Tag Archive for: time management

Leadership Spotlight: Building Team Trust

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We’re excited to announce that after appearing on Episode #34 of the Elevate Business Podcast, Todd has been selected for the Intuity Performance Leadership Spotlight series.

Todd Usen is a digital surgery pioneer, envisioning the future of surgical intelligence. Working within the medical industry for the past two decades, Todd has led teams as President of the Orthopaedic Organizations and Olympus Corporation. Now serving as CEO at Active Surgical he is empowering his team to develop surgical intelligence to help see what humans cannot.

Here are the top 3 insights he shared with the community.

1. What has fueled you throughout this journey? We want to hear more about what plants your feet on the floor every single morning as a CEO.

It’s interesting when I was young and I competed in sports through college I was really honoured and blessed.It forced a great time management system to play a sport where you’re on planes all week with tutors travelling with you and attending big conferences and then having to maintain your grades. You really learn some time management, but also the competitive nature that you have.

I got into the medical field years ago because of personal reasons. My mother had multiple sclerosis and I was somewhat inquisitive and never understood how someone that could have such healthy kids and a healthy family could have a disease like that, so I was just intrigued by being in the medical world and working towards making sure that would make a difference for patients. And the reason I say that is because every day when I wake up it’s those two things.

To the business world, I’ve always been grounded because I love taking a coach-approach. I’m not a big title person. I like being part of a team. I love making sure that I empower and develop people so that they can go do great things and even tell me what to do.

But I also keep my feet on the ground because I realize that it’s all about the patient, not trying to make robotics better. I’m not trying to make surgeons better. I’m not trying to bring a technology that is going to make me millions of dollars. It’s never really my thought process. It’s that we have something that’s going to make patients better, reduce complications, help overall health care. I know it sounds like, well, there’s no way that’s true, but it really is. It’s always been my mission, it’s always been going in there and talking realistically, it’s not selling, it’s not doing anything. It’s, hey, I have something that is going to make a difference for you and those patients who are on the operating room table every single day. It’s not only them that I think about. I think of their families that are in the waiting room freaking out because they have someone on the operating room table, and I want to make sure that I’m grounded because we’re bringing technology that will make a difference.

So I hope that makes sense. But it’s no more or less than that. It’s that I love coaching, I love team development, I love watching, I love when people shine, and I want to make sure that we’re delivering something that helps patient outcomes.

2. Can you tell us more about your vision for your team at Activ Surgical?

Well again it’s still about the ultimate vision, it’s still about patients and you want to make sure that you’re doing the best that you can to reduce complications for patients. But when you look at the company, we say that from a technical standpoint, we are the computer vision engine of the operating room. So we envision a future of true collaborative or autonomous surgery where surgical intelligence, things that are way above me, can empower folks and robots too.

We’re seeing things that humans can’t see. So we want to make sure that we’re bringing that to the operating room. Our founder, Dr. Peter Kim is brilliant, but Dr. Kim cannot be in every surgery around the world at the same time. Dr. Kim’s information and insights can be, so anytime a doctor is in a surgical procedure, Dr. Kim’s data, as well as a bunch of Dr. Kim’s colleagues and people from all across the industry, crowdsourced data can identify key land mines and landmarks, key areas to cut and if it’s surgery in key areas to avoid, if it’s vessels or something, you can damage. That information needs to be in the hands of doctors because, again, the people part is that every patient in the world should have the confidence that their doctor, whether their surgeon has done one surgery of a specific specialty or five thousand surgeries of that same specialty, every patient should have the trust and confidence that their doctor has the same information available to him or her to make that surgery a success.

You can think about it like driving cars now, and when I think about when I got my license, when I was 16 or 17 year old, if I wanted to back up, I mean, I turned around. If I wanted to look at my side view mirror, I did. But then there was a blind spot, so I’d peek over my shoulder – now a 16 year old can get their driver’s license and they still have to do all of those things, but when they’re in reverse and they’re about to crash into a cone that they can’t see, the car might beep really loud or it may stop some cars, or there might be a big flashing orange light on your side view mirror to tell you that, hey, there’s someone in your blind spot, so that 16 year old is a much better driver today than they were when I first learned. I am still relying on intuition now and experience, but we say the same things in surgery.

