Making Sure Constructive Criticism Sticks
Mark Murphy has a great short article titled "Don't Make Constructive Criticism so Soft That People Miss Your Message." In it, he criticizes the feedback sandwich, which I learned long ago in Toastmasters. It's simple: when you are giving feedback, first tell...
The Dishes Won’t Wash Themselves
It is not enough to know that washing dishes is a good thing, that it helps you keep a clean kitchen. The dishes won't wash themselves. The same is true of every mental tool. No matter how long you have used a tool and no matter how convinced you are that it works,...
Don’t Settle for “Etcetera”
If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ve been introduced to “thinking on paper.” If not, you can read about it and get instruction on it with my Thinking Directions Starter Kit. With that as the context, a client sent me this note about "thinking on paper"...
Turning Stress into Excitement
In a recent newsletter I talked about transitioning to “neutral” when I was feeling resistance to doing chores. You can’t get yourself excited to do the chores, but if you can get to neutral, you’ll probably be willing to do it. Then I read a blog post by my friend...
Use Your Listening Skills to Help You Think
When something's on your mind, talking over the issue with a friend is a real value. A good listener can gently encourage you to untangle your thoughts, without taking over the conversation and/or enforcing his own agenda. Wouldn't it be nice if you had a good...
Deja Vu All Over Again
"How did I wind up here again?" We've all had the experience: a bad situation keeps repeating itself. Maybe it's a confrontation with a particular person that keeps coming up and going badly. Maybe it's the feeling of being overloaded by routine administrative work...
Catching What Triggers You
Here’s another blog post from Peter Bregman: Quash Your Bad Habits by Knowing What Triggers Them. He's a terrific thinker on productivity and execution issues. What I like particularly about this article is that he documents the physical warning signs that Jeff was...
Tackle the “Blob” with a “Maybe” List
Imagine that every time you faced a daunting task, you could immediately hit on a way to make it easy and inviting to get started. I bet you can—if you make a "Maybe" list. The problem you have is a blob of overload and uncertainty in your mind. You know too much...
Not in the Mood? Make a Mental Transition
An important part of execution is managing transitions. That’s where the time gets wasted and the distractions rule. If you're not "in the mood” to transition to the top priority item on your list, you can waste a lot of time getting down to work. To get out of the...
Getting Distracted? Try a Time Log
Many time-management books recommend you do a detailed "time log" to find out how you really use your time. They recommend you keep a record of every activity, with 15-minute precision. These have always struck me as a little compulsive, without much obvious benefit....