CenterForProductivity.com

Author: Debbie Gilster

  • How to Move Forward with Intention

    Do you find it hard to reach your goals? You’re not alone. According to the American Society of Training and Development, the probability of completing a goal is tied to these activities:

    10% = If you hear an idea

    25% = If you consciously decide to adopt it

    40% = If you decide when you will do it

    50% = If you plan how you will do it

    65% = If you commit to someone else you will do it

    95% = If you have a specific accountability appointment with the person committed to

    As a productivity expert, I know all of this full well. And I can fall in the trap too. I do have a business coach, and I can honestly say that her accountability helps to keep me focused. She also helps me to see why I am stalling on something.

    Want to get more done accomplished? Then try my three step process to help you move forward with intention.

    Step 1: Look where you’ve been.

    Be clear what you have accomplished thus far. Not only is this good for your confidence, but it gives you a better baseline to start planning for the future. Too often, we small business people keep moving at such a quick pace we forget what we actually achieved. Big companies publish annual reports that list all of their accomplishments for the year, we can too. Take the time now to jot down your list. Publish it to your team. (This doesn’t have to be a year-end activity but should easily move to the end of your fiscal year.)

    Tip: Save your accomplishments in a word processing file that you can continuously add to on a periodic basis. This will save you time.

    Step 2: Choose where you want to go.

    You need to have a clear vision of where you want to be before you can decide on the specific path to get there. Go to your “thinking place” with a pad of paper and start musing about where you’d like to be at a certain point in time. I go to the beach when I need to think in peace. Pick a reasonable time frame. I’m all in favor of having a long term vision of what you’d like to do, but don’t let this hinder your process. Choose one year or even three months out. Just do it and write it down. From your list, pick your top three intentions or goals. The more specific, the better, but don’t let this stop you. Deciding you want to “increase profit by 10%” is easier to assess progress than just “increase profit.” You can make this more specific later if needed.

    Tip: Your intended goals should correspond with the purpose for your life and business. A purpose helps to establish boundaries and direction. What, you don’t have a clear purpose? Make some choices anyway and decide to deal with this in Step 3.

    Step 3: Identify several specific tasks to help you reach your intentions.

    Looking at your top three intentions from Step 2, brainstorm ways to achieve them and pick your desired path. Break down the path into specific tasks that include the what, when and who is involved. From your task list, pick your top three to focus on in the near term. The mistake I see from most people is that their list is too long. Long lists are not easily remembered, so we end up fighting fires instead and not working on what is important. Keep your short list visible and stay focused. When you are done or if your chosen frame has passed, go back to Step 1.

    Tip: If you can’t easily track and measure an intention, consider developing a metric as one of your tasks.

    Now get started! If you need some encouragement or feedback, contact us. We’d love to hear your thoughts and challenges, plus give you a little shove forward.

    (This was orginally posted in 2007.)

    Creative Commons Licensephoto credit: Bruce Berrien

  • Gratitude Pays Off in Big Ways

    Thanksgiving is typically one of our primary times for reflection. We think about the people we know, the things we have and how blessed we are with the richness life brings – even in these trying times. This holiday is synonymous with gratitude. It is good to know that most people report being grateful (with an average rating of nearly 6 on a 7 point scale).

    We know that gratitude has long been viewed as a key element to happiness, well-being and wholeness by the religious and philosophical community. But what does science say about gratitude? Only recently has the scientific community started to take a closer look at gratitude. Research conducted by Robert A. Emmons of UC Davis and Michael E. McCullough of the University of Miami have uncovered interesting facts about gratitude and its effects on human fulfillment.

