In the remote workspace working ahead (a little bit) can be an important practice, especially if disruption is more the norm than the blip in your work style.

While some things will change if we undertake them too early, there are several things that you might benefit from working ahead around. Consider these items:

• Reporting
• Administrative tasks
• Presentations
• Small tasks which add up

Over the course of a day, we can pull off tangent many, many times. That may be the reason that several schools of thought in time management assert to get the most important, and often the most difficult thing done first.

I see this happen in my work on a regular basis, especially when I work around proposals, and presentations. I need a certain amount of creative and deep thinking when doing these two things, and if I can, I’ll find very early times of the day to at least get started, and sometimes finish, these tasks. Usually I am thankful given that inevitably urgent pressing matters pop up, requiring, my time, focus and brain power.

If you were to invest in starting 30 minutes a day earlier, or getting a head start on thinking on a train ride, what would you want to work ahead around? 

Best,
Jennifer

​​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 these Instagram accounts @coachingbizbuilder & @remotepathways!
Check out upcoming programs on our calendar!

Are you a remote professional? Listen into the Remote Pathways Podcast on your favorite podcast player!

Tasks expand to the amount of time we give them, according to Parkinson’s Rule. What are the time windows you are placing around the tasks and projects you are working on? As we know, time spent does note equal results and/or productivity. In fact, corralling your time and putting a boundary around key tasks may help you.
What type of tasks might benefit from a boundary?

If you are an entrepreneur or solopreneur, consider:

• Time spent on social media
• Time creating new content
• Time doing research

If you are a remote worker, this might include:

• Time spent in meetings
• Time organizing your office or emails
• Time trying to find a certain piece of information

Many of these become big black holes where there may be a point of “diminishing returns”, or in other words, value in spending time on the activity only up to a certain point. With social media for example, what can I get done in 20 minutes that 45 minutes might not accomplish? Is the 45 minutes I spent doubly impactful, or just a little bit more?

Notice how you prefer to work and what’s useful.

The same can be applied around the time spent on personal activities:

• Cleaning the house
• Getting laundry done
• Trying to find one thing

What are the boundaries you want to create around your work? 

Kind wishes,
​Jennifer

​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 these Instagram accounts @coachingbizbuilder & @remotepathways!
Check out upcoming programs on our calendar!

Are you a remote professional? Listen into the Remote Pathways Podcast on your favorite podcast player!

What are you noticing about the things that are helping you keep moving? Having led thousands of conversations around productivity with leaders, business owners, groups and teams over the last fifteen years, I felt it was important to distill these down to more generic keys for productivity in my 2019 publication - PlanDoTrack.

Five of the core themes which PlanDoTrack is built upon are the mantras of:

• Focus
• Experimentation
• Momentum
• Reflective Pauses
• Celebration

Let’s take a look at each of these in turn. We’ll be taking a deeper dive into each of these in the coming weeks here at the PlanDoTrack Blog. For more on these, also be sure to check out the associated questions embedded in Section 4 of PlanDoTrack.

Today’s post explores the topic of FOCUS.

In today’s VUCA context, being able to focus while also keeping an eye to the horizon of possible opportunities and threats, is key.

Focus is paramount as a remote professional on multiple levels including:

• Project work: Focusing in on the right projects at the right time. Consider that what might be important for you, might not be important for others on the team. What are the “right projects” for “right now”?
• Focus and workflow: A challenge for many remote workers today is being able to focus on core tasks without getting disturbed. If your work requires critical thinking, when is that happening? If your work involves creating new ideas for projects, products or services, when are you finding time to do that?
• Managing interruptions – With the average worker getting interrupted multiple times an hour, especially through the “digital interruptions” of pings, emails and instant messages, what are you noticing about the interruptions you are facing on a regular basis? What are you doing to manage these? Note that it’s not just the interruption itself, but also getting back on task. Dr. Gloria Marks has noted it can take upwards of 22 minutes to get back on task post-interruption.

 
Activity:

• Note what focus means for you right now – which of these areas needs attention?
• What are the things you want to do more of to amplify your focus?
• What do you need to change or say NO to?
• Who do you want to be accountable to around focus?

For more on this topic, check out an earlier 2020 blog post here.

Wishing you the best, 
​Jennifer

​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 these Instagram accounts @coachingbizbuilder & @remotepathways!
Check out upcoming programs on our calendar!

Are you a remote professional? Listen into the Remote Pathways Podcast on your favorite podcast player!

How are you doing with discernment. Are you finding yourself getting pulled into areas you are not quite sure how you got there?

The Merriam-Webster defines it as “the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure”.

