I’ll be giving out FREE review copies of the book to all the readers on the blog, so if you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for my mailing list.
I’m now in the process of creating a second book called, “How Successful People Work”. I’d like to invite you to co-author the book with me.

My previous book, “How to Deliver a Great TED Talk”: http://amzn.to/11XNgc9

How You Can Participate:

Contribute one chapter to the book (minimum 750 words). Your bio and links to your website will appear in the book. The chapter you decide to work on should contain all or some of the following:

• Stories of successful, productive people using the technique
• Tips on how to apply the technique (e.g. if you say “Get a good night’s sleep”, you also need to provide the HOW to get a good night’s sleep)
• Scientific research – if appropriate, quote studies that have been done that show the effectiveness of the technique.

Choose from one of the following chapters:

SECTION 1: BEFORE YOU GET TO WORK 

Chapter 1:GET AN EARLY START
Why getting an early start makes you more productive

Chapter 2: EXERCISE/MEDITATE
Why doing some exercise or meditating makes you productive.

SECTION 2: YOUR FIRST HOUR AT WORK

Chapter 3: CREATE/UPDATE A LIST OF TASKS YOU WANT TO FINISH BY THE END OF THE DAY
Setting goals and writing them down increases your chances of achieving them by 80%
Chapter 4: EAT THE FROG
Get rid of the most frustrating, annoying task early in the morning. That way, you don’t keep procrastinating. The sense of satisfaction you will experience at having completed the task will motivate you and keep you going.

SECTION 3: THE REST OF THE DAY

Chapter 5: BREAK LARGE TASKS INTO SMALLER CHUNKS.
Why breaking a large task into smaller chunks makes you more productive.

Chapter 6: FOCUS.
Focus on one task at a time. Trying to complete too many tasks at once will divide your mental resources and is not very efficient.

Chapter 7: TAKE FREQUENT BREAKS.
When you find your attention drifting, take a break. Go for a walk.

Chapter 8: TAKE A PROPER LUNCH BREAK.
Get some healthy food into your body. Your body needs fuel in order to work.

Chapter 9. CREATE IF-THEN PLANS.
I’ll be writing this chapter.

Chapter 10. KEEP YOUR EYES FOCUSED ON THE END GOAL.
Why keeping focused on the end goal increases motivation and productivity.

SECTION 4: YOUR LAST HOUR AT WORK

Chapter 11. COMPILE ALL THE MATERIAL YOU NEED FOR THE FOLLOWING DAY OF WORK.
Pens, papers, files should all be organized when you get to work so that you can immediately start working on the important tasks instead of spending time focused on getting organized.

Chapter 12. CREATE A LIST OF TASKS YOU WANT TO GET FINISHED THE NEXT DAY.
Why creating a to-do list for the following day makes you more productive.

SECTION 5: AFTER WORK

Chapter 13. RELAX. GET SOME REST. GET AWAY FROM WORK.
Spend time with your family and doing what you enjoy. Give yourself some time to yourself and with your friends and family. Having a healthy balance between work and life will keep you happy and motivated at work.

Chapter 14. BE GRATEFUL
Happy brains are 31% more productive

Chapter 15. GET ADEQUATE SLEEP.
Having 8 hours of sleep boosts your productivity. Lacking sleep makes you error prone and, according to studies, lowers your IQ.

Benefits of Co-authoring with me:

• Credibility 
• Free publicity. I will be promoting the book to my list of 3,900+ email subscribers and 2900 Facebook fans. A short bio of you along with your website will be included at the end of the chapter you write
• Make money. You’ll receive the PDF version of the book which you can sell on your website. Any money you make from selling the PDF version is yours. You’re also free to print out the book and sell it in your seminars, distribute it to colleagues.

Requirements:

Your chapter must be at least 750 words. Content must be original and can not have been previously published anywhere on the internet, including your own blog.

