Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Red Book of Selling has some fantastic advice for salespeople, but I believe that anyone can benefit from reading this book.

Here are some of his tips for being successful, with a twist toward improving your productivity:

• Believe that you can - If you do not believe that you can get your act together and be productive you will surely fail. Ask Yoda.
• Create the right environment - Build a place where you can get your work done by minimizing distractions and interruptions. Turn off your e-mail program if you need to. Turn off your Twitter alerts, whatever you may need to get in the zone and get some work done.
• Have the right associations - If you hang around with other people that don’t get their work done, how do you expect to get any of your own done? Leave the moaners at the watercooler and kick the complainers out of your cubicle. You do not need them, they are not helping you. They are sucking you down.
• Expose yourself to what is new - If your current system isn’t working ask for help. Look at the people around you that accomplish everything they need to do and go hame at 5:00. What are they doing tht you can learn from?
• Plan for the day - It is a cliche that “failure to plan means planning to fail”. Start your day by making a list of 3 things that you must accomplish today. Then do them.
• Have the answers that your customers and prospects need - Develop the habit of carrying a notebook with you for capturing information. Then process it into your reference system. When someone asks you a question, you should have the answer at your fingertips.
• Take advantage of opportunity - Being aware of the things that you need to work on in each appropriate context means that you can take advantage of down-time to work on other tasks. Carry the reading material that you need to catch up on with you all the time. This way when you find yourself waiting for something, you can do a little reading.
• Take action - Your tasks and projects will not get done by themselves. Do something, anything, to move yourself closer to completion every single day.
• Take a risk - Sometimes you have to take a chance. Look at your tasks and projects, are they still worth doing? Ask yourself what would be the worst outcome if you just deleted some of those things from your list…Can you live with that? Would you lose anything important? Maybe you can just let it go.
• Keep your eyes on the prize - All of the tasks and projects that you are working on have defined conditions of completion. Know what being done looks like so that your actions move you toward that goal.
• Balance yourself - All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. The goal of improving your productivity is not to get 18 hours of work done in 12. The goal is to get your work done so that you can enjoy life. Be done and be happy!
• Invest, don’t spend - Time, energy, motivation. These are some of the various currencies that you have to exchange for being productive. Make sure that you are investing them in your work, so that you get a return. If you are just spending them, they go away forever.
• Develop and maintain a positive attitude - We all face adversity, obstacles, and painful situations. They will not last. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and it is not an on-coming train (though it may feel like that sometimes). When you feel good about your work you will get it done faster, better, and more efficiently. It is the work that you do not enjoy that slows you down. Delegate it.

Which of these do you think is most important for you? Have you any other pithy pieces of advice youd like to share? Leave a Comment!

How many people do you know that spend more time planning than doing? Status reports, benchmarks and meetings can get in the way of old-fashioned doing.

I’m not really advocating that we abandon effective strategic planning, but sometimes a next-action step is all that is needed. Case in point- I gave a talk last night to a group of students and their families on the value of Catholic education. Having given hundreds of talks, I normally prepare a rough outline and then let it happen, relying on instincts and experience. On this particular night though, I prepared an overly detailed spec of the evening’s topic.

Too detailed.

I was overly concerned with not forgetting an item on my overly detailed outline and therefore delivered an A-minus talk instead of a homerun. I would imagine that the audience knew nothing of my consternation but I went home and evaluated my preparation and follow through.

What’s a GTD take on strategic planning? It’s not a matter of take-it-or-leave-it. Rather, it’s about integrating next actions with the benchmarks and stages of a good plan.

Today I would like to share a description of some of the tools I use for my own productivity practice:

First, my workspace in my home office. This is where I manage all of my activities for the blogging enterprise as well as my day job for BigCorp. If you click on the pic you will be able to see the notes at Flickr.
This is a very simple and effective set-up. Everything that I need on a daily basis is available close by. You may also notice that I have arranged the desk according to the “F-shape” principle that I featured in the design of my planner pages. From the top left across I have placed:

• Note cards and the usual office supplies.
• Pen-holder.
• Desk lamp.
• Laptop.

From the bottom left:

• In-box.
• Open task information.
• Clear desk blotter with frequently-called numbers and notes

To the right of the desk:

• Bookshelf with reference and tracking materials.
• The Book of Days
• Software.
• The printer.
• The Tickler File.

The Tickler File - This tool consists of 43 Folders numbered 1-31 for the current month and 12 more for the months of January through December.

