3 Steps to Creating a Mobile Classroom

What is the average person’s plan for personal growth? Apparently eating more food! Their growth is physical weight and seemingly nothing else.

But is that personal growth? Is that the actual plan? Having no plan is a bad plan, Dr. Obvious.

Sadly, most struggle in this area and easily excuse themselves because of how busy they are in life.

The Back Story

When I first started flying a lot for my job, I had a very influential conversation with a seasoned, older businessman that would change the way I view learning opportunities.

We were on a flight and I began to ask him all types of travel questions: which airlines, hotels, car rentals have the best points type of questions.

The the conversation turned. He said, “Son, I notice you’re a reader. Can I ask you a question. When do you read?”

I gave him what I thought was an impressive answer: “Every chance I get, Sir.”

He responded confidently and a little sarcastically, “We’ll see about that. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

Youthful Assumptions

I responded with a similar confidence (and looking back, more arrogance) “Ask away.”

He began, “Do you think you maximize all of your times to read and learn?”

“Of course” I said with youthful optimism and ignorance.

“Let’s talk about work travel for a moment. How long is your drive to the airport?”

I responded, “About 30 minutes.”

“Do you read, I mean listen to something educational during that time?” He continued.

“Well…” I tried to answer.

“How about the time from getting out of your car to boarding the plane?”

“Um…” He sensed blood in the water.

Going in for the Kill

“Do you always watch movies on your iPad every time like you did on this flight?”

“Uh…” (my head dropping)

“Do you rent a car? Do you maximize the drive time? Return to the airport, waiting time, flight home, drive home..?”

“Are you getting my point, son? I just listed the amount of time you could nearly complete most if not an entire book.”

The only two words that I could utter was “Interesting. Thanks.”

I was humbled and enlightened in that moment from this interrogation by an older man. But oh how I needed this growth spanking.

Needless to say, we didn’t talk much the rest of the flight. He went on reading his book and I sat there trying to hide watching the rest of my movie.

After the Conversation

I de-boarded the plane licking my preverbal wounds. But looking back, there are few conversations with a complete stranger that have impacted my life more than that thought-provoking interaction.

Now, I could’ve left the conversation on the plane and no one would’ve ever known.

Or I could look at the conversation as a gift that could change the direction of my perspective on learning and personal growth can happen absolutely any where I am and at any given time.

I want to teach you the steps I learned on how to create a mobile classroom so you can begin learning during the motion of your life.

3 Steps to Creating a Mobile Classroom

Step 1. Have Access to Something Everywhere

We’re a people on the go especially if you’re a motivated, busy professional.

And as a result, we literally have the access to consume content (and I mean personal development and growth) anytime and anywhere.

So, I made a commitment to put growth material anywhere I could be so that in a moment’s notice, I could learn.

Here are some examples:

• Phones (podcasts / audiobooks)
• CDs for the car or an auxiliary cord to use the phone
• Good old-fashion books
• Digital books (iBooks / Kindle)
• Printed articles (if I find a good blog post, magazine article, I print it for later)

You could set aside time to think through what means and what content. Check out the Think Space post.

This is a simple but necessary step to creating a mobile classroom. You must have easily accessible content.

Step 2. Plan Ahead of Time

Once you have access to something everywhere, now it’s time to plan ahead so you can begin to learn in your new mobile classroom.

Know Thyself – you know what content will interest you. You also know when you’re likely to read or listen to certain things. This is key.

For example, when I’m limited on time and don’t want to dive into a book, this is a perfect opportunity to pull out copies of blog posts, magazine articles that interested me, etc. that I can go through with a highlighter and a red pen.

Know Thy Schedule – you know when you have opportunities within your schedule to insert learning into the cracks. And you know when are the larger cracks and when are the smaller cracks.

Choose to use those precious few minutes to learn.

5 minutes of a podcast, 10 minutes of reading something inspirational, or 20 minutes of an audiobook will fuel you in ways you don’t even realize.

