Thank You Again for the First Time
One of the most common polite mistakes I see in business writing is this: a message that ends "Thank you again. . . ." without thanking the reader at the beginning.
If you are in the habit of thanking the reader again at the end of your messages, be sure you said thanks somewhere previously. Otherwise, your politeness will sound canned and look silly. That would be a shame when your intention is to connect sincerely with your reader.
When you plan, you determine what important tasks you would like to accomplish in the weeks and months ahead. Then you list the various steps (if more than one is required) in order to complete those tasks, and estimate the amount of time it would take to complete each step. To this you add a realistic safety factor to allow for interruptions and other problems, and schedule the total time in your planner.
For example, if you feel it could take 50 hours of uninterrupted work to write a book, make it 75 hours. Then divide this figure by the number of weeks you plan to work that year. For example, if you work 50 weeks, then you would have to work 1½ hours each week in order to finish your book by the end of the year. If this amount of time is unrealis¬tic, set the goal for the end of the following year and work half as long each week. Don't be impatient; be realistic. Some of your goals could take one, three, five or more years to attain.
The secret to goal achievement is to schedule adequate time in your planner to actually work on them. Don’t leave priorities on a “To Do” list.
That doesn’t say that To Do lists are useless. There’s nothing wrong with being reminded about what has to be done. But those priority, goal-related projects and assignments should never be relegated to a To Do list. They should be scheduled in specific time slots throughout the week. You generally don’t schedule your daily routine. You schedule your projects. These are the important things you have to get done within a specific time frame, within a set budget. Your planner serves as a project manager.
If you are a full-time student, taking an evening course or returning to school, one of the keys to success is the ability to concentrate amid the myriad of distractions at home, work and in the classroom. Here are five time management principles that apply to schoolwork.
1. Study with a purpose. Just as the course you are taking should have a purpose, so should everything you do within that course. Know the objective of each class and each chapter in the textbook. This allows you to listen and read actively. As little as ten percent of what the instructor says is essential information. If you know the purpose of the class to start with, it is easier to recognize this information and get it into your notes.
2. Study in chunks. Attention span can still differ from individual to individual so don’t force yourself to study for two hours at a time if your mind tends to wander after forty-five minutes. Take a brief five or ten-minute break and resume refreshed.
3. Recognize your prime time for studying and take advantage of it. A person’s prime time is that period of the day when he or she is at peak form mentally. Concentration is easier and energy is higher during this time. Most people are early persons and schedule their more difficult tasks to coincide with this peak performance time.
4. Plan your study time. Lack of concentration could be just as well labeled lack of self-discipline. And self-discipline is easier within a structure. If you have ever gone to work with no idea of what you wanted to accomplish that day, chances are you accomplish very little. Without a plan, distractions come easy.
5. Develop your power of concentration. Success in school depends on a little talent and a lot of hard work. This hard work is made easier, though, through self-discipline. A brilliant student who never develops self-discipline finds it tougher and tougher to achieve those same grades as he or she progresses through college or university.
Anyone having trouble locating their keys in the morning, forgetting to put out the garbage, or missing a dentist appointment, might be afflicted with a malady called personal disorganization. Disorganization can creep into anyone’s life if it’s allowed to gain a foothold. Its symptoms are stacks of paperwork, tangles of useless items in closets and drawers, bunches of keys of unknown origin, misplaced items, overlooked chores, and forgotten appointments.
The cure? A 12-step remedy taken gradually over several months with plenty of desire on the part of the patient to regain their organizational health.
Step 1. Stop procrastinating. Do it now.
Step 2. Don’t be a packrat. If in doubt, throw it out.
Step 3. Have a place for everything (within reason).
Step 4. Put things away immediately after use.
Step 5. Break time-wasting habits and replace them with effective ones.
Step 6. Write things down. Never rely on memory.
Step 7. Always plan before you act.
Step 8. Have a daily plan for both work and personal activities.
Step 9. Draw up personal and organizational goals each year.
Step 10. Work smarter, not harder.
Step 11. Practice self-discipline.
Step 12. Avoid the tyranny of the urgent.
1.
I believe that if anything is worth doing, it would have been done already.
2.
I shall never move quickly, except to avoid more work or find excuses.
3.
I will never rush into a job without a lifetime of consideration.
4.
I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect to receive from missing them.
5.
I firmly believe that tomorrow holds the possibility for new technologies, astounding discoveries, and a reprieve from my obligations.
6.
I truly believe that all deadlines are unreasonable regardless of the amount of time given.
7.
I shall never forget that the probability of a miracle, though infinitesimally small, is not exactly zero.
8.
If at first I don’t succeed, there is always next year.
