Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Karen Leland, author of the new book, Time Management In an Instant.  I know many of these you have heard before, some you may not, but they are always worth repeating!  The one I have used successfully since taking a Quantitative Stats class (oy) in my MBA program in 2004 was bribing myself.  It worked wonders for me. And since, has been a great motivator for me to get other things done that I don't want to do.  There are 10 ways she shares below and you may use a combination of them. I would suggest listening to yourself to find the ones that work and then using them to your advantage.  Good luck! Anissa

You know what you need to do. You know why you need to do it. You even know what steps you must take to get it done. But there’s one small problem: you can’t seem to get moving. It’s a common problem. Maybe it’s chronic procrastination or maybe you’re just so overwhelmed that you feel paralyzed. Either way, the task you must complete is just sitting there, gathering metaphorical (or perhaps literal) dust, and growing more ominous by the day.

A recently study by Dr. Piers Steel, a professor at the University of Calgary concluded that procrastination is on the rise. According to Steel’s research, in 1978 about 15 percent of the population were considered moderate procrastinators. Today that number is up to 60 percent, a four-fold increase. While procrastination is to some degree a natural phenomenon and can’t be completely eradicated, you can use the following ten strategies to to get in the habit of getting things done.

1. Take advantage of your power hours. Are you an early riser who tackles your morning to-do list with all the gusto of a bear eating honey? Perhaps you’re a night-owl and crank through your most pressing projects at 11:00 p.m.?

Either way, knowing and taking advantage of your natural energy patterns will help you steer clear of procrastination by using your power times to tackle the projects you find most challenging.

2. Focus for five minutes. The hardest part of overcoming procrastination is often just getting started. For a tedious task that you have been putting off try setting a timer for five-minutes and get to work. When the alarm sounds, if you feel like stopping – don’t be surprised if that first five minutes turns into 10, 15 and 20.

3. Create cues. Write down the item you need to do and place it somewhere where you can see it – your refrigerator door, car dashboard, calender, iphone, bathroom mirror. Posting prompts on items you are procrastinating about in a highly visible place, helps remind you to get them done.

4. Use the clout of your calendar: Do you have a task that has been lingering on your to-do list for days, weeks or even (gulp) months? If so, use the clout of your calendar to move from inertia to action. Open your planner or PDA and schedule a specific date and time period when you promise yourself that you will work on that item – and that item only.

5. Decide on the next action: One reason people procrastinate is they feel intimidated by the task as it is currently stated and can’t figure out what to do next. To overcome overwhelm, figure out the next smallest, easiest and most comfortable action you could take to move forward. By breaking down the bigger less defined item into smaller more specific chunks, you tell your mind “I can do this”!

6. Give yourself credit all along the way: The moment you take any action (no matter how small) – give yourself credit. Don’t wait until the entire to-do is complete before experiencing at least some degree of satisfaction and accomplishment.

7. Tackle the hard ones first: Almost everyone has more focus, energy and attention available at the beginning of their workday than at the end. When you have to do a hard task, get it out of the way and do it first thing in the morning. This way it won’t nag at you all day long.

8. Be decisive: Putting off a decision on what to do with that piece of paper won’t be any easier tomorrow than it is today. Train yourself to categorize every item that comes across your desk as something to do now, delegate, dump, or defer. Defer does not mean placing it back in the pile and pretending it does not exist. That is the pathway to procrastination. It means putting it in a dated tickler file, scheduling a time to do it, or moving it to a someday to-do list – where the guilt and stress of procrastination don’t apply.

9. Enlist encouragement. Tell a close friend what you’re going to accomplish by when and ask them to check in on your progress. Going public can create a self-imposed pressure to shun procrastination and perform. Having a buddy who can celebrate your successes, and help you maintain perspective when you procrastinate is invaluable.

10. Play let’s make a deal. To get yourself moving on a hard to do activity, try a bribe. Make a promise to yourself that when you stop procrastinating and take some action on the item, you get a reward. This can be a piece of chocolate, watching a favorite tv show, spending time with your family - anything that you value and will motivate you to get moving.

Karen leland is the bestselling author of the new book Time Management In an Instant: 60 Ways to Make the Most of Your Day. 

I read a post lately that really bugged me.  It wasn't the talk of work-life balance, which I think is bunk.  I don't actually think there is anything such as work-life balance but is more about harmony and making all the priorities and needs in our lives work.

No, what bugged me was that Jack Welch was talking about work-life balance as more of a trade. And not so much as a trade, really, but a giving up. Women can't become CEO's and be mom's. We can't have it all but men, well men can have it all. He stated that by choosing family choices over career choices, women can't make it to the top but hey, he'd love to see it happen.

Why is that women are the one's that must sacrifice their career for the sake of family and children more so than men? Is it more a product of society and expectations placed upon women? Are our organizations lacking the forward thinking values by providing the latitude needed for fathers? 

I don't have children but I think that matters very little. Why? Because the belief is that I will one day and it is still a hindrance to my getting to the top. Why take a chance on someone who will eventually have kids and choose family issues over career is the thought process. Seems there is no way of winning this one right?

Wrong! Everyone, men and women, need to keep showing organizations that choices made are not a black ball to advancement.  We must all be role models of harmony - making adjustments and living a life that has meaning, both at home and in the workplace.  All it takes is one time, one person and the rest will take care of itself!!

eWorkPlace Event - You’re Invited!

