With the high speed that the business world often requires us to operate at, we find ourselves trying to keep up by multitasking our lives. Have you ever found yourself writing a document on your laptop while talking to a customer on your phone? Have you ever stopped to consider how many words you got confused between the two tasks?

More than likely there were several. Between having to go back and correct your typing errors or stopping to rethink what you just said, multitasking can actually slow us down and be nothing more than counterproductive when it comes to business.

Multitasking, put simply, occupies your mind in such a way that you can’t focus on any of your tasks effectively. How often do you lose valuable sales time “redoing or reviewing” something?  This hinders your accounts, affects customer service which adversely affects customer satisfaction.

For a demonstration of how counterproductive multitasking can be, try this simple exercise:

In Dave Crenshaw’s book, The Myth of Multitasking – How Doing it all Gets Nothing Done, he shares this eye opening exercise – Type the alphabet while you count to 26 out loud. Sounds easy enough, especially since those are things we learned as young children. But when you combine the two efforts that would require two separate trains of thought, it can become very difficult for anyone to accomplish without error. Now simplify your effort by saying the alphabet as you type it. Because your mind is fully focused on what you’re doing, your task becomes easier, more efficient, and the quality is consequently better.

This is the true definition of multitasking. This is very different when compared to listening to a message while you drive home or riding your bike while you mentally go over your day’s agenda. As Dave Crenshaw speaks of in his book, The Myth of Multitasking – How Doing it all Gets Nothing Done, this is called “Background tasking” and is effectively possible because your mind does not use as much effort to process certain tasks such as riding your bike down a familiar road or cooking your favorite dish in your own kitchen.

Managing your time effectively

How do you solve your multitasking problems? The first thing is to understand when, where, and how you multitask. Perhaps you find yourself opening multiple windows on your computer to start multiple projects at the same time, and now your mind is no longer focused on the reason for your first project. Then, as your day proceeds, rather than work on and finish the first task, you transfer and work on two or three others at the same time. This habit sets you up to multitask, and this is something you must avoid.

To avoid setting yourself up to multitask, create a schedule for your day. You have five projects to accomplish for the day, and while it may seem more time efficient to juggle two or three, you’ll just find yourself having to reset your mind for the different tasks each time you change. Though it may only take seconds to switch your focus onto another thought, your mind can take much more time than that to begin to truly focus its efforts onto your new task. This is why it is important to manage your time effectively.

• Arrange your particular tasks
• Account for breaks and phone call returns

Time, just like money, if finite.  How are you spending your daily time budget? Are you a good steward of it or looking at your lengthy “to do” list with one item completed on it wondering “where did all the time go”?

Technology has accelerated business into a new era. Information travels at the speed of light and arrives at the push of a button. Smart phones, tablets, netbooks, and the Internet are responsible for the way we conduct business. So you have to ask yourself: Why is it that we still struggle to accomplish so much?

It would seem that with all this technology available to us that we should find it easier to conduct business, but it isn’t so. We answer the phone when it rings. Emails and instant messages are amongst our top priorities while we work. The problem with all this technology around us is that we find it difficult to stay focused.

Whose to blame?  We are and our inability to control technology.

One thing at a time

It started a new wave of information and its delivery, now hiding in our pockets and purses in the form of smart phones and tablets. We find ourselves compelled to answer our phone when it buzzes or beeps, or even obligated to talk to someone through an email or social media whenever we’re alerted. But, that’s not the way things should be.

We must learn how to deal with technology properly. It is a servant master companionship. Unfortunately, it is often the technology that has mastered the user. You must master your use of technology. Don’t let your technology control you. Think about your cell phone, when it rings, do you HAVE to answer it immediately? Or can you resist obeying your technology?

Manage your time accordingly: taking calls, emails, and other sources when you designate that it’s time.

Rather than take calls all day long whenever they come, use your phone, email, messages, or social media accounts at a scheduled time. And, avoid doing them all at once – doing so robs you of the  focus and systematization necessary to yield effective productivity.

Juggling business

Multi-tasking is the renowned ability to do several things at once.  In this juggling, is where technology creates the illusion of control.

