Insights For Success

Strategy, Innovation, Leadership and Security

Productivity

Try something new to re-energize yourself

ProductivityEdward Kiledjian

We are creatures of habit and sometimes nothing can be more energizing that trying something pleasurable and new. Find something you have wanted to do for a while and just commit to getting it done ASAP (start it as soon as possible).

You will get a rush of the happiness hormone (dopamine). For some people, this becomes the catalyst that launches them in a new and better direction. It is a simple yet very powerful idea.

The power of NO!

ProductivityEdward Kiledjian

Most people are in the business of pleasing others and find it difficult to set boundaries and say no. Remember that always saying yes means you are always putting others before you. It is important to ensure that you give yourself permission to be a little selfish and let people know you have limits. This is one of the most rewarding things you can learn and it will also greatly increase your productivity.

Saying No everywhere

The above tip is useful for all aspects of your life and shouldn’t be restricted to business only settings. It is not uncommon for people to say “Yes” and give up something much more critical and valuable just to please others. Think of that “quick” meeting you agreed to participate in that ended up eating 3 hours of your day (instead of preparing the boss’ report)?

Why is it so difficult

Each of us has our own personal reasons why Yes feels better than no but they may revolve around/

  • Wanting to be a helpful person. You may feel that turning down a request will make you look like a cold hearted and “bad” person.
  • Your mother always thought you to be polite and saying no just feels rude. This is especially true when you may have to say no to a boss. This is a core motivator for YES in many overseas countries like China and India.
  • You want to be seen as a contributing member to your clan.
  • Fear of the opportunity cost. This is especially true un customer/supplier type settings where there is a fear that saying no may prevent future opportunities.

Most of the above are fallacies and sometimes saying yes [properly] will actually yield better outcomes.

Do it for the right reasons

No one is asking you to be rude or condescending, the most effective way of saying No is to be clear but polite.  The best way to deliver the No is to say it explain why in a clear and concise fashion.  It may also be good to offer an alternative when possible.

I’d love to do XXX but unfortunately I am working on a high priority activity right now, can we do XXX later?

If you can’t then be upfront and say why.

I love the idea but unfortunately I can’t support it because XXX happened last time.

Sometimes your requestor may be expecting an immediate response and your No may be used to buy some time.

Let me think about that a little and I’ll get back to you tomorrow.

Sometimes the proposal or request may simply be inappropriate or untimely so you may have to resort to a clear No.

I appreciate your suggestion but I don’t think it is the right thing to do right now.

I don’t think we can do it now but I’ll keep it in mind.

 

The ability to say NO will be liberating and done properly will make you more productive and thus able to help more people. 

Followupthen.com free email reminder service review

ProductivityEdward Kiledjian

If you are anything like me, you probably get a few hundred emails a day. Some of those emails require immediate attention but most are for future actions that I don’t need to look at now. So how do you clean up your inbox without losing the reminder for these future actions? Enter a cool new free service called Followupthen.com.

Ubiquitous

Using the service is simple, you send the email to a special (time coded) Followupthen.com email address and the service will then remind you at the designated date and time. The interesting part of this process is that it works on all platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, Ipad, Android) as long as you can send and receive emails.

It requires no special plug-ins, no complicated configuration or proprietary app.

Competition

Followupthen does have competition in this space from the likes of Followup.cc and Bomerang but it does have differentiating characteristics. Boomerang requires browser plug-ins so it limits its use and make it a little more complicated which is why I wouldn’t even consider it.

Followupthen.com allows you to send an unlimited number of reminders for free and uses more natural reminder language (e.g. to reminder you of something in 23 minutes, you simply send an email to [email protected] No account or registration required.

Their Premium service

Although we would like everything to be free, they have to have a revenue stream if they want to continue providing services. They have chosen to adopt the freemium model where most users will be able to use the free service without issues but where power users can pay a little extra and get the jacked up super powered version.

So for $24 a year, you get:

  • SMS Reminders
  • Customization of reminder email designs (company logo, layout, etc)
  • You can manage your reminders via a simple web interface
  • Calendar integration so your reminders get added to your calendar
  • Ability to have attachments in your reminder emails
  • You can use these premium services for all your email addresses

Security

Like most cloud services, they take some security precautions to protect your information but just remember that email, by it’s very nature, isn’t secure. An email can easily be intercepted by anyone between the sender and receiver.

Conclusion

I think you should try this free service right now. There are dozens of situations where it will be extremely useful.

