WOW Word-Of-the-Week #495: Tactics
January 30, 2014 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on WOW Word-Of-the-Week #495: Tactics
Tactics – things you need to plan to attain a particular goal.
How did you do last week with regard to accomplishing a task or project? Have you made a list of goals that you would like to accomplish? How much time have you spent planning on how you could achieve that goal?
This week’s WOW includes the other two strategies from Kevin Stacey’s article titled, “Creating a Sense of Accomplishment.”
He writes, “By implementing a few simple time management strategies, you can create a sense of accomplishment every day, no matter how often you are interrupted or side-tracked by other people:
- Commit to spending a defined amount of focused time on the item you selected. If it’s realistic to complete the entire task that day, firmly resolve to work on it for the entire
day until it is finished. If it’s a long-term project that you can’t realistically complete in a day’s time, give it a minimum of one hour. Spending an hour on offense is an hour more than nothing! No matter how much time you allocate, make sure you fulfill the commitment. Use a stopwatch to time yourself and turn it off every time you get interrupted. You will quickly see how fast your offensive work becomes defensive reacting.
- If you can, leave your workstation and “hide” in an empty cubicle or conference room. If you’re uncomfortable saying no to others and cutting off interruptions at the start, try working in a place where you can’t be interrupted during your offensive time. If that’s not possible, turn off the phone, close the door, shut down your email or put on headphones to give yourself some uninterrupted work time. When you have to push others away in order to get your work done, remind yourself that this will help you relax tonight and feel like your day was a success.
Almost everyone can go on the offensive for at least some part of the day. Some of us may have to arrive earlier or stay later when there is no one else around. Others may have to take more drastic measures like making themselves scarce in an alternative location, or directly telling co-workers, “I’m trying something different, and I’m not going to be available from 10-11 am. Thanks in advance for your support.”
Many people will feel some initial discomfort when they stop acting defensively and start proactively managing their time. But remember, it’s only when the pain of the old way supersedes the discomfort of the new way that change happens. However, if nothing changes nothing changes. So, what are you going to change?”
This week’s focus is on creating tactics. What would you like to achieve or have a desire to accomplish? What are the steps you need to take to make that happen? Is something stopping you or making you feel uncomfortable about it? Who can help you with your tactics?
WOW Word-Of-the-Week #494: Accomplishment
January 23, 2014 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on WOW Word-Of-the-Week #494: Accomplishment
Accomplishment – something completed successfully.
How would you on rate yourself on completing tasks or assignments? When given a task or project do you start immediately? Do you get caught up in multiple projects and find yourself unable to complete any of them?
This week’s WOW piggy backs off last weeks and includes some strategies from Kevin Stacey’s article titled, “Creating a Sense of Accomplishment.” He writes, “By implementing a few simple time management strategies, you can create a sense of accomplishment every day, no matter how often you are interrupted or side-tracked by other people:
- Divide your daily activities list into two columns: offensive and defensive. The items on the offensive side of the column are tasks on your to-do list. They may be projects
with a looming deadline, or they may be usual, predictable activities. The items on the defensive side of the column are reactionary tasks, such as responding to crises, interruptions, voice-mails and e-mails. Your lists will vary greatly according to your industry and how much autonomy you have in planning your day and allocating your time.
- Review your list of offensive items. Ask yourself, “What is one task that I can complete today, or make significant progress towards completing, that will make me feel better about myself, my day, my job, or my work ethic? What achievement would make this day a success?” This task may not be the one you want to do. In fact, it may be the one you have been procrastinating on the most.
Next week I will give you the other two strategies. This week let’s focus is on accomplishment. Do you want to move up in your organization? Do you believe you haven’t moved up as quickly as you thought you should have? How successful are you at accomplishing your assigned tasks or projects on time?
WOW Word-Of-the-Week #493: Execution
January 15, 2014 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on WOW Word-Of-the-Week #493: Execution
Execution – accomplishment of a task or project.
Do you like to complete tasks or projects? Do you have a tendency to procrastinate or put things off until later? Do you find yourself unable to relax or sleep if you don’t accomplish a task?
This is one of the words that best describes my husband. He loves to accomplish projects and tasks as soon as possible. While I think that is a good thing, there are times when you need to “not execute too quickly.”
We had a Trex deck that was defective. Several of the boards were flaking within 6 years and it had a 30 year warranty. When I called the company in 2011 and told them they sent 
someone out to assess the situation. At that time they were willing to replace 20% of it. I had a feeling that more boards were going to be defective over time. That feeling turned out to be correct and at the end of 2013 they were willing to replace 100% of it.
Had I been too quick to fix the problem we would have run into the same problem again. Not to mention that the deck would have looked terrible. Trex fades over time and the new boards would have made it look like a “patchwork repair job.” Not acceptable to me!
Kevin Stacey wrote an article titled, “Creating a Sense of Accomplishment.” He says, “One of the biggest producers of stress is going to bed feeling like you accomplished nothing all day but spin your wheels. Anxiety is sure to arise after an unproductive day where tasks are beginning to accumulate. When that happens, it is almost impossible to relax and shut off the world for the night.
On the other hand, when we end the day with a sense of accomplishment, we can exhale, breathe deeply, relax and sleep soundly. Our minds are free to focus on other pursuits, and we wake up feeling re-charged, in balance and ready to face another day.”
This week’s focus is on execution. What projects have been on your desk too long? Do you have co-workers that don’t complete their projects on time? Do you have a project that would be better served if it wasn’t accomplished too quickly?