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Monday, March 31, 2008

A DEFINITE "NO"

A DEFINITE "NO"

When Saying 'NO" do so quickly. To hesitate or ramble on sends a message of uncertainty.

TAKE BRIEF BREAKS

We get more done when we take frequent breaks. These breaks can be as simple as a stretch and allowing your eyes to temporarily focus on something other than the computer screen.

MEETINGS QUOTE

A committee of three often gets more done if two don't show up.

 

PROCRASTINATION

Procrastination prevents success by keeping us busy with nonessential actions.

CAN'T SAY NO?

Rather than saying yes to a request, tell the people you will check your schedule and get back to them. Avoid impulse acquiescence like you would avoid impulse buying. Thinking before committing usually results in better decisions.

COLORED FORMS

Have a different color for each form and be consistent so everyone can quickly identify them.

GET ORGANIZED FIRST

GET ORGANIZED FIRST

The first step is to organize your desk and your environment. You cannot be effective amid clutter. Once you're organized you will have more time to work on time investments such as planning and delegation, which will free up more time in turn. Never underestimate the value of a minute.

MAINTAIN FOCUS

Don't confuse important and urgent. Important has inherent value, usually goal related. Urgent simply means it has a short deadline. Focus your energy on the important.

IGNORE THE TRIVIAL

Effective time management is not getting more things done but rather fewer things of greater importance. We have to zero in on the 20% of our activities that generate 80% of our results.

 

MAKE COMMITMENTS, NOT LISTS

"To do" lists do nothing to further the completion of tasks. You have to go one step further and schedule time in your planner in order to get them done.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Ineffective leaders do the obvious things first while effective leaders do the important things first.

THE NEED TO GET ORGANIZED

THE NEED TO GET ORGANIZED

Most office employees waste at least 45% of the day.

 

EVALUATE YOUR MEETINGS

90% of meetings accomplish little

 

TAKE A BREAK

A laptop ad: The good news is that you're always connected to the office. The bad news is that you're always connected to the office.

A FUNCTIONAL OFFICE

An excess of neatness is counterproductive. The important thing is how quickly you can lay your hands on material you need-not how neatly the labels on the folders are calligraphied.

CLOSET CONTROL

We start each session with the clothes hangers facing the same way and reverse them as we wear the items. At the end of the season we get rid of everything that hasn't been used.

TAKE A COMPLETE BREAK

WE should not to work during lunch. We should spend the time in casual conversation, enjoying the food.

 

YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD FOR GOALS

Living aimlessly from one day to the next can lead to senility. New goals should be set upon retirement.


THE HIDDEN COST OF CUBICLES

THE HIDDEN COST OF CUBICLES

One study revealed that 40 programmers in offices accomplished as much as 100 programmers in cubicles.

MEETING ETIQUETTE

We should listen without bias, respect other opinions, make our point calmly and avoid personal agendas.

 

FOLLOW THROUGH ON GOALS

The failure to follow through on goals is a major cause of poor execution. If nobody is accountable for results, it doesn't get done.

LOSING CREDIT CARDS WASTES TIME AND MONEY

An alternative to photocopying credit cards in the event of a loss. List the card names and particulars in a spreadsheet and store the records in your computer. At least you won't lose the photocopies.

 

TIME SPENT ON E-MAIL

If you multiply 1.23 hours (the extra time spent daily on e-mail) by 5 days for 52 weeks, the average person is spending 320 hours per year of extra time handling e-mail.

SUBTRACT A FEW STEPS

Reduce double handling wherever possible. For example, putting dirty dishes directly into the dishwasher instead of stacking them in the sink, and putting groceries directly into the cupboards from the shopping bags instead of first putting them on the counter.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

WARNING TO ENTREPRENEURS

WARNING TO ENTREPRENEURS

Entrepreneurs work a longer workweek on average (54 hours) than do executives in large corporations (50 hours.)

THE IMPORTANCE OF PURPOSE

Famous people such as Michelangelo, Joan of Arc and Martin Luther King did not owe their success to utilizing every minute or multitasking, but by having a clear purpose in life.

 
SHORTER MEETINGS

Keep meetings to a maximum of 60 minutes since energy starts to wane after about an hour. If more time is necessary, take a five-minute break after 45 to 60 minutes.

 

EFFECTIVE SALESPEOPLE

The two main time wasters for salespeople are failing to set high pay-off priorities and failing to remain focused on high-priority activities.

 
ORGANIZED CHAOS

Clearing away the clutter will not get you organized. You must have a system established that will keep the clutter from accumulating again. Organization is a process, not an event.

DON'T BE A PERFECTIONIST

It often takes 50% or more of the total effort to squeeze out the last 10% or so of quality or whatever it is that perfectionists want out of a situation.

PROCRASTINATION BREEDS URGENCY

Urgent tasks are usually the non-urgent tasks that were not started soon enough.

