The Daily Saint

Un-Customer Service

Grocery store- last night.  I am waiting at the deli counter and an older woman, obviously flustered, comes to the counter and asks the man where the produce workers are.

"Should be right over there," he says with a pointed finger.  He returns to his work.  Lady leaves, even more flustered.

There I remain stunned at the worker's approach to customer service.  The lady had already been to produce and then walked 50 feet over to the deli, trying to get help.  That was apparently not obvious to Mr. Deli. 

The next time someone asks for help, try not to point out an option.  Bring them the solution they deserve.  Walk with them.  Be interruptable.  Pick up a phone.  Care.

Quiet Moments that Boost Productivity

This morning I chose to arrive 15 minutes later to work.  Not late just later.  In that same block of time, I sat quietly and read an article that I've been putting off for a while.  A great use of a quarter hour.

Where in your schedule are 15 quiet moments?

I like to think that there is a bit of monk in all of us.  The BBC series, Finding Sanctuary was so popular because of this. When I take students away from the noise and hustle of the world, they too find that quiet moments actually boost their overall well-being when they return to the "real world".

Some suggestions from Finding Sanctuary:

1. Find a quiet place free from distraction
2. Sit with your limbs uncrossed and with a straight back, hands in your lap
3. Simply breathe at regular speed but breathe deeply and relax
4. Close your eyes and think of a beautiful scene from the natural world
5. Take a simple phrase and repeat it continuously in time with your breathing

Five Meditation Phrases from the Christian Tradition:

• Come and illumine my darkness
• Be still and know that I am God
• God be in my head and in my understanding
• Come Holy Spirit and inflame my heart
• Come Lord Jesus

Introducing The Daily Saint Podcast!

I’m pleased to announce the very first Daily Saint Podcast!  This week I look at one productivity tool and one bit of encouragement for the week ahead.  Enjoy and let me know what you think! 

Click here for the podcast.

Today's Tip: Declutter the Home Office in Less Than One Hour

Today's post is from Lisa Hendey of Productivity at Home

One day last summer, I caught myself in Barnes and Noble with a book in my hand about de-cluttering. I was making my way to the checkout line to purchase it when the irony of the situation struck me. In my case, much of the clutter in my life is owing to the fact that I review books for my sites and have them coming out my ears. Adding another book to the mix was not the answer...

But today, RealSimple.com has a great post about home organizing books. I plan to put these on my wish list at the library and try to glean whatever pearls of wisdom they hold. I listen regularly to Peter Walsh's show on XM radio, so that one is at the top of my list and of course David Allen's "Getting Things Done" is already one of my favorites. Also, many of the precepts in these books can be found on the web. The trick is starting small and implementing steps every day to better organize our homes.

This week, I undertook a major reorganization of my office. It was precipitated by the fact that a TV crew was coming to film in my home office. I didn't want my "stacks" memorialized on film, so I got to work. In the process, I did some major decluttering. While I'm not completely finished with this project, my work environment feels much more productive and it inspires me to take on some other projects around my home.

A few tips for taking on this type of home organization project:

1. Set aside time - Take on a home organization project when your schedule will permit you several hours of uninterrupted time. Nothing is worse than getting started and then never finishing - you end up with a worse situation than when you started.
2. Choose one area of your home to start - Mine was my home office, for obvious reasons. Choose a small, manageable space. Complete your work in that area before moving on to the next.
3. Take photos - I wish I had taken "before" photos, but my "after documentation of what my office CAN look like will serve as motivation next time it gets totally out of control.
4. Think things through before you get started - One area of my office that was particularly driving me crazy was my Podcasting "studio". Wires everywhere and no apparent organization made me crazy every week when I sat down to record. That area is now very well laid out, but it required some pre-planning to lay out all of the cords, phone lines and equipment in a small, compact space.
5. Celebrate your success - My husband and I have a tradition that involves giving one another feedback when a home project is tackled. He came into my office after the re-org and raved about how great things looked. I do the same for him when he fixes a broken sprinkler or tackles something equally as tedious. It's good to have someone appreciate that hard work that goes into making a home run well.

The Greatest Project...Ever

I know that strategic planning produces  tangible results but I may have discovered something better.  No, it's not a staff retreat nor is it a new coffee machine in the faculty work-room. 

I put up a tree swing in my backyard.

Who would have know that such a simple project would produce such amazing satisfaction?  Had I known, I would have put one up years ago.  Remembering that a project is defined as "anything you'd like to or need to get done which requires multiple steps", I set out to give my family hours of joy. 

Tree?  Check.

Rope? Check.