    Here are some highlights from one project:

    • Those who kept gratitude journals on a weekly basis exercised more regularly, reported fewer physical symptoms, felt better about their lives as a whole, and were more optimistic about the upcoming week compared to those who recorded hassles or neutral life events.
    • Participants who kept gratitude lists were more likely to have made progress toward important personal goals (academic, interpersonal and health-based) over a two-month period compared to other subjects in the experiment.
    • Participants in a daily self-guided exercise focusing on gratitude, compared to those who focused on hassles or on ways they were better off than others, were more likely to report having helped someone with a personal problem or having offered emotional support to another.
    • In a sample of adults with neuromuscular disease, a 21-day gratitude intervention resulted in greater amounts of high energy positive moods, a greater sense of feeling connected to others, more optimistic ratings of one’s life, and better sleep duration and sleep quality, relative to a control group.
    • Children who practice grateful thinking have more positive attitudes toward school and their families.

    This is great news! Grateful people report higher levels of positive emotions, life satisfaction, vitality, optimism and lower levels of depression and stress.  The disposition toward gratitude appears to enhance pleasant feeling states more than it diminishes unpleasant emotions.  Grateful people do not deny or ignore the negative aspects of life, but they focus on the positive.

    So how can you reap the benefits of gratitude? Start simply by keeping a daily, or at a minimum, weekly list of the things you are grateful for. You can do this in a pretty journal book or a simple spiral notebook. I created a form with an inspiring picture to help me track my own list. Some of my consulting clients are now using this too. (If you are a member of our Effective Results Club – you get this for free.)

    This process isn’t easy. “The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings”, says Eric Hoffer. Don’t let that stop you.  As you start incorporating this activity in your life, believe me, you will see the positive effects. My greatest wish for you is that you achieve the productive and balanced life that you dream of. Start with saying what you’re grateful for. Know that I am grateful for you visiting this page!

    Source (and gratitude) go to:

    Highlights from the Research Project on Gratitude and Thankfulness: Dimensions and Perspectives of Gratitude; Robert A. Emmons and Michael E. McCullough

    (This was orginally posted in 2008.)

    Creative Commons Licensephoto credit: Jesslee Cuizon

  • Get Yourself Ready For The New Year

    We often focus on the year end tasks surrounding our small business. (Read our business related article.) Getting yourself ready is just as important and probably even more beneficial in the long run. In a small business, our personal lives are so tied to the business that the overlapping areas are often gray. Here are 10 tasks you can do to get prepared.

    1. Write a family holiday letter, summarizing the major events for the year. People really do like to know what you’re up to. Keep it light and fun and only about a page or two long. This also provides a history for your family files of what happened this year. Put a copy in your family scrap book.

    2. Start or update a blessings log (or whatever means something to you, like accomplishments or thanks). Just seeing a positive list of what you’ve managed to do will help reduce a total focus on the negatives.

    3. Get your family budget in order. Decide what major home improvement or decorating projects you want to do. Decide what vacations you will go on. Having a money plan is so important!

    4. Choose your intentions or goals for the upcoming year. What do you personally want to accomplish? Type them up and assign dates you’d like to aim for. I go one step further and choose a theme for the year. It is my “Year of <whatever>”. This helps to keeps me focused and is easy to remember. Some previous years have been titled “Year of MY choices” and “Year I Become a Writer”.

    5. Create or reassess your personal mission or purpose statement.

    6. Get your files in order or have a file cleanout day. Paper can be so overwhelming if we don’t have a good system established.

    7. Clean out your closets or garage and donate to your favorite charity by December 31st. You get the write-off and they get use of your items. A win-win for all!

    8. Decide if you need to lose weight right now, not after the holidays. It may help your willpower to say “no” to a few cookies or that eggnog. If you want to join a health club, look now. There will be less crowds and pushy salespeople, plus you may get a better deal.

    9. Get a gift wish list together. Look at what you need more than what you want. If you don’t “need” anything, consider choosing your favorite charity people can give to in your name. Or, like my family is doing this year, go on a day trip to spend time together. You’ll remember the experience far longer than the stuff.

    10. If you’re having a hard time focusing and you know you need to regroup, consider going on a personal retreat. I do mine in October and have a favorite hotel right on the beach in Laguna Beach, CA. I can really hear myself think when alone and at the beach!

