Time Management

Aug 20 2017

The Power of Trade-Offs

Can You Have it all?

It took me several decades to fully appreciate that the myth that you can ‘have it all’ really is just that – a myth. This belief, often pedaled by personal development and success coaches, undermines fulfillment and meaningful achievement in our personal and work lives.

The belief that ‘you can have it all’ pervades our lives in various guises ranging from being busy rather than effective, multi-tasking rather than single tasking, working on multiple businesses and projects rather than one, having thousands of online ‘friends’ rather than enjoying a few deep ‘real world’ relationships.

Many Priorities vs One Real Priority

More than ever we live in an era where quantity is perceived as a triumph over quality. Always being busy, having plenty on the go and getting by on a few hours sleep are badges of honor. This thinking in part is driven by not wanting to miss out on the opportunity for something better. The reality is that living our lives this way means that better never comes.

At What Cost?

Living life a life of over-commitment (as I did for much of my twenties and thirties) has many costs including:

Always being stressed
Always feeling exhausted
Always being late for meetings or deadlines
Letting family, friends, co-workers and clients down
Not completing important tasks and projects
Producing poor quality work
Not having any downtime and playtime
The undermining of creativity and clarity
Not feeling fulfilled and happy

When I look back, my greatest regrets are not spending more time with the people who mattered most to me and my greatest failures were often contributed to by spreading myself too thinly, consequently not giving 100%.

Unlocking the Power of Our Most Valuable Asset

Time is our most valuable asset. While we can make more money we cannot make more time. This logically means we cannot have it all. When presented with several attractive options it is natural to want to explore them all. The key, however, to making the most of what we currently have and the many opportunities that lie before us, is to consciously utilize the power of ‘trade-offs’.

When presented with several opportunities at once, rather than proceed with the mindset of having your cake and eating it, decide which of the available options you most want and put your energies and focus into that option only. While this approach is not easy, not least because we are twice as averse to loss as we are to making an equal gain, it’s better to consciously decide to take this path than have the negative consequences of trying to have it all foisted on you.

This may mean deciding whether you choose to spend 2 hours on social media having snatches of conversations with people you have never met or deciding to have a drink or dinner with one of your closest friends whose company you always enjoy. Deciding whether to take just one more call or send one more email or turn up on time for that important meeting? Making the decision not to spread yourself thinly across 3 business that all have potential or putting your time energy and focus into the business your heart is really in, thereby increasing its chances of success.

An Empowering Mindset and Approach

When faced with several attractive opportunities at once, frame your choice in terms of which opportunity (whether personal or work related) you will choose to give 100% to in order to increase the likelihood of success and fulfillment.

This approach is consciously adopted by outperformers across every field. On his return to Apple Steve Jobs famously slashed the number of product lines and focused the company’s time, energies and resources on a select few. Those who excel in sport and athletics, rarely focus on more than one event, even though they might actually be good at 2 or 3. A jack of all trades is rarely a master of one.

Embracing and utilizing the power of trade-offs, not only increases the chances of you succeeding in those endeavors that you fully invest your time, energy and focus in but it also results in less stress and more fulfillment. Saying ‘no’ is liberating. Fewer tasks, projects and businesses and not rushing from one thing to another, inevitably results in greater clarity and creativity. You can breathe again.

Choosing to spend your time with those you love and those whose company you value, as well as spending time doing the things you love, inevitably results in greater happiness and fulfillment. I didn’t have the foresight to live my live this way in the past, but I now have the benefit of hindsight, and while remaining relentless in my desire to succeed and be fulfilled, I will never again be seduced by the myth of having it all.

Martin Soorjoo works with individuals and teams to increase their Performance, Focus and Ability to Manage Pressure

Jan 09 2016

A New Dawn in Human Performance and Productivity

The New Competitive Edge

We’re currently experiencing an unprecedented focus on pushing the boundaries of human performance and productivity.

This has come about, partly as a response to economic challenges and the increase in communication and information channels, but it’s also driven by the human desire to progress.

These are exciting times where the previously perceived limitations on what we are capable of are frequently smashed. Barely a day goes by without research emerging from the fields of Neuroscience, Performance Psychology, Technology or Bio-hacking (to name a few) educating and empowering us with new techniques, tools, apps or supplements that can significantly increase our performance, productivity and resilience. Some of them are extremely effective and are proven to enable us to increase our performance at work by 500% or more. Others are just like the latest new diet. Shiny and exciting for a bit but long term they consistently fail.

The most promising developments and discoveries (and sometimes re-discoveries) include brain entrainment, mental conditioning processes previously only used by Special Forces operators and world class athletes, technologies that rapidly facilitate recovery and enhance focus, mindfulness and meditation, next generation Smart Drugs (Nootropics), seemingly endless productivity apps and much more. These advances are only the tip of the superhuman iceberg.