 

TRADING EFFICIENCY FOR EFFECTIVENESS

Extreme busyness is injurious to the real work of the organization. We should sacrifice a little efficiency by freeing up people to think, innovate and respond to opportunities.

SALES PEOPLE REQUIRE FOCUS

Salespeople spend less than one third of their time in face-to-face selling. The top four timewasters are attempting too much, interruptions, crises management and paperwork.

TAKE TIME TO BE POLITE

We should answer the phone before the third ring and immediately give both our first and last name.

FOCUS ON IMPORTANCE, NOT URGENCY

FOCUS ON IMPORTANCE, NOT URGENCY

Keep reminding yourself of the advice given by many time management authors: "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."

REDUCE COMMUTE TIME

As the number of cars on the road increases, time spent commuting increases. Consider rapid transit, go-trains, carpools, telecommuting or even a move closer to work in order to reduce this time. But if you drive, don't work - while you're driving, that is.

REACHING A BUSY PERSON

If you suspect that someone will not return your call, try leaving a voice mail message that you'll call again later at a specific time. The more specific the better.

CONTROLLING MEETINGS

Set a deadline for time spent on each agenda item and assign a timekeeper to warn the group when the time is almost up.

MOBILE STORAGE DISK

More convenient than floppies and CDs, these storage sticks will fit on a key ring and transfer files from your office computer to laptop via a USB port. I have one that holds 128 MB but there are ones up to 1 gigabyte or more. They are great for traveling and taking files home with you.

 

E-MAIL TIP

You leave some space after your e-mail message to distance it from any technical verbiage that is added after transmission.

Friday, March 28, 2008

SCREENSAVER WITH A PURPOSE

SCREENSAVER WITH A PURPOSE

Download the free corkboard screensaver from
http://www.mycorkboard.com  and convert it into a useful time management tool. It's an electronic corkboard where you can tack reminders, to do lists, phone numbers, information, photos or your favorite inspirational quotes. It even has a digital clock as well as one with a sweep second hand. You can set alarms to remind you to make telephone calls at specific times or warn you that the roast is ready to be taken out of the oven. You can move items around, change their shape, size and color, duplicate them, delete them, modify them and even change the look of the corkboard itself. You can make lists for every day of the week and stack them on top of one another, deleting the current one upon completion. You can stack photos like a deck of cards or arrange them like an art gallery. You can delete the calendar or clock or anything else you don't need. With all the stock items available to mount, move and manipulate. My Corkboard can be an amusement park for kids as well as an information organizer for creative people.

ORGANIZE YOUR WORKING AREA

Paulette Ensign (
http://www.tipsbooklets.com ) suggests that you move desktop items an inch or two closer to you for greatest ease and use. She claims that sometimes a minor adjustment can make a major difference in the effectiveness of the products and your productivity.

KNOW YOUR PRIORITIES & NO OTHER'S

Most of the urgent items that you are working on are other people's priorities. To avoid the tyranny of the urgent and the stress that accompanies it, say no more often.

EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS WORK IN TANDEM

EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS WORK IN TANDEM

Without effectiveness, we lack direction drift away from the priorities, and become busy without accomplishing the 20% of the tasks that represent 80% of the value. On the other hand, without efficiency we experience the frustration of knowing exactly where we want to go, but see little progress in that direction.

 

INFRINGING ON SLEEP TIME CAN BE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE

According to an article in Bayprint Impressions, decreasing sleep time by as little as 1.3 to 1.5 hours for just one night reduces daytime alertness by 32 percent. People who get less than six hours of sleep per night have a 70 percent higher mortality rate than those who get seven or eight hours a night.

RECOGNIZE THAT YOU CAN'T DO EVERYTHING

Your in-basket, voice mailbox and e-mail in-box will all be full of unanswered items the day you die. So don't try to do more things, simply do more important things. Pursue the meaningful goals that you have identified, scheduled and acted upon and let those trivial things fall through the cracks. Strive for significance over speed and quality over quantity.

 

 

TRIM YOUR TO DO LIST

There is a big difference between things that should be done and things that must be done. For example, we should clean out the junk drawer, shop for a new car and have dinner with the Smiths. But what are the consequences of doing none of these things? Probably very little. Be ruthless when deciding what should be done. There isn't time for everything.

TAKE TIME TO LISTEN

There is no greater way of displaying kindness and respect than listening attentively to what people have to say. Someone once placed an ad in a mid-western state's newspaper to the effect that they would listen to anyone for twenty minutes without interrupting for five dollars (this was before inflation.) They were deluged with phone calls.

CHINESE PROVERB

If we do not change our direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

IT'S NEVER TOO EARLY TO START

IT'S NEVER TOO EARLY TO START

An old Japanese proverb claims that saying it's too early makes it too late. Never put off starting something simply because it won't be needed for quite a while.

