People at the top of every profession share one quality — they get things done. This ability supersedes intelligence, talent, and connections in determining the size of your salary and the speed of your advancement.
Despite the simplicity of this concept there is a perpetual shortage of people who excel at getting results. The action habit — the habit of putting ideas into action now — is essential to getting things done. Here are 7 ways you can grow the action habit:
1. Don’t wait until conditions are perfect - If you’re waiting to start until conditions are perfect, you probably never will. There will always be something that isn’t quite right. Either the timing is off, the market is down, or there’s too much competition. In the real world there is no perfect time to start. You have to take action and deal with problems as they arise. The best time to start was last year. The second best time is right now.
2. Be a doer - Practice doing things rather than thinking about them. Do you want to start exercising? Do you have a great idea to pitch your boss? Do it today. The longer an idea sits in your head without being acted on, the weaker it becomes. After a few days the details gets hazy. After a week it’s forgotten completely. By becoming a doer you’ll get more done and stimulate new ideas in the process.
3. Remember that ideas alone don’t bring success - Ideas are important, but they’re only valuable after they’ve been implemented. One average idea that’s been put into action is more valuable than a dozen brilliant ideas that you’re saving for “some other day” or the “right opportunity”. If you have an idea the you really believe in, do something about it. Unless you take action it will never go anywhere.
4. Use action to cure fear - Have you ever noticed that the most difficult part of public speaking is waiting for your turn to speak? Even professional speakers and actors experience pre-performance anxiety. Once they get started the fear disappears. Action is the best cure for fear. The most difficult time to take action is the very first time. After the ball is rolling, you’ll build confidence and things will keep getting easier. Kill fear by taking action and build on that confidence.
5. Start your creative engine mechanically - One of the biggest misconceptions about creative work is that it can only be done when inspiration strikes. If you wait for inspiration to slap you in the face, your work sessions will be few and far between. Instead of waiting, start your creative motor mechanically. If you need to write something, force yourself to sit down and write. Put pen to paper. Brainstorm. Doodle. By moving your hands you’ll stimulate the flow of ideas and inspire yourself.
6. Think in terms of now - Focus on what you can do in the present moment. Don’t worry about what you should have done last week or what you might be able to do tomorrow. The only time you can affect is the present. If you speculate too much about the past or the future you won’t get anything done. Tomorrow or next week frequently turns into never. As Ben Franklin said, “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”
7. Get down to business immediately - It’s common practice for people to socialize and make small talk at the beginning of meetings. The same is true for individual workers. How often do you check email or RSS feeds before doing any real work? These distractions will cost you serious time if you don’t bypass them and get down to business immediately. By becoming someone who gets to the point you’ll be more productive and people will look to you as a leader.
It takes courage to take action without instructions from the person in charge. Perhaps that’s why initiative is a rare quality that’s coveted by managers and executives everywhere. Seize the initiative. Be a crusader. When you have a good idea, start implementing it without being told. Once people see you’re serious about getting things done they’ll want to join in. The people at the top don’t have anyone telling them what to do. If you want to join them, you should get used to acting independently.
jueves
Spa 341, pulled out of your routine...
Michael Pitek, founder of The Performance Group (341 Linwood Avenue), who spent a lot of time and money converting an old mansion on Linwood Avenue into a corporate retreat. Since then, the business model has been expanded to include a spa, now open to the public, that must be labeled the premiere urban sanctum in WNY. - New York
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
miércoles
Turn a flashlight into a handheld burning laser
Laser Flashlight Hack! - video powered by Metacafe
DIYer Kipkay extracts the laser from a DVD burner and mounts it in a small flashlight to create a handheld laser burner that can light matches and burst balloons. Hit the play button to see how he did it. This project isn't for the faint of heart: it involves pretty specialized components and soldering, but that'll all be worth it when you're camping with your pals and you start the fire by pointing your homemade handheld laser at the tinder. For more info, Kip posted the laser mod over at Instructables, too. UPDATE: Several readers rightly point out that your burning handheld laser could pose a safety risk to humans, especially when pointed at eyeballs. Watch your kids, proceed at your own risk, treat as you would a weapon, etc. Thank you.
