Dueling Time Management Theories: The Right System or The Right State of Mind? Part 2

Monday, May 02, 2011

Last week, I briefly introduced you to two of the prominent time management theories that have become quite popular in recent years. While both are valuable systems, they approach the topic from very different angles.

In today’s WorkPuzzle, I’ll summarize some of the highlights of both systems. As you read through these principles and ideas, think about the flow of your activities over the last week. How would things have been different if you had approached tasks in a different way?

Getting Things Done System / David Allen

1. The right system equips an individual to capture information and act upon it.

“People don’t capture stuff that has their attention. They don’t acknowledge it or objectify it. And it keeps rolling around in the organizational psyche as well as the personal psyche, draining energy and creating incredible psychic residue.”

2. The right system involves making lists and completing tasks.

“Your head is for having ideas, not holding them. Just dumping everything out of your head and externalizing it is a huge step, and it can have a significant effect… The problem is that everybody is multitasking and getting distracted by the latest and the loudest. They fail because they haven’t captured, clarified, organized, or built in a regular review system they trust.”

3. The right system involves breaking down big tasks into small “next actions.”

“What most people put on their to-do lists are vague things [that really represent a lot of work]. Instead, a to-do list should specify a smaller next action. There’s actually a part of us that loves to produce, that loves to be complete. Now I’ve created motivation: I see a desired result, I have confidence I can get there, and I see the path.”

The Energy Project / Tony Schwartz

1. Having the right state of mind involves realizing your limitations as a human.

“It is humbling to discover that we’re creatures of habit, and what we did yesterday is what we’re going to do today. We think that the way to make a change is to push harder, but our willpower and self-discipline are wildly overrated. [Change can only happen if you] co-opt the process by which negative habits arise without your intention, and substitute what we call 'positive rituals' or deliberate practices."

2. Having the right state of mind means reserving your most productive time of the day for the most important work.

“Another ritual I have is to always do the most important task of the day first thing in the morning, when I’m least distracted. Ninety percent of people check their email as soon as they get to work. That turns their agenda over to someone else.”

3. Having the right state of mind means recognizing that there is a natural pull the brain has towards ineffectiveness. This force must be met with deliberate practices that push you towards effectiveness.

“There’s a problem with making a decision based on how you’re feeling at any given moment. Generally speaking, that doesn’t work. Psychologically, we have two different selves. One is very primitive and reactive. The other is more evolved and reflective. People need to recognize when the primitive, reactive self is taking over and influencing them to avoid things that are uncomfortable.”

As you can probably tell, one system is not better than the other. In fact, being mindful of both approaches would probably do the most to improve your effectiveness. Hopefully, you’ll become a student of how you do your best work. This means both following a well-developed system and having your mind right as work through your tasks.

Quotations cited: Allen, David. Schwartz, Tony. Harvard Business Review, May 2011. Interview. 83 – 87. Print. 29 Apr 2011. <http://www.hbr.org>.

Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Dueling Time Management Theories: The Right System or The Right State of Mind?

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

As many of you know, I have a keen interest in time management and productivity. I love to load my schedule up and work hard to accomplish as much a possible during the day. If I fall into bed exhausted from a meaningful day's work, I feel satisfied. At that point, sleep feels like a reward and the next day is something I look forward to tackling.

But,there is a natural struggle with approaching life like this. It is only satisfying if I'm accomplishing things that are meaningful and tied to a purpose that I consider important. As life "happens," I'm constantly pulled towards the things that are urgent and contain less meaning. Thus, the need for time management becomes even more apparent.

Dave and I have both written WorkPuzzle articles in the past that reference David Allen's time management theories. Allen has written several best-selling books on this topic, and he is considered by many to be the foremost expert on this topic in recent years.

Last November, I wrote a series of WorkPuzzle articles (1,2,3,4) highlighting the work of Tony Schwarz. Schwartz has also written several best-selling books (one of which my kids call "the blue book" because I reference it a lot in our family discussions), but approaches time management and productivity from a completely different perspective than Allen.

As I have studied these two approaches over the last year, I thought I was being original by trying to integrate the best of these authors' theories. As it turns outs, I wasn't being original at all. There are a bunch of people trying to reconcile these theories…So many, in fact, that Harvard Business Review (HBR) featured an article this month on the topic of how these theories compare and contrast.

In today's WorkPuzzle, I'll lay out some background and general ideas. Next time, I'll summarize some of the speifics that I find particularly helpful.

