Alice and the Mirror of Accountability

Thoughts on Time Management

Thoughts on Time Management nick.leja |September 30, 2023 |Personal Growth Ever feel like you’re spinning your wheels? Or that you’re spending most of your time reacting to the world around you instead of paving your own path? This post on time management should help! Putting the Ladder on the Right Wall Before I can effectively manage my time, I need to determine my destination. Otherwise, I’m climbing a ladder without making sure it’s on the right wall. Even if I’m highly skilled and efficient at climbing, it’s pointless if my ladder is on the wrong wall. Sometimes, I know where the right wall is. I simply need to reposition my ladder. Other times, I may feel lost and unsure about my goals and direction. In such cases, I’ve identified two exercises that can be helpful. Clarity Breaks When I’m stuck at a crossroads while pursuing my main goal, I find that taking clarity breaks helps me find the right path. Here’s how I do it: Write down what I want to figure out. Grab a pen and paper. Lock my phone in a drawer. Find a comfortable place to sit, ideally outside or in a quiet room if outside isn’t practical. Set a timer for one hour, preferably not using my phone (since it’s locked away!) Just be. During the “just be” phase, I’m not actively trying to solve the problem, judge my progress, or clear my mind. I’m just being. The first 20 minutes are usually painful as I feel unproductive and my mind focuses on everything except solving my problem. The second 20 minutes are a bit more calming as my mind begins to settle. The final 20 minutes are where the breakthroughs occur. This is when ideas emerge, and solutions to my problem surface, much like noticing the car I’m considering buying everywhere without consciously looking for it. Mental Maps If I’m ever really feeling lost or without direction, I’ll make a 5-year personal mind map for myself, typically using Ayoa. In this mind map, I list my 5-year goals: personal, professional, physical, mental, and more. Numerous studies indicate that writing down our goals significantly increases our chances of achieving them. Mind maps are an excellent starting point for this process. example of a mental map Focus on Quadrant II Activities The Time Management Matrix, created by Stephen Covey in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, categorizes activities into four quadrants based on whether they are Urgent/Not Urgent and Important/Not Important. Quadrant I activities are urgent and important, like emergencies and projects with deadlines. Quadrant II activities are important but not urgent. These include relationship building, important projects without a deadline, clarity breaks, and intentional recreation / relaxation. Quadrant III activities are urgent but not important, such as most phone calls, emails, and meetings. Quadrant IV activities are not important or urgent, such as time wasters, busy work, some calls/emails, or non-intentional escape activities (such as mindlessly checking my phone without a specific purpose). Quadrant II is where the magic’s at. Every activity here contributes towards achieving my goal. Quadrant I activities are necessary but don’t really move me forward. Quadrant III often traps people, consuming their time, and Quadrant IV is where I find myself when I’m bored or seeking distractions from life. While climbing a mountain: Quadrant I is getting back up after I fall. Quadrant II is taking a step forward. Quadrant III is looking for a squirrel that just ran past on the trail. Quadrant IV is checking my phone with no real purpose or intention. Willpower In The One Thing by Gary Keller, the author compares our willpower to a cell phone battery. First thing in the morning, our mental willpower is at its maximum, like a fully charged battery at 100%. As the day progresses, our willpower gradually depletes. By late evening, it’s nearly drained, making activities like watching TV very tempting after a long day. Because of this, for good time management, it’s crucial to prioritize our Quadrant II activities at the beginning of the day when our willpower is at its peak. It’s also important to schedule these activities. When just starting out, I would schedule (and set a timer for) one-hour blocks three times per week. Now, as much as possible, I block out every day before noon for Quadrant II activities. All my meetings, email-checking, and responding to others’ requests happen after noon. Delegate and Elevate Not all activities consume willpower equally. The more we dislike doing something, the more it depletes our willpower. It takes a large amount of willpower to pay all my bills but not so much to play a video game. To maximize our willpower, the key is to focus on tasks we genuinely enjoy or love, and delegate everything else. A helpful tool for identifying tasks to delegate is the “Delegate and Elevate” tool, which is part of the EOS System created by Gino Wickman. To use this tool effectively, I categorize my daily activities into four quadrants using the graph below: As with the Time Management Matrix, most of us get stuck in Quadrant III: things we don’t like doing but are good at. For tasks we dislike, the best approach is to delegate whenever feasible (acknowledging that the real world may not always align with this ideal). By concentrating on activities we genuinely enjoy, we can achieve significantly more since they require less willpower. Be At Peace with Losing Balance Another concept in The One Thing is being at peace with being out of balance. Constantly striving to maintain perfect equilibrium between personal and professional aspects of life can hinder progress. On any given day, it’s likely that one aspect of life takes precedence over the others. Take vacations, for example. The goal of a vacation isn’t to keep everything perfectly balanced; it’s about dedicating time to fully recharge. During a vacation, it’s okay to prioritize personal life while neglecting professional life temporarily. Similarly, there are phases when

