Posts Tagged ‘distractions’

Open Door Policy

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Believe it or not, most professionals crave interruptions during the workday.

It allows them to generate some immediate gratification by answering a question or giving input on an issue.

Unfortunately, these interruptions distract us from making progress towards the important goals that drive our businesses.

A day filled with distractions may seem busy but rarely is it productive.

Is it time you changed your “open door policy”?

CJ McClanahan is the Founder of reachmore, which teaches small business owners how to build a business that runs without them. For more resources on business leadership, please visit reachmore’s seminars.

Tags: Business, distractions, goals, gratification, Open door policy, productivity
Posted in Blog, Business, Habits, Life, Sales, Uncategorized |

Are you neglecting to execute?

Monday, June 6th, 2011

“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” – Juhann Wolfgang Von Goethe

This past week, I had a meeting with a prospect where we discussed a handful of the fundamentals necessary to be successful in sales.

He admitted that they aren’t executing the basics, but that they at least know what to do.

I argued that knowing what to do is useless, unless you do something with that knowledge.

What simple habit are you neglecting to execute?

Tags: accountability, commitment, discipline, distractions, Habits, Sales, success
Posted in Blog, Business, Habits, Life, Sales, Uncategorized |

Pay Attention

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

I often joke that business owners all have ADD and that I should serve Ritalin shakes at my workshops.

It seems as though every day we are introduced to a new method for absorbing information and data. There is an “App” for everything and these technological innovations satisfy our need for immediate gratification.

So, the question becomes, are we paying attention to the right things?

Does all of this information make us better leaders, business owners, friends, parents and siblings?

I am not sure.

However, I do know that the brain can only handle so much and perform effectively.

What are you focused on today? Does it bring value to your business?

If it doesn’t, why do it?

Tags: achieve, Business, business coach, business owners, distractions, focus
Posted in Blog, Business, Habits, Life, Sales |

Multi-Tasking

Tuesday, December 7th, 2010

Last night while leaving the gym I walked past a row of treadmills with a handful of runners.

One of these individuals caught my attention.

It was a woman who was walking on the treadmill at about the same pace that I was walking to the locker room. In addition, she was holding a phone up to her ear and having a loud conversation.

I was tempted to interrupt and let her know that a gentle walk on a treadmill while talking on the phone in no way constitutes exercise. In fact, I think you can burn more calories chewing gum.

We all feel the need to try and do 15 things at once. In fact, most people (at times including me) feel guilty when we are focusing on just 1 task at a time.

Here’s a newsflash – some activities are meant to be done by themselves, without interruptions.

Here’s a handful:

1. Talking on the phone with someone that is important to you.

2. Working on an important project – at home or at work – that requires intellectual concentration.

3. Having a conversation with someone else.

4. Sitting in a meeting.

In case you think I’m nuts ask yourself the following question – “Do you enjoy being on the phone and hearing someone typing on their computer?”

CJ McClanahan is the Founder of reachmore, which provides leadership coaching for small business and executives. Email CJ at cjm@goreachmore.com for the latest on reachmore’s revolutionary executive coaching program, Summit.

Tags: Business, business coach, business coaching, distractions
Posted in Blog, Business, Habits, Life, Sales |

Inspire Others with Your Presence

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Jenny just bought a ridiculously awesome brand-new Ford Taurus SHO. The car has heated seats, air conditioned seats, full navigation, DVD player, retractable rear sun shade, 21-speaker surround sound, blue tooth telephone capability, automatic rain-sensing windshield wipers, blind-spot indicators, and a host of other sweet options. Oh, and by the way, the seats massage your legs and back while you drive!!!

She let me drive this beast for the first time two weeks ago, and I had so much trouble paying attention! I mean, every other second some automated system was starting up, a light was flashing, or a sound came on alerting you to something. It was so distracting that I had trouble driving! Who knew a seat massager could cause an accident!

I especially had trouble paying attention to Jenny. While every one of the “loaded” options was doing its thing, Jenny was also trying to carry on a conversation with me, and for the life of me, I barely heard what she was saying.

That’s when I remembered that I had to get present. I couldn’t just live in the distractions that were around in the car, or survive only with the thoughts in my head. I had to get present with every word that was coming out of Jenny’s mouth in order to inspire and connect with her.

Life can be one big distraction. You have so many conflicting priorities and “shoulds” that you want to get done. Life can be so distracting that we forget to be present with the people who run our businesses, with the strangers we meet, and with the families who love us so dearly.

Be present. Feel everything your body is touching. Listen to every sound in your environment. Connect with your energy and focus your attention on the human beings who are around you.

If you truly want to be an inspiration to your environment, and connect with other people, be present.

Jamar Cobb-Dennard is the Vice-President of Business Development for reachmore, which teaches small business owners how to build a business that runs without them. For more resources on business leadership, please visit http://blog.goreachmore.com.

Tags: business coach, business coaching, clarity, connect, distractions, eliminate, focus, inspire, motivate, prioritize, relationships
Posted in Blog, Business, Habits, Life |

Distractions

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Have you seen the latest AT&T vs. Verizon advertising campaign?

In the latest attempt to convince the American public that they should switch to AT&T, their spokesperson (Luke Wilson – funny guy – best movie is Old School) argues that Verizon stinks because you can’t talk on the phone and surf the internet at the same time.

In another campaign, Sprint indicates that their service is the best because you can be on vacation, shop, download music, check on the office and talk on the telephone!

What’s next?

Check out the new Smartphone from AT&T. Now you can complete a spreadsheet, use the restroom, raise your children, workout, attend church services, donate to a political campaign, update your Facebook account, send a Twitter message and talk on the phone all at the same time!!

When does it end?

There is some interesting research taking place indicating that all of these distractions (which are designed to help us accomplish more) are actually making us less productive.

The reason is that our brain requires time to focus and really process information. Constant interruptions affect our ability to concentrate and thus result in a significant delay in even the simplest tasks.

Imagine the following scenario….

You open a spreadsheet on your laptop and begin a project that should take about 30 minutes. 10 minutes into the project you get an email with a MS Word document that looks like it will take about 15 minutes to complete so you decide to complete it out quickly. 5 minutes into that project your cell phone rings – it is a client that has a simple question. You walk down to a coworkers office to find the answer and 3 hours later you sit back down to your desk. Immediately you notice that there are 2 open documents. You then ask yourself – “What was I working on?”

Sound familiar?

We believe that because we have so many things going on at once (and feel so rushed and hurried) that we are more productive.

It turns out that all of these distractions are hurting our production.

Sometimes we need to slow down to speed up.

CJ McClanahan
reachmore
(317) 576-8492
www.goreachmore.com

Need a short burst of inspiration? Check out our blog.

Tags: at&t, Blackberry, distractions, iPhone, verizon
Posted in Business, Life |

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