Personal Effectiveness

Strategies for Being Highly Productive

An effective executive needs to be highly productive. Being highly productive not only allows us to accomplish more, but it also lowers feelings of stress and anxiety.

Many executives attempt greater productivity through prioritized lists and calendar management, but I don’t know anyone who’s actually been able to achieve high productivity on a consistent basis using these strategies. It’s not that the strategies don’t work. They do. But without another critical component in place, they’re only of limited usefulness.

Don’t you find it interesting how much more productive we are in the days leading up to a vacation? We plow through the important phone calls that have to be made, respond to all the important emails, and clear our desk of all the paperwork that needs attention. By the time we leave on vacation, everything important has been attended to. Why is that?

The reason we’re able to achieve so much relates to energy management.

The energy I’m referring to has four components to it, and the management of those energy reserves is essential for being highly productive. Our energy reserves are like a four-legged stool. We’re all familiar with the analogy of a three-legged stool. Without all three legs being of equal length, the stool is useless. But with a four-legged stool, even if one of the legs is shorter, it can still be used by exerting a bit of effort and balance. It’s not especially comfortable and requires ongoing expenditure of energy to maintain, but it is functional. The same goes for our four energy reserves. We can function even if one or more of our reserves is depleted, but it’s inefficient, draining, and it negatively impacts our productivity.

These four energy reserves are Physical Energy, Mental Energy, Emotional Energy, and Inspirational Energy. Let me briefly discuss each energy reserve and then offer some strategies to help keep them full.

Physical energy affects our ability to push forward. It helps our drive and our self-discipline. If you’ve ever had a “mid-afternoon crash”, then you’ve experienced the impact a low physical energy can have on productivity.

Mental energy affects our ability to think clearly, to concentrate and focus, to solve problems, and to be creative. Clearly, low mental energy hampers productivity.

Emotional energy impacts our ability to deal with stress, to communicate well, to think clearly, and to interact with others effectively. For example, it’s not uncommon to become short with people when we’re feeling stressed or tense, both of which are caused by low emotional energy.

Inspirational energy is the fuel that moves us to action. It is our passion, purpose, and inspiration that spark self-discipline, extra effort, and new direction. In the absence of inspiration, we end up just going through the motions. Low inspirational energy saps the productive juices out of us.

In order to stay highly productive, it’s essential to develop habits that replenish our energy reserves. There are five strategies that help accomplish this. Some are counter-intuitive and often overlooked, but don’t be fooled by their simplicity. For years they’ve allowed me to accomplish about 50% more than most people do.

High Productivity Strategy #1: Take Breaks
This is the most counter-intuitive of the strategies. After all, how can you become more productive by not working? Here’s why it works…

Most of us have the capacity to stay focused, concentrate well and work hard for about 1.5-2 hours at a time. After that, our focus, accuracy and creativity tend to drop. Ever notice that first thing in the morning you’re able to work quickly, efficiently, and accurately, but as the day wears on, your pace and enthusiasm wane? By taking a 20-30 minute break every 1.5-2 hours or so, you recharge yourself and return to work with the same enthusiasm you had at the beginning of the day.

Take a 20-30 minute break every 1.5-2 hrs.
(The secret to maximizing the impact of those breaks is what you do during them. This is where the second and third strategies for high productivity come into play.)

High Productivity Strategy #2: Eat Strategically
Most people think about what to eat in terms of weight or general health, but nutrition also serves another important purpose.

What and when we eat controls our blood sugar levels. When our blood sugar drops too low, our productivity, focus, and creativity suffer. Remember that mid-afternoon “crash”? It’s due to a drop in blood sugar (often as a consequence of a carb-laden lunch). Eating strategically means eating protein, fat, and some carbohydrate during your breaks. This mix controls the pace at which nutrition is absorbed, which stabilizes your blood sugar level and provides essential nutrients to your brain and your muscles.

Eat strategically throughout the day.

High Productivity Strategy #3: Get Up and Move
During those breaks discussed in Strategy #1, it’s important to get up from your desk and move. Walk around the office, go outside and get some fresh air, run errands, or do chores. Movement helps oxygenate your muscles, your organs, and your brain. It can also help reduce tension and stress, and helps you get refocused.

Do whatever you want during your breaks, but do something.

High Productivity Strategy #4: Release Stress
Being under constant, prolonged and/or high stress undermines our ability to think clearly. We’ve all seen what happens to someone who’s suddenly put under stress. They have a hard time formulating a thought or even completing a sentence.

Therefore, to be highly productive, it is essential to relieve feelings of stress and anxiety. Some people release stress by listening to music. Some enjoy meditating. Others release stress by going to the gym. And still others find that being out in nature helps them decompress.

No matter what you do to relieve stress, it’s just important that you do it.

High Productivity Strategy #5: Get Restful Sleep
Getting a sufficient number of hours of restful sleep allows your body to repair itself and your mind to process ideas and problems. Insufficient or restless sleep will cause a lack of mental sharpness, anxiety, and poor emotional control.

