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.

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.

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 renouned 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.

Get Behind Me Multitasker

Yahoo! posted a clever piece today called "Multitasking Will Make Your Brain Explode".  In the article, Christopher Null sites a New York Times study that seems to show that multitasking actually hinders productivity.

I
think that most of us know this but probably ignore its truth and
multitask anyway. We do this for so many reasons- mainly because we
can. Just the other night, I'm holding my 3 month old in one arm and
checking email with my free hand. The hard facts still remain: just
because we can doesn't mean that it's effective.

There are two forms of multitasking: clear-multiple activity and crossed-multiple activity.

Clear-multiple
activity is when we do something physical or mindless and stimulate the
brain while we are doing it. An example would be listening to a book on
tape while going for a run. Your mind is cleared to engage in multiple
actions at one time. This form of multitasking is cool in my book. I'm
not really a phone guy so I tend to make my calls when I'm on the road
or doing some chore around the house- it works for me.

It's the
other kind of multitasking that gets us into trouble: crossed-multiple
activity is when we are trying to pay attention to two things
simultaneously. Ever work on your computer AND talk with someone on the
phone? Doesn't work too well. Or, ever try to hold a conversation with
a person who pops bye AND still work at your desk? Same result.

GTD
has a lot to say about doing one thing at a time: it promotes
clear-multiple activity and at other times just plain clear or as David Allen likes to call it, a mind like water.

Here are some fantastic resources for multitasking correctly and avoiding the crossed-multiple style that I spoke of earlier:

• Jack on multitasking and the Covey system



• Brazen Careerist talks about the new rules of multitasking



• Rob Neville talks about the evils of multitasking



• Relentless Productivity has a wonderful piece about his GTD journey beyond multitasking

Slow Down Friday

Each Friday we focus on the importance of
slowing down. Here’s why: personal productivity and the art of
work/life balance depends on a healthy dose of doing nothing. I don’t
mean the kind of lazy spirit that many aspire to but rather a degree of
stepping back to focus on what’s important.

Fridays are great
for looking back and taking stock of how things went in the past week.
A Friday is also perfect for evaluating motives behind how we spend our
time. Laura Stack, The Productivity Pro, has this to say,

If tomorrow, you arrived at work and didn’t get a cup of coffee…didn’t get on the Internet…didn’t talk to your friend…didn’t get your new blog postings…didn’t get sucked into email for 90 minutes…what could you use that energy on instead that will made you proud and give you a boost of satisfaction for the entire day? 

So
let’s make today a time of slowing down and enjoying some moments of
calm. That may mean doing something of high value or heck, it might
mean doing nothing at all. Sometimes blocking out the noise,
interruptions, and time wasters is victory in an of itself.

Quote for the Road:  “Peace is the tranquility of order.”  St. Augustine