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My productivity journey part 1

It all started a couple of years ago when my pastor asked me to teach a class on productivity. Then, gradually, people began to ask me to help them get more productive. Recently, I led a couple of seminars on how to win both at work and at home. It feels strange, teaching people the tactics I used to keep myself organized. One, because I rarely feel organized, and two, because I do this stuff just to deal with the volume of inputs I get in an average day.

But even though it feels a little like I’m an play acting, I also have discovered that I really do love talking about productivity and sharing the things I do (such as they are).

So, if these are topics that interest you as well, I hope you enjoy this post and the ones following. I’d like to write out my journey through productivity, the systems I use, and the why behind them.

To begin with, I want to tell you a little about my history. In high school and college, planning didn’t really enter into my thought process very much. I tried to get things done at the last minute, procrastinate as long as possible, and cram everything into the last second.

Then when I graduated from college and begin to work full time a funny thing happened. I realized that I was good at sales. People had always joked about it, and I knew that I enjoyed talking to people, but I discovered that selling was something that I not only liked to do, but that people would also buy things from me.

I got to be good at it. Like dialed in, rockstar good. I had a great territory, and was blowing my numbers out of the water. I could basically set my own hours and income, and my job was to talk to cool people and help their businesses grow.

Then one day, my boss unexpectedly quit. He was burned out and ready for a new challenge. And before I knew it, his boss had tapped me to move into a manager role.

So I went from being responsible for me, to being responsible for 15 sales folks, all of whom had more experience and longer tenure in their roles than I did. Goodbye 40 hour work week, hello 60 hour hell.

Looking back, I’m unsure how I survived the first few years as I was not a very good leader back then. I am really grateful to those folks who “managed up” to help me cope, and my boss who patiently mentored me.

I’d love to spend some more time in a later post talking about leadership, and things that I’ve learned about managing people, and managers in my career, but for now I want to focus on the most important lesson I learned during that time.

I still remember the seemingly endless stream of phone calls, emails, and meetings that continued to bleed over into every area of my life. It would have been difficult to keep up with if I knew how, but given that I didn’t have any sort of system with which to record what needed to be done, I was completely overwhelmed.

At that stage in the game, email was where the largest portion of my life was spent. I tried so hard to tame the flood of incoming messages, mostly with little to no success. I’d gain some traction, and then get another assignment and lose everything I’d learned. What I mess!

One day I was discussing this with a colleague at another company and he suggested downloading some sort of third party extension for outlook. If I did that, he said, I’d be able to completely change my workflow and be organized!

The problem is, that I’d met this guy in passing at a conference and completely forgot what extension he told me to download!

So, I did what every other procrastinator does, and searched the internet for hours looking for a solution. Finally I found an extension based on “Getting Things Done” a book by David Allen.

I never used the extension… never even downloaded it… Because I figured I should first listen to the book. So one Saturday, after putting the book on my IPod, I plugged in my headphones and started mowing the lawn.

As I’ve reflected on my life, there are moments that I can remember where you can see significant sea changes that forever alter you. Meeting your future spouse, staring into the eyes of your newborn child, finding your calling etc.

As sappy as it sounds this was one of those moments for me. And I’ve never approached work the same way again.

I’m excited to get into the meat of this book in the next post. Until then, I’m honored you read this far and hope you will check back in.

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The faithfulness of the Lord

In the past year, one of the things that has stood out to me when reading scripture is the way those who love Christ are called to remember and relate his faithfulness. I’m reminded of Acts, when Paul and James reunite and Paul relates “one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry” (Acts 21:19). Or the many times in Psalms where David relates the faithfulness of God to his people.

Or how Moses reminds the people over and over again of the way God had rescued them from the Egyptians.

As we see in these examples and many others, recounting the faithfulness of the Lord is a way we can bring him honor, encourage those around us, and remind ourselves of where we have come from, so as to relieve doubt and worry as to where God will lead us in the future.

With these three goals in mind then, I’m grateful to be able to relate my story. The story of how the grace of God led me out of a life of sin and into the salvation of Christ.

We can pick things up in my 9th year (or so). Mormon missionaries came to knock on our door and my mom, brother and I began to attend the local Mormon church.

Fast forward to 12 and I was baptized. Fast forward to 16 and I was going to the temple to get baptized for the dead, involved in Mormon “seminary,” a daily class that all Mormon high school students go to before the school day begins, and regularly going with Mormon missionaries to discuss the Mormon scriptures with anyone who asked.

I also went to Mormon summer camp, was extremely active in the youth group and regularly gave “talks” during the service.

I talked about having a burning in my bosom, was convinced that Joseph Smith was a prophet and argued with anyone who would listen that the Book of Mormon was the truest book in all of scripture.

I believed. I tried hard. I did all I could do. And then I didn’t.

Mormons are clear. You are saved after all you can do. For me, all I could do amounted to sin. Sin still clamping down on me and holding me hostage.

It started as a slow drift away, conflicts with Mormon friends, a close relationship with a young lady who was also a Mormon and a growing realization that no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t kill sin on my own.

Then I began to question. How many gods were there anyway? Why was I worshipping the God of this universe and not his father or maybe his grandfather or even great-grandfather. As an aside, this is what happens when you open up the trinity. You end up saying that there was a time that Christ didn’t exist, that he was created. Furthermore, if God could and did “create” a god, then why is he is the only God… It follows that he was created too, right? And once you open that door, well. I remember looking at the stars one night and wondering just how many gods there really were!