 

STICKY REMINDER NOTES

If you surround your computer screen with sticky notes you can clean up your act with electronic Stickies 4.5b, downloadable free at
www.btinternet.com/~tom.revell. You can create, edit, move or delete these yellow reminder notes that appear on your screen. It's hard to forget something that's stuck right on top of your work in progress (although you can hide them as well.)

MOBILITY IN THE OFFICE

A cordless telephone headset will free up both hands and allow you to move around the office as you work. Linda Talley, a professional speaker, recommends the Plantronics model CA10 and handset lifter HL10 from
www.plantronics.com. Teleconference guru Judy Sabah also recommends Plantronics. Another case of an expense that may have a big payback.

PARETO'S PRINCIPLE IN ACTION

If 20 percent of your staff account for 80 percent of the results, these are the ones you should support and encourage with additional training and rewards. Not that you should ignore the low producers, because you want them to improve. But realizing a one percent increase in production from the top producers will affect the bottom line more than a similar increase from the low producers.

TRAVEL TIPS

Most felt pens leak at high altitudes. Use a ballpoint pen or one that specifically states it is air travel friendly. Resist the urge to accept headsets unless you're on vacation. TV anywhere is a time robber. And take advantage of the relatively interruption-free flight time for priority work.

DON'T ENCOURAGE INTERRUPTIONS

DON'T ENCOURAGE INTERRUPTIONS

Don't store supplies or locate equipment near your workstation if they have to be accessed frequently by others.

 

KEEP YOUR OFFICE BUSINESSLIKE

A lot of family photos, trophies, certificates and conversation pieces can generate chitchat that consumes time that you can't afford.

ELIMINATE REPETITIVE TYPING

One software program that has save me a lot of time is Shortkeys from
www.shortkeys.com. It eliminates repetitive typing and the possibility of errors by allowing me to insert up to 3000 keystrokes of boilerplate material into a document or e-mail message with a few strokes of the keyboard.

PLAN FOR YOUR REPLACEMENT

One of the responsibilities of a manager is to train his or her replacement to insure a smooth transition in the future.

GOALS ADD PURPOSE TO LIVES

Mark Lee, author of How to Set Goals & Really Reach Them, wrote that goal oriented persons seem healthier, happier and more confident than non-oriented persons.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

HOUR OF POWER

HOUR OF POWER

Tackle your hardest work when you are the sharpest. Your enthusiasm during this time has a targeted velocity.

 

LOWER YOUR STANDARDS

This suggestion may strike a hot button with perfectionists, why have a kitchen floor you can eat off of if everyone else uses the table?

ARE LEFT-HANDED PEOPLE MORE ORGANIZED?

Not according to the book, Positive Living & Health. Many organizational tasks are carried out by the right hemisphere.

TIMELY QUOTE

Manage your time as if your life depended on it … because it does.

 

GOOFING OFF GETS THINGS DONE

If you find yourself staring at a blank page with no idea how to begin that report or article, take a break. A brief walk to the water cooler, a few stretches or flipping through a magazine might jog your mind into action when you return to the task.

USE WHAT WORKS

There is not a single time management system that will work for everyone. Some people work effectively with paper planners other with PDAs, some with complicated Personal Organizers, others with scratch pads. Use what works for you.

LEAVE YOUR JOB BEHIND

LEAVE YOUR JOB BEHIND

25% to 40% of vacationers spent some vacation time working. Your job doesn't need a vacation, you do, so don't take your job with you.

KEEP MEETINGS BRIEF

E-mail informational reports and announcements in advance so you can devote the meeting to agenda topics.

 

HAVE DAILY GOALS

Before the end of each day you should know what it is you want to accomplish the next day.

TIME MANAGEMENT IS A TEAM SPORT

Respect other people's time. Interrupt less, accumulate questions, hold fewer meetings, keep e-mail brief and don't try to save time at the expense of your team members.

SEND FEWER E-MAILS

45% of the e-mails they received during a one-week period as being either low or non relevant.

PROTECT YOUR LUNCH BREAK

American workers, if they take a lunch break at all, do so for an average of only 15 to 36 minutes. Work continues to crowd out personal time.

SAYING NO BY DEFAULT

You can avoid the unpleasant task of saying no if you have already said yes to the priorities. Schedule the important tasks in your planner and you will be saying no by default.

 

REDUCE MEETINGS

REDUCE MEETINGS

When someone calls for an appointment, try to settle the matter right there on the telephone. In most cases a meeting isn't necessary.

 

GET ORGANIZED FIRST

By organizing your work area and yourself first, you will free up time for the more important time management strategies such as planning, delegation and the application of technology.

PRIORITIZE YOUR INCOMING E-MAIL

One manager maintains two e-mail addresses, one for important people and one for everyone else. Of course, everyone is important; but perhaps you can have one address that you only issue to key contacts.

GETTING THINGS DONE

If there are a few important things on your To Do list that you never get around to doing, schedule specific blocks of time in your planner to work on them.

PAPER TIGER SOFTWARE

Visit
www.thepapertiger.com and take the tour or watch the audiovisual presentation to find out how the Paper Tiger software program can make it easy to retrieve hardcopy records.

