Coach Andrea

Provide Extraordinary Value

linda — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:00:24 +0000

Coach Andrea’s Intro

“How can I build my sales pipeline?” This is a question that a number of my coaching clients asked recently as we are getting close to the end of the first half of 2012. One source is your existing client base. There may be additional services they need from you and/or they may refer you to other people. The likelihood of their providing these leads is based on two things. First, you ask. Second, you have provided great value. This week’s Tip focuses on the second point.

Quote of the Week

“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”

~ Warren Buffett

Provide Extraordinary Value

By Michael Schantz

Extraordinary value is defined as giving clients or customers three to ten times the amount of value as our fee would dictate. Leaders who embrace this practice enjoy a superb competitive advantage. They know that if their organizations provide this exceptional value to clients, they will have few real competitors.

The spirit of service is the ability to make a contribution. The greater the contribution, the greater the value received. Companies that deliver extraordinary client service care about clients’ businesses as much as they do. As clients receive extraordinary value, they become continual sources of referrals. Person-to-person referrals are often believed to be the most effective form of new business creation (Schantz, p. 83).

From: Schantz, M. (2008). 75 principles of conscious leadership: inspired skills for 21st century business. Bandon, OR: Robert D. Reed Publishers.

Reprinted with permission from the OSU Leadership Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, (614) 292-3114, http://leadershipcenter.osu.edu/

Coaching Call To Action

Where are you creating the biggest value to your customers? How do you know? What is one action you could take this week to increase your value? Will you take this action?

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Are you Leaving the Door Open?

linda — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:00:18 +0000

Coach Andrea’s Intro

Want to be more productive? In this week’s Tip, a new contributor, Natalie M. Houston, shares a great idea on how to protect your focus and attention during your “always on” day.

Quote of the Week

“The ability to focus attention on important things is a defining characteristic of intelligence.”

~ Robert J. Shiller

Are you Leaving the Door Open?

By Natalie M. Houston

Would you leave the front door of your home wide open all day? Would you allow strangers, colleagues, and friends to walk in that open door at any time, and start asking you for directions, assistance, a snack, or a hug? Would you welcome the squirrels, racoons, and stray cats that might stroll in the door? What about the raindrops, dead leaves, or litter that drift in?

If your answer is no (or even a more strongly-worded negation), then I have another important question for you:

Are you leaving the door of your focus and attention wide open all day?

Each time you check email, each time you respond to your phone’s buzz or flashing light that announces the arrival of a new text, each time you jump to read your direct messages on Twitter, you’re opening the door of your attention. No matter what else you were doing, if someone suddenly walked into your home and asked for your assistance, you would probably respond right away, by either helping, redirecting, or rebuffing them.

Just as you protect your family and your belongings by choosing when to open the door of your home and when to leave it shut, you can choose to protect your focus and attention by choosing when to open yourself up to other people’s demands.

Every time you read your email, you’re putting someone else’s priorities before your own. Even if you don’t immediately respond or act on their request, you’re giving their message your attention. Sometimes, of course, that’s exactly what you want to do: we all need to engage with other people, to respond to their requests, and to communicate our ideas and decisions. But you can choose when to do this.

Decide Now When You’ll Check Your Messages Tomorrow

One way to maximize your focus and attention is to define a few set times during your day when you will read and process your incoming emails and messages. Put these blocks of time on your calendar like you would any other appointment. During those set times, bring your full attention to reading and responding to other people. At all other times, bring your full attention to your own priority work or relaxation.

If you’re accustomed to leaving your email open on your computer all day, or picking up your phone whenever it buzzes, it will feel awkward to retrain yourself into a new habit. As a good starting point, try checking your messages for just 20 minutes every two hours. Try it for a full three days before adjusting the length or frequency of your message sessions.

When you get the urge to check your email or messages and it’s not your predefined time, ask yourself:

In wanting to check email right now, what am I pulled towards?
In wanting to check email right now, what am I avoiding?

Just pay attention to what comes up for you in the process. You may decide that given your professional obligations and personal temperament, checking email all the time is what you choose to do. Or you may discover that checking email only a few times per day frees up energy and attention that you can direct towards other things. Either way, just make sure you’re making a conscious choice and not just leaving the door open out of habit.

