Randy Dean's Timely Tips

You may have read Timely Tips on Randy Dean's web site, but now you can interact with it here on Blogspot.com. Please feel free to add comments and tips of your own, and thank you for your continued interest.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

I'm the expert guest blogger this week @ "The Art of Project Mgt." blog thru UCSC -- "Mng. Projects or E-mail Mng. You?": http://ping.fm/3lBiJ

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Don't forget Wednesday afternoon's Optimizing Your Outlook course in Southfield in conjunction with MSAE: http://ping.fm/WZGMe

Monday, March 22, 2010

I'm at E-mail ZERO! Learn how LIVE this week in E. Lansing & next week in Southfield w/ my Optimizing Outlook course: http://ping.fm/WJ5He

Just created a new blog post on my "4-lever" solution for dealing with Chronic Overwhelm -- welcome your comments: http://ping.fm/dOh0j

Dealing with "Chronic Overwhelm"? Simple Four Option Solution.

I am often approached on the breaks in my programs by people reporting significant work/life overwhelm -- they have too much to do all the time and never a chance to get caught up. After thinking about this, and reflecting that, during much of my professional life, I too have felt this way, I decided to look from a bigger picture perspective at this reported problem. And the more I looked, the more I realized the solution is actually pretty simple (notice that I did not use the word EASY!)

We live in a world of information, project, task, and e-mail overload. Malcolm Gladwell, quite eloquently in his master work, Blink, laid out that the people that are not only surviving but thriving in this reality are those that learn to "swim with the overload", rather than swim against it. They take in the information they need that allows them to make good (if not perfect) decisions, allowing them to keep a bias for "effective action". They don't get bogged down by "too much info, too many projects/tasks, too much e-mail" -- they swim effectively with it.

Understanding this is our reality, I've thought about the problem of "chronic overwhelm", as is reported by so many of the people attending my courses. And, after boiling it down to its core, I've come to the strong belief that, when in a situation of "chronic overwhelm", you have one of four options you can use, or "levers" that you can pull. Here they are:

1. Work more. This is pretty simple. If you aren't getting enough done, then maybe you need to work more so you can get more done. You aren't giving yourself enough time to meet your basic responsibilities and/or goals. You need to dedicate more time to checking stuff off your "To Do" list. And yes, that may mean a little less time watching "Grey's Anatomy" and/or Facebooking!

2. Work smarter. This is a better option than #1, and actually works quite well in combination with #1 -- figure out where your time is best spent, and spend MORE time there. Get clear on your priorities, the key projects/tasks related to those priorities, and spend more of your dedicated task time on those key projects/priorities. This doesn't necessarily require you to "work more" -- it just requires you to be a bit more disciplined with how you are using your currently active "task" time. (And yes, this can be said for both work AND for life time choices.) Another factor in "working smarter" is simply doing things you are already doing a bit faster, smarter, better. Never miss the chance to gain additional efficiency through the opportunity of additional training -- if you can find a way to get "free time" by doing something you've already been doing in a more efficient way, that opens up more time for getting to the most important stuff on your work AND life project and task lists. (This is why I've built a career at helping people be more efficient and prioritized with their technology, e-mail, Outlook, BlackBerry's, and office organization -- I want to give them a bit more time to get this stuff under control and lead a higher quality life!)

3. Do less. This one certainly isn't rocket science. If you have too much on your plate, push some of the stuff you aren't as motivated on off to the side (that can be in work AND/OR life!) Then, focus on the main courses that you either really enjoy, or that get you closer to your personal and professional goals, dreams, aspirations. I sort of see this one as akin to the work of Dave Ramsey, Mr. "Live Your Wage" -- he's always talking about living within your income, rather than using debt to dig an even deeper hole due to conspicuous spending and consumption. I could see the same thing said for thinking about your time -- you only have 164 hours per week, you need some sleep, and you can't be "productive" 100% of the time. If you have personal and professional projects/goals/tasks that require 125+ hours per week to simply keep up, I think I know why you are living in a state of "chronic overwhelm". You need to downsize your projects/goals/tasks to a more reasonable level, unless of course you can better take advantage of #4.

