Category: time management

Let’s Start A Workplace Revolution Together

Scott AsaiLeave a comment

josh-allan-dykstra

Josh is a good friend I met for coffee over 6 years ago. We were both at different places then, but our similar views on leadership and work kept the conversation going. Since we connected both of us became authors and dads. Josh is someone I always bounce ideas off of because he’s such an insightful and bright human being. He’s always been supportive of me and I am a big fan of his. I hope you enjoy a peek into this thought leader’s mind:

1) You truly are a thought leader. What does that term mean to you & how does it influence your work?

To me, leadership (for anyone) is about one thing: doing something that’s worth following. To that end, I’m always trying to spread thoughts, ideas, and stories that help others envision a better future for work, and inspire them to come along on the journey. Right now, for the vast majority of people on the planet, work truly sucks. It doesn’t have to be this way. We have all the tools we need to fix this—it’s a desire and design problem, not a capability problem. I want us all to start believing we can create something better… because we can.

2) At the core of what you do lies in making organizations better. Explain your philosophy briefly.

Most of us optimize many different parts of our organizations: marketing, finance, operations, etc. What we typically don’t maximize as a business driver is our culture—the human size of our business. What I mean is, every person in your company has a choice at every moment: will they bring their best self to their work, or will it be something less than their peak performance? We create organizations where people choose peak performance as often as possible, improving results across the board.

3) When we first met, we were both “kidless,” but now as a parent how has that affected the way you view/do work?

Being a dad has made me acutely more aware of the opportunity cost of my time and the finite-ness of my energy. I’ve always had some vague understanding that choosing one thing makes something else impossible, but that notion is now technicolor. And, at the same time as we added kids to our family, I’ve also added more colleagues to my company. Both changes are amazing… and also extraordinarily challenging. I’m doing my best to leverage the benefits of both these things: learning to continually do the things that are the highest and best use of my time at work and to find partners on my team to help make all the other stuff happen, in order to maximize the time I get with my kids. It’s remarkably difficult, but I’m slowly getting better!

4) You recently picked up and moved to a new state, what has that transition to a new “home” been like?

We recently moved to Denver after being in Los Angeles for a decade. We’ve been here now for about 6 months, and I’m afraid I’d be lying if I said we were somehow “settled!” My job has changed very little—in fact, that part of my life has mostly been made better as I’m now closer to a better airport—but the rest of life was completely uprooted, of course. Starting over isn’t easy for anyone, far as I can tell (and moving to a cold climate in the middle of the winter was just a serious bummer), but I will say that the wonderful folks of Colorado have been very kind to us. I’m extremely optimistic that this will be an excellent home for us and our kiddos!

5) You and I are strong advocates of leveraging personal strengths, tell my readers about the Strengthscope and how it can benefit them and their companies!

Let me put this as simply as I can: if your organization doesn’t have a strengths-based culture, you are simply NOT getting peak performance out of your people. Period. Here’s what I’ve learned over the last decade: humans are physically incapable of producing sustained excellence if we’re not utilizing our strengths in our work. My consulting group utilizes an assessment called Strengthscope® to jumpstart these conversations and help people re-orient their mindsets towards a path that’s far more productive and positive! We love it.

Why Routines Should Be Mandatory

Scott AsaiLeave a comment

daily routine

People ask me all the time, “What’s the biggest difference between having a boss versus being your own?”

Besides a steady paycheck, my response is: a lack of routine.

Parents stress how children need routine and structure to survive (it’s true I have 2 kids under 3 years old). But what works for kids also works for adults.

If you work for a company your routine is taken care of during the day, but if you’re an entrepreneur or even work remotely it’s up to you to set a routine.

I’ve been on my own since 2007 and through much trial and error here’s what works for me:

Morning workouts – I try to exercise 5 times a week in the mornings between 6:30-8:30 AM. I don’t consider myself a morning person, but with 2 kids I don’t have much of a choice. Since I’m up anyway, I force myself to go to the gym regardless of how I feel. It’s become my morning coffee and when I don’t stick to this routine I literally get cranky and feel lethargic.

Task time – I know I do my best work from about 10 AM-2 PM. As much as possible I try to find a quiet place with minimal distractions and accomplish as much as I can. Since I’m a pretty organized person I schedule everything into my phone with alerts so I don’t have to think about what to do next. This uninterrupted time is when I plan my workshops, speeches, marketing, etc. Protect this time, it’s necessary.

People time – Around mid-afternoon I usually hit a wall, so meeting with people, Skype or phone calls are scheduled between 2-5 PM. Conversations energize me, so whatever creative juices I am lacking usually get rejuvenated through interactions. Of course sticking to this schedule isn’t mandatory, but over time you pinpoint what flows best for you and go with it.

