Juggling Elephants
Juggling Elephants
Managing multiple priorities sometimes feels like we are trying to juggle acts going on in our own 3 ring circus. So, imagine you are the ringmaster of your circus. Here are some tips to help you juggle those metaphorical elephants. Your 3 rings are your professional or work life, your relationships and your health and well-‐being. Ringmaster basics: • • • • •
Accept that it is not a good idea to try and be in all 3 rings at once. As ringmaster always review the next act before bringing it into the ring. The key to successful juggling is having quality acts in all 3 rings. Figure out which ring you need to be in. Decide which acts you need to focus on.
Building your Performance team-‐ Remember that the relationship between you and your team effects the success of the acts and the circus. Here are some tips to remember: • • • • • •
Know your performers. Every person needs to be doing the right job at the right time. Every performer needs to be fully engaged on the right acts to make the team successful-‐think of trapeze artists. With each new performer, explain expectations and consequences. Work with the performer’s personality. Constantly provide reinforcement and feedback. Applause-‐ encourage people to laugh, relax and not take themselves too seriously.
Juggling Elephants, Jones Loflin and Todd Musig ,2007, Penguin Books.
Words of Wisdom from the Juggling Elephants Blog Planning and Doing What is more important, planning or doing? You can create a great plan but if you don’t execute that plan then there isn’t a lot of value to the plan. You can do a lot of “stuff” but if the stuff isn’t part of a plan then typically you are getting nowhere fast. Planning and doing are equally important as you strive to accomplish what is most important to you. But how many times do we wake up in the morning and just dive into a lot of activities without an end in mind? Do you ever sit down at work and start checking email and find out that 3 hours later you have accomplished nothing but cleaning out your inbox of junk? On the other hand, what about the dreams, goals and projects that you laid out and yet found you afraid to take the first step. The little voice inside your head tells you that you don’t have the time, that you are too old, too bald, or not smart enough. The plan just sits on a piece of paper or in the back of your mind gathering dust. Create a plan, write it down and then do it! It doesn’t matter whether it is a plan of what you are going to accomplish today or the plans for the business that you are going to start-‐begin with a plan and then get started. Planning and doing are both critical elements that go hand in hand. Plan your work and work your plan.
Words of Wisdom from the Juggling Elephants Blog Discipline, Discipline and Discipline You have these dreams, goals, and tasks that are dancing around in your head that you want to get around to and accomplish. But there is so much “other stuff” to do. How do you get around to those things that are most important to you? In one word-‐discipline. • • • •
The discipline to write down and affix deadlines to your dreams, goals and tasks. The discipline to say “No” to the things that get in the way. The discipline to be focused and not get distracted. The discipline to work hard at something.
John Rohn, once said that Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment. Build your bridge, get things done and accomplish what matters most to you.
Words of Wisdom from the Juggling Elephants Blog Email Overload? Not only can the alarm of incoming email interrupt you from something that is more important, the sheer challenge of keeping up with reading, responding and filing of email can be daunting. A 2010 statistic suggested that 45%-‐55% of a professional’s time is spent using email. When does everything else get done? Consider the following strategies and recommendations: •
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Do you really need to send an email in the first place? Sending email increases the number of emails that you receive in return. To reduce the number of emails you get, reduce the number you send! Keep it simple and short. Use bullets, use an outline and do your best to keep it to the point-‐don’t ramble. Encourage those you work with to do the same. This will save you time writing and hopefully reading messages as well. Don’t copy the “world” just because you can and don’t forward on messages that are not vital. The people you know and work with are probably just as busy s you and filling up their email box is not doing them any favors. Create a filing system to store your emails so that you can easily find them when you need them. But, when in doubt, throw it out. Define some rules with those that you work with about email (e.g. restrictions on length, the need NOT to reply with a “thank you” and who need to be cc’d on what.
What if you could reduce the amount of time that you spend on email by 10%-‐20%? Would that make a difference in your day? What would you do with the extra time? Maybe you could actually be able to take lunch or take that important 15 minute break!
Words of Wisdom from the Juggling Elephants Blog The Pareto Principle Appears Again Most of us have heard of the Pareto Principle or the “Law of the Vital Few” According to Wikipedia it is the principle that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. The principle is touted in business as 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers. According to the authors of the book Empowered, research shows that in online social media, including blogs, discussions, networking sites, 16% of users generate 80% of the content. The small impact the many. What would happen if you applied this principle to your day? What if you frequently reviewed your schedule and tasks and identified the 20% of tasks that accomplish 80% or so of your purpose? You would probably work harder to protect those items and insure their completion. They would take the highest priority in your day or week and you would build the rest of your schedule around them-‐instead of hoping you got time to work on them. You would also work to be more efficient with the other 80% of what you do so you could be more effective with the 20% that makes the largest impact. You just might find that the few tasks you really focus on can make the biggest difference.
