Hello Asana

I love products that help me manage workflow, and to be more efficient. No product can MAKE you be productive and efficient, but they can help. I've used DayTimer, Franklin Planner, Outlook and Palm Desktop. I've read Steven Covey and David Allen. I've learned something from all of them over the years. I've become mostly aligned with David Allen's Getting Things Done approach. If you are not familiar, do yourself a favor and check it out.

About 6 months ago I learned about Asana. It is a web-based team task management system. I've not adopted their model to use it to replace inter company email yet, but maybe I should. Asana is flexible, and yet offers enough structure & assistance to get you started with ease.

If you are in the market for something like this, Asana might be the answer - and it is free for small companies and very reasonably priced for others.

My favorite tip I've learned over the years is a way to manage tasks/questions I've delegated to others. David Allen calls it @Waiting For. I just use Waiting For. In our case it is a tag in Asana, but there are many other ways to use this idea.

Good luck and enjoy!

What are you reading?

Seriously. What are you reading? If you want to grow professionally, you need to read books. Yes, blogs can be great and articles can be good, but nothing helps the mind consider new things like books.

I was not huge fan of reading for fun or growth after college until a friend of my wife introduced me to  Nelson DeMille. Then, I re-learned to love reading - like I did when I was a child.

Then, after I started my company, I started to read a lot of business related books - until it became a habit. The audio books were my addiction for a time - starting with tapes, then CDs and finally on my iPod. Hard cover books are still great, but my new favorite way to read is on my iPad.

DeMille and John Grisham are two fiction writers I go to for vacation reads, but there are many others too. As for business writers, I like Malcolm Gladwell, Seth Godin, and Patrick Lencioni.

Read The Tipping Point, Outliers or David & Goliath by Gladwell. Or, read Permission Marketing by Godin…or any of his other stuff. Start with 5 Temptations of a CEO by Lencioni - and you don't have to be a CEO to learn a ton from it.

My current favorite book is by Jay Baer, and it's called YoUtility. If you are in marketing, own a business or want to sell anything from today on - it is MUST read.

So, I'll ask again. What are you reading right now?

The big slow down

I'm a sports fan. Around the game, one often hears reference to the 'speed of the game' and how it changes from one level to another - from high school to college and from college to the pros. A common line is: "The game is starting to slow down for him, so he is playing better/making adjustments - winning more." If you are a parent and have taught a child to drive you understand this idea as well. Very likely you've driven for a long time, so you know how to anticipate and where to look for danger. Young drivers don't have that experience and so everything is happening fast for them; experience has not yet taught them all the lessons you have learned.

How fast is your work life? Is is running the speed you want it to run? Mondays can be tough days for me if I let them. Often the size of my to do list and/or competing priorities can wind me up. If I don't focus, I look at all that stuff, and think it needs to be done right now. Add in new interactions from email, and other sources - and the speed can be too much.

Find tactics that work for you to slow things down. For some it is exercise. For others maybe it is only reading email two times per day. For still others it is making lists and prioritizing them. Sometimes a change in scenery can be what is needed - work from a new place in your office, if you can't go off site. Experiment with ways to slow down your work life. It is the best way to offer your best work.

Marketing is trivial

I had something else planned for today, but it seems trivial now. I'm not devaluing learning and growing in your profession as a marketer, salesperson or executive. But, I want to be somewhat more personal.

Events recently in Aurora, CO or in Evansdale, IA and Penn State need to make us pause and consider how we treat one another. Further, if we know someone is struggling - a little or a lot, we need to act. First to help them and second to protect others. Helping doesn't need to be filled with drama; often small acts may redirect someone's path in a better direction for them and ultimately others.

We live in one big community, and while we have our different customs and priorities, people want largely the same things: Opportunities for success and safety for themselves and their families.

We are all in a position to help someone and sometimes the moment to help comes up quickly. Other times you can see it coming and prepare. Regardless, please take the opportunity to help those you touch using compassion and persistence.

They will benefit. You will benefit and others you don't even know may benefit.

Thanks for all you do. Blessings to all.