Routines promote productivity. Without them distractions will rule your life. I’m a planned person, but don’t consider myself Type A. The nice thing about routines is they can change. Tinker with them to see what works best. What matters most is to have them.

Routines are like boundaries. They determine what is useful and help us decide what to say yes and no to. That’s why they should be mandatory.

The Death Of The 40 Hour Work Week

Scott Asai1 Comment

workaholic

Have you ever wondered when the 40-hour work week became the norm?

Traditions don’t always stand the test of time (just ask the church) when purpose is lost.

Just because you work 9-5 doesn’t make you productive. This is what matters: getting stuff done. If you can accomplish the same amount of work in 30 hours vs. 40 hours shouldn’t that be rewarded?

People should be judged on the outcome, not the process. Companies who crack down on their employees by banning social media at work are ridiculous. I’m not condoning “online chatting” on the job, but who cares as long as they get their work done?

Think back to the last time you worked for a micromanaging boss. Did your performance thrive of suffer? How about company loyalty? Morale? You get the point…

Today, we have choices. Finding a job isn’t easy, but more people quit now because they’re not “happy” or “fulfilled” than at any other time in history. Companies recruit talent with perks more than salary now because lifestyle matters.

Yes, paying the bills is important, but being miserable at work literally sucks the life out of you. That’s why flex-time, remote working and paid vacation time are at the top of the list for most wanted rewards.

Your paycheck supports your way of life (not the other way around). Companies need to figure that out or suffer the consequences of high turnover. That doesn’t mean you offer free food (although that doesn’t hurt) and enable entitlement, it just means focus on: outcome & culture.

What if the mandate was a 4-day work week with an optional 5th day if you don’t finish your work? My bet would be most people would work a lot harder to have a 3-day weekend.

Salaried jobs have become ridiculous, some demanding 60+ hours weekly. There aren’t any badges handed out for working the most hours. In fact, if you need to work that long maybe you’re set up to fail.

Too many hours spent at work is playing with fire. It’s risking burn-out and disgruntled workers. Culture has as much to do with employee health, as core values and mission statements.

Maybe the problem is we’re measuring the wrong things. Are you more concerned about being busy or productive? The answer to that question affects your bottom line greatly.

How to Create Strong Content

Scott Asai5 Comments

Content-is-like-water

If you read enough digital marketing posts a common theme emphasized is creating strong content for your readers. Writing is a developed skill, but you may be surprised how to improve it.

Put a time limit on it.

Wait, wouldn’t that pressure you into making mistakes? How can your creative juices flow on demand? What if I can’t come up with new ideas?

Let me address those concerns.

Any form of communication is a discipline. If you want to be a better writer, write more. When I first started doing an e-newsletter almost 10 years ago, it took me hours to perfect it. But over time what I noticed is I gave myself less time to complete the task. Now I spend closer to 30 minutes to do an article and if I don’t schedule a time; I just write when an idea pops in my head. Your best work should be ahead of you. You don’t want to publish crap, but you’re also not aiming for perfection.

Creativity simmers best under pressure. People learn best through stories. If you can use a personal example to illustrate a point do it. Here’s some advice that benefitted me: watch this TED Talk. Believe it or not, creativity happens usually two ways: when you not thinking about it and within structure. I get my best ideas in the car, so I carry post-its and a pen on hand. Also I schedule times in my iPhone to write regardless if I have ideas. Whatever I learned recently or pops in my head first initiates the typing. Try it. You get better over time.

Let’s face it there are no new ideas, just recycled ones. Take for instance Uber. They didn’t invent driver-free transportation, but they did disrupt the industry. In fact, it’s better to re-invent off a familiar context rather than attempt to create a new category. People have a hard time understanding a new concept if they can’t build schema off a previous idea.  When it comes to content people are attracted to the way you think (that’s your voice). The clearer you can articulate that, the better chance you have connecting to a wide audience.

So if you want to create strong content, just start. You know you’ve made progress when you can look at your old work and laugh at how far you’ve come.

Why College Has Lost Its Mojo

Scott AsaiLeave a comment

lost-mojo

Someone recently asked me, “If you could go back and give yourself advice what would it be?”

My response: drop out of college

With a perplexed reaction to my comment, I began to explain:

A college degree isn’t worth much anymore…just ask your next employer. Experience matters, where you got your degree from doesn’t. The sad reality is most college grads take a job outside of their major and spend the next 5 or so years working just to pay off student loans.

