In our daily rush and in a constant desire to produce, we often find ourselves multitasking, overworked, stressed out, pretending to be busy but not completing any task.
Below are six principles of task management to help you finish what you started.
Wondering which Principles to use in order to manage your tasks effectively?
1. The Pareto Principle
In 1906, Pareto realized that 20% of the population made up 80% of the revenue.
Then, he also noticed that these statistics also applied to work productivity. Indeed, in the workplace, 20% of the work produced generates 80% of the desired results.
That is why the Pareto Principle, better known as the 80/20 Principle or the Law of the Vital Few, encourages you to focus on essentials tasks, prioritize your activities, avoid those that are not beneficial to you and learn how to say no.
2. The Parkinson Principle
In 1958, Professor Cyril North-Cote Parkinson understood that a task will take up all the attributed time for it’s realization.
In ther words, the Parkinson Principle or the Dilatation Principle affirms that even if we have the ample time to achieve a task, we will use up all that given time.
That is why it is necessary to break up tasks into smaller ones and create your own deadlines.
3. The Law Of Murphy
According to Murphy, a US Air Force Engineer, a task always takes up more time than expected and that whatever could go wrong will go wrong.
Consequently, you must expect the unexpected, anticipate problems, add buffers between meetings, and overestimate the time needed on any task you take on even if you are good at it.
4. The Laborit Principle
If we listened to ourselves, there is no doubt in my mind that we would always do what makes us happy and complete the easiest tasks first.
We would therefore tackle the ones who require the least effort and neglect the hard and stressful ones.
However, handling the most difficult tasks first require extreme self-discipline but is the most rewarding task management strategy.
5. The Carlson Principle
In the 1950s, Professor Sune Carlson measured the number of time managers were being interrupted in average on a daily basis.
It turns out that they were interrupted every 20 minutes and were not able to effectively tend to their tasks because it took them time to focus back on their task at hand.
Carlson concluded that a task handled without interruptions or distractions is done faster than when it is done otherwise.
If you have an opening door policy, you may want to create strong boundaries to make time for your activities and reduce interruptions.
6. The Illich Principle
Ivan Illich, an ecologist thinker, states that beyond a certain amount of time spent on a task, our effectiveness and focus tend to diminish.
Due to that fact, it becomes vital to know and accept our own limitations, and to take regular breaks in order to recharge ourselves.
Last Words Of Advice!
The clutter on your desk also takes up mental space, create a sense of being busy and overwhelmed without you actually being productive.
It then becomes important to unclutter as much as possible and set things at their place. Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
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Sometimes, as a leader, you may have to teach something, share your knowledge or go and learn something yourself…
Effective teaching is required when leaders interact with their team, want to share useful ideas with their team or wish to increase overall expertise.
Below are five essentials skills to acquire to teach effectively.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
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Work problems, personal circumstances… Life can pack a serious punch…
However, staying calm in challenging situations is a leadership skills that aligns itself with not taking challenges too seriously.
Below, are a few quotes for you not to take challenges too seriously.
1. Even if you fall flat on your face, you’re still moving forward. – Victor Kiam
2. We don’t stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing. – George Bernard Shaw
3.Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first. – Mark Twain
4. Sometimes you climb out of bed in the morning and you think, I’m not going to make it, but you laugh inside — remembering all the times you’ve felt that way. – Charles Bukowski
5. Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans. It is lovely to be silly at the right moment. – Horace
6. Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy. – Guillaume Apollinaire
7. Life isn’t as serious as the mind makes it out to be. – Eckhart Tolle
8. A good laugh overcomes more difficulties and dissipates more dark clouds than any other one thing. – Laura Ingalls Wilder
9. Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose. – Eckhart Tolle
10. Casting all your anxieties on him, because he careth for you. – 1 Peter 5:7
11. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. – John 16:33
12. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known until God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:6-7
Last Words Of Advice
Don’t forget to laugh a little!
