We’ve Got to Stop Meeting Like This! – 10 Surprising Reasons for Wasteful Meetings You are invited to a special complimentary teleseminar! August 6, 2013 at 12:00 noon EDT Learn about the 10 obstacles that prevent meetings from being short and powerful. Sign up today and I think you’ll be surprised; these are not the same old tips you’ve heard before. This is the first step toward saving half the hours you spend in meetings, eliminating unnecessary meetings, and accomplishing more in every meeting you attend. Feel free to pass this on to friends and colleagues whom you believe might be interested. Registrants will also receive an MP3 download of the presentation so you can listen to it at your convenience.
As my reputation for creating clarity has grown, I’ve been getting more and more phone calls and emails from people around the world asking if I would consider doing tele seminars. The number of requests has finally hit the tipping point, and thus, here it is! We’ve Got to Stop Meeting Like This! – 10 Surprising Reasons for Wasteful Meetings August 6, 2013 at 12:00 noon EDT Space is limited – register now to reserve your seat. Nothing to lose – this one’s on me! In addition to the live event, registrants will also receive an MP3 download of the presentation. Even if you are busy on the 6th, you can still benefit from these tips. My abhorrence of wasteful meetings, coupled with the frequency with which this topic has been requested, drove the selection of this first presentation. Future tele seminars will address productivity, accountability, strategic clarity, simplicity, motivation, and much, much more. Read my Clear Thoughts™ newsletter each month so you don’t miss a single one.
I do it myself when I’m not careful. “Wandering in” takes three forms: You start a task without a clear destination, a clear sense of what will be different when you are done You start a task without a clear route, a clear sense of specific steps that will get you to your destination You don’t really start the task. You check your email, look up something on the Internet, finish reading an article, make some notes about something else, schedule an appointment, answer the telephone, get a cup of coffee, etc. In the first two cases, you get lost in the task. In the third, you get lost in between tasks. Whether you succumb to one, two, or all three forms of wandering in, you will lose significant time. Next thing you know, half an hour or more has passed and you are still wandering around in or between tasks. Starting, on the other hand, involves an intentional decision to launch yourself down a clear path to a specific finish line. You glance at the clock, set an end time in your mind, push everything else aside, and then sprint toward that destination. The difference is enormous. Starting is tremendously effective. Wandering in is not. Starting requires discipline and the habit of being intentional and specific about your goal, next step, and expected completion time. If you save the wandering for your leisure hours, you will be amazed by how many more leisure hours you will have!
Do what you love and love what you do. But not now. Watch this 2 minute video and learn when you shouldn’t do what you love!
Suzanne Bates of Bates Communications attended a presentation I gave in Boston last month. Her summary is excellent: It’s Your Time: Executive Time Management
I love technology, except when I hate it. Today is a good day, however. I’m in love once again! Not since my first iPhone have I been this excited about a new gadget. This time it is my new MiFi Jetpack. It’s about three quarters the size of an iPhone and weighs only a few ounces. And, ironically, it makes that much loved gadget, the iPhone, less necessary! The MiFi provides a wireless Internet signal for my very small MacBook Air almost anywhere. It also provides a signal for additional devices, including my iPhone should AT&T disappear. But right now I am thrilling to the signal it delivers to my MacBook Air. Whenever I travel, whether far afield or to a client no more than an hour away, I’ve been forced to answer emails by typing with my thumbs, postpone tasks that can’t be completed without going online, take risks with public WiFI, and sort out the connectivity hoops found at hotels, airports, and cities. On top of that, there are the disappointment of failed technology. I took the bus to New York City recently, instead of driving, specifically so I could get some work done, but the WiFi wasn’t working. I’ve wandered down too many hotel hallways and taken too many trips to the lobby trying to pick up a strong enough signal to send an important response to a client. No longer! Now I can work efficiently, reliably, and without building my plans around Internet availability. Right now, I am blogging from the New York Thruway, someplace east of Buffalo. Loving it. Smiling. Almost giddy with this new ability to do things when I have the time or when I’m inspired, not when technology makes it possible!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Ann Latham Uncommon Clarity, Inc. 800-527-0087 Easthampton, MA – Latham to Reveal Meeting Slashing Secrets Ann Latham, president of Uncommon Clarity, will be speaking at the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network Annual Conference on October 25th in Marlborough, MA. A Master Facilitator herself, Ms. Latham will reveal the secrets of short, powerful meetings in her presentation, Uncommon Meetings – Better Results in Half the Time. Ann is a leading expert in creating the clarity that produces better, faster results. She is also an acclaimed speaker. According to Dr. Alan G. Robinson, author and associate director at the Isenberg School of Management, “Ann Latham is one of the best business speakers I have heard. She is very experienced, the quality of her thinking is extremely high, and she knows how to deliver her message in an entertaining, concise, and convincing way.” For more information on the conference, visit www.massnonprofitnet.org. Early bird discounts end August 24th, so don’t delay! Latham is a resident of Westhampton, Massachusetts, where she lives with her husband.