MULTITASKING IS UNHEALTHY

Not only does multitasking decrease efficiency, but according to an article in the Toronto Star (Multitasking Exacts Heavy Toll, November 28, 2003) it also compromises memory, causes back pain and can make workers more susceptible to flu and indigestion.

 

REDUCE STAFF INTERRUPTIONS

REDUCE STAFF INTERRUPTIONS

Holding brief stand-up meetings with your staff each morning may reduce the number of interruptions experienced during the day.

MAKE WISE CHOICES

Have your goals recorded at the front of your planner so you can reference them quickly when asked to take on another activity. If the activity does nothing to further your goals you should probably say no.

WHEN YOU MAKE A CHANGE STICK TO IT

Many ideas can only be implemented successfully by persisting until they become habits. According to Maxwell Maltz, author of Psycho-Cybernetics, it takes 21 days to form a habit. Don't give up too soon.

IMPROVE YOUR MEETINGS

Always take a few minutes at the end of each meeting to evaluate how it went.

 

PARTICIPATION AT MEETINGS

Call on newer employees to express their views first so they aren't intimidated by the more senior employees.

STICKY REMINDER NOTES

If you surround your computer screen with sticky notes you can clean up your act with electronic Stickies 4.5b, downloadable free at
http://www.btinternet.com/~tom.revell.  You can create, edit, move or delete these yellow reminder notes that appear on your screen. It's hard to forget something that's stuck right on top of your work in progress (although you can hide them as well.)

SURVIVING E-MAIL OVERLOAD

The problem with e-mail is there's too much of it. Forget the cute jokes, chain letters, riddles, limericks and cartoons. People can survive without them. Open few, delete most and forward none.

ADOPT A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

Exercise, good eating habits, sufficient sleep and a positive outlook will all help you to cope with stressful situations.

RECEIVE FAXES WITHOUT A FAX MACHINE

RECEIVE FAXES WITHOUT A FAX MACHINE

For $3.95 per month you can have a fax number that allows you to receive faxes in PDF as e-mail through www.innoport.com. A similar service is available free through www.efax.com. I've tried the latter and it works well, although I understand they may try to charge you if the volume of faxes is high.

PRIORITIZE AGENDA ITEMS

Schedule agenda items in reducing order of importance in the event that you run out of time before all the items have been discussed.

SCREEN THOSE MESSAGES

E-mail is costing companies millions of dollars in lost productivity, according to Christina Cavanaugh, author of Managing Your E-Mail: Thinking Outside the Box. At least one hour per day is being wasted on useless e-mail.

MAINTAINING BALANCE

Schedule personal and family activities in your planner as well as your work-related activities to insure balance.

PERSONALIZE YOUR TIME MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

There is no one best system. Some people work more effectively with paper planners, others with PDAs, some with personal organizers, others with steno pads. Use what works best for you.

 

MESSAGE OVERLOAD

According to Debra Black, writing in the Toronto Star (You've Got Too Much Mail, November 17, 2003) some people are so overwhelmed, they routinely delete everything rather than cope with the growing pile of e-mail and scores of messages left on their voice mail. One thing is certain; you had better capture the reader's interest quickly when you send e-mail.

DON'T READ REPORTS AT MEETINGS

DON'T READ REPORTS AT MEETINGS

 

Keep meetings shorter by having all reports distributed and reviewed a week ahead.

 

TOO MUCH STUFF?

 

According to an article in USA Today (December 26, 2003) self-storage units jumped 31% in the past year, with I in 8 USA households having one. Add to this statistic The Container Store's sales prediction of $335 million in 2003 and you get the impression that people are buying things and then storing them.

 

HANDLE E-MAIL EFFICIENTLY


Christina Cavanagh, a professor of management communications at the University of Western Ontario claims that on average, North Americans receive about 50 e-mails a day in the workplace. (Toronto Star, November 17, 2003.)


PLACE TIME LIMITS ON AGENDA ITEMS


Spend time on each meeting agenda item in proportion to the importance of the item.

GET YOUR IN-BASKET OFF YOUR DESK


If people don't have to approach your desk to deliver mail, you will have fewer interruptions. And you will eliminate the temptation to grab everything that's dropped in your in-basket.


DON'T PRINT E-MAIL


Paperwork has increased since the advent of e-mail. Don't keep hardcopies if you already have documents in electronic format.


REACH PEOPLE FASTER


Since you are greeted by voice mail when phoning most companies, it saves time if you have the person's extension number handy. Always ask for the extension number when entering a person in your directory. And be sure to include your own extension number on your business card.

 

KEEP A CLUTTER-FREE

KEEP A CLUTTER-FREE 

 

The average desk-worker has 36 hours worth of work on the desk, and spends three hours a week just sorting through it.

 

A MOTHER'S TIME

 

Just to put a parent's job in perspective that a stay-at-home mom with three children is holding down the equivalent of two full-time jobs.

