Ep 25 – Why is ”Emptying” Tasks So Difficult to Master?

Like most people who do knowledge work, there is a surplus of tasks waiting for you to complete everywhere you look. Your inboxes, todo lists, and task management software are full to the brim. You want to be on top, free of overwhelm… but there seems to be no way out.

Have you created a problem for yourself by writing down all your unfinished tasks? Does it make sense to save unread emails? Why can’t you just get rid of them all and pretend they never happened?

Maybe if you were a superstar in this area, you would never fall behind the job of emptying inboxes and todo lists. Is that even possible now…or in the future

In this solo episode, I’ll be sharing my most recent thoughts about the skill of Emptying and exploring new thinking that can help you make some headway.

Get full access to Francis A. Wade at 2timelabs.substack.com/subscribe

Non-Specific Corporate Vision is Uninspiring

We all know what it’s like to be inspired by a vision of the future. It feels good, as if we are responding to a higher purpose. But why do corporate visions fall often flat?

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit longtermstrategy.substack.com/subscribe

Best timelines for strategic plans

You are about to begin a fresh round of strategic planning. The team is eager, but before the retreat starts, you have a tricky decision. What length of time should your organization create a plan for?

Visit our archives for past columns – https://blog.fwconsulting.com

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit longtermstrategy.substack.com/subscribe

Culture still eating strategy for breakfast

You have heard the saying that “Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast”. It has a ring of truth to it, but you don’t want to believe that strategic planning is futile – a victim of large, negative forces which cannot be overcome. But if it’s neither entirely right nor wrong, can we still use it?

To access my archive of past columns, see https://blog.fwconsulting.com

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit longtermstrategy.substack.com/subscribe

Ep 24 – Achieving the Best Flow State

So you’re a creative person and getting into the Flow State is the key to your success. Like Michaelangelo or Leonardo, you use focused high energy times to do your best work. And you love it.

BUT… you have a Tik Tok account and the people you’re following are a growing distraction…and you can’t help yourself…you just want to take a peek…and another…

And when someone forcibly takes away your smartphone, you are able to focus, but then you overfocus and work for 15 hours straight, and then collapse. At that point you hate to return to your computer. 

Getting and staying in the Flow state is not so easy after all.

Tune into this episode to hear from me and my special guest, Manlio lo Giudice, as we solve this challenging problem together.

Get full access to Francis A. Wade at 2timelabs.substack.com/subscribe

Ep 23 – Capture Points! What They Are and How to Manage Them

You’re a productivity AND technology enthusiast which means that you are managing lots of inboxes. Each time you sign up for a new one, they give you another.

But is that a good thing? Or just another loose end you need to account for in your weekly review?

If it’s the latter, then why? In this episode we tackle the problem of Capture Points – physical and digital places where potential tasks are sitting…waiting. We’ll talk about your need to handle each and every one of them…or else. That is, if you hope to develop a flawless reputation for being on top of all the stuff people send your way, wanting a response.

Join me on this solo episode as we explore this challenge that affects every single knowledge worker in the entire world. It’s a continuation of Episode 21 on Capturing.

 

Get full access to Francis A. Wade at 2timelabs.substack.com/subscribe

Role of the Corporate Strategy Officer

Your company is thinking about creating a new role: strategy specialist. This person should support the entire strategy creation cycle and help produce a strategic plan with impact. But what exactly should be that person’s responsibilities? What uncommon value should they add?

For other past articles, see https://blog.fwconsulting.com

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit longtermstrategy.substack.com/subscribe

Ep 22 – Task Management as a Non-Traditional Student

So you’re a career person who has a family…..AND you want to return to school. But in your mind you can’t see how to  reconcile the image you have of student life with your current obligations. After all, you have a job, a family, a commitment to your wellbeing, a spiritual life, friends, you belong to a community…all these things are not on the typical college students’ agenda.

In fact, most students seem to put these things on hold…on ice…while they focus everything on their studies. You cannot do that, to say the least.

Is there a way to have it all? You do know that people have done this before…you’re not the first. So there must be a way that can increase your odds of success. 

But what are they?

Tune into this episode to hear from me and my special guest, Emily Cordwell, as we solve this challenging problem together.

 

 

Get full access to Francis A. Wade at 2timelabs.substack.com/subscribe

What Happens When Vision Statements Lose Their Potency

You want to engage your staff around a bright, hopeful future. At some point in the past, a two-paragraph vision statement did the trick. But lately, it’s gone stagnant. What should you do to restore the inspiration it once provided? Should you change the words, or try something different?

To read prior columns visit https://blog.fwconsulting.com

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit longtermstrategy.substack.com/subscribe

How to create and dominate business categories

In your company’s strategic planning activities, you hope to make more than incremental improvements. Instead, your team dreams of brilliant decisions and breakthrough results. But are these a matter of luck? While fortune plays a role, Digicel’s introduction to the mobile telephony market is an example of a new competency: “category design.”

Christopher Lochhead would be proud of Digicel. He belongs to a cohort of content creators who call themselves the “Category Pirates.”

For past columns, visit https://blog.fwconsulting.com

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit longtermstrategy.substack.com/subscribe