Step 3. Find the Hidden Opportunities

Once you have access to something everywhere and have planned ahead, now its’ time to look for those hidden opportunities within your day ahead to maximize every learning opportunity.

And most days will offer these hidden little pockets if you just look for them.

Here are some examples:

• car (to and from work / picking up the kids)
• exercise (choose learning over music)
• flight (reference my story earlier)
• any place you have to wait (appointments)

This is what separates the interested learners to the die-hard learners who will use every moment offered to them to intentionally grow.

Closing Thoughts

Don’t make excuses because you only have a few minutes. Leverage those moments to learn.

My goal was to challenge, educate, and motivate you to create a mobile classroom. You’ve been given three steps to make this happen:

Step 1. Have Access to Something Everywhere

Step 2. Plan Ahead

Step 3. Find the Hidden Opportunities

So, it’s on you now to take your learning to the next level. Will you go mobile? It’s worth the effort to find out!

Closing Question

What do you need to do within your life to create your own personal mobile classroom?

 

How to Implement Think Space Without Thinking

 

Do you realize how little the average person actually takes time to think? I don’t mean for a for a moment but for an extended period of time.

How rare we say, “Let me think about that” and not only do we actually think about it, but we have the space to actually think it through.

 

Most people don’t think because of one or more of the following excuses I mean reasons:

it requires time

it’s hard

it requires focus

Think Space is a new concept for most people.

Think Space defined – dedicated time to develop and process key ideas and concepts

Another way of looking at Think Space is as an “Idea Formulator”. This isn’t just for creative people brainstorming. It’s YOU time to think through what is important to you.

We seem to schedule almost everything else but not time to formulate our thoughts.

This is a solvable problem, planning fans.

 

Here is How to Implement Think Space Without Thinking (because the plan is laid out before you…)

1. What To Do Before Think Space

• Find and Schedule the Time

What gets scheduled gets done. Since it’s a new habit, it MUST be scheduled to have a chance of taking root in your routine.

Look at your existing schedule and determine natural windows:
drive time
lunch break
early morning
late morning

My wife has a Bible Study at our house every Monday night. Once the kids go to bed, I have a a full hour to myself to either watch TV or… seize this perfect Think Space window as an ideal and natural time for me.

I also have 8 hours of drive time every other weekend which could be a huge disadvantage or a blessing depending upon how I use that time. I choose to use it as my long stretch of Think Space and can get SO much thinking time in with this natural Think Space opportunity for me.

The key is finding a few dedicated minutes that you can literally “be alone with your thoughts”.

Start with just 15 minutes. See what that time can do for you after implementing the concepts then you can adjust.

IF you truly do what is suggested, you will be looking at ways in your schedule to increase this coveted time.

The key is finding and scheduling the time first and foremost.

 

• Prepare for the Time in Advance

I’ve wasted more time when Think Space is available because I was simply unprepared in two key areas:
1. concepts to think through – I now have the time and couldn’t really think of what I wanted to spend this time on

2. means of recording it – If and when an idea would come, I had no where to record it and had to leave it to my memory. Guess where THAT idea ended up..?

These are solvable issues when you prepare in advance.

When I know I’m going somewhere that I’m going to wait, I always plan ahead and bring a clipboard, blank paper, and a few fine-tipped colored pens. I then label the Think Space topic at the top of the page.

If I end up waiting unexpectedly, I have an Evernote specific note for Think Space that I have ideas and can record them anywhere.

 

• Create the Right Environment
  

You know what distracts you so do what you need to do to make the most of this time.

This  is absolutely key. You want to keep your mind in the thinking zone so definitely remove email, text, and phone alerts at a minimum.

You also know when the environment is advantageous for thinking.

Do you need quiet?

Music?

Headphones to either knock out the sound or for a certain type of music?

If I can control my environment, I sit in my office at a mechanical drawing board with paper and colored pens, look out a window, and get lost in thought. It’s my perfect environment.

Other times at the airport (which often gives me the gift of unexpected windows of extra time with delays), I put on my Bose noise-canceling headphones, pull out my clipboard with white paper and colored pens, and maximize whatever additional time given to me to think.

