Revenue Journal®

Many people use the stress of deadlines and heavy workloads to push themselves to get as much done as possible. But it's also a good way to drive yourself crazy - creating stress for no good reason.

If you want to get more done without driving yourself nuts, you really need to just focus on four key steps:

1. Decide how you're going to behave
   
2. Decide what you're going to do
   
3. Get organized
   
4. Get it done
   

Decide how you're going to behave. If you're angry or fearful, you won't be operating at peak performance. This is true of the sole proprietor and the CEO of a large corporation.

In the case of the one-person business, it boils down to a personal decision to start being positive and grateful about whatever comes your way. It's simple, but it's not easy. Staying positive is a full-time job, especially when your hard drive crashes, that big sale doesn't come through, or someone lets you down. But facing all these obstacles with an accepting, positive attitude will bring you much closer to a solution, much faster. Complaining only wastes precious energy. And your customers, vendors, and family members will also have a better time. It's worth the effort.

In a larger company, a positive attitude starts at the top. I've often said that when the top dog has a cold, the company catches pneumonia. When you manage other people, you have to be aware that your every little twitch is carefully observed and obsessed over by everyone in the company. This is one of the key differences between being a one-person company and being in charge of employees. A raised eyebrow can set off a wildfire of speculation and rumor.

When the boss does get better, he must communicate to the troops that he's feeling better or his workers will continue coughing and sniffling for weeks. People who become managers tend to forget how much of an effect their boss' behavior had on them. When they get promoted, or they start their own companies, they never spend enough time communicating with the troops. They don't realize how much that ill-considered wisecrack is affecting their employees.

If the CEO was wrestling with something, and finds a way to resolve it, there's a tendency for the CEO to think, "Well, I am fine. They should be fine, too." But until the employees know the CEO is fine, and know why the CEO is fine, they will remain in their agitated or anxious state.

The more people you're in charge of, the more disciplined you have to be about your own attitude. You need to adapt to negative conditions that arise, and take action quickly.

Decide what you're going to do. What you do is as important as how you do it. As we've discussed here before, it's easy to get so wrapped up in the day-do-day minutiae that you lose sight of your important goals and projects. What are you going to focus on today? What have you been putting off for ages, knowing full well it's one of those really important things, but you never seem to get around to it? The most effective people put those projects first on their list, and get them done.

They also focus. When I'm operating a peak performance, I run on a 45/15 rule. 45 minutes of the hour, I'm focusing on those big, important projects. That means I'm writing, interviewing, or consulting with clients. The other 15 minutes of the hour, I need to get up and walk away from that 115-page report or website navigation re-design project, and work on the administrative trivia. This means that by the end of the day, I've made a big dent in the important stuff, and those little things have moved along.

Get organized. If our attitude is right, and we are working on the right thing, we also have to work on it the correct way. It always helps to think about the best way to do something before we start doing it. And, once we start doing it, we need to continue to look for ways to make the activity more efficient. Who's going to own the project? What tools do they need to get it done? What is the timeline? How are you going to check on them as they're doing it?

Get it done. Do the best you can with the tools you have, and just get it done. Focus on the desired result. Keep plugging away.

As you work, distraction is your greatest enemy. We all work in a virtual blizzard of distractions. There are all those instant messages and emails and voicemails. Set a timer for 45 minutes, close your door, and focus.

There are those nagging thoughts about all the other things you should be doing now. Keep a pad near your keyboard and write them down - so you will be reminded and can focus on them later.

Encourage your employees to take the same approach. Give them permission to turn off the Instant Messaging for a couple of hours a day. Others will recognize that they are trying to get something done, and will simply send an email instead. The world won't stop because they couldn't answer a question in two seconds instead of an hour.

As usual, all of these things are simple, but not easy to do consistently.