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
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A powerful quote can motivate you, inspire you, encourage you, get you going and remind you of Who you are…
Below, I have compiled a few quotes to keep you going.
1. Problems are not stop signs; they are guidelines. – Robert Schuller
2. We must meet the challenge rather than wish it were not before us. – William J. Brennan, Jr.
3.Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. – Thomas A. Edison
4. Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength. – Theodore Roosevelt
5. It is the combination of reasonable talent and the ability to keep going in the face of defeat that leads to success. – Martin Seligman
6. If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward. – Martin Luther King Jr
7. Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you. – George Whitefield
8. Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else. – Les Brown
Last Words Of Advice
Your mental toughness is a muscle that must always be exercised.
Keep going!
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
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Difficult people intentionally, consciously or voluntarily create difficult situations for others around them and can easily slow down productivity and break down morale…
Dealing with difficult people is part of leadership.
Below are five essentials skills to acquire.
We host training programs all year round in Paris, France.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
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Whether positive or negative, our thoughts influence our character, our behavior, our vision, the way we deal with setbacks, the way we build and maintain relationships.
Our thoughts have a direct impact on our body, health and emotions…
For instance, negative thoughts affect our daily lives more than we think and can send us down a spiral of despair, depression, insecurity, anxiety and self-sabotage.
Needless to say, most people want to improve themselves, to evolve, to get ahead in their work life but have a tendency to welcome negative thoughts or ignore how to shut them down.
Unfortunately, they end up hindering their accomplishments and career advancements.
That is why it is necessary to control the damage caused by our mind, to discipline our thoughts and emotions, to build up a robust positive attitude and to find peace of mind.
Wondering how to process and control negative thoughts, emotions and how to use a positive mindset to get ahead at work?
Thoughts automatically appear in our mind. They come from past experiences and from the fact that we believe what people have previously said about us.
They can be brought up by a word, an image or a memory and employ torture words that decrease our self-esteem, worsens situations, such as “should”, “must” and “have to”.
Because they are spontaneous, we think that they are true.
In the long run, thoughts sometimes become rigid beliefs, absolute truths.
Therefore, it becomes an imperative to gain control over them.
Disciplining your mind, controlling your thoughts and generating emotions regardless of your environment, regardless the level of attack help you become more mature, make healthier decisions, become more creative, escape, heal bad memories.
Maintaining A Positive Mindset
Positive attitudes can become difficult to maintain in challenging situations in the workplace. But once acquired, it is a habit that can help you overcome bad situations.
It requires inner work and is independent of external circumstances of the outcome.
There are many ways to bring positivity into the workplace and to your mindset.
1. Identify the source of your thoughts
Identify the source of your thoughts and check the memories that you store in your brain.
Be selective about the information that come into your mind.
Stay away from the news because they will negatively affect you.
Have a joke of the day and send it to people who matter to you.
Watch shows, listen to podcasts, audio books that will uplift you, inspire you and motivate you.
2. Identify triggers, patterns in your thought process
Identify triggers, patterns in your thought process.
How do they start? What my thoughts say about me? What are the consequences of my thoughts? What do you say regularly to yourself?
3. Be aware of the content of your thoughts
At some point, you must be aware of the content of your thoughts.
Therefore, you will be able to interrupt them whenever they don’t help you, to delete the negative ones and replace them with forward-looking ones.
Changing thought patterns is difficult because our brain generally resist change.
4. Understand that you are not the prisoner of your thoughts
When you understand that you are not the prisoner of your thoughts, you will eventually become the one to change the atmosphere in the workplace, won’t allow the environment to drain you or define who you are and won’t let someone else control your behavior.
5. Think about who you want to become
It helps to thinkabout who you want to become and how you want to affect people.
Then, it helps to write down 5 dreams that you have ever have, find 5 words to describe yourself and think about it several a day.
