365QOD-Day491

"MVP" - most valuable priority

Not quite what you thought?  Why is that we can spot a player during the game that is the most valuable player but yet we constantly work on oririoties that are not our most valueable priority?

Start your day off slowly and ask yourself, "what are my top three MVPs?"  Then spend most of your day working towards accomplishing these.  If something else takes first place then do not frown and it will come in when it is ready.

Today's question is:
"What are your top three MVPs?"

365QOD-Day417

"If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is there to hear it, did it really fall?"- an old saying

I read a Wall Street article on digital hoarding.  It talks about how people never get rid of email, photos, files, etc.

I found the article interesting.  In my life I have been around folks who collected "stuff".  I worked with people who had lockers full of junk.  One former colleague of mine had piles and piles of paper in his office that looked like they would fall down with the smallest breeze. Or my favorite is when I see a person in a car with all of the other seats full of literal junk driving down the street.

Those instances are examples of physical hoarding.  To me digital hoarding does not hurt anyone except the person that hoards the stuff.  They are not the same.

So what if they have files from 20 years ago?  Digital storage is almost free.  Can you imagine the cost of 1Terabyte of storage 20 years ago?  Now probably for less than $100 you can store so much data.  Again, there is a big difference between data and information.  They have data that they might never turn into information.  The challenge is to find something you are looking for that was received but "misplaced".

Today's question is:
"If an unread email arrives, and it just sits in your storage, was it ever received?" 

365QOD-Day397

"I'll get to that"- who me?

Most of us have struggled with procrastination at one time or another.  So can procrastination be good?

I read a HBS article today and one line in it stood out:
"NASA scientists and engineers found that performance increases as deadlines shorten, but when the deadlines became too short, performance declined."

In other words it is OK to procrastinate up to a point.  Once that point is crossed then stress sets in and the quality of your work will be greatly affected.  Maybe a point in which you have to get 100% of the work done in 80% of the time is the optimal procrastination point? 

I would guess that probably most people would guesstimate a point in time when 20% of the time is left to do 80% of the work.  In other words you have started, got 20% of the work done, and are quickly running out of time. 

Today's question is:
"How do you tell the optimal procrastination point to begin work?"

365QOD-Day391

"Wow someone finally did it!"- my surprise

About 15 years ago a friend of mine, Vincent Kostoff, and I discussed starting a business.  The idea for the business was born because I had three people with 30+ years of experience retire in my group without transferring their knowledge to anyone.  This seemed a great waste of human capital.

The business would provide software that would capture knowledge of a person, as the person was creating materials towards a project, so that others could learn from it .  Great idea that was ahead of its time.

In an earlier post I mentioned the idea that God takes insurance against us by giving the same idea to several people at the same time.  God does this because God is interested in the execution of the idea and not who does it.

With this in mind, I read a story in Entrepreneur magazine about a company that has created software called TeamBrain.  The software does pretty much what we had envisioned.  In other words, God got tired of waiting for us.

Today's question is:
"What great idea are you sitting on and not executing?"

365QOD-Day213

"Oh it is so easy"- an illusion

It is hard to make yourself finish something.  Initially there is a joy about the newness of
the something one is trying to accomplish.  The excitement of trying to figure it out.
Next comes the uncertainty of whether you have what it takes to finish it.  The priority of
the thing is questioned.  Lastly, our energy level weakens and inaction takes over.

I recently read a story(I don't remember the source) that gave the 10 most common excuses for inaction
#1  I'm too stressed out
#2 I don't believe I can
#3 I don't have the time
#4 I don't have the energy
#5 I'm too emotional
#6 I'll always be the way I am
#7 I'm afraid I'll make a mistake
#8 I'm too sick
#9 I'm too skeptical
#10 I can't do it alone

Today's question is:
"Which one is your favorite number?"

365QOD-Day106

"Do or Do not.  There is no try"-Yoda

A year ago I was walking towards a hospital in Chicago.  Standing on the corner was a tall black gentlemen.  I looked at him and smiled.  I asked, "Are you Chris Garner?"  He said, "Yes" and "How did you know?"

I had read the book Chris wrote Pursuit of Happiness.  I had also seen the movie in which Will Smith plays Chris and had seen him on TV once.

During our conversation I asked him what he was working on next and he told me that he had published a second book and working on a speaking tour.

He asked me what I was doing and I said that I was also "trying" to publish a book.  He got serious on me and said that there is no try.  Either you do or you don't. 
I felt like a hypocrite.

What was interesting to me about his admonition was that I had used the same line to demonstrate that try means nothing.  In a classroom I would often hold a marker and ask a student to try to take the marker out of my hand.  They easily take it and I roll my eyes and ask them what they are doing.  I remind them that I instructed them to try.

Once I get the marker back in my hand, I tell them to try again.   This time they are usually confused but again they take the marker out of my hand.  Again I ask, "What are you doing?"  I remind them that they are no try.

At the end I end the lesson with the quote.  Either you do or you don't.  There is no try.

A year later I am in the final stages of publishing the book he admonished me for... next month it should be out.

Today's question is:
"What are you trying to do?"

365QOD-Day81

"Ok, OK..enough about procrastination...can you talk about something else?"  This is the last of the four parts.

What is willpower?  The ability to make yourself do something even when you don't "feel" like it.

It is important to realize that willpower is not inexhaustible.  It can be exhausted rather quickly.  And when we do, then our ability to regulate our behavior is very low.  So how do we make it stronger?

One method of strengthening the willpower is to remind yourself of your values.  This process of self-affirmation will help to strengthen your willpower.

Another technique is to remember in an earlier step we talked about stop, acknowledge, and then Just do IT!.  In a sense this is no different that mindful meditation.  Attention is the first step in self-regulation.  By learning to keep focused attention will reduce the likelihood of procrastination by making the self-regulation muscle stronger.

Today's question is:
"Have you ever tried mindful meditation?"

P.S Dr. Pychyl's blog is:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dont-delay

365QOD-Day80

"Just Do It!"- slogan

In this third part on procrastinating we want to talk about reducing uncertainty and distractions.  If we can do this then the likelihood of success is increased.

First of all planning is very valuable.  BUT planning and taking action are not the same thing.  However, when we are confronted by a task that is aversive we have to recognize that this will increase the likelihood of procrastinating.

The procrastination is due to uncertainty with how to proceed.  This is due to a lack of structure for the task.  So we must make the task concrete in order to reduce the uncertainty.  In addition, when it is time to act we must stack the deck in our favor by reducing the number of distractions that will take us away from the task.

The distractions could be things such as email, computer screen, or simply the environment you are in.  Give yourself the chance at succeeding by removing yourself to a place where you will minimize the number of distractions and you will more likely not procrastinate.

Today's question is:
"Can you reduce the uncertainty and distractions with your task?"

365QOD-Day79

"No pain...no gain"

Often times we think in terms of short term gain instead of long-term gain.  This short term precedence is dangerous.

According to Dr. Pychyl, when we feel that the task we have to confront makes us feel anxious or overwhelmed we give in and look for something that makes us fee good.  We seem immediate emotional relief by walking away from the task OR leaving it for tomorrow.

It is important to realize that we can have those negative feelings without acting on them.  The key is to stay put for a minute and do not give in.  Acknowledge the feeling and get started with the task anyway.  This forward momentum will change your emotional state and you will progress towards the next step.

So... Stay Put, Acknowledge It, and the Just Do IT!  The secret is the first part.

Today's question is:
"Can you stay put for a minute?"

365QOD-Day78

"Once you get started on a task you will continue doing it.  The key is to get started.  Emotion comes from motion.  Once motion occurs then emotion follows"

Continuing with the idea of conquering procrastination.  One of the techniques that Dr. Timothy Pychyl offers is called Time travel.

As human beings we are often not just irrational BUT predictably irrational. Future rewards seem distant and of less importance than the task at hand.  This is often true when the actual task is fun and pleasant or even free of thinking i.e web surfing.

We have to take a look at a task and visualize a future where we form concrete mental images as if it is happening in the present.  You might visualize yourself actually working on a sub-task of the task and succeeding.  Visualizing your approach and the successful completion of that sub-task is helpful.

Once you are done Time traveling connect the present to the desired future by actually accomplishing the task or part of the task.

Today's question is:
"Can you visualize a future success of a sub-task?"

365QOD-Day77

"Even indecision and inaction are really decision and action"Timothy Pychyl

I was doing a little paper cleanup when I ran across a Psychology Today article I had copied from Sept/Oct 2009.  The article was about procrastination.  I re-read it.  No I was not procrastinating about reading it since then...funny :)

The best part of the article was a formula that was presented by Piers Steel.  He conducted a meta-analysis of 70 different studies.  His ultimate contribution is the utility formula which measures how likely you are to procrastinate on any given task:

Utility Function=E*(V/I)*D=EVD/I 

where
E(Expectancy)    is person's expectation for succeeding at a given task
V(value)             is importance/fun a given task presents
I(Impulsiveness)  is how badly you need the reward for finishing
D(delay)             is a person's need for immediate gratification, their sensitivity to its 
                          delay, how easily distracted you are

So before starting a task ask yourself and give a score on scale of 0(false)-1.0(true) for each category.

For example, suppose I want to run a marathon.  I might put my odds at succeeding at 50% so I assign a 0.5.  The value of the task is pretty high for me since it is one of my life goals so a 1.  The impulsiveness for doing it is about a 0.5.  My health would improve but my life would not change drastically.  Do I need to do it now?  It could wait till next year although my knees are starting to hurt more so I better do it this year..so a 0.7.  Putting it together gives   P=.5*1*.5/.7=  .357  or 36% chance of procrastinating... Cool

So if I want to reduce  the P value I can increase the .7 or decrease the .5 values.  I could increase my belief of succeeding by reading runner magazines and training more often.  I could decrease my I score by making it more of a scheduled routine activity.  Now I am armed with some ideas on how to reduce the likelihood to procrastinate.

Today's question is:
"What is something you are procrastinating about? (What are our numbers?)"