Today’s work context can be a bright landscape of lots of different options, and priorities. Discernment helps us ascertain what is truly important.
​
When we don’t discern what’s important – now, or in the bigger picture – we can find ourselves falling into the trap of the Shiny Red Object Syndrome (which I recently heard abbreviated as SROS). The shiny red object syndrome is like today’s social herding – lots of noise and light draws a big crowd. While it may appear “just the thing” to do or follow, below the surface it may not meet your needs.

Our time and attention are limited which makes DISCERNMENT a critical skill to support focus, especially in a digital and remote context.

In order to build your muscle in the area of discernment, consider these questions:

1. What’s really important?
2. What are the top 3 priorities- for you? For the organization you work for/lead? For others?
3. What has been imprinted by URGENCY? (Note: Urgent does not always mean important. Someone else’s crisis may not be your own.)
4. In the bigger picture, what’s important to pay attention to OR put a focus around?
5. If you were to look back at this item/task/priority in six months, what would you say was the value of it?

I hope that these questions will get you thinking about what’s truly important for you, and your work, and organization.

For more on this topic:

• Check out this article by Patti DeDominic about the Importance of Discernment for Business Leaders and CEOs here.
• Check out this post about Discernment and the Entrepreneur, particularly as they focus on collaboration here.

​
Best,
​Jennifer

​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 these Instagram accounts @coachingbizbuilder & @remotepathways!
Check out upcoming programs on our calendar!

Are you a remote professional? Listen into the Remote Pathways Podcast on your favorite podcast player!

Years ago, I taught business studies part time. Teaching Business Fundamentals was one of my courses. I loved introducing new business students and entrepreneurs to the world of different business models and approaches.

JIT - stands for Just in Time. Historically, companies like Canadian Tire were well known for having a merchandising strategy where everything they did was right at the “right moment”, just when things were needed.

Computerization has really helped with JIT approaches to all kinds of businesses, large and small. When stock is low, an order can go in, rather than keeping a lot of money tied up with excess merchandise or having to pay for more space to house it.

What are the things that you could be creating or making available in your world?

Best,
Jennifer

Week 44 Focus — Circadian Rhythm
Focus Question: Consider the rhythm of your day. When can you do your best work? Around what tasks?

​Description
When are you at your best?
 
There has been a lot of research done on our natural body rhythms. The study of chronobiology explores our natural rhythms. While some of us are “early birds” and love to get things done in the early hours of the morning as the world wakes up, others may find they get their “next wind” in the evening.
 
What do you notice about when you are at your best for completing different tasks?
 
There may be different times of the day when it is good for you to complete different tasks such as:

• Complete finances and accounting work
• Engaging in writing projects
• Reviewing reports
• Hold one-on-one or coaching calls
• Undertake performance conversations with your team

While not everyone may have the opportunity to adjust their schedule, remote work can make this an even more important issue for many. Undertaking tasks when we are more inclined to have the focus we need, may allow us to get more done, more quickly.
 
Activity
In an ideal state, what would your ideal day or week of work look like? WHAT would you do WHEN?

Make a list of the different tasks you need to complete in the next 1-3 weeks. What time of the day might you be best placed to complete them in?

Connection to the Workbook and Planner
Consider using the time trackers (Monthly Planning Tools) to track when in the month you are completing core tasks, but also the time of day. Instead of tracking by one color per activity, you may consider tracking by M, A, N – Morning (M), Afternoon (A), Night (N).

After tracking your time of day rhythms (could be a week or more), what do you notice?
​
What adjustments could support you in maximizing your work routine?

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 program design, 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 43 Focus — Delegation
Focus Question: What are the tasks which you need to let go of and have others complete? 

Description
There’s usually never enough time to get things done in our work. One area which most professionals struggle with is delegation. This is particularly challenging when working in the remote space as we need to be even more specific and strategic in what we can delegate, to whom and what it can look like.
 
Delegation is successful when we are clear about the task that needs to be completed, when we ensure that the person doing has the resources and authority to get it done, and that we also follow up regularly with the task.
 
Throughout the last three decades of my career, in teams large and small, intact and remote, I’ve found delegation to be a growth edge for everyone – leaders and team members alike.
​
In the spirit of keeping things simple, I have had people reflect on the 5Ws and an H of delegation as they think about:

• WHAT they want to delegate?
• WHO has the skills to do it?
• WHEN can they do it? What are key milestones towards project completion? When will you get things done?
• WHERE can the person being delegated to go for information and resources?
• WHY? What’s important about this task? What does the person need to know about WHY the task needs to be completed on time, with accuracy etc. Provide context around this.
• HOW can they do it? What are some of the key steps and resources required? Are there specific decision points they need to be aware of?

