Archives 2019

Mindset: 7 Positive Messages Provided By Procrastination

Do you procrastinate?

I can’t tell you how many times I have met with clients who initially resist telling me they procrastinate. They see procrastination as a poor leadership quality, something to train out of. I offer another explanation to my consulting clients. Set judgement aside and consider your procrastination may carry a message for you. Here are seven positive messages I have identified when analyzing my leadership coaching clients procrastination habits.

You are operating outside of your strengths.

When you operate within your strengths, you get brilliant genius energy. Genius energy activities propel you forward. For me, when I am in my genius energy, I am in strategy mode. I’m instructing a client on communication strategy or working in the background putting strategy together. I am looking at communications, scanning for inconsistency, and making words sing like music. When I am in my genius energy, I am building shared vision in teams. I’m watching it click for them. Whether it’s my team or one of my clients, seeing a team “get it” lights me on fire. When I am activating, making things happen, I am really in my zone. I can keep plates spinning knowing that the cooks are cooking up something delicious to go on them. I make things happen, for myself and for my clients. If I am stuck too long in strategy, I get listless. I like things to move! If they aren’t moving, I get out the scissors and I start cutting red tape. I pull out my personal bulldozer and plow through road blocks.

What’s outside of my genius energy? Sales. I can network once I have a personal connection, but I always go personal first and its a SLOW boil. Even then, procrastination kicks in, as does the SHOULD monster. I SHOULD be handling my own sales, right? Not necessarily. That’s why I’ve decided to bring on a sales team. By removing myself from the “doing” of the sales function and into a leadership role, I will empower my firm to grow.

Where are you operating outside your strengths? Where could you supplement that with team or vendor services?

You are operating outside of your passions.

Have you ever just felt that slog of, “I just don’t want to do it?” I think we all have. When you are jumping out of your shoes to do something, odds are you are passionate about it.

It’s kind of like this blog post for me. I just HAD to write it. And, once I started writing it, it just wrote itself. Writing is not my constant passion, however. Inspiration is necessary for me to write. I would not call writing a passion. Communicating is more of a passion for me. Communication strategy, coaching, teaching, consulting – maybe not the nuts and bolts production of it. But, when I get inspired to teach, I teach. Sometimes, passion and talent can get confused. When I get going, writing is a strength of mine. But, put me in a cubicle and tell me to write all day long. Suddenly, that inspired teacher becomes a factory worker. The flow stops because it’s not my passion.

So what’s one to do? Things need to get done, right? Blogs need to be written. If you can’t afford to grow a team to work only in your passions, give your other tasks a sand box to play in. Set boundaries with it and allow yourself to produce more, but not less. I commit to writing one blog a week because I know this blog might pique your interest about my firm. And I know, as the firm grows, I can teach someone to be my voice and to grow the content marketing, inbound marketing, piece of it. Good sandboxes keep procrastination sand from spilling out and ruining the playground of your business.

What non or quasi passions can you set a sandbox around? How can you play and get things done without getting stuck and sacrificing your precious energy?

You are depriving yourself of fun.

Inside of us, we all have a pleasure-seeking, borderline hedonistic, 7 year old. This id driven archetype wants what they want, when they want it. This inner kid is the reason we turn on the TV, reach for Facebook or other social media, allow co-workers to drone on a little too long in the middle of the day, and stretch the limits on our work boundaries. It’s kind of like going on a diet. If you went on a diet that said, NO CHOCOLATE CAKE, what do you want? You might find yourself really wanting chocolate cake, even if it wasn’t your favorite to begin with. Why? It’s because you told your inner 7 year old you couldn’t have it.

Instead, try this. Don’t time your work, allow your fun and time your fun. Always be working toward your fun. Award your focus with a big proverbial lollipop of whatever you like to do for your 7 year old.

Are you guilty of inner child neglect? What ways could you fix that this week to increase your productivity?

You need to allow a break to inspire you.

Sometimes, you just need a break to gain fresh perspective. I travel a lot and, sometimes, I find myself working at coffee shops or co-working spaces. Two sometimes three times a work session, I will shift my location for a literal change in perspective. A couch versus a table is a good choice for me to work at. This allows me to put my computer down, lounge, and observe my surroundings for a bit. Sometimes this isn’t possible in a corporate environment. But you would be amazed how feasible it might be. Reserve a conference room. Work with a co-worker in their space for a bit. Take a pad of paper to the lunch room. Or, just move to a different area of your office. A break in routine disrupts your thought patterns just enough to jog inspiration loose.

Question to ask: How can you shake up your day to day to leave room for inspiration?

You need a physical break.

Bodies are not meant to sit in the same position for long periods of time. It’s the logic behind the standing desk trend. We don’t stand exactly the same way, in the same space, for long. If we do, muscle fatigue will set in fast. Standing desks encourage movement, collaboration, and variety. Now, I’m a sitter. I always have been and I always will be. I am not advocating you run out and buy a standing desk. What I am saying is, shaking it up is good for your body. It’s good to move. As much as moving around my work space helps my inspiration, it also helps my joints. I’m not as stiff. I’m also more energized when I get up. I’ll throw in a little stretch sometimes to.