Harnessing the Power of Listening

Almost all of us have a deep yearning to be understood. That being said, listening is hard. Sometimes, it can be very hard. The mental strength required to deeply listen is intense. There are times when someone else is talking and every ounce of me wants to interrupt and interject my viewpoint. It takes a lot of effort and patience to listen well. Every time I do it, though, the struggle is worth it. Here are some quick tips on listening that have helped me personally: Let Them Breathe Not feeling understood can feel suffocating, like you lack air and can’t breathe. If your counterpart feels suffocated, she likely won’t pay much attention to what you have to say. If you and I were in a room talking and all of the air suddenly got sucked out, you likely wouldn’t listen to anything I have to say. All your attention would be on finding air to breathe. This is much the same feeling one gets when she feels like she isn’t understood. She doesn’t care what you have to say until she gets some air. View it as your mission to give your counterpart air so she can breathe as quickly as possible. You’ll be surprised how quickly the argument will dissolve and turn into a positive, productive conversation. You can do this by making her feel understood. Rephrase and Label Emotions To show someone we understand her, we should repeat back what she said in our own words, essentially summarizing what she just said. If there are emotions tied to what she said, we should also label those emotions. For example, if someone just got done venting about how much she hates her job because she doesn’t feel challenged and does the same thing over and over, I could say something like, “So it sounds like you are really unhappy at work because you don’t feel like you’re learning or growing. Is that right?” Ask Questions vs Making Statements Conversations are fluid, and it may not always be apparent how you can repeat something back to the other person and label their emotion. When this happens, ask questions such as: Can you explain what you meant when you said ___? Can you tell me more about ___? Why did you feel ___ when that happened? Questions like those invite the other person to sift through their thoughts and expand, helping you, and even themselves, truly understand how they’re feeling. Statements can be confrontational, putting the other person on guard. Questions, on the other hand, are more exploratory and comfortable. Try to Get the Other Person to Say “That’s Right” Whenever someone says “That’s right” to something you’ve said, you have reached clarity and understanding. Keep rephrasing and repeating back what the other person says, label emotions, and ask questions to gain understanding until the other person says, “Yes, that’s right.” Resist the Urge to Defend or Problem-Solve Two types of conversations in which listening is incredibly important are arguments and conversations dealing with problems. Arguments During an argument, your counterpart is likely expressing thoughts that can be perceived as attacks. Our initial instinct is to defend ourselves or share our perspective, but before we do, it is important we make our counterpart feel heard. If some of my team members just got done telling me they feel I prioritize making money over their safety in the workplace, my initial instinct is to immediately defend myself and tell them why they’re wrong. However, first I need to give them air to breathe. Responding like this is much more effective: “To make sure I heard you correctly, it sounds like based on a few decisions I’ve made over the past couple of months, you think I am focused more on making money than the team’s safety, and it’s making you feel unhappy and unsafe at work. Is that right?” Assuming they agree (which is already a huge step towards finding common ground), I’d continue with: “Okay, I understand where you’re coming from, and I’m very sorry I made you all feel that way. I value your safety significantly more than money. Without you as my team, the company wouldn’t exist. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to walk through the examples you shared of decisions I’ve made, explain my point of view on them, and then hear from you how I could’ve acted differently to not make you feel unsafe. Is that all right with you?” After saying something like this, the hostility will likely have dissipated, no one is in a defending posture, and we can talk through the issues on the same side of the table vs opposing sides. Problems During a conversation dealing with problems, most people’s initial reaction is to start problem-solving. Many times, the initial problem identified is a symptom of a deeper root cause, and time spent treating symptoms vs root causes isn’t very effective. For example, someone may express they are unhappy with their job. If I immediately try to solve this problem, I may focus on helping him update his resume and look for a new job. However, if instead I keep reflecting and labeling, the conversation could go something like this: HIM: “I’ve been a funk lately because I’m so miserable at work. Something needs to change.” ME: “I’m sorry to hear that. It sounds like work is making you unhappy, so you want a change like getting a new job?” HIM: “Well, no, I like the company I work for. I was hired to do digital marketing, but I’m spending all my time focusing on internal communications.” ME: “So you’re frustrated you aren’t doing what you were hired to do?” HIM: “Not just that, but I got my degree in digital marketing and that’s my passion.” ME: “Oh, so you want to stay with your current company, but you just aren’t doing work you’re passionate about. Sounds like you need to find a way to switch to the digital