So a new surgeon should have the same information available, should have the rearview camera, should have the side view mirror, should have a beeping sound, all these things that can help him or her perform better surgery and that the Peter Kym’s of the world, can be providing them with his or her data. So it’s a broad vision. But at the end of the day, if someone asked me my vision, I wouldn’t normally explain it that long. It’s pretty much a couple of sentences. But for this discussion, I wanted to make sure that I explained it and it’s still all about the patient.

3. I think what I’m really hearing is that you’re making decisions not for yourself, but rather on behalf of the company, and it’s taken on the mindset that, OK, if I’m going to make this decision or spend this money, is it in the best interest of Activ Surgical and what impact will it have on us, the team and the growth of the company itself. Does that resonate with you?

It resonates a lot because you know what? I absolutely believe in rewarding success and celebrating successes and having little milestones, because you can’t just go on and expect the things, you have to call things out. But in your example, Scott. Yeah. So I have one hundred dollars in my budget. OK, actually nobody has anything in their budget. So is there a downside if you didn’t need to spend something that you just saved? Now you’re going to need that one hundred dollars a month and a half from now and you’re going to realize, wow, I’m glad I have this because I was smart in the way I spent my money, and now there’s a huge opportunity, a huge project that I can do. So I think when people realize that you get hired, even first line sellers are called territory managers. You’re managing the territory, you’re representing the company.

Every single day that you walk outside, you represent the company. That question that you asked earlier of being grounded and what makes you grounded every day. But the same thing that ties right back to this, Scott, is that the representation of a company is a big deal, and I also realized this a long time ago, and I always share this in developing any first line regional sales manager or head of marketing or our R&D manager or operations manager for the first time is after your family and close friends, who the single most important person in someone’s life? Whether they think it is or not, is probably their boss because of what that boss potentially can control.

Who controls your livelihood? It controls your job. It controls your raises. It controls whether you’re hired or fired, potentially if you work. So I say that in two ways. Anyone that is a boss of someone, remember when I said you have to earn their respect, get off to earn yours. You want people to run? They’re willing to run through a wall for you because they know that you have their back and it’s a really important position and something that you shouldn’t take lightly when you’re someone’s boss.

I mean, it’s a really big responsibility to be someone’s boss. I’ve always taken it seriously in a good way and I hope people around me have done it as well. I try to remind people of the role that they’re in. They’re not in the boss’s role so they can boss people around or so that they can show off their business card, you know, because I’ve been promoted by the best bosses.

People really want to work for them and like I said, they’ll run through a wall for them. That’s the way I try to think every day about the roles we play and the way that we hire, and in the way that we develop, and the way you should be thinking about business.

If you’re interested in learning more from our other Spotlight Leaders, check out Moncef Lakouas’s take on Leadership is Learning.

The Power Of Downtime: Achieving Greater Results

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In a culture that celebrates 80-hour workweeks, sleepless nights and busy work – it’s easy to become overwhelmed.

Inspirational quotes and influencers expressing your need to work harder, celebrating the daily grind, only contribute to an increasing pressure to perform.

Now, working at home with less structure then before it’s become even easier to get caught in the rat race. With your office steps away from the bedroom, I’ve had clients recount answering emails from the time they get up to the time they go to bed.

Yet in my experience, the harder I worked the less I felt I was progressing. Because sometimes the most productive thing you can do is take a break.

But what about the power of downtime?

The Power Of Downtime

For the sake of this post, downtime is the time in-between tasks, meetings or mandates.

If you’re like most, you’ve tried to determine ways to be more productive at work.

Creating habits around how you organize your inbox, set meetings or prioritize your tasks.

But have you ever thought about being productive with your downtime?

Now it may sound counter-intuitive at first. Isn’t that the time I can finally rest and reset? Well yes, mostly… but you can learn how to use your downtime effectively.

Rather than feeling guilty about stepping away, using it to benefit your productivity and increase your performance.

For me a 5-minute walk outdoors at lunch made me feel more refreshed than ever! Where scrolling through 100 Instagram stories took less effort, but left me feeling more exhausted.

Mindless distractions serve to pass the time, but also deplete your energy.

