Time Management in the Winter Season

Do you have a to-do list? Keeping a list is a common way for people to track tasks, but in Adam Grant’s TED TALK, How to Stop Languishing and Start to Find Flow, he suggests having a “to-don’t list.” A to-don’t list can include items like; don’t scroll through social media, don’t check the phone in bed, don’t turn on the TV unless there is already a plan to watch. He explains that these rules help him stay productive and manage his time more effectively. It is something to consider as we continue in this busy part of the year where many people are shuffling commitments and chores, at work and home, trying to find time to get it all done.

Maybe the idea of a to-don’t list is not appealing to you. Still, the more significant point Grant made is essential to anyone seeking to increase their productivity— be intentional with your time. One of the most critical elements of good time management is prioritizing your tasks and your work. There are various effective techniques for evaluating a to-do list and splitting it into categories based on priority.  

One strategy to implement quickly in times of high stress is the 4 Ds of Time Management. It is simple to start; when you have a task to complete, you give yourself four options to deal with it.

1.     Do- Get it Done Right Away!

2.     Defer- Delay Until Later.

3.     Delegate- Can Anyone Complete the Task? Is it Your Responsibility?

4.     Delete- Drop it.

To start with the 4 Ds technique, examine your to-do list at the beginning of the day and assess your tasks. Then decide what can be done quickly right now, either by you or someone else, and which items to drop altogether or save for later. For example, look at this chart below from the glossary at www.productplan.com where they organize potential to-do list items by the 4 Ds.

Applying the 4 Ds method should make planning easier. Decide, process your first task, and move to the next one, then repeat. When we prioritize and process tasks in this way, it provides efficiency. We can spend more time focusing rather than wasting effort on insignificant things or scrambling for everything at the end of the day.

Whatever time management technique or strategy works for you, it is something to commit to daily and to revisit throughout the day. Because our responsibilities and demands limit our time, we must use care to decide how we spend the days. When we are intentional in our time management, it allows us to protect and plan for what matters most to us this season, like family, rest, and self-care.

At Bauman Consulting Group, we provide both individual and group coaching to help people achieve their personal and professional goals. Find out more at www.baumanconsultinggroup.com. Or contact us via email at info@baumanconsultinggroup.com.

What is a Coach (and Why Would I Want One?)

 While many people have heard of coaching, few have a clear understanding of exactly what a coach is and does. This prevents people from getting appropriate support for life changes. As a coach the most common thing I hear from people is, “I’m not really sure what a coach does or how they could help me.” 

What is coaching?

Coaching is not the same as consulting nor the same as therapy, but it takes elements from each discipline to create its own unique method. A coach works with individuals who are focused on making changes in their lives. While a therapist may seek to diagnose and treat a client, coaches work under the assumption that their clients are whole, healthy individuals. Coaches ask thought-provoking questions that challenge clients. They create collaborative and individualized strategies, set goals, and keep the client focused on the future.

What happens when someone hires a coach?

While each coach has a unique style and approach, most expect clients to commit to working with them for a set period. This can vary from anywhere between 4-18 months – depending on the changes that the client intends to make. Some coaches meet with clients in person, but many hold coaching sessions over Zoom or the phone. During those sessions the coach will ask probing questions, serve as a sounding board, offer an outside perspective, help maintain motivation, provide strategies, set goals, and ensure accountability. 

What can a coach help with?

Coaches help individuals move forward. They guide business owners as they strategize for growth. They partner with professionals seeking to develop their career path, manage a workplace environment, launch a new business, or find work-life balance. They help students discover career aspirations and plan educational paths. Coaches offer support to individuals seeking to improve relationships, focus on their health and well-being, change their mindset, or alter habits. Essentially, coaches help people create change – even if they don’t quite know what that change is yet.

Is coaching right for me?

Not everyone is a great fit for coaching. Coaches typically like to partner with individuals who have a desire to learn and grow. Ideal clients make a commitment to changing and arrive with some level of motivation to make that change. Since it’s a collaborative process, it’s also important that the coach and the client have good chemistry and feel like the partnership is a good fit. 

At Bauman Consulting Group, we provide both individual and group coaching to help people achieve their personal and professional goals. Find out more at www.baumanconsultinggroup.com.

Eliminating Overwhelm with the Daily Three

Overwhelm is a constant for many of our clients. There are so many tasks that need to be accomplished – at work and away from work. Many of our clients report the sense of running on a treadmill. They’re running at top speed, but they never get anywhere. Overwhelm is common and normal, but it doesn’t have to continue. In the next several posts, we’re going to share some of the top tips for managing overwhelm in your life (whether it’s at work or outside of work). The first tip we’re going to share is how to eliminate overwhelm with the Daily Three.

