Your best just got better

Can you dream as big as they can?

I'd love to attend a TED conference someday...On the top of my list is TEDIndia. And, if I get there, I'll do what I can to meet Pranav Mistry. He's the founder of SixthSense and the new, paradigm-shifting paper "laptop." 

If you can, stay until the end to see the Q&A. It's pretty amazing!

More thinking along the lines of pursuing the MITs (the Most Important Things)

I saw this in a magazine recently, and KNEW I had to take a picture.

I'll invite you to write this on the top of a piece of paper, and fill in the blanks over the next week:

"I wake up so that I can..."

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Three ways...To enhance focus

Quick, what were you doing...just before you clicked over here?

So, in order to get from "there" to "here" you had to change your focus. I think a lot of people I get to work with think that the need more time - more minutes in the day, more days in the week, more weeks in the month. When, in honesty, they need more focus.

The idea that we can do more than one thing at once continues to be, well...Silly. I mean, as I'm writing this, if I try to do anything else (look at the dog, read an email, write a note/thought down, ANYthing) I slow down. Or, worse, I stop. Now, the crazy thing is, IF I stop, do something else, and then come back to this post (which, by the way, I did as a test), I find that it takes me a few more moments to get back into a flow. Go ahead, try it out for the next few days.

Purposefully start to do something, stop, do something else, and then come back to what you were doing.

Study what happens to your productivity when your focus is compromised.

Here are 3 ways I've found, over the years, to focus in on (or ignore away from) my own Most Important Things:

1. Turn something off. Look around, and ask yourself, "What input is going "on" that has nothing to do with what I'm doing?" I realized that the door to my office was open, letting in the dialogue from the television show semi-distract me. Two options: turn of the TV or close the door. 

2. Set a timer. I love (LOVE, LOVE) my countdown timers. (Yes, plural...) I have one in the kitchen, on my wrist, and on my bike computer. You see, it's much easier to focus with all I've got when I can look over and see exactly how much (or, as is usually the case, how little) I have to go. This works for all kinds of things...Cleaning a room, writing an article, climbing a hill... 

3. Pick 3. As soon as you read this, write down on a note card or sticky note the THREE things you MUST work on throughout today. Put that sticky note on your computer monitor and stick it to yournote book when you walk away from the computer. See what happens...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tworm/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Put attention on the MIT's - the Most Important Things

Have you ever finished a day, looked around, and realized you did not do some of the most important things on your mind? You kept on meaning to get to it, but there just was not enough time! 

Here’s an exercise I use to put attention on the MIT's - the Most Important Things. 

    * Start off by thinking of 3 things to focus on.
    * Write those - as objectives and/or goals - on a sticky-note or index card.
    * Put that note somewhere you'll see it throughout the day.
    * Review it occasionally.
    * At the end of the day, ask yourself, "Did I do what I said I would do? Did I focus on what I said I would focus on?"
    * Then, throw away/recycle the sticky-note or index card.

The next morning, repeat the exercise. I recommend you do this for 5 business days. Who knows, at the end of those 5 days, you may have made progress on 15 significant areas of your work AND your life!  

Hint: the exercise is not about a post-it or index card. The key is in deciding what's important, before you start your day, and bringing your attention back to those projects on a consistent basis.

Productivity MasterMind lunch - Ojai, CA

What a group to show up at Papa Lennon's today (here in Ojai, CA). The purpose (as I proposed) was to initiate a Productivity MasterMind group here in town. I figure there's at LEAST one day a month when I'm home, and I'd love to spend time with people who are going for it! Well, today we found them.

From Left to Right:

Craig Johnson - coach, buddy, kick-in-the-pants mentor

Jodi Womack - marketing plan partner, hula-hooper, good, good friend

Brenda Spandrio - Organizing extraordinaire, recent Ojai resident, West Coast traveler

Jason Womack - speaker, triathlete, author

Tara Lee Gustafson - marketer, planner, goal-achiever

Leslee Gentry-Gustafson - businesswoman, entrepreneur, community builder

Reflecting back on our lunch conversation (2 hours of sharing ideas, asking questions, and listening...) here is what I learned/remembered today:

1. Show up!
Craig drove over 2 hours to get here, and others "rearranged" their day to be there today. There is something about being "where the action is" that creates more action. We have only been "apart" for about 6 hours, and I've already heard from two people that they drummed up some business as a result of our discussion today!

2. Get them to talk about them.
It seemed that each person at the table was truly interested in what the others were doing, thinking, planning. I especially enjoyed how the conversation bounced back and forth, right and left, and to the center again.