Just because we can use so many great tools doesn’t mean we should. When the “smoke and mirrors of efficiency” take us away from the time and focus necessary to develop relationships, listen and actually hear or even just to think; then we need to examine what are the actions necessary to be effective versus efficient.

The myth lies we think efficiency equals effectiveness – but it doesn’t.  Be efficient with things; be effective with people.

Next time you’re sitting at your desk, focused on making contact with customers or following up with someone and then your cell phone rings, think about how that simple call has changed what was going on. You stopped your train of thought, you stopped working, you answered the phone and likely carried on a completely different conversation that had nothing to do with the topic you were working on, put your phone back in your pocket, and then wondered: Now where was I?  All day long, be it your phone or laptop, we let technology control what we can accomplish.

Yet, if you create a system for your actions that moves from point A, to point B and then to point C; a system that is set up in steps that yield results or action.  It can serve as a road map which you can exit from if necessary but always know where the “on ramp” is to take you to the next point.   Then, instead of you being driven by technology – you then drive the technology by automating actions that drive to a result.

The New Year has always been thought of as a time of change and new direction. We make huge lists of resolutions and plans of what want to change. Sometimes that’s as far as we go yet we have to take things a step further in order to accomplish our lists for this upcoming year.

The tip of the iceberg

The list is merely the start of things. It is nothing more than an outline of a plan that we dream of. Whatever format you use – from using a notepad and forming your list, we have transformed to using your PDA’s, computer programs, and online systems that do something a little different than just write down a few thoughts- they schedule.

Scheduling rather than listing

The list is still good, yet you have to take it a step forward. A list alone is merely a lust for thought. You think, but do not plan. You say, but fail to do. So, you schedule to ensure that you will do. Luckily, these electronic devices that convenience our life possess an array of abilities that make scheduling easy. When you form your list, arrange for time to be able to accomplish each item. If you don’t, a list will merely frustrate you as a reminder that you have yet to do something about it. When you schedule, you set that time to the side. Even if it is next week, or the week after, you are going to have an appointment with your plans.

A bit of initiative

Your mind set has to desire to do this. If you plan to make your list into a schedule, all you’ve done is make another list. Sit down and start scheduling your list. Even if it’s not your final design, it’s the beginning. And once you’ve started, that is half the work.

Prevention planning

Sadly, the New Year start is possibly the one time of the year that we do think about the future. I’m not talking  just talking about tomorrow, but all the days after as well.

Prevention is the first line of defense. Ask yourself:

• Do I know all the steps to accomplish what I want this year?
• Do I have all the resources available to accomplish what I want to this year?

For every item on your list, write down the three or four things that need to occur or that you need to have to make completing that item on your list inevitable.

Time management

What it all comes down to is being able to manage your time. Your lists are just that- lists. They are simple reminders.  They are only “to d0’s”. Yet, when you’re serious and put your list item in your “time budget” then you’ve taken the action necessary to complete it.   Taking the initiative to schedule your time bestows enormous value for you and your business. You analyze what needs to be done, and manage your time so that it can be done. This New Year, lose your lust for lists, and schedule time to accomplish your goals.

Lists that provide a road-map to completion, a timeline to do that and a way to track that are vital success tools to make your new year great!

“There are times when the best appointment you keep is with yourself.”

The strongest relationship management tool?

Time with yourself  making sure your systems and focus are aligned to make your goals – inevitable.

Many, especially those responsible for driving sales or those who are entrepreneurs, find it challenging, if not frustrating, during this week. It’s an impatience that happens when you’re forced to wait for the next step or that decision which makers just haven’t convened to sign off on to move forward on a project.

This time is the “go slow to go fast time.” I often call it the strong foundation time so that you can soar during the beginning of the new quarter. It’s also the time that separates the “doers and the dreamers”.   Or, better phrased and more realistic, it’s the element that separates the employees from the entrepreneurs. It’s that terrific self discipline to slow down and use this time to build a strong foundation of a successful empire or sales force that will make 2012 a huge success or a perpetual struggle.

