Organization – 3 Big Ideas

Professional Development - What I am Currently Reading

Robert c. Pozen, Extreme Productivity: Boost your Results, Reduce your Hours ISBN 978-0-06-218853-3.  

This guy has an AMAZING  track record when it comes to achieving his goals whether it be in  his personal life, his educational goals or  with his professional accomplishments. This section of my blog is going to be devoted to trying and implement some of his concepts into my own life: We'll keep track together of his suggestions throughout the various chapters and see where it takes us!

·       Basically, this is what I would call "the third leg" of my Blog– Making the best use of the time we have to achieve our personal and professional goals. The other two being diet and exercise.

Disclaimer: I tend to classify myself as a workaholic and as such I am constantly explore ways to tweak that behavior so I am not just working long hours, but rather, I am being productive with the time I have while making sure I am meeting my goals both at home and for work.

·         The first chapter deals with organization and so that is where I’ll start my notes and share with everyone how it is going as time goes on.

Part I: Three Big Ideas

Articulate your goal & rank them by priorities

1.      Write down everything you are doing to achieve your goals

2.      Organize your goals into three columns by time horizons

a.      Career goals (5 + years)

b.      Objectives (3 to 24 months)

c.       Targets (1 week or less that support Objectives)

3.      Rank Objectives by their importance

4.      Rank Targets by relative importance

a.      Those assigned to you by others

b.      Those serving your objectives

5.      Estimate how you spend your time

a.      Compare that with your prioritized Objective and Targets

6.      Understand and address the reason for any mismatching between you goals and current time allocations

 

Exercise #1:

Write down everything you do and break it out into Personal Aspirations and Corporate/work objectives.

 Exercise #2:

Now rank Career Goals and match up Objectives and ensure each one has one or two associated Targets: See mine below

	Career Goal	Objectives	Targets
	Foster long- term career options with company	Learn the Banner Higher Education (HE) Student/Learner Module	Read manuals, user guides, release guides
			Make notes on what I read
		Support Leadership Objectives	Work closely and understand my immediate Manager’s needs
			Understand corporate needs
		Round out my understanding of the Banner HE General Model which supports everything else	Read manuals, user guides, release guides
		Learn Accounts Receivable best practices	Read manuals, user guides, release guides
		Maintain my knowledge of Financial Aid in HE and the Department of Education	Read manuals, user guides, release guides
		Move “Up the Ladder”	Deliver services to clients
			Perform system configurations
			Engagement Reports
			Prep calls with clients
			Complete time sheets
			Do expense reports
			Answer email
			Troubleshoot client issues
			Administrative activities related to client travel
			Organize and manage my home office
		Maintain Billability	Meet new clients
		Travel the world	Understand both Canadian and European Higher Education Solutions
		Understand Social Media, Web pages and  the like	Start a Blog, experiment with Facebook, RSS feeds, Click-through’s, Analytics
	Have my own company one day	Establish a Company name	Create a name
			Identify partners
			Identify service delivery objectives
			Be honest about strengths and weakness
		Establish a web site	Think about content
	Have a healthy and happy life	Have a great marriage	What can I do to support my Husband today?
		Become a better  cook	Cook/try something new every week
		Be healthy	Eat right
			Workout
	Keep up with investment property	Maintain quality tenants in my investment properly	Communicate with current tenants frequently
			Track rental income
			Maintain relationship with Realtors/ Placement services
		Hire/maintain relationships with Accounts and Lawyers	Meet with professionals as needed

Focus on the Final Product

1. Start at the End - After gathing a day's information make a tenative conclusion
2. Perform a "Mid-Flight" check of your conclusions...make revisions if needed
3. Structure Procrastination; Some folks needs deadlines (myself included); if this is the case make mini-deadlines for yourself or (seriously) go see a Psychotherapist as you might have a deep seated fear of failure?
4. Focus on results...not hours worked
5. Mind your Own Business - Do not focus on coworkers actions or habits

Don’t sweat the small stuff

1. Low priority tasks...it's OK to do B+ work
2. OHIO: Only Handle It Once - otherwise set a reminder in you calendar so you are not shuffling for paperwork/details after the fact....again
3. Multi-task cautiously; Never with Clients or Superiors; co-workers...acceptable.
4. Respond immediate to high-priority requests
5. Do not send one-word "Thanks" type of emails
6. Avoid  bureaucratic rules at all costs