TMOD theme titled “Productivity on steroids”

PRODUCTIVITY ON STEROIDS

Today’s theme is about an app that hogs a large part of my day. I am addicted and cannot help myself get rid of it. Frankly, I don’t even want to get rid of it. That’s because the app I am talking about is not Facebook or Instagram, but an app that has really put my productivity on steroids – the calendar app. I use the calendar app in many different ways – from reminding me birthdays to reminding me tasks I am supposed to do today to even following up with people. Let me give you an example – imagine I am talking to you and you casually happen to say “Hey let’s go see the new movie this Saturday” If I am interested in this movie, I will immediately put a reminder for Friday to call you up and confirm. Often people get surprised by the amount the number of things I remember and follow up on. And that’s not it. Let’s say I buy an electronic product and I get a free servicing three months down. I put that on the calendar immediately along with contact number or any other relevant information. If I have a subscription that I don’t want to renew, I put it on the calendar. If I have a friend who is sick and it would be good on my part to call him three days later and check how he is doing, I put it on calendar. In fact you will be surprised to know about the many things I put on my calendar but the grand result of all this is productivity and efficiency that is so high you will be foolish to not seize.

You know what else is as meticulously planned as my calendar – Toastmasters meeting. Let me walk you through it. Every Toastmasters meeting is divided into three parts. The first part is the prepared speech section where members prepare a speech in advance, get it mentored and deliver the same. The second part is the impromptu session where anyone including the guest can participate. And the third part is the most important evaluation session where we will all learn how to improve ourselves. Let me now invite the General Evaluator to explain his role. Please help me welcome TM Name with a big round of applause.

Once the General Evaluator has explained his role, start the prepared speech section. After this session, continue with the theme as under.

Just jotting down things on my calendar is not the end obviously. Every morning, while you guys check Facebook, I check my calendar and plan my day in such a way that I finish the maximum number of activities in the most efficient way. Tasks that are the easiest and can be done instantly are done first so that they can be deleted. This clears the calendar and makes it look less daunting. Tasks that for some reason are undone are shifted to the next day. If I have a light day and finish all my activities early with nothing else to do, I start checking out activities saved for the next few days in my calendar. So if I find an activity from a future date that I can do today, I pre do it and lighten the next day’s work. If I am going on a vacation for 10 days, a week before the vacation I check the calendar entries and clear it as much as possible by either doing the tasks in advance so that there is no backlog when I return or postponing them to after vacation.

With that, it’s time now for the most exciting and fun session in a Toastmasters meeting. Please welcome with a big round of applause our Table Topic Master TM Name.

Once the table topic session is over, continue with the theme as under.

If you think you can benefit from everything I just mentioned, here’s my advice – start small. Write down a couple of reminders in your calendar first like picking up the laundry or calling your grandmother. As you slide into habit, you can start jotting birthdays as they happen during the year and add reminders for filing your taxes. Remember the rule is you cannot delete an activity until you do it. At best, you can postpone it to the next day. The benefit of this is that if there’s something you hate doing, your calendar will keep showing it every day until you do it. This way you will end up doing it sooner than later. Moreover, find your own unique ways to use the calendar. And if you find something interesting teach me too.

With that it’s time to start the final session of the meeting, the evaluation session. Let’s welcome the GE for the day TM Name.

Once the Evaluation session is over, conclude the theme as under.

Despite saying everything I did, I can assure you I have only understated the productivity this app can unleash in your life. You are addicted to your mobile anyways. Every time you are alone, you open your Instagram and waste time stalking others life. With calendar, you can stalk your own life and improve it while doing so. Now isn’t that a good mobile addiction you can brag about. 

It’s time now for awards.