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How To Hold Yourself Accountable | Developing an action plan

How To Hold Yourself Accountable | Developing an action plan

In any situation, personal or professional, don’t we often wish that tasks would magically just get done? Figuring out a way to beat procrastination and making a habit of staying accountable to yourself isn’t easy, but it is possible. So where do we begin and how?

We are all guilty of making a list of goals with all the ambition in the world the night before. Then we tell ourselves “5 more minutes” after the third snooze the next morning because rest is important after all.

All in this together

What you should know is that you are not alone in this. Many of us have the tendency to give in to laziness and excuses.

There are many reasons why motivation and good intentions fade:

  • The pressure of deadlines doesn’t affect you
  • It’s unclear what you need to do to get the results you want
  • You may not even know what you want
  • There may be so many things you want to accomplish that you don’t even know where to start

The possibilities are endless. One thing is for sure, however: Whatever you decide to think on and whatever you decide to act on, will have consequences. Therefore, you need to take responsibility for the decisions you make.

Act to make change happen

So, what do we do to change this? Well, first of all, congratulations! If you have noticed and are keen to address the need for improvement, you have already achieved the very first step to making the change come true.

As for the next stage, here are some ways to ensure you stay accountable to yourself:

Start being brutally honest with yourself.

Put together a checklist for yourself, much like creating an inventory, but on the subject of yourself. Ask yourself what you’re struggling with. What are the things you always seem to overlook, things you know you have to do but never seem to get done? What other areas could you improve? List all of them down as the areas that you need to deal with on priority.

Avoid looking at faults negatively.

The attitude with which we approach an issue is an indication of how we see ourselves. Self-sabotaging will only further delay the completion of a task. A positive mindset motivates us to see more solutions than problems in every aspect of life.

Prioritise your tasks.

There may be days when everything will seem urgent and immediate. To avoid attacking tasks at the last minute and manifesting confusion, make a clear and concise list of tasks in order of priority. This allows you to focus on one task at a time and gives way for clear thinking.

Set time limits.

Every action plan needs an action plan of its own. If you are someone who gets easily distracted, the best way to tackle a task would be to set a time limit to accomplish it, even if it is done in parts. Strictly dedicate this time only to the completion of the task and nothing else. Taking dedicated breaks in between can help encourage and re-energize the mind and body.

Celebrate the small wins.

Rewarding yourself is a critical part of growing out of procrastination and avoidance. It not only motivates us but also allows us to assess our progress and what’s next.

Review yourself.

Much like what managers do in organizations, check in with yourself at regular intervals to evaluate your performance. Each time, allocate a new set of SMART(Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant & Time-based) goals. Review your progress to see if you have met these goals. If not, review what went wrong and what can you do to fix it going forward.

Build a plan

All of the tasks above may seem exhausting and overwhelming. At the end of the day, no matter how many motivational articles, self-help books, or informative articles you read, you have to get the job done. While there are times when things are out of your control, how you react to those circumstances and how you decide to approach any situation that is within your control is entirely up to you.

Make small changes to start with & make every small change a habit, rather than a short-term goal.

Our team at Tattvamassi wishes you all the best in this endeavor. We hope our few suggestions help you achieve your goals. Reach out to us for more guidance or schedule a 1-on-1 with our coach at www.tattvamassi.com

How a coach can help you climb up the corporate ladder

How a coach can help you climb up the corporate ladder

Climbing the corporate ladder is tough yet achievable. Although a lot of people enter the corporate game at the lower levels and quickly advance to middle-level management, going further up the corporate ladder can be challenging. Apart from the obvious reason that fewer positions of power are available at the top, companies sometimes choose to bring in lateral hires to induce a fresh perspective to their growth story. This often leads to employees feeling ignored, undervalued, or overlooked and can affect their morale and performance. This begs the question – Can middle-level managers and employees be coached for success? Can they lead and perform efficiently under pressure? 

The answer is yes, they absolutely can! 

The process of coaching is a structured journey created to allow one to achieve their goals. In the beginning, a coach works with you to set a specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely goal. Your coach then acts as your partner in this journey, helping you through the ups and downs, keeping you accountable, and motivating you to achieve your goals

Middle Management Corporate Ladder 1
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There are a lot of skills one must possess in order to hold positions of leadership. A coach can help you improve your communication and interpersonal skills which will make you a better team leader and build strong relationships with key stakeholders. Developing and possessing a high Emotional Quotient is a key quality that organizations look for in C-suite executives. A coach can also help you manage stress and handle high-pressure situations. This is absolutely necessary if one wishes to sustain their performance in the higher ranks of large organizations. Several successful top-level personnel use coaches as a sounding board before making decisions. These decisions have a huge impact on the business hence it is absolutely crucial for them to make the appropriate call. A coach makes you introspect on your decisions to help you find inconsistencies if any so that you’re absolutely clear about your plan of action.