lunes
viernes
How to Communicate with Body Language
It is often said that in face-to-face communications, the words we speak actually account for less than 10% of the meaning that we convey, while body language accounts for more than half of our message (our tone of voice supposedly communicates the rest). Body language is important, and if your words say one thing but your body says another, the person you are speaking to is more likely to believe the message your body is communicating. Here's how to start using body language to improve your day-to-day communications and, more importantly, to improve your quality of life.
10 things your IT department won't tell you
The Wall Street Journal talks to 3 IT experts to find out what risky computing they try to keep you from engaging in, then asks 3 productivity mavens (including our very own Gina Trapani) how to get around the blocks. The list offers a nice point-counterpoint of why your IT department considers something a risk, how you can bypass their roadblocks and do it anyway, and—perhaps more importantly—how to get around it in a manner that won't completely freak out your IT department. (I'm not saying it won't just a little.) For more, see how else you can.
Geek to Live: Survive IT lockdown
by Gina Trapani
I visited a friend at her office recently, and watched her launch Internet Explorer on her computer.
"Um, there's this new-fangled thing called tabbed browsing," I told her, teasing. "You should try it some day. It's totally bleeding edge."
She looked at me, annoyed.
"I'd use Firefox but I don't have privileges to install anything on this computer. It's for SECURITY REASONS."
Sound familiar? Using a workplace computer with limited user rights can be a serious pain in the arse. Now, we here at Lifehacker would never recommend that you break your workplace's IT department computer usage policy (ahem) but there are ways to get stuff done with the software you need on a machine where your user login has restricted rights.
Run portable software from an external disk
They may be able to restrict your ability to install software, but they most likely haven't blocked access to your computer's USB ports.
Whether it's a thumb drive or your iPod, you can run the software you want at the office from an external writable disk. Namely, Portable Firefox and Portable Thunderbird will let you browse the web with extensions and tabs, and check your Gmail, Yahoo Mail and personal email all from the plugged-in drive. Tons of other standalone, self-contained apps exist from word processors to media players for an external drive. The more space you've got the merrier, so if you don't have a thumb drive, be sure to use the extra space on your iPod in disk mode.
Here's a quick rundown of portable app downloads for your escape from IT lockdown:
- Portable Firefox web browser - includes extensions & plugins
- Portable Thunderbird email client - take your email settings with you
- Portable GAIM instant messenger client - if you can't install AIM or Trillian, includes your buddy list
A whole bunch of other portable software downloads are available at PortableApps.com, the IT lockdown inmate's best friend. Also, if you've got an iPod you want to use at work but you can't install iTunes, see yesterday's feature on playing music on your iPod without installing a thing on your computer, The Self-Sustaining iPod.
Route around web site blocks
So you were playing Yahoo! Games at the office happily for months, and then one day the site was blocked. What to do? Well, there are a bunch of methods for routing around web site restrictions, and it'll take some trial and error to hit on the one that works for you.
Here are a few options:
- Use Google's translation service as a 'proxy'
- TorPark anonymous browsing for a thumbdrive
- Browse restricted web sites with Virtual-Browser
- Use Google Mobile as a 'proxy'
Lifehacker reader Amit Agarwal also compiled a list of 7 different approaches in his article How to Access Blocked Web sites.
Luckily I'm administrator on my machine on an unrestricted network, so I want to hear from the lifehackers out there dealing with lockdown. Necessity is the mother of invention, so how do you deal with IT restrictions at work? Let us know in the comments or at tips at lifehacker.com.
Gina Trapani, the editor of Lifehacker, wishes everyone free access to the tools and information they need to work (and play) efficiently. Her semi-weekly feature, Geek to Live, appears every Wednesday and Friday on Lifehacker. Subscribe to the Geek to Live feed to get new installments in your newsreader.
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