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A Toad Day, and Why You Need One

29/12/2016

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A Toad Day (and why you need one)


Deep in the dark recesses of every professional practice is a dark and ugly secret-- a file you don’t want to deal with. You have one (or many) and so does the guy down the hall. I call this the Toad File. You know why.

There are a hundred reasons why a file becomes a Toad File-- maybe it’s beyond your depth and you hate to admit it, maybe you just have no inspiration for it, maybe you don’t like the client, maybe you seriously under-quoted, maybe you’re afraid you missed a conflict or a critical limitation, maybe it has sat unattended so long you know it will take you a day to get back to speed......

Every Friday afternoon when you plan next week, you think about the Toad File. But by Monday more important, more interesting, more urgent, more profitable, less discouraging files push their way into line ahead of the Toad File, and then Friday rolls around again and your assistant asks about the Toad File. You mumble something about next week...

You know the Toad File is going to bite you, inevitably and grievously. Which is why smart professionals hold a Toad Day once or twice a year, and they go like this: no appointments, no phone calls, no checking e-mail, no interruption. Wear your grubbies, order in pizza, reject any interruption. Put the Toad File on your desk at 0830 and don’t leave the office until you’ve conquered it.

Now, when I say “conquered it”, I’m not fantasizing that you’ll finish it. Maybe you will, but not likely if you’re in law or architecture or the like, but what I do mean is that you will have solved what needs to be done, sketched out your work plan, and made some serious inroads toward client satisfaction. Your milestones are laid out, and now you own the project, it doesn’t own you.

At this point you’re probably saying, “Norm, that’s great advice, but what does it have to do with being a successful communicator?”

Good question, and the answer is that the successful communicator in any profession must have a clear and focused mind. Trust me-- one or two Toad Days a year will go a long way to keeping your professional mind clear and focused.

So, have you scheduled a Toad Day?
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    Norman Bowley teaches the Alignment Doctrine and the Client Code-- secrets to building the professional practice you and your clients deserve.

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  • Home
    • Video >
      • The Alignment Doctrine
    • Communication >
      • Elements >
        • The Golden Rule
        • The Five Essential Qualities
        • The Five Essential Questions
        • The Five Step Cycle
        • The Ten Commandments
        • The Ten Sources of Authority
      • Modules >
        • Modules A-M >
          • Avoiding amateurism
          • Change: Understanding It, Facing It, Profiting From It
          • Communication for Long Term Relationship
          • Communications Horror Stories
          • Communications that blow up in your face
          • Communicating toward success
          • Earning the Right to Be Heard
          • Gerunds, Mesolects and Other Arcane Terms of Art
          • Having a Toad Day
          • Healthy Fear
          • Hippos and Raccoons-- Deadly Underestimation
          • How I Moved From Doing What I Liked to Doing What I Loved
          • How to Be on the Same Wavelength as Your Audience
          • How to Pick Up a Porcupine-- Dealing With Difficult People
          • Key of Trust
          • Manipulation
          • Mastering the Technologies
          • Mining the Subconscious
        • Modules N-Z >
          • Quick and Dirty-- the 80/20 Rule
          • Sabotaging Your Message
          • Scar Tissue
          • Secrets of the Druids
          • Some Specific Approaches to Communications
          • Specific audiences
          • Symbolism-- the Heart of the Communicative Process
          • Talking to Yourself and Why You Should Do It
          • The Difference Between Leadership and Management
          • The Eyes Eat First
          • The Eyes Have It
          • The Lizard Within-- What Your Reptilian Brain Makes You Do
          • The Media of Communication
          • The Respect Deficit
          • The Secret of Authenticity
          • Thinking About the Kinds of English
          • Websites, Blogs and Newsletters
          • When you don't have time to plan
          • When You'd Rather Shoot Yourself
          • Who's your audience? Targeted communication.
      • About us >
        • Karen Bowley
  • Norman Bowley
  • FREE
  • Services
    • Keynote Speaking
    • Training
    • Coaching
    • Troubleshooting
    • Consulting
    • Writing >
      • Ghost Writing
      • Transitional Ghost Writing
  • Testimonials
  • Blog