An 18-Minute Plan for Managing Your Day

2:27 PM Monday July 20, 2009

Tags:Time management

Yesterday started with the best of intentions. I walked into my office in the morning with
a vague sense of what I wanted to accomplish. Then I sat down, turned on my computer,
and checked my email. Two hours later, after fighting several fires, solving other people's
problems, and dealing with whatever happened to be thrown at me through my computer
and phone, I could hardly remember what I had set out to accomplish when I first turned
on my computer. I'd been ambushed. And I know better.

When I teach time management, I always start with the same question: How many of you
have too much time and not enough to do in it? In ten years, no one has ever raised a
hand.

That means we start every day knowing we're not going to get it all done. So how we
spend our time is a key strategic decision. That's why it's a good idea to create a to do list
and an ignore list. The hardest attention to focus is our own.

But even with those lists, the challenge, as always, is execution. How can you stick to a
plan when so many things threaten to derail it? How can you focus on a few important
things when so many things require your attention?

We need a trick.

Jack LaLanne, the fitness guru, knows all about tricks; he's famous for handcuffing
himself and then swimming a mile or more while towing large boats filled with people.
But he's more than just a showman. He invented several exercise machines including the
ones with pulleys and weight selectors in health clubs throughout the world. And his
show, The Jack LaLanne Show, was the longest running television fitness program, on the
air for 34 years.

But none of that is what impresses me. He has one trick that I believe is his real secret
power.

Ritual.

At the age of 94, he still spends the first two hours of his day exercising. Ninety minutes
lifting weights and 30 minutes swimming or walking. Every morning. He needs to do so
to achieve his goals: on his 95th birthday he plans to swim from the coast of California to
Santa Catalina Island, a distance of 20 miles. Also, as he is fond of saying, "I cannot
afford to die. It will ruin my image."
So he works, consistently and deliberately, toward his goals. He does the same things day
in and day out. He cares about his fitness and he's built it into his schedule.

Managing our time needs to become a ritual too. Not simply a list or a vague sense of our
priorities. That's not consistent or deliberate. It needs to be an ongoing process we follow
no matter what to keep us focused on our priorities throughout the day.

I think we can do it in three steps that take less than 18 minutes over an eight-hour
workday.

STEP 1 (5 Minutes) Set Plan for Day. Before turning on your computer, sit down with a
blank piece of paper and decide what will make this day highly successful. What can you
realistically accomplish that will further your goals and allow you to leave at the end of
the day feeling like you've been productive and successful? Write those things down.

Now, most importantly, take your calendar and schedule those things into time slots,
placing the hardest and most important items at the beginning of the day. And by the
beginning of the day I mean, if possible, before even checking your email. If your entire
list does not fit into your calendar, reprioritize your list. There is tremendous power in
deciding when and where you are going to do something.

In their book The Power of Full Engagement, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz describe a
study in which a group of women agreed to do a breast self-exam during a period of 30
days. 100% of those who said where and when they were going to do it completed the
exam. Only 53% of the others did.

In another study, drug addicts in withdrawal (can you find a more stressed-out
population?) agreed to write an essay before 5 p.m. on a certain day. 80% of those who
said when and where they would write the essay completed it. None of the others did.

If you want to get something done, decide when and where you're going to do it.
Otherwise, take it off your list.

STEP 2 (1 minute every hour) Refocus. Set your watch, phone, or computer to ring
every hour. When it rings, take a deep breath, look at your list and ask yourself if you
spent your last hour productively. Then look at your calendar and deliberately recommit
to how you are going to use the next hour. Manage your day hour by hour. Don't let the
hours manage you.

STEP 3 (5 minutes) Review. Shut off your computer and review your day. What
worked? Where did you focus? Where did you get distracted? What did you learn that
will help you be more productive tomorrow?

The power of rituals is their predictability. You do the same thing in the same way over
and over again. And so the outcome of a ritual is predictable too. If you choose your
focus deliberately and wisely and consistently remind yourself of that focus, you will stay
focused. It's simple.

This particular ritual may not help you swim the English Channel while towing a cruise
ship with your hands tied together. But it may just help you leave the office feeling
productive and successful.

And, at the end of the day, isn't that a higher priority?

How to Ask a (Near) Stranger for a Favor

12:50 PM Monday August 31, 2009

Tags:Business writing, Communication, Networking

Professor,

My name is Patrick, I was in Professor Bob's capstone course where you came in and
spoke to us about your book and your experiences in the business world. I graduated in
May and have entered the Brand Licensing industry.

