rethink the sandwich

As managers and leaders, how do we change the behavior of our people? We give feedback. If we're any good at giving feedback we know the "sandwich" model. The sandwich model states:

• Start with the bread: The bread is light and fluffy, highlighting the all the great work your employee does. 
• Then the meat: Identify the problem behaviors. Talk about specific examples of the problem behaviors. 
• Then finish with more bread: End on a high note. Talk about how their strengths can turn into strategies to improve the issues.

Let's go back to my first statement for a moment.

"As managers and leaders, how do we change the behavior of our people? We give feedback."

That is a little presumptuous though. We have two things being stated. On the one hand, we have the idea of "changing behavior", on the other, we have "giving feedback". Who says they are connected? This is what I know..

• Feedback helps people intelectualize behaviors.
• When we intelectualize things, it feels better.
• It feels like, if we just think hard enough we can change and be great.
• On the other hand...thinking about a behavior only lasts as long as our attention span.
• We might be dedicated to thinking about something for a day, a week, or maybe even if we're really good, a month.

So if not sandwiches, then what?! Believe it or not, we can learn something from drug addictions. Wait! Hear me out on this one...

When you study some of the most addictive behaviors, the behaviors that the people around the addict desperately want to change about them, you will find something very relatable to our situation. It doesn't matter how many times you beg, plead or give the BEST sandwich EVER. Behavior doesn't change until the addict decides for themselves that THEY are in fact committed to changing. So how do we take all this, make sense of it, and use it.

Here is my suggestion. Change the way we approach evaluations in the workplace and in organizations. As the leader or manager, hold off on that sandwich for a second. Follow these three steps:

Ask open ended, directed questions. The trick is to use the questions to inspire commitment from within. A commitment to who they are as a person or employee. Here are some questions, in my opinion, that can do this.

• What does success look like for you as an individual in your career?
• What inspires you?
• When was the last time you made a difference?
• What do you value?
• How do you hope to be perceived by those around you?

Sound motivational? It should, the technique is called "motivational interviewing". It's warm and fuzzy, but it works.

Listen, then continue to listen, and listen more. Listen. Part of you will want to share your hopes and dreams too. Part of you will want to comment on their responses. Don't. Just listen.

After they have identified success and personal values, its time to focus on asking the questions that will lead your staff to the answers you would have just told them anyway. When people can identify behaviors and strategies for themselves to get them where they want and need to be it turns into a personal commitment to changing their behavior.

If you have a staff member that is verbally abusive towards colleagues or abuses her power over others, you have probably tried giving feedback. But until they connect the problem to their own values, legacy and success they will not change. They will only intellectualize, reflect, and briefly change within their attention span.

Imagine revolutionizing the way we do evaluation meetings. Ditching the rubrics, likert scales and sandwiches, and sticking to...

Questions, Listen, Repeat

Bring the sandwich feedback method back into the picture when you have behaviors and strategies that they have personally committed to. Now you can dress your sandwich with phrases from the answers to your initial questions.

yum.

beyonce: your assessment strategist

Beyonce recently returned to the music scene after taking a year off from touring. She explains in her latest commercial what she did for her year long break from the stage. She studied performances of all kinds. By the time she closed out the year of observing she was that much more ready to get out there and perform. She understands the importance of taking time to evaluate and observe, and for that we can learn from her.

Summer is a great opportunity to take time away from the office and do some site visits. Get out there and check out how other institutions are doing things. Go outside of higher education for inspiration. Maybe check out some of the festivals in the area for some event planning inspiration. Volunteer for a big race to get a sense of how its organized. All of these things may just spark some new ideas at a time of year when we can live in the moment more so than when the academic year is in full swing.

lady gaga, your new social media strategist

I love this commercial. I like the song, and I love the authenticity of it. It's so "millennial" and I love it. I was watching it tonight when I am was in a thinking/writing mode. I saw it through a new lens.

