Time Management Tips to Get More Done
The most effective time management system is as individual as each person. What works best for one person may be ineffective for someone else. So experiment. Use different techniques. Keep the ones that work and throw out the others.
Three tips on how to leverage your time:
- Block out time for yourself. Close the door. Turn off the phone. Give yourself an hour of uninterrupted time each day.
- Work on your most important work, tasks, and projects. Only do the things that have value. Eliminate everything else.
- Use your prime time. You have a time of day when you do your best work, when you have the most energy and enthusiasm. Tackle your most important work at your most energetic time of day.
Five Result-Getting Time Management Tips
by Steve Brunkhorst
These tips will simplify time management with five important steps that can bring remarkable changes. They will allow you to easily customize a plan that will fit your specific objectives. Each action in your plan should support one of these five steps.
1. Prioritize Objectives and Actions.
Place a level of importance on each project or goal. Decide which actions are the most important for reaching your top-level objectives. Then spend the necessary time on those objectives first. That might seem obvious, but it requires thoughtful planning to prioritize time expenditures. It requires discipline to stick with the schedule.
Setting priorities also allows the mind to focus on desired outcomes. Time spent prioritizing projects, actions, and time expenditures is a wise investment of time.
2. Balance Time Expenditures.
Balancing time expenditures reduces stress. It brings success and fulfillment to both careers and personal lives. Consider all the important areas in your life, and your values for each of them.
Consider areas such as family, health, career, relationships, spirituality, and relaxation. Take into account your responsibilities and activities within each of these areas. Balanced living brings contentment that is often absent in today’s fast moving world.
3. Visualize Your Outcome and Feel Gratitude.
You’ve prioritized and balanced your time expenditures. What results did you want to achieve from each time expenditure in step one? Why are each of those results important to you?
See those results in your mind’s eye each day. Then create the unmistakable feeling that those results have already been achieved. Most importantly, create a strong, silent feeling of gratitude that you have already received each result that you visualized.
4. Measure Results.
The only way to know if your efforts at time management are working is to measure the results. If you continue to feel stressed or do not see tangible changes taking place, it’s time to re-evaluate what you are doing and make changes.
5. Adjust and Repeat.
Time and its winds of constant change are sure to bring surprises that intervene in your initial plans. One of the most frequent mistakes in managing time is neglecting to fine tune. First attempts at prioritizing and balancing often need a second look. If your results are less than you wanted, return to step one. Fine tune your schedule to make it more functional.
Time expenditures will always need to be reallocated periodically. Goals, needs, values, commitments, and responsibilities change. New projects and objectives will enter the picture. Unexpected events and new relationships will require flexibility.
Increase Productivity and Satisfaction
Daily actions that support each of these five steps can bring more work productivity and personal life satisfaction. With a schedule that must be flexible, I check and adjust my time expenditures weekly. This insures that my actions are supporting my career and personal objectives. These actions for effective time management can support your objectives also.
Stop and think of a top-level objective that you want to reach. Ask yourself this question:
“If I could choose only one activity today that would take me closer to this objective, what would it be?” You’ve just started the process with step number one.
Keep practicing each of these five time management steps by applying them to your situation. You will be pleased with the results.
About the Author
Copyright 2004 by Steve Brunkhorst. Steve is a professional life success coach, and the editor of Achieve! 60-Second Nuggets of Inspiration, a popular mini-zine bringing motivational stories and inspirational thoughts that can help you achieve more in your career and personal life. Visit Steve’s site today at AchieveEzine.com.
January 31, 2012
· 
Carol · 
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Tags: time management · Posted in: business
Leadership and Social Responsibility
Leadership and social responsibility are an important combination in today’s society. The following article looks at questions asked by socially responsible leaders.
The Top 10 Questions for Socially Responsible Leaders
by Gala Gorman
Companies are increasingly adopting socially responsible business practices based on sustainable development to ensure efficiency, stimulate innovation, and create top-line growth. This “new” approach to business must reach into every area of the organization to ensure that goals and objectives are in alignment
To begin the discovery process, ask yourself these questions:
Leadership
2. Does the organization operate using a cost vs. benefit approach taking into consideration intrinsic and consequential costs/benefits? Some may think that emphasizing social responsibility will be a financial drain on the organization too great to overcome. If that were the case, there would be no case for this new approach to management. Costs must be weighed against benefits – not just obvious costs or benefits. Benefits include increased productivity, customer loyalty, innovation, and countless others.