The first step in tackling overwhelm is to prioritize your demands. That sounds relatively simple, but many of our clients will say, “It’s all important!” Maybe that’s true. But it’s likely not all important today. Let’s walk through how to prioritize your tasks.

First, get out a piece of paper, a pen, and a timer. Set the timer for 10-15 minutes (no less than 10, no more than 15). You choose your number. Then, during that time, you’re going to do a brain dump. Write down everything you have to do – all those things that are giving you a sense of overwhelm. No editing. No categorizing. Just dump it all out of your brain. Keep writing until the timer goes off.

Now, take a critical look at this list. Often, what we find is that individuals who are motivated, visionary types, will often take on other’s problems. These are things that you truly have no control over. So, go through your list from your journaling activity. Cross off anything that you truly can’t control. We can only control things that are internal to us. In other words, I can control my thoughts, feelings, and actions. But outside of that – I can’t control anything else! So, if these items are outside of your control, mark them off your list.

Next, consider if you have the ability to delegate any of these tasks to others. It’s ok to ask for help! If there is someone who can do something on your list for you - ask them to do it! And then mark it off your list. If there is anything else on the list that you can mark off (perhaps you don’t really need to do it or it’s just not that important), cross it off now.

Now your list is paired down to the items that you can control and that you want to accomplish. This is your overall list. Looking at that list may still be overwhelming. That’s ok. We’re not done!

Each day, you will select three items that take top priority for that day. Only three. Your Daily Three. These are three non-negotiables in your day. You must accomplish these three. Why only three? Because the reality is that things will come up during your day – phone calls, emails, sick kids, traffic, headaches, etc. Three is manageable. Three is memorable. And three is often not overwhelming.

After you’ve selected these three, order them based on priority. We recommend that you list the item you dread the most as your first item – this way you tackle it first, when you have the most amount of willpower in your day. Pick the easier task – or the one you enjoy the most – for the last item. Once you’ve ordered these three items, write these on a white board in your office, on a post-it note on your fridge, or in a note on your phone. We like to use the “Stickies” app on our computer to post our Daily Three to our desktop. Whatever method you choose is up to you. Just make sure that you can see these three items.

Now, get to work on those three items for today! And tomorrow, you’ll tackle another three items from your list. Each day you’ll be focusing on and prioritizing only three items – your Daily Three. 

It’s recommended that you engage in this brain dump to Daily Three practice at the start of each week (either Sunday evening or Monday morning – before you get started on your work!). You may find that doing this on Sunday evening even helps you sleep a little better that night. Give the Daily Three a try and come back to future blog posts to see some more tips on how to manage overwhelm in our lives.

Start Your Year Off Right - Plan the Strategies (Part 6)

In our last post we discussed how to develop SMART goals - goals which are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Based. Now we have to break those goals down into actionable steps. We call these strategies. 

A strategy is just like a goal in that the strategy must meet the SMART criteria, but there are a couple of clear differences. First, a goal is a big picture idea. Something that may take a lot of work to accomplish. A strategy on the other hand is a small step towards accomplishing that goal.  These are the baby steps that we take. The things that we do each day or each week to chip away at that big goal. These are the items on our "To Do" list. Second, a goal is something that you want to accomplish. It's the what. But a strategy tells you what's involved in accomplishing that goal. It's the how. 

Let's return to the example we used in the post about goals: "I will pay off my credit card debt so that the total of my credit card balance at the end of year does not equal more than $7,500." That's a pretty commendable goal. As you can see, paying down the credit card is a big goal - something that we'd like to accomplish over the course of the year. It tells us what we want to do. But it doesn't tell us anything about how that credit card debt will be paid off. Time for the strategies to come into play.

I like to begin strategy development by simply brainstorming. You can do this in a variety of ways such as:

• Make a list

• Write ideas on post-it notes and cover your wall

• Write ideas on index cards and put them in a large stack

• Draw a mind map

• Locate ways others have accomplished this goal

• Solicit ideas from friends, family, or advisors

Don't limit yourself as you brainstorm. Any idea you have or come across - write it down. Even if you think it's a bad idea. Why would you write down a bad idea? Because it may be the idea that inspires the right idea. Keep generating strategies until you can't come up with anymore options.

Now it's time to prioritize the strategies. Sort through them all. You may want to rank order them, sort them into categories, or evaluate their practicality. Create a discard pile. These are the strategies that you've decided aren't right for you. Before discarding a strategy, first evaluate to decide if you could alter the strategy to make it a better fit. If not, send it packing.

Once you've narrowed down the strategies, it's time to ask yourself the key question. If I implement these strategies, will I accomplish my goal? If the answer is yes, it's time to add these strategies to your plan. Repeat this process for each goal that you've set for yourself. 