Natalie M. Houston is a personal productivity coach who works with academics, writers, and entrepreneurs who want to stop procrastinating, gain more control over their time, and move forward on the projects and goals that matter most to them. To find out more, visit: http://nmhouston.com

Coaching Call To Action

What is your habit on email checking today? Minute by minute? Hourly? Twice a day? Does this strategy increase your focus and attention or decrease it? Will you try a different strategy next week per Natalie’s suggestion to improve your focus? Who do you need to share your new strategy with to keep to your commitment to yourself?

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Some Light Weeding

linda — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:00:34 +0000

Coach Andrea’s Intro

It is springtime here in New England! Trees are blooming, plants are growing and weeds are starting to appear. This week’s Tip by Simon Tyler reminds us to take some time for light weeding – remove the negative clutter and provide a fertile ground for the growth of what’s truly important in your business and life.

Quote of the Week

“It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared.”

~ Whitney Young Jr.

Some Light Weeding

By Simon Tyler

I have a great garden, yet would not describe myself in anyway as a gardener, or especially motivated to get to work on a flower bed. However walking around the garden in the sun this week allowed the weeding metaphor to hit me.

Weeds, although not dominant yet, are many and thriving. Within a few weeks they will dominate the beds and prevent the desired plants from flourishing. It doesn’t seem urgent right now to attend to the weeds, but once done the space for growth expands, and even creates the opportunity to add new plants.

You get the metaphor, yes? Our minds, desks, plans, shelves, diaries collect weeds. They seem unimportant and inoffensive until we hit the point where concentration suffers, focus is hindered, we get tired, lose sight of our goal, and the dream gets lost.

It is springtime, time to weed out the unwanted, create some space, allow the good stuff to grow, and the new ideas and initiatives to be planted.

My challenge to you…

Schedule 30 minutes this week to:

Weed your desk, your diary, your involvement in peripheral projects
Become mindful of and reduce watching, reading or listening to negative news, negative people
Fill any obvious gaps with meeting positive and inspiring people

Keep it simple and let me know how you get on.

Simon Tyler is one of the world’s leading business coaches. His work simplifies the lives of business leaders and owners. He is an incisive consultant, inspirational writer, provocative public speaker and master facilitator. To learn more about Simon, visit http://simontyler.com.

Coaching Call To Action

I love when nature reminds us of what we need to do in our business. This week, in addition to Simon’s recommended activity, consider what else nature is reminding you to consider in your work life. For example: Be in the sun – spend time with those people and clients who “warm” you up.

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Eight Reasons Why You Need a Business Coach

linda — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:00:03 +0000

Coach Andrea’s Intro

Why is it that so many people think they have to “do it alone”? This week’s Tip shares the pluses of not doing it alone and hiring a business coach.

Quote of the Week

“You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world’s happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or is discouraged. Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime.”

~ Dale Carnegie

Eight Reasons Why You Need a Business Coach

By Andrea Novakowski

When I started my coaching business, one of the first things I did was get a coach of my own. I purposely chose someone who had built a successful coaching business herself. After all, why reinvent the wheel? I wanted to benefit from the expertise and support of someone who had already done what I was trying to do.

Later on, after my business was established, I was ready to develop another part of myself. So I found a coach who could help me grow my spiritual side.

My current coach is helping me change some behaviors that are no longer working for me. I’m learning to be less analytical and structured in situations that don’t require it, and having more fun in the process. I picked each of these three coaches based on what I needed at a certain point in my business and in my personal life.

It’s lonely out there, but a good business coach can make it feel less lonely. Have you been feeling burnt out or stuck? Tired of trying to solve every problem yourself? Here are eight things a coach can do:

Provide an outside perspective. If your work situation is muddied with internal politics and history, your coach can give you guidance based on what happens in the real world. At the same time, she can use her experience to help you navigate tricky political waters.
Save your marriage. You know how when your spouse tells you something, it may not sound like a good idea, but coming from a professional it suddenly makes sense? Run your thoughts and ideas by your business coach – and take your spouse off the hook.
Give you a safe place to let your hair down. Go ahead, tell your coach the real story: she has no ulterior motives, nor any agenda except your agenda. Her feedback comes without strings attached. She has no stake, emotional or otherwise, in what you do with her suggestions.
Offer you her undivided attention. Your coaching session is a regular segment of time when you focus only on what is most important to you. It’s all about you and your success. Let’s be honest: where else in life can you find that?
Be your creativity partner. Often, when we’re faced with a problem, we get caught in the trap of circular thinking. Recycling the same ideas over and over. A good coach will bring a fresh set of insights. She’ll ask what you want to do with your ideas, and she’ll give you the motivation to move out of your head and into action.
Encourage you to dig deeper. It’s easy to get lost in the minutiae of a situation. A coach will help you get to the root of an issue by asking you what you’re not addressing – and what you’re going to do about it. She’ll keep you focused on the big picture.
Break a problem down into manageable action steps. As we all know, goal achievement never occurs in a straight line. If you’ve wandered off course, your coach will remind you of your desired goal and help you do a course correction.
Help you troubleshoot obstacles and challenges before they arise. Your coach has walked this road before, so she can point out possible stumbling blocks you might encounter.