3. Are the finances of the operation managed to ensure long-term prosperity for all concerned? Risk is inherent in the business world. A business must invest in itself and its future, evaluating the risk of experimentation and development. Without continuing investment the organization is sure to stagnate, with too much emphasis on growth and development there is an abundance of waste. The organization just can’t keep up. To establish long-term prosperity, the financial plan must emphasize growth in a sustainable way.
Branding
5. How has product development served to foster innovation and take advantage of advanced technology? The progressive organization is continually improving its processes, systems, and designs. Competition is fast to respond, so there is no time to sit around and wait for the next move. The services or products produced must always be ready to evolve to the next level of usefulness. With an infrastructure that prioritizes creativity and innovation, the company is always ahead of the pack.
6. Does the organization strive to get to know and understand its customers and their needs? The socially responsible organization recognizes that it must contribute to the welfare of its customers and meet needs in a way that improves their lives. Sometimes this improvement is highly visible and other times you must stretch a bit to fully comprehend it. Either way, there should be identifiable positive results for customers choosing to make use of the organization’s products or services.
Operations
8. What considerations were incorporated into the organization’s facilities to stimulate creativity? The work environment contributes positively or negatively to productivity and creativity. The organization’s people spend the majority of their waking hours in the workplace. There is a tremendous opportunity to use this time to stimulate the creative process and establish an environment that fosters harmonious interactions. From color schemes, to ergonomic furniture, or the use of advanced technology, the organization’s facilities should be given appropriate consideration.
9. How has technology been employed to bring the organization closer to its customers, suppliers, and internal resources? The World Wide Web has reduced our farthest neighbor to the “boy next door.” We have the ability to provide our customers, suppliers, and internal concerns with access to information and a convenient method of communication that ten years ago would not have been imagined. Customers and suppliers are literally a click away. By using technology wisely, we can provide them with the information they need to help us serve them better or vice versa.
Global Impact
10. Has the organization studied and demonstrated that it understands how it contributes to the global marketplace? Every organization contributes to the global marketplace in some way. There is a chain of influence that needs to be understood to fully embrace the importance of incorporating social responsibility initiatives into an organization’s mission. You can begin by tracing your product or service as it moves through its life cycle. As you begin to recognize how even a small change can accumulate and make a global difference, you will be inspired to take an intentional first step towards social responsibility.
About the Author
Gala Gorman was CEO of MetaComm International, LLC, and holds a Master’s Degree in Human Development, is a certified public accountant, certified financial planner, published author, executive coach, and business consultant with 25 years of experience.
Other Resources Related to Leadership and Social Responsibility
Business for Social Responsibility is a membership organization for companies of all sizes and sectors.
World Business Council for Sustainable Development is a coalition of 125 international companies.
January 29, 2012
· Carol · No Comments
Tags: leadership and social responsibility · Posted in: business
The Seven Secrets to New Age Leadership Skill
by JoAnna Brandi
Did you ever notice that in our American culture, we have the tendency to look outside of ourselves for leadership? That’s a trap. Isn’t it time we looked inside ourselves to see how we can be the leader we want and need to be in the 21st century? I certainly think so.
Leadership skill used to be about telling people what to do. We saw the manager as “hero.” Managers were needed to solve problems, needed for their technical expertise and their know-how. They were needed to keep the ship running in tiptop shape!
All our old leadership skill models came from the military, where people took their command from a few people at the top. These models don’t work in today’s world. As the industrial age models rust, the power has shifted from the people who sell, to the people who buy.
Today’s business leader needs to a master juggler and a compassionate listener. She needs to be savvy and intuitive and sharp as a tack in business matters. Most of all today’s leader needs to be able to mobilize HUMAN energy, align it and direct it towards a single goal – creating more value for the customer. This, in turn creates a more profitable company. Companies that have high levels of customer happiness and employee happiness outperform those who don’t. It’s pretty simple.
