ProdPod, a Productivity Podcast
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We all have an inner voice; it is a collection of our approximately seventy thousand thoughts per day converted to words as we consciously think them. Let's enlist for our purposes of this discussion Dr. Stephen Covey's Seven Habits definition of control, which is the space between stimulus and response. If that's the case, then when we verbalize our thoughts aloud, we vet our thoughts more thoroughly commanding only the best quality of decisions to act upon. Think about it, if you say what all your decisions are going to be out loud (even privately in your own office/home), aren't you going to be more mindful?
I tend to think of this technique in the face of high distraction or procrastination, so I'll give a real life productivity scenario of my own to demonstrate. My ideal morning routine is to check my inboxes, processing and responding to my morning messages before I start the rest of my workday. I'm a FIFO kinda guy (that is, first in, first out -- meaning, I scroll to the bottom of my inbox and read the chronologically first message in, process and/or respond, and move on to the next message). If I'm having a particularly difficult time keeping focused on my inbox or starting at all, I'll literally say out loud to myself, "Ray, you're focusing on the first message to read & respond." I'll repeat myself ad nauseum until I re-focus and continue on my decision to process my inbox.
So, go forth and take control of your work and life by talking yourself into greater productivity!
// Let's take this idea of talking to yourself into a real life productivity scenario. I come into the office in the morning after a long and trafficked commute. I open up my computer and prepare myself for the day, but still feeling a tinge frustrated by the tribulations of my morning so far. Up pops my email and I scroll down to the bottom to find the first email in from last evening (as I'm a last in, first out email kinda guy). The message is from a client barking orders about this or that and I lose my temper at this client's clear lack of regard for my time and how much work I've put into the process. Pause. Let's take my inner voice and make it my outer voice now. "I'm frustrated by this morning's commute. And, this client wrote me at six o'clock last evening. So, they clearly didn't intend for me to read this message in this negative mindset.
ProdPod: Episode 98 -- The Power of Short-Term Challenges
ProdPod: Episode 97–Time Thieves, Time Thugs, and Time Terrorists - How to Combat Them So You Can Get Back to Being Productive
ProdPod: Episode 96–Time Thieves, Thugs and Terrorists - Who They Are So You Can Identify Them Efficiently
ProdPod: Episode 95–Effective Meeting Series: More Productivity Meetings With Robert's Rules, Part II
ProdPod: Episode 94–Effective Meeting Series: More Productivity Meetings With Robert's Rules, Part I
ProdPod: Episode 93–Gamification and Your Productivity
ProdPod: Episode 92--Rewarding Yourself for Productive Habit Development and Reaching Goals
ProdPod: Episode 91 -- What Do You Own?
ProdPod: Episode 90 -- Biology, Self-Actualization and Your Productivity
ProdPod: Episode 89 -- Multi-Sensory Productivity
ProdPod: Episode 88 -- Defining Happiness
ProdPod: Episode 87 -- Two-Minute Book Summary: The First 20 Hours
ProdPod: Episode 86 -- The Kaizen Way: What Are the Elements of Kaizen? with Sally Reinholdt (Part 2 of 2)
ProdPod: Episode 85 — The Kaizen Way: What is the Kaizen Way? with Sally Reinholdt (Part 1 of 2)
ProdPod: Episode 84 -- Two-Minute Book Summary: The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor
ProdPod: Episode 83 -- 31 Folders Instead of the GTD 43 Folders
ProdPod: Episode 82 -- Procrasti-Doing
ProdPod: Episode 81 -- Productivity and Your Two Minds
ProdPod: Episode 80 -- Setting Up Your Workspace for Success
ProdPod: Episode 79 - Hoarding, Part III - How is hoarding treated and managed? with Professional Organizer Sally Reinholdt
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