QuietSpacing

Like most, I’m staring down the long corridor of the new year.  Numerous hopes and aspirations fill my mind as I consider what 2010 may hold. 

Currently, I’m in the throws of two huge development projects.  The first is the implementation of an SaaS ERP platform for our online kayaking gear business – www.outdoorplay.com.  The other is the finalization of the QuietSpacing(tm) On-Demand streaming video series.  Once the dust settles from those efforts, I’m sure there will be other matters needing my immediate attention.

In spite of the stress and frantic pace, I often remind myself that

Memories are the currency of life

Simply stated:  We have now and we had before.  (We hope to have later.)  Some of what we do now is what we’ll remember later.  Consequently, when viewed as a continuum, the things we do that create memories are how we will gauge the success and quality of our lives.  The more good memories we create, the more successful and happier we’ll feel.

So, when you’re racing headlong into the day, the week or the month, take a moment once in a while to ask yourself what you’re doing to create the kind of memories you’ll look back at and smile.

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I’m not that old.  I grew up with microwaves and color television.  When I started working full time, we had fax machines, overnight mail services and voicemail was gaining acceptance.  However, as the world began to move faster and faster via technological advances like e-mail, the Internet and smartphones, our workflow processing behaviors took a turn for the worse.

The Way it Was and What’s Gone Wrong

You see, “back in the day” we started our days by looking at what had to get done … first. Then we started doing.  Today, it’s the opposite.  We jump to the doing – replying to e-mail and driving ahead - before considering what’s already on our plates. 

The purpose of these old-school review periods was to organize and prioritize our tasks, folding into the mix our appointments and other things that needed our attention.  Then we would move forward into the day and deal with what came our way.  This surveying behavior was usually repeated around the lunch hour and just before going home.  Functionally, we were keeping an eye on the big picture while dealing with the day-to-day details of our work.

This surveying process has largely been lost in today’s frenetic working world.  We’ve become addicted to “right now” – checking our e-mail on our smartphone and constantly seeking updates on various things via the Internet.  Most people have reviewed the latest e-mails that arrived overnight, often making commitments in response to them, before even reviewing what’s already on today’s to-do list!  This mindset – needing to stay Über-connected and ultra-”responsive” – is dramatically affecting our productivity, as well as our piece of mind.

Retake Command of Your World

This is a subject deserving of much more than a mere missive on corrective action.  Alas, I fear no one would read it due to the lack of perceived available time!  Consequently, I’ll keep my directive short:

Review What’s On Your Plate Three Times Each Day – Morning, Noon and Night

This is just common sense, but it’s not generally followed very much anymore.  All I’m suggesting is that people review the commitments they’ve already made before jumping in to the next batch of requests (e-mail, voice mails, meetings, etc.).  The more you know about your existing level of commitment, the better-able you’ll be to accurately judge and manage new commitments.  Moreover, when you start with “What’s on my plate?” you are taking command of your world.  When you’re waiting with baited breath of the next e-mail to land in your Inbox, you’re at the mercy of others.  It’s neither productive, nor enjoyable.

Just take a few minutes first thing in the morning, at mid-day, and just before going home to conduct a complete survey of everything on your desk or in your Inbox.  Consider what, if anything, needs to be re-prioritized and feel good about the things you’ve checked off the list.  In the end, you’ll see that this old-school behavior still drives terrific results in this modern-day world.

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I lobbed this bomb into an audience today during a presentation:

Only put one subject in each e-mail.  One Subject Per E-mail!

It was met with the usual response – shock, rolling of the eyes and all manner of rejection.  To me, this is just obvious common sense, but it seems that when it comes to e-mail, common sense seems is on holiday. 

Here are my thoughts on this, apparently, revolutionary concept of putting only one subject into each e-mail you send.

The Absence of the Obvious

There was a time before e-mail, and it’s progeny, when the world communicated through less efficient channels – phone, fax, teletype, express mail, and postal mail to name a few.  Much ado was made of these communications and for business people and professionals the written word was closely scrutinized and monitored during the crafting and sending efforts.  In fact, if we hearken back to even earlier periods, letter writing (that’s writing letters by hand) was considered an art form.

Somewhere in our rush forward into the electronic age much of this care and concern has been lost.  Before you go dismissing me as someone who simply longs for the “good ole days,” understand that I’m writing this post on a brand new netbook after checking my Yelp app on my iPhone for a good place to eat in Portland, Oregon.  A technology junky I’m not, but a user I am.  In fact, I make a living helping very smart and very capable people bridge the gap between technology and its application in the everyday working world.

Clarity Over Perceived Efficiency

One of the greatest risks to including multiple subjects in a single e-mail is the risk of confusion on the reader’s part.  Everyone likes to think they’re reasonably good writers and, frankly, many are.  However, people tend to only retain a small percentage of what they read and what they remember is rarely stored in a linear or chronological order.  Thus, when you blend two separate groups of information together, you run a very high risk that the reader will blend together information for the separate subjects into one joined memory, which results in confusion.

