Applied Learning from 2Time Labs
Recently, I took some unexpected time off and I had a bit of luck in dealing with all my time demands.
I happened to be testing a new software – SkedPal – at the time and end I realized that my calendar had become a stress-free zone.
Read this post where I talk all about it and act quickly on my recommendation to get in on a free lifetime license. It’s a breakthrough tool that your clients may thank you for recommending…
Most coaching programs make a passing reference to the fact that coachees require different kinds of feedback depending on their level of development.
This makes intuitive sense.
You wouldn’t give a beginner the same advice as someone who is an expert. However, that insight focuses mostly on the content of the feedback to be provided. In other words, whereas a novice requires repetition and reminders of the basics, that kind of input would be useless to someone who has more experience.
But what about the way in which the feedback is provided? That much harder question has rarely been addressed by more than anecdotes and stories. A recent paper by Stacey Finkelstein and Ayelet Fishbach sheds some light on this question with some interesting findings.
As they put it, “novices sought and responded to positive feedback, and experts sought and responded to negative feedback.” The reasons were simple – novices were more interested in increasing their motivation to improve, while experts were more interested in making tangible progress.
What does this mean for you as a time adviser?
1. You must do an accurate assessment.
It’s a big mistake to assume that one size coaching fits all, and you must perform a sound diagnosis to determine whether your coachee is a novice or expert. Without this knowledge, you are more likely to make mistakes.
2. You must vary your approach.
As you work with a client, it makes sense to start out giving lots of positive feedback and then change your advice over time to provide more negative feedback. Changing the blend of feedback might come intuitively to some coaches, but all would benefit from making this shift consciously.
I recommend my book and the forms it includes as a tested method for completing your diagnoses. You can also help your clients compare their skills against others who have also done this evaluation – it can reveal immediate opportunities for improvement and habit patterns that are working against their peace of mind.
The lay-reader may not know, but a coach may figure it out… I actually wrote my book, Perfect Time-Based Productivity, in part, to serve as a guide for time advisers (coaches, consultants, professional organizers and trainers.)
Here’s what I did in a nutshell: I took the training I have been delivering to hundreds of people over 6 years and put it all in the book – everything I could think of. Also, I included more research links than anyone has ever dared (to my knowledge) in a how-to that’s meant for the layperson, not the academic.
The result is that the paperback version, which came a few days ago, is HUGE. At a little more than 400 pages it’s far too much for the casual person who just wants a few random tips.
But it’s just right for the time adviser who wants a solid reference document unlike any other. It gets into topics such as the difference between pedagogy, andragogy and heutagogy (the training of children, adults and self-directed adults.) With its 250+ citations and a full index, it gives you the source of each idea from fields such as psychology, management, adult learning and industrial engineering. In other words, it’s far more than the usual time management book filled with tips, tricks and shortcuts based on “anecdata” – one person’s experience condensed into one-size-fits-all rules.
In fact, it starts by asserting that “time cannot be managed.” If you have been following my work you’ll know that the more sophisticated clients and trainees know this fact also. They also happen to be the ones who may be willing to pay you a premium.
While I wrote the book for the educated, learned individual who has left behind the days of “Time Management 101”, I wrote it as if they were all alone, coaching themselves. In my book, I allude to the fact that it’s possible to get help, but I didn’t emphasize it much because my goal was to empower the reader fully. After all, most won’t use a time adviser in the course of their lives, or even meet one.
But here’s the “secret” part of this message: they would actually move much faster with someone else by their side, helping them along. That is, with expert help they’d be able to protect their peace of mind as time demands increase with greater skill. As a time adviser, it places you in a great position to help.
Furthermore, unlike many books of this kind, you have my full permission (upon registration) to use the ideas and forms in all your work with clients, customers and trainees. Right away, at no additional cost.
When you register, you’ll have future access to upgrades, materials. This translates to your being on the cutting edge and always being a step ahead of your clients… all of them… including those who think they know more than you, or thinking they can cleverly Google Search their way to greater productivity. Plus, you’ll have the confidence and comfort of knowing that you aren’t violating copyright by using the materials.
