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Friday Productivity: The Monkey Rule

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Not Just for Fridays

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Problems don’t only happen on Fridays. It only seems like more of them do. That’s probably because what we’re looking for is a clean desk and a walk out to the weekend.

Instead what often happens is that folks stop by to hand us an issue that “just can’t wait,” and suddenly a Friday seems like it is piling higher and higher in front of that door that says ESCAPE.

Here ‘s a rule I use to keep control of my Fridays, Thursdays, Wednesdays — actually every day — come to think of it. [Read more…]

Perfect for Friday Productivity Checklist

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Personal Branding logo


Productivity. Everyone wants it, thinks they have some of it, and loses it faster than they realize. Here are some things you might check and do on a Friday afternoon to feeling better about starting the week again on Monday morning.

Perfect for Friday Productivity Checklist

    1. End your “real work” a half-hour early on Friday. Most folks don’t want to interact with you late on Friday anyway. If you need that half-hour to finish your work, start next week by planning to finish a half-hour earlier.

    2. Use that half-hour to organize everything on your desk. Put things away. Lay out things that still need attending to. Mark what needs to be done. Make a to-do list, if that’s your way.

    3. Make a plan for next week–at the least, decide what you will tackle first on Monday and what your three most important goals will be.

    4. Do an office check. Are the things you use most closest to where you use them? If not, move them, so that they will be. Are the files you access most on your computer only one click away? If not, move them so that they will be.

    5. Order the Monday tasks by putting what you can get done fastest first. Do this for two reasons. It will start your week with a quick sense of accomplishment, and you’ll be able to pass on what you finished–that means that when you move on to task two, someone else can be starting on what was your task one.

Then consider the week closed, leave the office at work, give your brain a break, and have a weekend. What a great way to promote yourself and your brand to anyone who walks by on their way home for the weekend. It says a lot for your personal brand–almost everyone wishes their office looked like it could be in a magazine . . .

Whether you work in a building away from home or in your bedroom, it’s boost to your Monday to walk back into a space that’s ready to work in.

What do you think when you see an office that looks well taken care of?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related articles
Brand YOU–You Are What They See
Brand YOU–What’s the BIG IDEA?
Don’t Let Burn Out Singe Your Brand

Start in the Middle 1: Write a Three-Course Meal

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Tape Recordings in Our Heads

Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.
When you read you begin with ABC, When you sing you begin with do-re-me.

–the character, Maria, sung by Julie Andrews in
The Sound of Music by Rodgers and Hammerstein
Finding Ideas Outside of the Box logo 2

Put a sock in it, Julie.

Turn off all of the tape recordings in your head that tell you what you’re supposed to do. They just get in the way. Unique problems require unique solutions.

Beginnings Are Often Irrelevant

Starting at the beginning is a fine thing–if you’re telling a story, teaching a lesson, or giving a presentation. In those cases, feel free to sing right along with Julie Andrews. If that’s not what you’re doing, turn off the tape recorder in your head that says, “Start from the beginning.”

Some things don’t have a beginning or if they do, the beginning is irrelevant. Who cares about how the fire began if you need to get out of the building NOW? You can worry about how it started later. When you’re strategizing a business plan for the future, how your grandfather built the first widget is probably irrelevant, even if it is how the company began.

When you’re creating something new, problem solving, or envisioning what could be, information is nebulous and coming from many directions. The challenge is to order it and give form–not to find the beginning.

Write a Three-Course Meal

If you think of an article as a fine meal, the middle is the main course. That’s where the fine dining is. It’s the centerpiece. The entrée takes the longest time and the most care. The executive chef is the one who plans it and prepares it. Put your best effort there–where it counts.

Use the FIOTB–Content Development Tool to gather thoughts that will make the middle outstanding and delicious to read. Once you’ve got the entrée underway, you can decide on the appetizer and the dessert. Maybe the beginning will be a question that you’ll answer at the end or maybe it will be a story that you’ll reflect on, the middle–the entrée–of your three-course article will help you decide what form the beginning and the end should take.