 

ELIMINATE FIRST, SCHEDULE LATER

 

If you schedule time for everything on your To Do list, you'll be overscheduled. Eliminate the non-priorities and schedule only the important, goal-related activities.

 

A MESSY DESK IS A NATURAL OCCURRENCE

 

A Harvard professor, George K. Zipf, about 70 years ago penned a law that stated that frequency of use draws near to us things that are frequently used. People are reluctant to file what they're going to need again soon. A messy desk results.

 

AVOID DELETION

 

The two most important factors motivating email recipients to open an email are the from line and subject line.  60% of respondents in one study quoted the from line as most important and 35% quoted the subject line. Make sure you clearly identify both the sender and the topic.

 

RETURN ON INVESTMENT

 

Always insure that you get a profitable return on your invested time. Invest in priorities, not timewasters.

 

Friday, March 21, 2008

Plan ahead when traveling

Here are five tips for frequent flyers.

1. If you travel frequently on similar type trips, make out a checklist that you can refer to each time. The list should include what you need to do before the trip, what you should bring, what you need to do during the trip, and any action needed after the trip is over.,

2. Fill out any customs and immigration form the night before. Keep a few extras on hand. As soon as you receive your airline ticket, store it in a document holder, along with your passport, car rental papers, frequent flyer coupons, travel cards etc.

3. Inform staff members of items that are likely to come up during your absence and explain how to handle them. Leave copies of your itinerary with both your office and family. Include hotel phone numbers and scheduled appointments.

4. Several days ahead start setting aside items you have to take with you. Don’t leave all the packing until the last minute. Maintain a small personal effects kit specifically for travel.

5. Record flight numbers and times, airport terminal, hotel and car rental confirmation numbers etc. directly into your planner as soon as you receive the information. Don’t schedule appointments the day after your return so you will have time to catch up on the backlog.

Planning is the key to a successful business trip.

 

Remember the past, live in the present, plan for the future

Successful people achieve great things for themselves and others because they use their God-given ability to plan.

One of the many ways we differ from animals is that our brains have a frontal lobe that houses the ability to contemplate the future. There have been cases where individuals suffered damage to this frontal lobe and lost the ability to think ahead. They could not tell you what they were going to be doing tomorrow. They were trapped in the present.

Daniel Gilbert, in his book Stumbling on Happiness, published by Random House in New York in 2007, reported that about 12% of a person’s time is spent thinking about the future. Unfortunately this is only an average. A lot of people do little or no planning. They live from day to day. In fact, some spend more time in the past than they do in the future- reliving their painful or enjoyable experiences, fretting over past mistakes, reviewing injustices inflicted upon them, and so on.

About the only thing that some people do that could be construed as planning is to write lists of things to do. And that’s good because at least they know what should be done. But To Do lists do absolutely nothing to further a task. In many cases, they simply frustrate us by reminding us of all the things we haven’t done yet.

Take it one step further and decide when you will do the things that really count, and block out the necessary time. Decide now what you will do in the future.

 

Monday, March 10, 2008

Place To Study

Place To Study

When taking courses at school, always study the same subject in the same place (at the same time, if possible), It will aid in recall later.

Review Class Material

People forget about 70 percent of what they learn within one hour and 84 percent within 48 hours. Review school material immediately after having learned it.

Bulletin Board

Leaving an important notice on the bulletin board for weeks does little to increase exposure. Once people read it, they ignore it. To draw attention to it again and again, keep moving the position of the notice or reprint it on a different color paper. They’ll be tricked into reading it again. And they may get the message that you consider it’s important.

When Penning Memos

Bad handwriting costs U.S. businesses about $200 million a year, according to a handwriting textbook publisher. (101 Ways to Make Every Second Count by Robert Bly.) So when making notes, think about the person who has to read it. Poor communication costs more than time.

Timely Quote

Life is tough; it takes a lot of your time.    - Sean Morey, comedienne

 

The Planning & Scheduling Process

The Planning & Scheduling Process

A planner is not a calendar
A calendar is something that hangs on the wall or stands on your desk so you can check the day of the week or see whether your birthday falls on a Saturday. But a planner, although it may resemble a calendar in many ways, has expanded functions. It reveals both your work and personal plans, lists your goals, highlights the priorities, records your “to do” list, indicates when assignments are due, keeps track of appointments and becomes a journal of tasks accomplished, places visited and information acquired. To perform these functions, a planner should be larger than the standard pocket version and have time segments of 15-minute increments or less, extending well into the evenings, for all seven days each week. Ideally, a planner will contain a whole year or more, and have space for notes, important telephone numbers and daily reminders. Your planner is your most important time management tool, so choose it carefully.

Don’t rely on to do lists.
To Do lists are fine for grocery shopping; but if you're a results-oriented person, a scheduled commitment is a must. A list of things to do provides no commitment. So don’t rely on to do lists if you want to get the important things done.

