As I write this, it’s Mother’s Day in the U.S. and I have to admit… I miss my Mom.
She passed away in April 2017 at age 78. But it seems like just yesterday that she was here.
My parents played HUGE part in how I came to be an efficiency and productivity consultant…
And they were also my biggest fans.
Sadly, my Dad died in 1995 when I was only 27—long before Productive Day was even an idea—so he never knew that I started my own business. I miss him, too.
But it was more than parental upbringing that led me here….
In addition to my innate tendencies and talents, I look back over a lifetime of one-of-a-kind experiences, starting at a very early age, that shaped my views, gave me a unique perspective, and allowed me to see things differently when it comes to workday efficiency and productivity.
These experiences gave me special insights into what’s possible for efficiency and productivity, which helped me lay the foundation for the creation of a simple solution—for YOU.
And it’s my mission to help make your workday WORK for you, so it’s easier, more efficient, and more rewarding.
Here’s how it all started, once upon a time, and how my life experiences led me to where I am today—and to see what others have missed.
The Early Signs
It all started with years of country living and two amazingly productive parents.
These are photos of where I grew up until I was 17. This was a property of about 30 acres in Baltimore County north of Hunt Valley, MD.
I share this not to impress you, but rather to impress upon you that there was no shortage of things to do.
We affectionately called it “the Farm,” but we didn’t farm anything.
We had a few horses, a donkey (to keep the horses company?) a goose, a flock of mallard ducks at one point, and a couple of dogs—first a collie and then two shelties.
By the time I came along, my parents had renovated the old farmhouse, which was more than a hundred years old, and had built an addition onto it.
They were always building, adding on, demolishing, fixing, painting, refining, remodeling, refinishing, renovating…
And after about 10 years, the most everything was done, including the build of a new barn, building a furniture-making shop for my Dad (a hobby he loved), grading and landscaping, new gardens as well as a new vegetable garden for my Mom (that was her passion.)
From that point on, everything was either a refinement or maintenance.
Doesn’t sound like much, but trust me… there was STILL—always!—a TON of work to do.
My parents could handle it though. They made a great team. And of course, my sister and I were the “helpers.”
My parents were two of the most able, capable, and dependable people I’ve ever known.
They were industrious, purpose-driven, efficient, effective, organized, and always on time.
For them, productivity was a way of life.
They exemplified how to get things done and empowered me to do anything I put my mind to.
I really loved—and now cherish—the time I spent working alongside my parents, helping them get things done and learning everything they had to teach me.
I’m sure there were moments, however, when I would have preferred to play instead of helping out with chores like cutting grass, fixing fences, tending to the horses, shoveling gravel, bailing hay, weeding, digging, painting rooms, vegetable gardening, or chopping and stacking wood.
And that last chore was a very important job for the whole family.
Even though we had a furnace to heat our home, we also had two wood stoves to feed in the winter, the main one being in a big, old family kitchen where we gathered all the time.
My Dad not only felled the trees, but he cut them up, hauled them back to our barn, and we piled them up to get them ready for splitting.
That’s me at age 16 on top of one of those piles. But that wasn’t the only pile… LOL
As a family, we each had our tasks as part of a very efficient process, and we had it down pat.
We kept moving all day, for two days, and outside of lunch and taking a couple of quick breaks, it was always a long, but productive weekend.
Here’s the after photo once the first pile of logs was split. And again… that wasn’t the only pile…
I didn’t know it at the time, but the habits and routines my parents modeled became part of my DNA, staples in my life, and parts of my business.
The wiring, however, was already there. My parents just reinforced it and expanded on it.
- I liked being neat and organized. (Shocking, I know.)
- I enjoyed saving time and structure, so I made sure everything had a place.
- I learned that good habits are the foundation for a great life.
- I liked repeatable routines for keeping me on time and on track.
- And I learned a solid work ethic that has lasted a lifetime.
To sum up the early years, there are 3 thing my parents modeled and taught really well…
- Planning and execution: My parents were masters at these whether they were planning a weekend project, our next vacation, home improvements, or their next party. They made a plan, planned their time well, and executed efficiently, realistically, and on time.
- Finishing what you start: This is something they always did. They never left anything “undone” or “half done.” They regularly modeled what success looked like on the other side of effort and I always enjoyed the feeling of success when I finished a project, which motivated me to keep finishing anything I started.
- Celebrating a job well done: Every time a finish line was reached, my parents took the time to stand back and admire a job well done. They took pride in work done well, whether they did it, I did it, or we did it together. They appreciated quality work and the effort that went into it, and taking the time to do this built confidence and reinforced feelings of empowerment and accomplishment.