Like her or not, if you know anything about Lady Gaga you know that she is relentlessly dedicated to her fans. She is all over every social media outlet, and keeps up with posting/updating.

Many student affairs departments are trying to break into the social media trends. Creating blogs, twitter accounts, fan pages, etc. The key takeaway we can learn from miss gaga....

YOU MUST KEEP UP WITH IT TO STAY RELEVANT

A fan page is working against you when it only has five fans and the last post was 7 months ago. This may seem like common sense, but in 2 minutes of searching I can find 9 department fan pages with this exact problem. Here are a few tips...

• Don't bite off more than you can chew... The first thought is to create it all at once. Start small. Pilot a fan page for a month, and monitor activity. Keep track of the amount of work to maintain it.
• Find the geek. I am a self proclaimed geek...so I can say that. Find the geek in the office that is really excited about this stuff. If they are interested in it, and have ownership over it, it's a great project for them. Don't be surprised if this person is a student or young professional.
• Strategize. Whether its rotating authors of blog posts or tweets, a strategy is important. It may seem to lack authenticity if things are scheduled out, but without it you risk the "7 months between posts" issue.
• Lastly, check out mashable.com for all the latest on everything social media. It's a great website and stellar resource.

motivation vs. morale

There is a student, his name is John and he goes to State University and works in an office on campus. The office does an "employee of the month" program. John did everything on the office check list and got a gold star. His boss throws holiday parties for John and his fellow student staffers where they get goodie bags with candy and trinkets. There is a bulletin board that John's boss decorates each month. Last month John was on the bulletin board because it was his birthday. Next month the student managers are going to make John and his fellow student employees paper plate awards.

John's supervisor, Kelly, is frustrated. She does all of this, and yet her staff is not motivated. She has thrown every morale booster in the book at her staff and yet they come in to work and do the bare minimum. Sound familiar?

Not surprised.

So many managers see motivation and morale as one in the same. Morale is not motivation. Morale is important, but leaders need to understand motivation to make change. According to the new research on motivation it takes intentional strategies that incorporate three fundamental components: Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose.

In sum...

Autonomy: This can be provided in four different ways. Time, Technique, Team or Task. When John comes into work, he needs the ability to take ownership over projects. Following a checklist does not give John autonomy. Picking his hours, who he works with, what he does or how he does it...that's the key. It doesn't have to be all at once, but a little bit of each goes a long way.

Mastery: This can be executed in a few ways. When John begins his job he should meet with his manager and talk about what skills hes looking to learn or enhance. Maybe John wants to learn basic graphic design. Give him some projects related to that, let him be able to run with it as he sees fit. Maybe its designing the staff newsletter, or Then when he has to do the check list stuff its not as daunting.

Purpose: You'd have to be living under a rock to not know about the Susan G. Komen organization. Susan's sister started this global non-profit organization that now raises millions of dollars annually for breast cancer research after witnessing her sister's fall to breast cancer. This is purpose driven motivation. So how does it translate for Kelly and her student staff member John? Maybe John is a first generation student. Is there something he can do to support other first gens through the office? Purpose driven motivation can be very powerful.

Keep the pizza parties...

but mix in a few new strategies to make a bigger impact.

considering wellness

I had an idea I just had to share because I am not sure I have time to actually make it happen this year. A friend of mine told me about this cool thing that an orientation program had a little running group among the staff members. They would all go run together over the summer. I know for me when I was a NODA intern I loved that I had the chance to go for a run during the one break in the orientation program.  I have been brainstorming ways to try and integrate a wellness campaign into the summer staff experience. And then I thought...

What if each staff member had a pedometer? We could have contests for who had the most steps per session. Track how many steps we walked as a group. By the end of the summer we will probably have enough steps to have walked across the country. Just a thought...

i got your back

 

I recently attended the ACPA national convention and went to a session on women in higher education, specifically focusing on strategies for advancement, growth/development, and overall happiness with their work environment. One of the primary factors in a woman's perceived and actual success in their jobs was the prevalence of role models and mentors in their career. Gender of that mentor was not necessarily a large factor, but the presence of one did. A good discussion began among those in attendance about how much more complex this concept of mentoring really is than many make it out to be. A true mentor is very tough to come by. We may have supporters or good colleagues, but really finding someone that is invested in your success, celebrates those success with you, and is there to help you problem solve when things go wrong is a tough thing to find. It is a relationship vested in learning and mutual respect.

