Read This If You Think You Could Manage Your Time Better
I had a great conversation with a friend of mine.
He owns a company in San Fransisco that presents public school data to leaders and administrators and shows them where they need to focus in order to improve outcomes for students.
It's an amazing company that is helping lots of schools, but that's not the point.
When we connect, we often talk about project management, productivity, and strategy.
I love chatting with him because I admire the way he runs his company and his life.
One morning, we were talking about time management and how beneficial it is for both of us to be early risers.
I forget what time it was, but it was early in the morning for a phone call--definitely before 8 AM for me and probably before 7 AM for him.
But then he said something that really reshaped the way I look at my calendar.
He said:
"I started noticing that I felt better in the morning. I did better work. I had more energy. So, I stopped focusing on time management and started focusing on energy management."
Click.
By introspecting more closely at our times of high-energy and times of low-energy, we may learn more about how to shape our day or when to focus on important tasks.
If we take this another step further, to the career level, it might be helpful to ask yourself:
"What kind of work makes me feel the most alive?"
"What kind of work makes me feel the most dead inside?"
These are powerful indicators that may help you shape your career into the life of your dreams.
And that's the dream, right? To be productive and happy at the same time?
No one wants to be lazy and miserable. No one wants to be overworked and miserable.
2 Minute Action:
So, today, for 2 minutes, I urge you to ask yourself these questions.
If not, don't be surprised if you're doing the same work and feeling the same way about your life and career a few years from now.
Moving from your current state to your future desired state will require energy and strain.
[TOOL] This Unusual Conversation Totally Changed My Mind
I just wrote a post on Medium.The title is:
The Counterintuitive Productivity Habit That Is Changing Lives
It’s a clickbait headline that draws attention because I believe in the content and what people will get from itAnyway, I wanted to examine that post for a second, here on the blog.The idea is mainly an extension of my post about the Death Bed Timer.That's the one where I talk about how I’ve estimated how many days, weeks, months, and years I’ve got left to live and how I check the countdown clock to re-establish a sense of urgency in my work.I don’t want to get to the end of my life with regret.I’d rather stare death in the face and be ready when it comes.I’d also rather put the pressure on myself to act in accordance with my dreams instead of waiting until later in life to take action.Anyway, the post goes on about the Age of Distraction—the name I use for the state of constant disruption that smartphone notifications and emails have put us in.
It then goes on to reveal something I usually don’t talk about: a thing.
Yep.A smartwatch.Yeah, I talked with a couple founders about their product after they reached out to me.Now listen, I get approached all the time by brands and products from people who really want to sell gsrbage—but these guys were different.In fact, the whole conversation we had was about how they want to help people avoid regret and live their best life. We barely talked about the mechanics of the watch at all.
After hearing it from them firsthand, I decided I needed to look further and I was impressed.
The had basically, independently, taken my death-bed timer concept and turned it into a smartwatch.Now, of course, it does more than just one thing, but you get the idea.So naturally, I told them I would tell you about it.Please check out their Kickstarter page to see if they still have watches available.These guys raised over $10k in a day and hit their goal in under an hour.I talked with them and we worked it out so that if you click this link you can get about a 40% discount on the retail price.https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thush/emit-smartwatch-change-your-perspective-on-time?ref=36ekahNot bad.
Just don’t wait to buy one later because these things are disappearing quick.
There are only a few remaining at this price and the deal ends in a few days.
This is a Kickstarter project and there are a limited number of these set for production.
Click here for EMIT availability.
Plus, if you have any issues with it in the first two years, they’ll send you a new watch!
I don’t think anyone else on Kickstarter has a guarantee like that.
Thought you might find this useful.2 Minute ActionIf you feel like this could work, click and make it happen.If you feel like it's not for you, hit reply and let me know what's on your mind.
How Rejecting Someone Can Help
“I’m sorry, we’re not for you.”
This seems a little ridiculous for a business to say to a customer but let’s back up a little and understand where it came from.
When Southwest Airlines started out, they decided that they were going to make flying accessible. This was a real challenge considering that the margins in the airline industry were already scarily thin.
In order to pull it off, they’d have to streamline operations so they could reduce cost and pass that savings to the customer.
This doesn’t mean slashing features, it means focusing on the features that matter and cutting everything else.
So how do you decide?
Southwest cut features that didn’t focus on their core philosophy of putting people first.
- They don’t offer meals for purchase on flights but instead offer free snacks and free checked bags.
- They use one type of airplane, which makes service and maintenance and processes more efficient and cost-effective.
- They only offer coach seating, which makes boarding and un-boarding the planes faster and easier to turn around at the gate. Southwest could turnaround 2 out of 3 planes in 15 minutes when the industry average was 55 minutes.
- They offered only the most convenient flight times at high frequency.
- When they hire flight attendants, they ask them to speak in front of the other candidates—but the hiring team isn’t listening to the speech, they’re watching the other candidates listen, encourage and engage with someone who in the hot seat.
So how does all this focus and award-winning customer service lead to the CEO of the company telling a customer that she should find another airline?
The customer had been saying: “your fares are great but I would like you if you had first class seating and if you flew to more airports, and if you offered meals.”
Since the fares were low because of the focus on the essentials, it was an easy explanation—but this customer wasn’t having it.
This customer wanted all of the non-essentials offered by other airlines but at the Southwest price. Just like many customers, who really just want a product designed specifically for them and all for free. This is normal, but it's your responsibility to call it out and stick to your mission.
Herb Kelleher said, “I’m sorry, Miss, we’re just not for you.”
Today, Southwest carries more customer than any airline and they have a sterling reputation among their customers.
The moral of the story is that being all-in on your mission and purpose means being focused on the essentials and cutting out the distractions that seem like necessities—even if some people disagree.
2 Minute Action
What are you focused on?
What are the essentials of your life and work?
Family? A few friends? Your career?
Take this time to look at how you spent the last 4 weeks of your free time and you will see what your priorities are.
How many hours did you watch TV? How much of that time was spent on Instagram?
How much of that time was spent figuring out how you’re going to backpack Europe? How much of that time was spent figuring out how to buy that commercial real estate property?
Do a quick, 2 minute time audit and decide on a non-essential to cut from your life so you can focus.