Also college doesn’t teach “real world” skills. I spoke to USC freshmen and sophomores in a career workshop before and said the 3 most important skills to learn in college are: networking, gaining experience (usually through an internship) and learning how to sell (product, services and yourself). Ironically, those tasks aren’t taught in college unless you take advantage of resources as a student.

Lastly, flexibility is the new definition of success. Money isn’t as valuable as controlling your time. Millennials are the most entrepreneurial generation because they want to make an impact and be happy doing it. Steve Jobs, Richard Branson and Kevin Rose prove college isn’t for everyone.

Trade schools and incubators are on the rise because if you have an idea that can potentially make a lot of money, why put it towards an education that doesn’t translate to much? As a Bachelor’s & Master’s degree holder, I may sound like a hypocrite, but if I could do it all over again I’d pass college and jump directly into entrepreneurship.

3 Reasons Why Parenthood Is A Great Time To Start A Business

Scott AsaiLeave a comment

parentpreneur

At first glance the title is perplexing, but starting two separate businesses while each of our children were born gives me some credibility to speak on this subject. The timing seems illogical, but if you’re an action-oriented person like myself, ideas only become reality if executed quickly. Here are my thoughts why juggling a newborn and a startup makes sense:

1) Efficiency – Time is fleeting as a new parent. Newborns need their parents to install routines even though initially they resist them. Transition to entrepreneurship and you can never have enough time in the day to accomplish your dreams. As a new parent you could be working on your business plan in the dark while baby is sleeping. Since you’re up from the crying it’s a perfect time to research and e-mail on your mobile phone. Meetings are a perfect excuse to find extra help so you can make progress on your business while gaining some rest and sanity from your little one at home. Parenthood forces you to be creative when it comes to spending your time. The lack of free time means you’re wiser with the little you have. Nothing makes you hyper-focused more than the fear of your baby waking up from a nap.

2) Parallels to Learning on the Fly – The most unprepared you’ll feel as a parent is when you arrive home from the hospital. The most unprepared you’ll feel during launching a business is when you start. Both responsibilities can be studied, but nothing is a substitute for experience. Parenting is about trial and error and you only get better by doing it. That’s very similar to the success rate of starting a business. First time owners have a less than 30% chance for success, but if you keep trying your chances increase on the next business. The message here isn’t to have 5+ kids, but to understand that both parenthood and entrepreneurship are about adapting and pivoting accordingly. The more rigid you are in your thinking, the harder it will be to thrive in today’s changing market. Commit to a learning mentality and you’ll figure out what to do next.

3) Teaches Kids Entrepreneurship  – When my kids get older I’m going to tell them we started a business when they were born. Whether it’s a success or failure isn’t as important as following your dreams. Skill sets such as: sales, networking and communication aren’t taught in school. They are taught in the “streets.” We are moving towards an economy where it will be mandatory to have a side hustle, so age shouldn’t be a factor when experiencing entrepreneurship. My wife and I have talked several times about giving our children their “college fund” for school or starting their own business. As college graduates, we don’t de-value education, but we also believe it doesn’t guarantee you anything either. What our kids decide to do when they grow up is their decision. We just feel our job is to provide them with choices.

Becoming  a new parent may be the most inopportune time to launch a business, but then again…you’ll never know until you try.

OED: Obsessive Efficiency Disorder

Scott Asai2 Comments

work smarter

I admit I’m obsessed with efficiency. To me it’s about working smarter, not harder. Planning my week out ahead of time means I can maximize my time the way I want. Since time is equal to all, I just want to make sure I’m optimizing mine.

For those of you who can’t relate because you feel disorganized, here’s some practical tips to control your schedule:

1) Use your Smartphone Calendar Daily. iPhone users have the luxury of syncing everything (as long as you have Apple products) so once you devices are connected, you have no excuse to forget dates, run errands and pay bills with alerts and reminders. There are three color coded categories preset: work, home and social/out. I encourage you to put everything you do in your phone. That includes meetings, when to exercise, follow-up emails, paying bills, projects, etc. Putting events in your phone means you don’t have to remember them. It’s like working on auto-pilot. Our brains aren’t meant to multitask (no matter what you’ve heard before), therefore make it easier on your brain by setting alerts.