 Do you have a colleague that wants to see you succeed, catches you when you fall, and is there to listen to you process through ideas or vent? In my opinion, everyone needs a "biggest fan". It didn't take long for me to to realize, after getting into my first professional position, how different the work place was going to be from my experience as a student. In a workplace there are people with wide ranging levels of confidence in their self, differences in motives, and competition for attention from leadership (mostly driven by a need for increased resources or wanting to be recognized for potential promotions). With politics and these varying motives now in the mix, it seemed as though it would be tougher to find someone/people that I could rely on in this way. Don't get me wrong, I have great colleagues. But, as I mentioned above, a mentor is tough to come by. I have since found a few great mentors, and can't imagine working without them. It has inspired me to pay it forward. I haven't been working for too long, three years, but long enough that now a few new professionals have been hired since me. My new reflections on this have lead me to have a greater appreciation for those I have in my corner, and has motivated me to be more attentive to relationships I have now and will have in the future when I can serve as a mentor to others.

Questions I am trying to ask myself more often...
Who is your biggest fan?
Have you thanked them lately?
Does someone look up to you?
What are you doing to maintain that relationship, and enhance the learning and development of the one you mentor?

Here are a few good tips for maintaining these important relationships that I have learned from my biggest fans. They can and should be used by both parties in these relationships:

• Seeing a workshop or opportunity they might be good at or interested in, forwarding it along to them, and encouraging them to apply, join or attend
• Recognizing them with a "good job", lunch or nominating them for an award
• Thank you cards
• Being observant when they just need to vent and making time to let them do that
• When they vent, picking them back up with helping to brainstorm solutions or giving them positive words of encouragement
• Being there to review a project they are working on or offering them helpful feedback when they ask

These are just a few I have noticed from those that have made a difference in my life and continue to cheer me on.

anti-workshop series: crisis management

Crisis management is a life skill and a skill that many of our student leaders must learn and continue to build upon. Many times we teach this skill with roll plays or reviewing protocol with our students. I don't think we need to put an end to role playing or reviewing protocol, but to really explore the topic and ignite excitement about it there needs to be a little more training. Here are my "anti-workshop" suggestions.

• Pre-training: There are a few things you can have the students do before the training. I wouldn't do all of the following, but one or two is a good way to start building curiosity about the topic: Have the students write about a time when they felt like they poorly handled a crisis and when they (or someone they worked with previously) successfully handled a crisis.  Have them watch a video from an online news site of a crisis situation, tell them they are the leader in this situation (mayor, president, etc.) and ask them to respond to the following questions. What is the first thing you would do? What questions do you have about the situation that are not answered by the video that you would need answered to help deal with the situation? What does "success" look like in this situation? Lastly, have the students come up with a list of 5-7 questions they have about the topic?
• Training: As with any "anti-workshop" approach, the first thing I think about is who are the experts?

Who better to serve on a panel of experts, or serve as a site visit host than a fire"person", surgeon or trauma doctor, or police"person"? Setting up a site visit is a great opportunity to get the students off campus and into an environment that will challenge their thinking about problem solving and crisis management. Hearing from someone besides their boss or the typical person on campus that deals with crisis will ensure the learning will stick with them longer. The "typical person on campus" might know a whole lot about the topic, but bring them in at a later point. Giving students exposure to experts in the community is a great way to build relationships in the community as well. Provoke reflection. Have them look back at the reactions they originally wrote in the pre-training, and ask them to identify changes they would make now implementing what they learned. These changes can be captured as an assessment of the training.

defining success

 

Just a quick thought for today. You gotta know where your going in order to get there. Have you ever been working on something and you have a lot of thoughts or ideas about it but can't make sense of any of it? A lot of times when I am working with a student or another co-worker and I get the sense that this is happening to them, I ask one question. What does success look like? It brings clarity to the problem, and will help organize ideas and thoughts.

anti-workshop series: event management

As promised, the first in a series of posts. Teaching event management the "anti-workshop way". So before we get started I have identified a few key components of the anti-workshop approach.

