While Daring Greatly

Recently I got the chance to sit in a talk given by David Abney, CEO of UPS. It was fantastic, and his perspective on leadership was inspiring. Here are some of the things I learned.

It's time to think about productivity tactics. These are the tools and approaches used to remain productive. Tactics will be different for every person, so I won't get into specifics. But, I think it's important to outline some categories to give us a framework for our thinking.

A huge part of being productive is building the habits that will help you along the way. Habits are like automated processes that help you to move consistently in the right direction and get things done. If you build the right habits, productivity becomes a  natural part of your day and your life.

Today we are considering mindsets related to productivity. How we think about work and the beliefs we hold about getting things done will influence all we do. It's essential to examine our beliefs, test our thoughts, and decide what mindsets we want to live by, not accepting the mindsets that we have by default.

Yesterday we worked on creating our perfect week keeping in mind the things that are important to us, our goals, and what gives us energy.  Today we will be creating our perfect month and year.

Today I’m working on mapping out my perfect week. This will include my  morning and evening routines, as well as other routines that are important, like one to wrap up work, or start work.

Today I’m looking at my evening routine. I want to think about how much sleep I need and when I need to be in bed. I also want to consider the things that are important to me from Day 1 and the things that give me energy from Day 3 to see what I might incorporate.

Today I’m looking at my morning routine. Routines are the cornerstone of productivity. They are the operating system that allows you to get things done efficiently and consistently.

Today we talk about how to manage our energy to make sure we aren't getting drained. We will make two lists, listing out what gives us energy and what drains our energy.

Today I go over setting goals and my simple method for how to think about that. We will make sure our goals for the year, week and day all align, leading us to where we want to go.