I noticed that you recently worked with Krusty Krab. I was hoping you could introduce
me to Sandy Cheeks, the Sr Director of Global Licensing with the Krusty Krab. The
agency I work with represents the Chum brand and I would love to speak with her
regarding a partnership to have the authentic Chum brand to enter the premium crabby
patty industry.

I appreciate any help or introduction you can make —

Thank you in advance.

Very best,

Patrick

Note: this was an actual email I received. The only modification is that all names have
been changed. (If you are fan of a certain Cliona celata, you may be able to spot his
influence in my daily life.)
Patrick, the email above would normally elicit the prompt use of the delete key. But I like
you. You remind me of seafood stew — pleasant enough, but requiring some cooking
time. In order to get you fully baked, here's some advice on how to fix your email:

Respect instead of disrespect. It's wonderful that you reminded me where we met. And
because it was a teacher-student relationship, I'm certainly more inclined to help you out.

However, you don't go that extra step of saying what you remember from the class. And
since you were supposed to have read my book, and you clearly Googled my career, it
should not have been too hard to come up with something nice to say.

The point isn't just paying me a compliment, but also showing me that if I connect you
with Sandy, you'll do your research and say something that will make your cold call more
pleasant than aggressive.

Remember that you know nothing of my relationship to Sandy. Consider the

following different scenarios: 1. Sandy was much more senior than me. 2. Sandy was
much more junior than me. 3. I am best buds with Sandy. We worked together closely and
our families go SCUBA diving off the Great Barrier Reef together. 4. My former
company has 20,000 employees and I was so many divisions away from Sandy, I had no
knowledge of either her or her department.

Actually, no surprise, it's #4. In order to get to her, I'll have to ask someone else a favor to
even locate her department. The fact that you didn't say, "If you know her or someone
who might know her," comes across as arrogant and pushy.

But regardless, you're asking me to ask someone to do something, which always has the
potential to undermine the relationship. And as your email reads now, I'm inclined to
think that's what will happen if I try to connect you.

Tell me what's in it for me — and Sandy. Your email makes clear there's something for
you to gain. But what's in it for us? I used to work for this company. I correspond with
folks there maybe once every few months. I save those relationships for a rainy day.
You're asking me to use up one of those limited coupons for you, and you haven't said
why it's worth doing that.

Don't assume I know what you're talking about. For me to write an email of
introduction, I've got to explain why I think the receiver wants to know you. However, I
haven't the faintest idea what Global Licensing does. And worse for you, I have no idea
what Chum Brands licensing is or does. Both have the word "licensing" so that's a start,
but you take me no further. I could do some Googling of her, you, your company, her
press quotes and link up all the dots...but that would be your job, right?

Give me something to cut and paste. You want me to write an email to Sandy for you.
The easiest way for me to do that is cut and paste from yours. But you've not given me
any substantive information to use.
Don't Use Txt-Speak. It would have taken 4 more keystrokes to write "Senior" instead
of "Sr." By taking a short cut, you've again told me you don't care.

I've rewritten your email to give you an example that's more likely to get you positive
results:

Professor,

I met you in Professor Bob's class. Your lecture there was one I really enjoyed. I
especially remembered how you said "business is about people." Given that truism, I'm
reaching out to you.

I was reading your blog and that led me to do some more research on you. (I hope you
don't mind.) I realized that you worked at Krusty Krab, who I've been calling on from my
new firm.

I realize that you no longer work there, but I am hoping to connect with someone in the
Global Licensing department. (One person there is the Senior Director, I believe her
name is Sandy Cheeks.)

If you know Ms. Cheeks or can point me in the direction of how best to go about
reaching her department, I would be forever grateful. (I know it's not much, but I already
forward your blog posts regularly to the folks here at my new company.)

If it helps open a dialog, my company offers specialized licensing programs for global
consumer goods companies. We've developed techniques for growing brand awareness
and sales, and do it in a very cost-effective way. For example, a program we did for
Starfish Foods grew their sales by 18%.

I appreciate any help or introduction you can make, and would look forward to staying in
touch regardless.

Thank you in advance.