First, how each person defines what they do. In their own words:

David Allen: "I help people and orgaizations produce more with less input. I teach a set of best practices and a methodology that produce a greater sense of concentration and control."

Tony Schwartz: "I teach individuals and organizations how to manage energy more skillfully in order to get more done in less time, more sustainably. That requires a new way of working–one that balances periods of high focus with intermittent renewal."

What are the general principles that each author teaches?

Schwartz: "Thereʼs a fundamental misunderstanding about how human beings operate at their best. Most of us mistakenly assume weʼre meant to run like computers—at high speeds, continuously, for long periods of time, running multiple programs simultaneously. Itʼs just not true.

Human beings are designed to be rhythmic. The heart pulses; muscles contract and relax. Weʼre at our best when weʼre moving rhythmically between spending energy and renewing it. We need to recognize the insight of athletes, who manage their work-rest ratios. We encourage people to work intensely for 90 minutes and then take a break to recover. We teach them to eat small, energy-rich meals every few hours, rather than three big meals a day. We believe napping drives productivity, although that remains a tough sell in most companies.

Still, the reality is that if a person works continuously all through the day, sheʼll produce less than a person of equal talent who works very intensely for short periods and then recovers before working intensely again."

Allen: "I believe it's an issue of choosing the right work. Peter Drucker said that the toughest job for knowledge workers is defining the work. A century ago, 80% of the world made and moved things. You worked as long as you could, and then you slept, and then you got up and worked again. You didnʼt have to triage or make executive decisions. Itʼs harder to be productive today because the work has become much more complex."

Hopefully, this will peak your interest for more detail next time. By the way, if you haven't picked up a copy of HBR in a while, the May issue would be a good one to buy. There are a bunch of helpful articles this month…

Draining the Meaning From Work: Are You Part of the Problem?

Monday, April 25, 2011

Last Friday, I re-published an excellent article written by Ron Ashkenas about how many of us don't look forward to returning from our weekends. It is not that weekends should not be enjoyable–it is just that work should be enjoyable too.

One of the causes of this sense of work malaise, as Ron pointed out, is feeling a lack of purpose at work. It is well-documented that unless a person feels a legitimate sense of purpose in what they're doing, it will be difficult to sustain excitement and energy towards that activity.

Certainly it's appropriate to take inventory of your own work activities and make sure that you're working with a sense of purpose in your daily tasks. But here is another important question:

How would those you manage say they feel about their sense of purpose in your work environment?

Interestingly, Harvard Business Review (HBR) recently conducted some research on this topic and uncovered several surprising insights. The researchers in the study were trying to figure out how work gets stripped of its meaning (I'm not kidding, people actually do study this stuff).

The data in the study was collected by analyzing the work diary entries of 238 "knowledge workers" who agreed to be part of the project. After compiling the data, researchers looked for patterns that related to the topic of meaning at work. There were four common themes that emerged. HBR called these themes the "4 Primary Ways in Which Managers Unwittingly Drain Work of Its Meaning." Here's a quick summary:

1. Managers dismiss the importance of employees' work or ideas. This was the most common theme that was documented. Managers ask someone to work on something, and then pay little attention to the results that are being produced. The researchers cited one example where an employee went three solid weeks without any positive feedback from his manager on a project that he was told was critical to the company's success. It is hard to feel like you're working on something meaningful when this type of disconnect happens.

2. Managers destroy employees' sense of ownership in the work. When a manager asks someone to work on an important task and then takes it away at a critical juncture, it's demoralizing. The HBR research did not cite specific real estate industry examples, but I can imagine many cases where new agents are "micro-managed" at just the wrong time. It is better to allow some mistakes to happen and then train around those mistakes. This will put a new agent on the path to long-term ownership of their transactions and provide more meaning in their day-to-day tasks.

3. Managers may send the message that the work employees are doing will never see the light of day. How could this happen? In many organizations, there is constant pressure to find innovations that will produce new business and help the company compete more effectively. But, these innovations may be short-lived if they do not produce quick results. As priorities change (a necessity in any business), managers need to be sensitive to the time, effort, and life-energy that individuals may have put into these projects. Find ways to reuse the work accomplished on the shelved projects and be open and forthright with communication about the bigger purpose that may have emerged.