I believe there are seven traits of leaders with successful leadership skills for the 21st Century.
Creative Thinker
If we want to create a new world, we have to first change our thinking and thinking patterns. 80% of the population thinks reactively. They take action to make something go away (usually a problem.) The other 20% are creative thinkers – they take action to make something come into being (the creation.)
Creative thinkers thrive on the question “What’s Possible?” Reactive thinkers ask, “What’s wrong?” or “Who’s to blame?” Reactive thinkers live in reaction and response to circumstances. Creative thinkers go beyond circumstances.
Change Readiness
The change-ready individual embraces change. They understand the process of change and how it affects most people, and is skilled at enrolling people in it with a minimum amount of fear.
Most people do resist change – that’s because it forces us right out of our comfort zones. An effective leader knows how to move people out of their comfort zones with dignity and respect. He helps people share a “common understanding” of the past and why they need to change it and then provides them with a positive image of their future along with actions they can all agree will move them in the right direction.
Architect
A leader is a landscape architect. It’s her primary job to build a living environment – called culture. Culture is the soul of the enterprise. Today’s leader is a master “culture-crafter.” He or she sculpts and crafts an environment that stimulates, excites and invites people to be the best they can be.
The architect leader knows that the ability to create a nourishing and challenging environment for people to grow in is more important than any technical skill she can possess.
Continuous Improvement
The leader of tomorrow will regularly challenge old beliefs and be passionate about learning and about applying that learning in the real world. She will often ask my favorite question “Who is doing something differently then I am and what can I learn from them?”
Authenticity
Effective leadership skill is authentic. How and who you are is just as important as what you know! Hold yourself to the highest standards – don’t talk the talk unless you are prepared to walk the walk. Don’t expect of others what you don’t expect from your self. Be real, tell the truth. The leaders that are the most revered are those that let the light of who they are shine through in all they do. They are honest, forthright and clear.
Coach/Facilitator
A leader needs to be a coach not a commander. He needs to hold space open for things to happen. It is said that when leaders do their job properly people believe they have done it themselves. Leaders are there to help people see things from a different perspective, to provide questions that encourage learning and to help turn work experiences into learning experiences.
Visionary
Clearly a need for new leadership skill exists. Take a good look at your style and see if you are prepared for living and leading in the 21st century.
Want to find out more about how to be a powerful and compassionate 21st century leader? Check out our weekly leadership skill training program at www.customercarecoach.com.
Copyright 2000-2004 JoAnna Brandi & Company, Inc. All rights reserved.
About the Author
JoAnna Brandi is publisher of the Customer Care Coach ™ a weekly training program. She is the author of Winning at Customer Retention, 101 Ways to Keep ‘em Happy, Keep ‘em Loyal and Keep ‘em Coming Back and Building Customer Loyalty – 21 Essential Elements in ACTION. She writes a free e-mail tip on customer caring. You can sign up at www.customercarecoach.com.
January 28, 2012
· Carol · No Comments
Tags: leadership tips · Posted in: business
Overcoming Procrastination
If you struggle with overcoming procrastination, read the following article. (Now! No procrastinating.)
Ten Ways to Kick the Procrastination Habit
by Julie Plenty
I read about a survey (by the University of Chicago) that suggested people who relish challenge are more likely to live up to 10 years longer than those who spend their lives inhibited by timidity.
Trying to realize our ambitions, even if we don’t always meet them, is preferable to not having the courage or motivation to take the risk. So not making any resolutions because we fear that we’ll break them is having a defeatist attitude, as we allow procrastination to become an insidious habit that stops us from leading more fulfilling lives.
The following offers ten ways to kick the procrastination habit!
- Personal values development. Take the time to find out what you really want in life, what your personal values are. Do you want more time, more money, better health, greater self-esteem and confidence, more fulfilling relationships, a different career, to set up a business? When we procrastinate it’s often because what we are planning to do is not really aligned with what we truly want. We may be scared of our skills (or perceived lack of) or fear ridicule from others.