Very best,

Patrick

Reader, what do you think? Am I being too hard on the kid? What do you do when
someone asks you for a favor of introduction?
Ted Kennedy's Leadership Lessons

10:45 AM Friday August 28, 2009

Tags:Leadership, Politics

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, whose loss America is mourning, was no darling of the
traditional big business community. He fought for the little guy, for children, for the poor
and disadvantaged, sometimes against establishments and elites.

But as a leader, he was greatly admired across the political spectrum. Even those who
disagreed with his politics can draw inspiration from his life. From knowing and
observing him, I choose four leadership lessons I hope executives will take to heart.

Remember that performance is everything. No one is entitled to a position. When Ted

Kennedy won his Senate seat for the first time during the Presidency of his brother, Jack
Kennedy, critics said that he inherited his position in the family business and bought his
way into the Senate through favoritism. Critics dismissed him as a weak younger brother
who would be merely a celebrity Senator. How wrong they were. Ted Kennedy's route to
the Senate stopped mattering once he began performing for his constituents and
collaborating with his colleagues.

Kennedy did not rely on dynasty as destiny. He rolled up his sleeves and mastered the
details, and he kept studying and learning as the issues changed. No one is entitled to a
top executive position; everyone has to earn it through his or her deeds, and each is only
as good as his or her command of the issues. When Mitt Romney challenged Kennedy for
his Senate seat in 1994, the pivotal moment of their debate — which probably won
Kennedy re-election — involved Kennedy pressing Romney for specifics on his health
care plan, with Romney finally admitting he hadn't worked out all the details. "Well that's
what you have to do with legislation," the Senator replied. Kennedy knew the job. His
career rewards followed from his service. His career rewards followed from his service.

Even when Kennedy could not move the needle forward on really big change (health care
reform), he supported incremental improvements (children's health insurance), which
meant that he survived in office long enough for his big agenda to come close to being
enacted.

Find a higher purpose. Think values first, and suspend ego.Ted Kennedy believed in
public service as an honorable profession and in government as a vehicle for helping all
citizens get their chance for high quality of life. Once he found his core mission (after
losses and setbacks), it was clear where he stood and who he stood for — other people
who needed a voice because they couldn't always speak for themselves.

This was not about Ted Kennedy or his ego. He was known for humility, graciousness,
and geniality in the Senate; he was not engaged in partisan contests to win for the sake of
winning. The goals were so important that he was willing to work with political
opponents to reach agreement on measures that served the people. His work with
Republican Senator Orrin Hatch was a model for collaboration that transcended
ideological disagreements. He supported President Bush's No Child Left Behind
legislation for school reform; the cause of children was so important that he would rather
compromise and get a little something done than prevent any action. Negotiating by
calling on higher principles made him effective with principled members of the other
party.

Business leaders who operate from a sense of values and purpose — a theme of my new
book SuperCorp — are similarly able to win adherents and negotiate better deals,
because they suspend ego in support of a cause larger than themselves. By working for
others rather than scrambling for career advantage, they enhance their own reputations.
And the work is more important than title or position. Ted Kennedy will go down in
history as the Lion of the Senate and one of the most important figures of our time,
although he was not the President, nor even the "CEO" of the Senate or his party. His
mission gave him moral power as important as position power.

Keep going. Ted Kennedy faced numerous public crises, any one of which could have
destroyed him, yet he proved resilient and able to learn. Through strong efforts on behalf
of the greater good, he restored confidence in his leadership. The still-mysterious incident
at Chappaquiddick in which a young woman drowned nearly drowned his career, too; far
from showing courage, he ducked accountability. But Kennedy bounced back by
redoubling his efforts to do his job well. He fumbled in his bid for the Democratic
Presidential nomination in 1980, but recovered by devoting even more energy and
passion to his work in the Senate.

Never forget family. The hard-working Kennedy was a model for executive dads. De
facto father to several touch-football-game's worth of children (his own and those of his
late brothers and formidable sisters), he organized weekend outings to Civil War
battlefields and made sure they studied their history lessons. Family was at the center of
his satisfaction in life. At the Kennedy compound at Hyannis Port, which I toured with
him, he showed pictures of the late President John F. Kennedy and late Attorney General
Robert Kennedy and talked of them as if still alive. The consummate professional whose
greatness grew every year was still, at heart, a family man. His concern for relationships,
and the love that guided his family through numerous tragedies, gave him the strength to
take on tough challenges.

Business leaders should heed that lesson above all: Performance, mission, and endurance
are possible because the people we support and care about also support us.