Ability to tie a knot?  Check the Internet.  Kind of important.

In less than one hour, I had gone to the hardware store, purchased my gear and I was good to go.  The result: my backyard is transformed into a play-zone. 

Application
What project are you working on that is really worth the effort?  Which one will produce results that will completely transform your workplace?  Which project can you get rid of because it is a waste of time?

No Child (Practicing GTD) Left Behind

Imagine a school that allowed every student to grow, learn and prosper.  That was the initial desire behind the No Child Left Behind act of 2002 and while NCLB is controversial, it has proven successful in at least one area- keeping schools accountable.

Now imagine a school in which Getting Things Done was implemented.

Course units might include:

• Time management
• The weekly review
• Setting up a tickler file
• How to close open loops
• Capturing ideas, then integrating them into your system
• Mastering the projects list
• Life goals from 10,000-40,000 feet

Is this vision that far from reality?  My colleagues in education would laugh at the sight of such courses and yet I wonder how Algebra I prepares one for life any better than a course in life goals or time management.

The secret of course lies in integration.  It's not that we need a school for GTD.  Rather, we need people who can integrate GTD into what they're already doing.  Teachers and parents who see the value of putting ideas onto paper and out of the mind.  Administrators who actually maintain a healthy set of lists and projects.  Students who can actually remember a deadline because they wrote it down.

I recently had a friend ask how I got so much done in a week.  Surprised, I had to scratch my head and wonder if GTD had something to do with it after years of practice.  Would your colleagues wonder about your secret to productivity?  As in any classroom, the moment when someone asks is of course the moment in which you know you've set an example.  Now that's GTD!

Carefree GTD

Photo by Jovika

Elegant. I've heard David Allen use this word many times in his writings and training events.  Most men don't use this word, much less in the context of a dayplanner or to-do list.  The dictionary defines it as

"Characterized by or exhibiting refined, tasteful beauty of manner, form, or style."

Now think of the last time that you felt that someone was elegantly dressed or appointed.  I think of a fundraiser that I was attending a few weeks  back.  One woman in particular (she happens to be my lovely wife) was clearly a cut above the rest, dressed stylishly and carrying herself with confidence. 

We might also consider this a state of being "ok with yourself", or knowing what you're all about.  In my work, we often refer to this as being mission-based and having a sense of contentment about who we are and where we see ourselves going.  If you work in a competitive niche, this "ok-ness" is essential.  Without it, the soul of your company is lost. 

As I think of the word elegant as David Allen refers to it, I'm mindful of a system that is thorough and captures ideas as they come, then processing them into actionable steps.  I think of a net of sorts that can 'catch' what needs to be retained and drop what's useless. 

With this said, how carefree is GTD?  Allen wrote last week about creating systems that are not beholden to the urgent.   This harkens back to what Covey called an "urgency addiction" and he noted as far back as 1988 that the truly successful people in life are looking beyond the ringing phone and email chime.

As I was driving to work this morning, I wondered how many miles my car has- 88K or 98K?  It runs like a champ and my commute is so short that an old pick-up would get me there in one piece.  As long as I take good care of it, I (and my car) will be ok.  This is of course how GTD works as well- when you know what you're all about and do your work with consistency you can relax and get things done.

How elegant is that?

3 Things I've Learned from the Pope's U.S. Visit

Pope Benedict XVI is quite a guy.   Even for those who are not Catholic, his profile and presence speak volumes.  I've learned the following:

1. Just because you are 81 doesn't mean you can't make the most of your position. See Benedict's grueling itinerary below.
2. Putting a problem on the table is always the best solution.  Benedict met yesterday with victims of sexual abuse.
3. Visits matter.  While Benedict is only in the States for a few days, his speeches and initiatives will take months to digest.

From meeting with thousands of people to President Bush to victims of sexual abuse, Benedict has made the most of his visit to the U.S.  Imagine the average 81 year old following this itinerary:

