Post from Transformation Tom- Work Smarter, Not Harder: Chapter from “The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas”

August 27, 2018 / tomdowd / News

I have known too many people who work far too many unproductive, long hours. They cause stress for themselves while running in circles to get their jobs done. Working more hours and adding more effort does not always complete the task you are attempting. I have found that when I am running on a treadmill harder, it does not get me to the destination any sooner. As I have worked harder, I have often lost my ability to think with a level head and I start to build up that feeling of self-induced pressure, pushing me to work even harder.

We may think that working harder means putting on the blinders and looking straight ahead to get to the finish line. We also think this means we need to work faster and put in more hours to get more done. When the feeling of control continues to get lost, you may feel the need to work even harder as the pressure grows more intense to meet approaching deadlines and get to that finish line. The feeling you have in the pit of your stomach may tell you to dig deeper and get more intense. I suggest the counterintuitive advice of stopping what you are doing at the moment and regrouping. I recommend trying to understand the goal or the task you are trying to accomplish. Are you trying for quantity or quality, or both? Are you trying to meet a deadline, or just trying to get through your emails? Who is putting the line in the sand? Is it your boss or personal pressure you are putting yourself under?

Taking the time to stop and understand the true purpose of your mission and task is time well invested, which will assist you in coming up with a game plan and pointing you in the right direction. You need to incorporate what should be considered a lower priority and push that to the side for now, or delegate those tasks while you accomplish the most pressing task. These first steps are critical in order to see what is on the horizon. The ability to stop what you are doing to outline the next steps will save you time and effort in the long run. It is possibly the hardest thing for go-getters to do because we have been programmed to constantly be going a million miles per minute.

I personally like to maintain and reference things I have worked on in the past. I pride myself in organizing my working files (paper and virtual) for easy access and reference. Far too many people waste time reinventing the wheel. Are you always scrambling to put together a last-minute presentation? I have base slides that I constantly keep updated and put together. There are few times that I can just copy the slides in without making modifications, but it always gives me a starting point to get past the writer’s block stage. It is also not plagiarism if you are copying from yourself and your team (as long as you have permission and are giving proper credit). The ability to have a solid foundation to work from actually gives you time to dedicate to the creative process (e.g., brainstorming, team discussions). You might be surprised that your end product looks nothing like the original, but that jumpstart puts it in motion. I have been around many hard-working and smart people who have already put the effort into creating reference materials that can, and should, be used more than once when it makes sense. Using their materials is the sincerest form of flattery. The key is to keep it organized and updated, and know where to go to get off to a quick start.

There are certain times when there is a legitimate need to put in more hours to complete a job. You must ask yourself, is it necessary each day and each week? Do you find yourself constantly putting out fires and not being able to manage your calendar because of it? If this is the case, you should complete a self-assessment around what kinds of fires you are constantly putting out and what commonalities there are.

For example, at the end of every month is your manager asking for the same types of reports or summaries? The first couple of months may still be fire drills, but the rest should be routine. You should do what you can to build routines that minimize the unexpected.

In your preparation for the unexpected, you should categorize and target your efforts so that when you are under pressure, you know how to utilize your resources. For example, can you never find a phone number? If this is the case, make sure your phone directory is always updated. A few years ago, when we used to do more paper filing, I had a manager who tried to hide her files from me in a large drawer. When I asked her why she just didn’t file them immediately when she was ready to put them away, she said it would take too long. Looking at her pile, it was true, but if she had done it right away it would not have been an issue. I realize these examples are over-simplified, but that is the point. The simple actions of doing things right away are often our biggest timesavers.

Don’t let the simple tasks be your time constrainers. If you are not good at remembering to keep your directory updated, place a recurring appointment in your calendar as a reminder, delegate it to someone who can, or know where to get it from someone else. You can be creative in your simplicity, just make sure it gets done. Do not allow the small tasks to add up to a point where they are causing the frustration, or make you work harder than you need to.

