We all have days where nothing seems to get done. Things that should be a top priority get left unfinished as things that seem important get attended to.
Scenario from my office:
Sit down to quote for a job. This is important but does require some thinking.
Open up quote docs and the phone rings.
Take the call.
"Hi there, yes yes oh im trying to get a quote done. No your not interupting, ..."
- 5mins
Check email for enquiry email, see some new mail and read them. Reply maybe take some action required by the sender.
- 15mins.
Phone rings.
- 6mins.
Colleague/staff pop their head in with a question.
- 2 mins
Start on your quote. Review the meeting notes and do 10 minutes on it.
- 10 mins
Phone rings etc
You get the picture. An hour goes by and the quote still isn't finished.
You think; these freak'n quotes take ages.
Conveniently you have forgotten about all the interuptions you have had and the blame falls on a 20 minute quote that could change the course of the business.
My big question is; Do I want to be interupted and put important work off?
Ask yourself this today. It changed my thinking about what my priorities are and instantly raised my productivity. It means I am sometimes anti-social but I can keep my promises.
Creating a habit
In a previous post I promised to blog once a week and have now seemingly broken that promise with this post.
Why did I break my promise?
I thought about when I want to post and Friday morning seemed right. So I had to start right away to get into the habit of posting every Friday.
Habits are mostly what we operate on every day. They are the things we do automatically from the time we wake up until the time we sleep. This includes how and when we eat, speak and react.
A habit takes up to 30 days to get into and after that it is hard to break. This goes for bad habits to.
Here are 12 Key Habits to Start With from zenhabits.net author Leo Babauta's new book The Power of Less. Simple and effective habits that will and do work.
[excerpt from Tim Ferriss's blog begins]
You can choose any habits in this book that you think will help you most, at work and in the rest of your life. But if I had to recommend 12 habits to start with (one each month for a year), these are the 12 I think could make the most difference in the lives of the average person (more on each habit in later chapters):
1. Set your 3 MITs (Most Important Tasks) each morning.
2. Single-task. When you work on a task, don’t switch to other tasks.
3. Process your inbox to empty.
4. Check email just twice a day.
5. Exercise 5-10 minutes a day.
6. Work while disconnected, with no distractions.
7. Follow a morning routine.
8. Eat more fruits and veggies every day. [Tim: Here is the "slow-carb" breakfast I use to start my morning routine]
9. Keep your desk decluttered.
10. Say no to commitments and requests that aren’t on your Short List (See Chapter 16, on the Simple Life).
11. Declutter your house for 15 minutes a day.
12. Stick to a 5-sentence limit for emails.
[excerpt ends]
----
I am doing a rehash of all my blogs and websites so I'm changing my blogging back to whenever until they are all up and running.
Why did I break my promise?
I thought about when I want to post and Friday morning seemed right. So I had to start right away to get into the habit of posting every Friday.
Habits are mostly what we operate on every day. They are the things we do automatically from the time we wake up until the time we sleep. This includes how and when we eat, speak and react.
A habit takes up to 30 days to get into and after that it is hard to break. This goes for bad habits to.
Here are 12 Key Habits to Start With from zenhabits.net author Leo Babauta's new book The Power of Less. Simple and effective habits that will and do work.
[excerpt from Tim Ferriss's blog begins]
You can choose any habits in this book that you think will help you most, at work and in the rest of your life. But if I had to recommend 12 habits to start with (one each month for a year), these are the 12 I think could make the most difference in the lives of the average person (more on each habit in later chapters):
1. Set your 3 MITs (Most Important Tasks) each morning.
2. Single-task. When you work on a task, don’t switch to other tasks.
3. Process your inbox to empty.
4. Check email just twice a day.
5. Exercise 5-10 minutes a day.
6. Work while disconnected, with no distractions.
7. Follow a morning routine.
8. Eat more fruits and veggies every day. [Tim: Here is the "slow-carb" breakfast I use to start my morning routine]
9. Keep your desk decluttered.
10. Say no to commitments and requests that aren’t on your Short List (See Chapter 16, on the Simple Life).
11. Declutter your house for 15 minutes a day.
12. Stick to a 5-sentence limit for emails.
[excerpt ends]
----
I am doing a rehash of all my blogs and websites so I'm changing my blogging back to whenever until they are all up and running.
An amazing man
Nick Vujicic is one of the most inspirational people you will ever see, meet or hear. Enjoy.
Why I hate blogging (or - hello 2009)
Why do I hate blogging?
Because by starting a blog and getting readers means you have promised to blog.
I wrote about this recently in a MondayMotivator after I was given an acronym for it by John Blackham from Xsol - MAPKAP - make a promise, keep a promise.