Great Writing Strategy–Great Brand Promotion

There’s added value in presenting your information as a three-course article. Starting in the middle establishes an important foundation and allows you to concentrate on presenting the information that’s key to your story, your brand, and your business.

  • Course 1: Give readers a taste of your topic. This gives you a chance to capture their attention and focus their minds on your ideas. You can draw them in and prepare them for what you are about to say. By starting in the middle you already know what that is. So writing this part is much easier.
  • Course 2: Serve up your ideas with facts and details to support them. By starting in the middle, you can spend your time polishing the finer points and placing your brand in the best light for readers to discover its value on their own.
  • Course 3: Leave your audience satisfied with tidbits of why your ideas are important to them or give them reason to reflect back on what you said. Show that you fulfilled your promise. Let your audience savor the fact that your article was a service to them, and they’ll understand why coming back to see you is a good idea.

You’ve promoted your brand, your business, and your blog by writing an article from the inside out. Not bad for an hour’s work.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

I started in the middle with Writing 🙂
More Start in the Middle Ideas:
Branding and Problem Solving and a Start in the Middle Idea Bank are on their way.

If you have a situation, roadblock, or a problem you’d like to tackle with an Outside of the Box solution, please leave a note in the comments, or E-mail me at lizsun2@gmail.com. I’ll keep your confidence and reply as best I can. With your permission, I might tackle your problem in an upcoming article–other folks might be looking for a new approach to the same kind of difficulty.

Related articles:
Finding Ideas Outside the Box
FIOTB–Tool 1: Content Development Tool
Don’t Hunt IDEAS — Be an Idea Magnet
Building a Personal Brand–YOU

Finding Ideas Outside the Box

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There Is No Box

There is no box. There never was one. We just got taught to think inside one. You see, it was a management issue. With so many kids to teach at once, it’s more productive to teach one way of thinking than to manage a room full of creativity. . . . So when we weren’t looking, many of us learned the fundamentals of problem-solving, how to color inside the lines, and a way of thinking about things that isn’t all that different from a mime inside a box.

Just like the box that the mime pushes and touches even though you can’t see it. The box that we think inside isn’t real. The way to get out is easy enough–just stop believing in the box.

Life Without the Box

Life without the box is so much easier. It’s as if you now can use all modes of transportation available rather than always having to walk. The resources of your brain are freed up. Even better, it’s a lot more fun, once you get used to it, because thinking outside of the proverbial box involves playing with ideas not just thinking.

DaVinci knew it. So did Einstein. Most inventors couldn’t find the inside of the box if they tried. All great thinkers–folks we call geniuses–know that there’s nothing new to be gathered by staying where everyone else is doing their thinking. So let’s get on with getting out of it.

What You’ll Find Outside the Box

Every day, I’ll offer a strategy and some ideas for approaching your business from a new direction. Each strategy will be flexible and realistic. I’ll show you how to apply it to writing, problem solving, or refining your brand.

To be useful, even thinking outside of the box needs structure, so I’ll be using a problem-solution format. Then within each solution I’ll offer three content subsets: Information, Presentation/Form, and YOU/Function. Those three subheads come directly from What Is Content that Keeps Readers?

So, if you’re ready, I am. Enough with this introduction, let’s let the games begin. Everyone can think like a genius. It only takes a little practice, and a firm commitment to throw away the darn box.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related Articles:
Introducing Power Writing for Everyone
Don’t Hunt IDEAS – Be an Idea Magnet
SEO–Five Traits of Relevant Content

A Message for Everyone!

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This is a motivational link that was sent to me by a very close friend.

It was developed at The School of Computer Science and Engineereering at the University of New South Wales, Australia.

Thanks to them and to my friend, KB.

Who says that flattery can’t be fun?
Hope you enjoy it.

How This Link Works

  • Click on the link.
  • A screen prompt will come up.
  • Type your name in the prompt.
  • Sit back and enjoy the message.

Share it with friends.

This is the link:

Do come back to see me again!

–ME “Liz” Strauss