Simple, but not easy!

October 18, 2022

I was talking with a client who is going through the LMI Effective Personal Productivity programme and expressed embarrassment at the fact they are still hindered by what are, in essence, very simple challenges. The reality is that these ‘simple’ challenges are not easy to deal with and it takes time, practice and grace towards ourselves and others.

Here’s a short video on the matter:

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofl56J2TF_8

What we know from experience is that knowing what to do and doing it are two very different things, which is why it takes a process, over time, with practice, feedback and accountability, to make lasting, long-term changes.

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Posted by nick howes

Rediscovering #Mission168

October 11, 2022

It’s time to rediscover and reactivate the blog, and specifically the Mission168 hashtag which is embedded in my banner image.

#Mission168 is about making the most of every single week, each gathered cluster of 168 hours. Since I last wrote, I’ve come across Oliver Burkeman’s excellent book, “Four Thousand Weeks” which I have listened to on audiobook at least twice. I very much share his thoughts about productivity and fulfilment coming not from constantly seeking to do as much as we possibly can, but from ’embracing finitude’ and accepting we can’t do everything.

I absolutely love Burkeman’s phrase, “the joy of missing out” – i.e. I have consciously chosen to do what I am now doing and gladly embrace the fact that I am not doing everything else that I could possibly be doing instead!

All this has been brought to the front of mind by a few recent conversations with clients centred around the power of the weekly plan. In LMI we use a very simple form called ‘Time Picture’ or ‘My Ideal Week.’

It’s outrageously simple, prompting the user to complete a plan that outlines what they would like to include in their ideal week. Here’s the thing I love about this excercise. Nearly everyone I speak to feels busy and overstretched. Almost all have things they’d like to be doing – specific, important things around health, family, community, wellbeing and work – that they currently don’t have time for and yet, when you start to map these activities onto the 168 hour slots in the weekly plan, including plenty of time for sleep, eating, travel etc, they almost always fit, with plenty to spare.

If you’d like to have a go at completing your own Time Picture, get in touch and I’ll send you a copy.

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Posted by nick howes

Success by routines

August 30, 2017

Are you feeling rested, refreshed and energised to launch full-steam ahead into the Autumn? Perhaps for you or some colleagues, “exhausted and glad the kids are going back to school is more like it”?!

However you’re feeling as August comes to a close, the Autumn does tend to be a really productive – dare we say, ‘busy’ – few months where the natural lull in routine created by the summer gives way to full-scale activity.

Here’s a warning right away. As you well know, activity doesn’t equal productivity. Being busy and working hard doesn’t guarantee results.

With this in mind, my ‘one-percent’ recommendation is that you take some time to review and re-establish your routines – the regular habits that keep you on track. After a break in the norm, it can take more effort than we think to get back into good work habits rather than starting with email and seeing where the day takes us!

There are key activities that if practised routinely, make a huge difference to your productivity. Here are just a few examples:

– 10 magic minutes daily planning
– week review & planning meetings
– regular team meetings and one-to-one’s
– booked out periods of uninterrupted time
– finishing work at a set time to do other stuff!

I’m sure you could add to the list. Give it some thought and make a conscious effort (& book it it the diary!) to re-establish those routines that will help you stay a little bit more in control, focused on your high-payoff activities and working towards important goals over the next few months.

Here’s to a fantastic September!

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Posted by nick howes

We Buy Any Hour

March 1, 2017

Have you seen the latest WeBuyAnyCar.com adverts? They are very interesting.

If not, here’s 30 seconds that will put you in the picture:

https://youtu.be/p10Oiwe7MdM?list=PLTci7XJwYZCkOuOqKbOdTaxPY61D5hCPM

There’s a whole series of these. In one, the lady on the sofa tells us that she happily sold her car with this company even though she could have got a better price selling privately, then adds:

“Yeah, they just let me say that in an ad for WeBuyAnyCar.com… cos they know quite a lot of us value our time more than a few extra quid.”

timecartoonlinkedinTime-pressure is consistently one of the greatest challenges most of the people are facing. In fact, it’s becoming a national epidemic and yet, despite the continual frustration of not having enough time to do everything we want to do, we can still invest significant amounts of our precious 168 hours each week doing things that really aren’t that important.