4. Get help. No, I'm not talking about professional psychological help here (although a few of you that have been living for years in a state of chronic overwhelm due to consistently "overfilling your plate" may actually benefit from this!) What I'm instead referring to is the fact that maybe -- just maybe -- you don't have to do it all on your own. In Timothy Ferriss's controversial and breakthrough recent book, The Four Hour Work Week, he posits that we are being absolutely asinine both personally and professionally by trying to do WAY too much of it by ourselves. He argues that delegating low-level tasks extensively is the way to sanity, freedom, and personal joy. From a work perspective, are you delegating as effectively as you possibly could be? Have you provided the necessary training and tools to those supporting you so you can be confident in that delegation? Do you have the time as a "manager" to effectively
"manage" that delegation? Or are you in the never-ending rut that you can't delegate because you are so busy that you have to keep it all moving yourself thus never having the time to think about effectively delegating (and thus keeping you in an endless spiral of chronic overwhelm, stress, and (long-term) potential burnout?) Re-read this last sentence -- I would argue that consistently being in this state may argue you are living either in denial or possibly in a state of low-level insanity! It will not "get better sometime in the future" -- if you don't get out in front of this, you might be doomed to a life of "overwhelm misery".

Also never forget the option of outsourcing -- if your staff/team is completely full (and working on the right stuff!), maybe there are times when you could outsource some of these activities? Also, look at your personal life -- are you cleaning the house, changing the oil, doing the laundry, mowing the lawn, weeding the garden, painting the shutters, installing the lamp (and on and on and on). If you love those things, I'm not saying stop doing them, but if you've got some extra coin in your bank account, couldn't you outsource many if not all of those tasks to buy yourself more time and quality of life? Now, I see Dave Ramsey's work and Timothy Ferriss's work in a bit of competition -- if you are way in debt from a monetary perspective, you might need to fix this before giving Timothy Ferriss's strategies a full and good try. Of course, that leads back to levers #1, 2, and 3 in this blog post -- working more, working smarter, and doing less.

Really, when you boil it down, it all comes back to "living within your means" -- from both a money AND a time perspective, as well as more effectively managing your assets (technology, staff, outside help options) to both meet your professional aspirations and also live the kind of life you really desire. Or, just stay in your "chronic overwhelm" prison, as you have for years already -- it is your choice! This stuff really is "simple", but not necessarily "easy" -- it requires discipline, personal vision, and the ability to sometimes say "no", including to yourself. But it certainly seems better than the other option: a constantly overwhelming yet unfulfilling work/life existence.

"So often times it happens, that we live our lives in chains, and we never even know we have the keys." -- The Eagles: Already Gone

Welcome your comments.

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Thursday, March 18, 2010

6 days from now: E. Lansing -- Here's the announcement MSAE just sent on my final two Optimizing Your Outlook programs: http://ping.fm/uVB64

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Just posted a fun little blog post about how Outlook, GPS, & BlackBerry made my client trip yesterday both seamless & paperless! http://ping.fm/ltPkH

Gotta Love Technology

Hi Friends,

Just had to share this pretty fun little story of how new technologies were extremely helpful and very "green" for my client session at U. Michigan yesterday. I was doing a half-day Optimizing Your Outlook session at the U.M. College of Pharmacy -- this was an event that was rescheduled from early February, when we were snowed out by the big snowstorm.

Just prior to the event in February, my client contact sent to me very detailed driving AND walking instructions on how to get to the College of Pharmacy, as well as the specific training room in the College of Pharmacy. At the time, I simply took the information that she had sent me by e-mail, and did a "drag and drop" from the e-mail into a new calendar event for the original date of the session. That brought all of that directional information into the "notes" field in the calendar event, right from the original client e-mail.

