Have you ever been around people who no matter how busy they are, they seem to accomplish everything, and do it well? They are the people with a busy family life, a full social calendar, demanding professional life, and they even manage to get to the gym every day.
We are often left asking ourselves how they do it? The expression “if you want to get something done, give it to someone who is extremely busy” refers to these types of people.
What a lot of these people have in common is a performance operating system – not just at the office, but for their life. As the pace and demands of our modern work world keep increasing, performance operating systems are now essential, especially if you are trying to achieve a better work/life balance.
Something to keep in mind here is that these high-performing people didn’t develop their performance operating systems overnight. They have taken ample time to create operating systems that address their personal, professional and lifestyle goals.
Below is a list of a few personal habits most performance operating systems include:
1) Get-up
Getting up in the morning is the starting point for an effective performance operating system. Spending 30 minutes in the morning determining what you need to accomplish that day is the foundation for a good performance operating system. This could include reviewing your list of goals, journaling or writing out the day’s very important “to dos”. Doing this daily will help keep you focused when you are bombarded by requests and distractions throughout the day.
2) Assess and adjust
Like with any plan in our modern world, we need to assess and adjust as we start performing our activities and move closer towards our goals. I often tell my clients that operating system provides a framework which enables them to achieve their goals and objectives. Most high-level performers review their operating system weekly to ensure they are in alignment with achieving their weekly goals.
3) Ensure recognition
Crunch time, unrealistic deadlines and demanding requests are a part of our working worlds. A good performance operating system includes some type of recognition system. Appreciating what you have just accomplished and recognizing all the people around you who enable you to achieve your goals will help increase yours and your team members’ motivation.
A good performance operating system is essential for people and teams in any organization to ensure they are accomplishing their goals and objectives without burning out and achieving a level of professional satisfaction.
Turn Your Knowledge into Action
1) Take time this week and asses your current operating system.
2) Take one action this week to ensure your performance operating system is designed to bring out your best performance
All the best in achieving your highest performance.
Paul
Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net