Looking for a business coach? Seek out someone, as I did, who has expertise in what you want to accomplish. Then schedule a preliminary interview to make sure you’re comfortable working together. You’ll know when the chemistry is right between the two of you!

Coaching Call To Action

Is it time for you to stop doing it all alone? List the top 3 ways you would benefit from hiring a coach. What is that support worth to you? If you’d like to explore this further, call me at 508-231-0766 or email me at andrea@coachandrea.com.

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Spring Cleaning for Leaders!

linda — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:00:10 +0000

Coach Andrea’s Intro

Spring is a great time for us as leaders to look at ourselves and see what we can do to improve ourselves. Chris Widener’s article will encourage you to do just that!

Quote of the Week

“Walk through life eager and open to self-improvement and that which is going to best help you evolve, because that’s really why we are here: to evolve as human beings.”

~ Oprah Winfrey

Spring Cleaning for Leaders!

By Chris Widener

Many of us are up to our eyeballs in spring cleaning around the house and yard, but how many of us give ourselves a personal and professional “spring cleaning?” Here are some ideas for us to clean out the old stuff so we can put in the new stuff for spring and achieve the kind of excellence we are looking for in our lives.

Kick the habits. Okay, just how much do our habits affect us? Too much. It goes way beyond our own sense of personal guilt, though that should be enough reason to kick our bad habits. Instead, our habits are usually out there enough that our family and co-workers, including our boss, are acutely aware of them – and driven nuts by them. This in turn affects your ability to get ahead and achieve your dreams. Do yourself a favor, and do what it takes to kick your bad habits!
Reconcile relationships. Take a look at three relationships that aren’t what they should be or aren’t what they used to be. Remember, relationships are the most important and precious of the gifts we have here on earth, so make an effort to get them in line. I have found in most cases, a simple phone call or lunch where I express the thought that I would like to improve the relationship, be it personal or professional, goes a long way.
Get your finances in order. It is one thing to grumble, worry and complain. It is another to do something about it. Take some time this week to get a financial plan in order. In fact, pull out your calendar and schedule that time before you move to number 4. Be specific, and give yourself some goals and deadlines.
Get in shape. Winter is over and the sun is starting to shine. Now your last excuse is GONE! If nothing else, walk a few times a week. I read recently that if the average person were to walk 2 miles 3 times a week for a year, they would lose 14 pounds without even changing their diet. Remember that this is the only body you get – take care of it, for yourself and your family.
Learn something. One of the key characteristics of successful people is that they are learners. Why not take this fresh start we call spring and make a commitment to learn something new? Take a class, pick up a book, or, if you are really pressed for time, enroll in what Zig Zigler calls “Automobile University.” That is, buy some personal or professional audio tapes and learn while you drive. And if you don’t want to spend the money, I have found that the library has hundreds of these tapes.
Reconnect with your spiritual side. I love spring because it symbolizes new life. I also love pursuing spiritual things because they breathe new life into me. We are spiritual people and to not strengthen that aspect of our lives is to operate like a three legged stool – we’ll always be tipping over!
Pursue recreation. All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy – and Suzie a dull girl. Remember that recreation is to “re-create.” Because all of the work and stress of daily life works to break us down, we need to put a little fun back into the day so we are strengthened the next time we get back into the ring. Take some time off, do something fun, exciting, and exhilarating! Get rid of the stress and prepare yourself for the next hurdle.

Chris Widener is the President of Chris Widener International. www.ChrisWidener.com Chris can be reached at Chris@MadeForSuccess.com

Coaching Call To Action

This week’s Tip includes many ideas for the different parts of your life. Choose one area that you want to focus on this spring so that come summer you can say, “I did it! I made this change and this is the impact it has had.”

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Ways to Prevent a Conflict from Escalating

linda — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:00:21 +0000

Coach Andrea’s Intro

Is there value in promoting conflict? Encouraging differing opinions, yes. Conflict, no. If you are noticing conflict is becoming more prevalent in your company, consider David Cottrell’s tips on how to minimize the potential conflagration of conflict.

