Episode #585: 6 Items You're Missing to Transform Your Day-to-Day Life, with Jenni Poulos

You make about 35,000 decisions a day. How do you sift through the things that matter? To help you get more out of your days, Kirk Behrendt brings back Jenni Poulos, one of ACT’s amazing coaches, with actionable steps you can take to change your life. With the Ivy Lee Method, “the big six”, you can transform the days in your practice, as well as your everyday life. If you're ready to start loving your days, listen to Episode 585 of The Best Practices Show! 

Episode Resources:

• Jenni’s email: [email protected] 
• Jenni’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenni.poulos
• Jenni’s social media: @actdental
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Links Mentioned in This Episode:

The Myth of Multitasking by Dave Crenshaw: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-myth-of-multitasking-how-doing-it-all-gets-nothing-done-2nd-edition-project-management-and-time-management-skills-dave-crenshaw/14594823?ean=9781642505054

Main Takeaways:

Multitasking is a myth. It will actually rob you of your productivity.

At the end of your day, write six things to accomplish tomorrow.

Prioritize your six things in the order of their true importance.

Intentionally focus on one task at a time until completion.

What doesn't get done carries over to tomorrow’s list.

Keep things simple. 

Quotes:

“Never in my years and years and years of coaching have I walked into an office and had a dentist or a team member tell me, ‘You know what? I have so much time available in my day. I always know exactly what I'm going to do, and when I'm going to do it. I start it and finish it without distractions,’ said no one, ever. Ever. Especially in this world. The dental practice is crazy. We’re always pulled in a million directions. That's the nature of the beast. So, without a plan for our days, we end up functioning, always, in reactive mode. And what we really need to do is move out of this reactive mode and into a proactive mode to create efficiency, have a more predictable day, and we become way more productive, and our days are happier.” (2:07—3:14)

“In the early 1900s, Charles Schwab, who at that time was a steel titan, the second biggest steel company in the country, he was looking for ways to increase his productivity. He wanted to beat out the competition and become number one. So, he had a consultant named Ivy Lee come in, and he said, ‘If you can give me 15 minutes, I will show you and your executives the way to get more done.’ Schwab, I can see him laughing through this, ‘Well, how much are those 15 minutes going to cost me?’ And he said, ‘Nothing. Unless it works, nothing. In three months, you can send me a check if it was worth it.’ So, three months later, Ivy Lee got a check for $25,000 from Schwab that said, ‘Thank you. You changed my life.’ Today, that's a check for $400,000 for 15 minutes of his time.” (4:54—5:54)

“So, this is the method. What [Ivy Lee] said is, at the end of your day, I want you to write down the six most important things that you need to accomplish tomorrow. Not more than six. Spend a few minutes. Think about it. What are the six most important things? Prioritize those items in order of their true importance. Not what I want to do, not what's easy to do — what's really important. Then, when you come in tomorrow, get to work. Concentrate on the first task. Work on that first task until it’s finished, and don't move on to the second until you've taken it to completion. Approach the rest of your list in the same manner. At the end of the day, anything that's not done moves to the list tomorrow, and you rinse and repeat.” (6:04—7:04)

“We talk about why [the Ivy Lee Method] works. Conceptually, this is so simple. What are the six things that I want to do? Why does it work? One of the main reasons that this really works is because of this myth of multitasking. It’s not a thing. Our brain can only focus, intentionally, on one thing at a time. What you're actually doing is called switch tasking. Your brain is jumping from one thing to another, and every time it does that, it has to refocus and the work that you're doing ends up not being as high quality and it takes you longer. So, you need to stay intentionally focused on one thing. Until it’s done, give it your full attention, and then move on to the next.” (8:50—9:40)

“I've presented [the idea of intentionally focusing on one task] to doctors and dental team members, and they're like, ‘This is ridiculous. Do you know what it’s like in the dental office?’ I'm like, ‘Yes. I've worked in a dental office for 20 years. I know exactly what it’s like.’ This doesn't mean I don't answer the phone. This doesn't mean that I don't deal with the patient in front of me. This doesn't mean, ‘I started doing payroll. So, sorry crown prep that's in seat two. I'll be there when I'm done.’ This means that the task that we’re working on, if we have to step away from it because of these other things, when we can come back, we get back into that. We give that our attention. It doesn't mean ignore everything that's going on around you. It means, what's the most important? Stick with it until it’s done. Then, next. Stick with it until it’s done.” (9:42—10:31)

“This does require you to actually think about what's important and to prioritize. And just that process of putting a little thought to your day, thinking about, ‘What are my priorities? What do I need to do?’ helps you get that higher score, get those big six things done. In a world where we have so much competing for our time and attention, if we don't set priorities, something or someone is going to end up setting them for us.” (12:41—13:14)

“[Decision fatigue] is another big reason why this works. So, when we prioritize, when we make this plan, we fight off this decision fatigue. And this concept of decision fatigue, it’s mental exhaustion that results from the sheer number of decisions that you need to make in a day. I saw something recently that said the average adult makes 35,000 decisions in a day. It’s a lot. It’s a lot of decisions. So, what happens is we become overwhelmed with these decisions, and this results in procrastination, poor decision-making, and burnout. We waste time because I don't know what to do next. I don't know where to start. So, a little bit of focus on making the plan — and this is why the evening before can be really beneficial, because you show up the next day and you know where to begin. It’s one less decision that you need to make. And when you're done with that, you know the next important thing that needs to be done. So, you're making a plan for your decisions. You're prioritizing for yourself, and you can stay focused. It’s one of the big reasons why this works.” (13:32—14:49)

“This is the number-one reason why [The Ivy Lee Method] works — because it’s easy, because it’s simple. We talk about the KISS concept, “Keep it simple, stupid.” That originated with the Navy Seals in the 1960s. Take the easy path. This is something that's well-known in scientific thought and problem-solving. I don't know if you're familiar with the concept of Occam’s razor, but it basically says the simplest explanation is usually the best one. All things considered equal, the simplest explanation, the theory that's easiest, it’s the best one. It’s the one we should go with. We look for excessively complex solutions to our problems. We do it over and over again. I have downloaded 17,000 apps to make me more productive. Guess how many of them I still use.” (15:22—16:19)

“Pause, focus on what matters, and don't try to do too much. Because when we’re focused on nothing, we are distracted by everything.” (18:09—18:20)

Snippets:

0:00 Introduction.

2:01 Get out of the reactive mode.

4:35 The Ivy Lee Method, explained.

5:55 Write the six most important things you need to accomplish for tomorrow.

7:06 Intentionally focus on one task at a time.

12:31 Don't let others set your priorities.

13:28 Decision fatigue, explained.

14:50 Simplify.

17:47 Last thoughts. 

Jenni Poulos Bio:

Jenni brings to dental teams a literal lifetime of experience in dentistry. As the daughter and sister of periodontists and a dental hygienist, she has been working in many facets of the dental world since she first held a summer job turning rooms and pouring models at the age of 12. Now, with over 10 years of experience in managing and leading a large periodontal practice, she has a firm grasp on what it takes to run a thriving business. Her passion for organizational health and culture has been a driving force behind her coaching career. She has witnessed firsthand how creating an aligned and engaged team will take a practice to levels of success that they never believed possible!