Project: It's Focus Time!

There are innumerable things that can distract us in life, or depending on our personalities, that we can use to distract others.

For some of us we are very intentional about our time and how we use it to get to the finish line.

However, if our eyes are on the finish line, are we paying enough attention to the projects at hand?

Are we allowing the finish line to be one of the distractions? Is the deadline distracting us from quality over quantity?

It is time to prioritize our focus and be intentional in the small details, so there are no loopholes to our structure, and the integrity of our work is something of which we can be proud.

It is time to check ourselves before we check off our tasks:

Do only what needs to be done. That is not an excuse to be lazy or do the bare minimum, but do not do as much as you can just because you are capable of doing it. If it can wait until tomorrow, let it wait. Do what you are supposed to do today, and do it well. Do not let things that can be done tomorrow distract you from today’s perfection.

Schedule everything that requires your presence. Never overestimate your memory. It is far too easy to overstress yourself mentally, but it is worse when you overbook yourself. It is impossible to be in two places at once or take two calls simultaneously. Color code everything in your virtual calendar for billing, meetings and any information that needs your attention. Use specific colors for team meetings, internal meetings, joint meetings, external meetings, phone conferences, etc. Your brain is already over stimulated, so you need a visual of what is going on to hold you accountable.

Use as few contact methods as possible. The more methods you allow people to reach you, the more methods there will be for miscommunication. If you email with one person, try to email consistently with them, at least for the remainder of that entire project. It is much easier to track the progression of the conversation as well.

Be on time, every time. And not just to the office or to a meeting. Be on time with your presentations, with your proposals, with your projections. Whatever your work entails, be on time, as it frees up space mentally and physically for the next batch of work to resume. Not only that, but it is the professional thing to do. You know, what you were hired to do?

Enjoy what you do. If, like in school, the only thing you like about your job is recess or lunch, then it is time to reassess what you do. If you cannot love what you do, your focus is clouded through desperation to get out. Not a victorious finish line.

Ready to reevaluate your workweek and focus on the in-the-now "focus time" and not just the finish line?

-The Green Couch Project

Project: The Walgreen’s Way: Prompt and Proactive

The enterprise started like any other. Named after the surname of a brilliant man.

This business was born of a necessity and based on education and experience. As a pharmacist, he interwove medicine and the mediocre.

A man, sick himself, found his vocation and that man was Charles Rudolph Walgreen.

He becomes the drug store and a retail location providing knick-knacks, non-pharmaceuticals and soon would food and beverages that sold just as well as his original concept.

When things were going good, things were good. But when things were slow, Walgreen did not allow the business to stop. In less than 40 years he opened 110 stores. How?

Because when things got slow, he decided to not do the norm and accept the fact that his fiscal year was safe. He questioned how could he beat the competition but also satisfy his clients and keep them happy? He questioned how could he make things better? 

Thus he created the 2-minute drill.

The drive-thru, delivery service and microwave dinners seem impressive now, but Walgreen set a standard that created word of mouth advertisement so positively it could possibly be why Walgreens is the largest drug retailing chain in United States.

So what was this drill that deserves such laud and honor?

It’s 1893 and you live close to Walgreen’s south side Chicago location and called them in for non-prescription items, Walgreen would answer the phone and repeat the items enunciating the name of the caller, their address and their desired products. Loud and clear. In doing this, Walgreen’s assistant could accurately collect all the items while Walgreen continued to keep the caller on the phone discussing weather and whatever else might be happening on the social calendar. 

All items collected, the assistant Caleb Danner, set out to make the delivery as Walgreen was still talking to the client. And then the doorbell rings. The client excuses himself or herself from Walgreen’s conversation and finds their order at the door. Astonished at the speed of delivery, Walgreen set the standard for customer service and all through his Two-Minute Drill.

So what’s your 2-minute drill? How will you set your company apart from others or improve your morale? How will you redefine customer service?

