Category: Productivity

Utilizing the Perspective of Time to Achieve More

Rarely do I have a day that goes perfectly. I doubt that the perfect day really exists. When I am having a really bad day, I sometimes examine my actions from the perspective of time to see if I can get back on track.

Here is what I mean, and three simple ways to look at your day.

Utilizing the Past – We achieve more by utilizing knowledge, experience, lessons learned, and from the performance of others. The question I ask myself is, “Am I taking the time to learn from the past, and applying those lessons effectively?” If we don’t take the time to learn from our history, the path for success will be very long.

Utilizing the Present – There are days when my focus of the moment is not as precise as I would like. Do you ever feel like your routine is just that, a routine with no purpose or effect? That can be a feeling I have if I am not paying enough attention on the actions I am performing. When we lack focus, we lose the effectiveness of the present moment. It is a moment that we can never get back. So the two questions I like to ask myself are, “Am I being intentional in my action? What is distracting me from being focused?”.

Utilizing the Future – I have always believed that it is difficult to achieve a future that you cannot visualize with a high level of detail. If your dream for the future is fuzzy, it helps to spend time bringing clarity to your goals. Only then can you be sure you have the right daily actions defined to to move you closer to achieving your longer term objectives. The question I like to ask myself is, “What specifically do I want to be different tomorrow compared with today?”

When I am struggling to meet my goals, normally I discover that I have ignored one of these three time perspectives in the plan for my day. Once I recognize where I am failing, I can adjust to make sure I have considered all three. It amazes me how quickly this exercise can get me back on track.

When you find yourself falling behind, what triggers you to adjust your day or week?

P.S. – If you want to read some interesting analysis on time perspectives, here is an article by John Boyd, An Overview of Time Perspective Types.

One Key Lesson in Effective Goal Setting

Lean manufacturing drives improvement through continuous data driven analysis, experimentation, and problem solving. It is a never ending process. Two of the main targets for manufacturing improvement are cycle time and cost.

One example, from my manufacturing history, was the discovery of a new cleaning process for a lens on a laser welder. This lens required replacement after a fixed number of production cycles, and it was expensive. Through a development process, we were able to implement a new cleaning routine that extended the life of the lens. It also proved to improve the weld reliability by reducing variation in the process.

Another example, was a nylon fixture used in a punch press operation. Nylon was used for specific characteristics, but it wore quickly in the process. The base of the fixture needed replaced at least every month. It was not expensive, but we had multiple machines and fixtures. To reduce cost we were able to redesign the base so that it could be reversed and used on the opposite side after the first side was worn out. Effectively we doubled the life of the base, and cut our monthly costs by 50%.

Goals at work can be very clear. Usually they are data driven, measurable, and have financial impact. Goals at home are quite different.

If I were to apply work goals to my house, I would vacuum my furnace filters every week so I could use them longer without replacing them. Would it work? Sure, but why would I spend my time doing that?

At home, cost effectiveness and efficiency are important, but they are not the most important.  What is my point?

We can accomplish great things. We have minds that are creative and imaginative. We have a human spirit that perseveres hardships and obstacles. But if we don’t have a clear sense of what we want to achieve, we are going to waste our potential.

My big lesson in making a goal more effective came through understanding the perspective through which the goal was set. 

When is the last time you evaluated your goals? For me, it is an exercise worth completing every six months.

5 Lessons I Have Learned From Bad Decisions

We can’t avoid making bad decisions in our life, because we all make mistakes. But we can work to minimize the number of bad decisions we make. We can also try minimize the negative impact they may have on our life.

I made one decision this week that cost me about $3000. It was a mistake. In retrospect, I could say it was stupid.

Not all bad decisions cost us money. We also pay through lost opportunities, lost time, or even lost friends. These bad decisions can weigh us down, affect our attitude, and make life more difficult.

But I have found that regardless of the decisions I have made, they are all in the past. Tomorrow arrives with new opportunities. I still wish I could minimize my bad decisions. Here are 5 causes of most of my bad decisions, and some things I try to improve.

1. Lack of Knowledge. It is difficult to make a decision when you are not informed. Decisions become a coin toss. You win some. You lose some. I have made continuous study and education part of my normal day.

2. Lack of Experience. Practice counts. It is simple. My results, decisions, performance, all improve when I put in the work. Experts don’t become experts without real experience.

3. Over Confidence. When I become over confident I make mistakes. Humility helps me seek to become better. When we don’t prepare because we are confident, we can get blindsided.

4. Lack of Discipline. I hope I am not the only person that struggles with this. There are times when I know I should be doing one thing, and I end up spending time doing something else. What works best for me is to change necessary tasks into habits. Do something every day for 21 days, and it will become easier to do.

5. Not Knowing Myself. Sometimes decisions that go bad are because we don’t like the place the decision leads us. When I can weigh my options against my values it brings a sense of clarity. My values will help my discern between short term desires and long term benefits. I need to know myself well.

Do any of these resonate with you? What helps you make better decisions?

What Do Your Fears Cost?

Throughout our lives we experience success and failure. Events that shape us, and slowly create the bars of our cell. We build a cell based on our own success and failure. It is a comfort zone within which we live. Bar by bar, we build it.

The funny thing is we don’t realize we are caged. We enjoy our cell.

It is our fear that keeps us in the cell. We all have fears. People that say they don’t… well let’s just say they are afraid to admit their fears! Our fears are designed to keep us safe. But they can also keep us trapped, if we are not willing to test our limits.

As Mark Twain said, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.”

If you let fear control the size of your cell, your success will be limited. I like to ask myself, what is my fear costing me today? What am I missing when I fail to stretch beyond my comfort zone?

After some reflection this week, I have created a plan to step out of my comfort zone next week. The tasks I defined will not be easy. If I want to achieve my goals, I need to push myself to step out of my own cell.

Do you have a fear that is limiting you? Are you ready to step beyond your cell? Join me in creating a plan to break through next week.