The difference between productive leaders and regular folks is productive people are in a constant state of improvement of themselves, their systems, and their tools. They not only value their time, but they’re able to anticipate the time savings of small, consistent improvements along the way. Productive people are coachable. They’re hungry to learn from other people’s experience, especially when it could reduce their time and effort in their personal learning curve.
Most other people slog through partially working systems and put up with slow and inconsistent ways of doing things. I watched one client delete hundreds of e-mails she had deleted the day before. Due to a glitch in the e-mail system, the e-mails kept being re-delivered. I stopped her after watching for a few minutes. We worked to track the process of fixing her e-mail system. It took more time than it would have to just delete the remaining messages, but it was an investment for her time and sanity to handle this reoccurring problem.
Consider your organizational system and how it supports you. Are there features you wish it did automatically such as synchronize, update, or back up? Have you ever checked e-mail on your phone, then decided you’d reply when you’re back on your computer where it’s easier to type back a long response? Do you ever say to yourself, “I’ll figure that out when I have more time”? These are the redflags that it’s time to improve your system.
Invest your time in up-leveling your systems and see how much more energy you have for higher level thinking.
