Focusing On Getting The "Right" Things Done

I don't know about you, but in today's world of email craziness, crackberries beeping constantly, and immediate, if not 24/7, access to information and people anywhere, it's hard to get tasks accomplished. To boot, we've all become victim of bad habits - from checking email frequently to getting caught off guard surfing the net not just for 10 minutes but for 2 hours.

And, our to do lists keep growing because we don't know when to finally say 'no' to one more thing to pile on top of the list. You mean well, heck I mean well in wanting to help someone or get something done, but when you fail to deliver it doesn't bode well.

So how does anyone stay focused to make progress today? Here are some tips and tricks from what I do and what I've observed my direct reports, peers and managers do:

1. Block That Outlook Calendar
Don't get caught up in meeting hell, especially back to back meeting hell. You know you typically have something to do after a meeting - make sure you plan the time to focus on the follow up from the meeting or get the follow up action carved out in an open time on your calendar. I typically block half my day for "getting things done" leaving the other half for meetings and catching up with colleagues.

2. Set Appropriate Expectations
Can you really turn around something in one hour? In a day? Ensure you are communicating when you can really get something done, and if you need to slip something due to the unexpected, immediately let the other know you are delayed.

3. Start Your Day Listing
Because our to do list is just overwhelming, begin your day planning your to do list, in order of priorities, so that by the end of the day you can feel like a rock star in all the progress you have made that day.

4. Learn to Say No
Do you really need to do what someone just asked you to do? Don't know? Think about if it gets you to any of your end goals for work or life - if it doesn't, then pass or delegate. Remember, you are going to have to give up doing something else to take on that "one more thing" you think you have the time for. Refer to my Opportunity Mojo series for further help in this area.

5. Be Your Own Personal Project Manager
Everything you tackle in life is a project, so, why not leverage project management tools to help you ensure you are balancing what you need to accomplish. This means becoming a good estimator of tasks, scheduler and resource planner. Remember, you can always hire people to do the things you don't like to do without having to own your own company - from maids to dog walkers to virtual personal assistants.

Changing your habits are probably next to impossible, but you can do it if you just incorporate one tip or trick at a time to be more responsive and focused in meeting your end goals.

Remember to prioritize and focus on the tasks to get to your end goals, period.

Connect the Dots, Continuously

Today I reflected on how I enjoy "connecting the dots" - be it connecting people with one another for business or personal reasons, or linking business ideas with other concepts to execute. In dusting off a book I received at an Executive Leadership Forum a few years ago called "Connecting The Dots" by Cathleen Benko and Harvard Professor F. Warren McFarlan, I was reminded of why we often look to connect the dots:

"Aligning Projects with Objectives in Unpredictable Times"

I hate to say it, but aren't we always in unpredictable situations? Shouldn't we always be looking to align our projects with objectives we want to accomplish, and thus, always look to connect the dots?

Are you connecting the dots for both yourself and your business/organization you either manage or work within? Here are some tips on making those connections to create tidal wave results:

Connecting the Dots for Yourself

1. Document your strategic goals/objectives for your life.
2. Review the list of things you do for yourself/not for your organization.
3. Does each activity you do for yourself map back to your personal strategic goals and objectives? If not, can you stop doing it? If it does link back, can you find other things to link it to so to make a bigger impact?
4. Who can you connect with, or what can you add to your activity list, to help accelerate meeting your goals/objectives?
5. Make it a weekly or monthly goal to connect with someone new and help make a connection for someone else via an introduction.

Connecting the Dots for Your Organization

1. What is your organization's strategic vision and mission? If you don't know it go find out what it is or recommend getting this figured out asap!
2. Review the projects and activities you are working on.
3. Does each project/activity take your organization one step further to meet the strategic vision and missiong? If not can you stop doing that project/activity? If so is there a way to accelerate the project?

Even though this may seem like a "new year's resolution" alignment process to go through, in actuality you should be doing this type of alignment much more frequently - once a month if not once a week.

Why not begin to ask yourself the above questions when you plan out your goals and objectives for the week?

If you can continuously connect the dots with yourself and for your organization you will be in a much better position for the uncertainty faced every minute.