Can you never find the notes you took from that meeting last week? Centralize them. Whether your notes are handwritten or done online, have an organized place to go back to them—you can have paper files, online folders, or scanned objects. It is not possible to remember every conversation you had. However, if you took notes, it was obviously important enough for you to jot it down. The key message here is to know where to go to get it. Do not dump it into a generic folder or stack in the inbox. To state the obvious, if it is related to something from Human Resources (HR), create a folder for HR. Your filing and organizational techniques will never be the same as anyone else’s. That’s all right as long as you know where to find things. I have seen too many “Miscellaneous” folders that only cause more hard work in the effort to find something that can be so easy to reference with a small investment of time.

Finally, set aside specific times to get to your routine tasks, such as reading your emails. You should set aside specified time to do this every day as opposed to managing them throughout the day while you are multitasking. Although some multitasking is necessary and can be done productively in today’s busy world, such as eliminating junk emails during a conference call, attempts to run your entire day doing multiple things at once is not working smart.

If you are attempting to read critical email details during a conference call, you are not truly listening to what the other person is saying. In reality, you are not even multitasking since you are sacrificing one of the tasks. You are simply taking up a phone line while reading emails. I am being realistic and want to make sure we all have the appropriate prioritization and dedication to the task. Remember, it is not about just getting the job done, it is about getting the job done right. You may create more work than expected if you give a half answer to a conversation you were only half paying attention to, or erroneously respond to an email without reading all the way to the bottom. I know we have been told to do more with less and to keep our noses to the grindstone. I get it. Just be smart about it.

Thomas B. Dowd III’s books available in softcover, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only):

Now What? The Ultimate Graduation Gift for Professional Success
Time Management Manifesto: Expert Strategies to Create an Effective Work/Life Balance
Displacement Day: When My Job was Looking for a Job…A Reference Guide to Finding Work
The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World
From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide received the Gold Medal at the 2013 Axiom Business Book Awards in Business Reference
The Unofficial Guide to Fatherhood

See “Products” for details on www.transformationtom.com. Book, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only) purchase options are also available on Amazon- Please click the link to be re-directed: Amazon.com

advice, anxiety, author, be different, book, business, business development, Business Training, change, Coach, coaching, communication, Communications, Confidence, control, development, Dowd, example, excuses, fear, gestures, growth, hard work, Inspiration, leadership, live, Management, Marketing, mental, Motivation, Networking, orator, Personal, personal growth, personality, physical, practice, preparation, prepare, present, professional advice, Professional Development, public-speaking, relax, Résumé, Résumé Writing, set an example, set exmple, smart, speaker, speaking, stage, strength, success, tense, tension, Thomas, Thomas Dowd, tom, Tom Dowd, training, transformation, transformation tom, transformationtom, visualize success; live in the present, work hard

Post from Transformation Tom- Do Something With Book Recommendations: Chapter from “The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas”

August 14, 2018 / tomdowd / News

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I was stressed around the December holidays one year. My manager and I were not getting along well. We were having an especially difficult time communicating with each other. Still, the holidays are a time to reflect upon the previous year and to add hope for the coming year. I came back to my desk to find a small wrapped present from my boss. I opened it up and found the book, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff, by Richard Carlson. We did not have to communicate directly to understand the message he was sending me.

We were not enjoying the work atmosphere because we were creating an up-tight environment ourselves. We were also spreading this throughout the work environment. The subtitle to that book is, “And it is all small stuff.” I got the point my manager was trying to say in a not-so-subtle way, and I really got hooked on what Dr. Carlson was trying to say. I received the book in 1997, and it has not left my desk since. I added a recurring calendar appointment to read a passage each day.

Reading a small passage everyday sets up my attitude with a fresh perspective and gives me the settling feeling I need to take on the business world. I am appreciative of the gift and the creative way my manager sought to provide me with the message he thought I needed. We still had our struggles and eventually found that we were both better off in other areas. However, my ability to tolerate my existing situation has improved with the enlightenment of the book.

Sometimes, a gift is just a gift. However, when it comes to book recommendations, especially obvious ones landing on your lap, it deserves to be read. Whether a book is a gift or someone says, “You ought to read this book…,” take notice and add it to your reading list.

