Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to focus on what you got done during
Speaker 1: the day, not the hours or effort you put in. Now.
Speaker 1: To be fair, you can't accomplish most big things without
Speaker 1: putting in time and effort. But it is the outcome,
Speaker 1: not the time itself, that tends to matter most. Today's
Speaker 1: tip comes from a recent episode of hbr's Idea Cast.
Speaker 1: We're a guest reminded leaders that it's not about the inputs,
Speaker 1: it's not about the number of hours you put in.
Speaker 1: It's about the results you achieve. And as a manager,
Speaker 1: you shouldn't push people to work longer out hours. You
Speaker 1: should push people to achieve more results and enable them
Speaker 1: to do so. Focusing on results is wise advice when
Speaker 1: we are managing ourselves or managing others. It's easy to
Speaker 1: get caught up in the story that being a good
Speaker 1: worker means putting in the longest hours, but really being
Speaker 1: a good worker is about delivering good stuff. To keep
Speaker 1: your focus on results, build a routine of asking yourself,
Speaker 1: maybe at lunch and at the end of the workday,
Speaker 1: what you produced, not the hours you put in or
Speaker 1: what you worked on, but the specific tasks or parts
Speaker 1: of tasks that you completed. With your team, you can
Speaker 1: use language like accomplish or produce and complete to help
Speaker 1: them focus on what got done. You can even go
Speaker 1: beyond recalling and talking about what you produced to actually
Speaker 1: write it down. Consider maintaining a work log that lists
Speaker 1: what you accomplished each day. This isn't an exhaustive list
Speaker 1: of every task you performed in every meeting you attended.
Speaker 1: Think of it as being more like a one line
Speaker 1: a day journal that captures the day's highlights, rather than
Speaker 1: a lengthy, dear diary chronicle that describes every moment. For instance,
Speaker 1: a person's work log entry for a day might say
Speaker 1: developed department budget for next year, and gave feedback to
Speaker 1: Jenny about running tighter meetings and looked through resumes for
Speaker 1: the new position. Another person's log might say fulfilled orders,
Speaker 1: recelaved last week, an updated e commerce site with new
Speaker 1: merchandise available, or for another person, came up with two
Speaker 1: ideas for sermon series, edited this Sunday sermon, approved changes
Speaker 1: to the church calendar, and called for parishioners. Whatever the
Speaker 1: specifics of your job. Your worklog includes your main accomplishments
Speaker 1: of the day. Keeping a log makes visible the progress
Speaker 1: that you are making, so you can notice it and
Speaker 1: celebrate it. A log also reveals when you are not
Speaker 1: making progress. If all you could say is that you
Speaker 1: attended a lot of meetings and answered a lot of
Speaker 1: emails and you can't think of anything that changed in
Speaker 1: the world as a result of all those meetings and emails,
Speaker 1: well that is a prompt to rethink what you're doing.
Speaker 1: Not that you need to put in more hours, but
Speaker 1: that you need to get more done. You may not
Speaker 1: need to keep a work log all the time, but
Speaker 1: it could be helpful to do so for a week
Speaker 1: or so if you want to understand why you are
Speaker 1: making slow progress or why you are feeling pulled in
Speaker 1: a lot of directions. There may be some interesting answers
Speaker 1: that are worth exploring. When we focus on results, we
Speaker 1: get more done, and when we are less worried about
Speaker 1: the hours we are putting in, we may also have
Speaker 1: more time for pursuits outside of work. That is a
Speaker 1: win for everyone. If you try keeping a work log,
Speaker 1: let me know how it goes. You can reach me
Speaker 1: at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time.
Speaker 2: Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can
Speaker 2: send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just
Speaker 2: connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before
Speaker 2: Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four than Breakfast pod.
Speaker 2: You can also shoot me in email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 2: Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com that before Breakfast is spelled
Speaker 2: out with all the letters. Thanks so much. Should I
Speaker 2: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a
Speaker 2: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
Speaker 2: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
Speaker 2: favorite shows.