What I learned early on: How you THINK determines what you ACHIEVE.
When Patterns Emerged…
I loved school. A lot. I couldn’t WAIT for school to start in the fall.
The new pencils, pens, notebooks, and a new book bag got me excited.
My sense of order and process started to emerge during my school years and my teachers noticed.
I wouldn’t have known this (or remembered!) if my Mom hadn’t have saved ALL of my report cards.
I found them after she passed away and I discovered similar comments from teachers, year after year, starting at a very early age.
“Good progress”… “excellent progress”… “prompt”… “efficient”
I liked saving time, too. Although, one of my early experiments didn’t quite turn out the way I had expected…
At age 11 or 12 (6th grade?), I told my Mom that I was going to go to bed in my uniform instead of wearing pyjamas so I could get more sleep in the morning.
And she let me do it, which was hilarious. She was fine with it, knowing how that would go.
So I put on my white blouse and my green and white pinstripe jumper that night before going to bed, and as you can imagine, I woke up the next morning a wrinkled MESS.
After waking two mornings like that, I called it quits.
I had a standard of appearance that needed to be met and that didn’t cut it, so this little time-saving experiment was laid to rest immediately. 🙂
My school years also offered opportunities to help others, which started in 1st grade, evidenced by the image below from my 1st grade report card.
This desire to help others continued through the years and at one point in my senior year, when I had finished a project a bit early, I was able to help a friend with an assignment, which I was happy to do.
So, whether helping my parents on the farm or classmates in school, I’ve always enjoyed the feeling of being helpful to others.
And one final bit of evidence that who I am today is part of my DNA…
On a page in our senior yearbook, where everyone in the class was acknowledged for what they were BEST known for, my classmates determined that mine was this little gem…
I became aware of my skills for staying organized, being efficient, meeting deadlines, and staying on time.
I was careful to use time wisely, be proactive, avoid procrastination, and always be prepared—especially for pop quizzes, tests, and exams.
This consistent state of preparedness served me well. I could always enjoy worry-free time when it was playtime, knowing that I had done my very best on my homework and school projects.
I liken this to “eating your vegetables first.” Although, I love vegetables, too. 😉
After graduating from high school and earning a Bachelor of Science in Business from college, it was time for full-time work.
What Corporate Life Revealed…
My Dad worked at Black & Decker for more than 30 years and as a child, I remember visiting his office and wanting to work in a corporate office just like his when I grew up.
To get a good head start on my future career, I worked at Black & Decker and McCormick & Co., Inc. during summer and winter breaks throughout my college years, and in 1990, I entered the world of work, full-time.
After scouring dozens of job openings in the Baltimore Sun and doing lots of interviews, I landed my first job two weeks out of college and I stayed in the same type of career for more than 13 years in 3 different companies.
My career was called a variety of things depending on where I worked: materiel management, supply chain, purchasing, or contracting. These logos below and the business card show where I spent the majority of my years in corporate.
I loved my career. I became an Excel spreadsheet nerd, I loved “shopping for” (or “sourcing”) anything a person or department needed. I loved filling needs, solving problems, and getting the best value with the best deal possible.
In addition to being in Operations side of business, these jobs gave me an incredible view of how companies work, including insights into every single role and department in a company. (When you have to buy for them, you learn a lot!)
Along the way, I observed many changes in how work was managed and how personal productivity was impacted by trends and technology.
In the ‘90s, the fax was slowly replaced by email.
The number of phone calls started to decrease while the number of daily emails increased.
Work started to speed up. Systems started to break down.
And I was just as vulnerable back then to the issues and problems of a typically busy workday.
During my 13 years, I got frustrated with the same things we get frustrated with today, just on a smaller scale.
- I would have preferred to see all of my tasks in ONE place instead of on legal pads or on post-it notes. I also used all sorts of planners, including the Daytimer and the Franklin Covey planner.
- I used the papers and files on my desk as reminders of things to do. This just fragmented my focus, since there were quite a few things to look at, look for, and keep track of.
- I kept my email Inbox low, but the emails that were left in the Inbox were reminders of things I needed to do, but couldn’t do right away. Time was wasted here repeatedly looking at the SAME emails every day.
- I got tired of spending time rifling through the file on my desk of things I was waiting for from other people. I did this once a day so I could determine what actions to take or follow-ups to do.
Personally, I wish I had back then the system I teach now.