Even if the message is not as obvious, you should take notice. You may be in a class and a book gets mentioned. Write it down and at least read the summary to pique your interest. Your world can be broadened and diversified. If you have a tendency to think one way or have a strong perspective on a subject, have a willingness to see the other side. Your openness to try to get a different perspective than your own will broaden your ability to be more diverse in your thoughts and beliefs.

You should also consider different genres, different styles, and mix between professional and personal reading. You do not have to load yourself up with 365 days of pure leadership and business self-help books. A few summers ago, I challenged myself to read War and Peace for the simple sake of saying I could do it. I had stared at the book on the shelf for so many years. Coincidently, I am friends with a couple who were also in the middle of reading it. I was excited to be able to share their thoughts when we got together. We had a great discussion about the first half of the book. The second half may take a little longer since they decided not to finish it. I won’t give you my book review but enjoyed the challenge of such a difficult and lengthy read. I tried to understand the complexity of the author’s attempt to weave in so many characters, and I tried to understand what had gone into making it a classic. I laughed when I had heard that the author was paid per word. I now understood, at least, a little behind the making of a classic.

I had a great manager who was also my sounding board after we went on to other positions. He is now a good friend and he referred a book to me that he was very excited about. My manager-friend had such a cool head in the middle of a crisis. He always maintained a level head and provided feedback when you didn’t even realize it. He made the people around him feel these “aha” moments on their own—after a little prompting to encourage them to learn along with him, of course.

He was once described to me as having the ability to rip off your skin, and gently put it back on you. This so-called compliment of him was an accurate description because I was usually kicking myself after saying to myself, “How did I miss the obvious?” The book he recommended to me was It’s Called Work for a Reason: Your Success is Your Own Damn Fault, by Larry Winget. My manager-friend was always teaching me about taking ownership. He encouraged me to put myself into situations I had always wanted to be in, but may not have been confident in my ability to do it. The book he recommended was not my natural style, but was a good lesson in learning how to read something from a different perspective. I finished the book, inspired to take on the world—with a little chuckle, of course.

Many people have referred leadership books to me over the years, with some being better than others. Without getting political, I really enjoyed Rudy Giuliani’s book Leadership. September 11 was hard-hitting for the United States and much of the world. Whether we liked it or not, Rudy Giuliani was the leader when one of the more tragic historical events of the U.S. occurred. He had several key messages including “surround yourself with great people” and “weddings discretionary, funerals mandatory.” I enjoyed the cut-to-the-basics approach of his message.

If someone thinks enough of you to hand you, send you, or suggest a book, take advantage of it. You should be honored and humbled that someone thought of you when he or she picked it up. You should invest the time to read it and understand the connection that made it relevant to you. Your ability to like or dislike the book to some extent is irrelevant. The message someone is sending to you could be strong. The investment from you, and the possibility that you walk away learning something, is strong. Take advantage of the situation and read the book. Be aware: sometimes, there is not necessarily a connection to you and it is just a good book. There is nothing wrong with that, either.

Thomas B. Dowd III’s books available in softcover, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only):

Now What? The Ultimate Graduation Gift for Professional Success
Time Management Manifesto: Expert Strategies to Create an Effective Work/Life Balance
Displacement Day: When My Job was Looking for a Job…A Reference Guide to Finding Work
The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World
From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide received the Gold Medal at the 2013 Axiom Business Book Awards in Business Reference
The Unofficial Guide to Fatherhood

See “Products” for details on www.transformationtom.com. Book, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only) purchase options are also available on Amazon- Please click the link to be re-directed: Amazon.com

advice, anxiety, author, be different, book, business, business development, Business Training, change, Coach, coaching, communication, Communications, Confidence, control, development, Dowd, example, excuses, fear, gestures, growth, Inspiration, leadership, Management, Marketing, mental, Motivation, Networking, orator, Personal, personal growth, personality, physical, practice, preparation, prepare, professional advice, Professional Development, public-speaking, relax, Résumé, Résumé Writing, set an example, set exmple, speaker, speaking, stage, strength, success, tense, tension, Thomas, Thomas Dowd, tom, Tom Dowd, training, transformation, transformation tom, transformationtom, visualize success

Post from Transformation Tom- Set an Example: Chapter from “The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas”

August 6, 2018 / tomdowd / News

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Be the person you want others to be. This is easy to say but hard to do. Whether we like it or not, in the professional world we are constantly on stage in plain view of people around us. Whether it is the people we work with, work for, or customers we serve, we are always being observed and judged—in person, on the phone, or through written communications. We are constantly being viewed, whether face to face, in conference calls, video conference calls, or just walking down the hall.