• The learners need to be involved in the teaching. Whether it is through reflection, exercises that force the learner to teach others, or through much discussion and interaction. 
• Identify the expert. I'm not talking about the guy in the office down the hall that has done a workshop on this topic before. The expert in events management are the people that are behind the events you and I go to, the one's we pay money to get tickets to. Think big.
• Design an experience. Learning that is "sticky" will "stick" with the participant for many days, weeks, months after the learning occurred. When someone experiences something they are more likely to talk to their friends and family about it. The more they talk it through, the more they learn.

Ok, that's enough of that. As a professional staff member in the orientation office I am assisting with the management of 15 "events" over a 3 month time period. Each event with close to 400 participants attending, and each event lasts 2 full days.  I am talking about the summer orientation sessions. I am accompanied each summer by a graduate and leaderhsip team staff that serve almost completely in a logistics and problem solving capacity for each of these "events". This year we will be doing some intensive trianing with this group designed to explore the skills needed to be a successful event manager.

Who are the experts (that are somewhat local) in managing logistics, problem solving on the fly and producing event after event? Well the people working everyday to put on live shows like the Today Show, SNL and Jay Leno probably know something about all that. I would also assume the people that work as stage managers and actors on Broadway might have some wisdom to bestow upon our team about problem solving and managing multiple logistics at one time. The cool thing is that if your willing to look for it, a few hours of intense googling does the trick, there are experiences out there already packaged to meet the needs of your training. Does your school have any alumni working the field? Maybe a cast or crew member is a alumni from the school you work for, and if that's the case, chances are they would be psyched to sit down with your students to meet with them and share some tricks of the trade. For instance, NBC studios already packages a behind the scenes tour, but just doing the tour doesn't maximize the learning experience. However, following the experience by having lunch with an alumni working there as a crew member or producer to process through the experience does maximize the learning experience. Not everyone is a train ride away from NYC, but the point is that there most likely is something nearby that serves the purpose. By experiencing something out of the typical work environment and meeting with experts you can set the learner up for a memorable and "sticky" experience. The key is to integrate plenty of opportunities for reflection and processing throughout the experience. That sets the day apart from something that is just fun but empty, and ensures that the focus is on learning. If time allows, give your students time to present what they have learned to other colleagues or to their peers.

does anyone have any ideas?

Where do ideas come from?

Ideas don't come from watching television
Ideas sometimes come from listening to a lecture
Ideas often come while reading a book
Good ideas come from bad ideas, but only if there are enough of them
Ideas hate conference rooms, particularly conference rooms where there is a history of criticism, personal attacks or boredom
Ideas occur when dissimilar universes collide
Ideas often strive to meet expectations. If people expect them to appear, they do
Ideas fear experts, but they adore beginner's mind. A little awareness is a good thing
Ideas come in spurts, until you get frightened. Willie Nelson wrote three of his biggest hits in one week
Ideas come from trouble
Ideas come from our ego, and they do their best when they're generous and selfless
Ideas come from nature
Sometimes ideas come from fear (usually in movies) but often they come from confidence
Useful ideas come from being awake, alert enough to actually notice
Though sometimes ideas sneak in when we're asleep and too numb to be afraid
Ideas come out of the corner of the eye, or in the shower, when we're not trying
Mediocre ideas enjoy copying what happens to be working right this minute
Bigger ideas leapfrog the mediocre ones
Ideas don't need a passport, and often cross borders (of all kinds) with impunity
An idea must come from somewhere, because if it merely stays where it is and doesn't join us here, it's hidden. And hidden ideas don't ship, have no influence, no intersection with the market. They die, alone.