While individuals have for millennia been interested in personal development in its various forms, for the first time, we’re experiencing a deep and growing interest by organizations in the latest research in human performance. This growing focus is entirely consistent with the pursuit of profit and success. Happy, healthy, high performing individuals are able to work longer hours, be more effective and creative, have less sickness and manage stress.

Zen and Productivity

Increasing our performance and productivity can, however, no longer be about doing more, faster. Our increasingly fast, always connected world undermines focus and effectiveness , primarily through an endless stream of notifications and interruptions. As a consequence we become more stressed and unable to think with clarity and creativity. We need some peace. So while the search for new ways to do more faster continues, companies and individuals seek out ways of slowing things, looking to both old (e.g. Yoga, Mindfulness) and new solutions (e.g. Brain entrainment and HRV) to slow things down and reduce stress.

Thousand year old practices such as meditation, yoga and mindfulness are now widely accepted as powerful tools for increasing resilience, productivity, creativity and clarity of thought. According to research, approximately one quarter of all major American employers now deliver some form of stress management training and support. These companies include Apple, Nike, Google, McKinsey and Yahoo. Special Forces operators and athletes have long used various relaxation techniques to improve performance and resilience.

Flow and the 5x Factor

By way of example, let’s focus for one moment, on one of the most exciting performance advantages – flow. First coined by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, flow is the state of complete immersion in an activity. Individuals in flow experience intense focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.

A person experiencing a state of flow is able to achieve far more than they could when out of flow; sometimes more than believed humanely possible. Flow it is the ultimate state of peak performance. The significance of flow is such that business leaders and scientific researchers are taking serious note of the state and its profound implications.

A McKinsey study that found that top executives in “flow” are five times more productive, than out of it. Achieved by a combination of old practices and new technologies, flow is quite possibly the ‘ultimate state of peak performance .

The ‘Limitless’ Executive and Entrepreneur

It remains to be seen how far our quest for advancing human performance will take us. What is clear, however, is that for those seeking to get ahead, the time management strategies of yesteryear are no longer sufficient or relevant. We need to increase and manage our focus and energy. So if you’re aiming for success at the highest levels, give careful consideration to purchasing a yoga mat instead, getting into a state of flow and using brain entrainment technology, instead of a game of squash or round of golf.

Martin Soorjoo works with individuals and teams to increase their Performance, Productivity and Resilience.

Jan 14 2015

A Better Target than Work-Life Balance

While for some, the concept of work-life balance is a reality or aspiration; for many leaders and high achievers it is a myth or false ideal. On those rare occasions that work -life balance exists, it’s usually temporary. For years, both as a high -flying attorney and then as a coach, work life balance was something I aspired to but never quite achieved.

The work-life dichotomy was invented in the 1800s. The expression “work–life balance” was first used in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and in 1986 in the United States to describe the balance between an individual’s work and personal life.

More recently, the concept of work-life balance, or its absence, has received greater prominence due to work encroaching on all areas of peoples’ lives to an unprecedented degree. For many nowadays, life often feels like all work and no play.

The Price of Globalization and Technology

There are two primary, and overlapping causes for this. Firstly, increasing globalization has meant that for many, a working day can and often does span 24 hours. Secondly, advances in technology mean that employees and the self-employed are often expected to be connected and available at all waking hours. Companies use email and provide smartphones to facilitate this.

The above should not be taken as implying that everyone is working round the clock because their employers have a gun to their head. Executives will often put in the hours because they have their sights on promotion. Leaders will do so because they believe that it what is expected of a leader and that it sets an example for their team. Finally entrepreneurs and self-employed professionals will continually burn the candle at both ends because that is the trade off for being your own boss.

The reality for many leaders, executives, entrepreneurs, managers and professionals is that, whether the motivations are intrinsic or extrinsic, there is a high price to pay for spending a continuous disproportionate amount of time working. Consequences for the individual include:

* High stress levels which impact on mental and physical health.

* Exhaustion and burnout, often resulting from inadequate sleep.

*Impaired performance and inefficiency.

* Drug and alcohol misuse.

Furthermore, it is not in a company’s best interests to have their senior employees always connected and working round the clock, as the impact on the people expected to drive growth and innovation ranges from impaired decision making and strategic thinking to poor emotional intelligence and a lack of creativity.