Observers are making judgments constantly, and we are being labeled with an ongoing reputation, good or bad, every day. There is a laundry list of people with reputations in any office, and we have probably worked with them all at one point or another. In some cases, I know I’ve made my own uninformed observations and judgments of others.

Every company has one of the following: the complainer; the individual who refuses to work unless given A to Z instructions; the person who freezes under pressure; the one too good to associate with others; the one only in it for himself, and at least one overly competitive team member. The list can go on and on, but you get the point. Reputations and judgments can be made quickly and are tough to get rid of. There are traits and personalities that only add to the intensity of the reputations that bubble to the top. In any case, you are constantly being looked at and judged in the eyes of your peers and colleagues.

When our corporate culture was a little looser with expenses and entertainment, we had month-long events in one of our departments. We had contests and practical jokes, all in the supposed context of fun and employee satisfaction. Points could be accumulated as part of the team competition through practical jokes. The event culminated in a festive sports outing during which we went outside to release some tension and have some fun. I was constantly reminded by my manager that it was “supposed to” be fun. I say “supposed to” because over the years of this annual event, the practical jokes got more intense as teams tried to outdo each other. Besides the risk of injury, there was a higher likelihood of risk to reputations if you were a target. The atmosphere began to get a cliquish feel to it, like the days of junior high and high school. The leadership encouraged it. As a manager, I was told to play along.

I like to have fun as much as the next person, but felt the intensity was reaching a level that was pushing the line of professional boundaries. As soon as I had this feeling, I could have done something. There were several examples I could have set. I could have had a long conversation with the leaders who condoned this and clearly stated what was on my mind. I could have reacted better to the jokes that were being played on me. I could have realized nobody was getting hurt and subsequently could have made it more of a team effort.

There were times I felt that I was individually being targeted, which only exacerbated the issue, pushing the jokes to see how much further our competitors could get under my skin. I would come in as early as possible to rid my office of whatever was in it or done to it. In the month-long event, I had a reputation for overreacting to the practical jokes, and I inadvertently created a game in which the other teams would see how much they had to do to keep me from cleaning up their practical jokes before everyone came into work that day. This caused stress personally and created a divide in an event that was originally intended for the cohesion of the collective group. What kind of example was I setting?

I should have shown more maturity, gotten the right people involved, and set the example. I could have gathered the opinions of the team and determined how they wanted to handle the entire event. If we had talked through it, we may have even found that no one wanted to do any of it, but felt the peer pressure to keep it going. I had the opportunity to set the right example but never chose to take it.

Unfortunately, some of the events brought Human Resources into the picture that forced a long conversation with me. I had a chance to state all of my points. It was not easy or comfortable. However, it felt right. I wish I had set the example and not waited for HR to intervene. Although I moved on to another area the next year, the event was significantly toned down, and the pressure to find the next great practical joke was gone. Instead, it was back to good old-fashioned office fun, with competitions and food. By the way, you can never go wrong in making people happy with food.

Thomas B. Dowd III’s books available in softcover, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only):

Now What? The Ultimate Graduation Gift for Professional Success
Time Management Manifesto: Expert Strategies to Create an Effective Work/Life Balance
Displacement Day: When My Job was Looking for a Job…A Reference Guide to Finding Work
The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World
From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide received the Gold Medal at the 2013 Axiom Business Book Awards in Business Reference
The Unofficial Guide to Fatherhood

See “Products” for details on www.transformationtom.com. Book, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only) purchase options are also available on Amazon- Please click the link to be re-directed: Amazon.com

advice, anxiety, author, be different, book, business, business development, Business Training, change, Coach, coaching, communication, Communications, Confidence, control, development, Dowd, example, excuses, fear, gestures, growth, Inspiration, leadership, Management, Marketing, mental, Motivation, Networking, orator, Personal, personal growth, personality, physical, practice, preparation, prepare, professional advice, Professional Development, public-speaking, relax, Résumé, Résumé Writing, set an example, set exmple, speaker, speaking, stage, strength, success, tense, tension, Thomas, Thomas Dowd, tom, Tom Dowd, training, transformation, transformation tom, transformationtom, visualize success