Instead, separate the priority, high-payback activities from the items of lesser importance and schedule these must do items directly into your planner along with your meetings. For instance, the development of a policy manual should never remain on a To Do list. Block out the time needed in your planner, let's say between 2:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. and treat it as though it were a meeting with the boss. Close your door and have calls intercepted if that's what you would do if it were a meeting with your boss. If you schedule several of these meetings with yourself during the week, you will accomplish those priority jobs and increase your effectiveness.

Using your planner to accomplish your goals.
In order to determine the target date on your goal, estimate how many hours it would take to complete the task. In some cases, this is impossible to determine accurately. If so, simply guess, and then add up to 50 percent to be on the safe side. For example, if you feel it could take 100 hours of solid writing to finish a book, make it 150 hours. Then divide this figure by the number of weeks you plan to work that year. For example, if you work 50 weeks, then the number of hours each week that you will have to work on your goal-related activity should be three. Since it is difficult to work steadily for three hours on any activity, break this into two sessions of one-and-a-half hours each. To accomplish your goal of writing a book, you would have to spend one and-a-half hours twice per week in order to complete it by the end of the year. If this amount of time is unrealistic, set the goal for the end of the following year and work half as long each week. Don't be impatient; be realistic.

Let's assume that you have set a goal, recorded the target date, and have estimated that you would have to spend two blocks of time (of one-and-a-half hours) each week throughout the year. Each week you must now schedule an actual time in your weekly planner to work on that particular task. Once your priority, goal-related activities have been scheduled, resist any temptation to use this time for less important spur of the moment things. Pretend they are appointments with your surgeon. Few people would delay life-saving surgery.

This method of actually determining the amount of time it will take to accomplish a goal forces you to be realistic. If you had ten goals, for instance, all requiring two hours each week to accomplish, it is unlikely you would be able to steal 20 hours each week to work on those special projects. You would have no time for your regular jobs (or for family time if you planned to work on them in the evening). But there's always next year. Boil those goals down to the few really meaningful accomplishments that would give you the greatest return on invested time.

How to use your planner effectively.
Here are some guidelines to follow when using your planner. They are written in the form of an acronym, spelling out the word PLANNER.

Prioritize your entries. You prioritize your entries by scheduling the most important tasks early in the day and early in the week. Inevitably plans go astray, and if one of your priorities gets displaced, at least there will time to do it later. Another reason for scheduling priorities in the morning is that the time corresponds with most people’s peak energy level.

Leave space for emergencies. Once you have scheduled time for your current priorities, other rush jobs and crises will invariably surface. By leaving spaces between your scheduled tasks, you will be able to handle them without a lot of rescheduling.

Allow more time than you think the tasks will take. Most people underestimate the time a task will take. Allow for unforeseen emergencies, delays and interruptions by scheduling more time than you think will be needed. The amount will vary depending on your job and work environment, but initially try a 50 percent float.

Never rely on your memory. Your first impulse might be not to bother writing down all the things you have to do, reminders or deadlines, thinking that you’ll remember them. But the busyness, urgencies and constant pressures in most people’s lives frequently push memories from their consciousness within hours. Don’t take chances; write it in your planner.

Never let urgent items displace the important ones. Once you have scheduled time to work on the priorities, resist the temptation to change them. A schedule should be flexible. But resist changing your schedule simply to accommodate tasks of no greater importance than your originally planned activity. Say no more often.

Enter priorities in ink, not pencil. It may seem like a minor point, but writing in pencil makes it too easy to change. Until you put it in ink, it’s still tentative as far as your mind is concerned. Make a mental commitment by using ink.

Review your planner each week. At the end of each week, compare your results with your actual plans. Are you allowing enough time for the tasks? Are you letting priorities be displaced? Are you scheduling far enough into the future to prevent others from controlling your time?

 

The Palm Top Computer as a Personal Organizer

The Palm Top Computer as a
Personal Organizer

Time management in the palm of your hand

A good time management system should provide a simple way to highlight annual goals, schedule goal-related activities and other priorities into a planner and keep track of the myriad of other tasks that have to be done in the future. It should also facilitate note taking at meetings and during telephone conversations and provide instant access to data such as telephone numbers, statistics, documents, articles and client information. In addition, managers should be able to assign and keep track of projects, plan meetings and obtain feedback from staff and others. Ideally, the system should be portable, have the planner and various forms combined in one unit, be easy to access and have built-in reminders.

Until recently, such time-management systems have taken the form of multi-ring binders, complete with built-in planner, forms, notepaper, pen and removable calculator. Generally called personal organizers and coming in various styles, shapes, and sizes, these systems had to be replenished weekly, monthly or quarterly. Data were entered manually, records handwritten, reminders visual, and articles and documents inserted manually into pockets or punched to fit the rings.