I use these files for paper items that I need to process at specific times but the items do not need to go in my organizer right now. In the same file are the Reference folders for frequently-accessed information such as billing records, work records, etc.

The typical workflow for the Tickler file is:

1. Each morning, while the coffee is brewing, I check the contents of “today’s” folder.
2. I sync any time-specific items with my paper calendar,
3. Complete the items that are date-specific but will not physically fit into my calendar (which I refuse to stuff with notes and loose papers),
4. Any non-time-specific items then go into the In-box on my desk for processing.
5. Items are processed in order of the amount of time required, starting with the shortest.
6. Anything that does not get completed, or needs to go in the organizer, is forwarded to its proper place.
7. When “today’s” folder is empty, it goes to the back of the line, becoming in effect an empty folder in next month’s queue.

Part of the beauty of this system is that if something comes up and I cannot process the items in the Tickler File for a day or two, it is ready right where I left off. This gives me almost instant access to date-specific items that need to be processed with high priority.

My Organizer I picked up a nice leather planner that zips closed for $10 at Target. It is now a mini-briefcase that I use to carry my essentials. Number one of course is the Circa organizer that holds my DIY Calendar pages that I designed. (You can read more about this at “Print Your Own Calendar Pages“)

I keep a Pilot .5mm G2 in the pen loop, and a PaperMate .5mm Mega Lead mechanical pencil loose inside. I tuck a few blank 3×5 cards into the front pocket, along with some business cards. Toss in a pad of 3×3 Post-Its and I am ready to go.

These are the most essential tools for my personal productivity practice. What tools are most important for your activities?

What do you think about the lack of portable electronic devices?

Today’s post is from Mike St. Pierre of The Daily Saint

In an average month, how often do you have a tough week? Stress management is often cited as a weakness for folks who are super busy. A good definition of stress is,

“the psychological and physical state that results when perceived demands exceed an individual’s ability to cope with them”

The degree to which you are able to negotiate your sources of stress often determines your sense of a “good week”. When things spin out of control, we stress more and things get worse.

Last week was rough for me. As I now look back on things, the following elements were present:

• Diet: I either skipped meals or ate too much junk.
• Sleep: Getting to bed after 11pm and then up at 5am didn’t help.
• Fitness: One bike ride wasn’t enough to keep my body nimble and alert.
• Time management: My calendar was an acquaintance rather than a companion.
• Family: As a result of each item mentioned above, I was not fully present for the needs of my wife and kids. Sure, I was there but not fully present- there’s a big difference between the two.
• Projects list: What’s a projects list?

When you have a tough week, it’s good to look back and analyze the tip of the ice berg as I have done. Unfortunately, like all large blocks of ice, there is much more beneath the surface. How to rebound from all of this? Read on.

1. Take care of your body. Pay attention to getting enough sleep, taking your vitamins, and eating well. Each of these is a “counter measure” to the stress that swirls around you. It’s a jungle out there so be prepared for what comes your way. Every meal counts.
2. Stay in your routine. Too often, people under stress give up on their habits and rituals and this is a big mistake. Get up at the same time every day during the week. Perfect your pre-sleeping rituals. Determine to be a person of excellent habits.
3. Be attentive to your spirit every day. Taking time for prayer and meditation is known to be good for you on so many levels. Whether it’s a journal entry, a quiet walk in the park or the reading of sacred texts, spiritual attentiveness pays off in big ways.
4. Don’t give up by Wednesday. I find that if I can tough it out through Wednesday, my week is salvaged. This is a pivotal day so hang in there on hump day. (read this post on the importance of building on Tuesday’s success)
5. Remember the famous quote from Jim Eliot. Missionary Jim Eliot had this to say, “Wherever you are, be all there.” If you are at work, dig in and bust your butt. If at home with your family, leave work behind and play with your kids and tell your spouse that she’s wonderful. Be fully present to the gifts around you.
6. Give yourself something happy to anticipate. We know that it’s good to look forward to something, whether a birthday or a favorite T.V. show. Build into your week little things to which you can look forward. A great cup of coffee, a trip to your favorite park, a special meal with a friend.

If we’ve learned nothing else from GTD it’s that little things make a big difference. In all of this, it’s worth noting that another 7 days will arrive on your doorstep next week. If you’re not dealing well with stress, another opportunity will present itself. Don’t be too hard on yourself and anticipate that you won’t be perfect. The key is to keep moving forward.