Before you hit "print" on your document, take a moment to review the entire plan carefully. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Does my plan help me to fulfill my mission statement?

2. Are my values reflected in this plan?

3. Did I utilize the assessment results (if I have them) in my plan?

4. Are my priorities reflected here?

5. Will my goals help me accomplish my priorities and my mission?

6. Do the strategies I identified lead me to accomplish my goals?

7. How do I feel when I read this plan? Am I energized? Excited? Overwhelmed? Sad?

Always keep in mind that this plan is a living document. You can make modifications! Maybe you get laid off, find out you are having a baby, or you get a promotion! Life isn't a streamlined document. It twists and turns and has ups and downs. You can adapt the plan to fit you and your life along the way.

Periodically you'll want to evaluate your progress. I like to sit down with my plan quarterly and take stock through a focusing session with myself. That's the time where I determine if I've made as much progress as I'd like to, if I need to change any strategies, or if I need to speed up or slow down the pace. I find that it helps me to refocus and recommit to my goals over the next three months. It also helps keep me engaged so I don't pick up my plan in September and try to knock out the whole thing in a couple of months! It can be very helpful to have a coach help you through those sessions. A coach can be your accountability partner - someone to keep you on track and follow up on all the things you wanted to accomplish. A coach can problem solve with you, encourage you, and motivate you to stay on track. 

Congratulations! Your plan is complete. Now it's time to get out there and put it in action. Best of luck as you have the most productive "resolution" ever. 

This post is the sixth and last in a series of posts about personal strategic plans.

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Ashley Bauman, M.S., M.B.A., B.C.C. is the president of Bauman Consulting Group in Loveland, Ohio. She provides training, consulting, and coaching to criminal justice and social service professionals.

Start Your Year Off Right - Setting Goals (Part 5)

You've done so much work setting the foundation for your personal strategic plan! While it may seem like you've done quite a bit of work, it's all about to pay off. Now is the time to get to the heart of the work.

Take a look at the priorities that you've set. In each area that you've prioritized, you want to create at least one goal for the year. What is it that you want to be able to accomplish in this area? 

You've probably heard of the concept of SMART goals at some point in your life. It's used in so many different fields that it's hard not to have heard this acronym used somewhere. But if you haven't heard of it, don't worry - I'll give you a quick primer!

As you can see in the graphic above, SMART goals refer to those which are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based. As you look through the priorities that you've identified, you'll want to create a goal (or goals) that is specific - you'll know what you meant when you look at this goal in 6 months. It's so clear that there is no question what you are supposed to do. And it will be very apparent whether you've accomplished this goal or not because the terms are so well defined. Perhaps one of your focus areas is around improving your personal finances. That's pretty vague. So as you think about setting a goal, you'll want to get specific. Perhaps your goal could be, "I will get out of debt." What kind of debt are you talking about? All debt? Student loan debt? Paying off your mortgage? After thinking it through, you've decided that you really just want to have your credit card debt paid off, so you revise your goal to say, "I will pay off all my credit card debt."

You'll also want the goal to be measurable. In other words, how will you know that you've accomplished your goal? Returning to our example of credit card debt, you may decide to change the goal to say, "I will pay off my credit card debt so that all of my credit cards have a zero balance." That gives you a very clear finishing point. When your credit card statements all read "0" you've accomplished your goal.

Goals must also be attainable. You don't want to set yourself up for failure. Is it feasible for you to pay off all your credit card debt this year? After evaluating this a bit, you might decide that it's something that will take more than a year to accomplish. Perhaps you'll decide to make your goal something less ambitious - but still something to strive for: I will pay off my credit card debt so that the total of my credit card balances does not equal more than $7,500. 

Surprisingly one of the common things that we see with strategic planning are goals that aren't relevant. How could this be possible, you ask? Often it's the result of not connecting goals to overall priorities - not doing the early work that we did first. Sometimes people will list a goal that is easy to accomplish. Or they will list a goal that sounds good, rather than what they really should be prioritizing. If financial status is a problem for you, then paying off credit card debt may be a perfect way to help with that problem. It's an incredibly relevant goal! However, if you're goal to address your financial status was about reducing stress at the office, that may not be the most relevant goal. Accomplishing that goal won't help your financial status.

The final piece of the puzzle is to make sure that your goals are time-based. Simply put, you need a deadline. Otherwise, you could be working on that goal for a long-time to come. By using an annual personal strategic plan, you've already essentially committed to accomplishing this goal in a year. But you may want this goal to be something you'll accomplish in 6 months. Or maybe this goal will take a year, but your next goal (to address something like the amount of time you spend with friends and family) is something you could accomplish much sooner. The key is to have a time stamp on it. This way you won't put things off too long and you'll have some motivation to work towards that goal. To bring our example full circle, let's see where our goal ended up: "I will pay off my credit card debt so that the total of my credit card balance at the end of year does not equal more than $7,500."