The Shopkeeper’s Journey – A Tale of Incentives

The Shopkeeper’s Journey – A Tale of Incentives nick.leja |February 27, 2023 |BusinessStories a tale of incentives After years of toiling away with manual labor, Cole decided to open a shop in his medieval village of Stonebridge. With a passion for travel, Cole set out to collect unique items such as exotic spices, silks, dyes, precious stones, and other treasures from around the area. He secured a loan from a wealthy merchant and opened his shop in the heart of the village. At first, he relished being in the shop, working from open to close every day. But eventually, he wanted to expand his business. So he hired three helpers. After training them, he slipped on his green tunic, brown boots, and matching belt, and then he ventured off to nearby villages to collect new goods for his shop. The First Challenge Two weeks later, he returned from his travels and was disappointed to see that his standards had slipped. Dust piled up in the corners, his product wasn’t organized. His team also looked bored, which led to poor customer experiences. To remedy this, Cole came up with a checklist for the staff to follow during his next trip to ensure his standards were maintained. After restocking the shelves with all the new goods from his latest trip, Cole set off on another two-week journey. However, when he returned from his second trip, he found that the checklists hadn’t been followed. Frustrated, he hired a supervisor to oversee the team and ensure the checklists were completed properly. But even with a supervisor, Cole found that his team still wasn’t completing everything when he returned from his third trip. This time, Cole decided to pay his employees based on commission. Hopefully this would motivate them to work harder and think more like owners. However, this created a new problem. With the new commission structure, his staff began fighting over who focused on sales. No one wanted to do non-sales tasks like cleaning or merchandising because they paid less. As a result, the shop’s standards dropped even further, and customers complained about feeling pressured to buy things. A New Focus Determined to make his team feel and act like owners, Cole thought deeply about what motivates an owner. He narrowed it down to two things: profits and customer satisfaction. If the store made a lot of profits, but the customers weren’t happy, those profits would soon evaporate. With this in mind, Cole shared his plan with his staff. He promised to put 10% of the store’s profits into a pool to share with the staff every month based on their hours worked and individual performance. In addition, he set up a customer survey card outside the store, asking customers to rate their experience. The staff would only receive their share of the profits if most customer feedback was positive. Cole returned from his next trip to find that his new approach had finally worked. Non-sales tasks such as cleaning, merchandising, and even promoting the store all contributed to the store’s profits, so everyone was willing to help. They even came up with new ideas to help the store grow. Furthermore, with the team’s newfound excitement at sharing in the shop’s success, Cole no longer needed a supervisor to enforce the checklists. As a result, his sales increased and expenses decreased, even after accounting for the profit-sharing. With this successful strategy in place, Cole’s shop became a thriving and happy community hub, where employees and customers alike felt valued and invested in the store’s success. All thanks to the power of incentives. THE END Nick’s Notes Incentives drive results. Other than getting the right team in place, providing the right incentives is the most important thing a leader can do. Incentives should be simple, easy to understand, lucrative, and fully align everyone’s interests. For my current companies, being in retail, I put a percentage of the gross profits (sales – COGs) into a pool and then apply a modifier based on labor. These are all factors the team can control vs something like our monthly rent. At the end of each month, that pool gets split between the supervisors based on hours worked. Then, the manager gets a percentage of the supervisor’s bonus pool, and the District Manager gets a percentage of all the managers’ bonuses. This completely aligns everyone’s interests so everyone’s rowing in the same direction and has led to a substantial increase in our stores’ success. With the right team and the right incentives, little else matters.