BrightSkills

Are you a trainer or facilitator looking for inspiration?  If so, then you may find our 'Trainer Zone' a useful resource.

On this page, you will find:

• Free energisers and icebreakers
• Inspirational & motivational quotes
• Free teambuilding activities & games
• Free games for training
• Recommended links to other free resources

Please let us know your thoughts and feedback on whether you find this page useful !

http://www.brightskills.ie/trainers_zone

A lot of the work that we engage in at BrightSkills is facilitating, empowering and enabling Productivity Improvement in individuals and teams.  We do this through many training and coaching programmes like influencing skills, time & priority management and leadership.   Many people ask us, “What are they key tips you would give to people who want to be more efficient in general”.  It’s a tough question because of course it depends on the context so much.  However, we know that there are certain things which will pretty much guarantee an improvement in efficiency and productivity if applied consistently. 

Take the BrightSkills Challenge – implement these for 1 week and let us know what you think?

10 Things to do on a Friday to Boost Your Productivity

1.   Make a weekly plan that’s connected to your higher level goals – check out our blog ‘Prioritising Your Work - 5 Golden Rules’ for more on that

2.   Review the past week’s activities under the headings

• Things I got done that I’d planned to do this week
• Things I planned to do but didn’t get done & why
• Activities I engaged in which didn’t serve me well this week / bring me closer to my goals

3.   Make a plan for the week ahead that includes
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• Important work goals
• Time for ‘unexpected’ activities (the unforeseen!)
• You time / personal goals

<!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]--><!--[if !supportLists]--><!--[endif]-->4.   Check your Capacity for the week ahead – on review of next week’s plan, assess the time you expect to spend on the planned tasks –v- the time you have available in your week (work / outside work time).  Are you working to capacity? Are you planning over your capacity? Are you under capacity?

5.   Delegate or Negotiate activities which bring you ‘Above capacity’ with your boss / team / client wherever possible

6.   Complete any follow ups you need to do for the week – review all the meetings and commitments you made during the week.  Are there any follow ups (emails / calls / letters / conversations) that you need to do before the week is out?

7.   Invest in at least 3 relationships - make 3 calls / visits (desk visits?) to three important relationships – for example, important stakeholders in projects you’re working on, important clients, important friends and/or family etc.

8.   Remember your Purpose – take some time to remind yourself of your purpose and goals.  You may find it useful to write yourself some positive affirmations for the week ahead

9.   Plan at least 1 thing for the weekend which will make you incredibly happy

10.   ‘Thank Crunchie it’s Friday’ – treat yourself to one activity today that is purely for you and a reward for all your hard work during the week (a walk in the park, a massage, a lunch with a friend, an ice cream etc.)

• Do you use daily 'To Do' lists at work / at home?
• Do you regularly / always work from these 'To Do' lists?
• Do you sometimes find yourself working on tasks which don't reap rewards / go unnoticed?
• Do you ever look back on a day and think 'I feel like I got nothing done!'?
• Do you often have great intentions to work on important stuff with lots of lead in time but find yourself suckered into other stuff so end up doing the big things 'last minute' ?

If you've answered YES to any of the above questions, you may need some help prioritising your workload and home life in order to achieve more.  Below, I've outined my 5 Golden Rules for Prioritisation, hopefully you'll find them useful - please share your thoughts, ideas, experience and feedback with us!!

5 Golden Rules for Prioritisation

1.   Understand what IMPORTANT tasks are for you - as opposed to URGENT tasks....

Things which are important are of higher value and meaning for you, in your roles and in your life.  Important tasks and activities contribute towards bringing you closer to your goal.

Things which are urgent are time sensitive and need to be done NOW.  Not everything which is urgent is important - so avoid treating it that way!

2.   Don't work from To-Do Lists....

People who work from to do lists are often super busy and active but at the same time, often find themselves constantly engaged in last minute, 'urgent' activity.  To do lists that are created daily are guided by other people's 'important things'...... their boss' priorities, their partner's immediate needs, their colleagues need for help etc.  The problem with daily to do lists is that they prioritise all activities as being equal, they begin with the assumption that everything needs to be done in equal or pretty equal timeframes.  Unless a to-do list is inspired firstly by a higher thinking model such as the 4 Quadrants model which incorporates the essential concept of 'Important' -v- 'Urgent' .You can see examples of the 4 Quadrants here

3.     Practice saying NO.....

It's not as easy as you imagine but saying YES can get you into trouble at times - overworked, stressed, frustrated...

Here are some ways to say no without saying no!

• I'm happy to help you with that but I firstly need to prioritise this piece of work, could you come back to me later?
• Would it work for you if we asked X to do this as I am under pressure today to get this done and it's really important for me and the business?
• I'm busy with this priority right now so can I ask you how urgent this is and what's driving that urgency?  Can it wait?
• I'm actually wondering about the importance of this task for me, I'm considering not doing it and wonder what impact that would have for us?

4.   Get Feedback from your Boss / Team / Friend / Spouse...

Get feedback from others about what they consider to be the highest priorities for you and/or your team/family.  It can be interesting to hear another person's perspective and can sometimes help you to see the wood for the trees!

5.   Review your priorities regularly...

Every week or month, check back in with your goals and how they translate into actions and priorities on a weekly / monthly / daily basis. 

Remember - everything that's worth doing brings you closer to your goals whether on a personal, interpersonal or professional level !

Good luck prioritising and congratulations on choosing to invest in yourself by reading my blog !

Please comment :)