Think Space will change your attitude on waiting if you learn to make the most of the time.

 

• Think / Write

This is the ACTUAL TIME to develop these thoughts that are dying to come out and take them some where!

Harry A. Overstreet once said, “The immature mind hops from one thing to another; the mature mind seeks to follow through.”

This is the time to really work through whatever you chose to think through with a mature mind.

It will require motivation and discipline but yields incredible results.

 

But what do you think about during Think Space and make the most of the time?

 

2. What To Think About During Think Space

“You are today where your thoughts have brought you. You will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.” – James Allen

What a motivating quote to think on the things that will bring you a better tomorrow! Here are some ideas:

• Goals

What do I want to accomplish in the next 90 days? What are my yearly goals? Do you want to write a book? Run a 10K?

 

• Big Decisions

Do we move? Do I take this job offer? Should I change careers?

 

• Your Future (looking forward)

What changes do you want to make in your life?

 

• Evaluation (looking backward)

Did I accomplish my goals? How did your presentation go? Workouts?

 

• Think about what to think about

As odd as that sounds, use Think Space as a road map of what ideas you want to formulate or thoughts you want to develop. You will be surprised at the results if you take the time.

Then write your ideas to think about for future Think Space.

 

3. What To Do After Think Space

• Find a centralized place to keep your notes from your Think Space session

Nothing worse than finally have a great idea and now it’s gone. And you even wrote it down but now you cannot find it. Talk about maddening!

Learn to keep all of your Think Space results in a centralized location that has easy access.

For me, since I like to handwrite my ideas, I take a picture of them then upload them to Evernote. This way I have access to them on all of my devices (MacBook, iMac, iPad, iPhone, etc)

 

• Take Action!

J. Jacobson once said, “A good idea is like a wheelbarrow; it goes nowhere unless you push it.”

Many of my ideas from Think Space have actionable items so I need to either schedule or follow-up with the next step.

Don’t lose the momentum by failing to take action. Let your next action item be the last thing you do during your Think Space time.

 

In the End…

Think Space must become a habit to be fully utilized. It’s a gift I give to myself at least once a week and I’m always SO charged after this time.

This is when you as a motivated, busy professionals truly escape your average and grow into the person you ultimately want to become.

Creating and implementing Think Space will become the means to this end.

But this requires two specific things of you: TIME and THOUGHT.

This seemingly simple discipline can be a game changer for you. It has for me. Two tangible ways? This website. This post.

Are you up for the challenge of Think Space?

 

Closing Challenge…

Schedule 15 minutes this week for your first Think Space. Take the ideas in this post to maximize this time.

 

Four Simple and Effective Steps to Begin Planning Your Day

 

What is the key word for most people to describe their day? React.

It’s the easiest way to approach your day. You just let it take its natural coarse to chaos then look back wondering what just happened.

Reacting is ALWAYS there for you the next day and it’s the gift that keeps on giving if you let it.

There is another way.

In my research I found that most people say they plan their day (mostly because it sounds irresponsible if you don’t).

But as the covers are pulled down, little to no planning let alone effective planning actually occurred.

My professional response: HUH? (internally, as far as you know)

And ironically, so few people know how to plan. I mean really plan. IF they sit down and plan, they lose all of their “planning time” due to disorganization.

But this is a solvable problem.

For simplicity sake, I’ve taken the word PLAN and created a process to work through for a few minute plan for the day. Here it is:

P – Prepare to Plan

L – Look Back / Look Ahead

A – Action Items

N – Now Simply Plan

The acronym may sound simplistic, even remedial but considering how many people do not consistently plan their day beyond a simple to do list, I want to put the cookies on the bottom shelf.

You like cookies, right…?

This is a good place to start.

Now, let’s do a deeper dive into each letter.

 

Here are the Four Simple and Effective Steps

Step 1. PREPARE to PLAN

The first step is simply finding a time to plan.

As in most things in life, starting is often one of the biggest challenges.

