Evaluating my Day’s Activities

Busyness does not equal productivity! Running around like my hair’s on fire does not mean that I’m getting anything worthwhile done. Just doing stuff doesn’t result in my actions being targeted on our WISE Goal. For me to know if I’m doing what I need to do, I must have a daily reckoning of what I have done as measured against what I really needed to do. In our company, Culture By Choice, each of us has a primary, secondary, and tertiary role. We each also must continue to learn and grow. And then, we each need to take care of ourselves, our families, and each other. To be as productive as possible, we all need to maximize our productive behaviors, reduce our unproductive behaviors, and eliminate our counterproductive and destructive behaviors.

This sounds pretty simple but it takes a great deal of self-analysis and planning to make the idea a reality. I have to start by clarifying my role in our company. My primary role is as an idea person and creator. I am constantly thinking about what we do for our clients and I continuously examine our methods and processes to see if there is a way to bring more value to our clients. My second role is as a coach. All those ideas I come up with, I apply them in my coaching relationship with clients. My third role is as a salesperson. I’ve never been a great salesperson but that doesn’t mean I can’t get better at it. And, all these ideas I keep having, they often become what clients want to buy. Looking at these roles, I must consider what behaviors support these roles, what behaviors take care of my health and well-being, what behaviors help me to continue to learn and grow, and what behaviors help support my colleagues. When I know what these behaviors are I can start reviewing what I do, on any given day, that is consistent with my identified productive behaviors, what misses the mark, and what was counterproductive or even destructive.

Things I do on a daily basis that support our mission are reading, creating, writing, conversing, coaching, sending emails, making follow-up phone calls, co-creating with colleagues and clients, collecting and analyzing data, prospecting for new clients, networking with professionals, and keeping a log of communications with existing and potential clients. Things I have done that have, for one reason or another, missed the mark? Often, it can be the same list. But, it’s not so much what I did but how I did it. When I miss the mark, I often have not fully considered the person I’m trying to work with. We teach our clients to always consider the behavior style, motivations, values, and experiences of the person you are trying to communicate with but we do, from time to time, forget to heed our own advice. Using the wrong communication style can be as unproductive as speaking the wrong language. Know your communication target before you communicate. It will save you a lot of time and energy. Things I do that are counterproductive are more numerous than I’d like to admit but one stands out bigger than all the rest. I’m a procrastinator. I can too often put important things off till later. I’ve been working on this bad behavior for years. I’m much better than I was 30 years ago but I’m not good enough yet. What I’ve learned is that my procrastination stems from poor prioritization. Taking care of what matters most should always take priority over doing what feels best or is most comfortable at the time.

The last area that we all must face is our destructive behavior. Destructive behaviors come in several varieties. Some are self-destructive. Some are destructive to others. Some are organizationally destructive. And still others are destructive to our future. Some of these behaviors fall into two or more categories. Poor health habits is one of those that crosses several lines. They don’t only impact how healthy we are, they can hurt our colleagues and loved ones and they can limit our capacity in the future. Another destructive behavior is something I refer to as shiny object chasing. We can all be distracted by something that looks really wonderful only to find out that it’s all shine and not at all refined. It’s fool’s gold rather than gold ore. We think some project will yield great rewards but it results in lost resources and no ROI! Our experience tells us this happens when we forget who we are and what we are about. When our values and principles get pushed aside by other ideas, we’re in trouble.

Having a daily evaluation of our actions is a great way to keep ourselves on track. But, we have to know what that track is. Here’s what I recommend for an entire process.

Step 1: know what you, your family and loved ones, and your organization expect of you. Let a colleague or supervisor know what you’re doing and ask them to help you improve your productivity.

Step 2: before you start your day, create your daily do list that has 3 categories; highest priority, high priority, and moderate priority. Leave everything else off the list. This step requires that you know how to prioritize. I’ve met people who were terrible at setting priorities. Step one should be a great deal of help in figuring out what goes in which category. Now, work on things in their order of importance not the easiest to do first. On your daily do list you should state the amount of time you will devote to the task. When you have multiple high priority tasks to work on, it is important to know how much time you have to complete each and then break them into manageable chunks and leave them alone every once in awhile. If it’s a rush job, you’ll have to dedicate more time but if you can, allowing your subconscious brain to work on it while you’re doing something else can be very helpful.

Step 3: allow yourself to take breaks. Our efforts can suffer from the “law of diminishing returns.” When our brain gets tired it needs a rest. Get up and get another cup of coffee or some water. Take a moment to make a quick phone call. Then return to the task. If your mind starts to wander, it may need a break. Just make sure you are not engaging in procrastination.

Step 4: at the end of the day review your do list. Evaluate your progress and start your do list for the next day. Don’t beat yourself up for failure to achieve everything on your list. Do, however, make notes about why you got things done as well as what you got done. Whether good or bad, analysis of our strategies, tactics, and efforts can help us do better.

Step 5: share your progress with that colleague or supervisor that you identified in step one. Ask them for feedback and be prepared for what they say. Critical comments can hurt but they are necessary for growth. Help your colleague or supervisor out by not taking any of what they say personally. Let them know that you want to learn and grow.

If you do this you will improve. If companies really want to help their people grow they would make this mandatory for every employee. These companies must simultaneously assure each employee that they will never hold their progress or lack of it against them as long as an earnest effort is made and the highest integrity is maintained. If the process is applied with fidelity, an investment of 20 minutes every day could create a productivity pay out that might be worth several times the investment.