    So, what did you do to get ready for this new year?

    (This was orginally posted in 2005.)

    Creative Commons Licensephoto credit: Maurice

  • Complacency in the Office

    Several clients have recently asked me this question and someone stated in our online productivity survey that this was an issue for them personally. It has been phrased several ways – as a lack of motivation, diminished drive, or even laziness.

    Complacency can happen if a task or job becomes too repetitive and it can happen without you even realizing it. You produce the same reports over and over again. Or, you call on the same type of clients. If we begin to take shortcuts on the way we perform a task, and there are no negative consequences, that can also lead to complacency. If you stop reconciling the checkbook because no one ever notices and then someday you realize your balance is off, it will take more time in the long run to fix the account. Of course, that is when you need the information quickly!

    Seven Techniques to Cure Complacency

    1. Be a proper model to your employees. Just like a child looks to a parent for direction, staff looks to their leader or manager. Are you setting the tone for complacency?
    2. Provide proper training. If you need your staff to help grow the business by bringing in more clients, teach them how to network and market themselves. This is not something everyone just knows how to do or is comfortable with.
    3. Change where you work. Sometimes being cooped up in the same office breeds familiarity or distractions. Take your laptop or stack of papers to another room, the local library or a coffee shop. Observe if your focus level or motivation changes.
    4. Offer incentives. People get motivated different ways. Trips, cash, recognition with an award and even the potential for a promotion or time off. Ask your team what will work for them. They need to have a stake in the outcome.
    5. Spruce up the office. Take a serious look your environment. Is it dull and boring? Or outdated? Better artwork or livelier paint on the walls can get people more excited. Maybe a good cleanup session to make the space look less messy is really needed.
    6. Switch jobs with someone. It’s always good to have staff cross-trained in case something happens or the workload gets too much. Create a program to foster and reward learning and assisting others. Trying on someone else’s shoes can also make you appreciate your own job more!
    7. Ask! Tell your group you sense there is some complacency in the office and you want to see if they agree. Engage them in conversation and then listen for suggestions on what to change.

    Share your thoughts.  Is complacency an issue in your company? (Even if it’s just you in the company!) Let me know if any of these ideas, or others you have, work for you.

    (This was originally posted in 2005.)

    Creative Commons Licensephoto credit: Sarah

  • Year end checklist for a small business

    Because many of you have asked, here are some things every small business should look at as the year end approaches and also to close out the year.

    Things to do before December 31

    • Look at your Profit & Loss report. Where do you stand? If you have a larger than expected profit, are there any major purchases you should make now that can be depreciated? Make sure you have the cash. Talk to your accountant if you are not clear of the depreciation rules. 
    • Verify loan accounts and cleanup them up if necessary.
    • Verify your 1099 information is setup properly in your accounting system. If you don’t have proper information from each vendor, ask for it now, then create a form to use every year. Need help making this happen in QuickBooks? Just ask us.
    • Begin to think about year end bonuses or special gifts. Will you give these this year or in January? It depends when you write the check.
    • Look for fringe benefits you should report on W-2’s. Some of these could include health & life insurance, transportation subsidies, moving expense reimbursements, educational reimbursement programs, and employee loans you’ve forgiven.
    • Take a physical inventory of your products and make adjustments in your accounting system as necessary.
    • Write a list of all the company’s major accomplishments for the year. Be prepared to share this with your staff, they will appreciate it.
    • Write out your goals and plans for the next year.
    • Create budgets for the next year if you work on a calendar year fiscal basis.
    • Check all of the links on your website to make sure they are active.