We told you awhile ago about our partnership with the MN Department of Transportation to migrate Twin Cities departments/companies to a ROWE to help reduce traffic congestion. The project is going very well so far and next week, there’s an event being held in Minneapolis to share more information about this initiative.

We’re excited to announce two very special pieces of the event’s agenda:

1) Terry Carroll, CIO of Fairview Health Services, will be speaking about the business case for ROWE and his area’s success so far. [The IT department of Fairview has experienced a 22% increase in productivity in just 2 months]

2) Erin Kelly, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of MN, will be speaking about the case for work/life balance and the study she co-conducted on ROWE at Best Buy.

We’ll be participating as well - meeting and greeting with companies in attendance that would like more information about migrating to a Results-Only Work Environment.

If you’re a business leader in the Twin Cities thinking about ROWE, we strongly encourage you to attend this event. Here are the details:

When: Tuesday, July 28 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Where: Hubert H. Humphrey Institute, University of MN (Atrium and Cowles Auditorium)
301 19th Ave. South

RSVP: Laura Noble at 612-626-0564 or lnoble@umn.edu

For more information, here is the e-invite. Hope to see you there!

Personally, I would love to be there, but alas, I am a month off. I will be Minneapolis at the end of August for a few days and can't alter that trip to coincide with the above event with Cali and Jody.  If you are in the area, I hope you can attend. I would love to hear how it went and your thoughts, Anissa

I believe everyone should read the Essential Motivation Handbook - http://su.pr/7vKJRP - awesome! Zen Habits has done it again :-)

Let me know what you think. It would be great to discuss it, Anissa

I wanted to share a great post by Lisa Haneberg,who is a fantastic author, entrepreneur, and blogger courtesy of Management Craft, discussions about state of the art business management.I am a big fan. I first came into awareness of Lisa via ASTD and have been a follower ever since. I hope you enjoy her recent post below as much as I did. Full credit to her for every word below and the full reality of her vision.

If I read another article or post that starts with, “during these tough times,” I am going to scream. Let’s get with it, leaders, these times are why we exist.  The more we talk about how the times are tough, the greater the likelihood that we will approach our work as victims. 

We are at our best when we catalyze progress – when we create environments that help people, teams and processes do great work together. I invite all leaders – at all levels in the organization – to embrace the opportunity to be great like you never knew you could be or was possible. Here are ten questions you can ask yourself and your team to get catalytic juices flowing:

• What’s the new opportunity that we are not seeing? How might we learn from other organizations, both competitors and non-competitors?
• How might new trends in how people communicate and work open up new ways to improve our organization? What does the workplace look like when we are focused and in action?
• When a meeting feels flat and perfunctory, what’s going on? What’s on people minds that they are not saying? What question could I ask that would open the discussion back up? What’s possible if I had the courage to do this?
• What is “my best work” and how can I ensure I do that today? How can I enable my team to do their best work?
• If we were starting this organization from scratch, how would we design it? What would we do if resources were not an issue?
• What’s the craziest idea that just might work?
• What are the most irksome/damaging barriers facing me and my team right now and how can I reduce or obliterate them?
• What is my manifesto (driving philosophy and passion) as a leader and how can I ensure my team understands it? What is our team’s manifesto?
• What’s possible now that was not possible last year/month?
• Do I have my team focused on doing the work that matters most? How can I optimize how we spend our precious time?

Create your own list of questions and bring them into your next staff meeting or team huddle. Select one of these questions to drill down on with a small group of peers. Put a copy of this article in everyone’s inbox! Great questions help us generate productive conversations and conversations are our currency for getting things done.

We are leaders because we make things happen that would not happen without us. We are driven to create, model, and catalyze excellence. We do not maintain. We do not play the victim. We take the initiative to do whatever it takes to make a significant and positive difference and we have more opportunities to do this today than ever.

As the great Henry V said in Shakespeare’s play, “All things are ready if our minds be so.” And let’s not forget Westmorland’s response, “perish the man whose mind is backward now!”

Indeed.

I read Seth Godin's Tribes a few months ago but something struck me as I was reading some other books for a leadership class I have been taking.

Seth indicates leadership is scarce because people aren't willing to go through the discomfort that is required of a leader.  I have often said that people are messy, having borrowed that from somewhere and someone else. I believe it's a good thing people are messy. It means that everyone is unique and we all have different talents to offer. This also means there will be different challenges to overcome. This is where less capable leaders shy away from true leadership.

Seth goes on to say that the discomfort leaders experience creates the leverage that makes the very endeavor worthwhile, or "if everyone could do it, they would, and it wouldn't be worth much".  It is the effort, the challenge, the rigor, the sacrifice and the humility that it takes to be a leader and are the very reasons we have some darn good one's out there in the world. 

But Seth also believes a lack of discomfort means you aren't reaching your potential as a leader. I would have to clarify that a bit. I have seen many leaders who are uncomfortable giving feedback, firing an employee, or doing something rather "hard" like that in the workplace. Their discomfort is great to the point of avoidance.  This is not the kind of discomfort that Seth is referring to in my opinion. It is the discomfort of thinking about how you will give that feedback to someone, planning your discussion and then actually having the discussion. How that goes with me versus how that goes with the guy in marketing may be very different. The discomfort you feel as a leader in having these conversations means you are stretching yourself to find the best way to make the most of this opportunity.

Do you think leadership is scarce in your organization? I would love to hear your thoughts! Anissa