Past Events (Book Signings, Speaking, Training, Coaching, and Radio Programs)- Prior to 2014

February 25, 2015 / tomdowd / Events, News

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12/23/13 Taped “Your Kind Voice with Transformation Tom”- guest Debby Adair

12/19/13 Taped “Your Kind Voice with Transformation Tom”- guest Mitch Farrar

12/17/13 Individual Coaching Session Camden, ME

12/9/13 Effective Business Communications West Falmouth, ME

12/7/13 HR Power Hour with David Ciullo

“A Job Search Success Story” Radio Interview

12/4/13 Individual Coaching Session- LinkedIn

12/1/13 Individual Coaching Session Camden, ME

11/22/13 District 8 Toastmasters Fall Conference St. Louis

Transformation Time with Transformation Tom

11/20/13 Effective Business Communications (early session)

11/20/13 Effective Business Communications (late session)

11/18/13 Individual Coaching Session- Interviewing Skills

11/17/13 Individual Coaching Session- Résumé Writing

11/16/13 District 36 Toastmasters Conference Silver Spring, MD

“Impromp-To Success”

11/9/13 District 44 Toastmasters Conference Atlanta, GA

“Impromp-To Success”

11/8/13 District 44 Toastmasters Conference Atlanta, GA

“The Transformational Journey: A Story of Self-Awareness, Belief, and Action”

11/2/13 District 45 Toastmasters Conference

“Impromp-To Success” St. John, NB Canada

10/22/13 Belfast Free Public Library Belfast, Maine

Book Signing, Transformation Time presentation

10/19/13 Maine Authors Publishing Bi-Annual Authors Conference

Rockland, Maine

From Fear to Success: Presentation Skills for Authors

10/15/13 Radio Interview

A Kind Voice on Employment, Opportunity and Innovation Internet Radio Program

10/1/13 Bangor Public Library Bangor, Maine

Book Signing, Transformation Time presentation

9/21/13 Individual Coaching- Resume-writing

9/8/13 Individual Coaching- Interviewing

9/7/13 Metavivor Fundraiser- Author Meet and Greet Annapolis, MD

Book Signing, Transformation Time presentation

9/5/13 Edgewater Public Library Edgewater, MD

Book Signing, Transformation Time presentation

8/29/13 Waldo Technical School Administration Northport, Maine

Make Your Story Come Alive- Résumé Writing

8/16/13 Portland Rotary

Holiday Inn by the Bay, Portland ME

Book Signing, Transformation Time presentation

8/7/13 New England Mobile Book Fair

Book Signing, “Transformation Presentation”

8/7/13 J. V. Fletcher Library

Book Signing, “It’s Not Bragging If It’s a Fact: Improving Interviewing Skills”

8/6/13 Virtual Meeting / Teleconference

LEAD for Woman- Bank of America

Command and Influence — Better Business Communications

8/1/13 Lewiston Career Center

Transformation Time / D-Day: When My Job was Looking for a Job

7/30/13 Individual Coaching- Time Management

7/28/13 Portland Jetport Portland, ME

Book Signing

7/27/13 Belfast Book Fair Belfast, ME

Book Signing

7/25/13 Individual Coaching- Resume Writing

7/24/13 HR Power Hour with Dave Ciullo WLOB 1310 Radio

Radio Interview (to be aired Saturday July 25 10:ooam-11:00am)

