Google Fiber is at my office right now installing mega speed internet. YAY!

My internet is down for a bit while they do this. BOO!

It is amazing how dependent we are on our tools. Without internet, I can’t catch up on my emails. Or talk through Instant Message to the rest of the Efficio Team. Or look up work I have to do today and this week. Or have access to my calendar, or even Facebook (horror!)  What am I to do for the next couple of hours on a Monday morning when I should be working, when I don’t have my tools!

What this tells me is a couple of things:

• I am a creature of habits. I get up in the morning, I run a bit, I fire up my computer and begin working through my emails, checking on my team, looking at the calendar to see where my focus needs to be. These habits are so ingrained that I know that even the first few days of a vacation – or when new internet service is being installed – I am uncomfortable breaking those habits
• I need my tools! Dealing in software with people all over everywhere, email and IM are vital forms of communication. So is access to my work sites.

Five years ago my habits were different. I fought traffic getting to the office, chatted with the staff first thing, and went to a department head or promotions or sales meeting. Five years ago my tools were different. Close proximity to my team of sellers, traffic and programming were vital, as we had to discuss things as important as strategy of a new station roll out to the immediacy of where to move those oversold spots tomorrow. Yes, email was important, but IM? Didn’t need it. We could yell down the hall.

The point is, YOU make your habits, and YOU choose your tools.

When you and your company choose Efficio as your tool, it is up to you to develop that habit to use it. With as little as 15 minutes a day, you can provide yourself with focus on which accounts will bring you the most return and which need attention; and accurate forecasting, to let you know just how much money you stand to make and how successful you are going to be. Build that time in your day. Maybe you do it first thing in the morning. Maybe you make it a habit to finish today’s updating and plan for tomorrow before you go home. Just make it part of YOUR daily routine. Then, it will become uncomfortable when you have that curve ball and you can’t get to your Efficio. I am betting you will then realize the value of the tool your company has provided for you.

Internet is still off as of this writing. Boo.

They are almost finished, and I will have a better tool to use to do my job more effectively. YAY!