​In today’s Digitally Disrupted world, the skill set of discernment and focus are taking precedence. The ability to find “micro-pauses” where you can stop, assess and make decisions plays a critical role in productivity, teams and leadership.
​
Here’s what I wrote bout the skill of discernment earlier this year here at the PlanDoTrack Blog in February:

​“Leveraging our time is as much about getting organized, as it is getting clear on what’s important. Against the backdrop of complexity, ongoing change and disruption, getting ruthless with our time management can be so important to many. As a business owner, or remote worker, this is especially true. We can’t get out time back. So, when we go down a rabbit hole (whether it’s doing too much research online, following a shiny red object or thinking we just need to learn “one more thing”), the costs can be tremendous. Not just in NOT getting things done, but in terms of our focus, our motivation and also our profit line!

Discernment is about getting clear on what’s important and what’s not. It is about being clear of what’s going to provide impact now, later or never.
​
As a remote worker or virtual business owner, we are quite control of our time. Our colleagues and/or superiors may be hundreds of miles away, or several time zones ahead. As remote workers, it’s not always about how we manage our time, but how we get our results. Those who feel the crunch in getting something over the finish line is usually only us (and those loved ones around us!).

With this in mind, what is the cost of not being discerning around where your time goes, or how clear your projects are, or what is a more important priority than another?
​
As we embark on new projects, or start a new week, it can be useful to be asking (ourselves, and our stakeholders):

• What’s most important today?
• What are the top 3-5 things I want to get completed?
• What are the MUST Dos?
• What will success look like with this project/task?
• As it relates to this project/task, what’s important?
• Have I considered the short-term, medium-term and long-term in making decisions?
• What would my colleague/boss/peer/customer say is most important to focus on today?
• What impact will this activity have? And that one?

 
What questions do you want to consider asking as you decide one priority to another?”

How can discernment help you in your work and focus right now?

Let us know!
​Jennifer

This week's Weekly Planning Hack is about Time Tracking. Where does your time really go? On a Personal and Professional level, time tracking can be a significant issue. One study noted in the Harvard Business Review found that "not filling out time sheets properly costs the U.S. economy $7.4 billion a day in productivity".
​
One of the first Weekly Planning Hacks here was around the Pomdoro Technique, a time management function where you use alarms and focus in on 25-50 minute bursts of work.
Last week we explored different apps for time management. Note what you have available to you through your phone and dedicated apps to track your time through bursts of focus.

This week, consider focusing in on tracking your time. In the 19 Productivity Tips course I share a time tracking template so you can note on a 15-30 minute basis throughout the day where your time is actually being spent. This can be very instructive over the course of a week or month to note where your time is actually going.  Create your own time tracker using a blank page of paper, segmenting it into 15 minute blocks, or refer to the lecture in the 19 Productivity Course I released earlier this year.

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

In this week’s Weekly Planning Hack, I’m exploring some of the varied apps that are available to support you in time management. Many of us have periods where everything is digital. This may be your daily practice OR it may be the way you do things while traveling or on the road for work.

Apps around time management can support many functions including:

• Project Management
• Time Tracking – where your time is going
• Calendaring
• Scheduling
• Contents
• Invoicing
• Learning

Let’s take a look at some of the options under these umbrellas:

Project Management – Two of my favorite project management apps are Trello and Asana. While a little different in focus and look, they are both mobile and desk top friendly. I find I use Trello more for writing and creative projects like program design, while turning to Asana for projects that require collaboration.

Time Tracking – One of the first Weekly Planning Hacks here was around the Pomdoro Technique, a time management function where you use alarms and burst of work. Note what you have available to you through your phone and dedicated apps to track your time through bursts of focus.
There is also an opportunity to track your time through a multitude of apps such as Toggl, Timeline, Tsheets and many others. What do you use? Let us know in the comments below what you use and what you like about it?
 
Learning Apps – As an educator in both formal and informal contexts for many years, there are so many great ways to take “learning with you”. From podcasts to on-demand video-based courses. 

One of the applications I use with my clients is Teachable. You’ll note the Teams365 series of programming continues to grow in scope. The Teams365 Teamwork Foundations course has been joined this year by the 19 Productivity Tips and Time Management program. Having been involved in creating both corporate and public programming for many years I know how valuable it is for students to be able to learn in this flexible format. While it’s not for everyone, when there ‘s an urgent need, nothing beats taking a quick on-demand program.

Invoicing – for those involved in running a business, invoicing and financial apps are critical to keeping a business running and doors open. From PayPal to Quick books, along with other tracking systems, it makes it easy to receive and send money at the press of a button.
 
As you may have noticed, I did not touch on all of these and will be covering some of them in future posts. Stay tuned next week for Time Tracking and Time Tracker Apps.

Best wishes,
Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Check out the Weekly Planning Hack Facebook Live each Wednesday  here.
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)
Just announced - July's Facilitator Training for PlanDoTrack and the Coaching Business Builder. Are you interested incorporating these resources into your own work. Help me bring the resource out to 20,000 virtual entrepreneurs, remote workers and team leaders by 2020! Early bird rate on to June 21st.