- Make health a priority. Without good health we are less likely to have the energy and dynamism needed to make positive changes in our lives and it’s easier (and necessary if you’re very ill) to procrastinate. So ensure that you have a nourishing diet, sleep well, exercise, and meditate. Incidentally, it is thought that regular meditation helps delay the worst effects of the aging process.
- Visualize your life without procrastination. See and feel the benefits in your life if you didn’t procrastinate. What could you do and achieve? Begin to act as if you’re not a procrastinator. Write down, draw, and imagine your life as a film. Use affirmations to help you.
- Banish the Gremlin – the little voice that runs on auto in your head that dismisses any idea that you might have. It says things like “I’m not in the mood,” “I don’t have time,” “I can’t do this.” Stop running on auto, replace the “shoulds,” “oughts,” and “have tos” with “want to” and “desire.” You have a choice. Acknowledge your choices and banish the Gremlin. Again, using affirmations can help you replace the Gremlin with more positive alternatives.
- Avoid overcommitment. Saying “yes” to everything often leaves you feeling tired and without the energy to focus on what is most important to you. This leads to procrastination as projects and tasks are dropped. Identify what is most important to you and only focus on those areas that will make the biggest difference to your life. It will enhance your focus and motivation.
- Set personal and professional goals. It’s hard to motivate yourself when you don’t have a good idea of what you want to accomplish. When setting goals think about what you want to achieve in the short term and long term. Techniques for doing so include the SMART strategy. S = specific, M = measurable, A= Action, R = Realistic, T = Time based. Use goal setting software to help you in goal planning and setting.
- Prioritize Your Goals. Develop a plan or schedule to help you reach your goals. In doing so you will begin to identify whether some elements need to be included or enhanced or dropped completely. Also remember to be flexible, revisit your goals regularly, and modify or drop if appropriate. Just because a goal is written down doesn’t mean that it is set in stone!
- Divide and conquer. Once you’ve prioritized your goals, divide them into smaller chunks. Sometimes we procrastinate because a project seems so large that the scale of it overwhelms us and puts us into a temporary form of paralysis – you don’t know where to start, so you don’t start at all! Approach each project, especially large ones, on a step by step basis.
- Reward yourself. Once you start to complete tasks, reward yourself by giving yourself something that you want. So instead of seeing a film before you complete a task, see it afterwards and make it a reward for you.
- Just get started. No excuses. Don’t wait until you’re “in the mood.” The mood never comes! It is a clever camouflage and a delaying tactic. What you resist persists! Start with what is easiest, so that you experience immediate success, which will give you the fuel and motivation to upgrade and take on larger projects.
Do any of the above and you’ll be well on your way to Kicking the Procrastination Habit.
About the Author
Julie Plenty specializes in working with creative people in authentic and inspired goal setting using the Law of Attraction. She is currently creating vehicles through her ideas and inspiration can be more fully expressed and shared. Read more at www.allowingabundance.blogspot.com/.
January 27, 2012
· Carol · No Comments
Tags: overcoming procrastination · Posted in: self improvement
Napoleon Hill on Visualizing Money
Visualization is a concept that has been around for a long time. Napoleon Hill wrote about its importance in his 1937 classic, Think and Grow Rich:
“Consider the possibility of playing a perfectly legitimate “trick” on your subconscious mind, by making it believe, because you believe it, that you must have the amount of money you are visualizing, that this money is already awaiting your claim, that the subconscious mind MUST hand over to you practical plans for acquiring the money which is yours.”
Hill goes on to write:
“DO NOT WAIT for a definite plan, through which you intend to exchange services or merchandise in return for the money you are visualizing, but begin at once to see yourself in possession of the money, DEMANDING and EXPECTING meanwhile, that your subconscious mind will hand over the plan, or plans you need. Be on the alert for these plans, and when they appear, put them into ACTION IMMEDIATELY. When the plans appear, they will probably “flash” into your mind through the sixth sense, in the form of an “inspiration.” This inspiration may be considered a direct “telegram,” or message from Infinite Intelligence. Treat it with respect, and act upon it as soon as you receive it. Failure to do this will be FATAL to your success.”
October 10, 2011
· Carol · No Comments
Tags: napoleon hill, think and grow rich, visualization · Posted in: abundance and prosperity
