One of the books on my "To Read" List for January is, "18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction and Get the Right Things Done," by Peter Bregman.   A very interesting read and worth the time if you get the chance to pick it up - check it out here.  Strange thing is that all along, and about 65% through the book, I've been wondering, "What's the 18 Minutes About?"  Well, I guess it was a build up...

The 18 Minutes refers to key moments in your day that impact your ability to be effective.  In a nutshell, here they are:

• Your Morning Minutes: 5 Minutes
  Before turning on your computer, sit down with your "to do" list and decide which items, if accomplished, would make it a successful day.  It is critical to only pick the items you can realistically achieve by the end of the day.  Sometimes it helps to under-commit because you always have things come up that are unexpected.  This isn't an excuse to be lazy though!
  
  
• Refocus: 1 Minute Every Hour
  Set your watch to go off every hour and use that one minute after the alarm to take a deep breath and evaluate whether you spent your last hour productively.  Review your daily task list and determine how you're going to spend the next hour.
  
  
• Your Evening Minutes: 5 Minutes
  So how'd you do on your day?  Did you stick with your daily task list?  Did you achieve your most important objectives?  If so, great for you.  If not, use this time to recommit for tomorrow and maybe finish up things you didn't get to...little things like, do you need to quickly follow up with someone, or send someone an email.  A few minutes at the end of your day will alleviate that voice inside your head that nags you of the things you didn't get to!
  
  
  

We all bring unique skills, education and experience to a situation, so what makes one person the "expert"?  

I'm not sure experts even exist.  After all, if you think about one topic that you should know the most about - your own self - there are probably still some things that people could tell you about yourself that you didn't realize.  I think the true value (or benefit) of expertise is the ability to filter the information. 

For example, one of the books I'm reading right now is, "Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works" by A.G. Lafley and Roger Martin.  (You can check it out here).  For anyone looking to develop a strategic plan for their business, this book is a great resource.  In fact, I might even say, it's a great benchmark for any business to use.  However, even with Lafley's wild success as leader of P&G, this book is largely focused on how he made P&G flourish.  If you are not a big corporation like P&G, it's likely that a good number of the concepts will be over the top.  However, if you take the time to filter the information and extract the nuggets of information that apply to your own business, you can reap tremendous value. 

Take another example - the last time you went to the doctor or the last time you took your car in for repairs.  You kinda had an inkling about what was going on, but you relied on the "expert" to share his education and experience to diagnose the problem.  Likely, you took the information and ran it through your own filter and decided on next steps.  Sometimes that means following advice, sometimes that means getting a second opinion, which in itself says no one is the expert!

Filtering.  The point here is that there are many sources of information.  Many "experts" spouting their mantra.  Sometimes that information sheds light on a totally new way of approaching things and that leads you on a new path.  Sometimes you put the information through your filter and realize the current path is the right one.  The key is to remain open to new information or new approaches - just use your filter to determine whether it applies to your unique situation.   In the end, the true value of expertise is not blind trust, it's filtering. 

So who's trying to be an expert now?  Not me, really, just sharing something else for your own filter process!   

I already got started working on one of my New Year's Resolutions which is to read 12 business books this year and recalled how fulfilling it is to read a book that you enjoy.  First up:  "18 Minutes", Find Your Focus, Mater Distraction and Get the Right Things Done, by Peter Bregman.   You can check it out here. 

As a bit of a productivity "junkie", I'm constantly looking for meaty information, but from sources that are...well, a productive use of my time.  This book is getting off to a great start and I'd like to share one of the concepts that seems a bit counterintuitive at first...but really makes sense under further exploration - Reducing forward momentum. 

Momentum is certainly a good thing.  As a runner, even a pebble in my shoe isn't a good reason to stop going...you know, bodies in motion tend to stay in motion.  And in our professional settings, getting going or getting started is one of the toughest things - especially after a holiday!  Once you seem to get your rhythm, things go much easier.  The concept of reducing forward momentum isn't attempting to counter that mode of operation, it's just meant to stir it up a bit. 

As Bregman explains, the essence of why reducing forward momentum works is that it frees you from the beliefs, habits, feelings, and busyness that may be limiting you.  So what's the secret?  Slow down.  Start Over.

In the hectic pace of life, we are constantly moving from one thing to another - we get on autopilot and don't re-evaluate our actions or direction.  Have you ever dug your heels into a position so strongly that later you realized you could have helped drive a better solution if you would have listened more?  Bregman recommends that you Slow Down by reducing the emphasis on arguing your point and listen more - ask more questions, "tell me a little more about that".   I think this concept applies more broadly to life as well.  Slow Down the pace of life and enjoy a few quiet moments of reflection - I bet your best ideas come flooding in.

The Start Over concept is a mental game that asks:  If I were starting from scratch on this project or endeavor, would I do it all over again.  Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but this provides insight into whether your decision was the right one.  For example, if you hired someone and asked the Start Over question as to whether you would still hire him knowing what you know,  and the answer is "no", then it's probably time to let the person go.

Our ability to re-evaluate and maybe give up a little of our ego for a long term better solution, certainly will make us more productive and successful.  How about it?  Give it a try and you might just see that reducing momentum is real forward movement!