Next Steps:

1. Choose which chapter you want to write
2. Email me at: akash.speaker@gmail.com with the Subject Line: How Successful People Work
3. In the body of your email, let me know which chapter you want to write

Difference in Communication Styles

I’ve recently relocated from London, to Lagos and one thing I’ve noticed is the difference in communication styles.  Reading a newspaper or listening to a news piece is like trying to navigate an obstacle course.  There aren’t any hurdles, or walls or water jumps, but the language used by the journalists is really rather scary.  Sometimes it feels like the main aim of the presenter is not to give information, but to show off how many long words they know.  I’m not sure I’ve ever heard the word “discombobulate” actually used in a sentence before.  However, since moving back to Lagos, I’ve heard it quite a few times.  For those with enquiring minds, it means “to confuse or disconcert; upset or frustrate”.  Although communication is one of the first skills we learn, it’s not always the easiest thing to do.

Why We Get Communication Wrong

My first observation is that we get communication wrong, when we don’t do “first things first”.  What do you mean by that? I hear some of you ask. Well, before we even start trying to communicate, we should ask ourselves some basic questions.  Questions like: who is this person I am trying to communicate with? what are their likes and dislikes? what are they passionate about? what do they want to know? I have to confess that before I sat down to write this piece, I asked some of these questions about you.  It’s better to meet people where they are, than trying to guess and run the risk of having them switch off during the conversation.  It’s incredibly easy to get our wires crossed and end up in a raging argument. I doubt there are many more questions, more terrifying for a man than when his partner asks “what are you thinking?” I have it on good authority that sometimes when men say “nothing”, they literally mean “nothing”.  That’s something that’s unfathomable for the average woman, so she interprets that as him not wanting to share with her and you can see how it all ends up in World War 3!

What is Good Communication?

Secondly, in my mind, good communication should involve about twice as much listening as it does speaking. I’ve heard some funny person justify this by saying that’s the reason God gave us two ears and only one mouth.  As a child I used to love playing the game called “Chinese Whispers”.  It was amazing to hear how different the message was by the time it got to the last person.  It may be amusing in the context of a game, but not so much when it affects peoples’ lives.  That seemingly harmless little titbit of gossip, can turn into something so much more damaging, once it’s been repeated over and over again and changed every time.

Photo Credit: practicalowl via Compfight cc

The Gift of Deep Listening

Conversely, offering someone the gift of really deep listening is priceless.  I hope that we all have at least one person in our lives, who makes us feel valued- just by the way they listen to us.  When we listen deeply, we increase our chances of really understanding what’s being said.  Which means we have a better chance of responding appropriately. Best of all, we reduce our chances of being glared at, accompanied by the question “are you listening to me?”

How to Become a Better Communicator

Having identified some of the pitfalls of communication, now I’d like to offer my top tip for how to become a better communicator. The easiest way to improve your communication skills is to change your focus.  When most of us are in a conversation, our focus is on ourselves. 

Hands up anyone who’s spent more time marshalling your arguments, thinking of your next line and interrupting, rather than actually listening?

As a coach, I’ve fallen into this trap myself. Thinking of my next question, instead of really listening to the answer to my last one. Keeping the focus on you during a conversation is a bit like talking to yourself- a bit pointless on a long term basis.  The simple act of paying attention to the person who is speaking to you; listening to what’s not being said, as well as what is and noting their body language all help us to improve our communication skills.  Which hopefully this time leads to the comment, “I feel like you really understand me”, rather than an exasperated “Why do I bother talking to you?”

Being a good communicator is an art, but the good news is, it’s a skill we can all develop, with a little patience and a lot of practice.

About the Author

Funmi Johnson is the founder of Born to Be Beautiful. She brings together her skills as a lawyer, personal coach and lifestyle advisor to help people maximize their potential and be all that they can be. (Akash’s note: I encourage you to check out Funmi’s blog – she writes some very thought-provoking articles)