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You Put Yourself Where You Are

You Put Yourself Here

Whether it’s creating a new future or maintaining a status quo, we get what we work toward. My motto for life and business is, “Nothing Happens by Itself.” So, if I don’t like some aspect of my life, I need to accept that I did whatever it took to create my current reality.

Know What You Know

Book Brain

There’s a “classic” model for looking at knowledge that’s known as the “Conscious Competence” model. It describes the evolution of knowledge about any subject. There are four stages: Unconscious Incompetence. Here, you don’t know what you don’t know. You might not even know that the subject of knowledge is a “thing” that other people know. […]

Slow Down, Get More Done

Slowdowngetmoredone1200

This is so central to my life and my business that I had a poster made for my wall that says, “Slow down, get more done.” There are any levels to this advice. The simplest one is that sometimes you are so intent and frustrated in your work that you cannot make progress. For example, […]

How to Minimize Interruptions

Questions

The last few posts have been about minimizing interruptions. Interruptions are literally the single greatest productivity killer in your business or personal life! If interruptions are coming from an outsider, including clients, it is easy to set up rules to deal with this. But insiders (your employees and family) are a different story. You can’t […]

The Interruption Diet

Clipboard

In the last post, I talked about avoiding interruptions. Here’s a great exercise for making interruptions visible to you. Create an “Interruption Diet” like this: Interruption Time Start / Stop Importance Notes Example:Phone Call 8:45 am – 8:50 am Not! Sales call. Grrr. Create a whole sheet like this for each day of the week. […]

Do Not Be Interrupt-Driven

Telephone Call

This is an Absolutely Unbreakable Rule. In both your personal and professional life, you should avoid interruptions. This rule follows from another: Prioritize Everything!. I’m a huge fan of silencing my phone and having it off at all times. With rare exceptions, for example when I’m expecting a call, my phone is off, and it’s […]

Success Is a Habit

Sports Watch

Some people who follow me on social media think I am an unreasonable boss, over-controlling, and that I ask the impossible from my staff. Those who have read my books tend to have a very different perception. I think the main difference is that those who dig in and read a book are more likely […]

Happy Birthday, Arthritis

King

It wasn’t 20 years ago today. It was probably in September or October. But twenty years ago this Fall, I came down with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

One Hour that Will Change Your Life

Mindfulness

Everyday, we look at the high priority things and don’t do them because they take time. And since we’re focused on the calendar and the clock, time is so precious that we don’t make time to do what’s important!