-The Green Couch

Project: Time Management for The Speed Skaters of Life

Is everyone going too slow, or is that you are just going too fast?

When others are dependent on you and your business is dependent on others for revenue, your option for a pause button, for a step back and a week or two off is just not a convenience you can afford.

You are passionate about your business, your people, your product.

You want success, but you also want to protect your sanity and keep the company inline with a healthy and constructive direction – one that benefits from the head employee, down.

You want structure, and you want to guarantee satisfaction. You want to manage your company efficiently. You want more hours in the day. We all do. However, we all get 24, and we all need sleep and there is only so much coffee can do, so for those of us that speed skate through life, what are our options?’

Here are ten business tips that will help curb those 18-hour days down to 12 hours and maybe, someday, even just one day here or there, down to 10 or 8 hours!

1.    Make a List and Check it Twice

Writing down your tasks is essential. Even if your cognitive and memory skills are sharp and superior have your day-to-day tasks written out is important for your entire staff and team, specifically you. And nothing is more satisfying than crossing it off once completing. Then crossing it off again. Done. 

2.    Delegate

Does it really need to be done by you? Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you have to. Delegating is a great opportunity to build the next generation of the management team. This will help ease your burden when overloaded, as they will have gained experience to make executive decisions in your absence or do the tasks when you cannot. Delegate. Say it with me, delegate.

3.    Develop a Routine

Embrace the mundane and rename it if you have to as tradition. Creating a sense of routine within your company culture will help establish a sense of calming reassurance and reliability. If everyone knows where they should be when, what time things need doing and how things need to look and feel, the representation of your company will always be cohesive, and time will be utilized more constructively and efficiently.

4.    Sync Your Schedule

Google calendar, iCal – whatever system you use, using an OS platform, program or app that allows you to have remote and on-the-go access will enable you to stay ahead of your game, especially if you can grant different levels of authorization and calendars to other associates and employees. Being in the know is important when you are on-the-go or just need to know where to go and when and why.

5.    Have a 15-Minute Recap and Reboot Session

Begin your day right. Gather with your staff for a recap of the progress from the previous day or week and reboot in the morning with a project review for what needs done that day or week.

6.    Block Out Mental Productive Blocks

A little social media, here, just a quick question, a brief conflict resolution with the stuck ink cartridge. These seconds add up, and the sum is equivalent to an hour, maybe even two. Sometimes the My door is always open for you mentality needs to have a sabbatical. Just an hour a day where you can clear your inbox, rest your head on your folded arms on your desk for 10 seconds of that hour.

7.    Don’t Bring Your Home to Work, and Don’t Take Your Work Home

It is worse than mixing work with pleasure – sure go golfing. Do get some business clients – but never shall the two (home + work) mix. Mixing the stress of those two lives is a huge time management drainer. When you leave the house, try to leave your dirty dishes at home. When you leave work, try to leave the overflowing inbox there.

8.    Say Yes to The No Word

Does it really need doing? Does it need done by you? Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you should, or have to.

9.    Provide Undivided Attention

Focusing 100% on the things right in front of you: We talk a lot about not multi-tasking. About the importance of seeking your purpose and dedicating your life to that cause and how that single decision can alter the significance to our rate of success. All profoundly and astoundingly true but sometimes we forget that focusing on the one person in front of us is equally important. Whether it is the person on the phone, the subject of our email or face to face physical person staring at us waiting for direction or just a, Hello, how are you this morning? Undivided attention is never a waste of time.

10.    Don’t Ask. Start Tracking

“I cannot believe it is already August. I cannot believe school has already resumed, the summer is gone, and I have barely vacationed. Where has the time gone?”  Don’t ask, where has the time gone? Start tracking it! No, no, no. Let us not get carried away and use those “clock in” time machines. But between syncing your calendar and utilizing time management systems like FunctionFox, you’ll see where your time has gone, and where it has not gone. That is always the more interesting answer, is it not?

Now, take a breath and pick one of the above and begin enjoying your managed time.

-The Green Couch