Brainstorming

Having a hard time thinking of a new idea or an alternative solution to a problem? Check out this quick video showing a unique approach to brainstorming. I went to an "accidental creative" workshop in January and used the process shown in this video. We got a lot of new ideas out of it.

introducing: the anti-workshop series

Have you ever been to a crappy workshop? Someone reads a book or tries something once and all the sudden they are the expert on the topic. They whip up a boring powerpoint, maybe add in a little interactive piece and for the most part just speak at you and the other attendees for an hour and a half. This is not my idea of learning. Here is my other issue...The thought that training is just a coordinated effort of presentation after presentation. Yuck! I can't just complain and not offer any solutions, because I don't like that either. So here is the plan: I will write four posts (well at least as a start) on four different typical training topics and  identify a few "anti-workshop" approaches to the topic.

data + graphic design= my new favorite things

For those of you that know me, two of my favorite (work related things) would be data and stuff that looks pretty. I have a few design blogs on my flipboard that I will peruse from time to time and recently came across the wonderful world of infographics. Below is a sample infographic I designed to illustrate the assessment data collected after our January Kick off retreat. It gives some information about the retreat and provides the reader with a snapshot of the assessment data collected.

This is just one of the ways these can be used. Infographics can be great visuals to use during trainings. I am working on one now that is designed like a board game and along the path of this game are the different parts of the orientation program. At the very least it has potential to help the student staff learn the program, and what role they play in each part. If I can dream big a little, the hope is to get it blown up to life size, lay it on the ground, and have students literally roll the dice and walk through the game with different challenges along the way. Tell me what powerpoint lesson can beat that...

If this is something your interested in there are a lot of good resources and examples out there. This link is probably my favorite to get started with.

the legacy project

 

Senioritis. The inevitable virus plaguing students in their final year at school. We make a lot of excuses for these students, and have come to expect less from them. But, now knowing what I know about motivation has helped me to understand how we can maximize their talents. They are our most mature and  knowledgeable group of students, so it would be a waste to lower our standards and let them slide. And truthfully, if approached in the right way, they don't want to be left to let slide either. So here is the idea. The Legacy Project...

Depending on when you execute this depends on how involved your students can be in the selection of their project. I will be piloting this year with a second year graduate student, and for this pilot year I have selected three projects in which she gets to choose from. However, the ideal would be involving the student(s) from the beginning so that by the time they get to their final year/semester they have outlined a project proposal based on their understanding of the office or department. Here are a few things to keep in mind as it relates to what makes a legacy project...

• The senior(s) should be matched with a younger and involved staff member. The younger staff member wouldn't play a huge role in the creation and design efforts of the project. They mainly serve as a sounding board of which to bounce off ideas. You need to be savvy with the younger leader's role. Essentially having them involved gains investment from a key player to ensure the projected is implemented. That being said, they need to be involved enough that they care, but not too much that it becomes their project.
• The project is meant to leave a legacy of the person or group behind. Therefore it is very ideation, creation and design focused as opposed to implementation focused. So for instance, in my case I chose three components of the staff experience that are currently failing and have a lot of efficiency holes, and the legacy project will be design a new strategy or approach to revamp or fix the current problem. Maybe an example will help bring a little more clarity. One of the options I am offering is fixing the staff communication channels and information sharing among staff throughout the summer. 
• The supervisor/advisor expectations should be detailed, and I recommend the use of deadlines. While most of our seniors are beyond needing someone else to set their deadlines, I will tell you why I encourage them. With all the others cultural experiences that  run parallel to senior year like the job search or graduate school application process and the many events our seniors have to celebrate the end of their time in school, deadlines will be appreciated by the student(s). I would include the following in the outline of components for the final product...
• An overview of the idea(s) or methods(s) chosen
• The people that will need to be involved in the implementation
• A facilitator guide or publication that anyone could use to execute the plans no matter their involvement or lack their of in the planning stages
• Prototypes of assessments that will be used to measure efficiency
• A budget
• If necessary they should be thinking forward like a three year roll out, ie. year one looks like this, then add this component in year two, etc.