If it’s not scheduled, it often doesn’t get done for me. So, the first step in Prepare to Plan is to schedule a time to plan.

This looks different for each person.

For example, if you have the same routine each day, it should be very easy to choose a consistent time to plan. Let’s say it’s the first thing you do when you get to your desk. This would mean NOT checking email or Facebook first thing. (how insensitive, I know!)

If you travel a lot like me, then the time changes often which means I must be much more intentional about looking at when in my day is best for me to take these coveted few minutes.

The point here is only you know your schedule and when is best for you.

The rest of the acronym is useless and only light reading if you don’t take the time to Plan to Plan your day.

 

Step 2. LOOK BACK / LOOK AHEAD

The second step is looking at your calendar. (Which means having a calendar;)

These are the appointments within your day. Do you have meetings? Conference calls? Lunch plans?

You can do two things here:

1. Confirm what is already on the schedule by looking at your calendar so you know what your day ahead is going to look like for you (Look Back)
2. Schedule any appointments that need to be added to your day (Look Ahead)

How many times have you been bitten by finding out about a meeting or conference call you completely forgot about and either found out at the last minute by a calendar reminder or walked in late?

Easily avoidable newly adopted planning fans.

Sadly, most of us leave yesterday completely in the past. The flaw in this approach is when something was NOT completed or moved into today’s schedule and not given the proper attention: rescheduling.

Step 2 allows you to simply and quickly review your yesterday so you can have a more effective today.

This back and ahead perspective allows you to know major pieces to the structure of your day so you can add the details around it which is found in the next step…

 

Step 3. ACTION ITEMS

The third step is looking at your to do list or task list.

These are the action items that must be done today.

I need to look back to yesterday to see what was NOT accomplished or pushed to today that needs attention. (Looking Back)

I also need to look ahead and what I need to get done today or in the near future. This is where your to do list (in whatever form) is transferred into your day.

Is there a task my boss gave to me that has a deadline?

Was there an assignment given to me in a meeting that I need to actually do?

Do you have travel plans that need to get booked or expense reports that need to be completed? (the story of my life!)

Or if you have a meeting at 2pm that you’re expected to present information, you’ll need to schedule time within your day to prepare for your part in the meeting. (and preferably before 1:50pm – current parties discluded)

Sounds simple yet again, so few take the time to prepare. And as a result, they enter into Q1 – URGENT and IMPORTANT (aka: freak out zone) and enter high stress and anxiety. (for you and by the way, EVERYONE ELSE…)

Can you say preventable?

Step 4. NOW SIMPLY PLAN

The fourth and final step is plan your day.

If you’ve done the previous three steps of setting a specific time, looking back and forward then focusing on your action items, then you can now simply plan.

You have a majority of the needed information to go into your day eyes wide open and maximize your day.

[tweetthis]Planning is one of the few activities that a small investment of time will produce exponential results. – Bryan Paul Buckley[/tweetthis]

This minimal amount of time (5-10 minutes even) will give you the best chance of succeeding today.

I’ve yet to find someone who has tried these steps and has chosen to go back to reacting to their day.

And for me, IF I miss a planning day, it just takes a few hours of “reacting” and everything stops for me to plan the rest of the day. Make the bad man stop!

Get to this fourth step and let the results determine if this was the best use of this minimal investment of time.

 

In the End…

Honestly, what is the risk? Is spending 5-10 minutes the worst use of your time? What if this becomes the most valuable 5-10 minutes of your day?

So, are you willing to P.L.A.N. tomorrow?

1. Plan to Plan = schedule a time
2. Look Back / Look Ahead = calendar
3. Action Items to Complete = task / to do list
4. Now Simply Plan = schedule your day

In future posts, we’ll do a deep dive into how best to maximize your day through more complex planning concepts.

For now, let’s implement and maximize your P.L.A.N. and get the basics down.

 

Action Item:

Schedule 5 minutes to PLAN your tomorrow by writing this time in your calendar right now. I’m waiting;)

 

Closing Question:

What time did you choose to plan your day?