With technology, came electronic organizers in the form of handheld computers such as Blackberry and the Palm series. Initially these were used as accessories to the hard-copy organizers. Some manufacturers of the old-style organizers actually included compartments to hold the little computers while maintaining their own paper forms intact. It was as if to say, “Okay, if you want your electronic toy, we’ll give you a place to put it; but don’t expect it to replace the personal organizer.” They didn’t even bother to eliminate their hardcopy telephone directory.

As time passed, and people experienced the ease with which they could access names and telephone numbers, events and things to do, they started using their handhelds for other things as well. Eventually, most people realized that it was more than an electronic directory/calendar/calculator/to do list combination. With the proper settings, some third-party software and a lot of experimentation, many people discovered that the tiny hand-held computer was a time management system itself. And in many respects, it is far superior to the hard-copy versions.

Small, slim and lightweight, the handhelds have no rings to open or close, no forms to insert, sort, smear, smudge, remove or store. No dog-eared pages to flip or pens to replenish. And thankfully, no pockets in which to propagate piles of paper and coupons that expired in 1981. And the biggest advantage is not its size, but its memory, versatility, ease of operation and its ability to exchange data with a desktop or laptop computer.

In workshops we have shown people how they can use their Palm handheld computer as a self-contained time management system that will help them manage their job, their time and their life. The principles are the same as those applied to traditional paper planners and organizers. As a result, they increase their personal productivity and eliminate the frustration of not being able to access data instantly where and when they need it. They discover that they can complete projects and attend meetings on time, meet commitments as planned, maintain control of delegated assignments and keep their life in balance. With handheld computers there is now an alternative to the paper based organizer.

 

Class Preparation

Class Preparation

When reading a textbook, read through the assigned chapter quickly, grasping the main ideas. Then reread, highlighting key areas to facilitate review. When making notes, be sure to put into your own words.

Walk And Talk

Consider walking meetings, where you can walk while you talk. It will help break a sedentary lifestyle, stimulate thought, and reduce interruptions.

Within Reach

When laying out your desk area, make sure the frequently used items are within easy reach. If something is not used regularly or serves no functional purpose (photos etc.) it should not be on your desk.

Phone Placement

Position the phone for convenience and efficiency, not tradition. If you need more room on your credenza, table or desk, hang it on the wall or place it on a printer stand.

Timely Humor

I generally avoid temptation unless I can’t resist it.
- Mae West

 

The Importance of Punctuality

Dan Kennedy, author of No B.S. Time Management For Entrepreneurs, emphasizes the importance of punctuality. He not only advises it from a time management standpoint, but also claims that everyone he has met who is consistently on time is successful, while those ignoring this discipline fail. He goes so far as to say, "Someone who cannot keep appointments on time, cannot keep scheduled commitments and cannot stick to a schedule should not be trusted." He quotes statistics that claim that more than 60 percent of employees in the U.S. frequently show up late for work. Does this mean that 60 percent of employees in the U.S. can't be trusted and are failures? Perhaps Kennedy can be accused of overkill, but the point is valid. When you are late for appointments, meetings or work, you show a lack of respect for other people's time as well as your own. And yet punctuality is a problem for many people. How can we ensure that we keep appointments by arriving on time? Here are a few suggestions:

  1. Make up your mind that you will be punctual from now on. In many cases lateness is caused by a lack of commitment to arrive on time. Have the right mindset.
  2. Record the commitment in your planner and also record the time you must leave the house or office in order to arrive on time.
  3. In carrying out step two, plan to arrive 5 to 10 minutes early.
  4. If you have a fair distance to travel, always allow more time than you think it will take. This is the same as scheduling more time for a task than you think it will take.
  5. Don't be trapped by the one last thing syndrome. If you're ready to leave and it’s still early, leave anyway. Utilize the time at the other end rather than trying to finish one more task before you leave.
  6. If you are not a morning person, but have early morning commitments, set the alarm a little earlier. Some of us may need to go to bed a little earlier to make this work.

When it comes right down to it, punctuality is a habit that can be developed. It takes great effort at first, but eventually simply happens. Habits are formed by repetition. If you want to acquire the habit of punctuality, you must repeat this behavior again and again.

How long does it take to change your behavior from one of tardiness to punctuality? The late Maxwell Maltz, author of Psycho Cybernetics, is credited with saying it takes 21 days to form a habit. So you will have to muster all the willpower at your disposal, take advantage of the above list of suggestions, and persist until the habit is formed.

The habit of arriving on time does have its rewards. A quote attributed to speaker Ed Foreman in Kennedy's book is probably not overkill: “You can advance in most business organizations by doing three things: “show up; show up on time; and show up on time ready to work."

Study Time

Study Time

Use your prime time when you’re at your mental and physical peak. This is usually early in the morning and again early in the evening.

Putting Off Housework

Procrastinating on cleaning up your house? Michelle Tullier, in her book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Overcoming Procrastination, suggests you plan a party so you’ll have to straighten up and clean.

Increase Understanding

If a school subject is difficult, search out a child’s book covering the same topic (or a lower grade level). The authors are great at making a complicated subject appear easy.