2) Network Spreadsheet. Relationships are your greatest asset. Remember that. It doesn’t matter how career-driven or lazy you are, you need people. One thing that has helped me tremendously is tracking my contacts. I use Numbers (Apple’s version of Excel) to organize all the people I’ve met into different lists (similar to Twitter). In each category, I color code based on how I last contacted someone: black – email, blue – phone/Skype, green – in person, orange – text and red – need to get back to them. I also date it so I know how long ago since the last time we communicated. On top of that I use LinkedIn to write a note to myself about how we met and what we last talked about so I can pick up the conversation where we left off. Also take into consider prioritizing. I go from left to right. On the left side are people I need to keep in touch with so the frequency is more. Towards the right are people I just met so it’s not as frequent, but if our relationship grows they move “left” on the spreadsheet. You don’t have to use a system like this, but its just an example of how I organize my network.

3) Leave Gaps. As someone who’s goal-oriented, I like to achieve. The worst thing I can do is pack my schedule too tight where I get behind early and can’t finish what I intend to accomplish. Let’s say you have a coffee meeting that is supposed to last 30 minutes. Factor in the commute, extra time to talk, one of you being late, etc. and I’m sure the time slot allotted will be much higher. It takes some experimentation, but in the end you can estimate pretty accurately over time. We live in a world where everyone is in a rush, so why not go against the grain? I’m not saying be slow, but give yourself extra time to get stuff done. Back to the whole multitasking concept, give yourself a break between tasks to rest. Otherwise you’re setting yourself up to make mistakes. On a personal note when I planned the majority of my wedding, I put this idea of “leaving gaps” into action. As I worked in tandem with our wedding coordinator, I created a schedule for everyone involved (imagine getting separate timelines from the groom). The result: our family and friends said we were the most relaxed couple they’ve ever seen get married. That’s because the planning and preparation were done ahead so once it was showtime, we had nothing to be worried about.

You can tell by these examples that efficiency matters to me. It’s what I pride myself on and the standard I hold others to. I realize everyone doesn’t think the same as me and that’s fine. But if any of these tips can help you become more efficient, this post was worth writing. So have fun working smarter, not harder!

Scott Asai is a speaker/coach that has been developing leaders for 20+ years – athletes, companies and individuals. His focus is helping people develop leadership skills to advance in their careers. Scott tends to attract a large audience of Millennials and Introverts to his programs/events. His professional background consists of: B.A. in Psychology, M.A. in Organizational Leadership, Certified Professional Coach and Certified Strengths Coach.

Why You Shouldn’t Grow Up

Scott AsaiLeave a comment

Imagination

Being a parent these days, there’s more pressure to help your kid advance than ever. Start applying to a good preschool once they’re born, research the best elementary and middle schools early and what high school gives them to best chance to get into a good college?

Slow down. There’s things that kids do much better than adults, such as imagination. Kids don’t need to be told to dream big because they already do that. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, we were told our dreams need to be scaled down to realistic. Maybe it’s from rejection, failure or being told “you can’t do that.” Whatever it is, it needs to stop.

Some people ask me, what does your ideal client look like? Honestly, it’s someone who has an open mind and is willing to try new things even if they don’t fully believe it can work. It’s the “right brain” that has to be opened up in order to imagine big possibilities. So if you’re struggling to find the free time to dream again sign up for my 8-week online bootcamp geared towards work-life balance. Just because someone told you to stop dreaming doesn’t mean you have to listen to them. Let’s go back in time and start dreaming again.

Winsight Episode 36: Why You Need an Inner Drive

Scott AsaiLeave a comment

internal fire, burn from within, self-motivated

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/winsight/36_Winsight_Episode_36_-_Why_You_Need_an_Inner_Drive.mp3]

 

Imagine yourself as a pro athlete. The day you announce your retirement your athletic career is over. Now what? The cheering stops. Teammates go their separate ways. Where do you go from here?

You don’t need to be a pro athlete to know change is hard, so in this episode we’ll discuss:

  • What question you should be asking yourself
  • What Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Tom Brady have that you need
  • How blogging unlocked why I do what I do
  • What the golden circle can tell you

Now so you understand why you need an inner drive? So answer the question: why do you do what you do?

Winsight Episode 33 – Don’t Follow Your Passion, Follow Your Effort

Scott Asai2 Comments

mark cuban, billionaire entrepreneur, shark tank, follow your effort

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/winsight/33_Winsight_Episode_33_-_Dont_Follow_Your_Passion_Follow_Your_Effort.mp3]

 

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban said, “Don’t follow your passion, follow your effort.” The first time I heard that quote it made me think. Everyone wants to do something they’re passionate about, but are they willing to do the work to turn a dream into reality?

In this episode learn from the following examples:

  • The gap between inspiration and action
  • The payoff of being disciplined isn’t always money
  • Why you can’t always depend on passion
  • What trait all successful entrepreneurs share

After hearing this episode how does it change your opinion about passion vs. effort? What are you both passionate about and willing to do the work on?