4. Managers neglect to inform employees about unexpected changes in priorities. As noted above, communication goes a long way to helping people deal with disappointment. While changes can sometimes not be avoided, it helps to explain the bigger picture. Keep in mind that BSing someone on your team never works. People want to be part of an organization that has a consistent and meaningful purpose. If legitimate changes are necessary to respond to such things as market conditions, new technologies, and competitive pressures, the people you manage will understand. But, if changes are being made because of bad strategy or management mistakes, things suddenly feel pretty meaningless.

Bottom line: If you have the responsibility of managing, you also have a responsibility to ensure that those in your group are working with a sense of purpose. By doing so, you'll not only have a more productive and engaged team, you'll be answering a higher calling of your own.

Source: Harvard Business Review, The Power of Small Wins, May 2011, p. 77

Are You Looking Forward to the Weekend?

Friday, April 22, 2011

I've been up to my ears the last week or so and have not had time to write and publish on schedule. I hope to get back on track next week. In lieu of publishing something original, I thought I'd share an article that I ran across earlier in the week that I found particularly helpful.

Most of us are looking forward to the Easter weekend where we'll enjoy time with friends and family. But, will you be one of those who feels a little disappointment, or maybe some anxiety when Sunday night rolls around? If so, Ron's advice may be helpful.

Make the Weekend Last All Week

-Written by Ron Ashkenas

Ron Ashkenas is a managing partner of Schaffer Consulting and a co-author of The GE Work-Out and The Boundaryless Organization. His latest book is Simply Effective.

Not long ago I was talking with a recently retired client who said that the best thing about retirement was not having weekends. I must have looked puzzled, because he then explained that all the years of his working life had been based on one major distinction: that being the difference between the "workweek" and the "weekend." Monday through Friday was spent doing what he had to do, while the weekend was the time for doing what he really enjoyed.

So — like so many of us — every Sunday night he would start getting anxious about going back to work. But as a retiree, now his life wasn't regulated by this rhythm. In other words, he didn't have to stop doing what he really enjoyed just because the weekend was over.

My guess is that many people feel this tension between their jobs and their lives. Work is what they do for a living, while the meaningful (and fun) activities take place outside of work. As the old joke goes, "If it was fun, they wouldn't call it work."

What's behind this sentiment, and what can managers do to blur this self-imposed distinction between the workweek and the weekend? Let me suggest three causes of the weekend syndrome, each of which holds an opportunity for managers to make their people feel more excited — and more productive — at work.

Lack of purpose: First, it's likely that some of your people feel that their work doesn't make a difference in the wider world. It may not be universal, but many people are motivated by a desire to contribute socially, as Dave and Wendy Ulrich suggest in The Why of Work. Witness the large numbers of employees who commit time (outside of work) to volunteering, political causes, and religious groups. Imagine the kind of commitment and energy they would exhibit in the workplace if they felt that their jobs made an equal difference. Yet the irony is that almost all organizations must create some form of social value, or they wouldn't remain in existence. Organizations create products or services that people need, discover ways to improve the quality of life, enhance our security, fuel our economy, and educate our children. But in the humdrum of everyday work, we often lose sight of these connections.
Opportunity: Continually remind people of the purpose of the business — and how their individual and team activities make a difference.

Meaningless Tasks: A second reason why people devalue their work time is that often they are asked to complete stupid or menial tasks. Most employees are smart enough to know when they are spending time on tasks or activities that don't add value — unnecessary processes, dead-end research, endless decision loops, bureaucratic approvals, redundant presentations, unproductive meetings, etc. When employees' jobs fill up with these responsibilities they become bored, cynical, and frustrated — and increasingly look for fulfillment outside of work.
Opportunity: Engage people in seeking out and destroying these mind-numbing activities. A number of years ago Wal-Mart called it "Get the Dumb Out" of work; and many companies such as GE and IBM do this continually and relentlessly.

The Fun Factor: The third possible cause for the weekend syndrome is that work simply isn't fun. We drearily perform the same tasks, talk to the same people, and produce the same products and services on a daily basis. There's no game-like competition, no challenge, no adrenaline rush. And in the absence of those zest factors, people seek their fun and excitement outside of work, through sports, escapist entertainment, family games, travel, etc.
Opportunity: My colleagues and I have worked with hundreds of managers over the years who have found creative ways to inject fun into the workplace — through hundred-day projects, team challenges, model weeks, customer field trips, innovation contests, and the like. Although it's not in any job description, making work fun is an important part of a manager's responsibilities.

