Royale Scuderi

A big part of the success strategy is knowing what your obstacles are and having a plan to conquer them. This same concept can apply to many other facets of business as well as in your home life. Whether you want to stop procrastinating, quit smoking or drinking, start exercising, cultivate a daily writing practice or keep your home clean and de-cluttered, the process, preparation and strategy is the same.

Our habits make up the web that supports the fabric of our daily lives. We may often not even realize we have them, but trust me, they are there. Good and bad, we all repeat them in often unconscious patterns that shape the tone, productiveness and success of our lives. You cannot escape this reality. Whether you work in a corner office, are a stay at home mom or especially if you work from home or are a business owner, the quality and efficiency of your work depend on good habits.

We're entering the home stretch of the calendar year and the fiscal year for most of us. This is a good time to review and revise how far you've come and how you'd like to finish up your year. Consider this a check-point of sorts. Where do you stand on each of your goals? What kind of progress have you made both personally and professionally? Are you on track to finish the year where you want to be or do you need to do some revision?

Fair warning: This may shock some of my regular readers. Sometimes the most efficient path to productivity and organizational effectiveness is to not plan at all. I realize that goes counter to everything I usually propose for maximum productivity and success, but there are times when the planning gets in the way of the doing. *We are talking about excessive planning here. In those situations it is just not good business practice and certainly not a good time management strategy.

Is your time management system failing? Does it seem to take more effort than it is worth? Does it regularly breakdown? If your system is failing, then it's time to re-evaluate. First we need to assess why it's not working:

Are you familiar with the Cone of Learning Theory developed by Edgar Dale? In a nutshell the theory explains that the more active someone is in the learning of a new skill or knowledge, the more they will retain and be able to apply. Passive learning just does not have the same level of effectiveness. You might be tempted to say, what does learning theory have to do with me?

When the children start back to school it is a good time to think about what areas we need to learn more in. Do we have skills we need to brush up? Is there a class we want to take? Are there any training courses that would benefit us? Learning is a lifelong process that is never finished. If we want to hold on to our competitive advantage and stay at the top of our field then we must constantly invest in ourselves.

Many people confuse goals and objectives and in fact it's true that the terms are often used interchangeably. I prefer to differentiate between the two for my own purposes and those I work with. Goals are usually more general in nature and less tangible. Objectives tend to be more specific and "visionable."

When you are in a new situation or circumstance, or when you are beginning a new project or working with a new client; the best way to increase productivity - your and everyone else's is to ask questions. Some questions need to be asked of others and some of yourself. Ask, Ask, Ask until you are confident that you have a firm grasp. Do not wait until something goes wrong to ask for clarification!