What can you do to give yourself a physical break?

You need a mental break.

Last, but never least is your mind. Procrastination seeps in when your mind is just simply tired. Stop slave driving your mind. Genius doesn’t come from overwork. Generally what you get is exhaustion, overwhelm, discontent, and a general distaste for what you are working on – no matter how much you love it. Good self communication comes from understanding when you need a mental break. You might notice this from yawning (your body and mind asking for oxygen). When you need a mental break, you may tend to breathe shallow. Shallow breathing increases anxiety. It’s also exhausting. Set your work to the side and take three diaphragmatic breaths.

Do you feel better about procrastinating now?

Next time you do it, stop and listen to what the procrastination is communicating. You can use it as a productivity hack to increase your energy, effectiveness, and awesomeness at anything you do.

Need help as a leader or with your team? Contact us!

Teamwork and brainstorming concept with businessmen seated around a table each pointing to cards with colorful sketches of light bulbs conceptual of bright ideas and solutions arranged in a circle.
Collaboration: Building Shared Vision in Your Organization

Teamwork and brainstorming concept with businessmen seated around a table each pointing to cards with colorful sketches of light bulbs conceptual of bright ideas and solutions arranged in a circle.It can sound a little harsh, but it’s true. We live in a “what’s in it for me” society. This mindset is at the core of benefits marketing, where marketers need to be very conscious (and communicative) about what the benefit of their product or service is to their target market. However, what some leaders can overlook is how they can apply benefits marketing concepts inside the organization to create shared vision and, as a result, forward momentum.

Shared vision = shared results.

When a leader can build shared vision and specific benefits around a project goal, the buy in increases productivity, momentum, and passion behind the project. In essence, it gets done easier, faster, and better because people see why the project matters to them.

This was highlighted in one of our recent projects in state government. A grant directive was passed down with a short timeline. Although the grant was provided, no succession plan was in place for this great bit of public health communication that was being developed. What Works Consultants worked with the interested internal stakeholders to determine who needed to be involved. More than that, we researched what mattered to each of these stakeholders to develop benefits-driven shared vision for the project. The result: Everyone sees “whats in it for me” and they are bought into the project.

Are there places in your organization where your projects are stuck? Maybe they don’t move as quickly because they lack shared vision.

Here are some quick tips to develop shared vision and get things flowing.

  1. Have a meeting of the minds: Take the time to sit down and discuss the challenges, aspirations, and goals of the people who you would like buy in from. This will show you “what’s in it for them” in regard to your project.
  2. Assess their position: Will they be involved, kept informed, uninvolved, or perhaps they are a supporter who can provide ideas and open doors?
  3. Enlist in their role: Once you see their role, gain buy in on time commitment and responsibilities. Set process around how they prefer to be communicated to and commit to fulfilling your communication promise.

Building shared vision can lead to great collaboration. Do you need help doing this within your organization? Set an appointment to connect with us!

 

Project Management Tips
Project Management: Are you biting off more than you can chew?

You have a grand idea, product, service, event, or project to pull off. Everyone is excited. You have a project to manage. But there’s a problem. Project management has always created problems for you. How can you assure you are not biting off more than you can chew? How do you set yourself up for success by making a project manageable to begin with?

  1. Tent Pole Project: This is the big project. It usually has a firm deadline or drop dead date associated with it. There is some sort of clear consequence tied to not meeting this date. The date is firm and is usually controlled by something outside of yourself (even if that something is just a pressure to get it done).
  2. Sub Project: These are time sensitive projects that exist within the tent pole project. They might be a little more movable in deadline than the tent pole project itself. However, too much movement on a sub project and the outcome of the tent pole project can be put at risk. Example: You are attending an event, but you need to reorder your business cards because you are out.
  3. Milestone: Tent Pole Projects can be milestones if they are under a larger tent. For example, I have a client who is speaking at a TedX Event. This event is one project inside a larger tent pole of a direct to consumer toy industry product launch. The TedX Event is a milestone for her. The development of her web site as well as the manufacturing of the product are also milestones until this major tent pole project of the direct to consumer campaign.

Project Management Tips

Then, you need to get real.

Where leaders get hung up on this in the perception of time and what can be realistically achieved in a time frame. This is where it helps to have a clear handle on start dates, completion dates, project types, costs, and responsible parties. Business will do its thing and interfere with your projects. Knowing where you are in your timeline will help you manage expectations and set yourself up for success as your project moves along.

Need help?

Do you need project clarity? Do you feel stuck? We may be a fit for you. Depending on the size of your project, one consulting hour with us could save you millions. Contact us to receive a 30 minute complimentary consultation to see if we can help.