Tag Archives: productivity

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April 22, 2025

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The Power of + – &: A Simple Weekly Practice to Improve Your Life or Business

If you’re like me, your planner isn’t just a to-do list—it’s a journal of what really happened. Over time, I developed a shorthand system to help track progress and determine my next steps. It’s simple. I use three symbols:

+ What’s working
– What’s not
& What’s worth expanding or adjusting

This + – & system is my go-to for reflection. It’s like a weekly feedback loop—quick, practical, and surprisingly powerful.

Here’s how it works.

+ Plus: What’s Working

The plus sign helps capture the wins. These are the moments, strategies, habits, or tools that made a difference in your week. It’s about more than just feeling good—identifying what works lets you repeat it and even scale it.

Example:
A few weeks ago, I blocked 90 minutes of deep work in my planner every morning. After the time passed, I marked the block with a “+” in my planner to highlight the positive results: fewer distractions and more progress. It became the high point of my week, and I’ve kept it going ever since. That little plus led to a significant increase in productivity.

During your end-of-week reflection time, when you see a “+” in your week, ask:

How can I do more of this?

Could it become a regular part of my routine?

– Minus: What’s Not Working

The minus sign is an early warning system. It flags what’s draining your time, energy, or results. It might be something you’re doing—or something you’re avoiding.

Example:
I noticed that I was putting off sending follow-up emails to high-risk clients, even though they were scheduled in my calendar. After the time passed, I wrote a “-” in my planner. During my end-of-week reflection time, I was able to review what had transpired by asking: Why was I avoiding it?

Thinking through the issue, I realized that I needed to reduce the friction the event causes in my workflow. I needed a well-worded template to start the process. That tiny barrier was enough to delay the task and potentially lose opportunities from certain types of clients.

The minus column is about honesty, not judgment. When you spot a minus, ask:

Is this something I can fix?

Is it even worth fixing

& Ampersand: What to Expand, Adjust, or Let Go

The “&” is where this system really shines. Inspired by the improvisational phrase “Yes, and…,” it’s where reflection turns into action. The “&” symbol lets you build on a plus or rethink a minus. It’s the opportunity to tweak or drop the effort. It’s like a strategic filter—what’s worth keeping and expanding, and what’s not worth your time?

Example:
I launched a new offer that generated a few sales, but it didn’t perform as well as I had hoped. I wrote an “&” in my planner after all was said and done. This wasn’t a failure, but not a home run either. Instead, I explored its value and what might require tweaks for improvement. The message was reworked and tested on a new audience. The revised version outperformed my expectations.

Think of the “&” as your weekly growth engine. It answers:

What’s the next version of this?

Is this below the value threshold and worth dropping altogether?

It’s a bit like an XY graph. Imagine effort on one axis and value on the other. Anything above the intersection of the lines is worth pursuing. Anything below needs to be cut from your operations or offerings.

Why + – & Works

This tiny framework turns your week into a lab, where you’re not just working, but learning. It’s easy to remember, simple to apply, and endlessly adaptable. You can use it in your planner, digital journal, or team meeting agenda.

I spend only 10–15 minutes reviewing my sheet each week. That small habit has led to tremendous clarity on the value of continuing or dropping any offer or operation.

Try It This Week

Here’s your invitation. Set a 15-minute appointment with yourself. Review your calendar or journal. Then ask:

  • What’s a + this week?
  • What deserves a –?
  • What will I & into next week?

Success isn’t just about hustle—it’s about reflection and wise decisions. The + – & system helps you stay focused and move forward with clarity and purpose.

Here is the sheet I use. Feel free to click on the download button below.

Weekly Reflection Template v1Download

Let me know how you like it.

© 2025 by CJ Powers

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January 2, 2025

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From Obsolete to Thriving: The Surprising Power of Staying Relevant

Over the past two months, I’ve heard various reasons businesses, churches, and families are shrinking. Yet studies reveal that relevant entities are thriving. So, which is true? Can both be true?

One Guy pointed out that the new robots will replace millions of jobs. This statement is true, but leaving that information hanging without giving perspective is hurtful. People don’t need his concocted drama designed for him to be seen.

I remember when I was first introduced to the study by MIT economist David Autor conducted. He found that about 60% of the jobs in 2018 did not exist in 1940. This news wasn’t to startle people based on coming trends but to reveal the importance of adaptability in professional and personal contexts.

To exist in the future, we must be relevant today.

I’m not speaking about relevance for survival but for purpose—the place where we thrive. When we genuinely want to help others, we adjust what we say and do based on our audience. The only ones we can help are those who can relate to us. Since we’re responsible for our shared message, we must ensure it is relatable.

I watched how three different types of people addressed the same opportunity to thrive or become obsolete.

The Scientist

Last spring, I met a brilliant scientist with multiple degrees who struggled to lead their team effectively. The issue wasn’t incompetence among the team but a lack of clarity about the relevance of their tasks. Once the scientist bridged the gap by sharing the ‘why,’ team performance improved exponentially.

