Okay, usually when you hear that, it’s not a good thing. One of the first things you think when someone says that is: “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid”. The second thing you think is “How do I get out of this conversation as quickly as possible before the person asks ME to join the cult, too?”
But trust me, this is a cult you’ll WANT to join.
Here’s how I stumbled upon this cult: I was totally looking for something else but I found this blog and thought: “yeah, I’m all over this, It’s called “the cult of done”. Two people – Bre Pettis and Kio Stark – wrote a manifesto about productivity. It’s simple and elegant. It’s just 13 points. And when you read them, you’ll be inspired! Oddly enough, they wrote it in just 20 minutes and I wonder if that time pressure added to its simplicity and elegance.
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With only hours to go before 2010, your planning is probably finished. Your strategizing is tucked away. Your dreams are sitting on your desk, waiting for you to show up on Monday morning. You’ve done everything you can do this year and now it’s coming to close.
And the champagne is flowing generously. 
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We all love new beginnings. I love to make New Year’s resolutions. I also love Septembers because, even though I’m not in school, it feels like a sort-of new beginning. New months. New weeks. New days. I love to start things because I envision a great project and set goals and work hard towards achieving those goals.
Time for some honesty!
We don’t always finish as well as we’d like. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve managed to finish my fair share of projects (which is why I’m still in business). But finishing feels different. There comes a point when you move past the excited “Look at me, I’m setting goals” stage of the project and it turns into a bit of a grind. (Not a bad grind, necessarily, but a grind nonetheless). This is where the details need to be dotted and crossed. This is where the review needs to happen. And, in my experience, this is also where procrastination can take place, especially among visionary entrepreneurs who prefer thinking big.
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Just when I think I’ve heard every industry talk about the issues they have with productivity and scheduling problems, along comes another one to highlight that scheduling is a common problem no matter what you do.
Our time is precious: We have 24 hours each day and we want to eat, sleep, spend time with family and friends, and let’s not forget about taking a little “me time” to catch the latest episode of “So You Think You Can Dance”. Oh, and we need to work somewhere in there, too.
It just makes sense that we continue to learn how to work more effectively so we can earn the same money but spend less time doing it. The rewards, of course, are more time doing the things we enjoy doing.
Recently read: Productivity tips for professionals
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It doesn’t matter what size of company you are or what size of project you’re working on, most of us have faced this situation at one time or another: We have a project that is going well and then it sputters and stalls. Days turn into weeks and the project lags. There are plenty of reasons that this could happen. Here are a few top reasons and what to do about them.
Delegation that has fallen through the cracks: If you’re relying on something from someone else, and they’re not delivering, you need to get things moving by nudging them, then pushing them, then threatening them (in that order). If possible, continue on with other aspects of the project. At some point, you may need to replace them and that’s something you should start working on between the “push them” and “threaten them” stage.
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At a big family gathering a couple of years ago, my then-8-year-old niece saw the adults cleaning up after the meal. She was given a task to do and, not surprisingly, she dawdled. When reprimanded, she rolled her eyes and complained that adults LOVE doing the dishes and other boring things.
We laughed, of course, because no one really loves to do that kind of stuff. But it needs to get done and we know that putting away the leftovers and loading the dishwasher will take just a few minutes and will give us the entire evening to visit. And we can envision the annoyance if we didn’t do it now… later in the evening when we’re relaxed, NOBODY is going to want to load the dishwasher. Click here to read more »
Let’s take a moment to talk about the dirtiest word in project management – the “P” word! – PROCRASTINATION.
In those everyday life management situations, procrastination is a common failing. New Years Resolutions (or any-time-of-year resolutions, for that matter) are delayed because of procrastination. New projects, unloved assignments, annoying chores… they all stack up because of it. Unfortunately, the world of business is not free from procrastination. Quite the opposite! People delay starting projects all the time. In fact, as a project manager, I’m brought in to situations that have often been pushed further and further back because of procrastination. Click here to read more »
