How One Jersey Author Gets Things Done

When I first met author and speaker Allan Wright
in 1996 I knew that this man was gifted in many ways. With a great
sense of humor, true New Jersey grit and a love for all things
Scriptural, Allan has made a difference in the lives of literally
thousands of Jersey high school students through his teaching.

I recently had a chance to sit down with Allan to go over his new book
and discuss how he gets so much done while balancing work, life and a
healthy dose of Jersey diners. What follow are some of Allan's keys to
tackling major projects with ease:

1. Carve:
   Allan's work at Union Catholic High School allows him to leave work
   each day at a reasonable hour, giving Allan 1-3 hours of bonus working
   time to work on his books or prepare for one of the over 90 speeches
   that he gives in a year. He carves out big chunks of time and produces
   big time.



2. Chop: So
   that projects don't seem impossible, Allan breaks each retreat, book,
   speech prep into smaller, bite-sized sections. Then, he goes at them,
   one at a time.



3. Reflect:
   It's not enough to simply produce if the product isn't of value. Allan
   takes plenty of time to drink coffee at a local diner (in Jersey you
   have plenty of options) and look back over his week.



4. Promote:
   Allan has learned that publishers are not just looking for a good idea-
   they want evangelists who can then promote the idea. Allan has mastered
   the art of the phone interview, the press kit and the casual pop-bye.



5. Repeat: Begin the process again.  Allan has 2-3 book ideas "in the hopper" as soon as he's finished his most recent work.

Visit Allan's website or buy his book today.

Mini Review: The Power of a Positive No

I'm devouring William Ury's The Power of a Positive No (Random House). Ury is the famous author of Getting To Yes
which debuted nearly 25 years ago to happy audiences around the globe.
A
negotiator, Ury has a pleasant writing style and I've been
lucky enough to pick up the book on audio which he narrates (always a
treat!). This is definitely worth picking up if for no other reason
than the following key points:

• Every no is really a
  YES, NO, YES formula. First you have to say yes to what you're all
  about. Then, you say no to what you can't go along with. Finally you
  say yes to a third option between you and the other party.


• Be
  soft on the person but hard on the problem. For example, let's say you
  have a conflict with a person at work (who doesn't?!)- what do you do?
  Ury recommends that you speak of the facts, try not to get things
  personal and use appropriate language so that the other person can buy
  into what you're talking about.

Just today, I decided
to try out Ury's techniques. I wanted to approach a colleague about a
recent project that had some negative energy leading up to the event. I
wanted to understand this energy better so that, next time around, we
could plan better.

I told her (we'll call her Flo) that I
valued her position and expertise at school and that I needed her help
in understanding what happened the previous week. This led to a great
discussion which lasted about 20 minutes. The result: Flo feels heard
and I think that I have a better grasp of the situation.

The Work of Holy Week: Tuesday/Daily Speed

Part II in a 5-part series connecting daily work with spirituality

Tuesday: "What You Are Going to Do, Do It Quickly"

How quickly do you move through the day?  Are you a quick-and-easy or a slow-and-steady?  By breaking the day up into bite-sized parts, we can do some helpful eval:

• Early morning: is your routine so ingrained that you don't have to think about what you're doing?



• At work: think about how you move through the hall ways, through your agenda, and through your to-do list.



• Evening: do your rituals augment how you wind down and recharge?

Brian Tracy is a huge proponent of moving quickly throughout the day.  When at work, work.  When heading to a meeting, get there.  I'm often amazed at how blah so many folks are at work, moving around as if they might like to be somewhere else. 

Another way of thinking of speed at work is to figure out how much you make per hour.  Even if you are a salaried employee, figure out your per/hour fee.  As you move through the day, are you working at $25 or $50 or even $100 per hour quality work?

The Gospel reading today speaks of Christ's famous line, "What you are going to do, do it quickly."  Action is decisive and success is built on the shoulders of many small and courageous decisions.  As you work through the day, act quickly and with purpose.  Today is Tuesday of Holy Week.

The Work of Holy Week: Monday/Do Something Different Today

Part I in a 5-part series connecting daily work with spirituality

Monday: Do Something Different Today
Regulars
to The Daily Saint know that my "Work of Holy Week" series was popular
last year so this year we'll journey again through Holy Week, but with
a personal productivity spin to things. 

The Gospel reading today
speaks of a woman, Martha, who does something special for Jesus.  Not
without great sacrifice, she presents Christ with a costly gift.  As
with all things worth doing, she faces criticism and the rumor mill
starts churning.  Who is this woman?  Why would she spend her money on
such a gift?

What's also of interest here is that she breaks the
mold by doing something different.  Her actions are unexpected and
imply change in the statusquo , not something that entrenched folks are
casual about.  I'm guessing there are those that you work with who are
pretty hesitant to change- Lord knows I've got a few.

Martha
teaches us something important: personal productivity is actually
enhanced by breaking out of our comfort zones and routines.  There is
however a BUT here- the only way to break out is to have some kind of
infrastructure in place.  Routines, rituals, daily habits.  These are the backbone of true productivity masters.  It's the kind of stuff that David Allen talks about with regularity.

For the Road
As
you head through your day, remember Martha and do something different
today.  Run your meetings differently.  Take a new route home.  Call
someone who you've been thinking about.  Use your calendar with greater
precision.  Get out in the yard and enjoy Spring.  Say your prayers
with deeper energies.  This is Monday of Holy Week.

Change in Perspective

So much of life is in how you look at it. My son was choking on some food this past weekend and after we successfully "solved" the problem, we asked him what happened. Without hesitation, he said, "The food was trying to escape!" Pretty clever for a three year old!

Think of all of the things in the course of a day that deserve greater perspective:

• avoiding Charlie at work because he's a pain to be around



• the infinite list of errands that's physically draining



• the upcoming party that you're not looking forward to



• the phone call that you've been putting off for a month



• another field trip? does this school do any real work?



• how come we have the same four meals every week?

Do what my little guy did: reframe the scenario in order to get better and more accurate perspective. Step back and get off the runway to a 20,000 or 30,000 feet persective.

GTD Wannabe has a Canadian take on changing perspective. 43 Folders looks at persective from a different angle altogether. Meanwhile Susan at Productivity Cafe looks at planning from a 'higher altitude'.

If you're like me then the week ahead will have plenty of opportunities for reframing. I'll need to step back, take a breath and ask the important questions. It won't be easy but might provide some great opportunities to "escape" and see things anew.

Quote for the road: Enstein, "In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity."