Secrets of the Most Productive People

We can make ourselves crazy trying to eliminate the waste, or we can embrace the daily chaos and use it to our best advantage.

Here's a couple of lessons from the front lines;

Time I get up: 6am

First thing I do each morning: Spend a few minutes praying in bed and then straight to the shower. I do my best thinking in this spot.

Apps and Other Assists: If I have one thing with me its my iPhone, and I'm always utilizing the LinkedIn app. Between work email and the business Facebook (LinkedIn), those two capture the majority of my attention.

Philosophy: Success on the outside means nothing unless you also have success within.

Last thing I do each night: Brush my teeth and spend time 15-30 minutes with my wife reading in bed.

Time I go to bed: I don't go to bed at the same time every night. Every day has a different demand. Most often I'm asleep by 11pm.

Ferguson's Formula

Some call him the greatest coach in history. Sir Alex Ferguson spent 26 seasons as the manager of Manchester United, the English football (soccer) club that ranks among the most successful and valuable franchises in sports.

The Harvard Business School developed a case study around his approach to management. Here are a few key takeaways from the reading;

1. Working hard all your life is a talent, too.

2. If you give young people your attention and an opportunity to succeed, it is amazing how much they will surprise you.

3. It's important to have confidence in yourself to make a decision and to move on once you have. it's not about looking for adversity or for opportunities to prove power, it's about having control and being authoritative when issues do arise.

4. No one likes to be criticized. Few people get better with criticism; most respond to encouragement instead.

5. Rely on the Power of Observation.

6. Never Stop Adapting. You have to control change by accepting it.

Detroit and Selling

The original Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller best describes decaying cities such as Detroit and its recent bankruptcy. The story is about a negative guy named Willy Loman who refused to change his ways as society grew and changed their ways. He eventually died, broke and a miserable man. And so will you if you fail to recognize what's happening.

Get used to the change and get over it. Understand the sales opportunity it creates. And take advantage of it. If you don't, society will take advantage of you.

App Sumo

I found a group called App Sumo who creates email templates. Here's a useful example for connecting your network;


Hey John,

Hope things are well.

I really want you to meet Steven.

Steven is one of the sickest graphic designers on the planet. He helped a LOT with AppSumo.

He's looking for work and I remember you saying you were on the look out for a good designer.

-----

Steven,

John is a long-time friend of mine from Boy Scouts.

He runs HappyJot which is a hugely successful online games website.

He's looking for a designer so I thought it made sense for you two to know each other.

-----

I'd suggest you two grab coffee since you are in the same city.

Be amazing

Noah

Get More Done

A few basics for avoiding distractions and the wasting of time.

1. Check your email just a couple times a day and train the people you correspond with not to cc you on endless threads.

2. Avoid instant messaging which tends to promote a focus on unessential details.

3. Avoid meetings and when you must have them, make sure they have scheduled end times.

4. Adopt a low information diet and read only the headlines in the news.

5. Develop template responses for customer service and supplier or media queries. Empower employees to use them.

6. Calculate how much your time is worth by the hour, and outsource administrative and research tasks to people who will handle them for less.

Tips and advice was taken from Tim Ferriss, the author of the 4 Hour Work Week and productivity guru.

2012 Goals

Start the MBA program at the University of Notre Dame (check)

Vacation two weeks in Europe (check)

Invest in a new rental property (check)

Help grow the business to over $34M (check)

Build a home for less privileged in Mexico (check)

When you set goals, write the list down where you can view it often. Have your spouse, partner, or mentor hold you accountable. Build out categories and take time to reflect on the outcomes. Most importantly thank God for the platform HE's given you.

Repeat and do over again.

A Smarter Way To Network

I'm back after a two month hiatus from graduate school at Notre Dame. Homework and exams have consumed much of my time, but its all worth the effort in the end. 

I recently read an article in the HBR (Harvard Business Review) that mentions successful executives connect with select people and get more out of them. Obviously this caught my attention, since I base much of my business activities around networking. Below are a few excerpts that are worth reading.

We all know the old adage, "it's not what you know, it's who you know" is true. But it's more nuanced than that. In spite of what most self-help books say, network size doesn't usually matter. In fact, they've found that individuals who simply know a lot of people are less likely to achieve standout performance because they're spread too thin.  

Yes, it’s important 

to know powerful people, but if they 

account for too much of your network, 

your peers and subordinates often perceive 

you to be overly self-interested, and 

you may lose support as a result.

The data collected pointed to a different 

model for networking. The executives 

who consistently rank in the top 20% 

of their companies in both performance 

and well-being have diverse but select networks 

made up of high-quality 

relationships with people who come from several different spheres and from up and down the corporate hierarchy.

Finally here's four important steps that came about from this article to implement inside your networking strategy;

1. Analyze - Identify the people in your network and what you get out of interacting with them.

2. De-layer - Make some hard decisions to back away from redundant and energy-sapping relationships.

3. Diversify - Build your network out with the right know of people, energizers who will help you achieve your goals.

4. Capitalize - Make sure you're using your contacts as effectively as you can.