Of course, then the snowstorm hit! So, we found a new date (yesterday), and I just changed the date in my calendar (which also carried over all of that directional information.) First thing yesterday morning, as I was getting ready to leave my home office, I did a "drag and drop" again -- this time, from my Outlook Calendar over to the "Mail" icon -- this auto-created a new e-mail with the details on the event, including all of the directions. I then sent that e-mail to myself -- thus getting that e-mail ON MY BLACKBERRY. This was great, because then I simply pulled up that e-mail on my BlackBerry, and had it for reference as I had to drive down to U. Michigan. I plugged in the address for the parking ramp in downtown Ann Arbor in my GPS, and I was off.

I got to the parking ramp exactly as directed by both my BlackBerry and my GPS, and then I opened up that e-mail again, to follow the walking directions my client shared with me on how to get to the College of Pharmacy from the A2 parking ramp on Forest & Willard a few blocks away. I was literally walking down the street with my BlackBerry out in front of me in my hand, reading the walking directions to my location -- not only to the building, but onto the elevator, down into the basement, through the double doors, and down to the end of the hall to the room! Then, I got there and the room was still locked, but my client had given me the number to call the onsite media assistant if the room was still locked (in that original e-mail!), and my BlackBerry highlighted that number in the text -- I just double-clicked that highlighted phone number, called the onsite assistant, he was down in 30 seconds to the room, and slicker than slick, I was in the room getting set up for the presentation.

Note that everything in this process was paperless, and took great advantage of onboard functions in the Outlook e-mail tool and calendar, as well as my GPS unit and my BlackBerry. I just love this stuff!!! And it shows how easy you can apply these tools with just a bit of forethought!

Don't forget my two remaining public Optimizing Your Outlook workshops yet this month -- one in East Lansing on 3/24 and the other in Southfield on 3/31, in conjunction with MSAE -- here's the information/registration link:

http://www.msae.org/Events/RandyDeanSeminars/tabid/3914/Default.aspx

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Sunday, March 14, 2010

Working on Social Media Starter Kit presentation for Michigan Ass'n of CPAs right now -- registration info: http://ping.fm/0wcxr

Saturday, March 13, 2010

I've been harping for 5 years about how checking e-mail too often is really bad for you -- more proof here: http://ping.fm/7BpfY

Friday, March 12, 2010

And another Optimizing Outlook Time Mgt. for Outlook Users workshop 3/31 in Southfield MI: http://ping.fm/oLFPo

I'm leading Optimizing Outlook Time Mgt. for Busy Outlook Users course w/ MSAE in East Lansing 3/24: http://ping.fm/6AmlR

Thursday, March 11, 2010

3/30: I'm one of two experts leading "Social Media Starter Kit" webinar for Mich Assn of CPAs -- Facebook, Linked In, More: http://ping.fm/8cGuI

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Article on Top 100+ Free Apps for your computer -- from MSNBC: http://ping.fm/q7AaS

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Just sent out a Timely Tips "supplement" with links to 2 bonus podcasts -- one on managing meetings & the other on e-mail: http://ping.fm/qpIhj

Great new book out today on mastering time, work, life, e-mail and Outlook too. I'm a selected prize partner for the launch: http://ping.fm/2jq4b

Monday, March 08, 2010

Here's the blog post Tom Cox wrote after I appeared on his Tom on Leadership radio show Friday: http://ping.fm/sh1Gu

Handy little Outlook video tutorial shows one of my favorite email time savers -- works equally well in Outlook '07: http://ping.fm/D5QpH

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Cool Outlook Tip: when editing, single click to place cursor, double click to select current word, triple click to select current paragraph.

Friday, March 05, 2010

In 45 min., I'll be on Tom on Leadership blogtalkradio program - 30 min of great e-mail mgt. tips: http://ping.fm/QDGsB

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Fun Taming Email & Office Clutter session @ MSAE today. Luv it when people AHA! in class. Today was my email signature tip: http://ping.fm/FvNlI

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

The free replay of last week's Managing/Leading Great Staff/Team Meetings webinar is now available for viewing: http://ping.fm/erSB2

Monday, March 01, 2010

Just sent out my March e-news, with a GREAT Outlook tip and very funny cartoon -- check it out here: http://ping.fm/sTN8f