Establishing “no fly zones” are areas in your life that are non-negotiable – they are boundaries and promises to ourselves and our valued others in which we say “no” so that we honor that which is most important to us.

What are your no fly zones?

They are those times that are 100% committed to those items that move you closer to your goals. From acquiring skills to establishing systems, your “no fly zones” are the times that you are compounding your success and exponentially developing your relationships.   It’s a struggle I see many good employees struggle with as they work to bridge the gap to an entrepreneur.  It’s a confusion of activity with accomplishment.   Many times those two standards “collide” and our schedules and our feeling of well-being are in a literal train wreck!

For this week’s no fly zone, let’s make sure your system is ready to run well in 2012.

The importance of having a great system established and following up is amply illustrated by research from the National Sales Executive Association, a trade organization for professional sales executives.  Their remarkable statistics demonstrate that most sales are made from the 5th through the 12th contact!

Did you know that 67% of contacts listed in people’s database are no longer at the company listed in that database?  Even worse, 3% of the people on your list are dead. Literally, they’ve died since you last made contact with them.

Here are your action items to make the most of this week’s “no fly zone”:

• Clean up your database. Make it  rich in client content that it will catapult your relationships (and sales) for 2012?

a. When was the last time you made contact with that client?
b. Do you have all of their contact information?
c. Do you have a system to house your clients’ and contacts’ information?
d. How are you cataloging information about your clients, such as: names of children, milestone dates, interest areas, common frames of reference?  (There’s a comprehensive list of 20 things you need to know about every client in Tim Templeton’s Book, Referral of a Lifetime, a part of the Ken Blanchard Series.)

Here is the data they have compiled regarding sales per contacts ratios:

• 2% of sales are made on the 1st contact
• 3% of sales are made on the 2nd contact
• 5% of sales are made on the 3rd contact
• 10% of sales are made on the 4th contact
• 80% of sales are made on the 5th-12th contact!!!

Do you know that 95% of your competition will drop a prospect after the third try? Can you see where putting out 25% more effort than your competition (by making the 4th contact) will improve your sales by 100%!

How many companies out there know how their online presence is doing? How important is it to really know? Below is great information that is out there explaining why its important, how to find out if your company is in the green, and how to fix your presence if it is in the danger zone.

How To Track Your Presence

Search, Search & Search Some More. Go to Google, Yahoo, and Bing, and create a search for your business. Create an excel spreadsheet and copy down URL’s of any negative & positive information that you find. Next create a search based on keywords that your potential customers and clients would use to find you, and copy any info found into your spreadsheet. Make sure you know where your website comes up with all of this as well; is it before or after the reviews that you find?

Tapping into Social Media. Create searches in Google, Yahoo and Bing, use terms “Your Company name on Twitter, Facebook, or just Social Media” to find out if there are any real time conversations going on about your brand, and whether they are negative or positive make sure that you are addressing them. Don’t ever leave messages about your company untouched.

Create a Google Alert for your company to make sure that you are always on top of reviews or conversations that are taking place on your brand.

Answer The Reviews, Don’t Brush Under The Rug

If you find negative reviews make sure that they are being addressed. By addressing and getting to the root of the problem it shows your customers or clients that you care, and aware of the situation that needs to be fixed. Use the negative and turn it into a positive.

If there are items that aren’t correct make sure that you contact the website owner that the comments are hosted on.

Social Media Fix

Create a corporate social media account to address any consumer complaints that you find on Twitter, Facebook & any other social media sites. This is another outlet, that if used properly, can truly help make a positive light on your company. Use this as another route for customer service and handling negative situations to turn into a positive.

Fixing The Flame

If you ignore the fire and feel its online and won’t truly create a problem, things can turn extremely viral at a fast rate now a days and take twice as long to fix as well as create trust. The best way to handle your presence is by creating one and handling both the good and the bad. By staying on top of your presence you will always be able to tame the fire before it goes full blow and takes over.

The finely tuned human brain has a keen ability to recognize a multitude of colors, but this basic ability may be robbing you of productivity.