• The more they include in the final materials the better. Remember they will be gone after the finish the project so it has to be detailed enough that anyone could pick up a guide or materials and be able to implement. The final product should be presented to a group of staff and students, and should serve as a celebration of the hard work that went into the project.

• The focus should be on the individual's exploration of self and how they illustrate that in their work. I would recommend that either you or someone identified as the adviser or supervisor be available to meet about the project. It doesn't have to be very often, but when meeting the focus should be on progress and then mainly on how they are exploring their niche or who they are as a professional through the completion of the project.

Ok now that I have explained how to do this, here is the kicker...why it works! The science behind motivation essentially identifies three main things that drive people: autonomy, mastery and purpose. The legacy project is a perfect example of how one's search for purpose can be channeled and utilized to improve programs, services or staffing work environments. Purpose is driving many retirees to start their own businesses, "now they have the time to do what they like" and many of these businesses are people oriented with the idea of helping or advising. Much like the many retiring baby boomers are becoming a new crop of entrepreneurs in today's business, senior students are in a place where they are reflecting on what they have contributed to their campus or organization and in a prime place to turn that curiosity into product. They want to leave something behind that will be in existence when they come back. Ok, one last plug for the student development theorists.  We know that our senior level students are most capable when it comes to designing these intricate initiatives due to their developed critical thinking skills. The exploration of self and emphasis on leaving a legacy, challenges them to think in the higher levels of moral and identity development. Through process and reflection, this serves as a unique way to challenge our most mature group of students, and should yield a high return on investment.

key to relationships

This says it all.

Training Tube

 

Think about all of the training you do with your staff. There is probably a lot. Anything from team building to customer service to diversity related issues. My staff endures a ton of training to prepare them for their summer of orienting new students. In addition to all the typical training topics, they have to be well versed in all things Rutgers. It ads up. People can learn a lot though just sitting at the computer from home. With a young staff like mine that practically lives on facebook, youtube and google, the more we can integrate forms of training into the mediums they are already using the better the chance they will participate and enjoy it. What if they created the training? So here is the concept...

Interested students go through a one hour "training design" workshop. Videos follow the few parameters identified by the training coordinator, and are kept to 5 minutes or less.The students are granted a Cisco flip cam and either windows movie maker or iMovie software. Training videos are created.

Our returning staffers have a lot of valuable insight on how to deal with different personality types in a group, and could role play this in a training video. Students could create videos showing different offices around campus and how to do things that first year students would be asking about (getting an id, changing their meal plan, visiting the records office). Beyond orientation training this could be really valuable for an office/department that has more "hands on" type of training, like room set ups or how to use a/v equipment. Training ref's about different rules for a sport through role playing, or showing resident assistants a dummy room filled with "illegal" items in a residence hall are just two more ideas. The possibilities are endless. As long as the student is creating quality training videos and uploading them to the server or youtube channel they can keep the flip cam and continue to make videos. Black and Decker executed this approach to training 3 years ago. Their training has quadrupled. The training tube server receives 15-20 new training videos a month. It cut their in-person training in half.

getting things done

The note above is a scribble one could find in a variety of places around my office. The end of the year allows us to reflect, set goals and think about things we will do differently in the new year. Productivity is very important to me, and I continue to work on sharpening my skills as well as identify new tools that can make me more productive. Here I share a couple of useful resources, tips and ways to boost productivity. Feel free to comment and share others if you'd like.