    After January 1st

    • Reconcile all accounts – bank and credit cards – in your accounting system.
    • Verify you’ve made all entries in Petty Cash. If you made the purchases last year, make sure to use that date.
    • Verify you’ve made all entries for items you’ve paid for with personal funds.
    • Print year end reports. At a minimum you should have a Profit & Loss Statement and a Balance Sheet. I also like to see Customer Sales figures sorted by total dollars so I know who my largest customers were.
    • Make depreciation entries (may need help from your accountant). You should have the following information on each item: date of purchase, purchase price, make, model, serial number, year, and whether it is new or used.
    • Make any adjusting entries for accruals of payroll tax liabilities or pre-paid expenses (get help from your accountant).
    • Print and mail payroll forms if you do it yourself (W-2, W-3, 940, 941).
    • Print and mail 1099’s to independent contractors (by 1/31). Don’t wait in case there is an error.
    • Print and mail 1096 to IRS (by 2/28).

    See, not so hard when you have a list!

    (This article was first posted in 2005.)

    Creative Commons Licensephoto credit: Jacob Bøtter

  • Paper Chase: Can You Find Anything in Your Paper Files in 5 Seconds or Less Like I Can?

    Can you find anything in your paper files in 5 seconds or less like I can?

    How long does it take you to find a piece of paper on your desk or in your files? Is it stored under “Car” or “Toyota”? Is it in Suzi’s desk, Jim’s desk or the central files? For years now, I’ve had a filing system that really works! I don’t have to remember where I filed something or worse yet, where my assistant filed things, because I have a tool to help me remember. I use a filing system software tool called Taming the Paper Tiger.

    So, how can you get your paper files in order?

    Types of Files

    First, organize your papers by category to determine the different types of files you should have. If you already have a filing system, you may have designated different filing cabinet drawers for broad categories. For example, small businesses use file headings like Active Clients, Inactive Clients, Company Information, Financial and Reference. Larger companies break down their files even further, adding classifications such as Accounts Payable and Contracts.

    Many home-based businesses use the same filing system for their business and home and will need Financial and Reference files for their personal papers. Everyone has Action or Project files. This basic structure is the most important part of any filing system. I compare it to the Chart of Accounts for your accounting system. You only want to do it once.

    Use Tabs

    Once you’ve determined the types of files you need, label them appropriately. (Yes, that is what those plastic tabs in the box of folders are for.) Use Taming the Paper Tiger software to print your labels onto tabs. With Avery Worksaver Inserts, you just load the sheets in your printer and print out 30 at a time. Tear them apart and stick them in the tabs. The software comes with pre-printed Reference and Action tabs. If you’re setting up your system manually, write the file name onto each tab. The software automatically numbers your tabs: Active Client 1, Active Client 2, etc. With this system, you’ll never have to make up tabs again or change folders around.

    Sort the Piles of Paper

    Start with the papers on your desk. Choose which ones you need and which you can toss. Use the “Art of Wastebasketry” questions in Taming the Paper Tiger to help. If you can toss it now, do it! As you organize your papers into files and folders, input the file names into the software. If you already have folders set up, file your papers now. Watch the piles diminish in size. Be sure to set a time limit for this project. I can’t tell you how many clients keep at it because they sleep better at night knowing where everything is. I can almost bet you’ll find something of value too! When I was setting up filing systems in people’s offices, on every job we would find money or an important document that had monetary value.

    Print a File Index

    At the end of each major filing session, print a new index, using one of the reports available in your Taming the Paper Tiger software or type the names of your tabs in a table in your word processor, if you are doing this manually. The report prints out all the files in alphabetical order. The key to any good filing system is having a file index. Then you don’t have to get up and open the filing cabinet drawers to see what is in there. You can now even see what is in off-site storage.

    Make Time to Process New Paper

    You may not finish this project all at once because new paper will always find its way into your in-basket. Schedule time on your calendar to process your papers each day. Usually 15 minutes or less will be sufficient. Use the same Art of Wastebasketry questions to move paper to the next action place. Whew! No more piles everywhere. Your papers are organized!

    Taming the Paper Tiger software comes with a tutorial that describes the entire process, using pictures and video clips. Plus, there is a lot of help from the vendor. If you need additional help, contact us at the Center. Just get started! We want to see you find anything in your files in five seconds or less like we can!

    (This article was originally published in 2005.)