Somewhere in our developmental past, we probably had to be able to tell good fruits, nuts and other food sources from bad ones and our ability to distinguish color played a big role in that.  But now that the whole “hunter-gatherer” thing isn’t so hip, colors may be working against us.

Colors and Psychology

Different colors have varied effects on us emotionally.  People way smarter than me figured out a long time ago they could effect and manipulate people’s emotions by using color.

Some well known examples include:

University of Iowa’s Pink Locker Room

Legendary head football coach, Hayden Fry, was a psychology major in college and read all about the soothing effects of pink.  He had the visiting team’s locker room walls painted pink as a subliminal attack on his opponents to calm them and get into their heads.

He would later profess, “I can’t recall a coach who has stirred up a fuss about the color and then beat us.”

Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Pink Underwear

The head cop of Maricopa County, Arizona is known for this chain gangs, bare bones county jail, tent cities and making the male  prisoners wear pink underwear and  handcuffs.

Fast Food Restaurant Signs

Ever notice how most fast food joints have, or at one time had, a sign that is red and yellow?  Apparently yellow makes you hungry and red accents its companion to get your brain thinking about food.

Feng Shui

From red doors to wood floors, the ancient art of Chinese manipulation of ying and yang with furniture and color placement is well known all around the world.

Color Engineered to Distract

The multitude of devices, programs, apps and everything else digital have all been designed with the express purpose of getting your attention.  While this increases that item’s efficiency, it destroys yours.

Color is a powerful weapon in this battle.  I bet there were teams full of color and design experts called in to lend their advice to almost every major web page you visit, application you open, device you touch and so on.

With colors conspiring against you with sounds and other visual aspects, how do you fight back?

Go Grey

Turn the color on your monitor off!

Switch to grey scale and your digital world will be in black and white.  While this won’t take away the flashing, popping and hopping items on your desktop, it will rid you of one huge drag on your attention.

Check out this simple “How-To” to switch your color off and make your biggest time bandits less interesting today.  Even small breaks to check emails, read Facebook statuses and respond to flashing reminders will steal huge amounts of productivity from you.

Ditch the color and create laser like focus on the task at hand.

If you’re looking to improve your productivity, it’s time to bust out that old egg timer.

Unless you hang around with your grandma a lot, chances are you don’t get to see an old fashion timer a lot these days.  If you need to time something in the kitchen, the built in microwave or oven timer usually does the trick.  And of course what smart phone owner doesn’t bust out their favorite timer app when they need to count the seconds down?

But if you’re interested in getting a serious productivity boost, then you need to go analog.

Why Use a Timer?

The world has perfected the science of distracting you, especially when it comes to the work place.

Email clients like Outlook and Gmail alert you when a new message is in.  Instant messages pop up out of nowhere, phone ring/vibrate constantly and text messages don’t stop chirping.  These devices have been specifically designed to capture your attention.  While this might increase the effectiveness of communication, it’s robbing us of our productivity.

Every time you look up from your task, even for a second, your mind has to assess the new information, decide on it’s importance, deal with it or decide to put it off.  This break in your attention can completely take you off task or force your mind to reengage.  Either way, you’re burning precious time and attention to get back on track.

By using a timer, you are forcing yourself to only focus on the task at hand and nothing else.  If you allot a set amount of time for a job, you’ll ignore all of the distractions that really aren’t germane to getting the task done.

Think of your timer like a fence; it keeps you from straying too far.

Why Go Analog?

The classic egg timer that may have been your jailer during childhood time out, will now set you free!

You’re trying to focus on one task, you need to have tunnel vision as much as possible. There are programs that help achieve this, like Write Room.   This handy tool allows  you to block out the rest of the computer and only have a simple word processor in front of you.

If you use a timer on your computer or your cell phone you’re exposing yourself to a whole host of potential distractions.  Emails, RSS updates, instant messages, texts, voice mails…you name it!

Worse yet, by doing something on one of your devices, you might change your automatic “away” or “idle” status to “active.”  This may spur others on the same platforms to hit you up for work or personal stuff.  Don’t let these time bandits get at you!

