Get More Done with Less

SUMMARY

Most of us wear “busy” as a badge. It’s up there with stress and all those other ones we wear all the time.

Being busy is not where it is at either. Just because you’re doing something doesn't mean you're producing an outcome.

This week, I want to take you through what it is that you actually need to focus on; it is not about managing time. So, you need to replace it with: “What is it about managing?”

These are the 3 things that you can manage:

1. PRIORITIES.

2. ENVIRONMENT

3. ENERGY

Whether you believe in God, mother nature, or some other being in control of time, managing time is up to you.

You're only going to get 24 hours in a day. I have heard that there are 28 hours in a day on Mars so even if you move to Mars, you will still have a finite amount of time.

TRANSCRIPT

Do you find you don't have enough time in your day? The day seems to just roll into weeks and months, and you're not getting anything done? Are you full of distractions and other people taking away your time? Do you believe in this thing called time management?

Well, that's the problem right there.

So, in this week's episode, I'm going to help you get more done with less.

Hi, this is Grant Herbert, Leadership and Sustainable Performance Coach, and today I want to continue our conversation in the professional shifts by helping you to be more productive.

The whole topic of time management needs to be revised. In fact, it needs to be left behind in the nineties where it belongs, because time is not something that you or I can manage.

Whether you believe in God, mother nature, or some other being in control of time, managing time is up to them.

You're only going to get 24 hours in a day. I have heard that there are 28 hours in a day on Mars so even if you move to Mars, you will still have a finite amount of time.

Managing time is not where it's at. You're not able to turn the clock back and trick anyone. It keeps moving forward, and it's still the same amount of bandwidth you've got every day.

So, the first thing I want to do to help you with your productivity is to shift your focus.

The shift we're going to make is to go from looking through a lens of time; to outcomes.

At the end of the day, that's what you want. You want to look at the following:

What did you get done?

And

What is the result?

It’s not just about being busy.

Most of us wear “busy” as a badge. It’s up there with stress and all those other ones we wear all the time.

Being busy is not where it is at either. Just because you’re doing something doesn't mean you're producing an outcome.

I want to take you through what it is that you actually need to focus on; it is not about managing time. So, you need to replace it with: “What is it about managing?"

And there are three things that you can manage. Let’s have a chat about them.

The first thing that you're able to manage is your PRIORITIES.

The reason why most of us are not able to finish the things that we want to get done is that we seldom set aside the things that are really important to us. We often allow all those other distractions, like other people’s tasks, to consume our day.

Making this first shift into priority management, starting with your mindset, will help you ensure that you're focusing on the things you want to focus on and be able to do all those other things or delegate them to somebody else.

To get your priorities right, you must first realise that they are yours.

You see, everyone’s got priorities.

I love it when people leave a voicemail and say: “If it’s urgent, ring this number."

Well, let me tell you, for everybody else in the world, what they want to do with you at that particular time is urgent to them. So, it's not about doing that and keeping things that are urgent out there. It's about getting the things done that are going to shift the needle and move you forward to where you want to go.

To do that, you need to go back to the identity shift to make sure that you do the work to understand what your true values are (what is most important to you) so that you've got that lens that you can look through for deciding what you “could” do in a day and see if they actually fit within what is important to you.

Now, I know that when you're working for someone else, whether they employ you or are your client, they have a result that you want and are paying you for.

And that's okay.

However, what I am talking about here is how it is done in line with all your priorities, rather than working to other people's deadlines because they haven't done what they said they were going to do, et cetera.

So, get your priorities straight by reflecting on these important questions:

What's most important to you?

What’s most important in a project to get done so you can take that next step?

The second area that you can manage is your ENVIRONMENT.

There are so many things that can distract you every day. These distractions are often procrastination strategies or comfort activities that you do that stop you from moving forward. Sometimes, these distractions are because of being busy because of what this VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) world throws at you.

So, being able to do the following is important for your productivity:

• Remove distractions.
• Maintain an environment where you know where everything is.
• Set boundaries on who and what you allow to come inside them.
• Have an environment that is conducive for you to do your work.

It’s like an air traffic controller. An air traffic controller sets the environment in the sky so they can see where every single plane is. So, everything that they want to see is on the board or the radar screen. And that environment allows planes to land and come in safely.

Like myself, I know there are times when you’re not happy when you get an announcement that your flight’s delayed or the plane you’re flying on needs to slow down before landing, but at the end of the day that environment is controlled so that there's safety and that's the result that we want.

So, the second thing you need to do is control your environment by managing it and looking at the things that distract you and that you need to remove.

And it starts with YOU.

Reflect on this question:

Where do you distract yourself with your unhealthy thoughts and inner dialogue?

The third area you can manage (and I believe the most important, and the other two are very much involved in this) is your ENERGY.

Energy’s a finite resource. I talked to you about this in my episode on performance.

I told you about the importance of having a brain-body balance and ensuring that there is enough energy at the end of the day to be who you need to be in every area of your life.

So, this is an area that you can manage.

Some things will suck up or take away your energy so you need to manage them and remove them.

In the work that I do in behavioural profiling, I help people understand their natural style and look at things they're doing in their role, which can be done but would take more energy.

These things need to be done in a more sustainable way, and they need to have an environment of support around them as well.

Here are a few things you can do to maintain your energy:

• Look at the things that you really need to get done and do a shift to those things. Get the support you need or do it in certain parts of the day when you are more creative and feel like you've got more energy.
• Stay in control of your thought life and manage your responses to what goes on internally. Your emotions definitely come into this as well because it's not just the physical energy that is tapped; it's the emotional and mental energy.
• Make sure that you are well hydrated.
• Make sure that you move and that you're not sitting all day.

Doing these things will help you have more energy to do the things that you need to do.

When you are in a position of optimal performance, you're able to get more done, and that's what we are looking at doing here.

Even the best performance car in the world still needs fuel, pit stops, and a crew to help it get what it needs to get done.

Conserve your energy. Be really stingy with who you allow to take it away from you.

So, there you have it, the 3 things that you should focus on to help you to go from time to outcomes:

1. Your Priorities

2. Your Environment

3. Your Energy

Well, that's it from me for another week. Join me again next week when we continue this conversation in the 9 Crucial Shifts for Leaders by moving into the area of People Leadership.

I’ll see you then.