If the team manager assumes the problem is their people’s lack of training, the gap will never be bridged. The only way to ensure understanding is for the manager to take responsibility. This is done by coming alongside their people and learning about their knowledge, then transitioning to clarify incorrect information or processes.

The Pastor

I recently attended a small church where the vast majority of the people had the exact same basic need for connection. After talking with several people, I learned that the church would be three times bigger if it met these simple needs, which would probably stop members from seeking solutions elsewhere.

When I raised the issue with the pastor, he wasn’t interested in facilitating these needs. Instead, he proudly stated how great several church members were for staying during the spiritual falling away mentioned in the Bible.

I might have believed his scenario had I not read the church trends from Lifeway Research’s 2024 report. Christianity is rapidly growing worldwide and on pace to reach 3 billion members by 2050. This incredible growth is not due to churches doing things the way they always have but demonstrating their relevance weekly. [2]

This pastor’s resistance to change reflects a broader challenge: staying relevant to meet the needs of modern communities.

The Relatives

During a family discussion about AI, concerns arose about job security. Like the internet years ago, mastering AI tools has become essential for staying relevant in the workplace.

I shared how Boston Consulting Group with Harvard conducted a study to evaluate what impact AI might have on its consulting team. The study showed that those who used AI had a 40% increase in the quality of their work, and they completed tasks 25.1% faster. This equated to the AI users getting 12.2 times more tasks completed than employees who didn’t use AI. [1]

Humans Determine Relevancy

AI will soon use robotic forms to manage our redundant workflows. Anything repetitive will likely be handled by machines soon. For instance, I recently helped a medical device company reduce a 14-hour reporting process to just 6 minutes using AI. While AI couldn’t create the program, it served as an invaluable assistant, checking syntax and suggesting non-conflicting workflows.

This project saved the company millions and demonstrated how mastering AI tools can drive extraordinary results, which is always relevant.

Choose to be Relevant

Staying relevant isn’t just a choice—it’s an opportunity to thrive. Embrace new tools, adapt your strategies, and discover the power of working smarter. The future belongs to those willing to learn and grow.

The next time you face a challenge, ask yourself: “How can AI help me do my job 25X faster with 40X improvements in quality?”

Copyright © 2025 by CJ Powers

Footnotes:

  1. Harvard Business School and Boston Consulting Group, “Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier: Field Experimental Evidence of the Effects of AI on Knowledge Worker Productivity and Quality,” 2024.
  2. Lifeway Research, “8 Encouraging Trends in Global Christianity for 2024,” 2024.
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December 22, 2015

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Makers vs. Managers: Blocking Out Productivity

timeTime management comes to the forefront of everyone’s mind during the holiday season. Failing to block out enough time for events with friends and family can spin fun time into bouts of shouting. The approaching New Year also gives rise to planners and dreamers that require effective time management to succeed.

I’ve learned, during my tenure in the world of Fortune 50 corporations, small mom and pop type businesses and retail, that there are two primary ways of managing time. The organic processes naturally developed from the functional needs of two types of workers.

Workers who create, build, or produce are “makers.” Those who manage others are “managers.” Both require good time management skills to accomplish their charter, but each requires a very different structure of blocking out time for effectiveness.

THE MAKER
Professional makers need large blocks of time to create their product, content or intellectual property. Time is required to get in the zone, be productive, and document activities enough to pick up where they left off at a future time. Most industries require time blocks of 2 or 4 hours.

Makers tend to use the morning for creative blocks of time and the afternoons for logical endeavors. However, makers also break the rules and might find they are more productive during the wee hours of the night. Only 60% of the top 100 authors of the 20th century followed this pattern of creating in the morning and editing in the afternoon. Most wrote when they were inspired and fixed their writings at more logical times.

THE MANAGER
Professional managers typically oversee the tactical efforts of a team. They tend to block out their time in smaller half-hour increments, allowing some level of flexibility to put out the next “fire” that attempts to erode the team’s progress. The smaller segments allow for faster responses and adjustments to circumstantial changes in the tactical operations of the day.

Strong managers block out empty time slots to shift their mandatory work after a “fire” takes the team off task. In other words, they plan for the proverbial fires each day. Most managers primary goal is to support their team and make sure they continue functioning no matter what surprise issues arise.

Productivity crashes when a manager tries to block out 2-4 hour increments that keeps him or her away from supporting their team. Likewise, makers that try to touch numerous projects in a given day using half-hour increments soon finds their work less provocative, of a lower quality and far less entertaining.

Blocking out time based on function is the only method that supports the type of work the makers and managers face. Constant interruptions of a maker produce little results. Long durations of managers away from their team weaken their process and negatively impacts tactical results.

The right type of time and duration is critical to the success of both the makers and managers. Blocking out time based on function will always facilitate success. This will bring peace to the worker and confidence that his or her workload will be completed on time.

Copyright © 2015 by CJ Powers