 

What is the Absolute Best Way to Hijack Your Day?

Three Key Benefits of Planning Your Day Ahead

 

How do you start the work part of your day? I’ve found this question has dumb-founded more people and caused more defensiveness than almost any other question.

Why? Because it questions how someone uses their time and you might as well dive right into religion and politics since you’re gaining so much credibility. (don’t do that, bad idea!)

What is the absolute best way to hijack your day? Here’s the gun-point answer:

Here are some of the rich benefits to reacting:

• You get to react all day long
• You get to make excuses why you didn’t get anything done
• You’re not responsible for the outcome
• You get to do it all over again tomorrow and act like today never happened!

Compelling, huh? (insert sarcasm here)

But is there another way? What if this way is not working for you? If you’re a motivated, busy professional who wants to excel in areas only you can control, this may be average and acceptable for everyone else but not you.

What if you went into your day with a plan? A guide that let you know what was important and what should be done by the end of the day? This simple process could be a game changer for most people.

EXCUSES, EXCUSES

Yet I hear over and over that people don’t have time to plan. Really? But they have time to waste time by either doing non-productive work or checking social media, personal email, etc. Not blaming, just saying.

It truly gets down to making choices that will ultimately make you more effective. It’s not getting defensive and truly being will to learn and grow how to embrace better in your life.

“Do not mistake activity for achievement” said economist Mabel Newcomber, and I could not agree with her more.

Most people get to the end of their day and wonder where the day went and spent it on almost everything that was either not important or what actually needed to be accomplished.

And the problem only worsens as the next day. My opinion is to make the bad man stop. For those following along at home, this is a solvable problem.

It’s also a great opportunity to choose what not to do. Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism (must read) said,

“Sometimes what you DON’T do is just as important as what you do.”

But this is not a spare of the moment decision. It requires pre-thought and decision which comes out of planning your day.

 

There are Three Key Benefits of Planning Your Day:

1. Focus

Nothing beats focus. When you choose to plan and not react to your day, good things happen. I find when I do not plan my day, I am so random. I jump from task to task and although busy all day, I don’t feel like I really accomplished anything and exhausted. (go figure)

But when I plan my day, I know WHAT to do and as a result can focus on what I planned and needed to do. What a difference! And it’s amazing the results when you focus and distractions are “sold separately.”

2. Priorities

The goal is to determine the three most important priorities of the day (author Kenneth Ziegler in his book, Organizing for Success calls them “Veggies”). Once chosen “prioritize your priorities.”

At the end of the day, you will ALWAYS have completed the most important priority of the day. How good would THAT feel?

One of my favorite yet most challenging questions comes from the book, The One Thing by Gary Keller, who asks,

“What is the ONE thing I can do such that by doing it EVERYTHING else will be easier or unnecessary?”

 

Imagine if you answered that question every morning when setting your priorities..? But choosing your daily priorities is a direct result from the small time investment in planning your day.

3. Results

If you’re a high achiever which most motivated professionals are, then you love results. Yet I’ve found when I don’t have a plan I don’t see any real results and get frustration included at no additional charge.

I’ve yet to meet or read about a successful person who chooses a “shotgun” approach to their day. They see results in direct correlation to their plan for the day. Then why should you if you want to be effective?

[tweetthis]Here’s my advice if you’re not consistently planning right now: PLAN 2 PLAN. – Bryan Paul Buckley[/tweetthis]

 

Choose a realistic amount of time to begin, say just 5 minutes and schedule it in your day. Let it be your first 5 minutes. Then see what happens. Evaluate at the end of the week and measure the power of focus, setting priorities, and simply weigh the results.

You may find that 5 minutes needs to grow and I’ll even throw in an extra 5 minutes right now at no additional charge. (said in a cheesy infomercial voice)

But seriously, I’ve never heard about a person who began planning who every went back to reacting to their day. Are you up for the challenge?

Or if you are planning your day, what could you do to make it more effective?

 Closing Question:

How consistent are you at planning your day? And when you do, how much better are the results?