"Your check-in time is 7:49," the receptionist told me as I arrived for an eight o'clock doctor visit. "Thank you", I responded. As I was on my way to sit down, I thought what a subtle way to inform people if they are on time for their appointment or not. We have become a society for being increasingly late. And excuses come out of our mouth like our usual cup of morning coffee. And we think rationalizing thoughts of, "they'll just figure it out and fit me in" or "I always wait for them." I came back a second time and was greeted with the same response. The reception told me about my check-in time. And then I thought this was more then just a way to let people know if they are on time, this is a structure of accountability. Structure of Accountability = something that is put in place to raise awareness of behavior I believe that when they started telling people about their check-in time, they saw an increase in more patients being on time. When the reception first told me about my check-in time at 7:49, I thought, I'm glad I'm on time. When I went back a second time, a ...

You wake up, either by the alarm or naturally. You lay in bed and decide whether to hit the snooze and get a couple of extra minutes or start your day. And then it happens... you begin to feel the increasing pressure of time. Your mind starts racing over all the things on your never-ending to-do list. And maybe questions of doubt start to arise. How will I get it all done today? Am I missing something? How can I best manage my time? As these questions come, there is one that probably does not. And that is the most important question... What do I need to stop doing? It's a great question. The best question. Here is my list of top four behaviors to stop doing so you can be more productive externally and acquire peace of mind internally. 1. Don't read or watch the news first thing in the morning or last thing at night 80% of the news is filled with something that will excite or anger you. The habit of watching the news or reading the paper was essential when information was scarce, now we suffer from information overload and don't have a proper filter as to what info ...

We live in a rapidly changing world, and for most of us, change is quickly happening at work. Disruptive technology, innovation, and increased transparency are just some of the driving factors of change. We may have little control over the future of our job or industry, but we still have influence when it comes to getting the right things done at the right times. Here are the top three productivity killers. 1. Poor Prioritizing And Planning Placing unrealistic expectations on oneself is the fastest way to becoming burned out at work. We do this all the time. We have a 'to-do list' where we put anywhere from ten to fifteen items on it. And we tell ourselves a lie. "I can get it all done." And we don't. Then we leave at the end of the day with the unfinished items on our minds and no sense of accomplishment or progress. A state of constant busyness is usually the result of lazy thinking — no prioritization or planning. 2. Procrastination When procrastination is an everyday behavior, it usually are coming from a place of fear. You may catch yourself overanalyzing som ...

I live in Tampa Bay, and as a resident of Tampa for over twenty-five years my loyalty goes to the home team. I also like competition and seeing new teams rise to the top and compete at a high level. Because of this, I find it a little frustrating that the New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl.   However, their continued success is both surprising and inspiring. Bill Belichick might not be the most charismatic leader but his results speak for themselves.   Here are three things you can learn from Bill Belichick and his New England Patriots.   1. Focus On One Game At A Time   So often I find myself thinking about the result and in my business, it is thoughts like: "How did my speech go?" "How will the presentation turn out?" "What will my monthly sales be?" It is incredible to hear how Belichick doesn't focus on the past. Not on how many Super Bowls he has won or if his team won last week. Neither does he focus too heavily on the future. He doesn't think about his team making the playoffs or who are the Patriots playing next month ...

What is the first thing you do at work? Where do you spend the majority of your time? How do you determine if something is a priority? It is my observation that most of us take on more than we can finish. This happens because we accept work pushed on to us by others or because of self-inflicted busyness. We get an idea, take action, and shortly become overwhelmed at the number of projects we have taken on. And what is important receives little attention. We don't take the time to clarify our thinking. We don't run our ideas through any filtration process. As a time management speaker, I too have struggled with this and fallen victim to the little voice saying, "You can do more. You need to do more." What ends up happening is we move fifteen projects an inch rather than three projects a mile. And our results are average because we have abandoned 80/20 thinking and prioritizing. So, the next time you find yourself excited about something and eager to start, first ask yourself and your team some qualifying questions. You want to find out if this a priority or ...

[caption id="attachment_1825" align="alignright" width="287"] You can't make me[/caption] "I don't feel like it." Have you ever had this thought in the morning when the alarm clock goes off? It's natural to want to hit the snooze button and explain away all the reasons why you shouldn’t. The "Feel like it" mindset can be a real obstacle to increasing our productivity or performance. When we let our feelings or emotional state determine our actions, results can suffer. The behavior of a “feel like it” mindset looks like this: Keeping busy, perhaps even wasting time, when not on a deadline Constant complaining — everyone always knows the mood you are in Finishing tasks at the last minute with little concern for quality One way to combat this mindset is to tackle whichever task is most challenging first, and set a timer on it. Setting a timer on each task is a great way to stay focused and helps eliminate self-inflicted distractions. This technique is based on Parkinson's Law, which holds that work will expand to fill the time available for its completion. For example - work ...