Great organizations are places where employees are excited to get out of bed each morning and go to work — to find meaning, do things that add value, and have fun. If you can create that kind of environment in your workplace, your people won't be looking forward just to the weekend — they'll also be looking forward to Monday morning.

It is a good reminder for all of us–we need to enjoy the weekends, but also learn to enjoy the weeks. Happy Easter!

Three Steps To Becoming A Better Manager

Monday, April 18, 2011

In the previous edition, I shared a true story that many of you found quite alarming. In closing, I promised to next provide a no-nonsense path to becoming a better manager. After all, becoming a true leader takes work – It doesn't happen accidentally. It occurs mindfully and intentionally for most…and although it may appear to come naturally and accidentally for a few, it really doesn't. Everyone has to work at it. Research shows that it takes 10,000 hours of doing a task well to become an expert at it. Management is no different.

To catch up, please take a moment to read the last posting if you haven't already. In summary the question was posed: If you were suddenly thrown into a position of having to count on a TRUE following – not an appointed following- would there be anyone following you?

If you're not quite sure, there is good news… By following a simple set of steps, you can begin to slowly build the behavior of a good leader. Here are a few of the essentials:

Find a mentor. If you want to become a leader, it's imperative that you learn from a leader. Don't put this off. Assign yourself the task of finding someone now. And don't just find someone who's getting the job done – Find someone who's hitting it out of the park. Every time you are with this person, have a list of good questions, and ask them. What are their habits? What are their top priorities? What they may see as second nature, you might find revolutionary. Make their habits yours.
Listen to people and meet their needs. Great leaders know what their people want and help them fulfill their goals. They know what motivates each individual, what scares each individual, and ultimately what each person dreams of. If you're simply fulfilling your role in order to exploit the talents and performance of the people you are leading, they'll smell it a mile a way. Agents, whether you're recruiting them or motivating them to perform, are not objects to exploit, they are people to help. And when they feel helped by you and inspired by you, they'll return the favor. Make this a central focus every day. Scott Nelson, owner of Comey and Shepherd in Cincinnati, sets a great standard: "Our managers are required to 're-recruit' their own agents, at least one per week, and take them off-site to lunch or coffee. I do the same thing, and usually have two or three such lunches per week. I engage 125-150 agents per year, and it makes a big difference. I also go to a branch sales meeting each week and keep in touch personally with email."
Coaching is Key. What is the bottom line? It's this: If your agents don't perform well, you don't perform well. Just like when a college basketball coach doesn't coach well, the team doesn't perform well. There is a reason that most successful sports coaches develop slowly from coaching at the high school level–to college assistant–to head coach… They must gradually learn the skills of training and motivating a team to greatness. Even the most talented young athletes who are recruited from across the country require consistent practice, direction, and motivation. Learn how to build performance, and you'll always have a job.

Don't get in a habit of blaming poor performance on other variables–like for instance, "They're lazy or stupid." Great coaches never do this. Always view it as your responsibility to coach more effectively.

Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Why Sitting At Your Desk Will Kill Your Business: Part 2

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Earlier this week, I stressed the importance of spending less time at the desk and more time building value-added relationships. How critical is this principle? The following scenario provides a powerful example regarding the Real Estate Manager position, but I think it relates to the position of Real Estate Agent as well. Answer the following question honestly:

If ownership announced tomorrow:

"As of today there are no longer Office Manager positions. That job is no longer a part of our organizational structure. From this day forward the Manager position will be replaced by a Coach/Recruiter position. And furthermore, if you don't have a high number of agents who choose to be coached by you and a large pipeline of experienced agents from other companies who you meet with, or contact regularly in hopes of recruiting, then you no longer have a job."

How would that turn out for you? A little scary isn't it?

Well guess what? This actually happened recently in a fairly large real estate company. (In an upcoming article I may share with you more about this company. I'm awaiting permission to do so…)

If you would fare VERY well in the above scenario, pat yourself on the back for a job well done. You can consider yourself part of the top 25% of managers who have managed to build a true and committed following. If you would truly fear the above scenario, it's not too late. At any time, you can commit to actions that will improve your "true following"– It's time to overhaul your weekly schedule and prioritize your schedule to better reflect what leaders actually do.

The title of "Leader" can be appointed, but the meaning of Leader is much more practical than that. A true leader is determined by how many people would actually follow them, given the choice. As I mentioned, sitting at your desk is not the way to build a following.

In the upcoming final edition on this topic, I'll provide three steps to becoming a good manager.