9.
I shall always decide not to decide, unless of course I decide to change my mind.
10.
I shall always begin, start, initiate, take the first step, and/or write the first word, when I get around to it.
11.
I obey the law of inverse excuses which demands that the greater the task to be done, the more insignificant the work that must be done prior to beginning the greater task.
12.
I know that the work cycle is not plan/start/finish, but is wait/ plan/plan.
13.
I will never put off until tomorrow, what I can forget about forever.
14.
I will become a member of the ancient Order of Two-Headed Turtles (the Procrastinator’s Society) if they ever get it organized!
Time-management experts recommend doing your most important tasks first. They say that if you start with low-value activities, you may never get to the tasks that could make the biggest difference to your success.
But in writing, it is not always a good idea to begin with your most important messages. It is smart to start with low-value communications when you need to warm up or to practice for the high-stakes pieces.
Let us say you are beginning a job search, and you have learned about five job openings that seem like a match for your skills and experience. Two are in dream companies you would love to work for. Two are with companies you would like to work for if the money and benefits were great. The final company is one you are not really drawn to, but the job might be acceptable. You think it is worth investigating.
Which job opening should you apply for first? The one in the company you are not really drawn to.
Going through the steps of submitting your resume and cover letter will give you important practice. After you click Submit or drop your application in the mailbox, you will get ideas about how you might have written your pieces more effectively.
Next apply for the jobs you might want. Again, you will discover better ways to sell your strengths.
Finally, after you have thought through the process, sharpened your message, gotten feedback, and caught all errors, you will be ready to apply for the jobs you really want. The mistakes and blandness will be behind you.
So save the best prospects for last--when you are most likely to be successful in your communications.
Children's failure to keep their rooms clean is the basis for many a family argument. However, it's not that difficult to keep your room clean. Divide room cleaning into several tasks, concentrating on one until you do it well. Then focus on a second task, and continue until the whole job is accomplished.
Be specific: Make checklist, post the list in your room and recheck off each task as it is performed. Even if a bed is not made exactly to your standards, if it looks better than it did the day before, feel happy that you have seen improvement. Recognize your achievement.
Be consistent: Some of us have a very bad habit that we keep our clean only for a few days. Then again we start ignoring the regular dusting, our study table is mess again and our so is our cabinet. We often blame our routine for this. However there is no reason why we cannot spare 10 minutes to daily dusting and making sure that things are organized in our room.
Set specific Times: Another area in which the cleanliness of a room becomes a point of discussion is time. Give yourself some time to do the job. Make sure that you do the job of cleaning the room with in the specified time.
It's my Turf: Sometimes, when our parents comment on our untidy room, we are ready with the answer, it's my room and I am fine with it, many of us would choose to be neat, but if parents say we must clean our rooms, we become stubbornly rebellious. The fact is the way you keep your room is your choice, so why not choose to life in a neat and tidy room.
The key is to keep cleaning and organizing daily. If you spend just a few minutes a day, your room will stay clean. Also, the problem is probably related to a lack of organization, so may be if you find a system for organizing your stuff that works for you (other than just throwing it on the floor) you will be more apt to maintain the system. I am sure if you ask your mom, she would be happy to help you get the materials you need to keep your room clean and organized.
With life expectancy continuing to increase, some people are spending a third of their lives or more in retirement. That’s too much time to waste. If you leave full-time employment, take your time management skills with you and leave the stress behind. This includes the following five strategies that will keep you mentally young and physically active.
1. Set personal goals, complete with deadlines and schedules. Don’t retire from achievements simply because of your chronological age. Make up for the years you may have been procrastinating. Read the books you never got around to reading. See the sights you always wanted to see. Mend broken relationships and make new ones.
2. Continue using a planning calendar and schedule time for activities and people you love. Without the structure of the workplace it’s necessary to build your own structure.
3. Schedule self-development activities. You’re never too old to learn. The more active you keep your mind, the less chance there will be of memory loss.
4. Spend time with younger people; if you don’t, your wisdom will die when you do. And surrounding yourself with younger people makes you feel younger in turn. Don’t waste your life sharing complaints, aches and pains with older people.
5. Keep exercise as a priority. Lead an active lifestyle. Exercise affects memory as well as physical condition.
If you are still active in your career, plan now to ensure your retirement years will live up to your expectations. Plan more than simply finances. The important part of retirement is how you will be spending your time. Take inventory of the parts of your current job you like and those that you don’t like and plan activities during retirement that incorporate the enjoyable parts. You will still need a sense of achievement, self-fulfillment and personal growth once you are retired. This may involve going back to school, starting your own business or doing volunteer work.