Using these questions as a conversation prompter can be valuable in terms of making sure that delegation is successful for everyone.
 
Activity
In this week’s post, I’m inviting you to take stock of all the things that are on your plate. As you consider past focus areas like the 80/20 Rule, what do you notice about where you are getting your impact and results in your work? You may recall that the 80/20 Rule – also known as Pareto’s Principle - indicates that we tend to get 80% of our impact from approximately 20% of our efforts.

Key Tasks I need to do (or delegate): _____________________________
 
Identify one or two tasks you would consider delegating. Using the following chart, work through the associated questions:

Connection to the Workbook and Planner
Delegation is covered in Section 4 of the Coaching Business Builder and PlanDoTrack. Review the sections in either these.

Review your current Monthly To Do List – you’ll find 12 of them in the Planner Section at the back. Each month be sure to make a list of all the tasks, projects and activities you have on your plate. While this can feel overwhelming you may get good at “triaging” the list early in the month, so that there is ample time to delegate tasks, schedule and defer others.

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

​Week 42 Focus – Prioritization
Focus Question: What do you want to focus on today?

Description
There are many competing priorities in a business. What are the things you want to focus on today? This week?
 
As solopreneurs, it’s unlikely that our To-Do list will ever be complete. We can overwork ourselves to the point of burn out.
 
As virtual and remote professionals the issue of prioritization takes on immense significance given that we are likely to be part of multiple teams, working across different time zones, with each team and leader having different priorities. Having to work more autonomously, and independently, we also can benefit from prioritizing what’s important from the “bigger picture” of what’s on our desk at any given moment of time.
 
In Coaching Business Builder and PlanDoTrack, I share four different prioritization tools which will help you identify what is going to give you more focus:

1. The Strategic Issues Mapping
2. The SWOT
3. Covey’s Urgent/Important Matrix
4. Urgency/Importance Matrix

 
Activity
Work through the relevant tools for your work and business right now. If you are doing some longer-term planning, refer to the SWOT and/or Strategic Issues Mapping. If you are feeling overwhelmed, stuck or working on immediate priorities consider using the other prioritization tools.
 
Connection to the Workbook and Planner
You will find the prioritization tools listed on pages 114 to 119. You might consider exploring:

1. The Strategic Issues Mapping
2. The SWOT
3. Covey’s Urgent/Important Matrix
4. Urgency/Importance Matrix

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 planning hack gets you to touch things ONLY once. This hack originally derived from the realm of paper management, where many organizers encourage sorters to make decisions as they go. For example, if you were to sort through a pile of papers you would make a decision around where each of the items would go, actioning it right away.

For example, professional organizer, Helen Buttigieg, recommends that papers are sorted via RAFT – Things that need to be READ (R), Actioned (A), Filed (F), Tossed (T). Rather than reading something and putting it back in the main pile, it would be read and then filed or recycled. 
​
This week you will want to consider applying this tip by tackling a pile (or box) of paper which has been sitting there. Apply the RAFT and/or sort it for once and all! I have a pile of file papers which have been accumulating for many months now that are going to get this 15-minute treatment. I’ll set a timer for 15 minutes and see how far I get. Rather than thinking I need “oodles” of time, 15 minutes is doable TODAY.

Enjoy this week’s prompt.

Best,
​Jennifer

​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

In today’s uber-busy world, having huge blocks of time are often not feasible without a lot of pre-planning. Part of the philosophy of the PlanDoTrack and Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planners is that it is about taking CONSISTENT Action and DAILY steps to create momentum.
​
Over time, we may also start to notice how valuable it is to have blocked off time so we can focus in on tasks that require more than a short amount of our attention. Some writers and researchers point to the need for 90-minute windows for “Deep Work” (as Cal Newport would say).

What are the blocks of time you have available? Some possibilities include:

• Scheduling out time blocks: (i.e. 90 minutes for important projects) at the start of a quarter.
• Creating new working schedule: ie. Waking up earlier and dedicating that time to work on a project. For many years now I have adopted the practice of starting my work day around 5 or 5:30 am. I find that the first hour or two are often my most productive, and critical for success.
• Letting go of activities that aren’t supporting you as much:  We can easily fall into the pattern of doing things “just because we do them”. This might be binging on shows or participating in a seasonal activity you don’t really enjoy, “just because”. In service to the things you really want to create in your work, what are the things you can let go of this year to free up time so you can do what’s important?

Best,
Jennifer