Getting into alignment: Putting passion into your everyday

photo credit: Paco Espinoza

Last week I gave you a bit of an assignment — track what tasks you spend your time on, and how you feel while completing those tasks.

Most people when they complete this exercise for the first time find out two things:

1. There are vast amounts of their time that are not productive (inefficient meetings, interruptions, unfocused conversations, “zone-out” time), and
2. They spend very, very little time doing work that really gets them engaged.

Alas, this is the nature of the modern corporate environment.  Results through bureaucracy.  Cooperation through administration.  So, how do you move more of your time to the good stuff, and away from that which weighs you down?

Step 1:  Make a list of the good stuff

Review your notes from the last week.  (Or, if you haven’t done the exercise, you can try reviewing your email and calendar for some record of how you spent your time.  But trust me, the exercise is both more effective and illuminating.)  Pull out anything you rated a 4 or 5 — these are typically those activities that you enjoy focusing on, that you wish you could spend more time on, that challenge you and teach you new things, or that have big organizational payoff.  Compile the list, and mark down how much time you spent on each.

Step 2:  Measure your effectiveness

For each of the activities on your list, consider this: how effective am I at this activity?  We’re going to do another 1-5 ranking here.  For instance, if you really enjoy sales meetings with potential clients, and you do a great job selling when you’re there, but you find that you’re not scheduling quite as many meetings each week as you’d like, you might rank that activity a 4 in effectiveness.

Step 3:  Figure out the roadblocks

For each task, ask yourself this question: What would I need to be more effective?

Some tasks may only require more time.  Others may require learning, or the absence of interruptions, or guidance from a supervisor or colleague.  If the answer is motivation, sometimes that’s as simple as clearing the rest of the mess out of your way.

Step 4:  Make a plan

For each of the items, figure out how to make yourself more effective in that activity, be it time, knowledge, expertise, help, whatever.  Then, block out time and get yourself the resources you need to get things done.

My challenge to you: This week, pick one activity that engages you, and think through the four steps.  What can you achieve in one week?

Related posts:

1. Putting passion into your everyday: Create a project
2. Achieving Balance: Do more of what you love
3. Wrong job? 3 Ways to Know
4. 15 minutes a day to more productive work
5. What is your manifesto? The path to passion

Tagged as: Career, effectiveness, goals, motivation, passion, talent