That's a solid goal. It meets all of the SMART criteria and sets you on a path towards success. Keep in mind that you may have multiple goals toward improving your financial status. Or you may decide that is sufficient for this year, and you'd rather focus on other areas more intensively. 

Return now to the priorities that you've established. Determine what you want to do to focus on each of these areas. Write out a goal or two for each area, keeping in mind the SMART criteria. Once you've written out the goals, take a look at them as a whole. Can you accomplish ALL of these goals? Or should you pare the list down a bit? Write out a list of goals that you feel comfortable with. You may wish to challenge yourself a bit, but don't overwhelm yourself with so many goals that you can't possibly keep up. 

Next time we'll explore how you can put those goals into action!

This post is the fifth in a series of posts about personal strategic plans.

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Ashley Bauman, M.S., M.B.A., B.C.C. is the president of Bauman Consulting Group in Loveland, Ohio. She provides training, consulting, and coaching to criminal justice and social service professionals.

Start Your Year Off Right - Setting Priorities (Part 4)

Now is the time in the personal strategic planning process to take all the individual pieces and begin to put them together. Schedule some time to review your mission statement, your values, and your assessment results. Evaluate those items. What are your strengths? Where can you grow and improve? What would you like to change? What would you like to accomplish? What areas of your life need the most attention (i.e., finances, friends/family, intimate relationships, career, health, social/fun, personal development, home/work environment)? Be sure not to limit yourself as you answer these questions. Write your thoughts down in your notebook. Spend as much time as you need to flesh out each of these areas. We'll pare these ideas down soon enough, but you want to start by tapping into your ambition and creativity. There's no bad idea here.

Take your time and don't rush yourself. You may want to pick this task up multiple times over the course of a week. Try looking at it in the morning. Again in another afternoon. Try again in the evening and before you go to sleep. Give yourself as many opportunities to change your perspective and mood as possible. Give yourself the freedom to dream and stretch outside of your comfort zone. Work on it until you have exhausted yourself. 

Now, go back through your notebook. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Which ideas are in line with my mission statement? (Highlight those ideas in your notebook!)

• Which of these are in conflict with the key values I identified? (Cross these ideas out!)

• Which of these utilize strengths that I have? (Underline these ideas!)

• Which ideas do you feel excited about pursuing? (Star those ideas!)

You may find that there are certain ideas that generate energy in you. For instance, you might be interested in obtaining additional schooling or training. Just thinking about learning something new may ignite something in you. You find yourself imagining the fun you'll have expanding your knowledge base. You might be catching yourself browsing programs online or exploring ways you'll be able to incorporate this new skill in your work. This is your energy building. It's an energizer.

Other ideas may have the opposite effect. For instance, you may recognize that you've outgrown your existing office space. You need to move, but the idea of moving just overwhelms you. The thought of finding another place, packing everything up, changing your address with all of your clients, etc. makes you want to run away - or at least push it to the back of the list. This idea is an energy drainer.

Evaluate your ideas in terms of how they impact your energy. This doesn't mean that you can't add an item to your plan that is an energy drainer - it just means that you'll have to figure out how to make that a task you will actually accomplish. For some clients, that means they will put that item at the top of their priority list. For others, it means they will need to build a good reward in it for them or find a way to reframe the idea so it is more appealing.

Now that you've studied your ideas through all of these different lenses, it's time to pick your priorities. What do you want to accomplish this year? Make a list. Ensure that whatever you put on your list is able to be accomplished within this year. If it's on your list, it should fit with your values and your mission statement. Pick things that are important to you. Things you are motivated to accomplish. Things that will give you joy. When you've finished this list, review your list as a whole. Could you accomplish all of this in a year? If not, pare it down a bit. You may need to only tackle parts of a task. Or you may want to wait and put something on your list for the following year. Try to be as specific and detailed as you can be in your list. Make it very clear what you want to accomplish. We'll be using this list to write your strategic plan. 

You're only two steps away! And the great news is that the hard work is already done. Now you just have to organize the information and get to work on it. Reward yourself for being more than halfway through the personal strategic planning process. The investment you are putting into yourself is priceless.

This post is the fourth in a series of posts about personal strategic plans.

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Ashley Bauman, M.S., M.B.A., B.C.C. is the president of Bauman Consulting Group in Loveland, Ohio. She provides training, consulting, and coaching to criminal justice and social service professionals.