6. Select and force your brain to redirect negative thoughts
When faced with negativity, select and force your brain to redirect negative thoughts toward more pleasant alternatives.
For example, think about the opposite of the negative thought, attach constructive emotions to an outcome, visualize a positive outcome for the situation or visualize the perfect life every day before you got to bed and everyday when you wake up.
7. Focus on what is going right
What’s going right for you?
Focus on what is going right instead of what is going wrong.
People give negative emotions more importance than the positive ones, which conditions our brain to bring up negative thoughts automatically and repetitively for a long period of time.
You have the power to choose and train your brain to give positive emotions more attention.
8. Accept the present moment
Improving your thoughts reside in accepting the present moment and understanding that it is inevitable.
How to focus and stay in the present? Understand that panicking and worrying is useless, that the past is unchangeable and the future uncontrollable, that every experiences have made you who you are today.
9. Give your thoughts a name
Give your thoughts a name and call them out whenever they send us down a negative spiral and challenge every single thought by speaking them out loud.
10. Be grateful
It is easy to complain and whine, so be grateful that you have a job and show appreciation in your contribution.
Get up early and work out before going to work to seize the day and release the endorphins throughout the day.
13. Create a positive work zone
Create a positive work zone by insulating yourself with headphones for example.
Also, avoid gossip at all cost, put up motivational objects around your desk.
Take regular breaks from your cubicle to stop thinking, to meditate and go to the bathroom.
14. Create a better work life balance
It becomes essential to create a better work life balance to protect your home life.
So, leave the drama at work, be strict with your hours, avoid staying late and taking work at home!
15. Behave positively as well
Meaning fake it until you make it…
16. Separate yourself from the negativity
Sooner or later, you will have to separate yourself from the negativity and surround yourself with open-minded people with a positive mindset.
One way would be to stick positive quotes on your wall of your cubicle or on your desk.
17. Change your surroundings
Take a class after work or find a hobby so you have something to look forward to at the end of the day.
18. Find better!
Finally, if this environment isn’t working out the way you want to, you can always discreetly find a more comfortable and productive workplace.
Last Words Of Advice!
There is a need for Positive Leadership.
Positive leaders have a moral compass, are purpose driven, communicate effectively, exhibit integrity and provide emotional safety.
Because they inject good energy into the team, they instill an atmosphere of trust and openness they rip enthusiasm, motivation, transparency from their team.
Positive leaders are able to impact their company culture, improve results, increase performance and enhance job satisfaction.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
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Your hard work has been noticed, you have been promote and you have been rewarded with the position you have been coveting (or not)…
Now, it’s time to get to work because with your new role comes new responsibilities and with these new responsibilities come new people, new concepts, new ideas and also new opportunities for mistakes…
Wondering what are the critical mistakes to avoid as a new leader?
1. New leaders wait to be sollicited
A new leader who goes and checks in with the team is relatable, creates a bond and a sense of security.
Even if he or she has nothing special to say, expressing the basic requirements to the team is a good start.
2. New leaders nurture an imposter syndrom
It is quite normal to lack confidence when you first start out.
However, it is unhealthy and unproductive to openly and inwardly nurture an imposter syndrom for long periods of time.
After a while, your team will surely pick up on it and will start to question your leadership.
So, stop doubting yourself and take confidence in your leadership.
3. New leaders struggle with their leadership style
Befriend an employee or discipline a friend? That is the question…
Most new leaders, especially if they are unexpectedly thrown into a leadership position, have a hard time determining their leadership style.
It’s all about understanding your team members, learning to delegate, keeping your role and responsibilities in mind, finding the right balance between relatable, approachable and authoritative.
Some are all over the place and others don’t require discipline.
Some rather competition and others choose collaboration.
Some enjoy confrontation, some a conversation and others avoid conflict altogether.
Some are just somewhere in that spectrum.
The point is that not everyone is the same or require the same treatment. Therefore, the same leadership style cannot be used with everyone all the time.