Some more good news: Amazon has discounted the paperback – to my surprise – but I don’t know how long it will last as they don’t advise me either before or after.
So there are two steps involved:
1) purchase the book on Amazon.com (in either Kindle or paperback format.)
2) register your intent to use the materials in your work, then download your forms
Also, it’s gotten some decent reviews, which I’m very encouraged by, and several of your colleagues have endorsed it. Here are some of their kind words, in the next few paragraphs.
“In this age of quick fixes that usually don’t stand the test of time, the foundations in Perfect
Time-Based Productivity will endure because they are based on both research and individuation. Get started immediately on your journey to better productivity!” Janice Russell, Certified Organizer Coach, Certified Professional Organizer in Chronic Disorganization“Perfect Time-Based Productivity presents the problems we face through a collection of vignettes. Each person will likely feel a kinship to several of the characters met. Francis Wade intertwines these vignettes with large body
of research in the area of time management, and suggestions for implementing best practice. The “cheat sheets” provide the reader with a blueprint assessing one’s current level and charting a course toward a desired future.” Dr.Frank Buck, Frank Buck Consulting, Inc.“This book shows you how to get more done, faster and easier, than ever before.” Brian Tracy – Author, Unlimited Sales Success
“Francis Wade has written a well-researched, practical book that goes beyond time management to help you boost your personal productivity. Perfect Time-Based Productivity offers a step-by-step method for achieving your goals and attaining the next level of success in your life.” Laura Stack, aka The Productivity Pro® and Author, What to Do When There’s Too Much to Do
“In Perfect Time-Based Productivity, the author doesn’t just deliver winning formula on time-based productivity – he delivers it in a manner that makes it easy to follow and implement. If you’re a time-focused person looking to get more out of the hours of the day, then this book is, well, perfect.” Mike Vardy, Author of The Front Nine and Founder of Productivityist
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Once again – you can visit the Amazon sales page here and purchase the book.. The link to register as a time adviser is on page 349, in the section just after the Summary.
As you can imagine, the posts I plan to place on this blog in the future will build on the content in the book. Don’t be left behind as we build our skills as time advisers.
I have some good news: I recently posted up a revised set of forms covering all 11 time-based productivity fundamentals. This is the first time they are being made available to the public, which of course includes all time advisers.
While the general public will see them as a way to start diagnosing their skills immediately, as a time adviser I hope you see something else: an opportunity.
To my knowledge, they are the first complete set of diagnostic tools for time-based productivity behaviors. Also, the fact that they are being offered to the public means that you also have full access.
What does “full” mean?
It means that you can start using them immediately with your clients. All I ask is that you register, and adhere to the Creative Commons License that governs its use. Now, I can’t require that you register – it’s just a matter of honor in which I am trusting that most people will – even though a few may not.
It will be their loss, however, as there are resources I plan to make available to time advisers who are registered. Being registered means that you are not a dabbler, but are serious about being successful in this particular niche.
In my book, I have mentioned the fact there are time advisers who are willing to work with clients using the Perfect Time-Based Productivity approach. As I have mentioned in the past, I don’t plan to work with two or three individual clients per year – I’m not talking about myself. There is a group that has received the BabySteps training and a few stand out in terms of their use of the materials.
Perhaps there may be readers of the book who are interested in getting direct assistance, which I expect would be drawn from the ranks of registered time advisers. Make sure to register by visiting the following page.
However, the first step is to head over to download the complete set of forms here.
Back in June, I was a feature speaker at the International Coach Federation Conference in Cleveland, Ohio.The topic I spoke on was “Expert vs. Novice Time Management Coaching” – I think it’s fair to say that all who attended had a great time, and so did I as you can tell from the recording!
Fortunately the audio I made came out quite well so here’s a link to the slides as well as the sound. I don’t use a lot of words on my slides so it might help to listen to both at the same time. There were lots of exercises so you won’t get to enjoy it on that level, but hey – maybe there will be another opporunity.
If you happen to be in an ICF Chapter please pass the word around – I’d love for ICF coaches to have a peek if they missed the actual conference.
Here are the links to the slides and audio – http://goo.gl/B3qNVv and http://goo.gl/3JxGFB
On Wednesday I’ll be offering the first teleclass for the year – a unique opporunity to learn some advanced techniques for time advisers.
