Episode 131 –Solutions for Extraordinary Productivity

Kory Kogon talks about the science behind extraordinary productivity. Hear how to get the right things done, both personally and professionally, and with quality.  Kory highlights three productivity challenges: decision management, attention management, and energy management, and she describes the 5 choices to implement to master these challenges.



Table of Contents



00:25 … Meet Kory02:52 … Extraordinary Productivity07:24 … The Productivity Paradox11:18 … Choice #1:Act on the Important. Don’t React to the Urgent13:06 … The Time Matrix16:37 … How to Model Productivity18:51 … Scope Creep and Intentionality24:43 … Choice #2: Go for the Extraordinary. Don’t Settle for Ordinary27:53 … Choice #3: Schedule the Big Rocks. Don’t Sort the Gravel31:14 … Best Way to Teach This to Your Team33:42 … Choice #4: Rule your Technology. Don’t let it Rule You37:59 … Choice #5: Fuel your Fire. Don’t Burn Out42:17 … Sleep on It43:45 … Connect with Kory44:27 … Closing



KORY KOGON:  So those three challenges – decision management, attention management, and energy management – have risen to the top because, if you master those, you will end up with time management and go to sleep at night feeling accomplished.



WENDY GROUNDS:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  I’m Wendy Grounds, and joining me in the studio is Bill Yates.  Welcome, Bill.



BILL YATES:  Good to be in here with you.



Meet Kory



WENDY GROUNDS:  Today we are talking to Kory Kogon.  Kory has over 25 years of business expertise.  She is FranklinCovey’s Vice President of Global Sales Enablement.  Kory has been featured on Inc.com and in its Productivity Playbook online series, on FastCompany.com, Forbes.com, and in Investor’s Business Daily.  She has also appeared on NBC’s Today with Hoda Kotb.  And we’re very privileged to have Kory with us today.



BILL YATES:  Yes, we are.  And I’m so excited to talk with her about her book.  She’s a co-author of the #4 Wall Street Journal Bestseller, “The 5 Choices:  The Path to Extraordinary Productivity.”  She also wrote “Project Management Essentials for the Unofficial Project Manager” – we may have to have another conversation with her about that – and “The Presentation Advantage.”  This book at that we’re going to focus on, “The 5 Choices:  The Path to Extraordinary Productivity,” is so full of great advice.  And you know, one of the things I appreciate is she’s going to talk about the science behind some of this, too.



WENDY GROUNDS:  Yes.  Sometimes we struggle to get everything done that we need to do in a day.  And she’s just going to give us advice on how to choose what we need to do and what’s important.  And I think it’s going to be a great conversation.  Kory, welcome to Manage This.  Thank you so much for being our guest.



KORY KOGON:  Well, thanks for having me.  I’m excited to be here with you.



WENDY GROUNDS:  Yeah, we’re looking forward to getting a little deeper into this book that you’ve written.  But what we like to find out from authors is why did you write the book?



KORY KOGON:  Well, you know, I am part of FranklinCovey, who is very well known, like, oh, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and within that “First Things First” and our whole background around principle-based time management, life management.  Over the years we’ve iterated based on pointing those principles at the relevancy of particularly the workplace.  And so a few years ago we again updated our work around those principles in relevancy.  And it was just an honor to be able to, with my colleagues, really take this work into the 21st Century – when people are busier than ever before, and a little crazed – and, under the conditions pre-pandemic, able to really help people accomplish the most important things in their life.



Extraordinary Productivity



BILL YATES:  There are so many principles that we’re going to get into that are in the book that resonate with me and,