Crunch Time: Don't Forget the Upfront Stuff

Written by Karla Brandau


Crunch Time: Don’t Forgetrepparttar Upfront Stuff

What time is it… if you have two minutes to go and your team is down by 10 points?

What time is it…if your presentation torepparttar 104560 biggest possible client and sale you’ve ever had is due in two days?

What time is it… if your annual progress report for your manager is due tomorrow and you are only half finished?

It’s crunch time! Crunch time means it’s now or never. You have to produce. You have to get it done. The next time you find yourself in a panic, in a personal crunch time, try taking a deep breath. Panic usually results in shallow breathing. Have you ever done your best work in a panic? No. No one ever does.

So when you break out in a sweat from pressure, take 10 deep breaths: In -throughrepparttar 104561 nose; out - throughrepparttar 104562 mouth. The breathing will help you center yourself, calm your emotions, and relax your psychic. Then with confidence, you can move quickly through these steps inrepparttar 104563 upfront stuff,repparttar 104564 planning part of execution:

1.Survey exactly what has to be done to completerepparttar 104565 project. This will force you to move fromrepparttar 104566 more emotional right brain that is afraid you won’t finish on time torepparttar 104567 more logical left brain that will find a way. 2.List every task that is remotely connected to completion ofrepparttar 104568 project. Tasks out of your head and onto your task list become less intimidating. 3.With a red marker, circlerepparttar 104569 tasks that absolutely MUST be done. Do not markrepparttar 104570 tasks that would be window dressing. Through this process you simplifyrepparttar 104571 project and weed out tasks not absolutely essential torepparttar 104572 completion ofrepparttar 104573 project. 4.Countrepparttar 104574 actual tasks that are marked in red. This isrepparttar 104575 step that brings a sigh of relief: Typically there are fewer essential tasks than you had imagined. 5.Estimate how much time it will take to do each task, then reverse schedulerepparttar 104576 tasks. 6.Plot outrepparttar 104577 tasks in time frames on your calendar. 7.Tackle one task at a time. Paying attention to this front-end planning process will save you precious time. I was reminded of this is a dramatic way last Thursday.

Tension Stress or Creative Tension? New Breakthroughs in Personal Productivity

Written by Karla Brandau


Tension Stress or Creative Tension? New Breakthroughs in Personal Productivity

Many executives and futurists are saying thatrepparttar world is experiencing another paradigm shift. A paradigm is a mental model of how we seerepparttar 104559 world and view reality. A paradigm shift occurs when our basic view of our world’s perspective changes to a new, wider perspective, much like whenrepparttar 104560 inhabitants ofrepparttar 104561 earth realized thatrepparttar 104562 earth rotates aroundrepparttar 104563 sun and is notrepparttar 104564 center ofrepparttar 104565 universe or when masses of people comprehended thatrepparttar 104566 world is round, not flat. Einstein proved all matter is energy and another paradigm was changed and expanded bringing breakthroughs in technology that otherwise would have been impossible.

New breakthroughs in personal productivity can come if a simple paradigm shift is made, a shift from thinkingrepparttar 104567 workday is full of tension stress to realizing thatrepparttar 104568 workday is also crammed withrepparttar 104569 stress of creative tension…a good kind of stress.

Tension can be defined as mental, emotional and nervous strain or stress.

Try this paradigm shift and observe its effect on your workday: Consciously change your paradigm of stress tension, which is negative, to a positive stretching condition. This positive stretching, this creative tension is pulling you forward and permitting tension to be a compelling force to move your work forward.

What would happen to your workday if you changed and used this paradigm of tension on even just a few tasks? Workers who have tried this shift say they feel more relaxed and creative. In this frame of mind, they get more done.

By analyzing your work day and notingrepparttar 104570 times you felt stressed byrepparttar 104571 stock market,repparttar 104572 financial report,repparttar 104573 attitude ofrepparttar 104574 Director of Marketing, a global competitor, orrepparttar 104575 new intern and then contrast that torepparttar 104576 times you felt stressed at writingrepparttar 104577 brief, describingrepparttar 104578 new product line, explainingrepparttar 104579 new benefits package, or defining your vision ofrepparttar 104580 future, you will seerepparttar 104581 two kinds of stress are very different.

The first stress isrepparttar 104582 normal stress we have felt for centuries and is often described in caveman terms: Harry Caveman meets Lenny,repparttar 104583 Saber-toothed tiger and must fight or flee. This stress has you reaching forrepparttar 104584 Rolaids and needing a vacation.

The second kind of stress isrepparttar 104585 pulling, stretching, compelling tension felt at creating…the stress of looking forrepparttar 104586 right word, findingrepparttar 104587 right metaphor, usingrepparttar 104588 right motivational language. This is an elating stress. It becomes a defining moment that makesrepparttar 104589 workday worthwhile and makes you feel self-actualized.

The problem with creative tension from a time management perspective is that it always takes more time then you probably have allotted in your schedule. If you seerepparttar 104590 extra time it takes to create a thought of excellence as a time waster, something that threw your schedule off, then you will feel tension stress. If however, you allow time in your schedule to let your mind create, you will feel creative tension…the stress of moving forward and reaching a higher level of performance.

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