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Sometimes it’s easy to get so focused on a project that we miss other opportunities. Focus can certainly be valuable and helpful; sometimes projects need our full attention. But while our vision narrows to that light at the end of the tunnel, we might miss the cool hieroglyphics on the tunnel walls, or the less obvious passages on either side that may provide shortcuts to where we want to go.

We just need to be wary of our focus narrowing so much that the light at the end of the tunnel blinds us to other opportunities and solutions.

Hello readers!

We are back from our summer break… Hope you didn’t miss us too much!

This past week I have been running through some different ideas of what to post here, and as work often goes… my work has gotten in the way of work and the blog ideas have been getting pushed further and further back.

Even when I finally do have a moment or two to sit and think, I suddenly find myself sitting in a black hole of creativity. I can’t seem to think of anything, and have nothing but my desk and a blank page staring up at me to keep me company.

Now, I am sure this never happens to you.

Okay maybe I may have some sarcasm there. We all have these moments. So how do we stay focused and creative at work?

Here are some thoughts I found, as well some of my personal favorites to get back on your feet when you have lost focus and are looking for that jump start to get going again.

Write a list: At the beginning of each day write down the tasks that you need to accomplish. There is something about taking the time to write a list and having it on your desk the rest of the day that can motivate focus. I personally write my tasks on a post- it note and place it on the side of my computer monitor. When I finish the task, I can throw away the post- it note. My goal each day is to start the morning with no post- it notes from the day before.

Do The Tough Stuff First: Mark Twain once said “If you eat a frog first thing in the morning that will probably be the worst thing you do all day.” Brian Tracy (TTN Speaker) has taken this quote and transformed it into a way of completing your daily tasks. Once I make my list I look for the thing I want to do least… and do it! That way I don’t have it hanging over my head, and dragging my attention away from other projects.

Close Your Email: I cannot tell you how many times I have been in the middle of a big project, only to be sidetracked by an email I thought might be important…only to find it is Spam. For short periods of time I have started to close my email. It allows for un-interrupted work on projects, and I have found that I am able to actually answer my emails on a timelier schedule.

Invest In A Pair Of Headphones: Very often when working on a project with a deadline I will start playing my favorite tunes, and put on my headphones. Doing so, I have found I can block outside distractions around me, as well as tap into a creative resource.

This past month there was an article featured in the Star Tribune on the “dark side” of training and development.

In Minneapolis, an instructor who led CEU training courses  for insurance agents was found to be providing 15 hours of accredited training (training that is necessary for agents to keep their license)… in a matter of minutes.

“It wasn’t bending the rules, it was blowing them away,” Huge told commerce investigators, according to their report. “How can I do it? Or why did I do it? ‘Cause I didn’t know you were in the room.”

Click here to read the full article

What are your thoughts? Is this story just an anomaly to training culture, or is this one of many? Why would a trainer choose to go and bend or “blow” the rules away? How does this impact the perceptions of employees on the role of training?

I’d love to hear your ideas, and see what questions this article brings up for you.

It’s mid-year, so why not reassess your New Years’ resolutions?

What New Years’ resolutions?

Remember?  New Years’ Day or slightly before or after, you set out some goals. Lose weight. Write a book. Learn karate.

Oh, yeah. Now I remember. But that was so long ago.

I know it seems like it, but… you still want to do those things, right?

I suppose so. But it’s another six months until next New Years’.

Why do you need to wait until next New Years’?

Well, because…they’re New Years’ resolutions. So, you know – I need to wait ‘til next January. Get psyched up for it.

But if you start now, you’ll get a six-month head start!

Doesn’t that defeat the whole New Years’ resolution concept? Won’t that cause chaos in the streets? Won’t that poke a hole in the entire space-time continuum and life, as we know it –

Hold on there, pardner. Wasn’t one of your resolutions to cut down on caffeine?

Oh, I said that out loud?

Look – if you think about it, every day is the start of a new year. So any day is a good time to start a new years’ resolution. Or at least check on your progress; get you back on track – that sort of thing.

Okay. But you’re sure the space-time continuum will survive?

I would answer that, but I just made a new new years’ resolution not to respond to silly questions.

When motivational speakers & best-selling authors Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hanson were trying to get Chicken Soup for the Soul off the ground, they had a simple plan for success; do at least five things every day toward getting the book noticed. They sent excerpts to reviewers, contacted radio stations for interviews, called bookstores, and anything else they could think of to get their book planted into the minds of the masses. By making it a point to take just five steps every day toward making the book a success, their Chicken Soup series has sold over 112 million books, and has been translated into over 40 languages!