Quote of the Week

“Conflict is going to happen whether you want it or not. People will be butt heads. Sometimes when you least expect it.”

~ Jimmy Bise Jr.

Ways to Prevent a Conflict from Escalating

By David Cottrell

Get all the facts and clearly identify the problem.
Encourage people to challenge the status quo often so that alternatives are continually being evaluated.
When others explain their intention and viewpoints, summarize and paraphrase to confirm understanding.
Look for common ground in any difficult situation.
When possible, resolve one issue at a time.
Deal with the molehills before they become mountains!
Only send and respond to e-mails that are informational in nature. If there is any hint of disagreement, meet in person or pick up the phone.
Watch and listen for inconsistencies between people’s words and their nonverbal behaviors and encourage them to voice their concerns (Cottrell, p. 80).

From: Cottrell, D. (2009). Monday morning motivation: five steps to energize your team, customers, and profits. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

Reprinted with permission from the OSU Leadership Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, (614) 292-3114, http://leadershipcenter.osu.edu/

Coaching Call To Action

Are you a conflict inciter or smoother? What is the value of your position to yourself and those around you? What would add even more value? Who in your company will you share your thoughts with this week?

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Beyond Adrenaline

linda — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:00:06 +0000

Coach Andrea’s Intro

Adrenaline is robbing us of our health. If you run on adrenaline, please consider other ways to get energized. In this week’s Tip, Steve Straus provides healthy alternatives to adrenaline.

Quote of the Week

“This art of resting the mind and the power of dismissing from it all care and worry is probably one of the secrets of energy in our great men.”

~ Captain J. A. Hadfield

Beyond Adrenaline

By Steve Straus

Adrenaline has its benefits. And its costs.

Great outcomes have been accomplished using the adrenaline tool. It is one of the most popular drugs-of-choice for driven achievers. A source of ready energy, it provides focus, is cheap to acquire, and easy to use. Also, you don’t need to do deals in dark back alleys, you’re your own drug dealer!

Need some? Leave late for an important meeting.

Need more? Under-prepare for that meeting.

A little more? Fear not getting what you want.

Your ability to create the adrenaline you need, when you need it, is huge. But at what cost?

Like any stimulant, the use of adrenaline requires a balancing of the scales. Your physical system experiences a crash and needs recovery time.

The focusing which adrenaline can provide may act as blinders and cause you to miss available resources. And someone hyped-up on adrenaline attracts similar people. Adrenaline is expensive.

Rather than suggest that you simply give up adrenaline, how about replacing it with healthier forms of energy? Such as passion. Such as clarity of purpose. Look for the joy in situations rather than possible negative consequences.

An often overlooked resource is to pause and revel in your intermediate wins. Adrenaline junkies tend to focus only on the big payoff at the end, but there is plenty of healthy energy available from the incremental victories along the way.

Coaching Call To Action

Who can help you remove the adrenaline needle and move beyond it, permanently?

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How to Have a Successful Business Partnership

linda — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 14:00:34 +0000

Coach Andrea’s Intro

If you are thinking of starting a business partnership with another individual, this week’s Tip is for you. In addition to analyzing the viability of the business idea, it’s key that you address how the two of you will work together.

Quote of the Week

“Successful people in this world are those who get up and look for circumstances they want. If they can’t find them, they make them.”

~ George Bernard Shaw

How to Have a Successful Business Partnership

By Andrea Novakowski

You and your friend have a great idea for a business. Your business plan is already half done. You can’t wait to get started: what could be better than working with a friend every day?

To launch a successful business with another person, you need more than a business plan. You have to plan your approach to working together, too.

Here are some questions to ask yourselves before you rush headlong into business with your friend – or with anyone else, for that matter!