Set Reasonable Limits

You can’t turn everything off, focus on one task all day long and completely cut off the outside world.  Bosses, clients and loved ones get a little touchy when you drop off the face of the planet like that.

Instead, set aside a reasonable amount of time to achieve your task.  If it’s a larger project, you can break it down into vital parts.  Then take a break, plug back in and see if you need to address anything else.

By simply setting time limits, enforcing them with a physical and non-distraction creating timer and exercising some good old fashion will power and planning, you’ll see your productivity sky rocket!

Sun Tzu’s guide to military strategy, leadership and governance, The Art of War, might have been written in the 5^th century B.C., but its teachings hold true to this day in a wide range of categories.

Business owners, sales people and managers will all find priceless information in this work.  Understanding and implementing this timeless knowledge will help you achieve your business goals, no matter what industry you work in.

Ignoring them will only lead to your downfall!

If you don’t have the time or desire to read through this ancient work, here are a couple of key lessons you should be aware of:

Dealing With Competition

In regards to plotting a strategy, Sun Tzu says about your opponent:

“Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.”

If you’re competition is entrenched in a market, why attack them head on?  Instead of trying to fight an insurmountable force, find where your competition is weak.

Does their key product lack some features?  Is their product line focused more on one segment than another?  Does their customer service need improvement?

Research the dominate players in your market and tailor your product and pitch to exploit their deficits.  Become the “go-to” person in an area that no one else is focusing on.

Motivation

In one of Sun Tzu’s most famous military examples he teaches us to “burn the boats” and give yourself no retreat.

“Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight.  If they will face death, there is nothing they may not achieve.”

While it’s impossible to simulate such dire straits as facing death in the modern workplace, you can let yourself, your employees and coworkers know that repeated failure is not an option.  If the sales team fails, the company will eventually fail and everybody will be looking for a job.

Make sure that fate doesn’t befall you by working as though you have no other options.  With this motivation pushing you along, you will find creative solutions to problems that you may have previously abandoned.

Analysis

Sun Tzu says:

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.  If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer defeat.  If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

While in depth analysis of your actions, your company’s results, your competition and the market isn’t always most exciting thing, it is vital to your success.  You have to know where you stand, where your competition stands and what you can do to improve things.

Take a long look at your daily activities.  Are you making yourself busy or are you being productive?  Have you applied the 80/20 Rule to your clients, schedule and overall outlook?

Understand your own weaknesses and strengths, know where your competition is weak and strike accordingly.

Many people measure their lives by an unofficial equation; time is the raw input, your schedule is the machine and productivity is the end output. If you’re not being productive enough, then it must be your schedule that is flawed because time is consistent, right?

While time is consistent, how we perceive it in relation to ourselves, our tasks and achievements is nothing close to uniform. For me, thirty minutes playing with my daughter feels different than one hour sitting in a meeting. That is because my attention is fully engaged when I’m with my daughter; I want to get the most out of that time and nothing else matters.

Attention Bandwidth

While time will relentlessly march on, what you do have control over is your attention. Start to look at time in regards to what you choose to spend attention on and the quality of that attention.

If you think about it in tech terms, we have a limited attention bandwidth that we choose to devote at all times to a variety of things. If you look back on your day and feel as though nothing got accomplished, you didn’t waste time, you misallocated your attention.

Devote your entire attention bandwidth to important and fulfilling tasks and you will stop seeing time as the limited resource which is constantly being stolen from you. Instead, understand that each moment of your life is simply what you have decided to devote your attention bandwidth to. These allocation decisions over the long run will shape your life and how you see yourself.

The Choice is Yours

Seeing the world this way will show you that only you decide to allocate attention to the tasks and responsibilities that are in your life. You decide what quality of attention they should be given. That effects your perception of time and of your productivity.

Try the following to make the most of your limited attention bandwidth:

Focus on What Matters

Pareto’s Principle, also called the 80/20 rule, states that 80% of our outcomes come from 20% of our actions. So, find that 20% of your activities that are making most of your results and focus your attention bandwidth on them as much as possible.