A coach does not answer your questions, they question your answers

Middle Management Corporate Ladder 2
Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels

To climb the corporate ladder, one must understand how departments and the overall business itself function. As one rises up the ranks, they are expected to work cross-functionally and monitor various departments. Working with a coach will help one maximize their strengths while identifying and improving their weaknesses. A coach also acts as an external auditor, breaking one’s actions down and observing them in great detail, identifying mistakes or inefficiencies that one may have overlooked. A coach will provide feedback and keep one accountable for their plan of action. 

For some reason or the other, it is a common phenomenon to see employees’ performance drop after reaching middle-level management. The comfort and security of the current position discourage employees from wanting to achieve more. Employees no longer have the same zeal for achieving success as they once did, and lack motivation when their routine is monotonous. A coach can help break these limiting patterns and behaviors and also motivate one to stay focused on achieving their long-term goals of growth and success.

Middle Management Corporate Ladder 4
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The success of coaching in the corporate environment is very evident. Global corporations such as Microsoft, Google, etc., work with coaches to empower and motivate employees and prepare them to take up leadership positions. Coaching helps people boost job performance and lead well-balanced lives.

Middle Management Corporate Ladder 3
Photo by Jopwell from Pexels

Get in touch with us today to begin your journey towards realizing your goals and climbing up the corporate ladder. Work with us to maximize your individual and your team’s potential. Find out more by visiting our website: www.tattvamassi.com

5 Time Management Hacks to Boost Productivity

5 Time Management Hacks to Boost Productivity

Time is the greatest equaliser, We are all given the exact same amount of time every day, and how we choose to spend it defines us. When asked about the importance of time management, Warren Buffet once said, “I can buy anything I want basically, but I can’t buy time.’’

So what do successful people do differently? How do they spend their time to achieve more than everyone else? To answer this question, we’ve put together a shortlist of time management hacks that will allow one to take more ownership of their time.

1. Gamify your to-do list

Maintaining a to-do list is the first step to boosting your daily productivity. You could start your day off by giving yourself a list of tasks that must be completed by the end of the day. At the end of the day, go through your list again crossing off tasks you’ve completed, and record how much time was spent on these tasks.

Tracking your activities gives you a clearer picture of how you’ve spent your time and where you could save it. Leave comments and feedback for yourself. Once you identify areas for improvement, you could incorporate the same next time and manage your time.

2. Blank spaces are your allies:

Unforeseen meetings and appointments often disrupt schedules. They cause postponements and cancelations thus wasting a lot of time for all parties involved.

Pro Tip: while planning your schedule would be to leave as many blank spaces as possible between appointments and meetings in order to accommodate any unforeseen emergencies or delays that arise.

3. Small steps lead to big changes:

Completing the easiest tasks first gives you the confidence to proceed with more challenging ones. Your mind is set to believe that if you’ve completed this task, the next one is also achievable. Adopting this mindset can help you stay motivated and focused on completing all the tasks you’ve set out to do for the day.

Similarly, it also helps to break up large projects into smaller, quicker, and easily achievable tasks. Tricking your brain into completing multiple smaller parts of a project motivates you, helps you focus, and allows you to complete these tasks sooner without letting a sense of challenge or monotony set in.

4. Be smart. Delegate:

As the day progresses, our brains get tired of making decisions. Successful people are all key decision-makers, and the important decisions they make have a huge impact and consequences. This is why leaders try to limit the number of decisions they take every day by instilling and following a routine by reducing the number of unimportant decisions they may have to make. This way, they can resolve matters that actually require their attention.

Delegating your work and targets to your team can help you take more ownership of your time, which will in turn allow you to complete more work and make better decisions. You could evaluate and empower your teams to have initial discussions and meetings in your absence and ask for the minutes of the meetings instead. This saves you a lot of time as opposed to being in meetings where your inputs aren’t immediately necessary or when deals could have been negotiated by your team instead. You need to know what requires your immediate attention and input and delegate the rest to others on your team.

5. Task-Bundling

In our previous blog, we spoke about how multitasking isn’t actually as effective as it sounds and how it could take away more time from your day. Task Bundling is a creative way of completing two tasks simultaneously and may not require double the focus. For example, you can listen to a podcast or watch a show that you enjoy during a workout.

A smart hack that successful people use is that they reply to emails, read a book, or read the news while on their commutes. Certain activities don’t necessarily require your complete attention and can often be paired with another simple activity, thereby completing both in a shorter span of time.

100% productivity is an unachievable goal for anyone, but there’s always an option to do better. A coach helps you track, measure, and record your progress to identify where you can do better. A coach ensures that you’re accountable for your goals and will handhold you while constantly pushing you to achieve them.

Working with a coach can help you and your organisation get very close to 100% productivity by taking the right steps towards overall growth.