Admittedly, this post is a little late. The Oscars were several weeks ago now but, for those of us who love movies, fashion, and snarky commentary from Joan Rivers, this year’s ceremony won’t quickly be forgotten.

In case you missed it, the show was widely panned by critics who placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of the two young hosts: Anne Hathaway and James Franco. Franco, in particular, received a brunt of the criticism because of his lazy demeanor. Some people went so far as to suggest he was stoned during the telecast—an accusation I think is probably unfounded, considering what we know of this man. In truth, it’s probably much more likely that he was just the victim of his own overly ambitious schedule. Those who still think multi-tasking is legitimate productivity technique, pay close attention. This is what it looks like when the quest for productivity goes wildly out of control.

Who Is James Franco?

First off, here’s a little background for those of you who don’t really know who James Franco is or why we should care: He’s a 32 year-old actor with a pretty stellar list of credentials including a Golden Globe for his performance as James Dean and mainstream pop culture cred for playing Harry Osborn in the Spider Man trilogy and for his role as a loveable pot dealer in Pineapple Express. This year, he was also nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor in 127 Hours, making his hosting gig even more unprecedented.

However, the most impressive thing about James Franco isn’t his acting resume; it’s his extra curricular activities. The list is pretty incredible…and very odd. A few of the most notable things he has done include a guest role on General Hospital (which he called “performance art”) that mirrored his actual life, a generally well-received book of disturbing short stories called Palo Alto, and various multimedia art projects that have been on display at Sundance and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

On top of all this, he’s an almost compulsive student. After earning his Bachelor’s Degree in English from UCLA, where he took 62 credits per quarter (the normal max is 19), he then simultaneously attended graduate school at Columbia University for creative writing, NYU for filmmaking, Brooklyn College for fiction writing and North Carolina’s Warren Wilson College for poetry. Now, he’s a Ph.D. student studying English at Yale and also attends the Rhode Island School of Design.

Yes. Seriously.

I’m pretty sure he’s not a pothead. That kind of schedule doesn’t exactly align with the typical stoner mentality.

But keep all of this in mind as we explore the Oscars debacle and how this uber-productive person got in over his head.

Watch Out for Diminishing Returns

Now, James Franco is kind of known for that squinty eye thing. It’s actually pretty adorable. But during the Oscars ceremony, he looked downright out-of-it. At one point, he even stumbled over his words so badly, I don’t blame people for thinking drugs could have been involved. But that’s what happens when you’re exhausted. Running around the globe—from graduate classes to film sets and back again—must cause an unbelievable strain on the body and mind.

In a recent interview, Danny McBride, Franco’s costar in an upcoming movie, said the following:

“There was a teacher that he had at school in New York, and James (Franco) had missed a class or two because of filming, and (the teacher) basically said if he didn’t come to this class, he would be dropped from the class. So for the last half of the production, James (Franco) would finish shooting Monday night, get on an airplane in Belfast (Northern Ireland), fly to New York, go to the class, get back on a plane, fly back to Belfast and come back to work every week.”

If this is any indication of how this guy manages his crazy schedule, it’s no wonder he was out of it.

There’s a limit to how much stuff one person can do before exhaustion sets in. If you want to be productive, you have to recognize when you’ve reached the point of diminishing returns—when you’re so exhausted that you’re actually working against yourself. I think that’s what happened the night of the Oscars.

Multi-Tasking Doesn’t Work

Franco actually started off the evening with his cell phone in hand, taking pictures of the Oscars audience to post on Twitter. Um…kind of a bad idea. In fact, the night of the ceremony, he posted dozens of tweets, complete with photos and videos. This is the very definition of multi-tasking and the resulting unfocused, disinterested, and distracted performance the audience saw is exactly why we should all avoid it.

Franco’s attention was literally split in (at least) two different directions from the get-go. While one side of his brain was thinking, “Focus on your lines, be charming, smile big, make ‘em laugh, blah, blah, blah,” the other side was thinking, “Get a good shot so the Twitter fans will be happy, gotta upload this as soon as I get backstage, wonder if that pic was blurry, blah, blah, blah.”

Doing two things at once might sound easy enough. It might physically even BE easy enough. But mentally, you’re straining your resources. And, when something really matters, you want to be playing with 100% capacity. Divided attention is usually fairly obvious to everyone involved, and most people find it insulting. This is one of the reasons I think people were so outraged by his lackluster performance. It was like a smack in the face for those of us who were expecting more.

