Productivity —
Your ability to handle stress inducing circumstances is directly proportional to your preparation. Those who master the art of business know the art of dissection. They follow a few simple steps to avoid repeating the same stress in the future.
1. Examine the root cause. We normally are dealing with the end result of a situation. […]
Your business is your baby and like any parent you want and need feedback from the team about how the baby is doing. Too often the advisor delegates to team members and then worries about whether or not the actions have been executed. This lack of communication is a major cause of team dysfunction.
To increase […]
Set aside a day to do Life Planning, not just business planning. Look at your entire life-to-date. By answering the following four quesitons you will have a better idea about what is most valuable to you going forward.
Four Questions to Ask and Answer
1. What have I accomplished in my life? List all […]
Below is an email from the Manager of Advisory Services of a corporate client, following the Attract Clients workshop we did last month.
Lloyd, I just got off the phone with one of our Financial Advisors. He had a meeting with a $50 million prospect Friday. He used, as he called it, “the Lloyd […]
Hire Based on Skills, Not Tasks
Most businesses hire based on a person’s knowledge and experience in performing specific tasks. The problem is that we each have a very specific skill set. Some people are more analytical and others more creative, some relate better to people and others to paper, some like details and are […]
Remove What Does Not Work
Peter Drucker encouraged businesses to examine all their systems, products, services, tools, and technology on a regular basis to make sure they continued to deliver. The business then improves or eliminates the ineffective item and replaces it with something that does meet or exceed expectation. A practice that is not […]
The *New York Times* recently featured an [article](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/business/25multi.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin) compiling the results of several new studies looking at distractions and multitasking.
The following confirms the necessity of stopping the distractions:
>In a recent study, a group of Microsoft workers took, on average, 15 minutes to return to serious mental tasks, like writing reports or computer code, after responding […]
If you are overwhelmed with tasks a todo list can be dangerous. Taming this potential monster and being able to manager the task in our life is important. Web Worker Daily asks:
>How many ways are there to manage your task list? Almost as many as there are people with tasks to do. Here are 20 […]
With all the distractions surrounding us in the office, staying focused is difficult. Dave Cheong, entrepreneurial software engineer has a few suggestions.
> Over the years I have worked at many client sites and a variety of office layouts. On one project in particular, we had as many as 80 people in a project team, seated […]
How do you handle client questions? Sometimes your business can be overwhelmed with questions that seem to be trivial or time consuming. If clients are asking a lot of small questions, there may be a trust issue. Deal with the disease and not the symptom. Build the trust and the questions will go away.
Some clients […]
Act Two of the [Three Act Planning](http://lloydwilliamsinc.com/2006/11/28/planning-a-three-act-play-2/) process is [Getting Things Done](http://lloydwilliamsinc.com/2005/11/11/getting-things-done/) (GTD) by David Allen. He created the best way to deal with the stuff that fills our lives. Merlin Mann of 43folders starts the new year with a great [recap of the GTD posts](http://www.43folders.com/2007/01/04/gtd-recap-07/) on his site saying,
>I’ve gotten several requests from readers […]
I am often asked at workshops, what are the best questions to ask a client or prospect? Too often we make the process more difficult than needed. [John McPhee](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McPhee), author and contributing editor for the New Yorker is known for his ability to interview by asking simple questions. Canadian investigative reporter [John Sawatsky](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Sawatsky) says reporters […]
Personal Productivity - Part Four
Whenever you lose clarity about what to do next, or your mind feels like it is wading through mud, try this simple five step process.
Personal Productivity - Part Three
The brain is a poor storage device, but is great at data processing, problem solving, and creative innovation.
With all the activities that can occupy your day, where do you spend your time? Are you doing what you value the most? These questions occurred one evening and I sat down with pen and paper to discover the answers for myself. The following is a simple exercise you can do to answer the […]
Dedicating yourself to being a lifetime learner is the greatest gift you can give yourself and those around you. The following are twelve books I recommend unconditionally.
One of the powerful features of technology is the ability to refresh or restart whenever needed. It cleans up the mess and starts everything over fresh. It would be nice to have a refresh button on our lives sometimes. For many years, I have used the first week of December to be my Annual Refresh […]
Personal Productivity - Part 2
Before attempting to think about the future of your business, it is often necessary to clean up all the clutter collected from the past. In this podcast we discuss a simple method to eliminate all the mess.
Personal Productivity - Part 1
Too often we sit with a pen and paper and just start planning our life from the top-down. Months later, we wonder why we are unable to maintain all the grand plans we made earlier. The enthusiasm and energy, that sustained us during our planning time, see
The following are blogs I value and visit on a regular basis:
43 Folders - Productivity
http://www.43folders.com
Life Hacker - Productivity
http://www.lifehacker.com/
Working Smart - Tools and Technology for Business
http://michaelhyatt.blogs.com/workingsmart/
The Daily Rotation - Technology Headlines from Around the World
http://www.dailyrotation.com/
Round the Rock - Kayak Circumnavigation of Newfoundland
http://www.cackletv.com/wendykilloran/
If you have a favorite blog please comment below.
If you would like a replacement for your planner, cell phone, pager, palm pilot, blackberry, note pad, digital voice recorder, pocket camera, local cyber cafe, and maybe even your computer, look no further. Palm’s Treo 650 for Palm OS may just be your answer.
This handheld PDA has replaced almost all the above for me. I […]
Scheduling appointments is a business necessity. It is the energy by which a business moves forward, yet this laborious activity is often avoided. Whether you do the scheduling yourself, or delegate it to an assistant, the activity is not enjoyable. Therefore the task is often delayed and business productivity suffers. Would you like a process […]
Being on the road for the past several weeks, I appreciate the value of a good book to refocus my efforts and energies. Planning comes in two varieties: top-down explained in Steven Covey’s book First Things First and bottom-up illustrated by David Allen’s book Getting Things Done. While everyone would like to start at the […]
They are a community of people who see the value of paper as a medium for planning, productivity, creative expression, and exploring ideas. They encourage visitors to share advice and inspiration, and they love to see submissions for templates, kit images and story articles. They are also the official home of the free D*I*Y Planner […]
