return-on-energy. I write up to six items on a 3x5 card, ideally the night before. I tell myself if I get 80 percent of them done, it’s a good day. I try for all of them, though. Tis is how I interpret Dale Carnegie’s advice to, “Live in day-tight compartments.” Te card goes on my desk when I get to work, and I love to physically check items off! I look forward checking off, “Complete article for DATIA Focus.” One filter I run Daily Big 6 items through is a quote I heard from
Roger Seip. It may be a Peter Drucker-ism: “Te biggest waste of time is to do perfectly what need not be done at all.” Kevin Kruse does not like to-do lists. He recommends puting
everything in your calendar, scheduling in 15-minute increments. Tere are 1,440 minutes in every day and you need to use them wisely. I’ll block out times for prospecting calls, writing, or other times I need to focus. “Master your minutes” is Kruse’s mantra.
Weekly Review Roger Seip calls it “Te Two Hour Solution.” David Allen, author of Geting Tings Done, simply calls it a “weekly review.” It can take an hour or more, but is time well spent. I have a checklist of items to review every week, from confirming upcoming appointments to clearing out inboxes. One key thing is to schedule “debrief” time following every scheduled call or meeting. As David Allen says, “Get clear. Get current. Get creative.”
Parkinson’s Law “Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.” When working on a project, or making prospecting calls, or something I want to just get done, I set a timer and create a false deadline. It forces productivity. Kevin Kruse is a fan of this. Just as interval training is an effective way to maintain fitness, the same principle applies work: sprint and recover. Sprint and recover. Look up the Pomodoro Technique.
Outsource $10/hour activities Perry Marshall, author of 80/20 Sales and Marketing makes this point very clear, helping you put a dollar value on it. I have developed a group of overseas freelancers that help me with many mundane tasks, including maintaining my web site, creating Powerpoints, entering business cards in my CRM, making prospecting phone calls, bookkeeping, and more. I still do too much myself, but one of my affirmations is a constant reminder to outsource more.
Annual Review and Goal Setting “What gets measured gets managed” applies to more than financials. Each December, I reread or listen to Napoleon Hill’s classic, Tink and Grow Rich. I review my year and how I did on my goals. And I set new ones for the next year. I did not mention my monthly goals review, but I do that as well. If you don’t keep score, how to you know how you’re doing? One of the most successful
www.datia.org
goal-seters out there is Arnold Schwarzenegger. He’s had four, world-class careers in real estate, bodybuilding, acting, and politics. He writes his goals down every year and works toward them.
Improving Performance: Feel Better to Perform Better Make health a priority. If you don’t take care of yourself, how are you going to take care of anyone or anything else? • Sleep—Don’t undervalue sleep. • Exercise—Exercise has lots of benefits, but weight loss is not one of them.
• Nutrition—You can’t outrun a bad diet. Learn how to eat. • Meditation—Mindful meditation helps you focus. • Know your labs. Speaking of labs . . . Check these regularly: blood sugar (glucose
or A1c), vitamin D, hormones (testosterone, estradiol, DHEA, cortisol) and thyroid. Tis applies to men and women. Also, get a cholesterol test that includes particle subfractions. Look that up if you don’t know what that means. Also valuable are food sensitivity tests. You may discover why you struggle with sleep, energy, or brain fog. Tis is not meant to be preachy. Tese are things that have
worked for others, and I cherry pick what works for me. You should do the same. ❚
Resources 1. 2. The Five Minute Journal: http://tim.blog/2015/01/15/morning-pages/
Richard Branson’s morning routine
http://www.businessinsider.com/what-everyone-can-learn- from-richard-bransons-morning-routine-2015-10
3. 4. Napoleon Hill: Think and Grow Rich
Kevin Kruse: 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management: The Productivity Habits of 7 Billionaires, 13 Olympic Athletes, 29 Straight-A Students, and 239 Entrepreneurs
5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Tim Ferriss: The 4-Hour Work Week, Tools of Titans, www.tim.blog Roger Seip: Train Your Brain For Success Brian Tracy: Anything and everything. David Allen: Getting Things Done
Arnold Schwarzenegger: Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story
Podcasts I like: Ben Greenfield Fitness, Tim Ferriss, The Savvy Psychologist’s Quick and Dirty Tips, GTD Virtual Study Group, Extreme Productivity with Kevin Kruse.
Tim Thoelecke is a life optimizer, always looking for ways to get better. He is a certified Breath Alcohol Technician Trainer and a DATIA Certified Professional Collector Trainer, trained in drug and alcohol testing for DOT and non-DOT businesses. He founded InOut Labs, a Chicago-based business that tests employees all over the U.S. to help with the challenges businesses face related to safety and productivity. InOut Labs also provides wellness testing directly to individuals and conducts corporate wellness screenings. Tim also trains others to add clinical wellness testing to their existing businesses.
www.labtesttraining.com and
inoutlabs.com.
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