And I dear reader of this blog have let you down badly in 2008. So I am going to make you a promise for 2009 - I promise to blog once a week and only once a week.
You might think that sounds easy, however, between running my business, writing the MondayMotivator and the minimotivator, blogging is a low priority. So once a week it is and I look forward to writing about good news and finding things that are inspirational, cool, make you think or are just plain stupid or funny.
Have a great year.
Because by starting a blog and getting readers means you have promised to blog.
I wrote about this recently in a MondayMotivator after I was given an acronym for it by John Blackham from Xsol - MAPKAP - make a promise, keep a promise.
And I dear reader of this blog have let you down badly in 2008. So I am going to make you a promise for 2009 - I promise to blog once a week and only once a week.
You might think that sounds easy, however, between running my business, writing the MondayMotivator and the minimotivator, blogging is a low priority. So once a week it is and I look forward to writing about good news and finding things that are inspirational, cool, make you think or are just plain stupid or funny.
Have a great year.
Alex Bogusky on creating ideas
I laughed out loud at the end of this short video - brilliant!
[note it does have one swear word in it]
Warriors and other cool stuff
Wow! The Warriors have defied the odds by beating the Storm over the weekend. The get to play again on Friday. Short turn-around but I'm sure that the advantage of a home game and confidence of a great win will get them through.
And something cool. MindMovies. These are great. Warning though - they are addictive.
And something cool. MindMovies. These are great. Warning though - they are addictive.
Great Marketing + Great Product = $$
If you would like to see how to make visualisation cool, make a real difference to peoples lives and as a bonus make piles of money, check out http://www.mindmovies.com.
Movie watch
Lonesome Jim: Here are the four words that will make this a must watch for you - directed by Steve Buscemi.
Mobils answer
Firstly, thank you Mobil for getting back to me so quickly. They came back to within hours.
Here is their answer. Let me know what you think;
Dear Glenn
Thank you for your query regarding the system change for the 'EFTPOS at the Pump' terminal.
It is unfortunate, however Banks are working with the 'New Zealand Banking Association' to ensure EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) and Triple DES compliance across New Zealand. As a result all terminals will need to be replaced to meet these new standards.
Mobil does not currently have a plan to replace the EFTPOS at pump units, therefore they will be disconnected from the banks infrastructure. Meaning the following cards will no longer be accepted at pump, they are: Debit Cards, Credit Cards, American Express, Farmers and Diners. These cards will continue to be accepted at the indoor payment facility.
However as Mobil supports it's own infrastructure for some cards Mobilcard, Fleetcard, Drivecard and Onecards can continue to be accepted at the pump terminal. If you wish to continue use of the 'pay at pump' facility perhaps you may wish to apply for one of the above cards, for more information please visit www.mobil.co.nz or www.cardlink.co.nz.
Please note that this change is not being driven by Mobil.
Thank you again for the time you have taken to write to us, we appreciate both positive and negative feedback, and endeavour to improve our service whenever possible.
Best Regards,
Raveewan Jariyavithayakul (TH-RJI) >> RJ ANZ Customer Relations Analyst Sales Administrative Support AP BKK Customer Service ExxonMobil Limited - Fuels Marketing Customer Service
Here is their answer. Let me know what you think;
Dear Glenn
Thank you for your query regarding the system change for the 'EFTPOS at the Pump' terminal.
It is unfortunate, however Banks are working with the 'New Zealand Banking Association' to ensure EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) and Triple DES compliance across New Zealand. As a result all terminals will need to be replaced to meet these new standards.
Mobil does not currently have a plan to replace the EFTPOS at pump units, therefore they will be disconnected from the banks infrastructure. Meaning the following cards will no longer be accepted at pump, they are: Debit Cards, Credit Cards, American Express, Farmers and Diners. These cards will continue to be accepted at the indoor payment facility.
However as Mobil supports it's own infrastructure for some cards Mobilcard, Fleetcard, Drivecard and Onecards can continue to be accepted at the pump terminal. If you wish to continue use of the 'pay at pump' facility perhaps you may wish to apply for one of the above cards, for more information please visit www.mobil.co.nz or www.cardlink.co.nz.
Please note that this change is not being driven by Mobil.
Thank you again for the time you have taken to write to us, we appreciate both positive and negative feedback, and endeavour to improve our service whenever possible.
Best Regards,
Raveewan Jariyavithayakul (TH-RJI) >> RJ ANZ Customer Relations Analyst Sales Administrative Support AP BKK Customer Service ExxonMobil Limited - Fuels Marketing Customer Service