Where productive downtime recharges and restores.

No matter how hard you try, unlike the Energizer Bunny, we can’t keep going and going and going…

The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a productivity hack, which has easily doubled my productivity and focus. It’s the light at the end of the tunnel that revealed to me the power of downtime.

The brain can only function for about 90 minutes at a time before needing a break. The Pomodoro Technique promotes working in highly focused, short sprints with micro-breaks in between.

With the goal to maintain hyper-focus during “working time” and allow your mind to reset in-between sprints. Here is what it looks like:

Working time: 25 minutes

Distraction free focused on one single task (no multitasking) striving for a measurable objective (ex: finish report).

Rest: 3-5 minutes

No emails, social media, phone calls, meetings, etc. Safeguard this time to relax and let go of wherever your mind may be racing.

And repeat.

After 4-5 Pomodoro’s (25m sprints), you’ll begin to feel tired due to the hyper-focused nature of the activity and may need an extended break (15 minutes).

Over time you’ll learn what works best for you and can adjust the sprint and break time as you go.

As a high achiever, you’ll want to start with long sprints. I recommend going against your nature and beginning with short 25 minutes sprints before ramping up.

Where studies show that unplanned interruptions increase stress, frustration, workload, effort, and pressure, the power of downtime can alleviate these stressors.

The challenge is staying focused on one task for the entire 25 minutes, undisturbed.

Habit Challenge

As we’ve seen the power of downtime depends on how you spend it. By using your time wisely to re-energize will allow you to come back to work with a new perspective.

Here are 5 ways you can be productive with your downtime:

  1. Movement: Will increase energy levels and release endorphins in the body leading to a more positive mood. A 5-minute walk, stretching or a few push-ups can have a lasting impact.
  2. Nature: Click the link to discover how 40 seconds of connecting with nature can impact your productivity.
  3. Breathing: Meditating or focusing on your breath can help release stress and regain focus.
  4. Gratitude: Put pen to paper and write a few things you’re grateful for and it can help bring back perspective to what’s important to you.
  5. Know Your Why: I re-read my purpose and goals as a daily reminder of what I am working towards and helps when facing difficult challenges.

The power of downtime is necessary to improve productivity and focus. Trying to work straight through your day only leads to diminishing returns on your energy and focus.

Take the time to recharge and allow yourself time to reflect on what you may be stuck on. Begin by incorporating short breaks into your day by using the Pomodoro Technique.

A Habit for Mindless Distractions

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I’m in the middle of creating a PowerPoint for an upcoming presentation and my younger sister calls.

I pull myself away to answer the phone, but that only lasts momentarily, before I begin checking my emails. Splitting my attention, between our conversation and emails without even noticing.

I close my emails and pull myself back into the conversation. Although again only minutes later I find myself browsing the web!! Has this ever happened to you? Engaging in mindless distractions when you should be focused on one? Multitasking, while on the phone.

Scrolling through Instagram, during a webinar. Answering a text, while mid-conversation with someone. That last one really ticks me off. But it’s no better than checking my emails while on the phone with my sister. And it’s not that our conversation wasn’t interesting. But these days I’ve noticed myself dividing my focus between activities.

Why has it become so difficult to stay concentrated on one thing at a time?

Mindless Distractions

As great as it’s been growing up in the digital age, it does have its drawbacks. Technology has created expectations to respond at all times of the day and made it easy to let small things pass us by.

The era of sharing everything has connected the world like never before through Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. But living in a fast-paced online environment, we’re continually trying to catch up, because it keeps evolving.

The devices in our pockets have provided a network for relentless distraction and stimulation. Forming larger barriers to social interaction, than the connections they were created to make.

The exponential growth of technology has made us less social than more, no matter how many Facebook friends you might have.

These pressures have had adverse consequences on our health. With only so many big milestones to celebrate, what happens when you forget to relish the small wins?

Millennials, in particular, are suffering from depression and anxiety at a greater ratio than any other generation due to perfectionist pressures. Always striving to become better has made burnout and stress-related issues a norm.

When your automatic choices begin to be detrimental to your health and happiness, you can longer rely on them. Isolated and alone, it’s easier to resort to mindless distractions than look around and engage in a conversation with a stranger.

