photo credit: optimal tweezers

It’s easy to get so caught up in the process of getting things done that we don’t stop to celebrate what we have gotten done.

This week, why not take a little time to review what you have accomplished in the past week, past month, and past year? Make a list if you like, or just browse through your calendar and remind yourself of all the little beginnings, or maybe even some big beginnings, your tasks have added up to.

When you see your work in context, it’s easy to feel motivated to get back to it and do the most important things: the things that will be worth reflecting on next week, or next month, or next year.

Happy reviewing, and happy Monday!

photo credit: Sarah G…

Routine can be a helpful mechanism for getting repeating tasks done on a regular basis, but it can also trick you into blind cooperation with the past. Do all of your repeating tasks still matter? Are there others you’re doing only sporadically that could be scheduled for better reliability and efficiency? Should you be delegating some of those tasks, if you can?

Why not use a few moments this morning to review your to do list, your calendar, and your mental checklist of habits for anything that might need some freshening up. I just read through mine and noticed that I don’t have a time scheduled regularly to review our client list and projects and make sure we’re not overlooking anything we should be doing. I’m going to go schedule that now.

In other words, perhaps: don’t let the everyday craziness get in the way of a stable routine, but on the other hand, don’t let routine get in the way of your creativity.

Happy Monday!

Nicholas Holland and Jackson Miller, pictured here, launched gpsAssassin, a location-based multi-player iPhone game, after developing the company and product at last year's Nashville Startup Weekend

photo credit: tmgstudio

This weekend I participated in Nashville Startup Weekend. That’s right: the idea behind this event is to start up a business in a single weekend.

My team (which ranged over the course of the weekend from as many as 8 people at the beginning to as few as 3 people still going at 5:00 AM after Saturday’s work session, and back up to 6 when we presented our new company on Sunday evening) successfully scoped, designed, and built a prototype of a web-based application dealing with group food ordering. We also developed the business plan, marketing plan, and financials for both a bootstrapped and an invested approach all between Friday evening and Sunday afternoon.

This is not merely an exercise; this is a viable business that we will be launching in the coming weeks. Our presentation even garnered investor interest.

In short, over the course of a weekend, with the help of pizza, beer, coffee, and Red Bull, a new company was developed with a marketable product and a business model that is cash flow positive in month 1, profitable in month 3, and can either produce dividends for its creators or become an attractive acquisition target in the months and years to come. And that was only one team: several other companies formed this weekend, too.

The big takeaway from the weekend is this: it doesn’t necessarily take a lot of time or money to do something awesome. What it takes is focus and determination to get it done.

The next time you question whether something can be done, or whether you have the time or resources to do it, maybe try figuring out what you can do. And then do it. And then figure out a way to make the next step happen. And then do it.

It sounds simple enough, but inertia can be hard to overcome. Making that first step is challenging, but incredibly rewarding when it leads to a finished product.

Happy Monday! Here’s hoping your week is full of focus and determination.

photo credit: Iván Santiesteban

You know that adrenaline rush and the pure focus that comes with the last few hours in the office before a vacation, when suddenly you know exactly what the most important next steps are and you don’t waste time on the piddly stuff? You know how you always wonder, why can’t I be like this when I’m not rushing out the door?

Well, at least I do. And I bet some of you do too. Now a study suggests that it may be exactly because we’re getting away that we do a better job at planning, organizing, and communicating. Or, as the WSJ.com article about the study says:

Working together to make sure each consultant got some time off forced teams to communicate better, share more personal information and forge closer relationships. They also had to do a better job at planning ahead and streamlining work, which in some cases resulted in improved client service, based on interviews with clients.

It’s not totally shocking, is it? There’s a good deal of common sense in the idea (and it’s definitely an area we’ve talked about before) but somehow still many of us don’t allow ourselves the time off we’d need to ensure that we actually experience this benefit.

It’s Thursday morning. What can you do between now and Friday afternoon to ensure that you can relax and enjoy your weekend? Ready? Set? Go.

photo credit: Dennis Wright

If you had to choose between an idea that would generate money right now today and an idea that could generate considerably more money later, which would you choose?

It’s not a quiz, it’s an everyday decision. Some would say there’s no right answer for every business at every moment; that it depends on the circumstances; that a business hurting for cash flow probably shouldn’t pass up the short-term money. Some would say it’s a false dichotomy.

Every day we face the same choices in our personal lives when it comes to health and lifestyle decisions, and we understand the tradeoff: fun now vs. wellness later. Or when we make personal decisions about finance, and its our long-term financial well-being at stake. We know the value of compound interest, and we know that making healthy dietary decisions now can make all the difference in our health later in life.

But it seems that some businesses don’t even weigh their options; they automatically choose the short-term gains of immediate sales over creating something of lasting value. A company I used to work with struggled with this dilemma, even though they had solid earnings and money in the bank. It should have been easy to invest in their future by making decisions that would tend to make customers more loyal and return more often rather than drive customers to spend a little more in the short term.

Truly great businesses usually don’t make decisions that are based in short-term rewards; they seek outcomes that will prolong their health and enhance their longevity. We need more examples of that around us.

What’s an example you’ve seen recently of a company placing long-term health over short-term gains?

photo credit: Michal Osmenda

If you’re like us, work requires you to take a trip every now and then. Or, if you’re like us, you find yourself needing to do a bit of work, even while on vacation to exotic locales.

