This year, the topic of habits is getting significant focus. Books from authors like James Clear and his Atomic Habits book, along with older ones from writers like Gretchen Rubin – Better than Before, and Charles Duhigg, the Power of Habits, each take a deep dive into the topic. When I went to write Coaching Business Builder and PlanDoTrack, I wanted to encapsulate some of the practical exercises I had been doing with individuals, teams and groups for many years. As I write in Coaching Business Builder, “Habits and practices are things we do automatically, sometimes unconsciously, because they have come so ingrained. There are many schools of thought that create a link between habits and success. That habits lead to success.” As the tagline in the Coaching Business Builder and PlanDoTrack asserts: Daily Steps + Consistent Action = Momentum Habits play a key role in shaping our regular actions. Habits are things we do automatically, and if we are able to instill regular go-to activities that can help us move forward, it can support automation of tasks and activities. Habit development takes place over time. While the commonly held time-frame a decade ago was that habits took about 21 days to form, today we know that many take longer than that. Lally’s research has been influential in expanding that window to approximately 66 days to a new habit. Check out James Clear’s article on this and other research. Habits are connected to our behaviors and therefore results. It’s our regular behaviors which shape the results we get. As my doctor recently asserted, my regular habit of walking more than 12,500 steps, along with other factors has helped to lower my cholesterol and blood pressure in the last couple of years. While they were not at a danger zone they were in the higher zone. Another one of the habits I have built in over the last few years has been around work flow. My Mondays and Thursdays are full, long days, which does free up some time on either Wednesday or Thursday for blocks of writing and other creative pursuits. As an author, and writer, finding these times are critical for reflection and creation. This year, take a look at the goals you have set for yourself. What are the results you are looking for? Increased sales, new programs, building your network? Work backwards and reverse engineer what are the behaviors you are going to need to undertake on a regular basis? As you consider your current goals and priorities:
For more on this topic, check out these posts from other writers:
While each author has their own framework, notice what is consistent across them. Enjoy the reflection and action! 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 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 Are you a remote professional? Listen into the Remote Pathways Podcast on your favorite podcast player!
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We are now at week 51 of the Weekly Planning Hacks which brings us to modelling it. Part of productivity success today is about getting things into action, not just planning. There’s an old saying “Fake it ‘til you make it”. While we don’t want to pretend, getting into action helps us develop the habits needed for success. Until things are installed as a habit, it’s unlikely that they will feel good or natural. Think about the habit of waking early to focus on an important project OR going walking every evening after dinner rain or shine. Modelling things for yourself and others helps to move the needle. Earlier in this series, I wrote about creating 15-minute timed blocks for tasks you were putting off. Whether it’s writing, cleaning or getting paperwork done, simply setting the timer, and getting it into practice helps. Often “what we are thinking about” is greater than getting it done. My hope is that in the last year of these posts, you have tried them on and are able to now start modeling it for others. What do you notice? What can you model and set the bar around with others? 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 This week’s Weekly Planning Hack gets to you think about how you can make things more visual. Visuals are processed by the brain faster. What’s important about this? Visuals can help to:
Consider these ideas:
Enjoy being creative! 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 Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram 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:
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 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 Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram Let's keep the momentum going of the new year! As the tagline for PlanDoTrack goes - Daily Steps + Consistent Action = Momentum. What are you keeping a FOcus on this year? I've just sent out the January PlanDoTrack newsletter which included a number of key goodies you will likely be interested in. You can read it here. If you are looking to set some focus and get momentum going I hope you'll Save the date - Monday January 6th from 11 - 11:30 am Eastern - and oin me in zoom room 270-302-0415 for the 1st PlanDoTrack Community call of the year. The topic is Kicking off 2020 - Focus, Productivity and Creating Your Annual Plan. It will be part tips and part working session so bring your planner and a pen! If you are a business owner, check out the 1BizStepADay series of daily prompts for January 2020 which I posted over at the Coaching Business Builder blog earlier this week. Be sure to download these daily prompts which are geared to support you into 15 minutes of focused action. Looking for more support than that and you are a coach? Consider joining me for the 60 Day Coaching Business Builder Accelerator. Registration is open to January 15th. We'll be taking daily action on our business to March 15th. The program includes on-demand content, two weekly group calls, and 9 individual 15 minute calls with me each week for the program. It's geared to get you into action! The PlanDoTrack 52 Weeks series wrapped up last week - be sure to get your downloads before they disappear. I'll be back next week with a new 52 weeks series for remote workers over at the Remote Pathways blog. Hope you'll join us there for this new series. As a final reminder, Winter 2020 programming begins next week. Programs include: Coaching Biz Growth Lab - An annual group for coaches wanting support around their coaching business development. Meeting Friday January 10th from 3- 4 pm ET. Our first of 24 bi-weekly calls this year. Group Coaching Essentials - 8.75 CCEs for coaches wanting to develop and lead their own group coaching programs. Starts Friday JAn 10th at 1015 am ET (3 spots open) Virtual Facilitation Essentials - for professionals wanting to jazz up their virtual calls and meetings. Join us for learning and practice in the virtual space! Monday January 13th from 1:30 -245 pm ET for 5 weeks. 