But it wasn’t long before lightning struck…
Then I Connected the Dots
I left my last job in 2003 and it was in those early years of running Productive Day when everything clicked.
I started by helping my clients “get organized,” but then I realized…
That wasn’t their biggest problem.
Yes, I could help someone find or file something in 3 seconds or less, but…
If they couldn’t keep up with email…
If they couldn’t get the time they needed to work on their most important projects…
If they couldn’t get a grip on tasks and prioritize well…
If they couldn’t find what they needed quickly and easily…
They were never going to make enough daily progress to reach their targets and goals.
I discovered that being organized was NOT the end goal and it wasn’t the answer to their frustrations.
Instead, these gaps appeared, which highlighted what they were REALLY struggling with…
…a lack of reliable processes for getting things done.
At the time, most professionals thought they had just ONE problem.
Maybe just with managing tasks… or just email… or just time.
But that’s wasn’t it. (It’s never just ONE thing.)
EVERY process in the workday is connected.
They support one another. They impact one another. They’re intertwined.
But the processes my clients were using were fragmented, broken, or missing.
Clients were frustrated, angry, sad, overwhelmed, aggravated, tired, and stressed out.
That’s when I discovered the missing piece…
Because all of the complaints and the issues and frustrations were just SYMPTOMS of a MUCH bigger problem.
They didn’t have a SYSTEM for workload management.
So, the natural next step was to create one.
That’s when the system was born: Taskology® The Science of Getting Things Done.
It pulls together the 4 Process Pillars™ into ONE system, giving you a simplified, streamlined, and seamless way to manage work.
With a system, you immediately gain time and freedom, allowing you to make more progress at work so you can have more personal time at home to enjoy life.
This Journey Led Me to You
Over the years, I’ve been grateful to work with clients from more than 30 different industries and the insights I gain year after year, continue to shape the system.
Taskology® has been revised five times in both PDF and video format. And while the mainstay of Productive Day consists of both private consulting and team training, the video series has been brought back to the website along with a new Productive Day® POWERHOUSE Inner Circle for support, coaching, and accountability.
Over the years, I’ve been saying and teaching the same things. What clients learned 15 years ago will STILL be relevant 15 years from now.
And that’s because Taskology® is a methodology for your technology.
It’s a method of thinking, decision making, and execution that will always be valuable and will not change.
It’s still effective because it’s not hooked to the continuous evolution of technology.
***And what you may not realize is this: the methodology is more important than the technology.
With my extensive experience and consistent, maniacal focus on efficiency, I’ve learned to see through the trends that come and go (like open office spaces!) and through all of the bright, shiny objects that appear weekly.
I understand how the human brain works when it comes to doing the work that matters.
I know what professionals need in order to keep their focus, hit their targets, and make an impact every day.
Everyone needs reliable, repeatable processes that don’t steal time, but return it instead to gain maximum benefit.
When you get this right, here’s what’s possible…
- More efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity
- More time, energy, and freedom
- Increased clarity, confidence, and control
- Decreases in chaos, clutter, and confusion
- More meaningful, powerful progress
- Fewer worries about what you might have missed, lost, or forgotten
- More personal time for family, friends, hobbies, and health
- Less stress and more peace of mind.
If you’re looking for an easier, yet more efficient workday, I can join you on this journey and guide you to your destination at the end of your particular rainbow…
Now that you’ve read about the confluence of megatrends that I wrote about in Issue #1 of the Efficiency Edge and my non-conformist views about the solution for today’s workload management crises that I shared in Issue #2, you now have my back story and the critical combination of experiences that have led me here to you.
If you want a guide who will cut through the noise, simplify next steps, and lead you to and through the solution…
I’m here for you.
If you’re tired of guessing and you’d just want to KNOW how to fire up your efficiency, power up your productivity, and make AMAZING progress…
Send me an email and let me know the reason WHY you’re ready to fix things in your workday once and for all.
Are you most interested in…
- More time with family and friends
- More time for health, fitness, and sleep
- Fewer worries and less stress
- More progress at work/time with your team
- More time for professional development and advancement
- More time for sales (connections, conversations, conversions with prospects and clients)
- Something else
Let me know. Send me an email. And feel free to choose as many as you’d like.
I answer every email.
Until next time…
Remember to make the most of your minutes.
Protect time for what matters.
And make memories you’ll cherish for years to come.
Greater productivity doesn’t mean packing MORE work into your workday.
It’s about getting the right work done from start to finish faster and easier during your workday so you can gain more time and freedom, and enjoy more life.
Leslie