Those of you interested, we're talkin' about doing another one of these in December. Just let me know if you're interested.

Project Manager Productivity Secrets - a presentation in Santa Barbara, CA

The Project Management Institute (PMI) is an international professional organization focused on delivering business success using proven project management practices.

Today I spoke for 42 minutes (but who's counting!) on the mistakes I have made over the years as a project manager, and what I work with when I collaborate with clients who want to improve their efficiency and productivity. Because it was a lunchtime presentation, there wasn't a lot of time for discussion...Here were some of the points - and the solutions - I shared:

1. In the past, I've "missed" opportunities because I wasn't looking at things in new ways. One of the reasons I talk about the arrow in the FedEx logo (if you haven't seen it, go look for it...It's pretty cool!) is just that. I remember distinctly the first time I saw the arrow - someone pointed it out to me, and I about fell out of my chair. My thought: What else have I not yet seen?

2. I sometimes forget the good idea I had "back then." So, over the years I've implemented the use of different tools/systems to "have an idea here, and remember all about it there." Yes, often it's as simple as writing it down (as long as I have a paper and pen). Sometimes, however, that convenience isn't available. So, yeah, I email myself or even call and leave a message with www.Reqall.com (if you haven't seen THAT one...you're in for a surprise!).

3. The one I always like to talk about, the one that I think is MOST important, is knowing when you're at your best. Not just what time of the day, but really, what had to go INTO you being at your best. At some point, I'll bulk up the website: www.AtMyBestWhen.com, but for now, it's a reminder that we are at our best when...(we do, be or have certain things/ways).

It was an honor to share some ideas with the group today. I hope that folks were able to go back and think about or share some of the Project Manager Secrets I shared!

Making a deal - quotes I found to be thought-provoking

Saw a couple of quotes, thought I'd share them here:

Vince McMahon:
I don't mind paying people more for something if we're getting more. But just to change a deal because you're greedy and you want more? No. I'm not gonna go along with that.

Donald Trump:
People get caught up in wonderful, eye-catching pitches, but they don't do enough to close the deal. It's no good if you don't make the sale. Even if your foot is in the door or you bring someone into a conference room, you don't win the deal unless you actually get them to sign on the dotted line.

John D. Rockefeller:
A friendship founded on business is a good deal better than a business founded on friendship.

The Womack Company: What we do (Part 4/4)

We're working on a project to put together a short video, outlining what we "do" at The Womack Company. Our partners asked us to come up with four "quotations" that come together to summarize our work - the caveat: Each quote needs to be short...

And, here you have all four (the fourth one is at the bottom!):

Managing Personal Productivity
Set, accomplish and surpass individual and team professional goals

Enhanced Workplace Performance
Minimize distraction, increase productivity and make things happen

Jason W. Womack, MEd, MA
Master productivity coach, workplace performance psychologist

The Womack Company
An advanced productivity framework for professional achievement

Here is an email I received recently; it sums up what I hope to share with the world. Oh, it also proves our other motto: We're smarter together. Bring us in, let us work with your team, and watch your productivity soar!

Hello Jason
 
I've attended the seminar 'Productivity through Technology' in September this year. The stuff learned during the seminar sounded too simple too have such an impact - however; I've tried to follow the learnings as much as I could.
 
In the meanwhile I've reduced to amount of unread e-mails from 2197 to 135, I store about 10% of the emails compared to pre-seminar and I introduced a task list. I will certainly follow the ideas gained from your seminar.
 
Do you know if and when you will be holding the same seminar in Zurich again? I really would like to send my team mates as I really believe that they will increase productivity.
 
Kind Regards
F.S. - Zurich, Switzerland

Have you heard of Kiva.org yet?

  

Hey, psst...Do you have an extra $25? Want to see something cool? Check out our Kiva.org club!

I've been a HUGE fan of this work (some of you know this, already!) and I continue to find myself inspired simply going through the lists of people looking for small loans. For $25 (and a little donation to Kiva...Only if you want) you can be the change we could see in this world!

Want to see a "feel good" story? Check out the link below...

A Fistful Of Dollars: The Story of a Kiva.org Loan from Kieran Ball on Vimeo.

Productivity MasterMind group - meeting in Ojai on Friday, 6 November

Well, I'm in town, and have wanted to do something like this for MONTHS...so, come on by:

WHAT: Productivity MasterMind group
WHEN:Friday, 6 November, 2009 - 11am-1pm
WHERE: The Patio at Papa Lennon's
WHY: To share ideas on goal-setting, productivity, and "playing in the bigger game..."
WHO: 12 people willing to go for it with other people...willing to go for it as well!