Jack of All Trades = Master of None

Poor James Franco turned in a really bad performance as host of the Oscars. And, as it turns out, his peers at Yale also raked him over the coals for his lame Twitter stream. So, apparently, he failed at both things that night. This is pretty typical for multi-tasking. When you try to be a “Jack of all trades” you end up “master of none.”

Who’s to say if the rest of his life will play out the same way? From this perspective, it certainly doesn’t look good.

When I think of James Franco, I remember my number one rule for productivity: If you’re trying to do too much, there’s no system in the world that can help you. Dividing your attention and packing your schedule full to the point of exhaustion is a sure-fire way to end up with a bunch of mediocre performances.

Clearly, a person like James Franco doesn’t want to be mediocre. And when he has his head in the game, he’s insanely talented. But the same productivity rules that apply to everyone else, also apply to him. Multi-tasking doesn’t work any better for famous people than it does for the rest of us. Trying to pack every conceivable goal into the span of a few years might sound great in theory, but I’m guessing that, in practice, it’s a big pain in the ass.

So take heed. Give your full, undivided attention to the one, important task at hand before moving on to the next. No matter how rich and talented and smart you are, human productivity has its limits.

Even an adorable smile can’t change that.

I know so many amazing professionals who often tell me that speaking up at work is a challenge. It’s not that they don’t have opinions—the certainly do! And it’s not because they don’t have the smarts—these folks are the best and the brightest. But they still have an incredibly difficult time expressing themselves in the workplace. So today’s post is all about finding your voice at work and overcoming those internal demons that have been keeping you quiet.

Before we get started though, let’s address those demons. What stifles your voice in the workplace?

Here are a few of the common answers:

• I feel intimated by others.
• I don’t feel respected.
• I’m afraid of rejection.
• I’m afraid of confrontation or “rocking the boat.”
• I want to blend in and not draw attention to myself.
• I’m afraid of looking stupid.
• No one will listen anyway.

Any of these sound familiar?

Now, we should also address why having a voice at work is important. Here are just a few of the reasons:

• You deserve it!
• Sharing your thoughts will show others you’re engaged.
• You’ll get noticed (in a positive way)
• You’ll earn more respect.
• You’ll contribute more value.
• You’ll be more involved (which makes work more stimulating)
• You’ll learn more.

I truly believe that voicing your opinions, objections, and questions is an important part of being a valuable employee. But it also has an enormous impact on the fulfillment you get from your work. Feeling stifled and unheard is frustrating, no matter how much you tell yourself you “don’t care.” You’re not a robot. You have a brain and valuable experience and knowledge to share. You weren’t hired to just go through the motions. You deserve a voice and, once you start using it, others will come to respect you more for it.

So, how exactly does one start to find their voice at work? Try the following:

Listen First

There’s nothing worse than someone who speaks without first listening to what others are saying. If you’re not quite sure that you fully understand the situation, don’t jump right in. Listen, absorb and make sure that your contribution will be helpful and not distracting or off-topic.

Be Selective

Keep in mind that if you have an opinion on everything, eventually people will stop listening. When you have something important to say that you believe adds value, that’s the time to speak up. Don’t just talk because you feel like you should, or you don’t want to be left out or simply because you haven’t heard your own beautiful voice in a while.

Time and Place

There are appropriate times and places for speaking up just as there are inappropriate ones. Be aware of what’s going on around you and be receptive to the environment. If tensions are high, you may want to stay quiet for the time being. If you have a topic to discuss that may be uncomfortable or awkward, take note of the people in the room. You may want to have a private conversation instead. If you need to confront a delicate situation with someone who’s particularly stressed out, choose your timing wisely. You may want to wait until things slow down. You always want to find the best environment in which to be heard.

Tact and Diplomacy

Approach any business conversation with a professional tone and keep your language neutral and non-judgmental. When people feel attacked, they stop listening and go into “defensive mode”. Don’t be too vocal when your emotions are high; take time to gather yourself and then approach delicate situations with the appropriate level of caution. Be sensitive to the feelings of others and use all of your senses to gauge the environment. If you feel others shifting away from you, getting nervous or antsy, or simply not paying attention, tune into yourself and make adjustments as needed.

Be Polite

Basic social etiquette applies in the workplace. Don’t interrupt others, raise your voice or use confrontational language. While you want to demonstrate assertiveness, you need to balance it with respect. If done wrong, it may come off as aggressive, which can have an incredibly counterproductive impact on the conversation.

Back It Up

Look, it would be great if everyone just listened to you because you’re YOU and you deserve to be heard. But most people, especially in the workplace, want some proof that you know what you’re talking about. So, before you jump in with your opinions and brilliant insights, collect your supporting data. What makes you think this way? What do you know that perhaps they don’t? What facts brought you to these conclusions? Don’t just rely on your gut feeling. No one else trusts your gut the way you do.