​For many of us, our work revolves around projects – some which last weeks, others which may last months or years.
​
Throughout the Planners in the Coaching Business Builder and Plan Do Track, I invite you to consider the Projects, Tasks and Activities you are focusing on this month.
​
As it relates to projects, these might include projects which are focused in on creating new processes or procedures or designing and running a program. Projects are usually the larger umbrella which houses discrete tasks and activities.

Tasks and activities are discrete steps. They might be as small as reviewing a report, or as complex as creating an e-book. You’ll want to consider what level of granularity supports you as a professional. Personally, I find that I may include larger projects first as a task, until I figure out how to break it down into smaller, more discrete pieces.

As you consider projects, tasks and activities, you might note every month what you want to:

• START
• Complete/Wrap up
• Continue

For projects that are completing and getting wrapped up, consider these questions:

• What do you want to note in terms of learning – what worked, what didn’t?
• What helped to facilitate and what derailed things?

Spending time on a monthly basis reviewing these elements can ensure that our ideas get carried forward. Seeing them in one place helps us to be more methodical, as well as be able to communicate what needs to get done when, how, and by/with whom. Projects also benefit from time estimation – estimating how much time it really takes to get something done.

What’s important to consider around projects you are managing right now?

Check out recent posts on the topic of Project Management from:
The Teams365 blog for Leaders
Coaching Business Builder blog for Coaches

​Best wishes,
​Jennifer

Week 16 Focus – Project Management 101
Focus Question: What are the projects you are involved in with your business and work right now?
​
Description
As small business owners we will often be managing a series of projects. Not all of us are trained in the areas of project management. Quality of a project is determined by a balance of Time, Cost and Scope. If one of these qualities change, there will be an impact on the other two elements.

Projects may be as big as a book creation which is scaled over several months or years, or as discrete as writing a newsletter.

• Certain elements are key in managing projects
• What are the main tasks?
• What do you need to ensure you get done?
• Who is responsible for what?
• What are the tasks which are required?
• What will success look like?

Story - Project Management 101
As a former project manager my world was always framed in program starts, mid-points and end of project reviews. Spending time on end-of-project review helps us reduce learning and mistakes in a second iteration.
Regardless of how big or small the project is it can be useful to talk stop and pause and see how things are going.
​
Some of the questions at the midpoint could include:

• What's working well?
• What changes are needed?
• What resourcing needs to change?  (Think: human resource is, IT, other resources…)?
• Who else can we learn from?
• Are there other projects with have experienced a similar status?

In the world of project management, we want to make sure that projects are on time, on scope, and on budget. This is often known as the triple constraint and in any given project these three elements are interdependent. Think about a triangle.
If time changes, the budget or scope needs to change. For example, if you had originally ear-marked 6 months to have a book published, and all of a sudden it needs to be ready in the next 3 months, you will need to explore:
Adding more resources – paying for rush service, or bringing other people on board to help
OR perhaps you need to make the book shorter, so instead of having it be 20 chapters, publishing it as a 10 chapter book this year, and aiming to publish Part 2 of the book as a follow-up next year. 

There is a whole slew of project management tools available. Tools to explore include Asana, Trello, or other apps. 

Activity
Consider a project you are working on. What is the time, scope and budget?
Break things down into project tasks and activities.
What are the major milestones?
What needs to be done by when?
What do you want to do each month or week of the project?  Map it out/create a timeline.
Who are the key stakeholders you need to engage with and keep updated?

​Connection to the Workbook and Planner
Every month use Monthly Daily Tracker to capture key learning from projects. Noting data (milestones, completions, meetings) may help with things like Time Estimation, Process mapping or other learning for this project or others.
As you complete your Monthly To-Dos each month note any projects, tasks and activities you are working on.

There is space in each of the Monthly One-Page Planners to note projects you are starting, continuing and ending.

You can also adapt the Content Trackers or monthly trackers to track the different stages of the projects you are engaging with.
 
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
​

For many years in my global career I faced multiple complexities which would get in the way of a regular work day. From regular periods of no electricity, to political and natural disasters which pulled work off course. I learned early in my career the value of two things which continue to help me flourish today –

#1 – Focus – Focus when you can, even if it is for a short while. Productivity is not always about the long haul, it can also be about the short burst of focused effort. This is especially true in my world where I am regularly juggling roles, hats, responsibilities and clients. As much as I would love to have huge swaths of time to undertake my work, it’s unlikely. Therefore, focused burst of work, coupled with #2, help me (and the business) keep moving!

#2 – Be clear on the top 3 – 5 goals for the day, week and month. My world was the world of contingency planning on steroids, so being clear on what top 3 or 4 to-dos were for the day, or the week, or the month, created a powerful anchor to planning, and also feeling satisfied when EVERYTHING on the list did not get done (which was almost every day).
​
What are your top 3-5 goals TODAY? This week? This quarter? Do you review these regularly throughout the week/month/quarter and adjust accordingly?