Developing a habit of spending unconscious time on mindless distractions has created a need for more conscious living.

Ah!! But what can we do?

In a connected society, we have to be intentional with the time we spend on distractions. Learning to become present with what we’re doing in the moment. Technology is not a bad thing when used properly. Avoiding splitting your attention by focusing on one thing.

For example,

Paying attention and contributing to the online meeting you’re in. Actively listening to the conversation you’re having – in person or on the phone. Working on one task at a time and completing it, before moving onto the next. Become self-aware when you engage in mindless distractions and look towards dedicating conscious time to what you’re doing.

Self-Awareness Strategies

Here are 4 techniques that you can implement to practice avoiding mindless distractions:

  1. Meditate: Learn to let your thoughts come and go rather than suffocate your mind. Begin with something as short as a couple minutes of deep breathing.
  2. Pomodoro Technique: Use this productivity hack to increase your focus on a task. Blocking outside distractions will raise your awareness and productivity drastically.
  3. Practice Gratitude: Place a journal or piece of paper next to your bed and write down 3 things you’re grateful for each day. Use it as a reminder to stop and enjoy the small joys in your day.
  4. High-Intensity Exercise: When your heart rate is beating at 80% capacity; it’s difficult to focus on anything but the exercise you are doing.

Habit Challenge

Do you find yourself engaging in mindless distractions out of habit, rather than a conscious choice?

If you always reach for your phone when you stand in line, what would happen if you stopped yourself and just stood in line?

Try and leave your phone in a drawer, when you’re working on a task. Close down your computer when talking on the phone. Eat lunch away from your desk and socialize with others in your household/office.

Or use one of the 4 strategies above to create more self-awareness.

Whatever you choose, the goal is to develop greater awareness around the habit for mindless distractions. Don’t look to change anything at first but rather discover how frequently it occurs and go from there.

Becoming The Master Of Your Inner Voice

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How often does that inner voice pop into your head?

You know the one. It’s always there to provide you with an excuse, self-doubt or anxiety. It shows up when you need it least. Well, I’d like you to meet Barry, my inner voice.

He comes alive when I’m in bed and the alarm goes off. Telling me, I NEED 5 more minutes – like its life and death. He is there when I push my comfort zone. Reminding me of the worst possible outcome, assuring me that it will occur. Nagging me to choose mindless distractions over what I need to do.

Barry can also be encouraging – but only when it comes to working on what’s easy over what’s hard.

That inner voice serves a great purpose, to protect and make us aware of immediate dangers. Although this worked well while living in the wild, the only hazard I’m facing now is when I forget to pick up oat milk for my wife’s morning coffee!

In the world we live in today, that inner voice may be holding you back from reaching your full potential.

Taking the first step

Taking the first step can be difficult, or it can be easy. It’s easy to procrastinate, but hard to get started.

It’s easy to press snooze, but hard to get up and go to the gym. The first step determines which direction you’ll go in – productive or distracted. Fulfilling your goals or procrastinating on them. But there is a way to take back control — a way to override the inner voice that is holding you back from achieving something great.

5 seconds to succeed

You see, Barry is quick to jump to a conclusion, but he’s slow to react. There is a small window of opportunity where I don’t have to negotiate with him. Author Mel Robbins calls this, The 5 Second Rule. In those first 5 seconds, Barry is still hibernating and doesn’t realize what we’re about to do.

Counting down 5… 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 Springing out of bed at the sound of your alarm. Starting that report you know is due tomorrow. Making that sales call you’ve been dreading all week.

Taking action before the inner voice realizes what’s going on. Beating it to the punch before it can make a list of excuses, causing inaction.

Two minutes to greatness

Another technique written about by James Clear is called the two-minute rule. If you’re looking for a boost of motivation for taking on a looming task or project, this is the technique for you. The idea is to focus on the first 2 minutes of any project. Your only goal is to achieve those first two minutes. Anything that happens after is inconsequential. Get a coffee or tea and begin to write an outline.

Pack your gym bag and get in the car. Sit down and begin meditating. The sole purpose is to focus on completing the first two minutes of any task. Who can’t get motivated to complete two-minutes of an activity? I can even convince Barry quite easily to commit to this one.