Everyone Likes a Campfire

A terrific example of this concept is the “story around the campfire” game.  If you whisper a fairly detailed story into the ear of the person sitting to your right and they do the same until that story has been retold around the circle, when the last person to hear the story recites what they heard, it rarely mirrors the original story told.  The reason is that people can only remember so much of what they’re told and, generally, they think in pictures, such that the retelling is always colored by their own interpretation of what they thought they heard.

Combing subjects into a single writing runs much of the same risk because people act on what they understood you to say.  Moreover, if the writer is less than clear about the delineation of the groups of information being conveyed, he/she may be contributing to an even higher risk of this result.

“Cost” Versus Benefit

Many audience members that hear my “one subject per e-mail” rule complain that it’s too onerous to craft multiple e-mails.  What?  Huh?  Let me make sure I heard that right!

E-mails are FREE to send!  The recipient’s name is already in the first one, so the only additional effort it takes is to craft a second subject line – which should be subject-specific ANYWAY! Given the minimal effort to send multiple e-mails, the increased clarity in communication certainly seems worth it.

Return to Sanity

Much of modern technology has revolutionized how we interact and communicate with each other.  Most of it is for the better.  However, many of the “rules” we lived by in the past still have great application today.  The single subject per e-mail rule is one that is worth considering if you’re ultimate intent is to be more effective and efficient in your communication.

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I just practiced a lesson I’ve taught many times in the past with very positive results.  It is the lesson on the value of focus.  You see, I was asked to develop a book proposal on QuietSpacing(tm) for a very well-known publishing company.  In addition to being flattered they even asked, I was excited that QuietSpacing(tm) appears be gaining a significant amount of mind-share.

When I sat down to draft the proposal, I found myself flitting about with excitement that I was actually doing just that – producing a proposal to publish my book!  WooHoo!! Go baby go!  Well, after about 15 minute of that I was still staring at a white screen in Word.  Thankfully, I have resources and tools at my disposal for getting things done.  Here’s what I did.

The Mechanics of Focusing

1. Cleared the Busy Work.  I gathered up all the niggly little things in my viewfinder for today and powered through them or moved them off to another day (and out of my Designed Work Area).
2. Closed the Door and Put the Phone on Do-Not-Disturb.  My message was simple to me and to others.  Quiet please.  Busy person trying to get something done.
3. Played Ambient Music.  I firmly believe ambient music puts you in the right frame of mind for productivity.  I read once that Baroque did too, but I prefer ambient music.
4. Created an Outline.  Fortunately, the editor who contacted me provided me with a framework.  However, if you don’t have one, create one.
5. Moved Through the Process One Step at a Time.  I constructed each section of the proposal as a whole thought, then moved on to the next section.  If I needed a break, I left the office. But, when I returned, it was back to a closed door and silent phone.  Oh, and I did NOT check e-mail during these breaks for fear of being thrown off track.

The Result

I developed a complete picture of what I was doing.  With my surroundings “quieted” and my mind focused on a single task, I found that my messaging became very clear and very full-bodied.  All the thoughts and discussions I’d had about QuietSpacing(tm) over the years crystallized into a series of thoughtful and complete descriptions of what the book was about, who it would help, how it would help them, and how it was different from the other books of its ilk. 

There is no way this result could have been achieved during a “normal” day of e-mailing, meetings, coaching, phone conversations, etc.  To really take advantage of what may be one the seminal events for QuietSpacing(tm), I had to create the exact environment the method espouses to achieve the level of responsiveness and effectiveness I needed to be productive.

Cross your fingers for me and the book!

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Want to know the best way to eliminate the interruptions that bombard you each day?  Simple:  Remove yourself from that environment.  It’s what I call sequestering.

Sequestering is what happens to juries when they aren’t physically present in the courtroom listening to the evidence during a trial.  They are secreted away and not allowed to communicate with the outside world.  This is done to prevent any influences other than the evidence from affecting their judgment.

In the world of productivity, the same concept can be applied to increase productivity.  The idea is to sequester yourself – go somewhere where the outside world cannot “influence” (or negatively affect) your productivity.  Where to go is pretty easy – somewhere that people can’t easily find you.  For example, go to a conference room or an empty office.  Go to the local library if it’s close or a small caucus room if your office has one.  The main objective is to secret yourself away from the normal hubbub of the office so you can focus on the things that need your attention right now.

What’s the length of time you can sequester yourself?  It varies depending on your workload and position.  The more you control your schedule, the longer you can be sequestered.  Regardless, the best way to make the most of this behavior is to do it for relatively short periods of time, e.g., one- or two-hour blocks.  Also, take only one or two things that need to get done and work solely on those items.  When you’re done with them, go back to your regular workspace.

Finally, keep your sequestering efforts as discrete as possible.  The whole idea is that no one knows how to find you during these periods.  When asked where you were, simply tell people you were taking care of business!

Go forth and produce!

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