7/18/13 Individual Coaching- Understanding Corporate Culture

7/17/13 Tewksbury Library, Massachusetts- 100 Authors Program

Job Seekers Networking Group- Interviewing / Book Signing

7/13/13 New England Mobile Book Fair

82 Needham Street Newton Highlands, MA

Book Signing

7/12/13 Portland (Maine) Jetport

Book Signing

7/8/12 Individual Coaching session- resume Dover-Foxtrot, Maine

6/20/13 MPBN Panel Discussion Portland, Maine

Jobs in Maine

6/18/13 Virtual Meeting / Teleconference

LEAD for Woman

Let Your Connections Work for You – How to Build a Professional Network

6/6/13 Winslow High School Winslow, Maine

Jobs for Maine Grads (JMG) Keynote Address

6/5/13 Book trailer production with Maine Authors Publishing

6/4/13 Falmouth Memorial Library Falmouth, Maine

Book Signing, Transformation Time presentation

6/3/13 Individual Coaching session- resume Camden, Maine

Book Signing, Transformation Time presentation

6/1/13 Individual Coaching session- resume writing

5/30/13 Samoset Resort Leadership Summit

Bar Harbor, Maine Powerful Professional Transformation: Unleashing Leadership

5/29/13 Axiom Book Awards

Providence NYC- Received Gold Medal for “From Fear to Success”

5/24/13-5/26/13 District 45 Toastmasters Conference

(Winner of the Table Topics (Impromptu) Contest, Speaker’s Panel)

Moncton, New Brunswick Canada

5/11/13 Individual Coaching Session- Interviewing

5/4/13 Made in Maine Expo- Book Signing with Maine Authors Publishing

Spectacular Event Center Bangor, Maine

4/23/13 Belfast, Maine

Discovering Your Authentic Leadership Discussion (based on HBR article)

4/12, 4/15, 4/18/13 Maine Streaming Media Bangor, Maine

Taping “From Fear to Success” Audio Book

4/10/13 Virtual Lunch and Learn- Webinar

From Fear to Success: Practical Public Speaking and Leadership Success

4/6/13 Area 5 Toastmasters International Speech Contest Belfast, Maine

(Winner of International Speech and Table Topics Speech Contests)

3/27/13 Waldo County YMCA Belfast, Maine

Living to Die, Dying to Live speech

3/26/13 Winthrop (Maine) Rotary Club (Winthrop Area Federal Credit Union on Highland Avenue)

Book Signing, “Jack” and Spech Dissection/Focus Group

3/25/13 Five Towns Adult Education Camden, Maine

Authors Night- discussion on self-publishing

3/21/13 Conference Call- Panel Discussions

Benefits of Professional Networking

3/21/13 Rockport Opera House Rockport, Maine

Book Signing, A Night of Inspiration and Transformation

3/18/13 Five Towns Adult Education Camden, Maine

Public Speaking – Practical Public Speaking- Part III

3/14/13 Dirigo Toastmasters Club International Speech Contest Belfast, Maine

3/12/13 Portland (Maine) Kiwanis Club

Book Signing, Transformation Time presentation

3/11/13 Five Towns Adult Education Camden, Maine

Public Speaking – Practical Approach (Part II)

3/6/13 Rockland Rotary Club Rockport, Maine

Transformation Discussion

3/5/13 Belfast, Maine

From Fear to Success: Practical Public Speaking

3/4/13 Five Towns Adult Education Camden, Maine

Public Speaking – Practical Approach (Part I)

2/27/13 Virtual Meeting / Teleconference

LEAD for Woman, Transformation Discussion

2/25/13 Five Towns Adult Education Camden, Maine

Business Focused Time Management & Organization

2/21/13 Carrabassett Valley Public Library Sugarloaf, Maine

Book Signing, Transformation Time presentation

2/19/13 Camden (Maine) Lions Club

Living to Die, Dying to Live

2/15/13 Thomas College Public-speaking Class Waterville, Maine

Transformation Time presentation, Living to Die, Dying to Live speech

2/8/13-2/10/13 Camden, Maine

U.S. National Toboggan Championships- Announcing

2/5/13 Augusta (Maine) Rotary (UMA campus)