Once the two-minutes are up, you can stop what you’re doing guilt-free. But by focusing on getting started, you’re more likely to continue. Use the two-minute rule as a source of motivation to overcome your inner voice and take on dreaded tasks or challenges you can’t seem to get started on.

Habit Challenge

It might sound odd, naming your inner voice. But when you own it, you become more aware of it. And through greater awareness, you can begin to slowly change its narrative. Who’s that inner voice that is holding you back? What if you didn’t have to listen to it anymore? What could you accomplish? We’ve seen that the first step is the most difficult, yet the most important. How you decide to act in the face of resistance will influence the steps that follow. Put into practice the

5-second rule and try it out for yourself.

Tomorrow morning as the sound of the alarm count down 5… 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 and jump out of bed without a second thought. Or focus on the first two minutes of any task and hold yourself accountable to only completing those first 120 seconds. You might fail at first, but that’s ok. The key is to focus on progress over perfection and keep practicing until it becomes a habit.

Becoming the master of your inner voice.

How Daily Tracking Can Help You Reach Your Goals

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If you begin tracking your daily routines or habits, you’ll begin to find some flaws in your memory. You might not be eating as healthy, burning as many calories on your runs or being as productive with your time at work as you think you are.

Our brains aren’t developed to store information, but rather be inventive and creative. That’s why tracking is more reliable, but you may be surprised at what you will find.

Why Should You Think About Daily Tracking?

Effective tracking can provide a better success rate in creating new habits, increase your productivity and hold you accountable. Tracking your actions will provide clear performance results. It will keep you honest by increasing your self-awareness and provide motivation through a chain of successful days, weeks or even months.

In the past, meditation was always a difficult habit for me to develop. Every time I’d start I would do well at first, and then my practice would fall apart. I had my excuses; not enough time, I forgot, or I thought I was meditating more often than I was – until my Insight Timer app would display a “two-day streak.” I struggled to make meditation a daily practice.

I only became successful after I started tracking my results and tying meditation to an existing habit. After my morning shower, I’d take 10 minutes to meditate and then check it off my list. I tracked every day I meditated, and the odd days I missed. After I had completed a week in a row, I became more motivated to keep the practice going. Every day, I’d take my morning shower and then head to the same spot in my condo, sit down and meditate. Through tracking and attaching it to one of my daily habits, it was easier to make meditating a regular practice.

The Dark Side of Tracking

Tracking can have a positive effect in achieving your goals, although negative consequences can occur– when tracking becomes too much.

Recently, a friend showed me his habit tracker and all of the activities he regularly completes – getting up early, stretching, doing push-ups/plank every morning. He proudly revealed his meditation app indicating 107 days in a row! I was impressed.

He went on to tell me a story about how on Day 79, after meditating on the plane, his streak reset to zero due to a time zone change. Understandably, he became upset and ended up contacting the app to update his streak.

This is where I realized the negative side effects of tracking. When crossing off your task becomes more important than the benefits of the activity, you might want to stop and re-evaluate.

If you find yourself falling down this path, miss a day on purpose.

The point of creating a habit isn’t to create the winning streak of the century! It’s to benefit from creating a long-term habit by using tracking to assist you. Be aware if your competitive nature might be getting the best of you.

There are many more apps you can use, find one that works best for you. Or you can play it old school and keep track of your activities via pen & paper or on a calendar. However, an app provides better accessibility, and you can even set daily reminders!

Habit Challenge

If you have doubts about tracking, just try it – what do you have to lose?

Identify a few specific habits, that contribute to your performance at work and well-being. Spend a week tracking how many times you go to the gym, what you eat or how often you perform a bad or good habit. If you forget or miss a day, let it go, and pick it up the next day. Create consistency and avoid missing twice in a row.

If you take on too much it’ll be difficult to do it over the long term, so start slow.

Determine your WHY by asking yourself what is motivating you to improve this area of your life? Use this as a reminder during times of struggle or distress. Understanding why you are doing something will help you stay motivated to make the activity a habit.

Take action today and pick one specific habit or daily action that you already do or want to start and begin tracking it regularly. Post your commitment in the comments below and I’ll follow up to hold you accountable 🙂