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Welcome to the Road to Leadership Success, a resource for people who want effective leadership productivity strategies to learn faster and accomplish more. I'm Sabrina Braham, your Leadership coach.
As your coach, I'm constantly looking for shortcuts to help you succeed in your life and career. If you take 10 minutes to listen to these simple and easy mind hacks, I will share, it could double your productivity.
In this episode, I am going to give you two leadership essential tips:
How to overcome procrastination, distractions, and interruptions.
A scientifically proven method to increase your productivity and innovation.
How often do you find yourself procrastinating on tasks or projects?
How do interruptions impact your productivity daily?
Are you feeling swamped by your tasks?
Do you need help to keep up despite your efforts?
Well, you're not alone.
According to new research conducted in the US by Zippia, the average employee is productive for 2 hours and 53 minutes daily. That’s only 31% of the average 8-hour workday. Most employees feel unproductive because they spend the majority of their workday distracted.
Atlassian has discovered that the average employee is interrupted from work around 56 times a day and spends 2 hours recovering from these distractions.
How long do you think it takes to recover from a single distraction?
According to the research, Refocusing after a distraction takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds.
Do you have something you want to do or know you need to do but can’t figure out how to fit it into your schedule or avoid being distracted?
Or Your challenge is that you are procrastinating.
How much more could you get done if you weren't procrastinating, weren't interrupted, and could you stay focused?
A lot, right?
Are you ready to move your productivity AND career to the next level?
I've got a proven strategy for you that will enable you to seize opportunities without procrastination, interruptions, or lack of focus.
The good news is that I will give you my “Improved Pomodoro Technique” today. This is a proven method for increasing focus, productivity, and creativity.
Top Tech Leader Struggles With Productivity & Being Overwhelmed
But first, let me tell you a story about Ava, a director in a large company who came to me for executive coaching. She was working long hours and was overwhelmed by all her projects.
She was very talented, and one of her coaching goals was to increase exposure to senior management to build a brand and enhance her career.
Her senior VP had been brainstorming with her to develop a new product. The meetings were exciting and productive.
Then, they took an unexpected turn. In the last month, Brad, the director of another department, had begun collaborating with the senior VP on the same project. Now, he was talking to Brad and not to her.
Her question to me was:
“How can I get the senior VP to speak and brainstorm with me again?
She wanted to know how. Could you continue to provide input on the project and be instrumental in preventing errors?
When I asked her why he should talk to her instead of the other director, she said, “Oh no, he needs to speak to both of us. The other director knows some important information, but I understand the algorithms, and unless they consider them, there will be errors in this project.”
I asked what kept her from giving the Senior VP this information.
She paused and said, "I'm swamped with less critical projects, which unfortunately prevents me from conducting the necessary research to stay updated on the information required by the Senior VPs for this new product."
She looked surprised by her answer.
She was startled to discover that she had missed an opportunity because she had filled her schedule with less urgent projects, lacked the time required for necessary research, and had, therefore, missed an opportunity.
Brand Development and Effective Leadership Productivity Strategies
Ava was overworked and too busy to take the actions that would change her brand, help her gain recognition, and bring the company greater profits with new products.
Initially, she recognized the necessity of axing unimportant projects to save time for this crucial new product.
Then, she delegated some tasks to her team or other departments.
Additionally, she acknowledged the need to decline less significant projects and allocate more time to researching this new product.
She was able to carve out four hours for this essential research later that week, and she started using my proven productivity method, which I will share in a minute.
The following week, she went to the senior vice president and the director of the other department and shared her vital research information, which was crucial to this project’s success.
They realized they had almost launched a new product with fatal flaws that needed to be revised. These flaws would have cost the company many customers, time, and money.
They saw the value in having Ava included weekly in their meetings. Ava’s leadership brand, influence, and impact increased significantly in the eyes of senior leadership.
The Pomodoro Technique: A Leadership Time Management Strategy
Here is the technique I coached Ava on that highly productive people use and will help you, too.
This is one of my favorite techniques to improve focus and productivity.
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management and effective leadership productivity strategy invented by Francesco Cirillo. (Che re llo) Cirillo named it after a tomato-shaped timer he used in college to keep himself on track as he studied. (Pomodoro means tomato in Italian.) The idea is to increase productivity by dividing your workday into highly focused chunks separated by short breaks.
So here is my revised and improved Pomodoro Technique
Start with these four things:
Take time daily to reflect on the three most important things.
See what you can delete or delegate.
Put time on your calendar to do the project.
Schedule a specific 2-hour block to accomplish a chunk of a large project or goal.
Now let me give you more details about how to do it.
Effective Leadership Productivity Strategies
The Six-Step Pomodoro Technique
The only equipment you'll need is A TIMER. Many people find that a physical timer works best for them, OR you can use your COMPUTER OR mobile PHONE.
If you use the phone, put it on the airplane till you are done.
Identify a task or task or goal that you need to complete.
Outline the rough draft in the order you want to do it in
Set a timer for 25 minutes.
Work on a task with no distractions.
Remove distractions. Shut off the phone or put it in another room. Turn off Slack, or put a note up on your office door.
Re-schedule distractions. Stay focused no matter what
When the alarm sounds, take a 5-minute Re-fresh break.
This is important: No social media or email.
Taking breaks and engaging in activities that refresh your mind and body can boost productivity and overall well-being. It's all about finding that balance between focused work and rejuvenating breaks. Whether it's a short walk outside, a quick stretching session, or simply spending time with a pet, incorporating these activities into your routine can make a big difference in how you feel and your performance throughout the day.
Repeat the process three more times.
After Three 25-minute sessions, take a more extended 30-minute break and start again.
Now, this can be revised:
You could do 1 hour and then a 10-minute break
There is an exception
If you are in a flow state, KEEP GOING.
Try these effective leadership productivity strategies for 30 days. You will be amazed by how focused and productive you will be.
Please Let me know how this worked for you.
How Do You Measure Up
In These 5 Key Areas of Top Leaders?
My new 3-minute confidential Executive Leadership & Career Development Potential evaluation, based on 30 years of coaching top executives and the traits of top leaders, reveals your strengths and growth opportunities in Leadership Mindset, Communication Skills, Emotional Intelligence, Influence, and Political Savvy.
Enhance Your Leadership Abilities Take it today: https://sabrina-braham-leadership-assessment-1.scoreapp.com
Sabrina Braham MA MFT PCC
PS Please connect with me on LinkedIn