Why is a partnership right for this business? Are you getting into business together for the right reasons or the wrong ones? A right reason might be that you’re compatible and have the same vision for the business. A wrong reason might be your fear that you can’t do it alone.
Do you share the same goals, objectives and values? Make sure the two of you are in complete alignment. Be open and clear and have lots of honest discussions. This is your chance to find out how well you two communicate.
What has your past experience with partners been like? Think about the kinds of people you work best with. Everyone has a different style. Some people are workaholics and others are more laid back. Some people love a good fight, while others appreciate calm and peacefulness. Are you and the other person a good fit? If not, don’t force it.
What are the strengths and positive qualities each of you bring to the partnership?
Who will assume which roles and responsibilities? Who will do sales, manage employees, handle the accounting? Is this a fair division of labor? It may help to list each person’s preferred tasks (independent of each other). Identify where there will be sole control and where there is overlap. Ask yourselves what’s missing and still needed to run the organization.
When and how will you communicate with each other? Will you meet daily? Weekly? How will decisions be made if you disagree?
How will you share start-up costs, expenses, profit? How much income do each of you need?
What are your short-term goals? What do you each think the company will look like in three years when it’s humming along?
What are your long-term goals? Envision the conclusion and timing of the end of your business. Are you looking to make it a lifestyle business with a finite income goal, or do you want to be the next Facebook? What is your exit strategy?
Are both of you 100% committed to the partnership?

Even if you have known a person for years, a business partnership is very different than a friendship. Try collaborating on a few projects to get a feel for how you work together. A great book I often recommend to my clients is Partnership: Small Business Start-Up Kit by Daniel Sitarz. This book provides a pre-partnership worksheet, a partnership agreement, and other forms you’ll need to start a business together.

Coaching Call To Action

Thinking about a partnership? Do you really know the other person? What will you do this week to increase your knowledge of the other person and move closer to making the right decision for you?

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Avoid Rejection By Changing Your Reaction

linda — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:00:36 +0000

Coach Andrea’s Intro

The topic of “managing my reaction” to events comes up with many of my coaching clients. I liked Alan Zimmerman’s article this week because he provides a formula for determining what your reaction will be. You can make a difference!

Quote of the Week

“One must fight for a life of action, not reaction.”

~ Rita Mae Brown

Avoid Rejection By Changing Your Reaction

By Dr. Alan Zimmerman

Roger Miller said, “Some people walk in the rain. Others just get wet.” He’s so right.

Have you ever noticed that two people can experience the same thing on a sales call, like getting a simple “no,” but react in totally different ways? I sure have. And that reaction makes all the difference in the world.

Getting “no’s” and resistance on calls is inevitable, IF you are actually placing calls. The “rejection” part is totally optional.

In my seminars, I teach a simple formula. It says E + R = O or Event plus Reaction equals Outcome. You can’t change, prevent, or delete many of the “Events” that happen on calls, or in life, but you do have control over your “Reaction.”

And that’s critical. Your reaction will give you the “Outcome” of celebration or desperation.

So what determines your “Reaction?”

There are three elements. The first element is BELIEF. If you have the right beliefs, and if you believe in the right things, you’ll be on the road to a life of celebration.

Unfortunately, some people just don’t get it. They believe in the wrong things. Just look at people’s bumper strips, and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Last week I saw a well dressed person driving an expensive car with a bumper strip that read, “Life is a bitch, then you die.” How sad!

Contrast that to a person who uses the power of BELIEF. Even though that person might have a challenging life, he or she continues to experience joy and peace of mind.

Perhaps the best example I ever came across was a saying scratched on the wall of a basement in Germany. It was found after World War II, placed there by some unknown Jew who was hiding from the Nazis. He wrote:

“I believe in the sun even when it is not shining. I believe in love even when I do not feel it. I believe in God even when He is silent.”

He or she was living a life of celebration when most people would have thought it impossible to do so. It was a matter of BELIEF.

The second element is FOCUS. What do you choose to focus on? There’s always some good in a bad situation, and there’s always some bad in a good situation. After all, we’re living on earth, not in heaven.

An old ditty says it this way:

“As you go through life, brother, Whatever be your goal, Keep your eye upon the doughnut, And not upon the hole!”

I’m sure you know some sales reps who focus on the hole, and I’m sure those are the same people who live a life of desperation.

It’s like one person I knew who was sent to a seminar by her company. The trip was paid by the employer; the hotel was very nice, and the training was excellent. But this person’s only comment about the entire experience was the fact that the chairs in the training room were uncomfortable. I’m sure they were. But her focus on the uncomfortable chairs kept her from celebrating the rest of the trip.

By contrast, Dr. Marion Stottlemire at the Kansas University Public Management Center says,

“One of the greatest causes of stress in the modern world is unhappiness with our work or our work situation. You CANNOT AFFORD TO BE UNHAPPY ON THE JOB. It is killing you.”

To make his point, Dr. Stottlemire related the following story. He recently met a friend that he hadn’t seen for a long time. Of course, he asked him how he was, and his friend said he was happy and healthy.