I’m going to ask an obvious-sounding question, given the fact that you are on my list of time advisers…
Are you interested in building your coaching practice to include more or better time management clients?
The question is probably obvious, but what’s not as clear is way to get at the answer. I can’t claim to have the complete answer, but here are a few things I believe are missing for most coaches, trainers, professional organizers and consultants.
1. You don’t have a clear process to follow – the client/trainee senses that you, the time adviser, is making things up as they go along and that not much thought has been put into the sequence of events being followed.
2. You don’t have a philosophy – when you know little more than your clients, or can’t do better than Google, they tune out and reliy on their own Google searches for answers. Case in point: anyone can do a YouTube search for “time management doesn’t exist” and pull up 20 videos on the topic. If you are still operating like it does, and can’t explain why / whot not, you’ll be in trouble in trouble.
3. You don’t have fresh tools – pulling out old, tired chestnuts like the Important/Urgent Diagram popularized by Stephen Covey (who came long after Dwight Eisenhower made it known) won’t get you very far. Clients just don’t need you to explain what it is – the guy in the cubicle next-door will do just fine.
In the course of speeches to the International Coaching Federation, the American Society of Training and Development and the Institute for Challenging Disorganization I have been answering these questions – pushing time advisers to solve the real problems clients have today, not the ones they had 20 years ago.
Are these the keys to getting more or better clients?
If you believe clients are like kids, who don’t know anything about the topic, then “No.” Most of the blog posts, books and programs treat clients as if they know little or nothing.
However, if you are convinced that the best clients are already effective in many ways, and already know a lot about time management then you must have the three things I’ll provide you in the teleclass:
1. An 8 Phase Process to follow
2. A Philosophy
3. Fresh Tools in the form of Cheat Sheets for the 7 Essential Fundamentals (which I have never-before released to the public.)
Also, I’ll be inviting you to join me in my new individual time adviser training program – Baby Steps Online.
Visit the link below to register – it’s absolutely complimentary.
http://www.mytimedesign.com/wordpress/teleclass-on-wed-june-7
I’m en route to the International Coaching Federation Conference in Cleveland Ohio, and just got news that my article on the ICF blog was published today.
It’s for time advisers, and it stresses the need for us to be well ahead of our clients, and their powerful ability to Google up time management advice. Here’s the link to the article on the ICF blog entitled “How to Clear Up your Client’s Time Management Confusion.”
If you plan to attend the International Coaching Federation Conference in Cleveland, Ohio, you may be on the search for the handout for my session, How to Provide Expert (vs. Novice) Time Management Coaching.
If you haven’t yet done so, an excellent way to prepare for the session is to obtain a copy of my Special Report – The 8 Fatal Assumptions that Time Advisers Make. You can also read through this blog and start to immerse yourself fully in the world of time advising.
In this way, you’ll arrive at the session with the basic questions answered, ready to engage in the questions and exercises that will truly make you a more effective coach.
Mark Hortsman’s website, Manager-Tools.com, is one of the best resources on the Internet for managers of all levels. It’s always an entertaining listen as he shares his ideas with his audience.
In this interview with him, I got a chance to ask him to shed some light on how time-starved CEO’s should manage their time. Tune in to this podcast and listen to the advice he gives – it’s not for everyone, but it does apply to those who are at the top of our best companies.
P.S. Should I bring him back for an interview on coaching top executives on their time-based productivity skills? If you think so, let me know in the comments below.
As Time Advisers, we can’t know everything about time-based productivity. At the same time, our clients look to us to provide more than trivial tips, tricks and top ten lists of shortcuts they can find for themselves using a Google search.
We need coaching and processes that are so full of “inside” information, our clients thank us. One way to gain that information is through research, and here’s an outstanding example.
In the absence of current, easy-to-find research in time-based productivity, Dr. Melinda Wilson created her own first-hand information by tackling one productivity technique per week for a year, and then writing up her findings in plain English. I interviewed her at the end of her courageous effort. As time advisers, we should all be grateful.
Here’s a Researcher Who Spent a Year Tackling One Productivity Technique Per Week.