Delegation is one strategy that can make or break people. I have seen it plenty of times, those that are excellent at delegating and those that struggle so much that it can literally put projects on hold, drive people to unhealthy habits, even hold up an entire office's ability to move forward. I was given a diagram similar to the one above in one of my classes in grad school, and find it to be a good tool to use when analyzing a task list and identifying what to delegate. The four levels in case you can't see them are (starting with the outer most level): Administrative and Routine Tasks, Minimal Oversight, Management or Training Needed, Ample Oversight, Management or Training Needed, and lastly "You". Essentially you plot the different tasks on your list in the different levels on the diagram to help you plan out how you will delegate, what you want to delegate and who you will delegate too.

remember the milk- The ultimate task manager. You can create task lists, have reminders sent to a variety of places (e-mail, phone, instant message) and manage your tasks with a variety of features like maps and calendars. It's free and now you can sign in using your gmail account.

evernote-I love evernote. I personally use it, and find it to be a wonderful tool. You can put your thoughts, ideas, inspiration, and things to remember all in one place. You can capture anything whether your on your personal laptop, desktop in your office or on a mobile device like ipad or iphone. If you see a blog post or article on your home computer that you want to take a look at when you get to work, you can just use the evernote browser extention (that is a little button on your browser) to capture that article and put it in your evernote account. My husband used it last time we we're in borders. He used his camera on his iphone to take a picture of two different book covers that he wasn't going to buy there but wanted to save the info for a later purchase. He saved the pics to his evernote account for easy access anywhere. Lastly, if you want to do a voice recording capture of a workshop or presentation you can save that to your evernote account as well. It's great, and...its FREE!

google chrome- I downloaded google chrome on my personal computer and work computer. It is a great new browser with a ton of productivity apps. Essentially its like free software solutions to presentation creation, task management, appointment organizers and many more productivity challenges.

I have read a couple of good articles, books and blog posts lately with some tips that I tried putting into practice the past couple of months and have found to be very helpful. The following is a list of a few that I have found most useful...

• Do not have your e-mail open all day long. This has made a tremendous difference for me and my ability to get things done at work. I had always just had my outlook open all day long as I did things on my computer. However, when I started shutting it off for chunks of time I got so much more done. It made me concentrate on actually responding to e-mails when I scheduled time to deal with e-mail, and then by turning it off I switched my focus to the next task. 
• Instead of looking at productivity from the "time management" lens, try looking at it through the "energy management lens". Personally I am most productive (in terms of completing tasks) in the morning, right after lunch, and after my work out/dinner. I am absolutely scatter brained between 3 and 5pm. I can do things, but its better to schedule meetings, phone calls, or short quick tasks during that time because I don't have the energy to sit and think for long periods of time during those two hours. Since being more cognizant of this I have been able to be so much more productive with my time. I have realized that even though I may just want to get it done, it will take me twice as long to work on a "thinking intensive" task at the end of the day. It's better that I focus on more administrative quick "mindless(ish)" things, leave at 5 to get a good work out in (followed by a good dinner), and I will be very energized with lots of ideas. Understanding my energy has helped me plot out my day with the tasks that I will tackle throughout it.
• "80% is showing up". We have all probably heard that before, but it didn't make sense to me until I read Tom Peter's new book "little big things" and read his interpretation of the quote. He explained that 80% of going to the gym is getting dressed for the gym, convincing yourself your going to the gym and driving there. Once your there it's easy, the last 20% is just doing the workout. Being someone that needs a little motivation sometimes to get myself over to the gym, this resonated with me. I now tell myself this anytime I have that one thing that has stayed on my to-do list and I have avoided it for too long. I just remind myself that 80% is getting in the mindset to do it, setting aside the time to get it done, and deciding to do it. The last 20% will handle itself when I can do the first 80%. 
• Reading. Plain and simple. I don't know what got into me this semester, but I have been reading more than I had in years. I did a post about a month ago on "books inspiring scribbles" and will probably do another one in January with a new set of books that I have been reading since then. Reading books, articles and blog posts regularly, has not only made me more productive, but it has quadrupled the amount of ideas I have on a regular basis and has opened my mind to a much more advanced perspective on key components of my job like supervision, training programs and collaborating with colleagues.