When doing so, make sure you are fully engaged. Turn off, hide or mute any distraction that has the potential to lure you away from what creates most of the results you are looking for. That might also mean saying “No” to a new task that comes your way or delegating it to someone else.

Batch Process the Mundane

We all have tasks that are boring, routine or we just don’t want to do. Instead of procrastinating or scattering them through out the day, set aside one block of time to do them. Give them your full attention and get them out of the way.

This might mean checking email or voice mails only two or three times a day. When you do attend to these tasks, you will be fully engaged and they won’t be popping up throughout the day to beckon you away from your important 20%.

Get Organized

Having a system of organization is key to making the most of your day. It makes devoting your attention in the right quantities to the right things automatic. Something like David Allen’s GTD system helps you take tasks, sort them into relevant “bins”, prioritize projects and break down them down into manageable bits.

Imagine your attention bandwidth is a powerful laser. You can point it all at one thing or break it up into several smaller beams. The latter is essentially what disorganiztion and multitasking do to you. If you’re properly organized, you will have targets laid out in succession of priority for the full power of your attention weapon.

In the end, you can’t dwell on time “passing you by.” Organize your life and find what tasks are the most important and give them the full power of your attention bandwidth. Get rid of the things that don’t truly matter, elimate distractions and give your full attention to what you’re doing (no multitasking) and you’ll see time and your life in a much less stressful way.

When we hear the word “routine”, we often cringe. It has become synonymous with boring, average and dull. While you don’t want your whole life to be routine, routines bring order to the chaotic nature of our lives and help us achieve true productivity.

The ironic part is that by working and managing your life more efficiently with routines, you can have more time to do the fun and exciting things you crave. Making routines yield productivity is as simple as identifying what you need to get done and finding the optimal times to do them. Then you simply repeat that process.

It sounds almost too simple right? Let’s go through some tips to help you achieve paramount productivity through routines.

List it All Out

Go through the tasks that you have to do every day and week and write them down.

Your daily list might include things like checking email, picking up the kids, making your prospecting calls and so on. Weekly items would be things that you do a couple times a week like working out, going to the dog park with your dog or cleaning.

Discover Your Most Productive Time

Everyone is different and we all work better at different times during the day. Some people have to get up at the crack of dawn and work in the peace and quiet. Others find sitting in a busy café helps them work. Personally, I’m a night owl and get my best work done after the kids have gone to bed.

Whatever the most productive time is for you, identify it and catalog how long it lasts, what conditions need to be there to achieve it and so on.

Make Your Schedule

Now that you know when you work the best, it’s time to put together a schedule. Prioritize your list of tasks and put the most important during the time slot when you work the best. This will be your time where you can just be in the zone and crank out things that have the most effect on your success.

Group Similar Tasks

Now, group every thing else together with similar tasks and set up time blocks when they can be done. This keeps your mind on the same track and focused on the types of things you are doing. Otherwise, you burn time adjusting from something like cleaning to paying bills or reading emails.

Don’t Over Schedule

You can’t plan your whole day. It’s best to have a couple of time blocks set up throughout the day and then leave the rest open to deal with incoming tasks, things that didn’t get done on time or rush projects. A lot of people have a morning and night routine and leave the middle of their day open.

Prioritize, Simplify and Automate

If your list is just too daunting and you know there is no humanly way possible you can achieve it without becoming Red Bull’s best customer, then you need to whittle it down.

Prioritize or re-prioritize the list and find out what is absolutely necessary to get done. Often things we think are really important just aren’t. If processes are too complex, break them up into more manageable pieces. Finally if you can automate something, then do it!

Many organization and productivity experts like David Allen extol the virtues of forming routines, setting aside time to deal with tasks on a “batch” level and prioritizing your tasks so you are productive instead of just busy. Allen’s Getting Things Donebook is considered by many to be the Bible of organization/productivity systems. If you have never had the chance to check out his GTD system, check out his blog.

Follow these simple tips, lay out your routines and do your best to stick to them. While you need to be diligent in implementing your new schedule, you also have to be flexible and allow for life to interject. If you have to break your routine, don’t freak out or give up. Just do your best to get back on track and stick with it.