5. New leaders tend to power trip and ego trip
That new found power can be elating to new leaders.
It will have them thinking that they can treat people anyway they want to or do whatever they please.
Someone else was in line for the job but you got it and it’s now an opportunity to belittle them?
There is no need to play or keep playing dirty because you have already made it and tomorrow is never guaranteed.
There are people on your team that you don’t like and you want to demonstrate your dislike and your authority?
They may technically be worked for you but the truth is that you are working for them.
If you abuse your power, everyone around you will lose respect for you and your behavior will slowly degrade productivity and team performance.
6. New leaders maintain their old responsibilities
Your responsibilities have changed or have increased?
It can be tempting and reassuring to want to handle every single details and to maintain your old activities in addition to your new ones.
It’s now time to accept the change, to fully take on your new role and to learn how to delegate.
7. New leaders tend to openly criticize
Whether it’s bad talking the person who previously held your position or critiquing the way things were done before you were here, critiquing tend to leave a bad taste in the mouth of your new team.
There is nothing wrong with wanting change and reorganizing things to your liking but you can do this without degrading your predecessors.
8. New leaders are afraid of appearing incompetent
Because of their fear of appearing incompetent, new leaders don’t clarify objectives, speak when they should really be listening, take credit for other’s ideas and don’t ask questions to higher ups.
Last Words Of Advice!
Before fully jumping in your new role and responsibilities, take a few moments to observe your new environment, comprehend the company culture and understand the people you will be working with. Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
I tend to travel at moments when everything in my life are chaotic or going down hill…
Why? Because I gain better perspective when I push my boundaries and step outside my personal situation. Travelling can indeed be a wonderful and unique experience.
It can also be a way to increase your leadership, change your mindset, improve your self-awareness and discover better principles.
Wondering how can travelling make you a better leader?
There are a lot of positive effects to travelling.
1. You discover yourself
When you travel, nobody really knows you so you are free to try and embody new versions of yourself.
That is because by travelling, you remove yourself from the pressures of society and from the expectations that your parents or circle have placed on you.
You find ways to become a better leader for yourself and your team.
Travelling is an opportunity to go into deep introspection, to discipline yourself, to challenge your beliefs and assumptions, and redefine your values and priorities.
You are too absorbed by the new environments to stay stuck in the past, anxious about the future, or stuck in your head.
3. You get out of your comfort zone
One of my favorite things about travelling is taking risks and getting out of your comfort zone. It requires a lot of confidence and a taste for the unknown.
It gives you the opportunity to try new things and try out different versions of themselves.
Not everybody has the opportunity to travel. To be kind to your wallet, you can travel to the city next door.
When I travel, I don’t like making plans in general.
I rather wander, roam through the streets and get lost so I can ask people my way back, practice a different language, find hidden treasures and test my ability to be resourceful.
Getting lost and finding my way back gives me more confidence in my abilities to successfully take care of myself. I can then return home with the conviction that I can solve anything I put my mind to.
5. You get healed
Travelling provides healing for your entire being and reminds you that there is still beauty in the world.
You acquire the opportunity to get to know yourself better, to try different things, to get out of your attributed role.
You become present and aware of your surroundings.
You listen to yourself more and get in touch with your intuition.
You treasure your experiences more than material things. Your positive memories will help you overcome difficult times.
6. You balance your work and life
Leaders don’t always have time to relax and travel as much as they would want to. Travelling improves your work-life balance because:
You don’t have to worry so much about work and your coworkers.
You remove yourself from toxicity and enjoy people who enjoy you.
You break from your routine and from zombie mode.
You take a well deserved break from your drama.
You recenter yourself and you realize that we are all human beings.
Through my years of travel, I have seen people travelling so they could feel superior and turn their nose up at people from different cultures who live their lives differently.
They basically use travelling as a way to validate their beliefs of superiority.
The reality is travelling is a way to open your mind and experience new cultures.
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