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7 Ways to Kick Off the New Fiscal Year with a Bang: #1 Don’t Wait Until October 1st!
September 21, 2023 | Business Development, Government, Time Management
Image taken from Shutterstock As the federal fiscal year-end draws near, proactive government contractors are already gearing up for FY’24. You must plan, strategize, and be several steps ahead to hit the ground running. I have shared seven critical efforts to ensure that you're prepared and in a prime position to maximize your government sales opportunities 1. Don’t Wait until October 1: The biggest mistake many make is waiting until after the new fiscal year begins or, for that matter, waiting until November or December. Some people think because historically, it's slow for new contracts to be released on the…
I Don’t Do Mondays! Part III – Mondays are a Mindset
May 27, 2020 | Communication, Leadership, Self Help, Time Management
This is the final post in a three-part series–why I don’t buy into all the negatives associated with Mondays. In Part 1, I shared my tips for prior planning: how a little forethought can help us avoid the Monday blues. In Part 2, I talked about setting boundaries--how to take more control so I can start the week more productively. Today, I’ll cover the importance of mindset: what we can do to reframe the way we think about Mondays. WHY WE GET “A CASE OF THE MONDAYS” Changing our mindset about Mondays begins with understanding why they can be such…
I Don’t Do Mondays! Part 1
April 28, 2020 | Leadership, Self Help, Time Management
No, this does not mean I don't work on Mondays. What I don't do is the idea of Mondays. Remember the line from Office Space, "Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays." I think that line from the movie speaks more to the person who pines for the weekend and is sad it's over. I don't usually share that sentiment and look forward to my first day back after the weekend. Maybe that's sometimes why I tend to work a bit more on Mondays than other days. Chaos Rules I also have gotten a sense from many that…
Pigheaded Discipline or Flexibility?
February 6, 2019 | Leadership, Self Help, Time Management
Photo by Mark Cooke on Flickr As I have posted before, I am in the midst of re-reading Chet Holmes: The Ultimate Sales Machine. While the book talks about how to increase sales through better prospecting and scripting, it first addresses time management and how to plan out your day. A Life Long Student I have long been a student on how to best manage time. I don't believe tools such as google calendar, google tasks, or Microsoft Outlook are time management strategies. They are just tools. Since being in the workforce, I have used Franklin-Covey's Planner and David Allen's Getting Things…
Does Being A Great Team Leader Mean The Door Should ALWAYS Be Open?
December 31, 2018 | Leadership, Time Management
Photo by egvvnd on Flickr I began reading a book called the "Ultimate Sales Machine" by Chet Holmes. I enjoyed reading the first chapter that discussed time management some time management techniques. One point the author made was to schedule every aspect of my day. This schedule included managing frequent pop-ins by other co-workers. He called them, "got a minute" meetings. You know, each time a subordinate, co-worker, or boss peeks their head in your cubicle or office door and says, "got a minute?". Instead, he encouraged his readers to block 30 minutes each day for "open office hours" where people could hold…
Procrastination-Everybody’s Doing It (and here’s how not to)
April 28, 2016 | Leadership, Self Help, Time Management
Written by Steven J. Hanley, PhD and Rich Earnest In fact, we just did. This post has been sitting on our to-do list for months. We all put off our responsibilities for another day. Some reasons are more acceptable than others. An impromptu family gathering because Aunt Trudy is in town seems like a reasonable excuse; binge watching House of Cards all weekend, not so much. There are also many less obvious reasons we procrastinate. Feelings of inadequacy, low self-esteem, guilt, depression, anxiety, or even an unconscious need to punish or sabotage ourselves can all play a role. These psychological factors…
Recommitment With A 2 Month Head Start (Part 2 of 3)
November 2, 2015 | Leadership, Time Management
Photo by Alex de Haas on Flickr. I can hear it now. Next year will be better. I'm going to be more active. I'm going to be more healthy. I am going to lose 30 lbs so I can look good on the beach at Spring Break. Some of us have reached that goal by Spring Break, but some of us haven't made it. I've been in both categories. Did I start my recommitment on January 1st the year I failed? Yep! Did I start my recommitment on November 1st the year I succeeded? Yep! When I succeeded, did I go…
Long Lasting Culture Change Requires Narrow Focus
April 23, 2015 | Leadership, Teamwork, Time Management
Photo by Michael Dales on Flickr Some leaders get really excited about change. We see this new program that will help raise the morale of the company. We embrace initiatives and process changes that increase productivity and communication. We long for the day that we can see drastic, positive change in the way customers see our company. We look past the pain associated with change no matter how great and pine for the end result. Other leaders dread change. We see all the extra work associated with the new programs. We dread thinking about how much we will need to "pull teeth" to…
We Ignore What Is Important Because Our Focus is on the Urgent
March 20, 2015 | Leadership, Time Management
We've all had a day like this. We have aspirations of working on that marketing plan, making some contacts with customers, coaching an employee, or writing the weekly blog....... However, some how the whole day was taken away from us. Fires needed to be put out. An open office door policy lent itself to a lot of foot traffic. Our email Inbox needed to be taken to "0". Another department pulled us into a long meeting. These days happen. However, we should assess which of these "urgent" activities are actually important versus unimportant. We find that 90% of managers squander their…