8.5 CCEs Mentor Coaching Groups - for coaches working towards their ACC or PCC, or renewing for ACC. 3 months from January 10 - April 18 (calls usually 2nd and 4th Friday from 9 - 10 am ET) That's it for today - Enjoy your first weekend of 2020! 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 Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram As a Fitbit embracer (no paid commercial endorsement here – just my own love of how it’s made me more aware of my lifestyle choices), I’ve become fascinated by the new sleep score provided to me every day when I wake up. An increasing number of studies are pointing to the importance of sleep as part of our regular routine. As someone who embraces and requires, early morning time at my desk (I’m usually there by 5 or 5:30 am), I do know that it’s a trade-off-and that my body really does need as close to 7 hours as it can get in order to not only function, but thrive. Linked to memory, health, immunity, sleep is a key part of high performance. Studies now also show that we can get too much sleep. What are you doing to incorporate more quality sleep into your regular routine? 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 Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram Week 52 Focus — Tracking, Celebrating and What’s Next? Focus Question: Think about where you were and what you were doing at this time last year. What’s changed? What’s different? Description I want to say a huge thank you for inviting me into your world this past year. Whether you started with us a year ago in Week 1 with this series, or you joined us mid-year. I hope that this week you will take a few minutes to notice what’s shifted for you over time. Take note of your metrics. Also, where do you want to put your attention in the next year? It’s been a pleasure to bring you each of these prompts. Activity Take time this week to stop and pause, reflecting on these questions: Take note of where you started in week 1 of this series. You were asked to create your vision of your work a year from now.
Connection to the Workbook and Planner Review your last 12 months of planning pages. Looking to your annual planning pages:
Let’s stay connected via next year’s 52 Week Series which is going to have a focus on remote business. Download a one-page copy of this week's 52 Weeks of Plan, Do and Track here. So now what? This weekly series is wrapping up with this week's post. I'll be continuing to offer the Weekly planning hacks as we move into the new year, along with regular posts related to planning and productivity. If you haven't "heard", I'm also hosting a new podcast called the Remote Pathways Podcast. It airs every few weeks and zooms into the landscape of today's remote workspace. We explore the people, places and pathways to remote work, which is very varied! Check out the podcast and subscribe with your favorite podcast player! Coaches - starting Wednesday January 1st I'll be leading the 60 Day Coaching Business Builder Accelerator. What's possible if you were to focus for 60 days on your business with consistent action? Thanks again for bringing me into your world this year. 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 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 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 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 Follow the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series on Instagram Happy Holidays! My hope is that this week you are able to spend some quality time with loved ones and/or renewing.
We know that high performance is as much about renewal as it is about pushing hard when needed. Thank you for spending time this year with the blog. I hope that you have found many interesting posts and elements to support you in productivity and remote work. I look forward to continuing to bring you the Weekly Planning Hacks and other information about planning, doing and tracking. Enjoy your holiday time off! Jennifer Jennifer Britton Author of PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner (2019) Week 51 Focus — Momentum Focus Question: What is the momentum you are creating in your business right now? What’s become easier as you moved throughout the year? Description Over the last 51 weeks, we’ve covered a range of topics – from onboarding and team development, to growing your relationships. Each week I have also encouraged you to undertake some consistent action on your work/business. My guess is this has supported you in creating some momentum in areas which were not present before. Momentum is a scientific term. It has the following definitions in the Oxford Dictionary:
Activity Consider the area(s) you have created momentum in. What has helped you pick up speed? What do you notice about momentum at different times of the year? Connection to the Workbook and Planner Look back at the daily actions you have been taking in key activities? What do you notice? As you think about your key goals for the end of next year, are there some new daily steps or consistent actions you want to commit to? 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 |
AuthorJennifer Britton is the blogger behind the popular Teams365 blog, a daily,blog for team leaders and members since 2014. Her latest publication is the PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner. Pick up a copy at Amazon. Pick Up a CopyUpcoming Programs
Join us for the 21 For 21 Virtual Co-working Sprints - $21 US. Want to access the recordings and bonus worksheets? Join us at the Booster Pack $79 US early bird rate. Sign up at 21for21 Virtual Co-working - STAND OUT VIRTUALLY! Stand Out Virtually - Incubator - Running an online, virtual or digital business and want to get the word out to organizations? Join us for the 8 week Stand Out Virtually Incubator. Next group starts April 2021. Build out your brand, offers and proposals. Virtual Facilitation Essentials (8.5 CCEs)- Expand your toolkit for better remote and virtual conversations. This is a virtual train-the-trainer - 5 weeks: Fall 2021 programming starts in October $495 US Learn more and register. Coaches! Register for the 60 Day Coaching Business Builder Accelerator. Join us for 60 Days support and ACTION for coaches wanting to grow their businesses. On-Demand Course. PlanDoTrack Facilitator Training Program (24 CCEs) - Starts again in October. Contact Jennifer to discuss. Month-End/Quarterly Planning Session: Thursday September 30th - 8 -9 am ET Archives
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