In order to get a restful night’s sleep, avoid caffeine late in the day and avoid eating a heavy, fat-laden, carbohydrate-laden meal late in the evening. Caffeine will keep you from falling asleep quickly and eating a late, heavy meal will cause your body to work hard digesting while you sleep instead of attending to the other tasks necessary for recharging and revitalization.

Eat strategically to ensure a restful night’s sleep.

In summary, managing your energy reserves combined with prioritization of tasks will make you a productivity superstar. Get in the habit of taking breaks every couple of hours, eating strategically throughout the day, getting up and moving, releasing stress, and adopting a lifestyle that allows you to get restful sleep.

The 3 Biggest Meeting Mistakes

It never ceases to amaze me. Every executive I know wants to be more productive and to get more productivity from their team. They also feel that they would be far more effective and productive if there weren’t so many meetings. And yet, no one seems to do anything about it!

One of the smartest ways to boost personal and team productivity is to address the issue of meetings and how they’re conducted. Think about it… A one-hour meeting attended by eight people is equivalent to a full day (8 man-hours) of time spent. That means that reducing the total time spent in meetings by just 60 minutes a day would literally save a full-time person! (8 man-hrs. x 5 days = 40 hours/week)

Here are three of the best strategies to make your meetings and your team more productive.

1. Stop scheduling one-hour meetings
A one-hour meeting is convenient to schedule and has become the norm, but in truth, there’s no real reason for them to last that long. (I’ve even seen regular 4-hour meetings scheduled!)

Consider scheduling 15-, 30- or 45-minute meetings instead. (The strategies that follow will help you accomplish this.) Additionally, one of my favorite strategies for reducing meeting time is to conduct “standing” meetings, where everyone literally stands rather than sits. Hallways are usually good venues for these. (I guarantee the meetings won’t drag on!)

2. Stop using meetings for data dumps and briefings
Think about how much of your meeting time is spent disseminating information. Chances are it’s in excess of 50% of the meeting. A much smarter way to deliver information is in written form. If you had everyone brief you (and anyone else who needs the information) in writing in advance, then the actual meeting would be devoted to discussion and/or making decisions. (This approach, of course, requires that people actually read or scan the information prior to the meeting.)

Reserving meetings strictly for discussions and decisions can easily cut most meeting times in half.

3. Stop inviting so many people
Think of how many times you have people in your meetings who don’t really need to be there. They generally don’t contribute nor do they need to contribute. They’re just there to be there. Instead, try these two strategies.

If there are people who may have information that the group may (or may not) need, simply have them be available to answer any questions that may arise. Additionally, if their presence is simply to keep them informed and to help them feel part of the team, consider summarizing the high points and outcomes of the meeting in writing and sending a copy to anyone who needs to know.

And here’s a final thought on meeting productivity… Consider how much of your time is wasted in meetings called by others and suggest they implement some of the strategies you’re starting to use in your own meetings.

Boost your productivity and that of your team by shortening meeting times, using meetings only for discussion and decisions, and limiting the number of people who are required to attend your meetings.

Successor Insights: The Need for a Sounding Board

There’s no question that a successful business owner knows his or her business better than anyone else. And as a consequence, there’s no one better to help a successor learn the business. But there are potentially several problems that occur when an owner is the only one to help a successor develop.

The first issue pertains to leadership. Learning the mechanics of a business doesn’t really help hone leadership skills. Although people generally do respect a leader’s knowledge and technical skills, that degree of respect only goes so far.

For people to fully trust and respect a leader, that leader needs to earn that trust and respect. Trust and respect aren’t automatically given because of someone’s title.

In order for a leader to earn trust, he or she needs to demonstrate that they have integrity. In other words, they do what they say they’re going to do and are the kind of person they claim to be. And, in order for a leader to earn respect, he or she needs to treat people with respect in both word and action. For example, a leader needs to treat people like people rather than like things. And they need to treat adults like adults instead of like children.

The second issue pertains to strategic thinking. Knowing how to do things really well simply means a successor has mastered the mechanics – the systems and tactics – of the business. If they don’t learn to think strategically, then several things tend to happen.

One result of not thinking strategically is that improvements will tend to be small, resulting in only modest gains. A second consequence is that a successor will tend to develop tactics that they feel are “strategies”. This also produces results that are mediocre. But the third consequence is the one that is most detrimental. They will develop strategies to address symptoms rather than underlying problems. The result of addressing symptoms instead of problems is that it almost always creates more challenges that cause a decline in revenues and profits.

The third issue pertains to blind spots. If a successor only gets guidance from an owner, they tend to end up with “group think” along with the blind spots that accompany it. Group think is what happens when people think “this is the way we do it around here”. The problem with having blind spots is that a successor can’t see what he or she is missing. Regardless of experience, intelligence or education, we all have these blind spots.

Typically, the only way to eliminate blind spots is to get outside perspective. Someone needs to point them out to us. If we don’t get past our blind spots, we miss opportunities and make poor decisions.

The solution to improving leadership competence, enhancing strategic thinking and eliminating blind spots is to have an unbiased sounding board. Someone who can offer outside perspective and help develop the needed competencies.