So here I was, 18 and lost. What did I really believe? If there was a God out there somewhere, he couldn’t just be one of millions of other gods, could he? I wanted to find THE GOD. The creator of life. And he wasn’t in the Mormon Church.

That’s when a friend challenged me to reread the Bible. Leave out the Mormon bible, and just read the Bible. I confess I don’t remember much of what I read, but I do remember reading it, hoping it would become real to me.

The climax of the story occurs in a small church that was meeting in a school. At the time, I was working a couple of jobs, preparing to go to college. I decided (at the urging of some friends) to go to a church that wasn’t Mormon.

I slipped in one Sunday and sat in the back. I didn’t want to be noticed. I just wanted to go through the motions and leave. I was tired of trying. Tired of looking and at the end of myself.

This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. This is where I first heard, with supernatural ears given to me by the spirit, about the grace of God.

The grace of God which saved a man named Paul. A man who fought hard against Christianity and was sure of himself. A man who did all he could do. Who was set up to lead the Jews against Christianity.

I thought the sermon was going to be like all the ones I had heard before. Until the pastor arrived at 2nd Corinthians 12:6–10 (ESV):

though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. 7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (Emphasis added), 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I remember hearing verse 9 and breaking down. Tears streaming down my face, I got down on my knees in the back of that church and prayed. I wanted that grace. I desired not that my power would save me after all I could do, but that his power would be made perfect in my weakness.

And that began a journey of God’s faithfulness that I’m still on today.

It hasn’t been easy. On the contrary, it has often been quite hard, but God’s grace is sufficient. His power is made perfect in my weakness.

I write all this today in the hopes of encouraging you. There is a God. He loves you. He desires for you to repent of your sins and give your life to him. And when you do, his power is made perfect.

It has nothing to do with all that you have done. It only has to do with all that he has done. His power, not yours, will save you. He is true. He is powerful. This God is the creator of all life, this God sent his son into the world to live the life we couldn’t live, to die the death that we deserved, and to pay fully for all the sins of those who trust in him.

I hope this encourages you. I hope that this story whenever it is told brings God glory. And I hope that it continues to remind me, and my family, that no matter what happens in the world the Lord is on the throne and loves us dearly.

Until next time. Thanks for reading.

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The importance of familiarity while working from home

For over a decade, I’ve managed salespeople out of multiple offices.

That means, that like it or not, I’ve had to figure out how to work out of multiple spaces.

When I started doing this, I thought, if I can just plug my laptop into a cubicle, somewhere in my secondary space, I’d be fine. I’d save the difficult conversations and 1 on 1’s for when I was back in my main office and just catch up on email or do ridealongs whenever I was in a satellite office.

But it never worked out that way. I found that when I visited my office away from my other office, I would always get drawn into other work, need space for a private conversation and if I didn’t have a space that was organized just so, I wouldn’t want to go there.

This started a quest to create the perfect workspace that was the same everywhere I went, so that I would enjoy working and be able to do the same tasks no matter which space I ended up in.

During this time when all of us are working from home, this lesson is even more important.

If you are going to be productive at home it can’t feel like you are working with stripped down equipment. It is imperative that you design your home workspace to be nearly identical to your office setup so that you can get the same sort of work accomplished at home that you expected to get accomplished at work.

One of the biggest mistakes we can make is designing a home office space with just a laptop screen when we are used to working on monitors, or a keyboard that you hate, when your awesome keyboard and mouse combo languish at the office.

For me, this meant spending some money to up fit my space, and when I think about the work I can now accomplish at home, I’m glad I did. So here are a couple of things you should think about if you are going to be working from home for at least another month (or indefinitely).

1. Two monitors. If you use multiple monitors at work, get two for the home office as well. I can’t tell you how many times people tell me that they are waiting till they get back in front of their multiple monitors before the tackle that tough spreadsheet or difficult word document. Don’t fall into this trap. Monitors are really cheap right now, so either make the case to your boss that you need two at home, or see if you can take the monitors from your office in the short term and plug them in at home. Alternatively, check with your IT folks and see if they have some additional ones you can put in your home office in the short term.

2. A familiar keyboard and mouse. I love Logitech stuff. I’ve used their rechargeable Bluetooth keyboard and mouse for years, and I love the way it feels and know the shortcuts, and how to work it to make things happen. I know you have a keyboard and mouse combo you are familiar with. So go get another set for your home office. Familiarity is one of the most important things you can bring to a time like this.

3. A chair. Look, sitting at the kitchen table might be your thing, and if that works great! But for me, I want to sit in a leather swivel chair. I’m comfortable with it, I know how it works, and there is something about pushing back from my desk or sitting back in it that reminds my brain that I’m at work. If you have a favorite chair see if you can bring it home with you (bonus points for bringing the chair mat as well). Another option is to surf facebook marketplace or your favorite supply store. Find a chair that reminds you to work. Your productivity will thank you.

4. Other stuff. For me, I need a table on which I can write, I want something that is wide and study where I can put my iPad, planner etc. A sturdy card table will do, but you need a place that isn’t wedged on top of your computer desk. Also, I need a three month calendar, a clock and a calculator with big buttons. You might need different things, but think about your space, the tools you use at the office, and get some of those essential tools as copies for your home office (or see if you can temporarily borrow the ones from work).

Good solid tools are vital to getting the job done (try using a flat head screwdriver when a Phillips head is called for if you don’t believe me). Getting these tools and replicating your work set up as much as possible will allow you to trick your mind into thinking, oh yeah, these are work tools. I’m working now.

This may seem small, but when dealing with all the distractions of working from home, every edge counts.

Until next time, thanks for reading.