Longer Hours And Lower Productivity

Studies have shown that productivity and efficiency begin to reverse somewhere between 50 and 60 hours per week. An English study showed that at 60 hours per week, performance declined 25 percent. (Source: The Overload Syndrome by Richard A. Swenson, NavPress, 1998)

Timely Quote

The ideal committee is one with me as the chairman and two other members in bed with the flu.   - Lord Milverton.

 

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Setting personal & business goals

Ask yourself, “What are the key things you want to accomplish during the year? “ These could be personal, business-related or both.  Put them in writing and assign a target date to complete them.  In the fall of each year I decide what my business goals will be for the following year.  Basically I ask myself, “If I could do only one thing to further the aims and objectives of this company what would it be?”  After considerable self-talk and scribbling, I write down my first goal.  It could be to revamp the website, develop a distance education program, write a book, or any number of things.  Then I assume I can get two things done, and I select another goal and so on.  When I get to five or six goals I stop.  If you have too many goals they become like a To Do list.  And seldom do To Do lists get completed.

I read a book by Buck Rodgers about 20 years ago.  He was the ex-vice president of Marketing for IBM and the book was called The IBM Way.  In that book, he said that he and those who worked for him, limited themselves to 5 major objectives or priorities in any one year in order to provide focus.

The trouble with most people is that they lack focus. We can’t do everything. People get upset because they get behind in their homework, housework and office work and they feel pressured and helpless and of course, stressed out and even guilty – because they can’t get everything done. Well I’ve got news for you. You will never get all the things done that you want to get done. The day you die you will have an inbox full of email messages not responded to, voicemail messages unheard, letters unanswered, tasks only half-completed – and you won’t even be on this earth to worry about them.

The secret is to choose the most important things, set deadline dates, schedule time to work on them in your planner and keep those appointments with yourself. Focus on what’s really important in your business and personal life, and add everything else to your To Do list. You know what will happen to most of those items!

 

Monday, March 3, 2008

Develop personal policies to guide you through life.

Corporate policies such as the customer is always right, we will not be undersold and satisfaction or money refunded have been around for over a century. They help employees make tough decisions, provide consistency and express the organization’s philosophy. They also save time.
It is similarly effective for individuals to develop a set of personal policies or value statements to help guide them through life. Policies help people make decisions regarding their personal use of time and prevent them from getting involved in activities inconsistent with their beliefs.  Here are five guidelines for setting personal policies.

1. To establish personal policies you must first determine the values you want to protect and the image you want to project. Once you are clear on your priorities and how you want to use your time, put your statements in writing and post them where they’ll be a constant reminder. This might be at the front of your planner or in your PDA or other electronic organizer.

2. Be sure to discuss your policies with family members or others who will be affected by them. You could end up modifying them, but be sure that you end up with a set of guidelines that reflect your beliefs, not those of others.

3. If you don’t have a personal mission statement, develop one first, before you establish your policies. Policies help to guide you but a mission statement determines your direction.

4. Policies are guidelines, not rules. They are flexible depending on the situation. For instance, if one of your policies is to not work overtime, you may not refuse to work overtime if your job actually depended on it. However if you were consistently confronted with overtime at the threat of losing your job, you would either start looking for another job or change your policy. You cannot continue to live in opposition to your personal values. To do so would increase stress, diminish your self-esteem and take much of the fun out of life.

5. Your policies can be modified as time passes. Your priorities may change as your situation changes. As people grow older, for instance, they may have a greater respect for free time and less respect for money. Single people may have different priorities if they marry and have children. The important thing is that we maintain control of our lives by deciding our priorities and how we spend our time. Policies help us to live by design, not by default.

 

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Enjoy your job or get a new one

Marshall Cook, author of the book, Slow Down and Get More Done, suggests that if you have a great deal of freedom in structuring your work day, can take responsibility for the outcome, and can see the value in what you do, you're more likely to achieve satisfaction from your work.

Unfortunately, not everyone is happy with his or her job. According to researchers at the University of Michigan, only 43% of white collar workers said they would choose the same type of work again. This figure dropped to 24% for blue collar workers. However, 93% of university professors and 82% of journalists enthusiastically confirm their career choices.

According to author and researcher Juliet Schor, many of us become trapped in an "earned-spend cycle." We drain our time and energy into jobs we don't like out of economic necessity. This is not good. We spend a lot of time at our jobs. We owe it to ourselves as well as to our employers to enjoy what we do. This may require that we set a personal goal to change careers within five years. This might involve starting our own business. Or it may only require that we build interest into our present job - making the most of what we have already. The more we have control of our lives the less stress we will experience.
           
Carol Colman, author of Late Bloomers: How to Achieve Your Potential at Any Age, suggests that we must reach the point at which our need for change surpasses our need for security. She urges her readers not to let short-term gratification stand in the way of lifetime satisfaction.

 

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