Date	Time	Description
Apr. 15	4:00  p.m.	Andrews Air Force Base Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Maryland and is greeted by President and Mrs. Bush as well as church officials. During his visit to Washington, D.C., the pope will stay at the Vatican Embassy, on Massachusetts Avenue NW.
Apr. 16	10:30 a.m.	White House Welcoming ceremony and private meeting with President Bush. This is only the second time a pontiff has visited the White House. John Paul II was the first.
Apr. 16	5:30 p.m.	National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Prayer service and meeting with 350 U.S. bishops at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Apr. 17	9:30 a.m.	Nationals Park The pope offers Mass. This will be the first non-baseball event in the new park.
Apr. 17	5:00 p.m.	Catholic University of America Address to the leaders of more than 200 Catholic colleges and superintendents from the 195 U.S. Catholic dioceses on the importance of Catholic education.
Apr. 17	6:30 p.m.	Pope John Paul II Cultural Center Meeting with Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Jews and representatives from other religions.
Apr. 18	9:45 a.m.	Kennedy International Airport Arrives in New York. During his visit, the pope will stay at the East 72nd Street residence of Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the papal nuncio to the United Nations.
Apr. 18	10:45 a.m.	United Nations Gives address to the General Assembly, as did Pope Paul VI in 1965 and Pope John Paul II in 1979 and 1995.
Apr. 18	5:00 p.m.	Park East Synagogue Meets with Jewish clergy.
Apr. 18	6:00 p.m.	Church of St. Joseph Prayer service with leaders from other Christian denominations.
Apr. 19	9:15 a.m.	St. Patrick's Cathedral Mass for priests, deacons and members of religious orders.
Apr. 19	4:30 p.m.	St. Joseph's Seminary Meeting with young Catholics, including 50 with disabilities.
Apr. 20	9:30 a.m.	Lower Manhattan Visit to ground zero.
Apr. 20	2:30 p.m.	Yankee Stadium The pope offers Mass. The 200th anniversary of the Baltimore Archdiocese and the anniversaries of the Dioceses of Boston, New York, Louisville and Philadelphia will be celebrated.
Apr. 20	8:00 p.m.	Kennedy International Airport departure

GTD Insight #16: Peak Hours for Productivity

When I read Brian Tracy's Eat That Frog a few years ago, I was like most productivity thinkers: skeptical.  I wanted to build my daily schedule so that it would be fun, engaging and full of creative moments. Unfortunately, I live in the real world and that initial plan hasn't come to fruition.

Tracy's genius is not so much a rugged "get it done" mindset as much as a smart way to counteract procrastination and human nature.  A friend of mine once said, "Give to God your best time of the day," and I think there's something to that.  When I get into the zone before 10a.m. my day generally runs smooth. 

Stephen Smith has a nice experiment going, measuring his own productivity.  One key is again this element of using the morning hours wisely.  I've found that it helps to use those first hours to get things done, but also to eliminate unnecessary steps in the process.  When I arrive in the morning at work, there are a few things that I could do but have stopped doing as it slows me down early in the day.  These include:

• Turning on extra building lights
• Opening up public office doors
• Checking paperwork that I could check later in the day

I'm mindful of St. Francis of Assisi who said in the 13th century, "Start with what is necessary, then do what is possible.  Eventually you'll find yourself doing the impossible."  How are you spending your first five hours of the day?  By tackling one difficult task, you'll have more energy to accomplish it and you won't have "productivity guilt" later in the day.  Go for it!

How Do You Organize Your Inspiration?

Photo by Muffet

Today's post is from a handout from a talk that I gave this past weekend called, "Developing a Keynote Address: How to Organize Your Inspiration".

"Peace is the tranquility of order." St. Augustine

Capturing Your Ideas
Have a notebook handy wherever you are.  This can be as simple as a magnetic pad on your fridge (to recall what you need as your kitchen gets empty) to a 50cent notepad for your coat pocket.  You never know when a great idea will strike and give up on the idea of “remembering it later”. Get ideas out of your head- if you don't they'll come back and you'll wonder why you haven't done anything with them.  As David Allen says, "Your head's for having ideas, not for holding them."  If you think it, ink it.

Keeping Your Ideas
Maintaining lists of anything that you want to reference later is a sign of an active mind.  Here is where you've taken your seemingly random "capture anytime" ideas and put them into a system of lists.  Lists might include:

• Great Saint quotes
• Talks I'd like to give
• Questions I'd like to ask the Pope
• Pilgrimage locations I'd like to visit
• Books I'd like to read
• Next time at Home Depot
• Places to visit in San Diego
• Coffee flavors to avoid
• Blog post ideas
• Blood pressure readings

Activating Your Ideas
When you can take your ideas and put them into motion you are making progress.  This might be an idea that you captured on the back of a knapkin or something more formally on a list. This of course does not happen all at once.  It takes practice to move from idea to action.  How do you do it?  By visiting your lists on a regular basis and sitting with them, you can make tremendous progress in life.  When it comes to giving a talk, getting from list to presentation is an art-form.  Gather your ideas, write down some thoughts, then let your outline percolate for a few days. Revisit it and then put on your next addition.  A great talk will look like a home that has had a competent architect working behind the scenes: it looks and feels right, accomplishing everything that the home owner had in mind.  Others will feel at home with your message- now that’s hospitality.