intern days once a week; holding my feet to the fire with regard to my deadlines–both for getting work done and stopping the work; doing as much of my living in public as possible, so that I don’t have to answer as many individual questions as the inefficient public would like to have me do; trusting that I am valued not for what I do, but for the very fact that I simply AM; and playing as hard as I work, just not as often), it’s the lack of sleep that *really* allows me to be as PRODUCTIVE as I am.
And how can you turn that into a tip? It’s a disorder!
Ah well, maybe THAT’s my tip.
Turn your disorders into tools to help you ROCK.
Ooh, much better.
There you have it!
Thanks for the tag. This’ll be cross-posted to my blog(s) shortly.
Happy weekend!
XO
-Bon.
Colleen- aha! I knew you’d have something simple and direct to say- more internal tidyness than you know… ;)
Keeping things tidy. I’m a Virgo- but I’m also a piler… meaning I leave piles on my desk. It’s something I struggle with, but something in what you wrote ‘pinged’ for me. Thanks!
I hope someone is collecting all of these tips in one place…
Right on! When I get stuck I start uncluttering my space and my life. That invariably gives me a burst of energy and clarity.
my number one tip is to choose the one that works for you.
And . . . you can peruse the list from the group writing project to find ideas that might work for you. Perfect!
Hi Colleen
You must have been asleep a very, very long time then ;-)
(Only organised my desk – for the time being – please don’t look at it now!)
Colleen, it’s interesting to me that you “resist your Virgo nature” — I wonder why? I wonder if it’s because you experienced some of the social backlash I did, being labeled (mostly self-labeled) as a ‘perfectionist’, a word that’s used frowningly too often.
I got chastisted for my orderliness for a long time, until I was given an astrological reading. I still don’t pretend to understand all the houses and risings and such, but I did get a few gems that helped me realize that I see beauty in orderliness. Or, that orderliness is beauty, to me.
Embracing that has helped me realize why I’m attracted to Japanese design, why certain spiritual teachings resonate with me, why some blog designs I love (like yours), and some I can’t stand (too busy).
It has brought me to peace with my nature, essentially. Rather than label myself as “obsessive” when I want to clean my office before I get to work in the morning (my wife is not a Virgo-ish lass, and likes to leave piles on my desk now and again), I embrace my desire to “keep it Zen-like”, and revel in the peacefulness I feel when all things are in their place.
Just my $.02. :-)
(Oh, and by the way, folks, Ben at Instigator Blog, who started the Productivity kick, is compiling all the tips, as long as people link back to him so he can find them. He talks about the project at this post, here.)
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