Book Signing, Transformation Time presentation

2/4/13 Five Towns Adult Education Camden, Maine

Communication Skills for Business Professionals

1/28/13 Five Towns Adult Education Camden, Maine

It’s Not Bragging if It’s a Fact- Interviewing Workshop

1/26/13 Toastmasters Leadership Institute

Motivating the Team

1/22/13 Rockland (Maine) Public Library

Book Signing, Transformation Time presentation

1/22/13 Belfast, Maine

Business Focused Time Management & Organization

1/21/13 Individual Coaching Session

Resume Review and Networking

1/13/13 Maine Lions Club Gardiner, Maine

Book signing, Transformation Time with Transformation Tom

1/2/13 Belfast, Maine

Make Your Story Come Alive — Résumé Writing Workshop

12/22/12 Bangor Mall in JC Penny Court

Book signing Bangor, Maine

12/21/12 Portland Jetport

Book signing Portland, Maine

12/16/12 Sherman’s Books & Stationary Freeport, Maine

Sponsored by Sherman’s Books & Stationary

12/5/12 Belfast, Maine

Professional Networking

12/3/12 Five Towns Adult Education Camden, Maine

Keep Your Key Contributors — How to Retain Your Top Employees

12/1/12 Sherman’s Books & Stationary Camden, Maine

Sponsored by Sherman’s Books & Stationary

11/27/12 Camden Public Library Camden, Maine

Post from Transformation Tom- Manage Your Time, Don’t Let it Manage You—Part I: Chapter from “The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas”

January 4, 2013 / tomdowd / News

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Manage Your Time, Don’t Let it Manage You—Part I

I have found in my over twenty years of professional experience that poor time management skills are one of the biggest pitfalls for leaders. I am going to intentionally repeat myself: poor time management skills are one of the biggest pitfalls for leaders. I took organization training over eighteen years ago, and I understood at that time the power of managing my day and beyond. More importantly, I realized I couldn’t survive in the business world until I could manage the swirling days, weeks, and months around me. By actively staying organized, I found I could dedicate the appropriate time to urgent and important items, spend more time developing people, and yes, put out those dreadful fires that often come our way.

When you are running at capacity, the fire drill exercise will sacrifice something else that may need to be dropped. However, if you have full control and knowledge of your own capacity, you can not only do it right, but you have a chance to do it all, and more. Included in this section are highlights from an evolving organization course I have taught over the years for new and experienced managers. I have a positive reputation for being highly organized at work. Some call it being anal retentive or compulsive. However, very few people can remember me ever missing a key deadline.

First and foremost, people are the highest priority. Regardless of your job responsibilities or what is on your calendar for the day, people who work for you take the top billing. As a manager, how do you get all of the administrative work done if you are constantly bombarded with questions from your direct reports? Good managers can anticipate questions and concerns through staff meetings and team meetings. It is extremely important to lay out clear expectations and preparations, including what might be the best time to connect with you, what is on your plate for the day, and who to contact if you are not available. Being ahead of the game is also important. You can do this by anticipating common questions and put answers in your reports’ hands before the questions are even asked. Everyone wins.

Managers should also understand the most effective ways to present information to a particular audience. Knowing who you are presenting to and how well they will absorb the information is critical. How does your group like to be taught? For example, a manager might find success in asking open-ended questions to ensure clarity. Tossing facts and figures at a group of people and expecting them to remember can be difficult. There should be interaction and engagement from everyone. The group of people learning should feel comfortable, and the leader should invest the appropriate amount of time when it is all over. Sometimes in the past, I rushed information to people by talking at them, and was always surprised when I got a question later about the same subject. I have found it extremely helpful for time-management purposes to invest the time up front so that everyone learns and digests the information from the start. Group settings are extremely helpful in avoiding duplicate messages. If you are not a leader, you should ensure that this gets practiced by discussing this with your manager.

Leaders need to build time into their calendars for the unexpected. How can you do this if you don’t know what’s coming relating to those “I need it now” requests? If you are scheduled for an eight hour day, and your calendar is booked for that entire eight hours, it is guaranteed that you will not get everything done. The unexpected will happen during that time—I promise. I like to block off time in my day with follow-up items that occupy space on my calendar to cover loose ends. The blocks of time also allow flexibility if meetings go over or someone needs me for something important. These blocks of time are great for reflecting on past meetings, preparing for upcoming meetings, or conducting in-depth work.