Best,
​Jennifer

Week 12 Focus – Systems
Focus Question: What are the tasks and activities which need to appear seamless in your work, like the same person is doing it, whether the task is completed in Toronto, Las Vegas, London, Auckland, or Shanghai?

Description
Systems help us scale a business, reducing the time to do things, ensuring tasks are done consistently, and enabling us to accrue information so we can learn, and pass on to others as our team grows.

In growing a virtual or coaching business there are five key areas which can be important to focus on. This is an area we continue exploring at both the Teams365 Leadership Lab (for virtual and remote professionals) the Coaching Biz Growth Lab (an annual group focused on coaching business development).

If you are a remote or virtual worker, as the team context becomes more fluid with people becoming part of matrix teams where things may be one differently, systems create clarity and efficiency. They also help to capture key institutional learning as organizations grow, making it easier for people to step into roles that others once held.

As a business, systems help us automate and scale, reducing the time to complete tasks that may not require as much effort.
​
Common areas which entrepreneurial businesses or virtual workers may find a focus on are:

• Sales and Marketing – Promotion
• Customer and Client Supports
• Registration and Onboarding
• Financial – Budgeting
• Communication 

Activity
Review the systems you have available to you in your business or work. What helps streamline? Ensure consistency? Allow you to scale?
What are the areas you want to focus more around?
Who can help you build your toolkit in these areas?

Connection to the Workbook and Planner
Refer to Section 3 in the Coaching Business Builder and PlanDoTrack for more on systems.

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

One of the favorite things I enjoy about the PlanDoTrack and Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planners are the Trackers. I’ve included 12 sets of Monthly Daily Trackers in each publication, so that you can track the most important elements in your work (and life) over the course of a year.
Making things visible, and intentionally tracking items, can provide valuable information and data. This can help us with our decision making, and prioritizing.

Remote Workers might be tracking:

• Time spent on projects or tasks
• Meeting time
• Feedback provided
• Hours of work
  

Virtual Businesses might track:

• Revenue
• Sales
• Expenses
• Presentations or Pitches Given
• Client Meetings
• Services Delivered
  

What are the elements you are tracking?

Best 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 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

Leveraging our time is as much about getting organized, as it is getting clear on what’s important. Against the backdrop of complexity, ongoing change and disruption, getting ruthless with our time management can be so important to many.
As a business owner, or remote worker, this is especially true. We can’t get our time back. So, when we go down a rabbit hole (whether it’s doing too much research online, following a shiny red object or thinking we just need to learn “one more thing”), the costs can be tremendous. Not just in NOT getting things done, but in terms of our focus, our motivation and also our profit line!

Discernment is about getting clear on what’s important and what’s not. It is about being clear of what’s going to provide impact now, later or never.

As a remote worker or virtual business owner, we are do often have greater control over our time. Our colleagues and/or superiors may be hundreds of miles away, or several time zones ahead. As remote workers, it’s not always about how we manage our time, but how we get our results. Those who feel the crunch in getting something over the finish line is usually only us (and those loved ones around us!).

With this in mind, what is the cost of not being discerning around where your time goes, or how clear your projects are, or what is a more important priority than another?

As we embark on new projects, or start a new week, it can be useful to ask ourselves, and our stakeholders:

• What’s most important today?
• What are the top 3-5 things I want to get completed?
• What are the MUST Dos?
• What will success look like with this project/task?
• As it relates to this project/task, what’s important?
• Have I considered the short-term, medium-term and long-term in making decisions?
• What would my colleague/boss/peer/customer say is most important to focus on today?
• What impact will this activity have? And that one?

 
What questions do you want to ask as you decide one priority to another?

Let us know using the comments below!
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

Welcome to the first of a series of weekly Wednesday planning hacks. In the spirit of all things planning, doing and tracking, I’m pleased to offer this new weekly series here at the PlanDoTrack blog. Similar to other weekly series I host at my sister blog, Teams365 blog (found at Potentials Realized.com), my hope is that these weekly posts will not only serve as a quick focus area for you, and over time will add up to be a valuable resource. I'll also be doing a live video on each of the tips every week, sharing it over at the PlanDoTrack Facebook page.

Let’s get started with the Pomodoro Technique, the focus of weekly planning hack #1.

Have you heard about the Pomodoro Technique (often associated with the icon of the Tomato)?

As I wrote last January 2018 at the Teams365 blog, the Pomodoro Technique is an invaluable tool in creating focus in today’s digitally distracted world. Here’s what I wrote in Teams365 #1470 on Minimizing Distractions – 

“Creating "focused work" periods. Whether it's 30 or 60 minutes a day, focused times, which have no immediate distraction allow us to get things done. Many studies find that our immediate productivity can be boosted by giving projects time windows and time frames. The Pomodoro technique is one example of accelerating productivity. It posits that focused activity for 25 minutes can be followed by a 5-minute break. Read more about the Pomodoro Technique from its' creator here.”
 
How might more focused bursts of attention support you and your projects right now?
What would it be like to experiment with more focused bursts of time where the rings and bings of everyday digital life are silenced?"
​
Let us know if you get the chance to experiment with this!
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