Words of Wisdom from the Juggling Elephants Blog Find Time for a New Thought We truly lie in the information age. It is amazing how easy it is to find “stuff” about most any subject. Sometimes it is too easy to fill our minds with trivia and quick “bites”of information thanks to TV, Email and the web that we forget to actually learn new things and think new thoughts. When was the last time that you: • • • •
Attended a college or university class to learn something new? Read a “non-‐fiction” book Attended or listened to a workshop, lecture or attended a cultural event? Learned a new skill or hobby
Learning is a lifelong process. Never stop thinking new thoughts, discovering new things and developing new skills and talents. Continuous improvement never ends. It is continuous!
Words of Wisdom from the Juggling Elephants Blog What Drives Your Performers to Fully Engage? Do you know… or do you just think you know? Research conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development discovered the following results. There are 4 key things that caused individuals to give their best effort at work. They were: • • • •
Reviewing and guiding Feedback, praise and recognition Autonomy and empowerment Lever of interest the manager shows in the employees as individuals
Words of Wisdom from the Juggling Elephants Blog Go Scoop Some Poop Ever had one of those days when you wish all you had to do was scoop the poop of the elephants from the circus? Think about it. Although no disrespect is intended, there is very little need for mental engagement with this activity, and you never take work home with you, other than having a little on your boots. No mental stress, no long meetings…just you, a shovel and the smell of poop. Since most of us don’t have a circus nearby, what can you do instead? If you are in the office, try standing up and rearranging your bookshelf, or take a quick walk up and down a flight of stairs. The requirement is that the activity does not require a large amount of mental focus. You are actually taking a “mental intermission.” Today’s knowledge workers need these types of intermissions more than ever. Failure to have some “poop scooping”moments just adds to the stress overload. What’s on your “poop scooping” list that helps you recharge your mental energy?
Words of Wisdom from the Juggling Elephants Blog Time Management and the Caveman Should You Eat Like a Caveman? This was the name of an article that appeared in an issue of Time Magazine. As the title suggests the article deliberated the benefits/challenges from seeking a diet more like that of our ancestors. The actual regimen is called the Paleo Diet. What if used the same philosophy for managing our time? This is what time management might look like from the wisdom of the caveman. •
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Get your work done while the sun is shining. When it gets dark, it’s hard to see and you won’t be as productive. We have to prioritize and seek to accomplish tasks when we can most efficiently complete them. Doing otherwise is not helpful. Always keep a club, spear or stick with you. You never know when something may attempt to consume you –or at least get you off track. We have to guard our time. There are a million other things waiting to take away your ability to focus. You may not “beat” them off you, but having a prioritized schedule and knowing what is important helps minimize their ability to attach your schedule. Gather enough food for today, but don’t try to horde it. You have no way of preserving it. You simply CAN”T save time. You have to make the most of the time immediately in front of you. You can spend less time on one task and have more time for another, but when the day is over, it’s gone. Each day must be used wisely.
Granted our lives are million times more complex than those of a caveman. But, there are some timeless truths that span across all generations.
Words of Wisdom from the Juggling Elephants Blog Just 15 Minutes and the Right Stuff When was the last time you sat down and formally planned your day? Was it the day before you came here? Taking the time at the beginning or end of your day to formally write down a plan of what you are going to do and when you are going to do it, is a key element in accomplishing what is most important to you. It is so easy to overlook planning and just jump into the day being reactive and putting out fires. When that occurs, at the end of the day, you might find that you have got a lot of “stuff” done but was it the “right stuff?”
Words of Wisdom from the Juggling Elephants Blog Sentaku to Shuchu This interesting phrase means “choose and focus” in Japanese. When interviewed Atul Goyal suggested that this is what companies like Sony, Panasonic and Toshiba need to do to stay competitive. He suggests that these companies need to think: what are their strengths, what are their weaknesses, and focus on their core strengths. Sounds like good advice for individuals as well as organizations who are struggling with too much to do. For electronic companies, the advice is that they need to choose the products on which they can best produce and compete, and then focus on making them successful. The article regularly cites Apple, which in the electronics world, is everyone’s icon of “Sentaku to Shuchu.” What about you? As you look at your potential task list and the “acts” that could be part of your lineup, how will you choose which ones will get completed? Will you just create a vast catalog of mediocre acts? Or will you choose ones that will accomplish your highest values and goals? And what will you do to create an atmosphere where you can focus on creating the best outcomes possible with these acts?
Words of Wisdom from the Juggling Elephants Blog The 50 Word Rule Apply a 50 word rule to email. If an email will require more than 50 words, choose to make a phone call-‐ or schedule a phone call with someone (or meet face to face). In most emails over 50 words there are multiple questions and information to be processed. What happens if they don’t respond to all the questions or understand the information? You will spend 3-‐4 more emails trying to clarify the content when one phone call of 5 minutes could have handled everything. Sure, there are times that a long email is the best way to impart lots of information, but people often get lost in the content (or get distracted by something else before they are done). Keeping the email short and concise increases the possibility that they will read all of it and respond accordingly.