So, in an effort to help you maximize your time, stay productive and stay balanced at 30,000 feet in the air, here are our 10 tips for in-air (or in-airport) productivity.

In the airport

1. Find a quiet spot. While it’s impossible to escape the announcements and cellphone conversations that ravage your peace and quiet, you can minimize it by sitting at a gate without a flight scheduled soon. Add some headphones and don’t face the walking areas of the concourse and you might just limit distraction enough to get the job done.
2. Have your carry-on bags packed with a high level of organization and a low level of stuff. This not only makes it easier to speed through the bag screening, but you won’t waste any time searching through a wasteland of paperwork to find what you’re looking for. Light is better for your back, too, and you won’t have to worry about finding a spot overhead for a giant bag.
3. When you’re packing your carry-on, dedicate one small section or pocket for the things that normally reside in your pants pockets. As you’re in line for the metal detectors, empty everything in your pockets into that section. As soon as you’re through, back in the pants it all goes. Being able to do this on the fly saves lots of time and aggravation.
4. Resist the urge to chow down. Airport food is famously unhealthy and expensive. Not only will you have to make up for those extra calories and cash, but any time you spend waiting in line is a waste, too. If you simply have to have something, then go with coffee, fruit, or something pre-made. You’ll save cash, calories, and minutes.
5. Hit the bathroom on the way to get your luggage. Everyone’s in such a hurry to get from the jetway to the baggage carousel, but all you’re going to do there is wait some more. A better use of your time and the facilities? Make a quick dash for the loo en route to your bags.

In the air

1. Save your magazines for pre-flight and pre-10,000 feet. Since you can’t listen to your iPod or boot up your laptop yet (and since you don’t want to listen to pre-flight announcements), this is a perfect time to catch up on the latest Fast Company or Wired. So, if you have a trip coming in the next two weeks, resist the urge to read magazines at home so you’ll better use your time in your seat.
2. Signal to your seatmate that you mean business. If you’re going to be working during the flight, your initial introduction to the folks on your row of seats should be straightforward. Just say hello, then immediately buckle your seat belt and open a book, legal pad, laptop, etc. This – unlike a newspaper – projects that you’re going to be working on the flight. You won’t make any friends this way, but you’ll gain valuable minutes.
3. Have the laptop ready to go. Make sure it’s fully charged and on standby so when you hear that magic ding while passing through 10,000 feet, you’ll be able to crack it open and get started. Feel free to also have documents or presentations already open. Sure, we’re only talking about minutes, but minutes matter.
4. Drink water; save the snacks. You don’t want a bunch of food crowding that already tiny seat-back tray. Drink a cup of water to stay fresh and go ahead and accept the free peanuts. Just save them for when it’s time to put the laptop away or when you’re waiting to get off the plane.
5. Not using a laptop in flight? Then make a plan for what you’re reading or writing. Strategy matters just as much when it comes to analog work as it does digital work. So, if you’re reading reports first, have them ready to rock at takeoff. Or, if you’re penning a speech, make sure pad and paper are at the ready so you can use every precious moment of flight.

By maximizing your time at the airport and in flight, you’ll save time when you get to where you’re going, allowing you to relax and explore your destination.

(Note: A special thanks to my world-traveling friend Ben. He’s been to more countries than most people and knows what he’s talking about when it comes to travel. He’s thinking of blogging. I hope this post is the tipping point, showing him that he could knock it out of the park.)

Tell us: What do you do to stay productive while flying or getting ready to fly?

photo credit: jhoc

What was the last task that truly had your undivided atttention? Almost all of us struggle with having too many things to do and too little time, and the consequence is generally that we treat all our tasks, important and trivial, as if we have no time for any of them.

Wouldn’t it be nice this week if we can carve out some time for genuine focus? There’s probably at least one project or task you need to tackle this week that would benefit greatly from considered, careful efforts rather than the rushed frenzy it might ordinarily receive. In my case, it seems more like three or four tasks, and maybe that’s true for you too.

Because if we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it 43 times: the point of all the time management and task management methodologies and “getting things done” and all the rest of it isn’t simply to make us faster. It’s to free us up to focus on the things that matter.

That’s my goal for this week. I hope you’ll consider it, too. Or if you’ve already got this one nailed down, tell me in the comments what your goal for this week is. Either way, I hope it’s a great week!

photo credit: Elsie esq.

Perhaps you’ve noticed that posts on this blog have been more sparse this week than in previous weeks. It’s because I’m still doing most of the blogging myself, and I have a lot of irons in the fire.

I’m mentioning this for two reasons:

1. I’m still seeking contributors. If you or someone you know writes regularly, is passionate about meaningful work, and would be interested in writing for this blog, check out the contributor guidelines.
2. My struggles this week are relevant to business overall, because getting distracted is about as common as coffee in most businesses.

One of the first lessons in branding is to focus. Know your positioning, know your differentiaton, and shun that which does not fit. It works for branding, but it also works for product development, and service delivery, and just about any aspect of business.

It’s important to focus. And what’s necessary to staying focused is the ability to say no.

I’m clearly not saying no to enough possibilities in my personal and professional life right now, and it’s partly because the state of the economy and friends losing jobs (another of my friends lost his job just today, for example) leads to a feeling that we can’t afford to turn anything away.

But it isn’t until we start saying no to what doesn’t truly fit that we can become better at what does. It’s true for people, and it’s true for businesses.

What can you say “no” to today that will free you up to be better at what you do?