As they talked, Dr. Stottlemire learned that his friend had been passed over for a promotion. In fact a subordinate had gotten the job. So he asked his friend how he was dealing with it. He replied, “Well for a while I was quite bitter. Then I realized that I was making myself miserable. I decided that I had always liked this job, and I was just going to keep doing it and make the most of it.” The friend had decided to focus on the doughnut and not the hole.

So the second element that determines your life of celebration or desperation is your FOCUS. Or as one person said, it’s better to grow through your experiences than simply go through them. There’s a lesson in every experience, and if you focus on that, you’ll be in much better shape.

The third determining element is VISION. Whereas as focus deals with what you see in the present, vision deals with what you see in the future. Those who live lives of desperation only see doom and gloom in the future.

While England or Great Britain was arguably one of the best countries in the world and was running the largest empire in the world, there were many prophets of doom. In 1801, Wilberforce said he dared not have any children because the future was too unsettled.

In 1806, William Penn said,
“There is scarcely anything around us but ruin and despair.”

In 1848,
Lord Shaftsbury said, “Nothing can save the British Empire from ship wreck.”

In 1849, Benjamin Disraeli said,
“In industry, commerce, and agriculture there is no hope.”

In 1852, the Duke of Wellington said,
“I thank God that I shall be spared from seeing the consummation of ruin that is settling in around us.”

They did not have a positive or promising vision.

You need a positive VISION of the future if you’re going to live a life of celebration. Tom Layton makes that clear. At 101 years of age, he has won several medals at the Senior Olympics, and he’s a man of great joy. When asked for his secret, he said, “I don’t look at my life as behind me.”

Now that might sound like an odd thing for a person to say who is 101 years old. But Tom has a very different definition of “old.” He says, “Old is when your memories exceed your dreams.”

It’s obvious that Tom still has a lot of dreams. He has a VISION for the future. What about you?

As published in Art Sobczak’s Smart Calling newsletter and from Dr. Alan Zimmerman’s Internet newsletter, the ‘Tuesday Tip.’ For your own personal, free subscription to the ‘Tuesday Tip,’ go to http://www.DrZimmerman.com

Coaching Call To Action

BELIEF, FOCUS, and VISION will give you a life of celebration instead of desperation. I challenge you to work on your FOCUS.

To be specific, select 10 specific events that occur in your life over the next week. For every one of those events, look for the good in each of those events. It may take a little work to find those positive elements, but the more you practice these FOCUS skills, the better you’ll feel and the better you’ll do.

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Spring Fever

linda — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 14:00:15 +0000

Coach Andrea’s Intro

While it’s been a mild winter for us New Englanders, spring fever can still hit when the sun is strong and temperatures start to rise. Here in Massachusetts, the thermometers registered 70 on Monday. This week’s Tip by Don Wetmore, Time Management Guru, advises what to do when you are bitten by spring fever. Remember, his work is about being more productive!

Quote of the Week

“A little Madness in the Spring is wholesome even for the King.”

~ Emily Dickinson

Spring Fever

By Dr. Donald E. Wetmore

You develop your jam packed “to do” list the night before. You awake to the new day ready to conquer the world. But the sun is shining after a long winter. It warms your soul. The birds are singing and the fresh scent of new flowers breaking ground is all around you.

Ouch! You just got bitten by the spring fever bug and all the ambition of your plans from the night before go out the window as you proceed to fill your day with unimportant stuff like shuffling piles of paper and dusting your desk again and again. Sound familiar? It should because it happens to all of us from time to time.

When you get bitten by the spring fever bug, one of two things will happen.

First, you may give in to it, blow off the day and then feel guilty about it. Or second, you will give in to it, blow off the day and feel good about it. Either way, you’re going to give in to it.

What to do, then? Give into it, blow off the day and feel good about it.

The spring fever bug bites you for a reason. You are not some robot or machine. You need an occasional break from the stresses of high performance. Give in to it. Blow off the day.

Now, if you have made commitments to others about getting something done today then you have to honor that obligation and let the spring fever bug come back another day. But most of the things you have to do can probably be pushed off to another day. Give into it. Blow off the day.

Think about this. Will your overall productive output for the year be greatly diminished because you took a goof off day in March? One day lost out of 365? Probably not.

When you get the bite, give in to it. Use the day to recharge your batteries while taking time out to literally smell the flowers around you.

But what if every day you get bitten by the spring fever bug? Then you’ve got a problem. But every now and again? Take advantage of it. Your overall productivity will be enhanced in the long run.

Coaching Call To Action

See you at the park!

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