 

Additional Service Information

How to Use FollowUpThen

 FollowUpThen requires no account to get started!

Just compose an email and include [schedule format]@followupthen.com in the "Cc", "Bcc" or "To" fields of your email. Each is a bit different:

  • BCC: You will receive a followup but we won't bug the original recipient.
  • TO: You will get a followup after the time interval you specify.
  • CC: If your recipient has not responded by the scheduled time, both of you receive a followup. Note: Your recipient has to “reply all” to include followupthen on their response for us to know about it. You can always cancel followups by emailing [email protected].

Time Formats

Here are some examples of the scheduling formats you can use:

Time Interval

Day of Week

Common Scheduling Terms

Specific Date

Specific Time

Specific Date and Time

Recurring Reminders

 

 

  • [email protected]

    • 10 minute time management course

    ProductivityEdward Kiledjian

    I love Getting Things Done and it is the basis of my day to day time management system. Like any skill, it takes time to learn and practice to master. Some people aren’t ready to make the time commitment to learn GTD but want to improve their time management. So if you fall into this category, these tips are for you:

    Start with the end in mind

    For each activity you will undertake, spend a couple of minutes to determine what a successful outcome would look like for that activity. Spending just a couple of minutes at the beginning will ensure you spend your time wisely and that you spend the right amount of time (and energy) for each activity.

    Delegate when possible

    Ask yourself if you are the best person to do this work. If not, then delegate it to the right person and move on.

    The 5 minute rule

    Anything that cannot be delegated and takes less than 5 minutes to accomplish should be done immediately.

    If you fail to plan, you plan to fail

    If you have thought about the activity, decided you have to do it and that it takes more than 5 minutes then you should decide how much time the activity will require and schedule it in your calendar. Once something is added to your calendar, it should not be rescheduled unless there is an act of God ( don’t play musical chairs with your calendar items).

    You can’t improve that which you can’t measure

    Keep a journal to determine how you are spending your time. Most people I coach, initially refuse to do this complaining of extra work. It is very important for you to understand how your time is being consumed and I guarantee it isn’t how you think it is getting consumed. This is usually an eye opener for anyone who does this honestly for 2-3 weeks. You will soon see how much time you waste on non-value generating activities and will probably shift your focus.

    You cannot multitask so don’t try

    Read my article here for details but just don’t do it. Start one activity, give it your undivided attention, complete it then move on.

    Braindump

    At least weekly, write on a sheet of paper all of your open to do action items. As you write, you will remember more commitments and add them to your list. Look at the last 2 weeks in your calendar and the upcoming week. Anything new come to mind?

    Take some breathing time

    Regardless of how busy you are, you can’t be productive for 10 hours straight. Every 45-60 minutes, take 5 minutes to walk around, stretch and just clear your mind. You will come back more energetic and productive.

    Virtual Meeting Etiquette

    ProductivityEdward Kiledjian

    We are living in a global just-in-time community where more and more of our meetings are held in cyberspace. This new reality is sometimes drive by cost and other times but convenience. Regardless of the business drivers, it requires an entirely new approach.

    In real estate, the most important quality is location, location, location. In the world of virtual meetings, it is communication, communication, communication. To have efficient communication, you need trust and your remote participants need to feel like part of the team.  This article will share some ideas on how to improve your virtual meeting etiquette …

    • Don’t forget your remote participants. I can’t tell you how many times meeting organizers forget their virtual teammates.
    • When during mixed meetings with onsite and remote participants, make sure you give all remote participants a chance to talk. It is a good idea to make the remote participants pass first or mix one remote then one onsite.
    • Remember that you can’t pass documentation to your virtual participants so make sure you send it to them early enough so they can print and /or review the material.
    • Each person who speaks (remote or onsite) should first identify themselves.
    • If your company has an instant messaging tool, it is a great idea to setup a group chat session in case remote participants are unable to jump into the conversation. Some conference bridges won’t let a remote participant interrupt the chairperson (basically anyone who is sitting with you).
    • If your participants are spread across our big blue marble, then be a good host and try to accommodate most participants (as it related to time zone). If this is a one time meeting then try to schedule it during the business day for most participants.  If it is a recurring meeting then may be switch the meeting times each meeting to accommodate the different groups .
    • Remember that remote employees don’t see physical mannerisms so avoid saying something that can be misconstrued. If dealing with an international audience, avoid regional slang and use basic business professional language.