Corporate awareness of the problem is growing as reflected by many companies introducing meditation programs for their employees

A More Realistic Approach

Rather than pursue something that I no longer believe is realistic, I apply and work with clients to implement a strategy that yields the same perceived benefits of ‘work-life balance’ but is more compatible with a modern working environment. Elements of the approach include:

Going with the Flow. Proceeding with the expectation that there will be times that work takes priority and a disproportionate amount of your time but deciding to ‘go with the flow’ rather that resenting and resisting is less stressful and more realistic. The precondition to embracing this approach is a commitment to invest scheduled time in your family and personal life.

Time blocking. The above step only works if you are fiercely protective of the non-work time you have scheduled. You must be brutal about segmentation. This means that when its time for the family day out or workout in the gym, turn your smartphone off and be ‘present’ and fully focused on the activity or people at hand. If you need to, let your colleagues know you are not contactable at certain times. Train them to respect your personal time. It’s rare that something or someone can’t wait till you are available.

Be Zen. The numerous and well-documented benefits of mediation and mindfulness practices cannot be overstated. A few minutes invested in some form of mediation will yield benefits in all areas of your life that increase over time. It is no coincidence that some of the most successful people in world (e.g. Hedge fund manager Ray Dalio, Legal Sea Foods CEO Roger Berkowitz, Salesforce’s Marc Benieoff, Linkedin CEO Jeff Weiner and Arianna Huffington) engage in some form of daily meditative practice.

Sleep.For too long insufficient sleep has been a badge of honor. For many years as an attorney I prided myself of producing my best work at around 2am. I look back and realize how misguided I was. As research from across the world makes clear, the impact on health, performance and productivity resulting from consistent, inadequate sleep is catastrophic.

And sleep is not simply an issue of quantity. High quality sleep is necessary for real recovery and restoration. This can be achieved by having no caffeine after 3pm, a regular sleep schedule, total darkness, no TV in the bedroom, not eating a meal more than 2 hours before bed and blue light blocking glasses for the evening.

There are many other steps that can be taken that will increase your ability to enjoy a more fulfilling personal life, while improving your performance and productivity in your work life. Start with one or two of the recommendations from the above list and you soon realize why, for an increasing number of high achievers, going with the flow is more realistic and beneficial than pursing the elusive work-life balance.

Martin Soorjoo is the founder of 3XP Performance Coaching. Martin works with his clients to help them consistently perform at their best.

Dec 24 2014

Beyond Time Management – Getting Things Done in 2015

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” -Steve Jobs

Continual Connection – Information Overload

Time management strategies were developed at a time when people had few communication channels, received information and documentation by post. The underlying assumption was that once people knew how to more effectively manage their time, their performance and productivity would improve.

To-do or not To-Do: That is the Question

Now we are subjected to a barrage of constant calls, texts, emails and social media notifications. Many of these are time and energy draining request and demands. Most of us have a rapidly growing to-do list, which typically gets added to rather than addressed. These factors contribute to a massively distorted sense of time.

When I work with clients to increase their productivity, with the aid of technology I help them audit how they really spend their time. They frequently find that their perception of how much time they invest in their most important tasks is double what the amount of time they actually invested.

Upgraded Time Life Management

While time management still has a part to play in contributing to better performance, productivity and quality of life, it should only ever be a single component of a holistic strategy.

The following 5 steps will help you get more out of your days and weeks:

Increase your focus and attention. When you increase your focus, you’ll get far more done in the same amount of time. Research indicates that every time a person’s focus on a task is distracted it takes approximately 25 minutes to get back to the same point they were at before the interruption. In addition to employing daily practices to increase and maintain your focus, consider taking advantage of focus enhancing technologies.

Increase and preserve your energy. Obvious but so often overlooked. The higher your energy levels the more you will accomplish in a shorter space of time. When you have more energy you are more likely to tackle the most important tasks that you keep putting off. The contribution that sleep, nutrition and exercise make to increasing performance and productivity cannot be overstated.

Accept you will not complete your to-do list. While to-do lists serve the function of helping you keep track of the things you need to do, they should not dictate how you structure your day and spend your time. Prioritize those tasks that will help you make the biggest leaps forward. The 20% that will give you the 80% return. Allow yourself to be ok with the fact that you will never complete your to-do list. After a while you will find that many of your to do’s were not that important in the first place.

Say No. Productivity warriors are master of saying ‘No!’ to the many time and energy vampires that are ever present. The demands of others can usually wait and often be dealt by someone else. Time is the most precious resource we have and we must guard it fiercely.
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Use Technology. There are hundreds if not thousands of productivity apps. But there only a few that are truly awesome. Apps can be incredibly useful in freeing up your brain so that it can focus on getting the important things done. These include apps to plan, track, remind you, increase your focus and store your thoughts. Always remember that these apps exist to support, not replace, your system.