This week’s Planning Hack is about thinking about making something virtual, rather than in-person. As I share in my 2017 book – Effective Virtual Conversations – there are a number of benefits to virtual work including:

• Less time and cost around commuting and travel
• Fewer disruptions in the work space
• More autonomy for staff
• Reduced carbon footprint

For several years now I have included a weekly post around virtual work and conversations over at the Teams365 blog - Read the weekly Effective Virtual Conversations Tips which are published each Monday here.

If you like podcasts I am also the co-host of the Remote Pathways Podcast which focuses on exploring the different ways people work in the remote space - from project managers, to team leaders, entrepreneurs, to sales professionals, remote work is continuing to expand. Take  a listen in and consider subscribing to receive the bi-weekly episodes.

A bulk of the work we do at Potentials Realized is remote, with specialized services for remote workers and teams.
What could be the benefits for you around making something virtual, instead of in person?

Wishing you the best,
​Jennifer

​Week 48 Focus — Boundaries
Focus Question: What are the boundaries which help you do your best work?

Description
As a solopreneur, time is one of your greatest resources. As a business owner, especially if you run a remote business, there may be demands on your time and attention throughout the day. For some, we continue to say “yes” even when our plate overflows.
 
Activity
Reflect on the following questions:

• What are the boundaries you need to put into place so you can focus?
• What are the boundaries you need to put into place so you can do your best work?
• What are the boundaries you need to put into place so you can be at your best?

 
Connection to the Workbook and Planner
Our time is precious and cannot be recreated once it is gone.
Take a look at your daily planning, or weekly planning. What time blocks are you earmarking for your most important tasks?

What boundaries do you want to put around when you start, and stop, work?

Download a one-page copy of this week's 52 Weeks of Plan, Do and Track here.

Best wishes, 
Jennifer

Read and download the initial weeks of the 52 weeks of Plan, Do and Track

Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019),  Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Pick up a copy of any of her books at Amazon
Book Jennifer for a coaching session to explore productivity, teamwork and business issues.
Contact her by phone at (416)996-8326
Check out the new 19 Productivity Tips on-demand program. Explore this video based program at  your own pace, and join Jennifer for bi-weekly calls as part of your course.
Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram
​

Week 46 Focus — Email Management
Focus Question: What is the state of your inbox?

Description/research
The Front Blog indicates that “The average worker spends 28 percent of their work week on email, more than 11 hours a week! With the average person sending and receiving 124 work emails every day, or 620 emails every week, we're spending an average of 1.1 minutes on each email.” https://frontapp.com/blog/2018/07/20/how-much-time-are-you-spending-on-email/
 
“The average professional spends 28% of the workday reading and answering email, according to a McKinsey analysis. For the average full-time worker in America, that amounts to a staggering 2.6 hours spent, and 120 messages received per day.”
– How to Spend Way Less Time on Email Every Day – Harvard Business Review by Matt Plummer 2019
https://hbr.org/2019/01/how-to-spend-way-less-time-on-email-every-day
 
According to Matt Plummer - The team at Zarvana realized professionals could save more than one hour and 21 minutes per day by addressing these five time suckers. Here’s what Matt Plummer shares in his Harvard Business Review Article (https://hbr.org/2019/01/how-to-spend-way-less-time-on-email-every-day):
 
According to Zarvana our time is spent in five main areas, taking up the following time:
 
“1. Over checking email wastes 21 min/day.
2. Full inboxes waste 27 min/day.
3. Using folder to organize and find emails wastes 14 min/day.
4. Archiving emails into many folders with mouse wastes 11 min/day.
5. Reading and processing irrelevant emails wastes 8 min/day.
(Source Matt Plummer and Zarvana – in HBR article). The article he has written provides a lot of detail around just how much time is spent and what you can do about it. I strongly encourage you to check it out! You will find it at: https://hbr.org/2019/01/how-to-spend-way-less-time-on-email-every-day
 
Activity
This week spend time applying one or two of these “fast fixes” to your inbox, or to the way you process email. While setting up a quick step or rule may take time in the short-term, it can save time in the long-term.

Connection to the Workbook and Planner
Consider tracking the amount of time you are spending on email over one or two weeks. Notice how you are replying and what changes could be made.
 
Download a one-page copy of this week's 52 Weeks of Plan, Do and Track here.

Best wishes, 
Jennifer

Read and download the initial weeks of the 52 weeks of Plan, Do and Track

Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019),  Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Pick up a copy of any of her books at Amazon
Book Jennifer for a coaching session to explore productivity, teamwork and business issues.
Contact her by phone at (416)996-8326
Check out the new 19 Productivity Tips on-demand program. Explore this video based program at  your own pace, and join Jennifer for bi-weekly calls as part of your course.
Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram
​

This week’s Weekly Planning Hack invites you to think about decluttering your digital landscape (or even starting afresh).
​
Recently, decluttering has been a popular topic in everyday lifestyle arenas. From Marie Kondo’s philosophy of “Does it bring you joy?”, to Gretchen Rubin’s focus on “Outer Order, Inner Calm” (the same name as her newest book), we may also want to take a look at our digital landscape, where many of us spend a bulk of our time.
​
Take a look at your digital landscape (which may include phones and computers, and tablets, and hard drives). Ask yourself:

• What is working well?
• What aren’t you using?
• What can be removed?
• What needs to be backed up? After that back up – what do you want to keep? Archive? Spotlight?
• What needs to be deleted?
• What do you need to unsubscribe from?
• What is your vision of a truly satisfying digital landscape on the different devices you own?
• What would minimizing look like for you in terms of devices and content?

Earlier this year I spent some time exploring this topic with a group of business owners. The topic of digital clutter was causing significant angst for several group members, impeding their ability to get work done.

On a scale of 1-10, how important is this topic for you right now?
​
What is the time window you are going to allocate to focus on it?

When will you get it done?

Best of luck!
​Jennifer