|
|
| Time Management Information |
|
|
|
|
Four Steps To Make Your Day Dynamic!
There are two ways to start your day. The first is to dive in; tackling whatever is in front of you. You might check your emails. This is an interesting beginning as it is always possible something fun and new came in since you last looked. Next thing you know you are deeply involved, answering all your mail. Some messages require thought; others require action, either research, interaction with others, or decision making. It is natural to attempt to take care of these mails, as they are right in front of you. You feel hungry, look up and it is mid morning. You have just spent a quarter of your day dealing with emails! Another scenario is firefighting. Firefighting is the act of facing and finding quick fix solutions for all the emergency situations that seem to be coming at you from unknown sources. These urgent problems can also eat up an alarming amount of your work day. Let's look at an alternative method of beginning your day. First, remember that this day is a gift. You have the choice what to do with it. Why not choose to do the important -but-not urgent tasks first? These are the tasks that will advance your life goals, and ensure success for you as you have defined it. If you do not prioritize and do these tasks first, you will almost certainly fail to do them. Here is how. 1. Define where you want to be in 3-5 years. Now list the steps it will take to get you there. Break these steps down into yearly goals, then monthly and finally weekly. Take the time to plan your life! 2. At the beginning of your day, pull out your weekly goals. What will you do today to advance your weekly goal? List this (these) tasks. 3. Scan your emails - don't read them! You will get bogged down! Also, scan your phone messages, faxes inbox and anywhere else you receive communication. The goal is to get an idea of what new items will require your attention today. You have spent 30-45 minutes of your day. You have gathered up the information required to plan your day, you know what you have to do, and are already planning it in your mind. You don't have to worry about forgetting something important. 4. On a clean sheet of paper, or index cards, prioritize 10 -15 things you intend to accomplish before the end of the day. Be realistic. You will not be able to do much more than this. From the 10-15 highlight 4 or 5 items that are important-but-not urgent and critical to your long term goals. Prioritize these items first, and then follow with the remaining items in some sort of order. Put an estimated time to complete each item beside it. At the end of the day, your review of what got done and the actual time it took will be a great education and experience for future planning. With practice, this skill will serve you well. 5. Now do one of your highlighted tasks, preferably one you enjoy. You have now spent approximately 90 minutes of your day. You have achieved a step towards your 3-5 year plan. (Imagine what a constant daily step towards your goal will produce!) You know how your day will play out (for the most part), and you are comfortable knowing you have not missed anything of importance. If you begin to do the important-but-not urgent items on a daily basis, you will find less urgent items surprising you. The feeling and knowledge of achievement will be encouragement for you to continue to strengthen your skills in this area. There you have two ways to begin your day. Your choice! Your Coach and online friend, Miami Phillips
Quotation of the Week Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I'll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals and I'll give you a stock clerk. J. C. Penney About The Author Miami Phillips is an ANSIR Certified Personal Coach and the founder of Creative MasterMinds who believes personal growth is an essential ingredient to being happy and contributing to this world. While his main focus is affordable personal and business coaching, he also offers motivational teleclasses, ebooks, reading recommendations and much more. To find out more visit his site at http://www.creativemasterminds.com or send him an email at [email protected]
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Taking Time Off For Your Business As a business owner, wouldn't it be great if you could take time off whenever you needed to? Unfortunately, most small business owners worry that the business will fall apart if they're not there to mind the store. Too often, they simply lack the appropriate resources for their business to keep going in their absence. Benefits of Speed Reading In this digital age, the importance of being able to absorb information quickly and efficiently is more pronounced than ever. For me, I get tonnes of information every single day. It used to be just the simple newspapers. Making Headway on a Slow Day: 9 Ways to Turn Down-Time into Productivity Time If you work from home, you know the kind of day I mean. You made the calls. You revised those drafts. You sent out the emails. Where is everybody!? As much as you used to relish a slow day when you were corporate, it's a little different when you're playing boss to yourself. Your mind gets to wandering. Should I head out to the park? Should I hit the mall? Should I... file for unemployment? How Would You Like to Capture Some Time? Women's health issues often are focused on goals to reach: getting thin, moving up in the corporate world, having a child, taking a vacation, meeting Mr. Right, fitting in exercise or making sure you are eating your vegetables! Effective Email and Verses Voicemail Time management consultant Stephen Young claims that the average time consumed by an unplanned telephone call is 12 minutes, verses 7 minutes for a planned call. This represents five-minute savings every time you jot down some notes before dialing a number. Will Your Epilogue Be ? I Got All My Emails Done? Work life balance is the new Holy Grail; that search for nirvana; the need to find peace and contentment, the desire to achieve that fine sense of equilibrium that we can be happy with. Organization Tips That Add More Hours To Your Day One of the most common complaints that small business owners have is lack of time. What most don't realize, however is that their lack of time stems from a lack of organization. But with a few simple tips - that you can implement immediately - you can literally add hours to your day. How A Simple Four-Letter List Can Make or Break Your Business One of the biggest problems most people have when it comes to moving their business ahead is simply staying focused and taking the actions that will truly make a difference. Keeping YOUR Calendar Full When do you want to make time for a networking group? 10 Tips on the Right Time of Day for Your Personal Best Does choosing which time we do an activity really make a difference? Could you use a ?Stop Doing? list? One of the tried and true organization and time-management tools is the trusty old "to do" list. I was trained to diligently put one together at the end of the day for the following day, and whatever tasks I failed to complete, to carry it forward. This system has worked well in helping me prioritize and focus. But I have also heard many of my colleagues complain about having too much on their list, and feeling very discouraged and overwhelmed by the sheer number of items on their "To Do" list. To help ease the overwhelm, I want to introduce the concept of the "Stop Doing" list. Time Is Everything Time is wealth; Career Redesign Tools For Work-Life Balance Partnering with the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the Wharton School, Thirdpath Institute, a non-profit whose mission is "To assist individuals and families in finding new ways to redesign work to create time for family, community and other life priorities," held a 2-day conference in May, 2004 for lawyers, entitled "Having a Life: Creating Work-Life Balance in the Law." I was part of a small team of career and work-life professionals who facilitated small group breakout sessions that were held throughout the conference. Having Time on Your Side Clarity brings accomplishment Webmaster or Web Slave? Time Saving Tips for Cyberpreneurs Time is money in your online business, just as in the offline business world. Realistic Time Budgeting Tips I'm sure we've all had the experience of having a certain block of time available, and our to-do list tasks or goals that we want to accomplish in that time frame, only to turn around at the end of that period of time to have the frustrating experience of not getting nearly enough done that we thought we could. What happened? Where did all the time go? This can be in our personal / family lives, our jobs or our businesses. What To Do When Youre Short On Time And Long On Need! Everyday life can present us with opportunities to make us squirm. Countless numbers of tasks that we are juggling can cause dead lines to make that big swishing sound as they go flying by us. So, the next time you find yourself short on time and long on need, don't take a long walk off a short pier. Try this instead. It?s Not The Same Old Routine We are constantly inundated with routine (often boring!) tasks around the house. This can cause major frustration because many of us don't do them efficiently, and most of us fail to complete our entire list of chores! You may take comfort in comment from a commiserating colleague: "A creative mind always has more ideas than the physical body is able to carry out. The only people who finish their 'to do' list are dead." So, relax, there is only so much time in the day, and ask yourself, "What's the most important thing to do today?" Boost Your Productivity with Sixty Minutes A Day How you spend the first sixty minutes of your day will affect your productivity and achievements ? everyday. Organize Your Time Most people want to start a home-based business to make more money to supplement their income. The issue though, is finding the time to make this happen.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2005 |