Over the last several years working with Bay Area CEOs and with members of the Exkalibur Leadership Forum, I’ve learned that personal productivity improvements are one of the most important ways in which CEOs and other business executives can devote more time to the things that only they can uniquely do … whether as a business leader, CEO, mother/father or spouse. As I’ve watched CEOs struggle to spend enough time on their most important initiatives, I’ve worked hard to learn as much as I can to adapt powerful productivity ideas to help business leaders gain control and perspective over everything they care about. We’ll add to this Personal Productivity series every Thursday, and I’ll share these VERY PRACTICAL PRODUCTIVITY TIPS, TECHNIQUES AND TOOLS to help you improve your own results in 2011.
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In my regular conversations with CEOs and other business leaders, I’ve seen that very few of them have a solid personal productivity program they can really trust … one which ensures that they will know where their focus needs to be at any time.
What are the 4 Do-or-Die Principles that are central to creating a powerful personal productivity system?
Any personal productivity program must allow you to capture, record, organize, review and do … EVERY SINGLE THING that is important to you. You can’t leave anything out … not Mom’s birthday card (“I’ll never forget that no matter what”) … or the stack of material you need to read (“If I keep them handy right here on my desk, I won’t forget them”) … or the list of people you need to call (“I’ve got that list here somewhere … where did I put that? … did I leave it in the car?”).
As many of you know, I am an avid proponent of David Allen’s Getting Things Done principles – GTD for short – because it is the first approach I’ve found in over 35 years that delivers a methodology to get control of all of the things that have your attention. It’s not a time management program, but an approach that’s focused on control and perspective over your entire life.
One of its core principles is the collection of everything that has your attention so that it can be deposited and organized in your system. You’ll never have a system you can fully trust if you can’t be sure it contains everything that matters in your life.
If you have several places where you’re keeping track of things … a daily list of certain things you want to do … the pile that you won’t miss on top of your desk … the stack behind your desk … the pesky emails submerged in your inbox … a list of calls you need to return somewhere … you’re in desperate need of a complete personal productivity program that you can trust … with everything.
While collecting everything that matters is a great start, alas, it isn’t enough. Why? For one simple reason: The inputs just keep on coming!
Whatever personal productivity system we use, it has to capture all of the NEW inputs … email, voicemail, regular mail, interoffice mail, messaging sources … all of the “stuff” that relentlessly comes at us in our business life. Of course, we’ve also got to include all of the personal and family responsibilities as well.
Here’s another reason why all of this needs to be integrated, particularly by us so-called knowledge workers: these days, our business and personal responsibilities are intricately woven into a single, complex tapestry that demands attention from all of the aspects of our life. We don’t routinely have days off to attend our son’s hockey game or our daughter’s volleyball game. We need to build these into our personal productivity program so we can fulfill our business responsibilities and still attend these games, keep doctor’s appointments … and the list goes on. We’ll never do this successfully unless we’ve integrated these activities in a single personal productivity system
To meet this demand, we need clear protocols and processes to make sure nothing is overlooked … emails are processed, documents are referenced, reminder lists are updated … and everything is stored, regulated and reviewed in our failsafe personal productivity system. Again the Getting Things Done book is a good primer on the steps to make this happen.
In one form or another, mobility has been a driving force for most of the last 200 years … so even a great paper system residing in our desk drawer is no longer adequate. While it might work if you’re tethered to a cubicle and never leave, most of us are on the move … keeping appointments, moving between buildings, working at home or in hotel rooms, waiting for someone somewhere (they’re not supposed to be late) … and we need to have access to our trusted system all the time in a convenient form.
The digital tools that are available today are both comprehensive and accessible. They can be synchronized across all of our mobile platforms. Make sure you adopt a personal productivity system that allows you access to it at all times.
Whatever system we use, we’ve got to keep it up-to-date. “Keeping it Current” is a kissing cousin to “Keeping it Complete” since our system needs to be updated all the time. You’re likely to keep it current if you make sure it’s complete, but I’ve included this principle to emphasize that keeping it complete must be timely … it can’t be the next week or next month. Make sure you make an effort … every day … to get as close to current and complete as you can.
A trusted system must be the foundation of your personal productivity program. None of the tips and techniques you’ll get here … or anywhere else … will provide more than temporary and menial help if you don’t trust your system to provide timely reminders and a sound organizational structure so you can be as productive as possible.
Use this 4 key principles to create a personal productivity program that works for you. Beg, borrow and steal tools and techniques from anywhere you can, adapting and applying them in ways that work most effectively for you. You should also take a close look at the GTD system, if for no other reason than to get some pointers that will help you no matter how you’re organized. Get started today to build a rock solid personal productivity program that works for you.
We’ll help you … so don’t hesitate to ask questions about how to go about it. Share your best practices, too, so everyone can benefit from your experiences. We’ll keep at this and if we’re missing something, let me know. Don’t forget to “Join the Conversation” so you don’t miss any of these updates.
While you’re at it, what do you think is the single biggest obstacle keeping you from getting more done?
Welcome to Exkalibur. I’m Lary Kirchenbauer, President of Exkalibur Advisors, Inc. Please take advantage of our resources to help you build your business ... and let me know what more we can do to serve you.
Read my latest column from the NY Times affiliate, the North Bay Business Journal.
Lary is one of the brightest and most energetic professionals with whom I have ever worked. His skills in dealing with privately held firms and the aggressive and creative solutions made him a valuable asset to any business.
F. Bart Smith, President (retired)
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