You should also schedule time to get away from your desk. This builds in another block of time for the unexpected, and allows extra time for the flexibility to take a break and stay fresh. Below are some additional tips for the unexpected:

Schedule time for emails, return messages, etc. This minimizes your need to multitask and builds more open time. If you build an hour a day for this and it only takes thirty minutes, take advantage of the bonus time for other tasks.
Build in time for daily operations and be sensitive to potential impacts within your business. For example, in a call center, Mondays are often high call volume days. Managers are needed on the floor. Build that time on the floor into your calendar for non-meeting activities. Do not schedule your staff meetings during peak times, since the chances for interruption are high and a less productive meeting will occur.
Use miscellaneous blocks of time on your calendar for routine events that may not require a specific time. For example, you know you need two hours tomorrow to provide feedback to people on your team, or do a daily task like quality monitoring. You may schedule it for 10:00 A.M.-12:00 noon. The actual time is not as important as reserving the block of time of two hours. You can build in the flexibility to move this block of time through the same day as you need to as long as you remain committed to making it happen. Be careful of pushing it too late into the day, when you risk not completing it and are required to move it to another day. When you start carrying appointments over to other days, you run the risk of creating a bottleneck situation. For example, pushing the two hours to another day puts you four hours in the hole the following day.
Use recurring meetings to hold future times and dates. This habit gives people a heads up to reserve times and dates and should increase attendance to key meetings. It is respectful of other people’s calendars, since it will give everyone ample time to know what is ahead for them, and they can look forward to the same time and date each week or month.

One of the greatest things I did for my own sanity was to keep a pad of paper near my nightstand at home. How does this relate to time management? When random thoughts pop into my head at night, I write them down immediately. The benefits are as follows: 1) I don’t forget, thus I don’t waste time trying to remember, 2) I sleep better knowing I have immediately addressed my thoughts, 3) I have stronger ideas since I have reached the inner non-stressed part of my brain and can formulate a plan of action. All of this allows me to enter into my day knowing where and when things are happening, with a clear plan of attack to get it done.

Don’t be a slave to your calendar, but be committed to it and avoid constant appointment pushing. Consistent appointment pushing to another day is a red flag that you need to change the calendar process—it is either too full or you need to be more committed to it.

You should invest ample time in understanding your future calendar appointments. Organize tomorrow before leaving today. You should invest five minutes before leaving for the day. I make very few promises, but I will make an exception. I promise you will sleep better knowing exactly what’s on your plate tomorrow. You should actually schedule this five minute event for the end of day as a calendar appointment. Five invested minutes will save you hours later. Additionally, organize the next week every Friday. Look out a week at a time. Again, schedule this Friday event on your calendar. Finally, organize each month with a few days before the current month ends. Look out a month at a time. Once again, schedule this event on your calendar. This shouldn’t be done on the thirtieth of the month—it should be done around the twenty-sixth to avoid surprises in the first week of the following month. The outlook a month ahead of time allows you to determine what normal routines you need to conduct each month and how to spread them accordingly. When we have certain obligations that are required on a monthly basis, I find as high as ninety-five percent of the people on any given month, if given the choice, will do the task at the end of the month. Be in the minority and get things done before they are scheduled and due.

We are in a culture of procrastinators. I am on the opposite end of the spectrum, almost to the extreme, viewing it as the antithesis of procrastination. I want tasks out of the way as quickly as possible so that I can concentrate on other things. I front load certain events in the first or second week of each month to get them out of the way, and allow flexibility in case other events come up that need to be accomplished prior to the month ending. There have been many times when something did come up at the end of the month, and a number of leaders did not meet their requirements as a result. Keeping ahead of your schedule allows for the unexpected. As I was going through my career growing pains, it was effective time management that often kept me afloat.

Additional reading specific to time management: The Productivity Pro- Laura Stark https://www.theproductivitypro.com/blog/2013/01/how-your-standards-can-slow-you-down/#respond

Thomas B. Dowd III’s books The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World (Honorable Mention at the 2012 New England Book Festival) and From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide (2013 Axiom Business Book Awards Gold Medal Winner and 2013 Paris Book Festival Honorable Mention) are available under “Products” on www.transformationtom.com. Book and eBook purchase options are also available on Amazon- Please click the link to be re-directed: Amazon.com

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