Whether you have a large or small goal you wish to accomplish, if you make it a point to do five things every day geared toward that goal, you’ll find yourself reaching the finish line faster than you could’ve imagined.

The time is near when the kids will be done with school for the year. The summer season is fast approaching. Lawns are being mowed, sprinklers turned on, swimwear taken out of drawers with anticipation. The year – it is a’changin’.

Change can be stressful. Sometimes the unfamiliar leaps at us from out of the blue, and can be a bit scary. But change, as they say, is inevitable. So how do we manage change? Or better yet, how do we embrace change and make it work for us? One of the best ways to embrace change is to be prepared.

Be constantly learning new things. Read voraciously. Take courses. Use strategic thinking to anticipate change.

Those who best anticipate change and welcome it are often best prepared to take advantage of it in a way that can put them ahead of the pack. Remember that change is how we grow, whether it is in our work or our personal lives.

So the next time you feel a change coming, instead of shrinking away, you can say, “Bring it on!”

As a number of TTN speakers have said, if you really want to learn something from top to bottom, the best way to do it is to teach it to someone else. This forces you to really study, really get to know that subject – and the more you learn about it, the better you’ll be able to teach it. The more you teach it, the more you will absorb it. It will become ingrained in your mind, and the lesson, whatever it may be, will become second nature to you. It’s one of those great cyclical win-win things. Not only do you learn it really well, you also impart that knowledge to someone else. By giving your knowledge, you actually gain more knowledge. How cool is that?

For example, say there’s a TTN course you really like and really want to not only get those principles down, but want your employees to learn them, as well. Of course, you can just have them watch the course, but why not make a project of it? Print out the accompanying materials and guide your employees through the course. Discuss it. Ask questions. Answer questions. This way, the material will gain a more solid foothold in everyone’s knowledge base.

Have you ever been driving when a small piece of gravel gets flung up by the vehicle in front of you, hitting your windshield and creating a tiny ‘ding’ in the glass? The best thing to do is get that small imperfection fixed immediately; have it filled in with whatever magic polymer the auto-glass companies use. Because what happens if we ignore it and let it sit? It grows. That little ‘ding’ is like a seed in the glass that sprouts roots – cracks slowly spread across your windshield until you realize the entire thing must be replaced.

This is much like letting things lapse at your workplace. Maybe there’s something you keep putting off, thinking it’s not a big deal, or it’s sort of a pain, and you’ll get to it later. It’s just a little ‘ding’, right? But if you keep ignoring it, that little ‘ding’ can grow into a big problem.

Tackling the little things before they grow into big problems is one way to keep your job less stressful and more productive.

About this time every year with the arrival of spring, I get that itchy feeling of needing to get outside, load myself and my family in the car and hit the road. There’s nothing like exploring new highways and byways, towns, shops and museums on those pleasant weekends you haven’t seen since the previous autumn.

So what turns a merely pleasant road trip into a super road trip? Planning!

Sure – it’s nice to come upon the unexpected. But when you take the time to do a little research – looking up restaurants, roadside curiosities and museums on the internet or in books – your experience will be that much more rewarding. Now you won’t miss the must-sees, the best burgers, the most awe-inspiring views. And the anticipation involved in the planning is nearly as much fun as the trip itself!

This type of planning – while perhaps not quite as much fun – can help make your workday a lot more pleasant and productive. By taking the time to plan out your day – making lists and prioritizing projects – you’ll be much less likely to miss those important tasks or run out of the time to accomplish them.

Brian Tracy offers a number of excellent time management courses on TTN’s LMS, which go into detail about effective ways to plan your day, whether it’s a workday, a weekend day, or a day for hitting the road!

While reading the news today it came to my attention that  Sony has announced it will stop making the floppy disk.

A chapter in computer history has ended, and I am sure that many of you have both good, and bad memories of these devices. For myself, I can remember sitting in my dad’s office, and using his floppy disks as make shift building blocks, while the older kids got to play Kings Quest and Zelda.

Looking back on the floppy disk’s life, I can’t help but look at how much technology, and the way we do things changes.  A process or medium that is cutting edge one day, can become a child’s toy the next.

My question is, what are other “floppy disks” that are in our world? Do we too quickly get rid of the old in exchange for the shiny new and hip, or are we holding onto concepts a little too tightly for our own good?