Words of Wisdom from the Juggling Elephants Blog The Big Little Things You have probably heard the phrase, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” Well, it is actually the small stuff that makes the difference for something or someone to go from ordinary to extraordinary. Consider the difference that icing makes on a cake. What impact does a simple “thank you” or “I appreciate the work you did on this,” have especially when your day has been less than perfect? Here are some suggestions of little things: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Leave a stickie note on someone’s desk with a “thank you “on it. Bring bagels or donuts for your co-‐workers for no reason at all Help someone remove their carry-‐on bag from the overhead bin Call someone and just say hello Show up to work 30 minutes early and stay 30 minutes late Don’t just brush your teeth –floss! Clean the snow off of someone else’s car. Someone you don’t even know Smile Unload the dishwasher-‐ even if it isn’t your day When you meet someone new, remember their name and call them by name when the opportunity arises Wish your friends, family, co-‐workers and customers a happy Birthday Volunteer for a project at work. Join a committee that doesn’t have anything to do with your job Take the dog for a walk Find opportunities to be helpful Don’t squeeze the toothpaste in the middle
Take a minute and consider what “little things” you can do that will make a difference and then do them. J. Willard Marriott said, “It’s the little things that make the big things possible. Only close attention to the fine details of any operation makes the operation first class.”
Try Something Simple Keep it simple. Try to keep one to do list instead of having multiple places where you write things down. Some people keep everything in a journal type booklet or use an online system. In a time when there are a bazillion techniques to improve how we manage our time, it’s good to remember that the simple solutions often offer the greatest potential for improvement. Additional techniques might include: • • • • • • •
Take 10 minutes each day to plan your day. When making your task list, list things you WANT to do, not just what you HAVE to do. Before leaving work, clean your desk of clutter and items from the day. If there are physical items you can’t forget to take to work the next day, load them in the car the previous night or put them next to your door. Keep a note pad and pen next to your bed to capture those inspirational thoughts. Keep only one calendar Review your task list throughout the day –not just when you first make it.
Words of Wisdom from the Juggling Elephants Blog Positive Attitude When Eating an Elephant What happens when we are surrounded by negativity? The “bad” news continues to spread with never ending broadcasts of “the sky is falling.” Try applying a little Napoleon Hill positive thinking. He suggests that we “develop the habit of eliminating negative thoughts the moment they appear. Start small at first. When you hear that inner voice that says, ‘I can’t do this,’ put the thought out of your mind immediately. Instead, concentrate on the task itself. Break it down into manageable parts and complete them one at a time. When the job is finished, tell your doubting self: ‘You were wrong. I could do it, and I did. “ Within the metaphor of juggling elephants, perhaps the phrase should be, “How do you eat an elephant? Take one bite at a time, and with a positive attitude. You are going to do the task or tasks anyway. So be positive about it and enjoy the moment…not to mention that those around you will appreciate a little silver lining.
Words of Wisdom from the Juggling Elephants Blog Manage Your Meetings Have you ever left an hour meeting and felt like you had just wasted 60 minutes of your day? Meetings can be a BIG time waster if they are not planned and executed effectively. Consider some key elements for effective meetings. • • • • • • • • • •
Have an agenda and stick to it. If you look at an agenda and the items don’t relate to you, don’t be afraid to ask to be excused. Cancel ineffective or unnecessary meetings-‐especially reoccurring meetings. Be selective with whom you invite to your meetings. Most people won’t be upset if they are not invited. They have plenty to do without another meeting. Have someone keep minutes of your meetings. Don’t be afraid of ending a meeting early. If the agenda has been covered, adjourn. If your meeting is about to go over the time allotted, stop and either plan another meeting or ask permission of the attendees to run a little over. If your meetings seem to go too long because participants are long winded, have a “stand up” meeting. Make sure that if you are meeting to make a decision, that you actually make a clear decision before the end of the meeting. Talk with those that you work with on how to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of your meetings. How can you improve?
It is estimated that most managers spend 50% of their time in meetings. If half of those meetings are ineffective, the cost to the manager AND the organization is quite significant.
Words of Wisdom from the Juggling Elephants Blog
It’s the Total Performance –Not One Act “Love the moment. Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each, is to succeed.” -‐
Corita Kent
At the end of the circus performance, most people enthusiastically clap and cheer, and may even give it a standing ovation. But have you ever thought about what they are cheering for? It’s really not the closing act or an act they saw during the first half. It’s the total performance – the combination of everything they have experienced during the event. Some acts were perfect, some were mediocre and some may have even gone wrong. While one act in our lineup may not go well one day, it’s vital to realize that you get another opportunity the next moment to be successful -‐ to try again. And if we make the most of each moment, win or lose we will most likely give ourselves a standing ovation when the day is over.
