How to Stop Overcommitting

Would you like to STOP:

-Rushing to/from meetings?

-Missing workouts?

-Getting reports in at the last minute?

-Burning yourself out?

Then you need to stop overcommitting.

Admit it.  There is a certain “jazz” you get from being constantly busy.  It can be intoxicating to serve the tyranny of the urgent.  In his book First Things First, Dr. Stephen Covey identifies this addiction to urgency as the first thing you need to kick if you really want more control of your time.  It makes you look busy, but maybe not very productive.  And urgency is certainly the enemy of quality work.

Here are three more tips to STOP doing the things above and to actually produce even higher QUALITY work.

1.  You actually have some control in your life.  Identify what you can say no to – and start saying no.  Kick the ALWAYS SAYING YES habit.

2.  Where you cannot say no - negotiate longer deadlines.  Let’s face it, not everything needs to be done yesterday.

3.  Block significant chunks of time on your calendar to get “work” done – no meetings; and stick to it.

There is no easy answer to getting today’s work life of constant change, tons of emails, and endless meetings under control.  But these suggestions will help.  You will be happier and make even more of a Mission Impact when you implement them.

For more ideas on how you can lead breakthroughs in your organization, follow this blog and check out my web site at www.SheehanNonprofitConsulting.com   You will find free resources you can download, including a Breakthrough Strategy Workbook that you can download at no cost.  You can also check out my book, Mission Impact:  Breakthrough Strategies for Nonprofits, and buy it if you are interested.  And you can follow Sheehan Nonprofit Consulting on Facebook.

The Value of Nurturing Stakeholders

You know it’s something you should spend more time on, but it gets put on the backburner.  This blog is dedicated to encouraging you to take “nurturing stakeholders” from your “C” list and moving it up to your “A” list.

We all know how important it is to have strong relationships with our stakeholders, whether they are donors, board members, volunteers, alumni, people who use our services, staff, community leaders, etc.  Nonprofits do not have “shareholders” as owners.  But the closest thing we have to “owners” are our stakeholders – and we owe it to them to keep them updated on what we are doing and to regularly get their input on our activities.

And this should not just happen every three – five years when you are doing your new strategic plan.  It should be an ongoing, regular process.  You don’t have to wait until it is strategy time to do a survey, hold a town hall, run some focus groups, or have some individual meetings to share what is going on and ask for input.

I know one CEO who makes it a point every week to have at least one lunch/coffee with one or more stakeholders.  Taking this personal time means the world to people.

Who are the most neglected stakeholders?  I would be interested in your nominations, but I find that it is often past board members.  They finish their term and we don’t know what to do with them.  How about asking them out to coffee every now and then?  If you have a national board and that is unrealistic, then maybe you do a special email message just to past board members two or three times a year – and not just when you are ready to ask them for money.

Our stakeholders are our core.  We could not exist without them.  And some day you are going to need them more than you realize.  I say it’s time to put stakeholders on the “A” list.

For more ideas on how you can lead breakthroughs in your organization, follow this blog and check out my web site at www.SheehanNonprofitConsulting.com   You will find free resources you can download, including a Breakthrough Strategy Workbook that you can download at no cost.  You can also check out my book, Mission Impact:  Breakthrough Strategies for Nonprofits, and buy it if you are interested.  And you can follow Sheehan Nonprofit Consulting on Facebook.

The Secret of Alchemy

The last days of summer are speeding by, but there is still time to pick up a book for that final summer read at the beach or pool this weekend.  And I recommend The Alchemist by Paul Coelho.

The Alchemist is an oldie, but goodie that I finally got around to reading recently.  It is a fable of a young man who goes in search of his destiny.  The Alchemist he meets in the story does not teach him how to turn lead into gold, but instead how to turn dreams into reality – which is golden in its own way.

A few of my favorite passages:

*At one point the young man was robbed of everything he had and was totally penniless.  “As he mused about these things, he realized that he had to choose between thinking of himself as the poor victim of a thief and as an adventurer in quest of his treasure.  ‘I’m an adventurer, looking for treasure,’ he said to himself.”  We are all adventurers on our various quests.  The young man chose to focus on the vision of his future quest rather than his temporary misfortune.

*As the young man’s pursuit of his quest continued, he wondered if its achievement was impossible.  The Alchemist counseled him that “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”  And he encouraged the young man to focus on the passion for his vision, his Personal Legend.

*Later, the young man realized that there was a significant chance that he could die in the pursuit of his vision.  Again, the Alchemist counseled him “Then you’ll die in the midst of trying to realize your Personal Legend.  That’s a lot better than dying like millions of other people, who never even knew what their Personal Legends were.”  This reminds me of that great Helen Keller quote: “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”

Did the young man achieve his vision?  I can’t reveal that, but I can tell you that he learned many lessons that you will enjoy reading about.  If we passionately believe in our visions with all of our heart, magical things can happen.  Enjoy The Alchemist! 

For more ideas on how you can lead breakthroughs in your organization, follow this blog and check out my web site at www.SheehanNonprofitConsulting.com   You will find free resources you can download, including a Breakthrough Strategy Workbook that you can download at no cost.  You can also check out my book, Mission Impact:  Breakthrough Strategies for Nonprofits, and buy it if you are interested.  And you can follow Sheehan Nonprofit Consulting on Facebook.