Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to focus on what you got done
Speaker 1: during 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: were 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 hours. You should
Speaker 1: push people to achieve more results and enable them to
Speaker 1: do so. Focusing on results is wise advice when we
Speaker 1: are managing ourselves or managing others. It's easy to get
Speaker 1: caught up in the story that being a good worker
Speaker 1: means putting in the longest hours, but really being a
Speaker 1: good worker is about delivering good stuff. To keep your
Speaker 1: focus on results, build a routine of asking yourself, maybe
Speaker 1: at lunch and at the end of the work day,
Speaker 1: what you produced, not the hours you put in or
Speaker 1: what you worked on, but the specific tasks are parts
Speaker 1: of tasks that you completed with your team. You can
Speaker 1: use language like accomplished or produced 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. Can that are maintaining a work log
Speaker 1: that lists what you accomplished each day. This isn't an
Speaker 1: exhaustive list of every task you performed in every meeting
Speaker 1: you attended. Think of it as being more like a
Speaker 1: one line a day journal that captures the day's highlights,
Speaker 1: rather than a lengthy, dear diary chronicle that describes every moment.
Speaker 1: For instance, a person's work log entry for a day
Speaker 1: might say developed department budget for next year and gave
Speaker 1: feedback to Jenny about running tighter meetings and looked through
Speaker 1: resumes for the new position. Another person's log might say
Speaker 1: fulfilled orders for sleave last week, an updated e commerce
Speaker 1: site with new merchandise available, or for another person came
Speaker 1: up with two ideas for sermon series, edited this Sunday sermon,
Speaker 1: approved changes to the church calendar, and called for parishioners.
Speaker 1: Whatever the specifics of your job. You're work log includes
Speaker 1: your main accomplishments of the day. Keeping a log makes
Speaker 1: visible the progress that you are making, so you can
Speaker 1: notice it and celebrate it. A log also reveals when
Speaker 1: you are not making progress. If all you could say
Speaker 1: is that you attended a lot of meetings and answered
Speaker 1: a lot of emails and you can't think of anything
Speaker 1: that changed in the world as a result of all
Speaker 1: those meetings and emails, well that is a prompt to
Speaker 1: rethink what you're doing. Not that you need to put
Speaker 1: in more hours, but that you need to get more done.
Speaker 1: You may not need to keep a work log all
Speaker 1: the time, but it could be helpful to do so
Speaker 1: for a week or so if you want to understand
Speaker 1: why you are making slow progress or why you are
Speaker 1: feeling pulled in a lot of directions. There may be
Speaker 1: some interesting answers that are worth exploring. When we focus
Speaker 1: and results, we get more done, and when we are
Speaker 1: less worried about the hours we are putting in, we
Speaker 1: may also have more time for pursuits outside of work.
Speaker 1: That is a win for everyone. If you try keeping
Speaker 1: a work log, let me know how it goes. You
Speaker 1: can reach me at Laura at Laura Vanderkam dot com.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod
Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me in email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled
Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look
Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production
Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.