This is what WeBuyAnyCar.com have tapped into. What they are saying is, “Your time is the most valuable thing that you have. Spend it on important things, with important people, not in doing something you don’t like, you aren’t very good at and, at the end of the day, isn’t worth much anyway.”

One of the most helpful things I think you can do to help with this is to settle on a fixed figure, yes an actual amount – in pounds, of how much one hour of your time is worth.

How you come to this figure is not so important. You can divide your earnings by the hours you work. You can divide the amount you aspire to earn by the amount of hours you’d like to work. You may just come up with a number based on what someone would have to pay you to take you away from doing something very important and give them that time instead.

Let’s say you settle on £50/hour. Now write that figure down and carry it with you for a week. Put it in your wallet, your purse on in your pocket. Now consciously live with it and see how it affects what you do with your time, inside and outside of work.

Is an hour round the dinner table with my family or good friends worth it? Yes. How about an hour watching something rubbish on tele? Perhaps not.

This is what these adverts are tapping into. Is an extra 150 quid worth half of your weekend and all that hassle?

I’m not one who advocates living at high intensity all the time. The truth is that if we spend enough of our time concentrating on the most valuable activities in a focused and productive manner, the likelihood is we will have plenty left to relax and enjoy the things we value most.

If some more insight on this subject would be helpful, I ran a webinar called ‘Who Stole My Day?’ and it’s available here as an on-demand reply. It’s a better use of your time than watching adverts on YouTube!

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Posted by nick howes

Mission 168 (part 2)

May 10, 2016

Let’s say that I work 50 hours on average. Most work about 40. I often meet people who work 60.

In a working day it may not always be possible amidst the many and varied demands that come my way to carve out an hour or two to invest in some important new project, or to meet with an interesting new contact to explore exciting possibilities. In a week though, it’s always possible. That is why I love weeks!

Let’s say that I sleep 8 hours a night. I rarely do. Neither do most people I ask about this. Six or seven seems to be usual.

If I do sleep 8 though, that’s 56 hours each week just laying back and catching some zzzzz’s. And I work 50 hours remember, so that’s 106 of my 168  hours already taken. Blimey, I still have  (quick bit of maths…sneak out the calculator while no-one’s looking…168 – 50 – 56 = ) 62 hours each week to do other things with that aren’t working or sleeping. Of course lots is spent doing all those things that need to happen just to keep life going, but can I find one or two hours amongst those 62 (or 52 if you work 60 hours….or 42 if you work 70 hours) to invest in something meaningful that will make my world a better, happier place? I definitely can. That is why I love weeks!

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Posted by nick howes

Mission 168

May 3, 2016

This is the start of a new topic that’s been on my mind for a while and I’ve just begun writing. I hope you enjoy. Feel free to join in using #Mission168 if you find it interesting and worth sharing!

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There are 168 hours in a week. You may already know this. There are 52 weeks in a year. That’s 52 defined sets of 168 hours, every year for our entire lives.

This is why a week is my favourite block of time.

Months are good, but there just aren’t enough of them to create the same sense of rapid progress and achievement.

Days are good. There are loads of them. But they come and go so quickly, and there are so many variables on any given day that can lead to ending a day far from where you had intended to be.

Weeks, though, tend to be long enough periods of time to be reasonably predictable in the kinds of things going on and the amount of time I might have available to achieve something significant, but short enough to still feel like a new one is just round the corner, offering a fresh start and the promise of new opportunity.

This is why I think working in weeks is a good thing. I’d love to hear your thoughts too as this series unfolds.

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Posted by nick howes