Zip It

Learn how to speak concisely. Long-winded, rambling monologues are easily tuned out. Give voice to your thoughts and then zip it. Let others reflect on it, question it, and mull it over. Your job isn’t to defend what you’ve said. Respond when needed but don’t expect that you’ll convince everyone to agree with you. That’s not what this is about. Having a voice is the important part. Whether or not it’s the final authority on the topic is immaterial.

Photo Credit: ganaronic (Flickr)

I hate to admit this, but I’m a bit overextended. I know, I know. I wrote an entire workbook on Time Management and yet sometimes, I still have trouble with it myself. I think it’s just one of those things that can never be entirely mastered. We all go through phases where we feel mentally and physically overwhelmed. At that point, we need to take a step back and re-evaluate.

As I’ve said before, I’m a productivity junkie. And, in reality, I think this harms my productivity. It sounds counterintuitive but, when you spend a huge amount of time thinking about how to better use your time, you eventually stop looking adorably neurotic and start looking mildly disturbed.

I’m facing a few time management obstacles and, as I’ve started to recognize them, I’ve realized that others may be dealing with the same issues. So I’ll share my thoughts here and (hopefully) help those of you experiencing similar challenges:

Overemphasis on Tools

I’m a sucker for organizational tools. I love them to the point of obsession. Boxes, books, binders, notepads, folders, pens, planners, techno-gadgets, you-name-it. I can’t walk into a stationery store without getting giddy. The other day, I had just sat down to do some work on my upcoming Reinvent Your Career workbook when, all of the sudden, it dawned on me that I needed a whiteboard.

“Yes, a whiteboard will make the brainstorming process much more productive,” I thought. “I simply can’t work without a whiteboard!!”

I got so wrapped up in the stupid whiteboard idea that I finally had to stop what I was doing, drive over to OfficeDepot and buy one—just to regain my focus.

Why do these kinds of tools matter? They don’t. They give us the feeling that we’re being productive but, ultimately, they’re just soaking up time, energy and money. Sure, some of this stuff is useful. But most of us put too great an emphasis on tools that, in all honesty, we never end up using to the degree we think we will. That whiteboard was really helpful for about a day, but I haven’t touched it since. Like most of my fabulous productivity paraphernalia, it’ll probably end up collecting dust in a corner somewhere. *SIGH*

These kinds of tools can easily become excuses. We convince ourselves that everything will be different once we have that new computer or filing cabinet or day planner. But really, there’s nothing stopping us from being productive right now, this second, with or without the tools.

“I Have Too Much To Do”

Sometimes I find myself repeating this mantra over and over. It’s been burned into my brain and, like any limiting belief—once it’s in there—it has a way of manifesting itself and becoming true. Do I really have too much to do? What is too much? Maybe it just feels like too much but, in reality, I have the perfect amount. The more I tell myself I’m overwhelmed, the more I feel it and the less action I take. Instead, I focus on being frustrated and complaining. I spend all of my energy managing time rather than using it wisely.

I think, in the workplace, we’ve all been trained that being busy (or looking that way) makes us more valuable. The more we have to do, the more secure and important we feel. So, it becomes second nature to emphasize our heavy workload and overflowing calendar. But all too often, we frame it in a negative light. We think, “I don’t have enough time to do it all!” We need to reframe this belief into, “I have enough time to do what matters most.”

What matters most.

This is the crux of the issue: knowing your priorities and understanding the difference between time-wasting fluff and the truly important work. If we honestly assess our situation and whittle our task list down to what really matters, we almost certainly have all the time we need.

Losing the Forest in the Trees

Why do I want to manage my time effectively? In truth, it’s so I can have more time to do things I love with people I love. But I often forget that. When I’m especially productive and end up finishing a project earlier than expected, I just grab another task and keep working. What’s the point in that?

We all have to remember our bigger values and the reasons we treasure time so much. We need to reward our efforts by doing those things we dream of doing with our time—going on vacation, relaxing with our kids, just doing nothing! What makes time so precious to you? Probably not work. And yet, when we work effectively and find ourselves with extra time, we often fill it with more of the same!

I’m trying hard not to lose the forest in the trees. I’m making every effort to reward myself when I hit my time management goals. I take long walks with my dog, spend evenings out with friends, and, every once in a while, I let myself visit a stationery store. After all, once a productivity junkie, always a productivity junkie.

Photo Credit: elycefeliz (Flickr)